From Ludo De Witte's The Assassination of Lumumba
"Talking directly to the people over the heads of the assembled diplomatic corps, he explains that the granting of independence is not a generous gift offered by Brussels, as King Baudouin maintains. Independence has been procleaimed in agreement with Belgium, but: "no Congolese worthy of the name can ever forget that it is by struggle that we have won [our independence], a struggle waged each and every day, a passionate idealistic struggle, a struggle in which no effor, privation, suffering or drop of our blood was spared."
Lumumba describes in the frankest of terms the colonial system that Baudouin had glorified as his great-uncles' chef-d'oeuvre and condemns it as "the humiliating slavery that was imposed on us by force". He goes on:
We have know sarcasm and insults, endured blows morning, noon and night, because we were "niggers". Who will forget that a Black was addressed in the familiar tu, not as a friend, but because the polite vous was reserved for Whites only? We have seen our lands despoiled under the terms of what was supposedly the law of the land but which only recognised the right of the strongest. We have seen that this law was quite different for a White than for a Black: accomodating for the former, cruel and inhuman for the latter.We have seen the terrible suffering of those banished to remote regions because of their political opinions or religious beliefs; exiled within their own country, their fate was truly worse than death itself...And finally, who can forget the volley of gunfire in which so many of our brothers perished, the cells where the authories threw those who would not submit to a rule where justice meant oppression and exploitation.
Lumumba puts the role played by Brussels in the process of decolonisation into perspective: "Belgium, finally understanding the march of history, has not tried to oppose our independence."
Lumumba's speech is interreptured eight times by sustained applause from all the Congolese present and honoured by a veritable ovation at the end. In not time, the thousands following the festivities on the radio have spread the news of the bombshell to the four corners of the Congo. Lumumba has spoken in the language the Congolese thought impossible in the presnece of a European, and those few moments of truth feel like a reward for eighty years of domination. For the first time in the history of the country, a Congolese has address the nation and set the stage for the reconstruction of Congolese history. By this one act, Lumumba has reinforced the Congolese preople's sense of dignity and self-confidence.
The representative of defunct colonialism are stunned.Brussels is suddenly facing the anti-colonial revolution it feared. The colonial enterprise, so highly praised by the king, has been depicted as humiliating slavery in front of the Europeans themselves. And all this is the work of Patrice Lumumba, the man who, only a few weeks earlier, after his electoral victory, was described in the Belgian press as an illiterate thief, an upstart, a black parachuted to the top!
pp 2-3
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Book Review: King Leopold's Ghost, Adam Hochschild
King Leopold’s Ghost
King Leopold’s Ghost is the story of the establishment of Belgium’s Congo colony. More importantly, it is the story of how a landlocked nation of meager size, seized African land and exploited its denizens in one of the cruelest systems ever created during Europe’s imperialist craze in Africa. (Not to say that there aren’t many close seconds throughout the continent.)
Hochschild focuses on what he calls the first great international humanitarian movement that emerged against Leopold. Under the leadership of E.D. Morel, America and Britain were seized by a humanitarian fervor that eventually pressured King Leopold to relinquish his colony to the marginally more benign Belgian parliament.
There are a few interesting themes that emerge in Hochschild’s narrative. The first can be seen with King Leopold himself.
King Leopold was an incredible character. An amalgamation of a greedy capitalist, a self-indulgent monarch, and a diplomatic whiz, he was able to create an enormous colony in Central Africa. Most astoundingly the colony was all for himself. That’s right. The Belgian government didn’t even have a stake in it—he even got them to fund his venture without ceding land or control. What’s incredible about Leopold is that he was able to create this terribly exploitative colony while casting himself as a humanitarian. A benevolent, bearded monarch protecting the lazy, slow-witted Africans from brutal Arab slavers. He was able to establish this façade of philanthropy all over the Western world and fit it accordingly to the different humanitarian goals of his myriad supporters (promising a free trade colony to venture capitalists and a religious colony to missionaries). What an incredibly shrewd asshole. And what’s more, while draining the Congo of people and rubber, he managed to never even visit the continent.
For me this played as a warning of the power and danger of humanitarianism. King Leopold was able to establish this cruel colony through a humanitarian façade. And, as Hochschild points out, there’s a sort of irony to the humanitarian movement that would eventually expose his evils and fight against him. The British and American patriots that whipped themselves into a self-righteous fervor against Leopold still blindly believed that their own colonial seizures of land and people were appropriate for non-Whites. Paternalism was the order of the day.
In the midst of all this blind self-righteousness, few could imagine that Africans were perhaps equals of whites and deserving of self-rule. But change is incremental, and to point this out may be to harp on an obvious point.
Hochschild is not an academic. He is a journalist, and accordingly, the book is an enthralling narrative, not a careful, slow account of historical events. It reads like fiction. It draws you into the juicy stories of intrigue and the broad strokes of good and bad, yet it still manages to be a thoroughly researched and careful historical book.
