Happy birthday, Patrice Lumumba! (July 2, 1925)
Inaugural Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then simply the Republic of the Congo), Patrice Lumumba was an outspoken and intelligent man from a very young age, often speaking up and correcting teachers during his education. This willingness to speak his mind and speak truth to power would define his character. Ideologically coming to identify with pan-Africanism, Lumumba helped to found the Congolese National Movement, which emerged as the largest party in the country in the first elections held after the declaration of independence. Lumumba was committed to a full decolonization and Africanization of the Congo, which rankled the country's former Belgian overlords. Shortly after Lumumba took office, a rightist mutiny broke out in the Congolese armed forces, beginning the Congo Crisis. Lumumba initially looked to the United States and United Nations for assistance, but the US rebuffed him due to his alleged communist sympathies. This forced Lumumba to turn to the Soviet Union, which the US used to justify their own prior suspicions. In September of 1960, Colonel Joseph-Désiré Mobutu seized power in a coup, and Lumumba was ultimately captured. Lumumba was executed by a Belgian firing squad and his body dissolved in acid. What remained was taken to Belgium and not returned to the Congo until 2022. The United States Senate Church Committee uncovered documents indicating that Secretary of State Alan Dulles had urged Lumumba's assassination. Lumumba's policies and beliefs, collectively known as Lumumbism, continue to influence politics in Africa today.
“The day will come when history will speak. But it will not be the history which will be taught in Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations… Africa will write its own history and in both north and south it will be a history of glory and dignity.”
