Sese Seko Ngbendu Waza Banga Mobutu, originally known as Joseph Desire Mobutu, served as Patrice Lumumba’s private secretary before being appointed Chief of Staff and second in command of the army when the Congo received its independence in 1960. In November 1965 Mobuto led a … Read More(1971) Sese Seko Mobutu, “Address to the Conseil Nationale Extraordinaire, Dakar, 14 February 1971”
On December 11, 1958, 34 year old Patrice Lumumba, president of the Congolese National Movement, spoke at the Assembly of African Peoples, an international Pan African Conference sponsored by Kwame Nkrumah, the Prime Minister of newly independent Ghana. His remarks appear below. Two years later … Read More(1958) Patrice Lumumba, “Speech at Accra”
The Congo Civil War, or Congo Crisis, was a complex political tumult that began just days following Belgium’s granting of Congolese independence in 1960. Lasting four years, the associated violence claimed an estimated 100,000 lives including the nation’s first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, and UN … Read MoreCongo Civil War (1960-1964)
Queen Nzinga (Nzinga Mbande), the monarch of the Mbundu people, was a resilient leader who fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade in Central Africa. During the late 16th Century, the French and the English threatened the Portuguese near monopoly on the sources … Read MoreQueen Nzinga (1583-1663)
Born Nzinga Mbemba, King Alfonso I was the leader of the Kongolese people in the early part of the 16th Century. Mbemba developed a strong trade relationship with the Portuguese and adopted Catholicism as a result of this relationship. The influence of the Catholic faith … Read MoreAlfonso I [King] (?-1543)
General Act of the Conference of Berlin Berlin, Germany Signed February 26, 1885 CHAPTER I DECLARATION RELATIVE TO FREEDOM OF TRADE IN THE BASIN OF THE CONGO, ITS MOUTHS AND CIRCUMJACENT REGIONS, WITH OTHER PROVISIONS CONNECTED THEREWITH Article I The trade of all nations shall … Read More(1885) General Act of the Conference of Berlin
The Partition of Africa began in earnest with the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, and was the cause of most of Africa’s borders today. This conference was called by German Chancellor Bismarck to settle how European countries would claim colonial land in Africa and to avoid … Read MoreThe Partition of Africa
Boxing promoter Don King was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1931. The son of a steelworker who died in a smelter explosion, King’s earliest success was the result of his ownership of a popular tavern, where many top black musicians performed, and an illegal bookmaking … Read MoreDon King (1931- )
Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent nation, the Republic of Congo, was born July 2, 1925, in Onalua in Kasai province of the Belgian Congo. With just primary education, Lumumba emerged to become one of Africa’s most vocal critics of colonialism. Early … Read MorePatrice Emery Lumumba
(1925-1961)
Many Europeans have long exhibited a fascination with the African continent. However their knowledge of Africa was often incorrect or incomplete. In the following article University of Cincinnati historian John K. Brackett describes the Italian idea of Africa during the 15th and 16th Centuries. An … Read MoreAfrica and Africans in the Imagination of Renaissance Italians (1450-1630)
