Patrice Lumumba's Independent Day Speech
Click Image to see Lumumba's entire speech.
“Men and Women of the Congo,
Victorious fighters for independence, today victorious, I great you in the name of the Congolese government. All of you, my friends, who have fought tirelessly at our sides, I ask you to make this June 30, 1960, an illustrious date that you will keep indelibly engraved in your hearts, a date of significance of which you will teach to your children, so that they will make known to their sons and to their grandchildren the glorious history of our fight for liberty.”
This was the beginning of Patrice Lumumba’s speech about the Congo independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960. He opens his speech by thanking the citizens of Congo for staying strong in the struggle for independence, and supporting him and his followers. Lumumba goes on to explain how everything they had to sacrifice to win their freedom was worth it, and how everything they went through and gained will never be forgotten among the people. He continues to explain how the people in Congo had lived lives of poverty and nobody had helped them. Instead they were looked down upon for being black and were treated poorly by white people. The white people also took advantage of the power they had over them to make the people of Congo’s lives unfair, and sometimes even creating harsh punishments for little crimes or for none at all. Lumumba is trying to tell the citizens of Congo how what they have achieved will be the start for better lives for them, and is thanking them for everything they have contributed. This document is important because it shows how united and determined the citizens of Congo were in order to win their independence. It proves that those people are capable of much more than what people think of them, and all they need is that little push to get them started.
Victorious fighters for independence, today victorious, I great you in the name of the Congolese government. All of you, my friends, who have fought tirelessly at our sides, I ask you to make this June 30, 1960, an illustrious date that you will keep indelibly engraved in your hearts, a date of significance of which you will teach to your children, so that they will make known to their sons and to their grandchildren the glorious history of our fight for liberty.”
This was the beginning of Patrice Lumumba’s speech about the Congo independence from Belgium on June 30, 1960. He opens his speech by thanking the citizens of Congo for staying strong in the struggle for independence, and supporting him and his followers. Lumumba goes on to explain how everything they had to sacrifice to win their freedom was worth it, and how everything they went through and gained will never be forgotten among the people. He continues to explain how the people in Congo had lived lives of poverty and nobody had helped them. Instead they were looked down upon for being black and were treated poorly by white people. The white people also took advantage of the power they had over them to make the people of Congo’s lives unfair, and sometimes even creating harsh punishments for little crimes or for none at all. Lumumba is trying to tell the citizens of Congo how what they have achieved will be the start for better lives for them, and is thanking them for everything they have contributed. This document is important because it shows how united and determined the citizens of Congo were in order to win their independence. It proves that those people are capable of much more than what people think of them, and all they need is that little push to get them started.