Omowale Malcolm X called him the most impressive Black man ever to walk the Afrikan continent. (1) Another commentator highlights the numerous African countries where streets, roads, plazas, etc. are named after him. (2) Many African children born after his assassination have his surname as their forename (e.g children of Malcolm X, Miriam Makeba and Sonny Carson, in addition to many activists re-claiming it as their family name). (3) His assassination was referred to as “the most important of the 20th century.” (4) We speak of Patrice Émery Lumumba, first prime minister of independent Congo.
In an albeit brief political career, Patrice Lumumba’s star shines bright even amidst the most celebrated period of modern Afrikan history – the independence era. Relatively early in his sojourn he impressed the likes of establish revolutionaries like A. M. Babu and Tom Mboya who organised funds for him to attend the first conference of independent Afrikan states in Accra, Ghana, in December 1958. (6)
In Ghana he caucused with the likes Félix-Roland Moumié, Frantz Fanon and Amilcar Cabral and established strong working relationships the likes of Kwame Nkrumah, Modibo Keita and Ahmed Sékou Touré. (6)
Lumumba returned to the Congo to mobilise the people which resulted in his Mouvement National Congolais party capturing 54% of the vote in the May 1960 elections. Congo was declared independent on June 30th 1960, bringing to an end almost a century of Belgian colonialism, exploitation and brutality. (6)
Within days of independence the Belgians orchestrated a mutiny among Congolese soldiers and the imperialist effort to undermine this new democracy was underway in earnest and would result in Lumumba’s brutal assassination a mere seven months later – a co-operative effort between the CIA, MI6, the UN, Belgium and a rogues gallery of Afrikan stooges. (8) This ushered in the three decade USA sponsored dictatorship of one time Lumumba ally Joseph Mobutu. (9)
Patrice Lumumba matters because at Afrika’s crucial moment, he represented what Afrika could have and should have become. And Congo would have been at the beating heart of it all. Not only because of Lumumba’s irrepressible leadership, also because Congo was (and is) “A Geological Miracle in the Heart of Afrika,” boasting 80% of the world’s coltan, 70% of its cobalt, 40% of its uranium and 30% of its diamonds, with mineral reserves estimated at over $300 trillion as well as its strategic and regional importance. The USA, UK and Belgium used cold war intrigues as a cover to gain control of this miracle. (10)
Therefore, it’s ironic that many Afrikans are currently getting excited about the Marvel Studios Black Panther film when Wakanda, it’s setting, is really an allegory for the Congo, and perhaps where it would be had it been able to resist the onslaught from without and within. (11)
But stepping back from the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the real world, Omowale Malcolm X reminded us that “land, the basis of independence.” (12) What the Congo and Afrika as a whole does not have is control of it’s land or the resources above and below it, for the most part. The challenge for the global Afrikan family is how to right this wrong, or else all future tales of Afrikan glory may well solely be in the gift of Marvel screenwriters.
(1) Eugene S. Robinson (20/02/16) Malcolm X’s Favorite Slain Revolutionary. http://www.ozy.com/opinion/malcolm-xs-favorite-slain-revolutionary/1335
(2) J J Bola (16/01/15) Lumumba: 54 years after his death, his impact and legacy on global culture are as powerful as ever.http://whatsonafrica.org/lumumba-54-years-after-his-death-his-impact-and-legacy-on-global-culture-are-as-powerful-as-ever/
(3) Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja and Jonathan Jacobs (13/11/13) A Fight Far From Over: Patrice Lumumba’s Legacy.https://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/fight-over-patrice-lumumbas-legacy/
(4) Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja (17/01/11) Patrice Lumumba: the most important assassination of the 20th century.https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/jan/17/patrice-lumumba-50th-anniversary-assassination
(5) Nzongola-Ntalaja and Jacobs. Op Cit.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka (2010) Congo Revisted: Challenge of the Congo – An Histotical Analysis. The Whirlwind, Edition 9, p 21
(8) Ibid.
(9)Joseph Hesketh (18/02/16) Why Did the US Support Joseph Mobutu? https://observingafrica.wordpress.com/2016/02/18/why-did-the-us-support-joseph-mobutu/
(10) Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka (2010) The Congo: A Geological Miracle in the Heart of Afrika. The Whirlwind, Edition 9, p 22
(11) ShakaRa (26/01/18) Black Panther & The Power Of Black Heroes Pt. http://www.shakaraspeaks.com/blackpantherpt1/ see also Dwayne Wong (14/01/18) The Black Panther and Neo-Colonial Politics in Africa. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-black-panther-and-neo-colonial-politics-in-africa_us_5a5be4c7e4b003efadb6af33
(12) Omowale Malcolm X (10/11/63) Message to Grassroots. http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/message-to-grassroots/#doc-tabs-full
we ask the question:
The real Wakanda? Patrice Lumumba’s legacy in the Congo
1) Why is Patrice Lumumba still so highly regarded having spent only seven months in office?
2) Why was his assassination considered the most important of the 20th century?
3) Where do we think Afrika would be had he lived?
4) Will we ever control Congo/Afrika again?