Patrice Lumumba: Poet, Revolutionary, and Freedom Fighter
Patrice Lumumba (July 2, 1925 –Jan. 17, 1961) was the first elected prime minister of the Republic of Congo. He ascended to power on June 30, 1960, the date of Congo’s independence from Belgium. Lumumba had a a vision of a united Congo with complete control over its economy and resources.
In December 1958, revolutionaries such as Lumumba, Shirley Graham DuBois, George Padmore and Kwame Nkrumah came together at the All-African Peoples Conference to plan a strategy for the total liberation of Africans and people of African descent worldwide. It was at the AAPC in Ghana that Lumumba became a known figure within liberation movement circles in Africa and the United States.
