Let's discuss Congolese leader PATRICE LUMUMBA, whose remains just came home

Patrice Émery Lumumba (1925-1961) was a leader in the movement for Congolese independence from Belgium, and subsequently became the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After less than a year in office, he was assassinated at the urging of the Belgian and US states, and replaced by the more "Western-friendly" autocrat Mobutu Sese Seko (formerly Lumumba's own right-hand man), who then remained in power until 1997 (Sound familiar?).

Last week, on June 30, 2022 (the DRC's 62nd Independence Day), Lumumba's remains — only a single tooth, stolen as a trophy — were returned to Kinshasa by Belgium, and a funeral was finally held.

Much as we used the sentencing of Sankara's assassins as an occasion to learn about Sankara, let's use this occasion to start learning about the life and legacy of Patrice Lumumba. Unlike Sankara, Lumumba was not an outspokenly self-identified Marxist or Communist; however, both were progressive, anti-colonialist, pan-Africanist independence leaders who refused to bow down before Western (neo-)colonial power, and who ultimately paid for it with their lives.

Feel free to use the below (optional!) reading and viewing materials to get started on your own explorations, and let us know what you find out! As always, there is no need to be an expert or a historian or a philosopher to join in the conversation... We aren't! We are all just noobs here, gathering to help each other learn more about a new topic, together.

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VIDEO :

• "The Story Of African Hero Patrice Lumumba, Killed By Belgium. They Returned His Tooth 62yrs After" from Adeola Fayehun (22 minutes)
• "How the US and Belgium Assassinated Congo's First Prime Minister | Patrice Lumumba" from NewAfrica (8 minutes)
• "How Mobutu Conquered Congo | The Complex History of the Leopard of Zaire" from NewAfrica (44 minutes; the first half contains relevant background on the Congo and Lumumba)
• Patrice Lumumba Independence Day Speech (English Subtitles) (7 minutes)

TEXT :

• SPEECH AT THE CEREMONY OF THE PROCLAMATION OF THE CONGO'S INDEPENDENCE, June 30, 1960 by Patrice Lumumba
• THE GOAL PATRICE SOUGHT TO ACHIEVE by N. Khokhlov of Izvestia (some Soviet perspective)
• "Patrice Lumumba: the most important assassination of the 20th century" by Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja (printed 10 years ago in The Guardian for the 50th anniversary of Lumumba's assassination)