Monday, May 20, 2024
I was 11 years old in 1961! My father made sure that as a little boy I was always informed of what was going on in the world. Every evening, apart from the local news, we would listen to the Voice of America and BBC News. My preference was BBC News for whatever reasons, maybe it was the accent. But for some reason I was enthralled with Patrice Lumumba! I remember hearing about his arrest and subsequent execution, and I felt a kinship with this person; to this day I can’t explain why. But his death affected me deeply, and even at that very young age I realized that he was fighting for his people, for all of us, people of color. I also remember Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary General of the U.N., dying in a plane crash that same year. But at that young age, something about Lumumba and the way he was treated triggered something in my brain! I was too young to understand geopolitics, but I knew that he was the good guy!
Today, an acquaintance of mine, a lady I admire greatly, sent me a video of a speech delivered in Nigeria by Patrick Lumumba, a Kenyan lawyer and activist! No relations to my hero, but still, he should have been! This man gave an hours-long lecture, without notes or teleprompter, straight from his heart! He was eloquent and energetic and truthful and did not mince words in decrying the state of affairs of the continent of Africa! It was so excruciatingly clear that these so-called leaders are in the pockets of, and still beholden to, the colonial masters that freed them, with reins to pull them in if they stray too far from the program.
He extolled the virtues and the determination of Nkrumah and Nyerere and Kenyatta, the OGs of Pan Africanism! Giants who were fearless in their fight to shed themselves of the chains of colonialism! They spoke truth to power, and never backed down. He also spoke about the power of unity, which is absent not only in Africa, but all over the world, where people of color for some reason cannot unite. It doesn’t matter how rich our countries are, we do not control that wealth! The Americans and the Europeans do! Thus, the murder of a great hero, using proxies like Tshombe and Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu to bring him down, to murder him!
I was very moved by his speech. It made me think of Haiti, whose greatest crime was to defeat the French, a crime they’re still paying for in 2024! It made me think of the Jewel and our leaders, and the way they have continued that colonial servility; both parties have, to the detriment of the Belizean people. Whether it be the lord, or Saudi Arabia or whomever else is trying to buy our loyalty, they don’t have our best interests at heart. Nobody does anything for free anymore, out of the kindness of their hearts. There’s always a price tag with a steep price dangling at the edges.
These people aren’t going to save us from Guatemala. Britain, the United States, Mexico, they can save us. In my opinion, Mexico is our safest bet, once they stop strangling our energy supply! They are our neighbor, and I think that they would be a great partner in denying Guatemala’s spurious claims of sovereignty over us. It would make them a champion of freedom at a time when they’re in the midst of their own internal wars with narco terrorists! Just saying.
We can’t just depend on the ICJ to protect us; we need allies, and Mexico is a good place to start. Then maybe Uncle Sam might see the folly of backing the Guats after fighting so hard for Ukrainian sovereignty! Then maybe Britain might feel guilty for abandoning us to a parasitic neighbor; after all, our money still has the Queen’s face on it! And as Mutabaruka says, Britain owns our seas and our lands as long as we are part of the Commonwealth! I feel much better after saying all that.
It has taken me all these years to figure out that I have this defiant streak in me. That I loved Lumumba and Ben Bella and Nasser and Mandela and Ghandi and Goldson and, grudgingly, even George Price, all freedom fighters who could not be bamboozled, or bought off, in my opinion!
We need a Lumumba right now!
Glen