King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa – Adam Hochschild

Horror.  Greed.  Terror.  Exploitation. Genocide.  A textbook example what has been and is wrong with this world.  In the late 1800’s Europeans ferociously profited from the resources in Africa.  Belgium and King Leopold II chose for themselves, the Congo, and it’s rich supply of rubber.  And what developed was a human rights fiasco that actually led to the creation of ‘human rights’ activism.  An estimated 10 million Congolese were murdered under the reign of the billionaire king all while he was parading himself as a friend to the human condition.  He cut limbs if the cultivation wasn’t fast enough, killed babies if quotas weren’t met and many ‘workers’ went missing during his pilferage.  But true humanitarians such as Mark Twain, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Edmund Morel, Roger Casement, George Washington Williams and William Shephard led the charge to expose these crimes and put an end to Leopold’s atrocities.

Also included in this tale is novelist Joseph Conrad.  His best selling book ‘Heart of Darkness’ is based off of his exploits while commanding a Belgian steamboat during the massacre.

In essence, no one knows of this genocidal quest for imperialism in the heart of Africa because the victims were Black, deemed animals and the beneficiary was a European king.  And it’s unfortunate that over 100 years later, this story is still minutely told and Blacks are still being exploited for the financial gain of ‘those in power.’

Know the past in order to shape your future…