The most important black man of the twentieth century in Africa must be Patrice Lumumba. History will probably never tell us what went of him. But we know a few things. That he was the first prime minister of Congo among them. You know, when you wield so much power and support from people, you start to kind of achieve the opposite effect on the people who think they would rather wield the power and support themselves. They will start to get scared of you, this being scared turns to horror and finally desperation as these people try to do anything in their reach to pull you down. The same story is what became of Lumumba. After negotiating independence for Congo in Brussels, he achieved a political status in his backyard that no black man had achieved ever. These were the days of the Cold war and everyone somehow alligned to one of the two aides even if it served him no purpose. Lumumba happened to like the east better. Quite predictably making enemies of the West.
When Lumumba was captured and humiliated infront of everyone on some imaginary charges by Katangan forces, that was the last time anybody heard of the man who had liberated his people from jaws of tyranny and years of oppression. Rumours have it that Katangan forces, with the help of the CIA forces and M16 murdered Lumumba and dissolved his body in acid or according to some atoriea buried him in an unmarked grave in what turned out to be the most important assasination in African Soil.
When European colonists landed in Africa, it was all about one thing, grab as much territory as you could and make it yours, by any means necessary. Even before the Berlin Conference, most of African land was already divided among the European and conflicts between them and the natives of the land they had now made theirs were taking shape The violent collisions pitted the well-equipped, well organized and highly disciplined armies of the Europeans with the too often weak armies of people of the African continent. They were no match. More often than not, entire African armies were annihilated wholesomely and their people subdued almost as fast as the battles began. Famous Anglo-French write Hilaire Bellocr even confidently wrote that “Whatever happens, we have the Maxim gun, and they have not” Well, except that the Maxim gun sometimes failed terribly when it faced the unbridled determination, bravery and the sheer spirit of Africans. Downright unexpected upsets sometime...
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