“My dear companion,
I write you these
words without knowing if they will reach you, when they will reach you, or if I
will still be living when you read them. All during the length of my fight for
the independence of my country, I have never doubted for a single instant the
final triumph of the sacred cause to which my companions and myself have
consecrated our lives. But what we wish for our country, its right to an
honorable life, to a spotless dignity, to an independence without restrictions,
Belgian colonialism and its Western allies-who have found direct and indirect
support, deliberate and not deliberate among certain high officials of the
United Nations, this organization in which we placed all our confidence when we
called for their assistance-have not wished it.
Patrice Lumumba
They have corrupted
certain of our fellow countrymen, they have contributed to distorting the truth
and our enemies, that they will rise up like a single person to say no to a
degrading and shameful colonialism and to reassume their dignity under a pure
sun.
We are not alone.
Africa, Asia, and free and liberated people from every corner of the world will
always be found at the side of the Congolese. They will not abandon the light
until the day comes when there are no more colonizers and their mercenaries in
our country. To my children whom I leave and whom perhaps I will see no more, I
wish that they be told that the future of the Congo is beautiful and that it
expects for each Congolese, to accomplish the sacred task of reconstruction of
our independence and our sovereignty; for without dignity there is no liberty,
without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free
men.
No brutality,
mistreatment, or torture has ever forced me to ask for grace, for I prefer to
die with my head high, my faith steadfast, and my confidence profound in the
destiny of my country, rather than to live in submission and scorn of sacred
principles. History will one day have its say, but it will not be the history
that Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations will teach, but that
which they will teach in the countries emancipated from colonialism and its
puppets. Africa will write its own history, and it will be, to the north and to
the south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity.
Do not weep for me, my
dear companion. I know that my country, which suffers so much, will know how to
defend its independence and its liberty. Long live the Congo! Long live Africa!
Patrice”
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