Remembering Lumumba's dismembered body-polity through Amin

ABSTRACT

The paper is nested within the decolonial theme by repositioning Patrice Lumumba’s decolonial thought within the radical writings of Samir Amin. As seen in his famous independence speech, Patrice Lumumba is arguably one of the African decolonial giants who championed the remembering of the black bodies by challenging their dismembering facilitated and sustained by the grand construction of the human by Euro-modernity. Rereading his decolonial ideas through repositioning it in Amin’s works comes at an opportune time given the recent burial of his last known remains – a tooth that was removed from his body as a trophy by a Belgian officer who participated in his brutal murder in the 1960s. It is within this context that this paper seeks to underscore the logic and legitimacy of Lumumba’s decolonial thinking by repositioning it in the works of Amin. By doing so, we aim to contribute to all non-European discourses aimed at decolonial self-reconstruction and self-definition, such as Afrocentricty.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Heteronomativity is the belief in the omnipotence of heterosexuality over homosexuality. Anthropocentrism is the belief that only human beings are supreme and central entities in the universe. Militarism is the belief that a country should build and maintain military prowess to use it aggressively in defending and maintaining its national and foreign interests.