Original subtitles

[high-pitched, staticky tone]

[dynamic jazz drumming]

[echoed cymbal crash]

[dynamic jazz drumming]

[vocalizing]

[dynamic jazz drumming]

[vocalizing]

[vocalizing]

[sporadic jazz drumming]

[vocalizing]

[dynamic jazz drumming]

[vocalizing]

[dynamic jazz drumming]

[vocalizing]

[echoed drum flourish]

[man] Can you remember when you first killed a man?

Sort of like it's so final.

That's what grabbed me, I think.

[man] And did that feeling last when you had to do it again?

No, it was only for that evening,

I think, before I slept...

that I thought about that.

I've often thought about this.

That's why I can say it so clearly:

"How did I feel about it?"

And that's the score,

because after that, when we moved north,

there was a lot of killing.

And it just happened so fast

that you didn't even realize it.

I think, after you were there a little while,

you became "callous," I think, is the word?

Very hard, you know? You don't care a damn.

[clears throat]

[eerie, squeaky clattering]

[bandleader] Are you ready? One, two, on

[lively vintage jazz music]

So, the government is thinking about sending me into Russia.

And anybody who says that the Russians

don't love good jazz...

oh, you send them to me!

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm Mr. Armstrong.

[man speaking Russian] I don't understand those composers.

Nowadays, when I turn on the radio,

-I immediately switch it off. -[radio clicks off]

It drives me crazy.

It's not music, but a cacophony.

[Louis Armstrong scatting]

[jet engines roar]

[newsman] One of America's most popular emissaries

gets a warm reception

as he arrives in the troubled Congo

on a State Department- sponsored goodwill mission.

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong,

whose golden trumpet has preached the gospel

of New Orleans jazz on every continent,

arrives in truly royal style.

[swinging jazz music]

[stately music playing]

[woman] This is Radio Moscow.

[newsman] Louie's solid swinging outraged Radio Moscow,

which blasted Armstrong's visit as a diversionary tactic.

[lively vintage jazz music]

[man speaking French] Are you a communist, Mr. Lumumba?

[Patrice Lumumba, in French] I always have to laugh

when they ask me that question.

I'm not a communist at all.

I'm an African.

[man] Would you agree that you're on the lunatic fringe

of the American Negro movement?

Well, I think this:

that America's whole situation is a lunatic fringe.

Anytime you have a country that refers to itself

as "the Free World" and a democracy,

and at the same time has 22 million of its citizens

who aren't permitted citizenship,

why, that in itself reflects lunacy.

[dramatic jazz music playing]

[train whistle blares]

["Take the 'A' Train" playing]

[announcer] The Voice of America Jazz Hour.

My name is Willis Conover.

My name is Willis Conover.

My name is Willis Conover.

[announcer] I, Willis Conover,

am a familiar name and a familiar voice.

I broadcast a radio program

which can be heard in every country in the world

and appeals to the universal appetite for good jazz

beamed overseas by the Voice of America.

[wind gusting]

[man] We can achieve our great goal

in this most critical of all battles:

the winning of men's minds.

[wind gusting]

[man scatting]

[Louis Armstrong scatting]

[radio static]

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ This is the Voice ♪

[man] Different melody.

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ This is The Voice of America ♪

♪ Washington, D.C. ♪

Number 2, do you know where this program

would be the most jammed?

Behind the Iron Curtain.

-Number... oh! -[tone sounds]

That's all the time we have.

Number 2's voice is such that I would defect from Russia,

if I heard it.

[announcer] Will the real Willis Conover please stand up?

[laughter]

["Take the 'A' Train" playing]

[echoed clattering]

[train roaring]

[train trundling]

How do you remember 1960?

Years from now, when you tell your children

about this year we've been living throug

what scenes will spring to your mind?

The chief of communism

pounding a table in rage?

What sounds will you hear?

In the U.N., when Khrushchev took off his shoe

and was beating that shoe,

and the interpreter said that he was saying,

"I'll bury you,"

talking about America.

Khrushchev wasn't saying,"I'll bury you.

Khrushchev was saying,"I love you."

But it was the interpreter who hated America.

You understand what I mean?

- But did he have rhythm? - Yeah! He had rhythm.

[rhythmic clapping, pounding, scatting]

[rhythmic jazz music playing]

Rhythm is my business.

[speaking in Russian] Death to colonial slavery!

Bury it!

Bury it deep in the ground!

The deeper, the better!

[speaking Russian]

[speaking Russian]

[sinuous jazz music playing]

Africa has brought the U.N. its severest test:

the Congo.

[newsman] With its delegation yet to be seated,

the Congo is the largest state

to be admitted into the U.N. this year.

The only way to keep the Cold War out of the Congo

is to keep the United Nations in the Congo.

[newswoman] Africa also holds the greatest hope

for saving the United Nations at this critical late hour.

Changing Africa has changed the United Nations.

[man speaking Dutch] Humanity has designated 1960

as The Year of Africa.

Never has there been such a year

at the United Nations.

At its 15th session, the General Assembl

has adopted 16 newly independent African countries.

The wind blowing in Africa is not an ordinary wind.

It is a raging hurricane.

[frenetic jazz music playing]

[man] We're going to shift the emphasis to our jazz

and send these artists over

where they can reach the masses of the people

of Asia and Africa.

One of the people who we're planning to use,

my friend Dizzy Gillespie.

This is what we might call a Cool War,

rather than a Cold War.

The weapon that we will use...

is the cool one.

[dynamic jazz drumming]

[faint footsteps]

["Wild is the Wind" playing]

[wind rustling leaves]

[raindrops pattering]

[woman speaking French] Placing the protocol in my hands,

Lumumba said,

"If the Belgians learn of this document,

this would be a death warrant for us."

[Nina Simone] ♪ Love me Love me, Love me ♪

♪ Say you do ♪

♪ Let me fly away ♪

[woman speaking French] That day, I was wearing

my hair in a bun

in which I hid the secret document.

[Nina Simone] ♪ For my love ♪

[woman speaking French] In the crowd, a Belgian official

was spying on me.

For seconds, our eyes locked.

Would he arrest me here?

Right now?

I could only think of the document burning in my neck.

But it gave me the strength to brave anything.

Even death.

[Nina Simone] ♪ One caress ♪

[woman speaking French] As I landed in Rome,

journalists were crowding around me.

[flashbulbs popping]

[clamor, shouting]

I read the declaration denouncing Belgium's plot

to install a puppet government.

[Lumumba, in French] The plot was already in the make

to impose a government against the will of its people.

[Andrée Blouin, in French] The revelation of the protocol

created a sensation.

We won!

[radio static]

[radio announcer] Patrice Lumumba's oratory

helped him win enough votes from parliament

to make him premier.

He succeeded where Joseph Kasa-Vubu failed.

Kasa-Vubu took over the largely ceremoni

office of president.

[Blouin, in French] That evening, I phoned Lumumba

at Leopoldville.

"We know," he shouted.

"Everyone is talking about it.

The Belgians are dumbfounded."

[Nina Simone] ♪ You touched me ♪

[Blouin, in French] Later that day,

the phone rang in my room.

I was surprised to speak to the Czech ambassador.

"You must leave now," he said.

"Hurry! Pack your things.

I'll pick you in five minutes.

Your life is in danger."

[jet engine roaring]

He had already booked my flight to Paris and on to Guinea.

I was rushed onto the plane feeling death on my heels.

