1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:07,120 Speaker 1: On the first day of summer June twenty first, nineteen 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: seventy four, the heavyweight champion of the World, George Foreman, 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: sits for a rare press conference to share his thoughts 4 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 1: about his upcoming title fight, aka the Rumble in the Jungle. 5 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: Foreman tells the gathered sports. 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 2: Writers, there is a fight, supposedly. I don't believe that 7 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,720 Speaker 2: fights really take place until they actually happen, so there's 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 2: a chance, like everything, that things don't exist. 9 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: Turns out Foreman's casual prediction, his strange hesitation, was seemingly prescient. Indeed, 10 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: their original fight, scheduled for September twenty fourth, didn't exist 11 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: because Foreman suffers the cut over his eye thanks to 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,480 Speaker 1: his sparring partner, and thus the Ali Foreman title fight 13 00:00:50,640 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: is rescheduled for a little over five weeks later, and 14 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: so on September twentieth, at yet another press conference, this 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:02,600 Speaker 1: time in Zaire, George Foreman breaks the bad news. 16 00:01:03,320 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 2: I was very discouraged when the accident happened. A lot 17 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 2: of things run through your mind, especially five million dollars. 18 00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:14,920 Speaker 2: But then too, like Muhammad Ali, I think George Foreman. 19 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 3: Has paid his dues. 20 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 2: We fought all around the world and thrilled a lot 21 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 2: of fans, and I thought it was only right that 22 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 2: we should have a great performance here in a country 23 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 2: where we have so much in common with the people. 24 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: In that brief moment, Foreman, speaking of himself in the 25 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,760 Speaker 1: third person, lets his mean, mugging guard down. He tells 26 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,760 Speaker 1: reporters that he also wants to bring pride and glory 27 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:43,480 Speaker 1: home to the people of Africa. Yet when Foreman says it, 28 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: he sounds more like he's selling a timeshare to retirees. 29 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: It's a small but telling crack in the mask he 30 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: wears to cover his sensitive soul, and to the observant eye, 31 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: it's clear George Foreman has got something on his mind. 32 00:01:58,720 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 4: In the fighting. Your headspace is probably the most important thing. 33 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: That's the legendary rock photographer Lynn Goldsmith, who flew on 34 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,079 Speaker 1: that fateful flight to kinshasa to shoot the music festival, 35 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: and she stayed to cover the heavyweight title fight. She 36 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: tuned into the mental battle between the two boxers, knowing 37 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: that it would be key in the title bout to come, 38 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,160 Speaker 1: and she saw a great meaning in that elbow to 39 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: Foreman's face, the one that caused the fight postponement. 40 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 4: I think that shook him up, just his speign partner. 41 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: You know, bare deep laceration to the thin skin of 42 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: the face can be serious in boxing and. 43 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 4: Over the eye, I mean, you know that can open 44 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 4: up during a fight. 45 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: Foreman feels for the first time in a long time, 46 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:53,000 Speaker 1: he is vulnerable. At the press conference, Foreman knows he 47 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: needs to defend himself from Ali, who uses sportswriters as 48 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 1: foot soldiers for his narrative. While Foreman feels the pressure 49 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,720 Speaker 1: of this moment, Muhammad Ali is feeling quite the opposite. 50 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: He's out and about winning over the people of Zaire, 51 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: and when it came to hanging. 52 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 5: Out, Foreman much less so I don't remember seeing Foreman 53 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 5: at all. 54 00:03:13,320 --> 00:03:17,400 Speaker 1: That's the view from both photographer Lynn Goldsmith and Gary Stromberg. 55 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:22,920 Speaker 1: Gary says Ali's presence and Foreman's absence further endears Ali 56 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,799 Speaker 1: to the high profile artist, his famous friends and musicians 57 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: who finally arrive in Africa. Once they're in Conshasa, Ali 58 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: gets to spend time with Bill Withers at breakfast, hold 59 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: press conferences with James Brown, and afterward hang out with 60 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,720 Speaker 1: the R and B singer and songwriter Eda. James it 61 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: seems like Ali has all the cool people on his side. 62 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 5: They were drawn to him as opposed to Foreman. And 63 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 5: I mean there was everybody was for Ali. Nobody was 64 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 5: for Foreman among the musicians that I was aware of. 65 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: Meanwhile, there's Foreman who shows up in Zayir with his 66 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,080 Speaker 1: German shepherd that looks just like the police dogs the 67 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,320 Speaker 1: Belgians turned loose on the people of the Congo. Things 68 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: like that don't make it hard to see why the 69 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,720 Speaker 1: people of Zaire are also rooting for Ali. Muhammad. Ali 70 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 1: seems to make new fans whenever he goes out in public, 71 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:16,360 Speaker 1: like when he goes out jogging. The locals cheer him on. 72 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 5: Just rolling through the street in a bus or in 73 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 5: a vehicle, and the people on the roadside. 74 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: To them, he feels like they're champion. The most excited 75 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: are the young kids. They run alongside the people's champ 76 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: as he jogs. 77 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,599 Speaker 5: They join him. They'd run with him, the joy on 78 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:34,920 Speaker 5: their faces. 79 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: And these joyful kids would shout at their champ. 80 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 2: Ali boom ayey Ai boye Ali Boomaye. 81 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 5: Any time where there was more than a few people 82 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,720 Speaker 5: that they would start chanting that it was everywhere Ali Bumaye, 83 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 5: which is Ali kill him, which is heal so strange. 84 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 1: But Ali loves it, and Lynn Goldsmith recalls how Ali. 85 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 4: He seemed to be as happy as when you would 86 00:04:58,279 --> 00:04:59,280 Speaker 4: run with the kids. 87 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:04,080 Speaker 1: Cheers, they're elated faces. They seem to counter the self 88 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:08,280 Speaker 1: doubts that visit Ali in his darker moments. Lynn Goldsmith 89 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: got a glimpse of those doubts through the lens of 90 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: her camera. 91 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:18,719 Speaker 4: I was around him when he was very contemplative, not talking, 92 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,520 Speaker 4: and you might almost say he looked depressed. I have 93 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 4: pictures where he'ssed. I mean, that's what I felt. And 94 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 4: so I can't really explain him because he's very very 95 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 4: good at putting on a face. 96 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: That face, that persona he's able to put on it 97 00:05:38,320 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: masks his fears. Yet Ali still has to overcome those 98 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: doubts all the same. To do that, Ali relies on 99 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:48,120 Speaker 1: the people's belief in him. 100 00:05:48,560 --> 00:05:51,040 Speaker 5: He just connect not just as a fighter, but everything 101 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 5: that he stood for. What a courageous guy he was 102 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,680 Speaker 5: standing for principles and willing to give up, you know, 103 00:05:56,839 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 5: everything for his principles. 104 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:02,520 Speaker 1: And that ultimately is why they call him the People's champ. 105 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Rumble, the story of Ali Foreman and the 106 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: Soul Music of nineteen seventy four. I'm your host zarn Burnett, 107 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: the third from iHeart Podcast and School of Humans. This 108 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: is Rumble. Previously on Rumble. 109 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,599 Speaker 5: He pulls out a knife and he's walking down the 110 00:06:39,640 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 5: aisle enraged. He's going after James Brown. 111 00:06:43,720 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 6: I remember people coming down out to playing Bill Withers 112 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 6: and the the Spenders and the poet Sister Slids. 113 00:06:50,600 --> 00:06:53,440 Speaker 3: It was so many people bb king oh that it 114 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:54,280 Speaker 3: was unbelieved. 115 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 5: There was an entire troop of African dancers in costume 116 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 5: surrounding the plane welcoming up. 117 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 7: I was dancing my way to the bus because I 118 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,280 Speaker 7: was so happy to be in my motherland, Afrika. 