1961: Lumumba's Last Letter

Patrice Lumumba under arrest

 in December 1960

 

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.

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