For years, I watched the news and I saw the suffering of Africans. There was a time when I was also embarrassed because it seemed to me like African leaders seemed to hate their people. I wondered why the exploitation of Africans was so rampant from the hands of those who were supposed to help and protect the people. I am now able to see why. Now I see that the type of leader who is only interested in his personal benefits and those of the elite class, is the only type of leader that will be tolerated by imperial powers. If any Caribbean leader or African leader should stand up for the rights of the poor, the rights of those who suffer under a system of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, this leader will be deposed and very possibly killed(if he tries to fight it). Patrice Lumumba You may be aware of the suffering in the Congo. You may be aware of the harsh, deplorable conditions that people in various parts of Africa(in this case, specifically the Congo) must live in. How would you feel to know that someone tried to stop this and was assassinated? How would you feel to know that this assassination was so that wealthy elites from wealthy nations can remain wealthy? Does this break your heart? It breaks mine. httpv://youtube/watch?v=vLV9szEu9Ag In 1958 a charismatic and confident man came to the awareness of popular consciousness in the Congo. This man believed in himself and in the power of the African and the Congolese specifically. This man was not afraid of the colonial power nor was he afraid to speak his mind in their presence. It was because of his willingness to speak the truth of injustice and his fight for the economic and political sovereignty of the Congolese people why he was brutally assassinated. Patrice Émery Lumumba (2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only twelve weeks later, Lumumbas government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis. He was subsequently imprisoned and executed by firing squad, an act that was committed with the assistance of the governments of the United States and Belgium. Early life and career Lumumba was born in Onalua in the Katakokombe region of the Kasai province of the Belgian Congo, a member of the Tetela ethnic group. Raised in a Catholic family as one of four sons, he was educated at a Protestant primary school, a Catholic missionary school, and finally the government post office training school, passing the one-year course with distinction. He subsequently worked in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) and Stanleyville (now Kisangani) as a postal clerk and as a travelling beer salesman. In 1951, he married Pauline Opangu. In 1955, Lumumba became regional head of the Cercles of Stanleyville and joined the Liberal Party of Belgium, where he worked on editing and distributing party literature. After traveling on a three-week study tour in Belgium, he was arrested in 1955 on charges of embezzlement. His two-year sentence was commuted to twelve months after it was confirmed by Belgian lawyer Jules Chrome that Lumumba had returned the funds, and he was released in July 1956. After his release, he helped found the broad-based Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) in 1958, later becoming the organizations president. Lumumba and his team represented the MNC at the All-African Peoples Conference in Accra, Ghana, in December 1958. At this international conference, hosted by influential Pan-African President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Lumumba further solidified his Pan-Africanist beliefs. Leader of MNC In late October 1959, Lumumba, as leader of the MNC, was arrested for allegedly inciting an anti-colonial riot in Stanleyville where thirty people were killed; he was sentenced to six months in prison. The trials start date of 18 January 1960, was also the first day of a round-table conference in Brussels to finalize the future of the Congo. Despite Lumumbas imprisonment at the time, the MNC won a convincing majority in the December local elections in the Congo. As a result of strong pressure from delegates upset with Lumumbas trial, he was released and allowed to attend the Brussels conference. The conference culminated on 27 January with a declaration of Congolese independence, setting 30 June 1960, as the independence date with national elections from 11–25 May 1960. Lumumba and the MNC won this election and the right to form a government, with the announcement on 23 June 1960 of 34-year-old Lumumba as Congos first prime minister and Joseph Kasa-Vubu as its president. In accordance with the constitution, on 24 June the new government passed a vote of confidence and was ratified by the Congolese Chamber and Senate. Independence Day was celebrated on 30 June in a ceremony attended by many dignitaries including King Baudouin and the foreign press. Lumumba delivered his famous independence speech after being officially excluded from the event programme, despite being the new prime minister.[4] The speech of Belgian King Baudouin praised developments under colonialism, his reference to the genius of his great-granduncle Leopold II of Belgium glossing over atrocities committed during the Congo Free State.The King continued, Dont compromise the future with hasty reforms, and dont replace the structures that Belgium hands over to you until you are sure you can do better... Dont be afraid to come to us. We will remain by your side, give you advice. Lumumba responded by reminding the audience that the independence of the Congo was not granted magnanimously by Belgium: For this independence of the Congo, even as it is celebrated today with Belgium, a friendly country with whom we deal as equal to equal, no Congolese worthy of the name will ever be able to forget that it was by fighting that it has been won, a day-to-day fight, an ardent and idealistic fight, a fight in which we were spared neither privation nor suffering, and for which we gave our strength and our blood. We are proud of this struggle, of tears, of fire, and of blood, to the depths of our being, for it was a noble and just struggle, and indispensable to put an end to the humiliating slavery which was imposed upon us by force. In contrast to the relatively harmless speech of President Kasa-Vubu, Lumumbas reference to the suffering of the Congolese under Belgian colonialism stirred the crowd while simultaneously humiliating and alienating the King and his entourage. Some media claimed at the time that he ended his speech by ad-libbing, Nous ne sommes plus vos macaques! (We are no longer your monkeys!) --referring to a common slur used against Africans by Belgians, however, these words are neither in his written text nor in radio tapes of his speech. Lumumba was later harshly criticised for what many in the Western world—but virtually none in Africa—described as the inappropriate nature of his speech. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba I have added this video, wherein those who assassinated Patrice Lumumba speak of their deed with no remorse and a blatant disregard for the life they had mercilessly taken. A flesh that was destroyed, but a spirit that will live on in the hearts of those who seek justice and truth. The day is coming when the African will remember who he is and on that day the spirit of Lumumba will reignite the fire in our hearts for equality and justice under God for all mankind.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Nov 2013 16:33:56 +0000
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