119 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: George's eye ain't cut that bad. 120 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 3: It ain't the cut he's afraid of. 121 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 5: It's me. 122 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: I'm in shape and he ain't. 123 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 3: You saw how fat he is. He's about to lose 124 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 3: his title. 125 00:07:21,880 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: In the nineteen sixties and seventies, so much of what 126 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: Americans believe about Africa they learn from movies, TV shows, 127 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,200 Speaker 1: or the nightly news, all of which play up the violence, 128 00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: the dangers, and the deep dark jungles. So when this 129 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: planeload of Americans arrives in Zayre. It's quite the culture 130 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:45,000 Speaker 1: shock seeing Zaiir with their own eyes, smelling the aromas 131 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: dancing in the air, listening to the sounds of the city, 132 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,520 Speaker 1: and the music drifting out of windows, the folks stepping 133 00:07:51,520 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: off the plane and can Shasa find a much different Africa. 134 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 5: I'll tell you one little side story. The people in 135 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 5: Zayre are very poor and clothing is a big issue. 136 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:07,200 Speaker 5: The government puts out a bolt of cloth per person 137 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 5: every month, enough cloth to make an outfit out of 138 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:14,239 Speaker 5: either a dress or a shirt or a pair of pants. 139 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 5: And everybody in Zaire was entitled to one bolt of 140 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 5: cloth per month. This very cheap, thin cottonly twenty yards 141 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 5: worth per person. 142 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: Mabutu's monthly gift of free fabric for his people checks 143 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:32,760 Speaker 1: a few boxes. It's functional, tangible, and necessary. 144 00:08:32,720 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 5: The general population of Zaire, this was the only way 145 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 5: that they could clothe themselves. 146 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:40,920 Speaker 1: The gift in air quotes is also a weapon of 147 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 1: soft power. It's good pr that. 148 00:08:43,640 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 5: Every month the images on the bolt of cotton were 149 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 5: of Mabutu with some kind of expression in an artistic way, 150 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:53,440 Speaker 5: very bright colors. 151 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: However, the free bolts given out for September nineteen seventy four. 152 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:02,080 Speaker 1: The normal Mabutu emblazoned cloth is replaced by a special 153 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: rumble in the jungle. 154 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:07,040 Speaker 5: Addition, do you see people wearing the bolt of clothing 155 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 5: from that month, which was really wonderful. It was a 156 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 5: dark blue background with boxing gloves over the entire display, 157 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 5: and then in the middle of that was a huge 158 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 5: boxing glove with an image of Ali and an image 159 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:25,199 Speaker 5: of Format side by side. And it came in three colors. 160 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 5: It was chartruse yellow, it was pink, and it was 161 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 5: I think turquoise blue was the third color. Bright colors, 162 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,000 Speaker 5: and everybody anxiety was wearing something made out of that cloth. 163 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: Imagine a nation dressed in the faces of two black champions. 164 00:09:40,559 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: It's undeniably a cool visual. 165 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 5: I took a bolt to that cloth home with me 166 00:09:44,880 --> 00:09:46,440 Speaker 5: and I cut it up and I made it into 167 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,240 Speaker 5: an art piece. I have a beautiful art piece with 168 00:09:49,320 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 5: the picture of Ali and Foremant in the boxing gloves. 169 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:54,080 Speaker 5: I love it. It's my favorite piece of art I have. 170 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: We posted a picture on the School of Humans Instagram 171 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: if you want to take a look. Boo UTO's gift 172 00:10:00,880 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: to his people is memorable, iconic even and its symbolism 173 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: on a grand scale in service to the dictators slash kleptocrat. 174 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,719 Speaker 1: It's meant to tell a story, or rather to obscure 175 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: a story. At the time of the Rumble in the Jungle, 176 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,960 Speaker 1: many Zayreans still remember the nation they almost had, that 177 00:10:22,120 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: is before the West stole it from them and left 178 00:10:25,160 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: Mabutu in charge. And that nation would have looked very 179 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,840 Speaker 1: different because that nation was the dream of Patrice La Mumba. 180 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:37,959 Speaker 1: He was part of a generation of young, idealistic African 181 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: leaders who envisioned a bold future for their newly independent nations. 182 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 6: Kwame and Kroma and Patrice Lamumba, those two were the 183 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 6: top lights in terms of American negroes looking at Africa. 184 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:53,680 Speaker 1: As my Pops recalls, back in the sixties in the US, 185 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: the civil rights movement suffered devastating losses. The people bore 186 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 1: witness to the assassinations of Malcolm Martin, Luther King, Junior 187 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: MegaR Evers, those are just the most famous names. There's 188 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 1: also the murder of the four young black girls killed 189 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,560 Speaker 1: by a bomb placed in an Alabama church, and there's 190 00:11:11,600 --> 00:11:15,200 Speaker 1: the disappearance of freedom writers in Mississippi and the assassinations 191 00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 1: of numerous activists across the country. In short, there was 192 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: all kinds of violence in the US. Meanwhile, at that 193 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 1: same time, across the Atlantic in Africa, a generation of 194 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: young leaders steps forward, men not asking for nor demanding power. 195 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,520 Speaker 1: They are power. They are the leaders. And to Black 196 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,599 Speaker 1: Americans most notably, the young African leaders are confident. 197 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 6: They were very proud, decisive, non confrontational. They could be 198 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,319 Speaker 6: proud and decisive without being belligerent. And you felt all 199 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,360 Speaker 6: their power, and you also felt all the support that 200 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 6: the countries had for them. They both had proud bearings, 201 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 6: you know, none of that had in hand kind of shit. 202 00:11:58,559 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 6: They made you proud to see them. 203 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: It was very much the spirit of the times, a 204 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: new sense of black pride, and black folks in the 205 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: US very much notice what's going down in Africa. 206 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 8: The US had consistently let black people down in this country. 207 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 8: After Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, after they're assassinated, 208 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 8: I think that black people were searching for a sense 209 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 8: of whole, a sense of connection, especially in the nineteen seventies, 210 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 8: and connection included linking oneself to the African continent and 211 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 8: what that would look like the concerts iEAR seventy four 212 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 8: I think was part of that. 213 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: That's the voice of Veronica Lippencott. She directs the Africana 214 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:50,000 Speaker 1: Studies program at Hofstra University in New York. We asked 215 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:54,400 Speaker 1: doctor Lippincott about the Congo's transformation from the colonial era 216 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 1: to its liberation. 217 00:12:56,480 --> 00:13:01,640 Speaker 8: We can't have this conversation about what took place in 218 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 8: post World War two, during that decolonization period in Sub 219 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 8: Saharan Africa without mentioning and stressing the importance of how 220 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:15,559 Speaker 8: white supremacy plays into this all. You know, just this 221 00:13:15,800 --> 00:13:19,440 Speaker 8: belief that white people are superior than all other races. 222 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 9: You know, the white. 223 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,680 Speaker 8: Supremacy justified European colonialism in Africa, and I think we 224 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 8: can't lose sight of that. 225 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:30,320 Speaker 1: Well, the civil rights movement is heating up in the 226 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,880 Speaker 1: US from the late nineteen fifties into the early sixties. 227 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:38,960 Speaker 1: A bold, rather infectious, unifying spirit is also connecting the 228 00:13:38,960 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 1: peoples of Africa. This spirit transcends the borders drawn by 229 00:13:43,200 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: the European colonists, those lines on the map that disregard 230 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:52,680 Speaker 1: tribal boundaries and that sever cultural structures and traditions. This 231 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:58,040 Speaker 1: new organically African spirit is called pan Africanism. Only now 232 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 1: this is pan Africanism two points. For the original Pan Africanism, 233 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,400 Speaker 1: think Marcus Garvey and his Back to Africa movement in 234 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:09,560 Speaker 1: the nineteen twenties and thirties and its famous ship, the 235 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,480 Speaker 1: Black Star. Line with Pan Africanism two point zero. It's 236 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: Africa born and Africa focused, and it comes into its 237 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,560 Speaker 1: own as the people begin to cast off the shackles 238 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: of the West. This new vibe is best exemplified by 239 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 1: this generation of determined, young African born leaders, and consequently 240 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: many folks back in Black America grab onto this infectious, 241 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: empowering spirit that's sweeping the continent. 