The Wild Reed: University of Antwerp Honors Patrice Lumumba

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

University of Antwerp Honors Patrice Lumumba

Above: Patrice Lumumba pictured (center) in Brussels at the Belgo-Congolese Round Table Conference of 1960. (Photo: Harry Pot/Anefo/Wikimedia Commons)

Yesterday, January 17, 2023, was the 62nd anniversary of the assassination of Patrice Émery Lumumba (1925-1961), a leader of the Congolese independence movement who served as the first Prime Minister of the independent Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Republic of the Congo). Throughout much of his adult life Lumumba resisted colonialism and corporatism, a defiant stance that led to his murder during a coup backed by Belgium and the U.S.

“Lumumba lived and died fighting for the liberation of African people from the shackles of colonial powers,” notes Gauri Lankes News. “His legacy lives in the struggle of African nations against neo-imperialism.”

As I’ve noted previously, I first became aware of and interested in the life of Patrice Lumumba when I attended a special screening of Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck’s film Lumumba at the University of Minnesota Film Society in 2000. (Today, Peck is probably most well-known for his 2016 film based on the writings of James Baldwin, I Am Not Your Negro.)

According to The Guardian, Peak’s 2000 film, Lumumba, which features French actor Eriq Ebouaney in the title role, is a “commendable effort” and a “corrective to imperialism.”

After seeing the film shortly after its release, I did some research on Lumumba and found myself moved by the images that show him captured and bound while on his way to be executed. I was struck by his calm countenance, even as he no doubt knew what awaited him. To this day I find myself wondering if I could be so brave and calm in the face of torture and death.

In commemorating the life of Patrice Lumumba on the anniversary of his murder during a US-backed coup 62 years ago, I share a recent news story out of Belgium about a historic auditorium at the University of Antwerp being renamed in honor of Lumumba. As praiseworthy as this is, an official apology from the Belgium government for the atrocities of past colonial rule in Congo, Rwanda and Burundi is yet to be issued.

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Exactly 62 years after the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Patrice Lumumba was assassinated in 1961, the University of Antwerp (UAntwerp) will name a historic auditorium on its campus after him.

Lumumba will have an auditorium named after him in the main building that used to house the Colonial College (“Koloniale Hogeschool” in Dutch) on what is now Campus Middelheim. This campus has a direct link with the Belgian colonial past in Congo, Rwanda and Burundi as it was where men received an elite education before leaving to govern the colonies afterwards.

“With this name change, the University of Antwerp wants to contribute to an inclusive world,” Rector Herman Van Goethem [right] announced in a press release. “Just like in society at large, the debate about decolonisation is also alive at our university. The legacy of Belgium’s colonial past is still tangible.” In 1960, Lumumba became the first Prime Minister of the independent DRC and in that capacity denounced the exploitations and violence during Belgium’s colonial rule. On 17 January 1961, he was assassinated. “This was done in collaboration with Belgians and with the knowledge of the Belgian government,” said Van Goethem.

“In the decades after his death, Lumumba grew into an important symbol for emancipation, respect, equality and human rights,” he added. The university sees the name change as a tribute and a way to “make the communication about the colonial heritage and the atrocities possible and as a beacon of reflection about the world we want.”

The auditorium will be officially renamed on 31 March in the presence of Lumumba’s children and grandchildren. Every year in March, the University will organise special activities on inclusion and diversity for the broad target group of students and staff.

“Symbolic actions are strong and important, but not enough,” said Van Goethem. “We want to take our responsibility to rectify unjust international relations based on Western superiority and unequal economic-political interactions.”