[Nina Simone] ♪ So wild is the wind ♪

♪ Wild is the wind ♪

♪ Wild ♪

♪ Is the wind ♪

[jet engine roaring]

[moody music playing]

[man] September 15th, 1959.

Nikita S. Khrushchev arrives in Washington...

[pinging of sonar]

...Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of the United States.

[Khrushchev speaking Russian] Diplomacy is like

walking a tightrope.

If you raise your voice half a note too high,

you can end up soiling your pants.

On the other hand, if you keep your voice too low,

your opponent will hit you hard.

[pinging of sonar]

And this is America, our biggest enemy.

But once you take a misleading path...

history will not forgive you.

And the memory will haunt you forever.

[jet engines roaring]

[Willis Conover] Our program this morning is given over

to a man whose name I bet you can't spel

Can you?

Well, it's K-H-R-U-S-H-C-H-E-V.

[mellow jazz music playing]

[man] Again, he's waving to the crowds,

apparently completely oblivious,

but very few people in the crowds here wave back.

He said I was a communist because I was waving.

I'm free to raise my hand up, if I want to.

I'm in a free country.

[lively jazz music playing]

Did you come up here to New York

just to see Mr. Khrushchev, or...

What? I'm here. I've been here eight years!

[laughter]

[echoing thuds]

[group chanting] Red murderer! Red murderer!

[man] The United States has never before entertained

its potentially most dangerous enemy.

[flashbulbs popping]

Mr. Dulles, when Khrushchev was here,

did you get a chance to talk with him?

Yes, it took place, uh...

at the dinner that, um...

[match clatters]

...President Eisenhower gave for Khrushchev.

The President introduced me and said, "This is Mr. Dulles."

He's got a kind of a twinkle in his eye and he said,

"Oh yes, I know you. I read your reports

[lively jazz music playing]

We all pay the same agents,

and we all get the same reports.

[Khrushchev speaking Russian]

[translator] Just now, I was told

I couldn't go to Disneyland.

I asked, "Why not?"

[Khrushchev speaking Russian]

[translator] What is it you have?

Rocket launching pads there?

[laughter]

[newsman] It would be a shame

if relations between the giant nuclear nations

which survived the Berlin Blockade and the Korean War

should now founder on a missed excursion

to the Disneyland amusement park.

[eerie music playing]

[ping of sonar]

[man] But we were ready for him, the press was ready.

I'd been pointing to Mr. Khrushchev, saying,

"Well now, Mr. Khrushchev,

here is my Disneyland submarine fleet!"

[helicopter blades whirring]

[indistinct chatter]

- [man 1] Step right up here. - [man 2] Yes, sir.

[bright piano music playing]

[coughs]

["I'm Confessin'" playing]

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ I'm Confessin' that I love you ♪

[man] Sing it, Satch.

♪ Tell me do you love me too? ♪

[Khrushchev speaking Russian] Eisenhower confessed

he was really troubled.

"I've spent my whole life as a military man,

but I'm absolutely horrified by war."

I replied, "Mr. President, nothing would make me happier

than to prevent another world war."

[shattering thuds]

[bell dings]

Any fool can start a war

that even a wise man cannot end.

♪ I'm confessin' That I love you ♪

[in Armstrong's style] ♪ I'm Confessin' that I love you ♪

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ Tell me Do you love me too? ♪

♪ Tell me that you love me too, ooh ♪

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ I'm Confessin' that I need you ♪

♪ Honest I do ♪

♪ Oh, baby ♪

[gravelly vocalizing]

[man speaking Spanish] In the name of the United Nations,

I salute Your Excellency, Mr. Nikita S. Khrushchev.

[Khrushchev speaking Russian]

[translator] Over a period of four years,

all states should effect complete disarmament

and should no longer have any means of waging war.

The United Nations will continue to have

the most active participant

in all efforts at releasing mankind

from the burden of armaments

and consolidating peace throughout the world.

[applause]

[man speaking French] Decisions were hard to take

about these big international questions.

I devoted hours and hours to the Congolese question.

Days and weeks of effort and contemplation.

Sure, I'd rather be a poet than a politician.

I'm suspicious of the written word.

I prefer the spoken word.

I trust it more in the world of politics

[eerie xylophone music playing]

[man] To start the chain reaction,

all we need is one neutron.

Watch!

[escalating clattering]

[high-pitched tone]

[dull rumbling]

[high-pitched tone]

[grim music playing]

[man speaking French]

[eerie xylophone music playing]

[speaking French]

[squeaking noise]

[muffled voices]

[grim music playing]

[gunfire]

[muffled ambient music playing]

[Bofane speaking French]

[vocal techno music playing]

[faint whirring]

[metallic clanking]

["Ata Ndele" playing]

[Adou Elenga singing in Lingala]

[music stops abruptly]

[faint whirring]

[bell tolls]

[parade-like music playing]

[bell tolling]

[in French] How to reconcile what the Europeans taught us

with what they perpetrated against the Black people?

[carnivalesque music playing]

[speaking Dutch] Danger exists that Euratom

won't possess enough uranium.

Mr. Sassen, is there really need for so much uranium?

Yes. We need loads of uranium.

Depending on how many nuclear plants...

["Cherie" playing on TV]

[singing in Dutch]

[newsman] Between North Africa,

with its ancient European associations,

and South Africa, with its established white settlers,

lay all the vastness of Black Africa.

And here were the makings of empire.

By the end of the last century,

European powers had completed their carving of the continent.

In the heart was the Congo.

[eerie music playing]

[woman] You don't know anything about anyplace

until the white man gets there.

It's only when he comes and say, "Boof, I've discovered you.

Now you exist."

It's ridiculous.

["Tin Tin Deo" playing]

[man 1] We do not believe

that this division of the world into cam

is a good thing.

[man 2] Don't you think there should be one worl

just one bloc?

[man 1] No. There should be independent sovereign nations

respecting each other.

[man 2] Very often, nations which ask

for the respect of other nations

are gobbled up by aggressors.

[man 1] There is a limit to the usefulness of the past,

because if your argument were true,

then you would absolutely agree

that all history has been written.

We are the architects of history.

We make it.

[sinuous bass music]

[man] This is the first

intercontinental conference of colored peoples

in the history of mankind.

[cheering]

Small and great nations are represented here.

Almost every religion under the sun.

Practically every economic doctrine

has its representative in this hall.

Socialism, capitalism, communism...

[lively jazz music playing]

We are not pro-West, we are not pro-East

We are not anti-West, we are not anti-East.

[Sukarno] What harmis in diversity

when there is unity in desire?

As far as I know, we don't engage

in assassinations and kidnappings

and things of that kind.

As far as I know, we never have.

[Dizzy Gillespie plays melody]

Unofficial American ambassador of jazz,

Dizzy Gillespie, one of the originators

of that brand of jazz known as bebop.

A month ago, he had toured

a belt of Middle Eastern countries

ranging from Pakistan to Yugoslavia.

[pensive jazz music playing]

I would be a better emissary than Kissinger.

Is anybody here a communist?

- Are you a communist? - No, I am a capitalist.

You're a capitalist, eh?

- Are you a communist? - No. Capitalist.

Do you think that, uh...

Do you think that, uh, Syria is in danger of going communist?

[Allen Dulles] The idea that the CIA is always

engaged in overthrowing governments, that's false.

That's for the birds.

[liner's horn blares]

[newsman] Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser says

that the foreign-owned Suez Canal has be

taken over by Egypt.

[sultry jazz music playing]

[applause]

[Nasser speaking Arabic] The British called me,

Gamal Abdel Nasser, a dog.

