The life
and times of Patrice Emory Lumumba. The first democratically elected
Prime Minister of the Congo who was assassinated less than 2 months
after taking office.
I highly recommend the movie LUMUMBA by director Raul Peck. If you thought
Sankofa was good, this movie is gonna blow you away. But let me warn you, this
is not a "feel good" movie. The movie opens with a couple of
White men cutting Lumumba's body into pieces and burning them in an oil drum.
From there the movie switches to his early years as a civil servant but this
reprieve, if you wanna call it that, is only temporary. I, like a lot of Black
people, have spent so much time "duckin" in this country that I never
really paid attention to what the White Supremacist have been doing in Africa.
Ninety minutes is all you need to understand what the term "White
Supremacy" really means. It is the worlds first global system of mass
oppression.
I had never heard of director Raul Peck, but he did an amazing job of showing
the system of White Supremacy in operation and the mistakes the victims made.
Especially interesting are the "Gods eye views"; scenes that show the
White supremacists plotting to obstruct justice, Bribing Black people and generally
making sure that No Black person will be able to replace White Supremacy with
justice. In one especially memorable scene at a pre independence convention at
a hotel, Peck shows a room full of the various Black "leaders" carefully
working out the details of a coalition government, compromising and making adjustments
so the new government can function. The camera then lifts up and floats over
the walls to the very next room where a group of White men are drawing up plans
to sabotage this new government.
This movie is in French with English subtitles but even if you don't speak French
you can tell exactly whats going on. During the independence ceremony, Lumumba's
advisors are telling him not to offend the Belgians by talking about their mistreatment.
Lumumba looks at them and says, "For once in their life, let them here the
truth." He proceeds to make a great speech documenting their mistreatment
at the hands of the White Supremacists and telling the people of the Congo that
the rescues of the Congo belong to the "children." This speech is being
broadcast over the radio and director Peck skillfully cuts to shots of people
listening to the speech and the effect this speech was having on both the White
people and the Black people.
From this point on, it starts getting rough for Lumumba. Now the White Supremacists
are pissed off and so they begin "operation create
confusion." They start spreading rumors, handing out guns to White
people and liquor to Black people (always a deadly combo). Under the system of
White Supremacy, The White Supremacist in a country of millions of Black people
had produced exactly 3 Black collage graduates. So when the White people quit
running things, everything falls apart. The phones, the trains, the banks... This
was the hardest part of the movie for me. Lumumba is now living on "borrowed
time" and even if you don't speak French, you can tell he
knows it.
One good thing about this movie is you get to see where Joseph Mobutu came from.
He and Lumumba were actually friends. Far from being an "evil" person,
he had a front row seat in the classroom of the White Supremacists. He had a "victims
eye view" of the savage power and brutality of the White Supremacists. He
couldn't have talked Lumumba out of resisting White Supremacy; even the White
people had a hard time looking Lumumba in the eye. Mean while, the White Supremacist
have had What comedian Paul Mooney calls a "White
meeting" with Mobutu. They ask him if he's ready to take over the
country and Mobutu says, "What's in it for me?" and the White man says "everything."
Director Peck brilliantly cuts back and forth between scenes of Lumumba's execution
and Mobutu's inauguration. Mike Wallace of 60 minute once described Joseph Mobutu
as the most corrupt man in the world. But as you will see in this movie, The
White Supremacists set the whole thing up. Joseph Mobutu was not a stupid person,
he fully understood that in exchange for allowing the White Supremacist to loot
BILLIONS from the Congo, he could get a few MILLIONS for
himself and a few friends. Under White Supremacy this is really the only
way to become a "successful" Black person. If you are a non white person
on this planet you are a victim of and servant to White Supremacy. Its just one
gigantic minstrel show, we are all "tommin" and "coonin" to
one extent or another. The only difference is that some of us are onstage shufflin
for millions while most of us on the sidewalk shufflin for chump change. Either
way, we are all shufflin.
But don't just take my word for it. Look for a book called "King Leopold's
Ghost." As usual White people know much more about White Supremacy than
I. This book is a much more comprehensive look at White Supremacy in the Congo.
The picture of the African man staring at the chopped of hands and feet of his
5 year old daughter is worth the price of the book alone. The book is basically
a 300 page indictment White people who practiced White Supremacy in the Congo.
Im
all for "Black Studies," but what we really need is some "White
Studies" so you can understand who you're dealing with. The people
who "Bin stealin"' Bin killin" and "Bin lyin" the most,
got you lookin at "Bin Laden."
"There's no terrorist like an old terrorist, you just can't beat
experience."
Get this movie and this book, You won't be disappointed.