His voice and opinions creep into the pages, which at first sort of bothered me since it seems unacademic for a history book. But Hochschild’s voice is fine. He highlights and strengthens certain broad points and is all in all a smart guy. A very good read to learn about early humanitarianism and one of the incredibly interesting stories of Europe in Africa. Perhaps more importantly, Hochschild tells this story in a way that is inundated with historical intrigue and rich characters.
King Leopold’s Ghost is the story of the establishment of Belgium’s Congo colony. More importantly, it is the story of how a landlocked nation of meager size, seized African land and exploited its denizens in one of the cruelest systems ever created during Europe’s imperialist craze in Africa. (Not to say that there aren’t many close seconds throughout the continent.)
Hochschild focuses on what he calls the first great international humanitarian movement that emerged against Leopold. Under the leadership of E.D. Morel, America and Britain were seized by a humanitarian fervor that eventually pressured King Leopold to relinquish his colony to the marginally more benign Belgian parliament.
There are a few interesting themes that emerge in Hochschild’s narrative. The first can be seen with King Leopold himself.
King Leopold was an incredible character. An amalgamation of a greedy capitalist, a self-indulgent monarch, and a diplomatic whiz, he was able to create an enormous colony in Central Africa. Most astoundingly the colony was all for himself. That’s right. The Belgian government didn’t even have a stake in it—he even got them to fund his venture without ceding land or control. What’s incredible about Leopold is that he was able to create this terribly exploitative colony while casting himself as a humanitarian. A benevolent, bearded monarch protecting the lazy, slow-witted Africans from brutal Arab slavers. He was able to establish this façade of philanthropy all over the Western world and fit it accordingly to the different humanitarian goals of his myriad supporters (promising a free trade colony to venture capitalists and a religious colony to missionaries). What an incredibly shrewd asshole. And what’s more, while draining the Congo of people and rubber, he managed to never even visit the continent.
For me this played as a warning of the power and danger of humanitarianism. King Leopold was able to establish this cruel colony through a humanitarian façade. And, as Hochschild points out, there’s a sort of irony to the humanitarian movement that would eventually expose his evils and fight against him. The British and American patriots that whipped themselves into a self-righteous fervor against Leopold still blindly believed that their own colonial seizures of land and people were appropriate for non-Whites. Paternalism was the order of the day.
In the midst of all this blind self-righteousness, few could imagine that Africans were perhaps equals of whites and deserving of self-rule. But change is incremental, and to point this out may be to harp on an obvious point.
Hochschild is not an academic. He is a journalist, and accordingly, the book is an enthralling narrative, not a careful, slow account of historical events. It reads like fiction. It draws you into the juicy stories of intrigue and the broad strokes of good and bad, yet it still manages to be a thoroughly researched and careful historical book.
His voice and opinions creep into the pages, which at first sort of bothered me since it seems unacademic for a history book. But Hochschild’s voice is fine. He highlights and strengthens certain broad points and is all in all a smart guy. A very good read to learn about early humanitarianism and one of the incredibly interesting stories of Europe in Africa. Perhaps more importantly, Hochschild tells this story in a way that is inundated with historical intrigue and rich characters.
Blogs on Sub-Saharan Africa
I just found this Africa blog by Derek Catsam, that is hosted by FPA. In general, coverage of Africa seems lacking in mainstream US media and even in the blogosphere. When US media outlets do cover Africa, they seem to tell the same narrative of despotism and poverty. There's certainly plenty of despotism and poverty in the continent--but it's nice to find nuanced careful analyses that tackle different topics. It's great to find bloggers, like Catsam that offer their own analysis of events and highlight issues they find important. Ones that cover issues continuously and don't just offer the same synopsized recaps and over-played narratives. Clearly, an even better source would be blogs written by Africans, but I haven't done enough investigating to find them. In time.
Here's a quote I found interesting.
Expect COSATU and the South African Communist Party (SACP) to grow disenchanted with Zuma’s leadership of their tripartite alliance partner African National Congress just as it grew disenchanted with Mbeki’s leadership, and just as it grew disenchanted (but would never publicly admit it) with Nelson Mandela’s leadership, at least in the economic realm. And thus I believe that my ongoing prediction will come to pass: The ANC will someday face its most serious challenge from the left, in the form of a breakaway COSATU-SACP alliance, and not the right. recent transformations in the country’s politics could well lead to a re-merging of the ANC and the Congress of the People (COPE) if the leftist elements do eventually pursue their own course.
Here's a quote I found interesting.
Expect COSATU and the South African Communist Party (SACP) to grow disenchanted with Zuma’s leadership of their tripartite alliance partner African National Congress just as it grew disenchanted with Mbeki’s leadership, and just as it grew disenchanted (but would never publicly admit it) with Nelson Mandela’s leadership, at least in the economic realm. And thus I believe that my ongoing prediction will come to pass: The ANC will someday face its most serious challenge from the left, in the form of a breakaway COSATU-SACP alliance, and not the right. recent transformations in the country’s politics could well lead to a re-merging of the ANC and the Congress of the People (COPE) if the leftist elements do eventually pursue their own course.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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