Speech at the Proclamation of the Independence of the Congo
Speech
"We are going to make the Congo the focal point for the development of all of Africa." Lumumba at the independence ceremony.
We are going to show the world what the black man can do when he works in freedom, and we are going to make the Congo the focal point for the development of all of Africa.
Notice the last clause: the Congo was not to develop for itself alone, but as the focal point for the development of all of Africa. Lumumba closed the speech with the cry "Long live independence and African unity!" Independence and unity were one sentence to him.
Context
At the official independence ceremony, before the King of the Belgians and the assembled dignitaries, Lumumba described what colonial rule had been: forced labour, insults, blows and segregation. Within months he was overthrown; he was executed on 17 January 1961, aged 35. Belgian archives hold an annotated typescript of the speech, and transcriptions in circulation differ.