[wind gusting]

Remember the insults written on the walls of Port Said?

You said your queen is what?

[crowd yelling in Arabic] A bitch!

[Gamal Abdel Nasser] And today, Port Said toppled

the Prime Minister of Britain.

The world has turned upside down.

The world has changed.

[percolating jazz music playing]

Neither the United Kingdom nor France

had the right to use arms against Egypt,

because they were not attacked.

There is nothing in the charter,

and nothing in any moral principles

of international law and practice

which places upon any country,

however great, however mighty,

however steeped in the traditions

on domination by force.

The most powerful bloc in the U.N.

is the African-Asian bloc.

These are the poor nations.

Yet they carry more weight

than the nations do who have all the money.

Why? Because no matter how wealthy America is,

she only has one vote.

No matter how wealthy Russia is,

she only has one vote.

Whereas all the poor nations in Africa

who have just emerged into independence,

they have each a vote, too.

And they stick together

and are able to outmaneuver the rich nations.

You and I have to look at this and understand this,

that the ballot is as powerful as the bullet.

[playful music playing]

United States? Yes.

United Kingdom? No.

Uruguay? Yes.

Venezuela? Yes.

Yemen? Yes.

Yugoslavia? Yes.

Afghanistan? Yes.

Albania? Yes.

Argentina? Yes.

Australia? No.

Austria? Yes.

Belgium?

Abstain.

Bolivia? Yes.

Brazil? Yes.

Cambodia? Yes.

Canada? Abstain.

Chile? Yes.

El Salvador? Yes.

Ethiopia? Yes.

- France? - [in French] Yes... no!

[official] No?

[laughter]

[man] Quiet!

When I came here,

several people asked me how I really do pronounce my name.

Well, I pronounce it myself in Swedish: Hammarskjold.

But if you say "hammer-shield," that's all right with me.

Welcome to the most impossible job on Earth.

[Dag Hammarskjold] As members of the United Nations

emergency force,

you are taking part in an experience

that is new in history.

You are soldiers of peace

in the first international force of its kind.

["We Insist! Freedom Now Suite" playing]

I think Suez helped many of the African countries

to be sure of themselves and insist about independence.

♪ Whisper, listen ♪

♪ Whisper, listen ♪

♪ Whisper say we're free ♪

♪ Rumors flying must be lying ♪

♪ Can it really be? ♪

♪ Can't conceive it. Don't believe it ♪

♪ But that's what they say ♪

♪ Slave no longer, Slave no longer ♪

♪ This is Freedom Day ♪

This decade is the decade of African independence.

Forward, then, to independence!

[Lumumba, in French] Nobody wanted to follow

the colonials any longer.

Men, women and children...

the whole population demanded immediate independence.

♪ Freedom Day, Freedom Day ♪

♪ Free to vote and earn our pay ♪

♪ Dim the path And hide the way ♪

♪ But we made it, Freedom Day ♪

[cheers, applause]

Brothers and sisters!

We got off the plane, they had a little tune.

Nine trumpets playing so beautifully.

"All for you, Louis," la-la-la.

Come on, fellas!

So I pulled mine out and played with 'em

[jaunty jazz music playing]

[newsman] Armstrong played to an audience of 100,000 people,

the world record in the entire history of music.

[Louis Armstrong] You could walk on heads

for five blocks and never fall.

♪ Oh yes ♪

[laughing]

Ladies and gentlemen, it's lovely to be down here

playing with you...

We'd like to lay this next one on the Prime Minister.

"Black and Blue."

["(What Did I Do To Be So) Black and Blue" playing]

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ Cold empty bed ♪

♪ Springs hard as lead ♪

♪ Feel like old Ned ♪

♪ Wished I was dead ♪

♪ What did I do ♪

♪ To be so black and blue Mmm ♪

♪ I'm white inside ♪

♪ But that don't help my case ♪

♪ 'Cause I can't hide ♪

♪ What is in my face ♪

[scatting]

♪ How would it end? ♪

♪ Ain't got a friend ♪

♪ My only sin is in my skin ♪

♪ What did I do ♪

♪ To be so black and blue? ♪

[man speaking Russian] Uganda Premier Milton Obote

calls out American racists:

"How can we believe America's sincerity

towards African people,

when inside the U.S. itself,

'Negroes' are still subjected

to terrible racial discrimination?"

[siren wailing]

[rousing music playing]

[reporter] What are you gonna tell the Russians?

It all depends what time they send me over there.

I don't think they should send me now,

unless they straighten that mess down South.

[in Russian] Black children cannot attend school

together with white children!

Isn't this embarrassing for such a civilized country?

In America, Blacks get lynched.

They get hanged.

Is that democracy? Is that respect for man? No!

[lively jazz music playing]

[man] Ladies and gentlemen,

the Dizzy Gillespie Campaign for Preside

needs a campaign song.

It is entitled,"Vote Dizzy."

♪ Let the good times roll! ♪

[brief trumpet melody]

[robust laugh]

[applause]

[man scatting]

[cheers]

[bright music playing]

[man speaking Dutch] Mr. Vloer, beer plays a central role

in a Black person's life?

Yes. This has now turned political, of course.

But when talking politics,

they like to drink a pint of beer.

Just like in Belgium.

[Lumumba speaking French]

[soft, taut jazz music playing]

[Blouin, in French] One day, driving my Deux Chevaux...

[echoing slam]

...a truck was heading straight at us.

[train trundling]

I stepped on the gas.

We shot past,

but the rear end of my car was hit,

making us skid crazy out of control.

[creaking and clanging]

Right then...

we saw who was in the truck.

Our political opponents.

♪ The rats have got your flour ♪

♪ Bad blood has got your mare ♪

♪ Rats have got your flour ♪

♪ Bad blood has got your mare ♪

[Blouin, in French] Days later, when crossing the Savannah,

a brush fire was moving towards us.

I slowed down and looked behind,

but the road we just passed was now engulfed in flames.

The severity of my situation suddenly hit me.

Twice...

[music stops abruptly]

Twice, I was nearly murdered.

But this did not deter me from my purpos

On the contrary,

I felt an extraordinary sense of being alive.

It only reinforced the will to fight for my people.

♪ The rats have got your flour ♪

♪ Bad blood has got your mare ♪

♪ The rats have got your flour ♪

♪ Bad blood has got your mare ♪

♪ Is there anyone who knows Is there anyone who cares? ♪

♪ So you prayed to the Lord above ♪

♪ Please send you a friend ♪

♪ Oh, ya prayed to the Lord above ♪

♪ Please send you a friend ♪

♪ But your empty pockets Tell ya ♪

♪ That you ain't got no friends ♪

♪ So your baby's Screamin' loud now ♪

♪ It's poundin' in your brain ♪

♪ Your baby's screamin' Louder now ♪

♪ It's poundin' In your brain ♪

[abrupt clunk]

[Blouin, in French] It's Kwame Nkrumah who asked me

to call upon Africa's women...

to unify the continent...

envisioning a new political entity:

The United States of Africa.

[spare, eerie music playing]

[newsman] We continue with our report

on Soviet penetration in Africa.

We shall have to compete with both

Russians and Chinese.

They will take advantage of every opportunity they get,

as they have already in Guinea and in Ghana.

Nkrumah already created a federation

with Sekou Touré's Guinea.

His goal: freedom for all Africa,

and the creation of a United States of Africa.