242 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:41,680 Speaker 6: My cousin Dorita her son al named his son Alfred 243 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:42,640 Speaker 6: in Kuma Tucker. 244 00:14:43,040 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 3: You know that's not when we were adopting. 245 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: In the mid to late sixties. My pop's a team 246 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:51,520 Speaker 1: curious about the wider world. He watched the nightly news 247 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: just like his neighbors. He was informed by the American 248 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: media of the day, which meant consequently, I. 249 00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 6: Had surprisingly little interest in Africa. My interest only was historical. 250 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: Hearing that now surprises me, knowing my pop says I do. 251 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: But looking back. He has his own take on his 252 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: adolescent disinterest in Africa, and he's also still mad at 253 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 1: the Africans because he knows European slave catchers ain't that fast. 254 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:20,960 Speaker 6: See the thing is, I never felt like I was 255 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 6: part of Africa because I couldn't know white people come 256 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:26,800 Speaker 6: to and catch me. So I know there's some Africans 257 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 6: who caught me and turned me over. So I had 258 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:33,960 Speaker 6: no romantic idea about Africa. 259 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:35,160 Speaker 3: I'm from New Jersey. 260 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: Aside from my pop's lingering resentments about slavery, as he 261 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: watched the news as a boy in New Jersey, he 262 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,760 Speaker 1: found the rush of newly liberated African nations captivating. 263 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:49,440 Speaker 6: They would show you the new president. They would show 264 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 6: you the queen when she was giving him that sovereignty 265 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:53,840 Speaker 6: and all that kind of shit. And then we followed 266 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:58,520 Speaker 6: the emerging nations as they came forward, each one. So 267 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:03,080 Speaker 6: in Kruma and god Jomo Kanyata in Kenya, Ben Bella 268 00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 6: in Algeria, La Mumba in the Congo, we would follow 269 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 6: all them, just as you follow a baseball team. 270 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: Well, he's a kid, and this sudden wave of liberation 271 00:16:14,320 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: and leaders is all so new that folks aren't yet cynical. 272 00:16:18,480 --> 00:16:22,480 Speaker 6: Everybody felt good because it showed that we were making 273 00:16:22,600 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 6: progress to being a civilized world. Now these people are 274 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 6: no longer going to be enslaved in their own countries, 275 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:30,760 Speaker 6: you know. 276 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:31,840 Speaker 3: Now they're free. 277 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: But of course the new power dynamic isn't that simple. 278 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: And the West, the former colonial powers, never give anything. 279 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:40,880 Speaker 3: Away for free. 280 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 1: There always has to be something in it for them. 281 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,600 Speaker 6: Of course, the hamstrung them with all kinds of bullshit, 282 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:51,880 Speaker 6: and then they left a quick, corrupt strong man in place. 283 00:16:52,200 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: For the Congo. That would be Mabutu. Doctor Veronica Lippencott 284 00:17:03,400 --> 00:17:06,439 Speaker 1: is the daughter of Kenyans. However, she was born and 285 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:09,719 Speaker 1: raised in the US and based on that cultural perspective. 286 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: Much like my pops. She also recalls learning from her 287 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: parents about the young Ghanaian leader who had helped make 288 00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,680 Speaker 1: Pan Africanism popular, made it real, made it a guiding 289 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: philosophy for the newly independent nations of Africa. That man's 290 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: name is Quame in Kruma. He was the young leader 291 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:31,480 Speaker 1: of the newly liberated Ghana. But not only that, he. 292 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:33,760 Speaker 9: Was really seen as the leader of Africa in many. 293 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:37,120 Speaker 1: Ways because Kuame and Kruma lived the struggle. 294 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:39,360 Speaker 9: He's studied in the United States. 295 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:43,399 Speaker 8: He came back to Ghana and he had a vision 296 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 8: for what. 297 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,480 Speaker 9: Was then called the Gold Coast, which is now Ghana. 298 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:48,639 Speaker 8: And keep in mind, this is a territory that was 299 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,280 Speaker 8: very wealthy due to its gold and its cocoa and 300 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:53,240 Speaker 8: its diamonds. 301 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:58,000 Speaker 1: West Africa is one of the most resource rich regions 302 00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:01,960 Speaker 1: of the world. The country's coal names reflect this. There's 303 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:06,080 Speaker 1: Ghana previously known as the Gold Coast, There's the Ivory 304 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: Coast or in French the Cote Devoir Lands of seemingly 305 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: endless wealth. After World War Two, the European powers recognized 306 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:18,720 Speaker 1: that their colonial possessions could no longer be held by force. 307 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,200 Speaker 1: One of the first to gain their freedom, Ghana. 308 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:25,359 Speaker 8: Becomes politically independent in nineteen fifty seven. 309 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: Ghana is at the vanguard of the coming wave of 310 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: liberation when it joins the Community of Nations. Its independence 311 00:18:32,800 --> 00:18:34,399 Speaker 1: is a major world event. 312 00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,040 Speaker 8: We had Martin Luther King and Richard Nixon. They came 313 00:18:38,119 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 8: to the independence ceremony. This was the time of a 314 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:43,000 Speaker 8: lot of really great optimism. 315 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 1: Quame and Kruma's plans for his new nation and the 316 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 1: African continent draw inspiration from the USA. 317 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:55,880 Speaker 8: He felt that there was a strength in numbers, and 318 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 8: he recognized Africa's place in the international state system, and 319 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 8: he believed that a United States of Africa was a 320 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 8: way to bring the continent together. 321 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:13,159 Speaker 1: ANEO conferences for it in Kruma is ultimately unsuccessful, in 322 00:19:13,240 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: part due to the Cold War and its geopolitical alignments, 323 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:20,960 Speaker 1: and in part because of his own devolution as a leader. 324 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 1: In Kruma's ambitious reforms are kneecapped by a failing economy. 325 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:30,920 Speaker 1: After surviving multiple assassination attempts, he represses his political opponents 326 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: and names himself President for life. The hero of the 327 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:41,400 Speaker 1: liberation movement becomes an authoritarian ruler. But the Pan African 328 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:46,000 Speaker 1: spirit behind his ideas continued to wash across the continent, 329 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:52,160 Speaker 1: renewing Bond's cleansing past wrongs, and in one dramatic year, 330 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:57,080 Speaker 1: the near majority of former European colonies in Africa all 331 00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:58,400 Speaker 1: win their independence. 332 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 8: Teen sixty was known as the Year of Africa. It 333 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 8: was an important watershed moment in the history of Sub 334 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:08,600 Speaker 8: Saharan Africa. You know, particularly the fact that the number 335 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 8: of independent countries increased that year from five to twenty 336 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,760 Speaker 8: two and namely, the countries that gained political independence that 337 00:20:15,840 --> 00:20:21,720 Speaker 8: year included the French colonies of Congo, Rezaville, Burkina Faso. 338 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:23,720 Speaker 9: Back then it was known as Upper Volta. 339 00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 8: Benin, Chad, Cot Bois, Cameroon, Gabon, Madagascar, Central African Republic, Mali, Mauritania, Nigers, Senegal, 340 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,119 Speaker 8: Somalia and Togo. And in terms of the former British colonies, 341 00:20:38,160 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 8: that year included Nigeria as well as Somalia, and then 342 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:45,200 Speaker 8: of course the Belgian colony of Congo Leoport. 343 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:49,320 Speaker 1: That year, it's a staggering list. By the end of 344 00:20:49,359 --> 00:20:53,640 Speaker 1: the decade, the vast majority of African nations secure independence 345 00:20:53,640 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: from colonial rule. This moment marks the turning point, a 346 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 1: hinge of history. However, it was also a bittersweet triumph. 347 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:06,639 Speaker 1: It's one step on an arduous road, one traveled by 348 00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,680 Speaker 1: a group of weary souls who've struggled toward freedom for decades, 349 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:12,879 Speaker 1: some would say for centuries. 