Mobutu’s Legacy and Congo Today: A Discussion with Bridget Conley-Zilkic of the US Holocaust Museum
Thursday, March 27th, 2008
***Photo Mvemba Phezo Dizolele – Kinshasa La Belle
A discussion on Mobutu’s legacy with Bridget Conley-Zilkic of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: With me today is Mvemba Dizolele, who is a writer and journalist. Thank you and welcome to the show.
MVEMBA DIZOLELE: Thank you very much, Bridget, for having me.
BRIDGET CONLEY-ZILKIC: Can you take us back a little bit to the time you mentioned how young, for instance, Mobutu was at his first coup. At that moment, you have Congo coming out of its colonial period. What are the questions that the Congolese people are struggling with? What are the questions that will frame this new country?
MVEMBA DIZOLELE: The big questions of the day in 1960 or before 1960. One is freedom. People want freedom. Enough already, because the Belgians had been here since 1885. So people wanted independence. Remember, it’s after World War II, and some Congolese had fought in World War II. They’ve seen what else is out there. There’s this big movement called the Negritude. A lot of African writers living in Europe, especially in France writing about the black consciousness.