["Mbube" playing]

[Miriam Makeba vocalizing]

[Patrice Lumumba] At our national congress in December,

a woman spoke up:

"If we're not allowed to vote,

we will sabotage these elections."

[Blouin, in French] The frenzy of the electoral

campaign across the country made me forg

that I was the only woman in the team.

[Miriam Makeba vocalizing]

[Blouin] I was presented as a woman from Guinea,

a country that had gained independence.

People sat down in a circle, asking me questions:

How is it there?

What did people do to gain independence?

If Guinea is independent, why aren't the Congolese?

[singing in Zulu]

[Blouin, in French] As we talked about the need

to free our continent,

I saw that the women actually needed

to liberate themselves.

[Miriam Makeba singing in Zulu]

[Blouin, in French] As they started to tell their story,

I realized that these women had really suffered.

I understood we could not separate

the problem of Africa's resources

from that of the African women.

[Miriam Makeba singing in Zulu]

[Miriam Makeba] I ask all the leaders of the world:

Would you keep silent and do nothing

if you were allowed no rights in your own country

because the color of your skin

is different to that of the rulers?

[Blouin, in French] If they wished, these women

could become the first bearers of independence.

[Miriam Makeba vocalizing]

[newsman] Madame Blouin, whom Guinea's Sekou Touré sent

to guide Lumumba.

[Blouin, in French] By May 1960, I had enrolled 45,000 members

for the Association of African Women of Solidarity.

Never have I felt so alive.

[clamor]

But our movement sounded threatening to the colonials.

[eerie music playing]

[Lumumba, in French] When you defend the cause of freedom,

they immediately label you.

The officials claimed: "Lumumba is dangerous.

Because people follow him everywhere,

we must arrest him."

[grim music playing]

So, they threw me in jail...

[wind blowing]

[soft, eerie music playing]

I was brutally assaulted.

Locked into a pitch dark cell.

I was scoffed at, vilified, and dragged through the mud...

[indistinct singing]

...simply because I claimed freedom for our country.

[man] ♪ Let the wind ♪

[soft, discordant music playing]

[plodding piano music playing]

[Mbuyi speaking in French]

[applause]

[man speaking in French]

[applause]

Oh, that's Thelonious Monk, he's crazy!

[mellow music playing]

[airplane engine humming]

[singing in French]

[Lumumba in French] I was released from prison

to head for Brussels.

But I was left with nothing.

No clothes.

No shoes.Absolutely nothing.

The authorities had to get me a suit.

And Africans collected money to buy the rest of my clothes.

- [applause] - [cheering]

Upon arrival at the airport, 10,000 Congolese were shouting:

Down with the colonialists!

Down with colonialism!

We want independence right now!

And it was a whole other ballgame...

[singing in French]

[woman] For your next trip, be sure you choose SABENA

and fly on the Belgian World Airlines.

[bright musical flourish]

[soft, grim music playing]

- [gunfire] - [commotion]

[Lumumba in French] We heard rifle shots.

Right after, we saw bodies laying all over.

People asked: "Why?

What have we done?"

[chimes twinkling]

[airplane engine humming]

I was sentenced to six months in prison

because no one would point at the colonials.

Thirty Congolese murdered for no plausible reason.

["Wild Is the Wind" by Nina Simone playing]

[Nina Simone] ♪ Love me Love me, love me ♪

♪ Say you do ♪

♪ Let me fly away with you ♪

♪ For my loves like the wind ♪

[lively music playing]

[singing in Spanish]

[Rolin in French] A challenging adventure lies ahead of you.

[Lumumba in French] I'm Patrice Lumumba.

I'm delighted with the results of the Round Table conference.

On June 30th,

the Congolese people will gain their freedom.

Let me assure the Belgians that a lasting friendship

will remain between our countries.

[singing in Lingala]

[Armondo in French] We needed a song to make everybody dance

and kick off our independence

that was so hard to achieve.

- [chatter] - [laughter]

[whirring]

[soft music playing]

TELEMEMORIES

THIS EVENING, FREDERIC VANDEWALLE,

CHIEF OF SECURITY

[in French] Colonel Vandewalle, you were head of Intelligence

in the Belgian Congo:

When you saw the list of ministers

of Lumumba's government

you smiled as you discovered

that some had been your intelligence assets?

[in French] Yes, correct.

Within his cabinet at least three guys were ours.

[bright music playing]

[children shrieking playfully]

[Lumumba in French] Backstage deals by elite circles

conspired during the Round Table.

So, what does this independence mean

if tomorrow we're sucked dry by new masters?

What is the significance of this independence

if tomorrow, it is to set us against each other?

[singing in Lingala]

[soft, eerie music playing]

Now, before we go any further

we'd like to take this opportunity

to introduce the musicians.

- [indistinct chatter] - [laughter]

[energetic music playing]

[soft piano music playing]

[energetic trumpet music playing]

[abrupt drum strikes]

[mellow upright bass music playing]

[scat singing]

- [applause] - [cheering]

[Malcolm X] The ballot or the bullet.

[scat singing]

[laughing]

[scat singing]

[applause]

Vote Dizzy, vote Dizzy!

[Bofane in French] All my life I kept wondering:

"I was in a hole.

But what was that hole?"

Only 50 years later

I realized that it was a chicken coop.

[mellow music playing]

It was right after Congo's Independence.

We got independent on June 30th.

We were all living at Karawa at the time

in the northeast of Congo.

Shortly after they sent the Belgian paratroopers in.

So the war started.

My mother had married Mr. Casse.

A Belgian man.

And he had a 19-year-old son with the ex-wife of my stepdad

and he was in military service.

But the Congolese soldiers discovered Mr. Casse had a son

among the Belgian paratroopers.

"This guy married our Congolese sister

and now he's sending his son to kill us.

So let's kill his children."

[engine humming]

That's how the soldiers arrived at our place.

I grabbed my brother Claude and my sister Jacqueline

and rushed to hide in a hole.

Strange that it all came back to me 50 years later.

I was walking in a street of Brussels.

The sun was shining.

I could smell chicken poop.

[wind rustling in trees]

The inside of a chicken coop is magical.

There are feathers all around.

They shine, they look like diamonds.

Feathers everywhere...

[soft, eerie music playing]

My little brother was a bit boisterous

and started moving so they caught us.

[laughs]

[wings flapping]

Then everybody screamed:

"Kill them! Kill the whites! Kill the kids of the whites."

Then, a soldier entered my stepdad's sto

and came out with a brand new machete.

When my mother saw the machete,

something clicked in her mind.

She looked at him and said,

"Hey you! Where are you going with this machete?

You took this machete from my husband's store.

You didn't pay for it!"

My mom was very fond of money.

"You didn't pay for it

and you want to kill his kids with it.

Are you not ashamed?"

So he froze, holding his machete.

And the soldiers left.

[jazzy music playing]

Thanks to my mom's words,

who taught me that in life

one should never remain silent.

Never!

[hooves clopping]

[energetic bass clarinet music playing]

[lively music playing]

[man in French] It's 16:03 here at Leopoldville airport.

A hectic activity is on display

with the arrival of his Majesty King Baudouin.

[energetic bass clarinet music playing]

[airplane engine humming]

[majestic music playing]

[man in French] And the King appears

in his ivory-white uniform.

[energetic bass clarinet music playing]

[majestic music playing]

He shakes hands with Chief of State Joseph Kasa-Vubu.

He shakes hands with Prime Minister Lumumba.

[man] Hey, can you splice it up to tape, you know what I mean?

One, two...