350 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 8: I think it's important to keep in mind that there 351 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 8: was a long history of resistance that led up to 352 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:23,120 Speaker 8: nineteen sixty, you know. And also I think it's important 353 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 8: to note that the events of that year would have 354 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 8: been impossible, but for decades of determined resistance to colonial rule. 355 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 1: One man stands out among the bright lights of this 356 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:43,720 Speaker 1: resistance movement coursing through the continent. His name Patrice Lumumba. 357 00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:46,040 Speaker 7: I loved him, Are you kidding? 358 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:51,080 Speaker 1: Dancer for James Brown, Lowla Love enthusiastically remembers Lumumba. 359 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,919 Speaker 7: I've seen the footage of him standing up and being 360 00:21:55,080 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 7: so outspoken about taking his country back from this little 361 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 7: tiny country, Belgium, that was pulling all the natural resources 362 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 7: out and having the people slaughtered mutilated just to fill 363 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 7: the pockets of the King of Belgium. Okay, so he 364 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 7: stands up and he basically says no more, and they 365 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:18,879 Speaker 7: don't want to hear that. 366 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,879 Speaker 1: The scene plays out like this. There's a Belgian state 367 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:26,480 Speaker 1: event on June thirtieth, nineteen sixty to mark the handover 368 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:30,159 Speaker 1: of power to the newly independent nation of the Belgian Congo. 369 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 8: So on that day of political independence, you know, he 370 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:37,439 Speaker 8: had the Belgian king gives this really sort of tone 371 00:22:37,480 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 8: death patronizing speech, singing the praises of his granduncle, King 372 00:22:42,800 --> 00:22:43,760 Speaker 8: Leopold the Second. 373 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,480 Speaker 1: The Belgian king is King Badwin and his great granduncle 374 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 1: is King Leopold the Second, who by the way, is 375 00:22:52,320 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: roundly condemned for his atrocities against the Congolese people. Under 376 00:22:56,760 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: his rule, Belgians massacred and brutalized the people on a 377 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:06,639 Speaker 1: truly astounding scale. The numbers defy comprehension, and estimated ten 378 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,920 Speaker 1: million Congolese people died during his reign. King Leopold was 379 00:23:11,960 --> 00:23:15,680 Speaker 1: a truly horrific man of history, up there with the 380 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: worst that you can name, which is why any praise 381 00:23:19,119 --> 00:23:23,320 Speaker 1: of him soured the Independent ceremony. Anyway, back to the 382 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:27,480 Speaker 1: podium and this moment in time, the young Congolese man 383 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,120 Speaker 1: Patrice Lumumba strides up to the mic. 384 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 3: He was a. 385 00:23:31,520 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 8: Scheduled to speak that day, and he gives this fiery 386 00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:35,360 Speaker 8: impromptu speech. 387 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:36,920 Speaker 9: He attacks the Belgians. 388 00:23:37,119 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: He verbally runs down the equally young Belgian King Badwin, 389 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:45,879 Speaker 1: who's just finished speaking. This proud young black man speaks 390 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:50,080 Speaker 1: his truth to power. La Mumba says, quote, we. 391 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:54,360 Speaker 10: Who were elected bized the both of your representatives, representatives 392 00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 10: of the people, to guide our native land. We who 393 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,520 Speaker 10: have suffered in body and soul from the colonial oppression, 394 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,399 Speaker 10: we tell you that henceforth, all that is finished with 395 00:24:06,560 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 10: the Republic of the Congo has been proclaimed in Our 396 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:12,440 Speaker 10: beloved country's future is now with the hands of its 397 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:12,960 Speaker 10: own people. 398 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: The crowd thrills at this idea. Their future is in 399 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,840 Speaker 1: their hands. After a pause, La Mumba continues, the. 400 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,119 Speaker 10: Congo's independence is a decisive step towards the liberation of 401 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 10: the whole African continent. Our government of National and popular 402 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:36,960 Speaker 10: unity will service country. I call on all Congolese citizens, men, 403 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:42,440 Speaker 10: women and children to set themselves resolutely to the task 404 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 10: of creating a national economy and ensuring our economic independence. 405 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,160 Speaker 10: Eternal glory to the fighters for national liberation. Long live 406 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 10: independance and African unity. Long live the independent and sovereign Congo. 407 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: Young King bad One is not expecting such fiery words, 408 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:03,359 Speaker 1: No one did. 409 00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:07,320 Speaker 8: You can imagine the Belgian king was stunned. He actually 410 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 8: turned red. 411 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: This moment also signals the birth of real freedom for 412 00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,000 Speaker 1: the people of the Congo. 413 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,679 Speaker 8: Most European journalists were shocked by his speech. You know, 414 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:21,720 Speaker 8: even the Western media criticized him. Time magazine even wrote 415 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:24,879 Speaker 8: that his speech was a vicious attack and this really 416 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,760 Speaker 8: signaled the beginning of the end for La Mumba. 417 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,679 Speaker 1: La Mumba makes it clear that things will never be 418 00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:34,639 Speaker 1: the same. He is not going to be a mouthpiece 419 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: for the West. No, he plans to lead his country 420 00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,760 Speaker 1: toward real liberation and a future of their choosing. This 421 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,120 Speaker 1: arrangement is not at all what the Belgians expect. 422 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 8: Belgians really thought they would stay in that region and 423 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:53,640 Speaker 8: rule for at least another one hundred plus years, So 424 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:59,000 Speaker 8: that speech was quite significant, and it really speaks to 425 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 8: the fact that the Belgians, and I would say this 426 00:26:02,680 --> 00:26:07,080 Speaker 8: for all Western states at that time, really couldn't imagine 427 00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:11,399 Speaker 8: or believe that Africans could be politicized in any way. 428 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: That paternalistic attitude comes through loud and clear, because Belgians 429 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 1: and other colonizers believed in their hearts that they were 430 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:23,840 Speaker 1: superior to those savage negroes who they believed could not 431 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:29,240 Speaker 1: govern themselves. Instead, the West expects these emerging African nations 432 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:32,679 Speaker 1: to remain bound to their former colonial masters and to 433 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:37,960 Speaker 1: continue laboring for their various resourced extraction infrastructures. They expect 434 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:40,920 Speaker 1: that they will still be exploited, just with a new 435 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:44,480 Speaker 1: black leader who gets to hold the whip. This becomes 436 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 1: the new post liberation trend, first a liberator, then an autocrat. 437 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 1: In the Congo's case, the autocrat is Mabutu. 438 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:56,199 Speaker 6: But be that as it may. At that point we 439 00:26:56,240 --> 00:26:58,240 Speaker 6: didn't know that, so we were celebrating. 440 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: The African liberation movement still ignites the hopes of Black Americans, 441 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:06,639 Speaker 1: men and women, young and old, who were locked in 442 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,480 Speaker 1: their own fight for freedom. But in the halls of 443 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: US power in politics, those same new African nations were 444 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:18,239 Speaker 1: seen as fresh markets, rich in resources and labor, and 445 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: just learning to make their way in the world. Growing 446 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,639 Speaker 1: up learning about our world, my pops made sure I 447 00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:27,680 Speaker 1: always understood how power. 448 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:32,320 Speaker 6: Operates America is we tend to be extortionist. We want 449 00:27:32,359 --> 00:27:35,919 Speaker 6: you to take a hook, but at odd price, and 450 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 6: that's not how that works. 451 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:42,479 Speaker 1: So as these fledgling nations begin achieving independence, America seeks 452 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,000 Speaker 1: to capitalize, even if it means undermining them. But why 453 00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: why would America destabilize democracies, the very types of government 454 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:55,560 Speaker 1: it claims to champion throughout the Cold War? Short answer, fear, 455 00:27:56,080 --> 00:28:00,399 Speaker 1: or rather the Red scare. The fear of communism is 456 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:05,600 Speaker 1: so great that American presidential administrations from both parties see 457 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: these newly established African countries as wins or losses on 458 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:13,800 Speaker 1: the Cold War scoreboard. The fear that all these Third 459 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: World discontents might suddenly elect Kamis for their leaders drives 460 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: the West and their secretive plots to regain power by 461 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: propping up corrupt African leaders. That's the shorthand version you 462 00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: might hear in a history class. But my pops, he 463 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:29,760 Speaker 1: isn't buying that. 464 00:28:31,080 --> 00:28:33,480 Speaker 3: I never believed that they had any fear of the Rids. 465 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:35,200 Speaker 6: Since we won World War Two, I don't think any 466 00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 6: American president has ever been afraid. It's just I think 467 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 6: they used fear to mobilize support for unpopular positions. 