To understand why this man stands up, you have to understand the Democratic Republic of the Congo. At the end of the 19th century, King Leopold II of Belgium turned the Congo into a personal labor camp. It was not just colonization; It was a holocaust. Millions of people died from forced labor, torture, and the infamous practice of cutting off hands if rubber quotas were not met.
1. 1885: The “owner” of 20 million souls
At the Berlin Conference, King Leopold II of Belgium he did not claim the Congo for Belgium; He claimed it for himself. He named him Congo Free State. It was a huge lie. For 23 years he ran the country as a private plantation.
The reign of red rubber: Leopold's private army, the Force Publique, forced the villagers to collect wild rubber. If a village did not meet its quota, soldiers cut off the hands of children and wives to “punish” the men.
The toll: Historians estimate that between 1885 and 1908, nearly 10 million Congolese died from murder, exhaustion and disease.
Left: This child was called Impongi. The sentries cut off his hand and foot because his village did not meet its rubber quota.
Right: The young man seated is Mola. His hands were ravaged by gangrene after the soldiers tied him too tightly. At his side is Yola. The soldiers cut off his hand and then claimed that he was a rubber worker who had been killed. This photo was used by missionary Alice Seeley Harris, who campaigned against Leopold in England. (By the African History group)
2. 1908 – 1960: From the personal slave state to the colony
After the world found out about the severed hands, the Belgian government took the land from the king and turned it into the Belgian Congo. The exploitation did not stop; it just became “organized.” They extracted gold, diamonds and copper through forced labor. The Congolese had no rights, no quality education, and were treated as subhuman in their own home.
3. The rise and execution of Patrice Lumumba
By the late 1950s, the hunger for freedom was boiling. A young, charismatic postal worker named Patrice Lumumba emerged as the voice of the people.
June 30, 1960 (Independence Day): King Baudouin of Belgium gave a speech praising Leopold II. Lumumba stood up, uninvited, and gave a legendary “blood, sweat and tears” speech, telling the king to his face that the Congolese were no longer slaves.
The goal: Lumumba became Prime Minister. But because he wanted Congo's minerals (uranium and copper) to benefit Africans and not the West, Belgium and the United States (CIA) labeled him a communist threat.
The supreme cruelty: To ensure that he would never become a martyr with a grave, a Belgian police commissioner named Gerard Soete took Lumumba's body, cut it into pieces, and dissolved it in sulfuric acid. All that remained was a single gold-covered tooth, which Soete kept as a “trophy” in Belgium for decades.
When independence finally came in 1960, Patrice Lumumba became the first prime minister. He was a hero who dared to say that the riches of the Congo belonged to his people, not to Europe. Because of this, the US (CIA) and Belgium orchestrated his assassination in 1961. They not only killed him; They dissolved his body in acid so as not to leave a grave.
That man you see standing during games is a living monument. Their goal is to remind the world that, despite the genocide and the theft of their land, the Congolese spirit has not moved.
During a recent match, an Algerian player decided to mock this man after his victory. For the player, they were “jokes.” For the Congolese, it was as if a knife went through an unhealed wound. When that man burst into tears, he wasn't crying about a lost game; He cried because the Algerian player laughed at the trauma of his people and disrespected him. It was a display of utter ignorance and lack of “Ubuntu”, the African philosophy of shared humanity.
Then came the match between Nigeria and Algeria. Nigeria not only won 2-0; They played with a mission. When the Super Eagles scored, the celebration was not an insult: it was a tribute. A Nigerian player stood still and raised his hands, imitating the Congolese hero. It was a message: See you. We remember it. We respect the fight.
While the Algerian team reportedly lost their composure, and even attempted to confront the referee in a display of unsportsmanship, the Super Eagles regained the dignity that had been taken from them days earlier.
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| Akor Adam celebrates his goal against Algeria (left) | Statue of Patrice Lumumba in Kinshasa (right) |
AFCON is beautiful because of our dances and our colors, but it is sacred because of our shared history. You cannot “play” with the symbols of freedom. Belgium and the West tried to erase Lumumba, but they failed because his story lives on in every Congolese and every African who supports them.
Whether you're a football fan or a total fanatic, listen up. I have heard accounts of people resorting to violence, even stabbing each other, over disagreements over football. My only response is that such behavior is absolutely foolish. Plain and simple. That footballer will continue playing for his team, earning millions, while you are sitting in a cell “relaxing” with your fellow prisoners.
Have sportsmanship and use it in the right way. Some people will disagree with you and your team will lose some games. Such is life; Not all battles are won. There is no reason to harm or disrespect another human being during a game. Most of you have never met these players, and many of you never will. Enjoy the game, but be respectful. Use your brain. Don't be stupid and talk trash just to call it “fanaticism.” That is not passion; It's stupid.
The Algerian player has learned his lesson the hard way. If you have a habit of becoming aggressive and losing your mind when watching sports, you should calm down and stop that stupid display. I said what I said. Calm down, damn.
Happy Sunday.
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