[energetic bass clarinet music playing]

- [applause] - [cheering]

[cheering]

[in French] The independence of the Congo

crowned the work,

initiated by the genius of King Leopold

undertaken by his undaunted courage

and carried on with perseverance by Belgium.

[energetic jazz music playing]

[applause]

[speaking in French]

[energetic jazz music playing]

[speaking in French]

[energetic jazz music playing]

[Lumumba speaking in French]

[music stops]

[awkward silence]

[soft coughing]

[speaking in Dutch]

[energetic music playing]

[Lumumba speaking in French]

- [applause] - [cheering]

[Lumumba speaking in French]

[applause]

[lively music playing]

- [applause] - [cheering]

[in French] Mr. Lumumba's speech indeed took us by surprise.

And...

one cannot deny that his speech has caused...

a huge disappointment.

And this speech was seen as very distasteful.

[dramatic musical flourish]

[creatures chirping]

[man in French] What role will the Congolese Army play

in the newly independent Congo?

[in French] In the newly independent Congo,

the role of the Congolese Army

will remain the same role it always played since 1886

when Leopold II created this army.

[man] But do you see any break with the past,

or will the situation really remain the same?

There will be no break whatsoever with the past.

- [gunfire] - [shouting]

[energetic music playing]

I was General Janssens.

But now, not anymore.

[waves lapping softly]

We've got an interesting situation in Africa today

where the articulate few politicians

in the newly emerged countries

are aware of the fact that

fifty well-trained and ruthless mercenary soldiers

could overthrow a government.

Consequently, they see the opportunities for a coup.

Do you have a mercenary force available to you

on short notice?

I suppose I could get together 100 men within seven days.

[soft music playing]

Today, Africa is one of the most vital links

in the Soviet chain of world conquest.

Its untouched natural wealth

has perhaps a greater potential

than that of the rest of the world combined.

Strategically, the key to Africa is the Congo.

And the key to the Congo is the state of Katanga.

But the prize catch for the communists

is Katanga's mighty Union Minière,

an internationally owned mine

which supplies the United States

with element U-235,

an ingredient vital in the production

of the first atomic bomb.

- [bomb whistles] - [bomb explodes]

[soft music playing]

[indistinct radio chatter]

[helicopter blades whirring]

[soft, majestic music playing]

[Tshombe in French] Sirs, here we are! Isn't it?

We have decided to declare the independence of Katanga.

[cheering]

[music stops]

[conductor baton whizzing]

[soft music playing]

[man in French] Behind us, is the chimney.

As long as it still smokes, all seems well in Katanga.

[man in Dutch] Everything super-duper!

We won't let it get to our hearts!

Indeed super-duper here in Katanga!

For now at least.

[soft music playing]

[man] ♪ Cherie ♪

[Khrushchev in Russian] The interests of mighty monopolies

pushed Belgium to snatch away the richest province, Katanga.

Securing raw materials for nuclear weapons,

uranium, cobalt, titanium, cheap labor,

that's why they plot against the Congo..

[growling]

[laughing]

...whose strings extend from Brussels

to the major NATO capitals.

[children screaming]

[muffled explosion]

[siren wailing]

- [gunshot] - [camera shutter clicks]

[man] Belgium promptly dispatched troops to the Congo

to try to restore order.

Was the dispatch of troops merely to protect the lives

of nationals?

Or did the Belgians hope

the former Master of the Congo

could seize the opportunity

to pose its control of the colony?

- [gunshot] - [chicken clucking]

[airplane engine humming]

[soft music playing]

[Lumumba in French] I'm visiting the United States

to meet the UN Secretary-General

and ask for his support

to remove the Belgian troops

from the territory of our republic.

The coup was plotted by the Belgian government

who sent a general

to command the Katangese army.

The Belgian government has no right

to install its military in our country.

Just as the Belgian government has no right

to invade the U.S. with its military bases.

[speaking in French]

[Lumumba in French] In Washington I stayed

at the presidential guest house.

But the Belgian government protested:

"Why had the U.S. government

extended such a distinguished welcome to a dirty nigger?"

[eerie music playing]

[energetic music playing]

[man] It's a very strange thing how someone says,

"Okay, nigger, play."

Or, "Okay, nigger, get off the sidewalk.

[soft music playing]

And it didn't make any sense for me

to be what I thought I was,

that they had made me what I thought I wasn't.

[somber string music playing]

[reporter] This is Harlem Square.

125th Street and 7th Avenue.

The hot corner of Black nationalism.

[siren wailing]

[man] Twenty million Black people

asking for civil rights.

Chinese don't have to ask for civil rights.

Russia! Even Khrushchev can go anywhere he want in America

and he got a bomb.

[soft piano music playing]

[Malcolm X] Harlem has the largest concentration

of people of African descent.

Because that's what you and I are, Africans.

[applause]

[woman] I was downtown at one of Malcolm X's speeches,

and who should plop down on the seat next to me

but John Coltrane.

[Coltrane laughing]

[mellow music playing]

[Coltrane] I thought I had to see the man.

You know?

I was quite impressed.

[woman] Some musicians have said there's a relationship

between some of Malcolm's ideas and the music.

[Coltrane] I think music can create the initial change

in the thinking of the people.

[Lumumba in French]

[applause]

[siren wailing]

[Lumumba in French]

[ball thuds]

[wind whistling softly]

[rain pattering]

[man] The Soviet Union joined the rest of the council to give

the Congolese government military assistance.

We are at the turn of the road,

not only for the future of this organization,

but also for the future of Africa.

And Africa may well, in present circumstances,

mean the world.

[bright music playing]

The world must answer the African question.

And it must answer it our way.

- [applause] - [cheering]

[in French] The Congo should take center stage

in the movement for a free Africa.

♪ We've made it Freedom Day ♪

[reporter] Within five weeks,

nearly 20,000 UN troops were in the Cong

[applause]

[majestic bagpipe music playing]

[music stops]

[footsteps]

[majestic music playing]

[man in French] Mr. Hammarskjold has accepted

the invitation of the Belgian government

He then had an audience with the King.

[man in Dutch] I've explained once more

to the UN Secretary-General the situation of Katanga

where the economy has resumed.

Totally impossible in the rest of the Congo

where so much is destroyed

which was built with so many sacrifices

not to satisfy colonial or imperial aspirations

but to complete a mission of civilizatio

for the benefit of a less developed peop

that for its salvation and ascension

so much depends on the white people

and the Belgians.

[soft, eerie music playing]

[low rumbling]

[airplane engine humming]

[man] Once Hammarskjold decided

to fly to Elisabethvilleto meet Tshombe

over Lumumba's head, almost literally.

The downfall of Lumumba was inscribed in that event.

[reporter] Today in Katanga

a plane load of Belgium-sent arms arrive

[mellow music playing]

[airplane taking off]

[low rumbling]

[twinkling sounds]

- [rattling] - [register chime]

[cracking sounds]

[man] Someone said once

that the study of history

was like sitting on the cat.

Meaning, I suppose,

that its surprises

left their scars.

There was no one in the United Nations

who did not give a damn what Washington said.

Washington wielded tremendous influence in the UN.

Americans had always been kept in

and Russians always kept out.

If there was any "Cabinet" for the Congo operation,

it was not the Security Council

but the highly informal Congo Club

on the 38th Floor.

The Russians, however,

were not part of that Club.

The story of our times is the story of revolution.

This is the Museum of Modern Art

in New York City.