468 00:28:43,360 --> 00:28:46,720 Speaker 1: This fear of a red planet gave America carte blanche 469 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:51,440 Speaker 1: to squash opposition on the domestic and international fronts. Consider 470 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: the parallel cases of Cuba and the former Belgian Congo 471 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:01,000 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty Both had recently won independence. Both nations 472 00:29:01,040 --> 00:29:04,640 Speaker 1: appealed to the United States for help to establish a healthy, 473 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,920 Speaker 1: functioning democracy, and both times the US said big nope. 474 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:13,440 Speaker 1: Veronica Lippincott frames this strategic rejection as part of a 475 00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: larger US power grap. 476 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 8: This overactually fear, which was imagined in many ways. But 477 00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:23,000 Speaker 8: you know, a lot of people lost their lives in 478 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 8: the midst of that, you know, and that was you know, 479 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,920 Speaker 8: central to Cold War politics. These proxy wars, particularly the CIA, 480 00:29:30,040 --> 00:29:32,479 Speaker 8: they decided who was going to rule, who was going 481 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 8: to be in power. 482 00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 9: And if the US didn't like them, they would be 483 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 9: taken out of power. 484 00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:40,120 Speaker 1: Instead of acting as a lighthouse of democracy in nineteen 485 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: fifty nine, in nineteen sixty, the Eisenhower administration treats international 486 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,280 Speaker 1: relations as if it. 487 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 8: Was just this game essentially, and so the threat of 488 00:29:51,960 --> 00:29:57,560 Speaker 8: anyone who was expressing their self determination for their country 489 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 8: and has a vision for their country is seen immediately 490 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:01,840 Speaker 8: as a threat. 491 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,600 Speaker 1: Go check the archives of declassified US government files to 492 00:30:05,640 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: see what kind of intelligence American spies were delivering during 493 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,000 Speaker 1: the Cold War. It may not surprise you to learn 494 00:30:12,440 --> 00:30:16,480 Speaker 1: the US helped quash the spirit of Pan Africanism two 495 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,760 Speaker 1: point zero and to do that, the CIA enlisted le 496 00:30:19,880 --> 00:30:25,040 Speaker 1: Mumba's enemies to shall we say, eliminate the threat. Now, 497 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: no clear execution order is ever given to the CIA 498 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 1: by President Eisenhower. Instead, the kill order is implied. No 499 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,880 Speaker 1: one actually needs to say the words. Based on the 500 00:30:37,040 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 1: Church Committee report on the CIA's activities overseas. We know 501 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 1: that President Eisenhower meets with his National Security Council on 502 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:50,520 Speaker 1: August eighteenth, nineteen sixty. Alan Dulles, the long serving head 503 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: of the CIA, says he's convinced they're witnessing a quote 504 00:30:54,400 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: classic communist takeover in Africa, and according to intelligence coming 505 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:02,920 Speaker 1: in from the Congo, quote, there may be little time 506 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 1: in which to take action to avoid another Cuba can't 507 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:10,360 Speaker 1: have another fidel. The next day, the director of CIA's 508 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 1: covert operation sends a cable to field agents in the Congo. 509 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:18,400 Speaker 1: The messages quote, you are authorized to proceed with operation. 510 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,760 Speaker 1: On August twenty sixth, Alan Dallies sends a follow up 511 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:27,080 Speaker 1: cable to the Leopold station officer offering a cash reward 512 00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:32,160 Speaker 1: of one hundred thousand dollars to insure Lamumba's removal. The 513 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:36,080 Speaker 1: head of the CIA covert operations would later testify that 514 00:31:36,160 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: it was his quote belief that the cable was a 515 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: circumlocucious means of indicating that the president wanted Lamumba killed. 516 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:47,760 Speaker 1: A Little more than a week later, on September fifth, 517 00:31:47,840 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty, acting with the full backing of the CIA, 518 00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:57,000 Speaker 1: President Kasavubu removes Patrice Lamumba as Prime Minister. His partner 519 00:31:57,040 --> 00:31:59,960 Speaker 1: in that coup Mabutu Seesi Siku. 520 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:04,640 Speaker 8: He was actually chief of staff of the first Congolese 521 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:07,200 Speaker 8: National Army, appointed by Patrice Lamumba. 522 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 1: Exactly one day after the coup and the CONGO, the 523 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: CIA station officer cables Washington with news that the head 524 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 1: of the Army, Mabutu, is quote serving as an advisor 525 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:23,080 Speaker 1: to a Congolese effort to eliminate La Mumba. A kill 526 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:27,200 Speaker 1: kit with a specifically designed poison is delivered to CIA 527 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,920 Speaker 1: agents to accomplish the dark deed, but before that can 528 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:34,680 Speaker 1: be used, Patrice Lamumba is captured, handed over to Congolese 529 00:32:34,800 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 1: forces who kill him on their own. 530 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:41,600 Speaker 8: About two hundred days after DRC became politically independent, he 531 00:32:41,800 --> 00:32:42,680 Speaker 8: was assassinated. 532 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 7: The next thing you know, he disappears and Mabutu arises. 533 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:51,840 Speaker 6: We knew the CIA had killed Lamumbu, so whoever they 534 00:32:51,880 --> 00:32:53,840 Speaker 6: put in is going to be their man. And that's 535 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,240 Speaker 6: why it was when when Mabutu was the one that emerged, 536 00:32:57,480 --> 00:32:59,360 Speaker 6: I knew he was the CIA's choice. 537 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: As low Love puts it, the writing was on the wall. 538 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,320 Speaker 7: There still getting what they were getting before, but with 539 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:08,560 Speaker 7: a black face in front, just. 540 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:11,480 Speaker 1: Like how the season of assassinations of great leaders in 541 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,720 Speaker 1: the US during the nineteen sixties bled out the energies 542 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:18,280 Speaker 1: of the movements those men led. In that same way, 543 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:22,400 Speaker 1: the murder of Patrice Lamumba kills not only the man 544 00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:23,600 Speaker 1: but his movement. 545 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:26,280 Speaker 7: As you really need to go check out Patrice Lamumba. 546 00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:29,600 Speaker 7: He was a force and a voice that was so 547 00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:35,200 Speaker 7: powerful and just bringing the people together to stamp in 548 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:36,479 Speaker 7: solitude united. 549 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:37,560 Speaker 9: They just cut it off. 550 00:33:37,920 --> 00:33:41,280 Speaker 1: As a result, a dark cynicism emerges in the Congo. 551 00:33:41,600 --> 00:33:44,920 Speaker 1: This is when any real and lasting hope for a 552 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 1: brighter future begins to die. 553 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:56,080 Speaker 8: The US didn't realize how significant Lamumba's assassination was, especially 554 00:33:56,120 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 8: for Africans, and I would say broadly the African asp 555 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 8: because the outrage that was expressed after Lamumba's assassination. I 556 00:34:07,280 --> 00:34:09,680 Speaker 8: don't think the US government thought they would get such 557 00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 8: a global response and reaction. 558 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:14,400 Speaker 6: So as a result, we got blocked out of most 559 00:34:14,400 --> 00:34:17,560 Speaker 6: of Africa because of how we treated La Momba, because 560 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:18,600 Speaker 6: nobody else trusted us. 561 00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:23,000 Speaker 1: But what if there had been a United States of Africa, 562 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:27,280 Speaker 1: A Union of nation states, free to determine its fate, 563 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:33,000 Speaker 1: supported by its own vast resources, indivisible and uncorrupted by 564 00:34:33,040 --> 00:34:34,000 Speaker 1: outside forces. 565 00:34:34,400 --> 00:34:36,439 Speaker 8: It would have been really interesting to know what would 566 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:41,080 Speaker 8: have happened if in Kruma's vision was realized, but it wasn't. 567 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:46,360 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, Instead, Ghana and the Congo take much different paths, 568 00:34:46,800 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: and there is no United States of Africa. 569 00:34:50,080 --> 00:34:52,239 Speaker 9: With Lamumba out of the way, who do you get 570 00:34:52,280 --> 00:34:56,879 Speaker 9: in place? You get Muvutu. You know who's the biggest. 571 00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:00,560 Speaker 8: Kleptocrat you can imagine? So and we do the bidding 572 00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:03,360 Speaker 8: of the United States. Has it lined his pockets. He 573 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:07,280 Speaker 8: stole from his people millions of millions of dollars, put them. 574 00:35:07,160 --> 00:35:08,640 Speaker 9: In Swiss banks. 575 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:12,280 Speaker 8: And you know, while his peoples are completely impoverished. 576 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:15,240 Speaker 9: You know, it's horrible, It's absolutely horrible. 