| Hours & Information | Locations | Departments | Friends of the Library | Foundation |
|
|
San Bernardino Public Library 555 West 6th Street 909.381.8201 | ||||
|
|
Catalogs at Other CA Libraries Children's Events Teen Events San Bernardino Pioneers Historical Treasures of San Bernardino Magazine, Health Articles Civil Service Tests Databases Typing Practice and Computer Skills Virtual Library Policies and Rules |
Living Section of the San Bernardino SUN February 24, 2002 Issue 
The Assassination of Lumumba by Ludo De Witte 
Lumumba - A Hero of African Sovereignty I grew up in communist Bulgaria in the1950s and through most of 1961. Back then radios, which the government called loudspeakers, were installed in the public squares of towns and villages broadcasting all day long news communiqués and communist and ethnic music. Of the many news communiqués I heard, none stands out as much as those about Patrice Lumumba, the leader of the National Congolese Movement. For the Bulgarian people Lumumba was a hero not because the communist propaganda supported him, but because we sensed that he was genuinely fighting oppression. Having lived for centuries as the Christian subjects of the Turks and having staged one unsuccessful liberation rebellion after another, the Bulgarians identified closely with any downtrodden and oppressed people fighting for independence. Lumumba was murdered in January 1961 and in the fall of 1961 we immigrated to America. It came as a big surprise to me when those Americans who were aware of the political situation in the Congo, called Lumumba "a joke" and "a dirty commie". In retrospect, I realize that this mentality was simply indicative of the times. Forty years ago the Western democracies did not support freedom and sovereignty for third world nations. How much our perceptions have changed! Today we fully support self-determination and sovereignty for any nation and have all but forgotten that not so long ago the U.S. participated actively in squashing the freedom aspirations of any people suffering under colonial oppression. How many recall that before becoming head of state Mandela languished in prison for decades as the "dangerous communist leader" of the "communist" African National Congress? "History will one day have its say," wrote Lumumba to his wife before his death. "It will not be the history taught in the United Nations, Washington, Paris, or Brussels, however, but the history taught in the countries that have rid themselves of colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history... Long live Africa". That day is now. "The Assassination of Lumumba", a new book by Ludo De Witte and the current film "Lumumba" based on this book, restore Patrice Lumumba to the ranks of heroes and vindicate him and his cause of black-self rule for Africa. Lumumba was a black man of enormous intellect, heart and dignity who in his own words, "was 50 years too early" in seeking independence from colonial oppression for the Congolese people and preaching self-rule for all oppressed African peoples. His explosive rhetoric inspired his people to dream of freedom from Belgian rule, freedom to utilize their country's natural resources for themselves and freedom from being cheap labor for the colonial masters. Lumumba was the first democratically elected prime minister of the Republic of Congo when the Congo gained its independence from Belgium in 1960. But in reality this independence was not complete; Belgium was still there to "guide" the Congolese to sovereignty. "Don't compromise the future with hasty reforms...don't be afraid to come to us. We will remain by your side, give you advice..." Thus spoke King Leopold II of Belgium at Independence Day on June 30, 1960. And then, completely unscheduled, Prime Minister Lumumba spoke. He pointed out that "independence is not a generous gift offered by Brussels," but was won through "a struggle in which no effort, privation, suffering, or drop of our blood was spared." Lumumba went on to describe the sufferings of his people under colonial rule: "We have known sarcasm and insults, endured blows morning, noon and night. Who will forget," Lumumba asked, that the law of the Congolese land was applied differently to whites and blacks - "accommodating for the former and cruel and inhuman for the latter."< This speech determined Lumumba's fate. The Belgians had no intentions of giving up the Congo completely. Lumumba sought help from the U.S. and the U.N. but neither wanted to support African independence which threatened Western white supremacy. In desperation, Lumumba turned for help to the Soviet Union, which only exploited the Congolese quest for freedom for its own propaganda. Lumumba was neither a communist nor a Marxist, nor anything else remotely similar, but the West labeled him communist and plotted to "liquidate" him. Betrayed by his erstwhile friend and comrade-in-arms Mobutu, Lumumba was arrested, tortured and assassinated. In "The Assassination of Lumumba" Ludo De Witte reveals this conspiracy through painstaking research in official U.N., CIA and Belgian government documents as well as personal testimonies from witnesses. So powerful is this book, that the Belgian parliament was compelled to form an official commission to investigate Lumumba's murder. The time has come to recognize Lumumba's heroism and just cause. Ophelia Georgiev Roop Library Director San Bernardino Public Library |
| ©2008 SBPL.org | Book Reviews · Art Gallery · FAQ · Board of Trustees · Library News · City Website |