Lumumba Speaks: The Speeches and Writings of Patrice Lumumba, 1958-1961

by Patrice Lumumba, Helen R. Lane (Translator), Jean-Paul Sartre (Introduction)

English, French (translation)

Genres: Africa, History, Politics, Nonfiction, Race, Theory, Biography

433 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Patrice Émery Lumumba (born Élias Okit'Asombo; 2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese independence leader and the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960.

Only twelve weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis. The main reason why he was ousted from power was his opposition to Belgian-backed secession of the mineral-rich Katanga province.

He was subsequently imprisoned and executed by firing squad under the command of the secessionist Katangan authorities. The United Nations, which he had asked to come to the Congo, did not intervene to save him.

Reviews

[Jesaja Senones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Patrice Lumumba is so misunderstood by history, both left and right tried to portray him as some kind of anti-western communist agitator, the right stigmatized him as such, the left embraced him as such, yet the reality couldn't be further from the truth... One of the most intriguing and misunderstood personalities of the 20th century.

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this after reading Bevin's Jakarta Method. The events that led to Lumumba's death are sort of an introduction of sorts to that book, so I read this as more of a background into the man himself. Lumumba doesn't seem extremely well-read and has much of the same background and demeanor of an American founding father. A classical liberal, now we'd call libertarian, who led a fight for independence. Ironically the thing that gets him killed, allying with the soviet union, is the equivalent of what the 13 colonies did in their independence movement.

Political speeches are primarily about optics. It's surprising how modern what much of Patrice has to say, just in the language he uses. Lumumba was not well educated as many leaders in a formal sense. He reminds me of John Hancock or John Adams in his stated goals for the congo and demeanor. He makes up for the lack of his formal education with a good understanding of the world and his place in it. While he was labeled a communist, he was not a communist in any sense.

At the UN Security Council, he seems to have predicted the impending congo crisis by responding to the soviets demand to send in troops into the Katanga secession by saying "I do not believe, personally, that we help the Congolese people by actions in which Africans kill Africans, or Congolese kill Congolese, and that will remain my guiding principle in the future."

It's hard to review this book because it's just an assortment of his speeches. I'm giving it five stars because the introduction sets the stage quite well, and the work that went into collecting his speeches was exhaustive.

[Tiffany K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lumumba calling it the “homicide then suicide of Africa” is chilling. Even from a prison cell this man was a poet who never gave up on a free Congo.

[Thandeka Xaba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hopeful yet heart-wrenching. The collapse of the Congo after independence and Lumumba’s unanswered calls for help from global organizations and first world countries will break your heart. If he weren’t labeled a communist Africa and the the world at large really could’ve benefitted from a first in class once in a lifetime leader. Instead they labeled him a communist and killed him, and the continent and Congo still feel the impact today. You cannot help but wonder what the narrative in the UN was at the time