But the most vivid records of the triumphs and the ironies

of this 20th Century are kept right here

[in French] The Treachery of Images

is the title of a painting

representing a pipe

with a caption:

"This is not a pipe."

Because the image of a pipe is not a pip

[airplane engine humming]

[applause]

[energetic drum music playing]

[man] Say these English words after me:

Pipe.

[static radio chatter]

-Tobacco. -[group] Tobacco.

[energetic music playing]

- [music stops] - [radio buzzing]

[Kasa-Vubu in French] The 5th of September, 1960,

we have revoked Premier Patrice Lumumba.

[energetic drum music playing]

[lively music playing]

[Lumumba in French] Today, without consulting Parliament,

without asking advice of the elected government,

Mr. Kasa-Vubu has betrayed us.

[radio static]

I proclaim that Kasa-Vubu,

who plotted with the Belgians,

is no longer Chief of State.

[energetic music playing]

[beeping]

[suspenseful music playing]

This is Leopoldville the morning after

President Kasa-Vubu's sensational announcement

on the Congo radio

that he had dismissed Prime Minister Lumumba.

Meanwhile, airports were closed

and Lumumba was denied the use of the radio station

which was shut down by UN troops.

[energetic music playing]

[beeping]

[in Russian] This is shameful.

The UN forces invited

by the legal government of Patrice Lumum

took over the airports and the radio station.

They made it possible for a treacherous puppet regime

to take over the Congo...

[vehicle engine humming]

[energetic drumming]

[reporter] Next day an emergency session of Parliament.

The members of Parliament here are discussing

whether Mr. Kasa-Vubu or Mr. Lumumba's government

is the authority in the Congo.

[indistinct chatter]

Once you get really good inside intelligence

about any group,

you are able to learn what the levers of power are

and what each man fears from another.

And what each man will credit another ma

to be capable of doing.

It's all a matter of inside knowledge.

[man] You're talking in riddles.

What do you mean by that?

You set people very discretely against one another.

[man] Right.

They destroy each other.

[reporter] At the end of the chaotic debate,

Lumumba went to the rostrum.

[applause]

He spoke quietly and skillfully.

[in French] We reject any intervention.

The Congo will never become a colony of the United Nations.

This is a reconquest!

[reporter] After hearing Lumumba's speech,

the MPs voted to invalidate

the decrees of both Kasa-Vubuand Lumumba

dismissing one another.

[indistinct shouting]

The night before the vote,

we counted heads, going down everyone.

We had the election.

[man] Did you buy votes?

I'm not gonna answer that one, I'm sorry

Don't comment, put it that way.

[energetic music playing]

The following day...

we had two votes.

[mellow music playing]

I lost.

[reporter] The senate had given Lumumba a vote of confidence

by 41 votes to 2.

[speaking in French]

[applause]

[Lumumba in French] The coup d'état,

this whole campaign against me

is conceived by the Congolese people

as a campaign against

the independence we had achieved.

[singing in French]

[applause]

[beeping]

[energetic music playing]

[applause]

[man in Russian] Lumumba addressed

the international press:

"Hammarskjold has lost our trust."

[man] Lumumba demanded the immediate withdrawal

of UN troops

if they continued interfering with his government.

Hammarskjold started out before the Cong

with an extraordinary degree of confiden

from African and Asian countries.

Part of the tragedy

is the destruction of that reservoir of confidence.

[in Arabic] The United Nations is failing in the Congo.

Who is responsible?

What is the role of the United Nations

in the Congo?

Destructive forces have been let loose

by people who do not wish well

to this newly independent state.

Up till now, the United Nations has failed in the Congo.

Any wound inflicted upon the Congo,

is a wound to the whole of Africa.

[O'Brien] Nasser and Nkrumah threatened to withdraw

their troops from the UN force.

Hammarskjold had to make a serious effor

to recover their confidence.

But he was opposed by the Western powers

who feared that he would bring Lumumba back into the picture.

[man] How much money do you suppose

the Central Intelligence Agency has poured into the Congo?

I don't know.Are you prepared to say?

I certainly, of course, don't know.

I wonder if it's quite honest to represent our policy

as completely angelic?

[Larry Devlin] The one name that kept coming up

was Joseph-Désiré Mobutu.

[reporter] Colonel Mobutu's loyalty

has been swinging between Lumumba and Kasa-Vubu.

[man] You say that A is sleeping with B's wife?

Yes, what a pity that so-and-so is so in discrete.

Not much more.

Of course, there are much more sophisticated operations.

[man] What kind of sophisticated operation?

Ah, that I couldn't possibly tell you.

[applause]

Darling,

are you enjoying the good things in life

Why am I so interested in pipe tobacco?

Darling...

[explosion]

[radio static]

[Mobutu in French] Hello, hello.

This is Colonel Mobutu speaking from Leopoldville.

The Congolese Army has decided to neutralize

the Head of State.

[Mobutu in French]

[man in French] It's obvious...

It's obvious that the image of a pipe is not a pipe.

[reporter] The CIA tended to support

very extreme right-wing groups in foreign countries

because of an obsession with communism

and set back democratic possibilities

in foreign countries?

I think just the opposite is the case.

- [cheering] - [applause]

[soft music playing]

[in Dutch] Life is often monotonous and tedious...

That's why television offers you a distraction.

- [applause] - [cheering]

[singing in French]

[Tshombe in French] If I return to Belgium today

it's in the first place

to show my respect to the King.

[singing in French]

[purse thuds]

[soft, eerie music playing]

- [applause] - [cheering]

[hooves clopping]

[bells tolling]

[crowd shouts in French, "Long live the Queen!"]

[majestic music playing]

[soft, eerie music playing]

[airplane engine humming]

[soft music playing]

[Blouin in French] For days our house had been surrounded

by troops armed with machine guns.

We expected the dreaded knock on the door any time.

Then, one early morning...

[engine revving]

...two jeeps stopped in front of the house.

Gilbert M'Pongo, government deputy,

delivered my expulsion order.

[reporter] An intimate adviser to the Lumumba government,

Madame Andrée Blouinfrom Guinea,

the glamorous half-French "mulatto"

with communist tendencies

whose influence behind the scenes

is being attacked by Lumumba's opponents

[Blouin in French] The soldiers crowded into the house,

making themselves at home...

asking for food and drinks.

Playing with my children, Eve-Sylviane and Patrick,

allowing them to handle their weapons

to the children's delight.

[wings flapping]

I had anticipated this goodbye.

Still, at the last moment,

I couldn't really accept what was happening.

The order specified:"Madame Blouin."

"My children," I begged.

"No, your children and husband can't join you,"

replied M'Pongo.

[wind blowing softly]

At the airport, before departure,

he reminded me that my loved ones

were being held hostage.

"Don't forget!

Not a word to the international press

or it will cost them dearly!"

[Bofane speaking in Kituba]

[Bofane speaking in French]

[soft, eerie music playing]

[footsteps]

[energetic music playing]

[Khrushchev in Russian] We announced that I would head

the Soviet delegation.

[footsteps]

[speaking in Russian]

That poured oil on the fire.

The American press was furious.

Cursing the Soviet Union at the top of their lungs.

- [cheering] - [applause]

Nehru would come from India.

Tito from Yugoslavia.

And Macmillan from Great Britain.

[resounding thud]

[man in Spanish] I declare the opening

of the 15th UN General Assembly.

There is Nasser.

There is Nehru.

There is Sékou Touré.

There is Nkrumah.

There is Mao Zedong in Peking.

