Lumumba's Last Letter
Written to His Wife Just Before His Death:
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