Thanks to everyone who supported our Women in the Congo campaign during the month of February! With your help, we were able to reach our goal of donating $500 to Women for Women International's Run for Congo Women project. In addition to being able to donate to this very worthy cause, we were able to increase our Facebook fanbase by over 1,000 new members, expanding the impact of Link TV's unique programming and related calls for action around important worldwide causes like the war in Congo.

While this particular campaign may be over, there is no shortage of ways you can help. Please continue to visit our website for action ideas surrounding International Women's Day coming up on March 8th.

For example, on this important day in our home base of San Francisco, women will be gathering on the Golden Gate bridge, an action simultaneously being taken by women in Congo and all over the world, to demonstrate that women can build the bridges of peace and hope. Watch this video for more information or click here:

During this month, where women are often celebrated in the U.S., we are talking about violence against women, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  Recently, we were inspired by a heart-wrenchingly honest opinion piece written by Nick Kristof in the New York Times that shed some much-needed light on the vicious injustices taking place against the women of the Congo, which Kristof says is on par with (or even exceeds) the devastation that hit Haiti last month --only not as sudden.  5.4 million people, mainly women and children, have been tortured, raped, and killed as a result of the conflict that began in the DRC over a decade ago.

Join us in spreading the word about this important and under-reported issue in the Congo – where violence against women has become an act of war.  Please visit our page linktv.org/womenincongo to learn more, and then tell your friends about it.  Through the rest of February, for every 10 new Facebook fans Link TV will donate $5 (up to $500) to Women for Women International's Run for Congo Women campaign. With your help, Link TV continues to disseminate the untold stories of the world.

I am a bit of a proselytizer for world music. I remember a several years ago someone telling me rather smugly "I would NEVER listen to music that isn't in English!" and thinking "and you aren't ashamed?"  I rather love listening to songs in other languages-- it's like one kind of music on top of another…a musical sundae. With all the different kinds of music there is out there, why not be open to it all -- the whole smorgasbord! (You may have guessed that I'm a foodie, too.) This brings me to a documentary we are showing this week. It's called Jupiter's Dance and in it Jupiter, Kinshasa's ever optimistic entrepreneur says time and again that the musical riches of Congo could be its economic goldmine. And the variety and sweetness of what is there is indeed compelling, from rhythms that get your hips shaking to harmonies that seduce your ears. I recommend Jupiter's Dance to you, and hope it gives you a craving for Congolese music that compels you to buy some. And maybe next time a friend comes by whose tastes are totally mainstream, you'll can slip them an exotic musical hors d'oevre and create another convert!