577 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,520 Speaker 1: You could say Mabutu represents the lost promise of the 578 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 1: newly liberated Africa. There was once so much hope for 579 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,440 Speaker 1: what could take shape in the postcolonial nations, but instead 580 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:39,239 Speaker 1: came Mabutu. He and others like him lay the groundwork 581 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:43,239 Speaker 1: for the corruption and cruelty, the resource theft and exploitation 582 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:46,440 Speaker 1: that still ravages the nations of Africa today. 583 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:52,360 Speaker 6: To me, he was so nakedly opportunistic and devoid of honor. 584 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,400 Speaker 6: All to honor he had was by parroting what Lemmba 585 00:35:56,480 --> 00:36:00,480 Speaker 6: had already said, none of which he believed the people 586 00:36:00,520 --> 00:36:03,000 Speaker 6: he was talking to believed, So he would say that 587 00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:04,880 Speaker 6: to them and then go back and do what he 588 00:36:04,960 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 6: wanted to do. And that's why he stayed in power 589 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:09,240 Speaker 6: so long. All he wanted was power. 590 00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:13,440 Speaker 1: In Mabutu Zayir, the very fabric of reality is handed 591 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:16,440 Speaker 1: out to the public along with those bolts of fabric 592 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:19,919 Speaker 1: designed to venerate the dictator. You see, when he comes 593 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,719 Speaker 1: to power, Mabutu remodels everyday life for the people. He 594 00:36:23,760 --> 00:36:26,720 Speaker 1: says it's in order to create his idea of their 595 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 1: postcolonial African identity. At the heart of all of his efforts, 596 00:36:31,160 --> 00:36:35,080 Speaker 1: Mabutu wishes to create a new story for Zayir. That's 597 00:36:35,160 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 1: because above all, Mabutu is a storyteller. Long before he 598 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:42,600 Speaker 1: had any dreams of power on the global stage, Mabutu 599 00:36:42,640 --> 00:36:46,000 Speaker 1: made his living as a journalist. Telling stories was literally 600 00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:50,320 Speaker 1: his day job. Thus, he recognizes that a new African 601 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:54,040 Speaker 1: story is something urgently needed to repair and rebuild what 602 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 1: the former European colonists have left behind to help shed 603 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:03,480 Speaker 1: those harmful racist narratives of colonialism. Mabutu's stated goal is 604 00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:07,359 Speaker 1: to reimagine the former Belgian Congo as a new nation 605 00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:11,719 Speaker 1: and as a new culture, while also reconnecting it to 606 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:15,759 Speaker 1: the country's long lost African past. This is how he 607 00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:19,880 Speaker 1: will prepare his people for their new glorious future. He 608 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:25,479 Speaker 1: calls his program of African re education Authenticite. It's rather 609 00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:29,480 Speaker 1: ironic that the word is still French, but Mabutu's new idea, 610 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:33,120 Speaker 1: Authenticite is a laudable goal. The idea is. 611 00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:37,399 Speaker 4: That supposedly everyone's getting back to their African roots. 612 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:40,880 Speaker 1: Yet there are few who have the skills or training 613 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,279 Speaker 1: to make it happen. To provide these stories of the 614 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: past and construct Mabutu's plans for the future, there's no 615 00:37:47,239 --> 00:37:50,359 Speaker 1: real professional class. This is due to the fact that 616 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:54,440 Speaker 1: very few black Zayrians graduated college in the nineteen fifties. 617 00:37:54,920 --> 00:37:59,839 Speaker 8: I've seen different numbers, but anywhere from about twenty university graduates. 618 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:03,960 Speaker 1: Twenty as in less than two dozen. That's insane. And 619 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:07,400 Speaker 1: that's also how sometimes just one man can make a 620 00:38:07,440 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: big difference in such a chaotic moment of change, especially 621 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:14,680 Speaker 1: when that one man has so little competition and has 622 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:19,680 Speaker 1: no moral limitations. After Mabutu deposes his predecessor and he 623 00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:22,840 Speaker 1: takes power, he institutes a wave of social changes to 624 00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:26,440 Speaker 1: foster and create this new spirit of nationalism. For instance, 625 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,359 Speaker 1: Mabutu issues a sweeping declaration that the people's names from 626 00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:33,720 Speaker 1: back in the days of Belgian rule are now officially illegal. 627 00:38:34,160 --> 00:38:39,839 Speaker 4: Mabutu had outlawed many of their names because they were 628 00:38:40,120 --> 00:38:45,560 Speaker 4: French names and they had to find African names. 629 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,839 Speaker 8: He orchestrated this campaign to rid the country of any 630 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:54,720 Speaker 8: sort of lingering vestiges of colonialism, and that included the names. 631 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:55,000 Speaker 4: Right. 632 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,640 Speaker 8: So we have actually my parents' best friends, the close 633 00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 8: family friends of ours, you know, they when they were 634 00:39:01,560 --> 00:39:04,120 Speaker 8: living in the United States and they had to, you know, 635 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:07,040 Speaker 8: change their their names and city. 636 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:07,720 Speaker 9: Names were changed. 637 00:39:07,719 --> 00:39:12,160 Speaker 8: So Leoville was then renamed Kinshasa. 638 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:14,160 Speaker 1: Aka the location for the festival and the Rumble in 639 00:39:14,239 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: the Jungle. This same name change mandate is also how 640 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:24,239 Speaker 1: Joseph Desire Mabutu becomes Mabutu, sees Cikukoko and Bandu Waza 641 00:39:24,239 --> 00:39:27,960 Speaker 1: Banga and It's also how the Belgian Congo became Zayir. 642 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:32,200 Speaker 1: But it isn't just the names that Mabutu demands be changed. 643 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:37,319 Speaker 1: He intends to redefine absolutely every aspect of Zaire and 644 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:40,680 Speaker 1: culture for his people. He also changes his appearance to 645 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:44,839 Speaker 1: make it appear more authentique as well. His new look 646 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:47,400 Speaker 1: makes it clear to his people that Mabutu is putting 647 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:49,000 Speaker 1: the Kaibash. 648 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:50,680 Speaker 9: On Western style clothing. 649 00:39:50,480 --> 00:39:54,960 Speaker 1: And by extension, Western influence. So instead Mabutu starts to 650 00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:56,239 Speaker 1: wear those. 651 00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,920 Speaker 8: Mause style tunics that you saw a lot of political 652 00:39:58,960 --> 00:40:00,680 Speaker 8: actors at the time wearing. 653 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:05,000 Speaker 1: Mabutu tops off this new look with a very African 654 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:08,520 Speaker 1: coated leopard skin toque. The hat helps give him a 655 00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:12,240 Speaker 1: distinctive look. It's the new look for a sub Saharan 656 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:16,839 Speaker 1: African strong man, animal prints and designer sunglasses. It's on 657 00:40:16,960 --> 00:40:20,359 Speaker 1: par with the iconic world leaders like Chairman Mao or 658 00:40:20,520 --> 00:40:26,680 Speaker 1: Fidel Castro. But Veronica Lippencott believes Mabutu's true motivations for 659 00:40:26,719 --> 00:40:29,759 Speaker 1: his change in dress was less to do with his 660 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:32,240 Speaker 1: affinity for the look of communist leaders. 661 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:34,600 Speaker 8: But I think he just did this as a way 662 00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,480 Speaker 8: to in some way separate himself a little bit from. 663 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:40,839 Speaker 9: The long arm of the US state. 664 00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:46,720 Speaker 8: Bhutu is all about Bibutu, and however he can gain 665 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:50,239 Speaker 8: support and consolidate his power, I think he would do that. 666 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:53,680 Speaker 1: Another way to consolidate his power is to turn the 667 00:40:53,800 --> 00:40:57,240 Speaker 1: learned and the intelligentsia into another tool of his agenda. 668 00:40:57,560 --> 00:41:02,319 Speaker 1: Mabotu reforms the non existent university system and he establishes 669 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,040 Speaker 1: new universities, and he changes the curriculum so that classes 670 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:09,040 Speaker 1: now teach stories he prefers, and so that he can 671 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:13,120 Speaker 1: also indoctrinate young Zayirians with pro Mabutu propaganda. 672 00:41:13,719 --> 00:41:16,520 Speaker 8: I think that speaks to his skill set, you know, 673 00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:20,840 Speaker 8: to create this narrative and rewrite history. That's that's the 674 00:41:20,880 --> 00:41:25,400 Speaker 8: playbook of an authoritarian. You know, when they recreate history. 675 00:41:25,440 --> 00:41:29,040 Speaker 1: If you replace troublesome facts with more pleasing fictions. The 676 00:41:29,120 --> 00:41:31,800 Speaker 1: trouble is there's still the ache of the present moment, 677 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:36,160 Speaker 1: there's still people's lived reality, and no story can ever 678 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:37,520 Speaker 1: quell hunger pangs. 679 00:41:38,160 --> 00:41:41,719 Speaker 8: I think that he believe that people would find it compelling. 680 00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:45,080 Speaker 8: But when you see a man with millions and millions 681 00:41:45,080 --> 00:41:48,800 Speaker 8: of dollars and you're living in abject poverty. I'm sure 682 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:52,400 Speaker 8: the Congoese people questioned him, but they didn't have a. 683 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:56,720 Speaker 9: Voice for so long to express their outrage, so to speak. 684 00:41:57,200 --> 00:42:01,760 Speaker 1: That's because, unfortunately Mabutu's promised path to reconnect his people's 685 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:05,520 Speaker 1: roots with the realities of their modern African identities, all 686 00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:08,960 Speaker 1: the name changes, new fashions, old stories, and fake new history. 