[water splashes]

[upbeat jazz music playing]

People say imperialism is dead.

No!

Imperialism is not yet dead.

It is dying.

[music resumes]

[O'Brien] The U.S. still held

the necessary two-thirds majority in the Assembly,

but the influx of newly independent

Afro-Asian countries

Transformed the General Assembly

from being little more than a U.S. propaganda tool

into a genuine organ of negotiations.

[woman] If the African-Asian states

all vote together, which they seldom do,

they could produce 46 out of the 99 possible votes.

This, therefore, is a bloc which must be reckoned with.

[O'Brien] There was always a danger that

the Afro-Asian opinion

might swing over to Mr. Khrushchev's sid

Ambassador Stevenson,

if the United Nation should fail in this undertaking,

what hope is there for mankind?

Well, that's a very gloomy prospect.

[Morse code beeping]

[Morse code beeping]

[Morse code beeping]

[Morse code beeping]

[soft music playing]

[cars whooshing]

FIDEL AT THE U.N.

[man in Spanish] To attend the 15th U.N. General Assembly

the Cuban delegation travels to New York

headed by the Prime Minister and leader of the revolution:

Fidel Castro.

[mellow jazz music playing]

[unintelligible]

These are funny feet.

Funny, funny.

When I look at my feet, I get messed up myself.

[mimicking rhythmic beat]

[dramatic music playing]

[man] At least 16 African nations

ought to be admitted for the opening

of the United Nations 15th General Assembly

already momentous on the Congo issue.

A score of heads of government will be present.

A dramatic setting with global stakes at issue.

[audio warbling]

[Khrushchev in Russian] Castro was throwing

thunder and lightning

when he was kicked out of his hotel.

Being a former guerrillero,

he threatened to pitch his tent in front of the U.N.!

[shouting]

["Que Rico Mambo" playing]

[grunting]

[siren wailing]

[shouting]

[grunting]

[siren wailing]

[Pérez Prado shouting]

I want to salute the people of the United States.

[singing in Spanish]

[Khrushchev in Russian] It was crucial to pay Castro a visit

to expose America's policy

towards both the Afro-Americans and the Cuban delegation.

[man] ...the Theresa Hotel: lots of cops here.

A great jam of cameramen here now.

We're trying to push our way in.

An absolute madhouse here.

[Khrushchev in Russian] When I encountered Castro

for the first time, he made a deep impression:

here was this huge, tall person with a black beard.

We embraced each other.

"Embrace" is perhaps an understatement.

[Pérez Prado shouts, grunts]

[Khrushchev] He literally bent down to envelop me

with his whole body!

[man in Spanish] By hugging, Fidel and Nikita

bring Cubans and Soviets closer.

[man] What did you discuss in there?

Don't worry about that!

["My Reverie" playing]

[man] Let me ask you, Mr. X,

why did you visit Fidel Castro this morning?

[Malcolm X] Well, because of the trouble in Africa,

in the Congo, and other places,

it has caused a great deal of tension in Harlem.

We were led up to the 9th floor and into Dr. Castro's room.

He greeted us very cordially, we sat dow

the room wasn't so big.

My impression of Fidel Castro was that he was a man

who seemed to have the genuine interest

of his people at heart.

It's been suggested that there might be

some international intrigue here

because of Malcolm's travels to Africa,

his contacts with Nasser.

[man] The CIA was indeed very closely watching Malcolm.

Of special concern

was his effectiveness in Africa.

He had submitted an eight-page memorandum to a meeting

of the heads of 33 African nations

calling for their support in his pending move

to take America before the United Nation

for violating the Afro-Americans' human rights.

[Malcolm X] It's a human problem,

not an American problem or a Negro problem.

And as a world problem,

we feel that it should be taken out of the jurisdiction

of the United States government and the United States courts

in the same manner that the problems

of the Black man in South Africa, Angola

and other parts of the world

are taken into the United Nations

because of violations of human rights.

We believe that our problem is one not of violation

of civil rights but of violation of human rights.

Not only are we denied the right

to be a citizen in the United States,

we're denied the right to be a human being.

I would suggest

that when the charter of the United Nations

comes to be revised,

a permanent seat should be created

for Africa on the Security Council.

In view, not only of the growing number

of African members of the United Nations

but also of the increasing importance

of the African continent in world affair

[train whooshing]

["Blue in Green" playing]

[O'Brien] Within a few days of taking my seat in the U.N.,

I was contacted by the American "arm-twister."

Arm-twisters was a concept little heard

in public discussions of the United Nations

but absolutely central to its actual workings.

Arm-twisters were usually American delegates

whose function was to influence crucial votes

smell out possible recalcitrance,

and deal with it.

[O'Brien] Dealing with it could include bribery or blackmail.

Countries in which there were corporate interests

would receive less subtle hints.

[man in French] In my capacity as President

of the Republic of Congo,

I hereby announce the make-up of my delegation.

[train clanging]

[man] The legitimate government of the Congo

is the government of Mr. Patrice Lumumba

The decision to seat the delegation of Mr. Kasa-Vubu

came to us as a great shock.

[Menon] This is the worst humiliation

that the United Nations ever suffered.

And we from Asia would be the people

who'll be deeply shocked and grieved.

There cannot be one African in this Assembly, sir,

there cannot be one African in this Assembly

who'd not be moved to shame

by the situation that has arisen.

[train clanging]

[O'Brien] Over a strong protest by Afro-Asian neutrals,

the Assembly, under pressure from the U.S.,

seated a Kasa-Vubu delegation.

[Khrushchev in Russian] The dirty job in the Congo

was carried out

by U.N. Secretary-General Hammarskjold.

History will not forgive you.

A man who has trampled down elementary justice has no place

at such an important position

as that of the Secretary-General.

[man] I call now on the Secretary-Genera

in exercise of the right of reply.

By resigning, I would throw the organization to the winds.

I have no right to do so.

It is not the Soviet Union, or indeed any other big powers

who need the United Nations for their protection.

It is all the others.

The organization is, first of all,

their organization.

I shall remain in my post during the term of my office

as a servant of the organization

in the interest...

[applause]

I shall remain in my post during the term of my office

as a servant of the organization

in the interest of all those other natio

as long as they wish me to do so.

[applause]

[pounding]

Oh, man, I got a million dreams.

It's all I do, is dream.

All the time.

[man] I heard you played the piano.

No, no, this is not piano, this is dreaming.

[mellow piano music playing]

[Malcolm X] Along about 1955,

they had the Bandung Conference in Indonesia.

And at that time, the Africans, the Asians, the Arabs,

all of the non-white people got together

and agreed to de-emphasize their differences

and emphasize what they had in common.

[man] In New York, the dramatic parade

of major world figures

across the stage of history continues.

[dramatic music playing]

At Harlem's Hotel Theresa,

in a heavy presence of security guards

holding back throngs of demonstrators,

Nasser and Fidel Castro begin a 90-minute talk.

[Malcolm X] And it was the spirit of Bandung

that made it possible for nations

that didn't have a chance to become independent.

[man in Spanish] ...welcoming Nehru from India.

Welcoming Nkrumah from Ghana.

Fidel Castro embarks on his historical speech

personifying for the first time

the rebel voice of Latin America.

[Castro in Spanish] The case of Cuba

is like that of the Congo.

The colonialist intrusion was obvious.

We condemn

how the U.N. forces

intervened in the Congo.

[mellow piano music playing]

The only true leader who kept defending

the interests of his country, is...

Lumumba.

