As the first Prime Minister of Congo, Patrice Lumumba the former colonial power, Belgium, and demanded a distribution of wealth for the Congolese people. He quickly became a symbol of hope for the locals with his black nationalist views. However, his time in office was cut short due to a fatal mistake.
Lumumba’s journey began as a poor farmer’s son in a small village, where he grew up under difficult conditions caused by the colonial occupation and the trauma of the Congo atrocities. His parents wanted a better fate for their son, to not work as a slave and sent him to become a religious teacher, as this profession could save him from torture and meant social climbing. However, he was rebellious and started to question the methods of the colonial apparatus.
He managed to climbe the social ladder, but soon realized the cruel injustice of the Belgian Congo where whites had all the privileges and the Black people where trated like animals. He wrote critical articles and joined the resistance against colonial oppression. He quickly became the central figure of the Congolese independence movement by demanding a free, undivided Congo, but his time in office was cut short due to Western powers who did not wanted to loose the resources they exploited in the Congo. After just a few month in office they decided to assassinate him. His legacy lives today on as a symbol of hope and the decolonization of Africa.