687 00:42:09,400 --> 00:42:13,200 Speaker 1: It leads not into redemption and rebirth. Instead, it leads 688 00:42:13,239 --> 00:42:18,080 Speaker 1: the people into a life of brutal, systemic repression. Violence 689 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:21,480 Speaker 1: becomes the preferred tool Mabutu wields to build his nation 690 00:42:21,719 --> 00:42:25,560 Speaker 1: in his image and maintain order under his rule, and 691 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,680 Speaker 1: mabutu soldiers have plenty of guns to persuade the people. 692 00:42:30,440 --> 00:42:35,320 Speaker 4: I remember very clearly the militia there with the guns 693 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:39,160 Speaker 4: and their helmets because it was hot out, so to 694 00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:44,160 Speaker 4: see these people in helmets and years or whatever. As 695 00:42:44,200 --> 00:42:49,480 Speaker 4: an American, it's very strange to see militia at the 696 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:51,800 Speaker 4: airport with guns. 697 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:54,480 Speaker 1: Along with those men with guns that seem to be 698 00:42:54,680 --> 00:42:58,000 Speaker 1: everywhere and anywhere. In the weeks just before the festival 699 00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,960 Speaker 1: and the fight. There are also the these giant billboards 700 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:05,840 Speaker 1: looming over the people. They advertised the upcoming rumble in 701 00:43:05,880 --> 00:43:09,439 Speaker 1: the jungle from high over the streets of kinshasa One 702 00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:13,959 Speaker 1: billboard reads a fight between two blacks in a black nation, 703 00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:18,120 Speaker 1: organized by blacks and seen by the whole world. That 704 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:22,280 Speaker 1: is a victory of Mabutism. The messages are in French, 705 00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:26,320 Speaker 1: but the influence of the Soviet era sloganeering is clear. 706 00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:31,240 Speaker 1: Great national pride underscored by a persistent threat of repressive violence. 707 00:43:32,000 --> 00:43:34,680 Speaker 5: This was a dictatorship out and out, you know, and 708 00:43:34,760 --> 00:43:37,719 Speaker 5: people were terribly fearful of this guy. You could feel it. 709 00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:42,640 Speaker 1: While Gary Stromberg cherishes the time he spends his pr 710 00:43:42,719 --> 00:43:46,000 Speaker 1: guy for the festival in Zayir, that same role puts 711 00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:48,720 Speaker 1: him squarely up against Mabutu's people. 712 00:43:49,239 --> 00:43:52,560 Speaker 5: I knew Mabutu's reputation. I knew that underneath the stadium 713 00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:55,440 Speaker 5: they had used to torture people, that there were hundreds 714 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:58,640 Speaker 5: of people that supposedly had been slaughtered there. So you know, 715 00:43:58,680 --> 00:44:01,759 Speaker 5: I wasn't aware of detail, but I was aware there 716 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:06,080 Speaker 5: was a danger and that the military they don't speak English. 717 00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:09,960 Speaker 5: It's not an English speaking country, so you hear conversations 718 00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:12,920 Speaker 5: that you don't understand. You see military people talking to 719 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,240 Speaker 5: each other. You don't understand. That was an ominous feeling. 720 00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,960 Speaker 1: Lynn Goldsmith also heard the dark rumors of a torture 721 00:44:19,040 --> 00:44:22,080 Speaker 1: pit hidden under the stadium remade into the venue for 722 00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:24,600 Speaker 1: the three day music festival and the heavyweight title fight. 723 00:44:26,200 --> 00:44:31,520 Speaker 4: A number of people had their pockets picked, journalists or 724 00:44:31,719 --> 00:44:38,160 Speaker 4: people who were there, right, and supposedly Mabutu had all 725 00:44:38,400 --> 00:44:46,120 Speaker 4: the known pickpockets arrested, lined up and shot. Now did 726 00:44:46,120 --> 00:44:51,399 Speaker 4: I see that? No? But did that rumor run, whether 727 00:44:51,440 --> 00:44:53,640 Speaker 4: it was a rumor or not, did that bit of 728 00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:58,200 Speaker 4: information run amongst all of us. 729 00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:01,160 Speaker 1: You bet your ass did. And as Lyn Surmi the time. 730 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:04,080 Speaker 4: Who knows if they were really guilty or not. But 731 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:07,960 Speaker 4: it didn't matter to him, because what mattered to him 732 00:45:08,239 --> 00:45:11,680 Speaker 4: was that while all this press was there, there wouldn't 733 00:45:11,719 --> 00:45:16,080 Speaker 4: be any more pickpocketing. There wouldn't be any more crime 734 00:45:16,760 --> 00:45:21,600 Speaker 4: while press was there. But that was really radical. It 735 00:45:21,719 --> 00:45:24,560 Speaker 4: seemed more like in the movies, but no, it was 736 00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:25,400 Speaker 4: real life. 737 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,480 Speaker 1: While Mbutu presents one face to his people, he offers 738 00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:33,319 Speaker 1: a very different face to his Western guests. It's a 739 00:45:33,400 --> 00:45:38,000 Speaker 1: visage of strength, safety, stability, and above all, it's meant 740 00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:41,439 Speaker 1: to convince outsiders that Zayr is worthy and ready for 741 00:45:41,440 --> 00:45:42,440 Speaker 1: foreign investment. 742 00:45:43,080 --> 00:45:48,440 Speaker 4: He wanted to bring money into his country, and I 743 00:45:48,600 --> 00:45:55,000 Speaker 4: can't blame him for wanting to initiate business in a 744 00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:59,960 Speaker 4: country that's fighting to survive, just in terms of food. 745 00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:02,479 Speaker 1: You can change your hat and change the people's names, 746 00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:04,880 Speaker 1: change how people dress, change the names of the cities 747 00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:08,240 Speaker 1: and the country, change all you like, but Mabutu Zayir 748 00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:13,560 Speaker 1: was still no different than exploitation by the former Belgian masters. Also, 749 00:46:13,840 --> 00:46:17,080 Speaker 1: let's be even more real about it. Looming over everything 750 00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:20,760 Speaker 1: is the very real possibility that while all the eyes 751 00:46:20,800 --> 00:46:23,160 Speaker 1: of the world are on the Congo and all the 752 00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:25,960 Speaker 1: powers that be in the nation are focusing on Zaire 753 00:46:26,040 --> 00:46:29,640 Speaker 1: seventy four and the rumble in the jungle, some well 754 00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:33,480 Speaker 1: armed rebel forces might decide it's the perfect time to 755 00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:34,919 Speaker 1: stage a bloody coup. 756 00:46:35,320 --> 00:46:37,439 Speaker 5: I tried to keep blinders on and not think about 757 00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:38,800 Speaker 5: what else was possible. 758 00:46:39,239 --> 00:46:42,200 Speaker 4: I didn't know that much about the politics of everything, 759 00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:46,520 Speaker 4: you know. What I knew was that this would bring 760 00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:50,440 Speaker 4: attention to a certain part of the world that struggles, 761 00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:55,520 Speaker 4: and when it brings attention, it brings corporate money, okay, 762 00:46:56,000 --> 00:47:01,000 Speaker 4: And so it would be really exciting because there would 763 00:47:01,040 --> 00:47:06,640 Speaker 4: be such a focus right on those people, on the 764 00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:10,759 Speaker 4: situations that they live in. I really felt that they 765 00:47:12,239 --> 00:47:14,600 Speaker 4: they were suppressed from who they were. 766 00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:18,080 Speaker 1: You see, thanks to her camera lens, Lynn could see 767 00:47:18,120 --> 00:47:19,399 Speaker 1: through Mabutu's hype. 768 00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:25,160 Speaker 4: I felt that about Mabutu's kind of agenda. I didn't 769 00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:30,560 Speaker 4: think it was really about claiming your blackness, your africanness, 770 00:47:30,600 --> 00:47:34,279 Speaker 4: your truth. Some of that was great, but I felt 771 00:47:34,360 --> 00:47:38,520 Speaker 4: it was more this individual man's power trip. 772 00:47:39,160 --> 00:47:43,719 Speaker 1: She could see Mabutu's penchant for violence momentarily hidden from view, 773 00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:47,400 Speaker 1: there just below the surface of his performance as a beloved, 774 00:47:47,480 --> 00:47:52,320 Speaker 1: benevolent ruler hosting an event designed to impress his international guests. 775 00:47:52,840 --> 00:47:57,640 Speaker 4: There was an event at the stadium before the festival. 776 00:47:57,880 --> 00:48:01,240 Speaker 4: It was daylight and they were all there. I have pictures. 777 00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:04,880 Speaker 4: Al Lee was there, Don King was there, George Foreman 778 00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:10,760 Speaker 4: was there. But one of the African groups started singing 779 00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:11,360 Speaker 4: a song. 780 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:13,959 Speaker 1: Of course, Lynn had her camera with her. 781 00:48:14,400 --> 00:48:18,719 Speaker 4: I did get pictures and stuff, and I followed Mabutu 782 00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:23,920 Speaker 4: as he walked around the stadium waving his cane. He 783 00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:27,880 Speaker 4: had this kind of cane and he had like this 784 00:48:28,120 --> 00:48:29,520 Speaker 4: leftward type hat. 785 00:48:29,920 --> 00:48:32,680 Speaker 1: At one point, Mabotu gives an order and a cadre 786 00:48:32,800 --> 00:48:34,840 Speaker 1: of armed men storm into the stadium. 787 00:48:35,360 --> 00:48:39,080 Speaker 4: All these soldiers come out of nowhere, turn their guns 788 00:48:39,760 --> 00:48:43,280 Speaker 4: on this group as well as on the crowd. 789 00:48:43,880 --> 00:48:47,160 Speaker 1: Assault rifles are pointed at the boxers, the press, and 790 00:48:47,239 --> 00:48:49,960 Speaker 1: the stars of the show as the young military men 791 00:48:50,120 --> 00:48:52,280 Speaker 1: scan for some unseen threat. 792 00:48:52,880 --> 00:48:56,600 Speaker 4: I remember me and a German photographer were like, whoa 793 00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:00,600 Speaker 4: you know? And we stepped back and they had to 794 00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:04,960 Speaker 4: wait for Mabutu to give a signal. It was pretty scary. 795 00:49:05,280 --> 00:49:10,959 Speaker 4: I'd never seen anything like him, so that's my strongest 796 00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:13,440 Speaker 4: memory of Mabuchu. 797 00:49:14,960 --> 00:49:18,760 Speaker 1: Why does Mabuchu arrange this terrifying flex of his power, 798 00:49:19,520 --> 00:49:23,360 Speaker 1: Simple because he can, which is also the very same 799 00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:27,000 Speaker 1: reason why he sets his romantic sights on Lynn Goldsmith. 800 00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:31,719 Speaker 4: Mabutu found out where I was staying in my hotel 801 00:49:32,200 --> 00:49:36,839 Speaker 4: and kept doing his best to get me to have 802 00:49:37,000 --> 00:49:42,080 Speaker 4: dinner with him, to go here or there with him. Remember, 803 00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:46,360 Speaker 4: he didn't want any of his constituents, if that's what 804 00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:49,160 Speaker 4: she want to call them, to deal with any kind 805 00:49:49,200 --> 00:49:53,359 Speaker 4: of whiteness. But he was definitely after me because it 806 00:49:53,440 --> 00:49:54,320 Speaker 4: was scary. 807 00:49:55,360 --> 00:49:58,800 Speaker 1: There are very few things that are scarier than saying 808 00:49:58,880 --> 00:49:59,399 Speaker 1: no to. 809 00:49:59,360 --> 00:50:02,440 Speaker 4: A horny You know, you didn't know what a no 810 00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:05,160 Speaker 4: would mean. Were you gonna disappear? 