Patrice Lumumba Speech

Through the voices of Patrice Lumumba and Nelson Mandela readers get a rare point of view of Africa’s history from the minority perspective. Africa did not have a smooth road to independence and these two documents as well as the events that took place strengthen the true and eerie facts of Africa’s past. The three predominant factors leading to Africa's independence in the documents were colonial oppression,slavery, and racial inequality.
Lumumba had always been an advocate for the freedom of the Congo. He suggested a conference, the Brussels Roundtable in order to help work out an agreement to make the Congo independent as quickly as possible.The colonists rejected the idea refusing to talk to the leaders who they saw as unrepresentative. …show more content…
Lumumba goes on by saying “We are deeply proud of our struggle,because it was just and noble and indispensable in putting an end to the humiliating bondage forced upon us”. Lumumba is commenting that without the slavery that was forced upon them their strength as a country would not be as strong. As well implying that is was necessary for it to happen since it gave the Congolese a need to be independent. Lumumba is trying to empower the Congolese as well as remind them of their pasts that lead them to their current …show more content…
For example when the nationalist came back to Africa after getting a higher education in Western countries there was no job opportunities for them. Instead there was minimal wage jobs waiting for them since all the good jobs were reserved for the “whites”. As well many “black” Africans were forced into slavery. To make sure white supremacy was maintained the apartheid era started which segregated the “blacks” from the “whites”. The apartheid era affected everyone, including Mandela. This era opened up his eyes to the world he was now living in. In his I am prepared to die speech he recites “ I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination, I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and the achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”. This part of the speech shows the lengths he will go to in order for equality to happen and how bad inequality was in Africa at that time since he was “prepared to