811 00:50:05,880 --> 00:50:09,720 Speaker 1: That cold, unshakable fear she felt slithering up her spine. 812 00:50:10,200 --> 00:50:13,239 Speaker 4: That's that was why I wasn't going to lunch with Mabu. 813 00:50:13,520 --> 00:50:17,440 Speaker 1: Lynn Goldsmith was lucky she somehow avoids Mabutu during her stay. 814 00:50:17,840 --> 00:50:20,120 Speaker 1: But this is not the case for the people who 815 00:50:20,200 --> 00:50:25,799 Speaker 1: live in Zaiir. They are stuck with him. Meanwhile, there's 816 00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:29,120 Speaker 1: James Brown's dancer, Low the Love. She's never been to 817 00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:31,920 Speaker 1: Africa before and for her, all of this just feels 818 00:50:32,080 --> 00:50:33,000 Speaker 1: very exciting. 819 00:50:33,840 --> 00:50:35,880 Speaker 7: First of all, you have to understand we got anything 820 00:50:35,920 --> 00:50:38,680 Speaker 7: and everything we wanted at that hotel. We were there 821 00:50:38,719 --> 00:50:40,440 Speaker 7: for like to me, it was a long time, but 822 00:50:41,239 --> 00:50:43,840 Speaker 7: whatever we needed we were taken care of. 823 00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:45,600 Speaker 9: And that's never happened. 824 00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:48,480 Speaker 1: She's used to traveling with James Brown and let's just 825 00:50:48,520 --> 00:50:52,239 Speaker 1: say the godfather of Saul was not generous or you 826 00:50:52,280 --> 00:50:54,840 Speaker 1: know what, we can just say it. The man is cheap. 827 00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:58,239 Speaker 7: When we toured with James Brown, he only took care 828 00:50:58,440 --> 00:51:01,279 Speaker 7: of the accommodations when you work. So if we're on 829 00:51:01,320 --> 00:51:03,880 Speaker 7: the road for a whole week, so our last performance 830 00:51:03,960 --> 00:51:05,880 Speaker 7: is a Sunday night. We get on a bus, we 831 00:51:05,920 --> 00:51:07,759 Speaker 7: go to the next town. If we get there on 832 00:51:07,840 --> 00:51:12,760 Speaker 7: Monday or Tuesday, we're responsible for our accommodations and our food. 833 00:51:12,920 --> 00:51:15,920 Speaker 3: Here we are in Africa, and it's. 834 00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:17,799 Speaker 7: The first time I don't have to pay for my 835 00:51:18,480 --> 00:51:20,040 Speaker 7: accommodations and food. 836 00:51:20,480 --> 00:51:21,320 Speaker 5: It was Heaven. 837 00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:25,040 Speaker 1: So how does Lola Love enjoy her trip to Heaven? 838 00:51:25,480 --> 00:51:28,520 Speaker 7: I got to go to the marketplace and meet the 839 00:51:28,560 --> 00:51:29,320 Speaker 7: different people. 840 00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:34,240 Speaker 1: However, Lola has another dictator keeping tabs on her, namely 841 00:51:34,360 --> 00:51:35,319 Speaker 1: her boss. 842 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:40,360 Speaker 7: But James Brown. He does not like his entourage to 843 00:51:40,480 --> 00:51:44,160 Speaker 7: go out because he was strictly a businessman. If you 844 00:51:44,200 --> 00:51:47,680 Speaker 7: would have gotten hurt and couldn't perform, that's a show. 845 00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:51,640 Speaker 1: Thus, James Brown keeps his band under a de facto 846 00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:52,520 Speaker 1: house arrest. 847 00:51:53,000 --> 00:51:55,640 Speaker 7: I'm still very new and I keep hearing all these 848 00:51:55,960 --> 00:51:58,279 Speaker 7: you can't do this, you can't do that. So I 849 00:51:58,360 --> 00:52:02,279 Speaker 7: kind of walked around the hotel until Fred Wesley. He 850 00:52:02,440 --> 00:52:04,799 Speaker 7: was like, he's going out. He's the band leader. He 851 00:52:04,840 --> 00:52:07,360 Speaker 7: could do whatever he wants, right, He says, Lolla, is 852 00:52:07,360 --> 00:52:09,200 Speaker 7: there anything that you want me to get while you're out? 853 00:52:09,239 --> 00:52:12,239 Speaker 7: I said, yes, Hugh Masekela, I want to meet him. 854 00:52:12,480 --> 00:52:15,400 Speaker 1: And Fred Wesley, well, he delivers for Lola. 855 00:52:15,200 --> 00:52:17,800 Speaker 7: Love and he comes back to the he says, Lola, 856 00:52:18,040 --> 00:52:18,680 Speaker 7: I met Hugh. 857 00:52:18,840 --> 00:52:20,000 Speaker 9: He's going to give you a call. 858 00:52:20,520 --> 00:52:23,760 Speaker 1: That call becomes a means of escape from James Brown's 859 00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:24,440 Speaker 1: house arrested. 860 00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:28,520 Speaker 7: But not only that, and because of you, I got 861 00:52:28,560 --> 00:52:30,360 Speaker 7: to go to the Vice President's dinner. 862 00:52:30,960 --> 00:52:31,360 Speaker 3: Okay. 863 00:52:31,840 --> 00:52:35,359 Speaker 1: James Brown's band leader, Fred Wesley remembers how. 864 00:52:35,360 --> 00:52:38,440 Speaker 6: Every night they will have dinner at somebody's house that 865 00:52:38,719 --> 00:52:42,200 Speaker 6: had money, the politicians of Conshasta. 866 00:52:42,560 --> 00:52:44,600 Speaker 3: They will have dinner somewhere that you could eat. 867 00:52:44,600 --> 00:52:45,040 Speaker 4: The food. 868 00:52:45,320 --> 00:52:47,640 Speaker 3: You wouldn't know what you were eating, but it was 869 00:52:47,719 --> 00:52:48,320 Speaker 3: good to you. 870 00:52:49,640 --> 00:52:53,560 Speaker 1: And so at the Vice President's dinner, Fred Wesley brings 871 00:52:53,640 --> 00:52:57,760 Speaker 1: Lola Love on Hugh Masekela's invitation. But then when her boss, 872 00:52:57,880 --> 00:52:59,720 Speaker 1: James Brown catches sight of her. 873 00:53:00,280 --> 00:53:02,480 Speaker 7: And James Brown looked up and he saw me there 874 00:53:02,520 --> 00:53:05,160 Speaker 7: because nobody would be there but James Brown. 875 00:53:05,120 --> 00:53:08,120 Speaker 1: The godfather of soul, is not happy to see her. 876 00:53:08,320 --> 00:53:11,120 Speaker 1: But luckily, Love of Love has Fred on her side 877 00:53:11,400 --> 00:53:12,000 Speaker 1: that had. 878 00:53:11,840 --> 00:53:14,680 Speaker 6: To take care of her because she was so open 879 00:53:14,800 --> 00:53:18,239 Speaker 6: and so free that James would easily take advantage of her, 880 00:53:18,239 --> 00:53:20,279 Speaker 6: you know. And so I felt like I had to 881 00:53:20,280 --> 00:53:23,160 Speaker 6: protect her from that and from other things too, from 882 00:53:23,160 --> 00:53:25,279 Speaker 6: other people they could take advantage of her. 883 00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:27,400 Speaker 3: You know. I didn't want anything bad happened to anybody, 884 00:53:27,480 --> 00:53:28,520 Speaker 3: but especially Hut. 885 00:53:29,120 --> 00:53:32,880 Speaker 1: It's an unfortunate truth of humanity. Too often those with 886 00:53:33,000 --> 00:53:37,680 Speaker 1: power take advantage of those without. Thankfully, Fred make sure 887 00:53:37,719 --> 00:53:39,279 Speaker 1: that doesn't happen to Lull the love. 888 00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:42,200 Speaker 6: She was a sweet girl that I want to make 889 00:53:42,239 --> 00:53:44,799 Speaker 6: sure that she came out of it all right. But 890 00:53:44,880 --> 00:53:47,560 Speaker 6: we had a great time that night and we ate 891 00:53:47,600 --> 00:53:51,360 Speaker 6: some great food. We didn't know what we were eating, and 892 00:53:51,600 --> 00:53:54,759 Speaker 6: we had some great beer. I had never had beer 893 00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:57,799 Speaker 6: like that before, you know, but it was unbelievable. The 894 00:53:57,840 --> 00:54:02,000 Speaker 6: whole experience was a zaire Kshata was unbelievable. 895 00:54:04,080 --> 00:54:09,280 Speaker 1: Mabutu's well orchestrated parade of pleasures, his advertisements of his power, 896 00:54:09,760 --> 00:54:14,400 Speaker 1: do work to obscure the obvious truth. His global celebration 897 00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:19,160 Speaker 1: of blackness and unity, community and music, strength and excellence 898 00:54:19,719 --> 00:54:23,080 Speaker 1: is all being paid for by the same old exploitation 899 00:54:23,360 --> 00:54:27,239 Speaker 1: of Africans. His celebration of Pan Africanism is being put 900 00:54:27,280 --> 00:54:31,160 Speaker 1: on by a CIA backed puppet. The longer one stays 901 00:54:31,160 --> 00:54:36,480 Speaker 1: in kinshasa the more obvious. Mabutu's charade becomes his spectacle 902 00:54:36,560 --> 00:54:39,319 Speaker 1: is being paid for by the same Western interests who 903 00:54:39,480 --> 00:54:44,040 Speaker 1: never actually left Africa. Ultimately, Mabutu is just a corrupt 904 00:54:44,120 --> 00:54:47,920 Speaker 1: man who's cosplaying as an African liberation leader. He's a 905 00:54:47,960 --> 00:54:51,239 Speaker 1: lie in a leopard skin hat. Of course, none of 906 00:54:51,239 --> 00:54:55,080 Speaker 1: this bothers George Foreman curiously, though it doesn't seem to 907 00:54:55,080 --> 00:54:59,120 Speaker 1: bother Muhammad Ali much either. Both boxers are hyper focused. 908 00:54:59,320 --> 00:55:02,120 Speaker 1: They keep their eyes on the prize and miss the 909 00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:06,759 Speaker 1: reality beneath the billboards. The poverty gets obscured by all 910 00:55:06,840 --> 00:55:10,480 Speaker 1: the sumptuous state dinners and the red carpet treatment. Because 911 00:55:10,520 --> 00:55:14,760 Speaker 1: to these two boxers, their upcoming bout feels far bigger 912 00:55:15,080 --> 00:55:19,399 Speaker 1: than the land which will host the next great super fight. 913 00:55:28,800 --> 00:55:30,640 Speaker 1: On the next episode of Rumble. 914 00:55:30,680 --> 00:55:34,680 Speaker 5: When George Foreman gets cut in training, the music festival 915 00:55:34,680 --> 00:55:35,239 Speaker 5: has to go on. 916 00:55:35,480 --> 00:55:39,719 Speaker 11: A supercultural festival bringing together Latin American, Afro American and 917 00:55:39,840 --> 00:55:43,400 Speaker 11: African dancers and singers will get underway here on Saturday. 918 00:55:43,719 --> 00:55:46,479 Speaker 8: Our stories are coming through the lyrics, are coming through 919 00:55:46,480 --> 00:55:48,840 Speaker 8: lived experience or coming through the rhythms. 920 00:55:49,080 --> 00:55:51,360 Speaker 7: All of a sudden, I had this burst of energy 921 00:55:51,880 --> 00:55:55,160 Speaker 7: and all I wasn't tired when it was four o'clock 922 00:55:55,239 --> 00:55:56,960 Speaker 7: in the morning, I wanted to dance some more. 923 00:55:57,520 --> 00:56:01,800 Speaker 6: That's when I realized who Bill woodleswould He could really 924 00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:05,719 Speaker 6: sing and he could really play the guitar figure with 925 00:56:05,760 --> 00:56:07,480 Speaker 6: the highlight of the whole festival. 926 00:56:10,360 --> 00:56:13,759 Speaker 12: Rumbell is a production of School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts. 927 00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:16,839 Speaker 12: Rumble is written and hosted by Zarren Burnett. The third 928 00:56:17,400 --> 00:56:21,799 Speaker 12: produced and directed by Julia chriscal Sound designed by Jesse Niswanger, 929 00:56:21,960 --> 00:56:26,240 Speaker 12: em scoring by John Washington. Original music composed by Jordan 930 00:56:26,320 --> 00:56:31,560 Speaker 12: Manley and TJ. Merritt. Series concept by Gary Stromberg. Executive 931 00:56:31,600 --> 00:56:37,680 Speaker 12: producers are Jason English, Sean Titone, Gary Stromberg, Virginia Prescott, 932 00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:41,200 Speaker 12: el C Crowley, and Brandon barr Our. Senior producer is 933 00:56:41,239 --> 00:56:46,120 Speaker 12: Amelia Brock, Production manager Daisy Church, fact checker Savannah Hugley. 934 00:56:46,360 --> 00:56:51,359 Speaker 12: Legal services provided by canoel Hanley PC. Additional production by 935 00:56:51,360 --> 00:56:56,040 Speaker 12: Claire Keating, Casting director Julia Chriscau. Casting support services provided 936 00:56:56,080 --> 00:56:57,640 Speaker 12: by Breakdown Express. 937 00:56:57,800 --> 00:57:03,800 Speaker 11: Episode ten cast Abraham Amka as Muhammad Ali, John Washington 938 00:57:03,880 --> 00:57:08,400 Speaker 11: as Patrice La Mumba, Anthony Brandon Walker as George Foreman. 939 00:57:08,800 --> 00:57:12,280 Speaker 11: Special Thanks to Lewis Ehrenberg. Check out his book Rumble 940 00:57:12,320 --> 00:57:15,360 Speaker 11: in the Jungle. It's a great resource. Also thanks to 941 00:57:15,440 --> 00:57:16,520 Speaker 11: Jonathan I for. 942 00:57:16,520 --> 00:57:18,640 Speaker 12: His book Ali a Life. 943 00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:20,400 Speaker 1: And finally thanks to. 944 00:57:20,440 --> 00:57:24,439 Speaker 11: Zarenz pops Zeke who grounds this material like no one else. 945 00:57:24,800 --> 00:57:27,880 Speaker 11: If you like the show, let us know, like subscribe, 946 00:57:28,120 --> 00:57:29,280 Speaker 11: leave five star reviews. 947 00:57:29,360 --> 00:57:30,120 Speaker 12: It really helps. 948 00:57:31,000 --> 00:57:33,479 Speaker 11: Also check out our show notes for a full list 949 00:57:33,520 --> 00:57:39,120 Speaker 11: of reference materials.