[applause]

[bright music playing]

[man] President Eisenhower arrives

at the 1960 session

of the United Nations General Assembly.

One of the most momentous diplomatic gatherings

in modern history.

[fanciful music playing]

[applause]

Ah, here's a little French tune

we're gonna swing for you.

♪ Hold me close and hold me fast ♪

♪ The magic spell you cast ♪

♪ This is "La vie en rose" ♪

[man] It had become clear that there could be

no Congolese government with Lumumba at its head.

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ Heaven sighs ♪

[man] With the international commitments

of Ghana, Guinea, of Cairo, Moscow, and Delhi,

all on Lumumba's side,

one wonders whether they can afford to do nothing about it.

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ To your heart ♪

♪ I'm in a world apart ♪

♪ A world where roses ♪

[soft clunking]

[no audio]

[man] Have you brought with you

some of those devices

which would have enabled the CIA to use this poison

for killing people?

[man] We have indeed.

[man] Don't point it at me.

[tapping of typewriter keys]

[music resumes]

Now...

Does this... does this pistol fire the dart?

[man] Yes, it does, Mr. Chairman.

[chairman] Does the target know he has been hit

and about to die?

[man] A special dart was developed

which potentially would be able to enter the target

without perception.

[woman] Let's talk about this tour of Africa.

Was it your idea?

No, it was the State Department.

[woman] Mind you don't get kidnapped in the Congo.

Why? Nobody gonna kidnap me.

What was the connection between the activities of the CIA

and the higher levels of the government?

And how much the president may have know

concerning CIA complicity in assassination attempts?

The people of the Congo are entitled

to build up their country in peace and freedom.

Intervention by other nations in their internal affairs

would create a focus of conflict

in the heart of Africa.

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ Hold me Close and hold me fast ♪

♪ The magic spell you cast ♪

♪ This is "La vie en rose" ♪

♪ When you kiss me Heaven sighs ♪

[Devlin] Catty-cornered from the embassy

was Café de la Presse.

And seated out on the terrace was a man I recognized.

He said, "I'm Joe from Paris.

We have a lot to talk about."

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ When you press me ♪

[Devlin] I said, "Well, what is it?"

He said, "Well, you'll have to assassinate Lumumba."

[interviewer] He used those words?

Yes.

[interviewer] Just as clearly as you say it to me now?

Yes.

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ When you Press me to your heart ♪

♪ I'm in a world apart ♪

[Devlin] He said, "I have been instructe

to provide you with some poisons."

[interviewer] But who ordered him?

He said, "President Eisenhower."

The report says it is reasonable to infe

that President Eisenhower ordered the CI

to try to kill Lumumbaof the Congo.

I propose to refrain from intervening

in these new nation's internal affairs by subversion,

force, propaganda, or any other means.

Thank you and God bless you.

[Louis Armstrong vocalizing]

[music stops]

How do you do?

This is Willis Conover in Washington, DC

The Voice of America:Jazz Hour.

Howdy, folks, this is old Satchmo, Louis Armstrong

taking over the next 15 minutes

from my old friend Willis Conover.

[man] Armstrong was officially declared

America's "Ambassador of Love" by the federal government

and was sent to tour the civil-war-torn Congo

in October of 1960.

[plane whizzing]

[man] America's weapon was a blue note in a minor key.

["La Vie en Rose" playing]

Mr. Louis Armstrong,

the greatest "King of Jazz."

Welcome, Mr. Armstrong.

[glockenspiel tinkling]

[Lumumba speaking French]

[instrumental cacophony]

[frantic jazz music playing]

[man in French] The U.N. Secretary-General claimed:

"Katanga is basically kept alive by mone

from Union Minière?"

[in French] Don't forget that I'm a politician.

And many of my enemies call me the "Cash Register."

In fact, Union Minière is not paying us,

we're actually supporting them.

[soft music playing]

[plane droning]

[Louis Armstrong] ♪ When You kiss me, heaven sighs ♪

♪ And though I close my eyes ♪

♪ And see la vie en rose ♪

[Morse code beeping]

♪ When you press me to your heart ♪

[Devlin] We were to go to Elisabethville

to attend a concert given by Louis Armstrong.

I went and Ambassador Timberlake

and Julie, his wife.

The wives were there to make it appear

that this was a social thing.

[typewriter clicking]

[upbeat music playing]

[cheering]

[man singing in Zulu]

[xylophone tones ascending and descendin

[soft music playing]

[Blouin in French] Patrice Lumumba continued to fight.

No one dared execute him yet, as planned

[shouting]

Not for lack of hatred,

but because Patrice Lumumba still impressed his enemies.

He knew that he was still the legal prime minister

but invisible hands were strangling him,

and those hands came from far away.

[mellow music playing]

Very far.

[man singing in Lingala]

[man] Lumumba's power had grown steadily

and troops loyal to him

controlled vast areas of the Congo.

[O'Brien] Lumumbists were about to recapture

two-thirds of the country.

[soft music playing]

[wind howling]

[man] Do you see any quick employment for your talents?

Yes, there is something coming up fairly soon.

Obviously, we can't talk about that,

but I think we might be back in business

[chaotic jazz music playing]

[man] The Belgians get a man named Tshombe

who is a murderer

and the first thing he does

is go to South Africa and hire more killers.

They give them the glorious name of "mercenary."

They are dropping bombs on villages.

Blowing to bits Congolese women.

Congolese babies.

This is extremism.

[in French] The Belgian government

is completely opposed to the use of mercenaries.

There is not one Belgian mercenary in Katanga.

Belgium is neither colonialist

nor neo-colonialist

nor imperialist.

[thunder rumbling]

[dark music playing]

[speaking French]

[muffled jazz music playing]

[chaotic jazz music playing]

[music stops]

[music resumes]

[train clanging]

[somber music playing]

[man] We toured the area in light aircraft

over a long stretch of railway

from Kobongo towards Kabala.

I was losing count of the number

of burnt-out villages.

However much you may distrust

the emotion of moral indignation,

there will be times when it hits you.

It hit me.

Not at the sight of the roofless village

but at the friendly wave of the white officer

in charge of these operations.

[train clanging]

[no audible saxophone]

[thrum of helicopter blades]

[distant thrum of helicopter blades]

[in French] You are what we call a Simba

Yes. I'm a Simba.

- [man] How old are you? - I'm 20 years old.

- [man] Exactly 20 years old. - Exactly.

[thrum of helicopter blades]

[Malcolm X] How do you think you would you feel right now

if some Congolese brother walked up to you?

They look just like you.

Don't think you don't look Congolese.

You look as much Congolese as a Congolese does.

[laughing]

How would you feel if one of them walked up to you

and asked you about what your government

is doing in the Congo?

I was asked that when I was over there.

- ["Alabama" playing] - [gunfire]

But you have no explanation.

Your tongue stays in your mouth.

[woman in French] Independence was never achieved.

Independence came with very limited sovereignty...

- [steam hissing] - [train whistle shrilling]

[train chuffing]

[somber music playing]

...but economically speaking, we were nowhere.

Why were we colonized?

Where is our wealth going?

We have diamonds, gold,

copper, tin, all you know...

["Alabama" playing]

[Malcolm X] They take these hired killers,

put them in American planes

with American bombs,

and drop them on African villages.

And you Black people sitting over here "cool,"

like it doesn't even involve you.

[man in French] Were they really hostage

or were you planning to kill them?

They were hostages.

They were there to keep planes away.

To prevent the planes from bombing us.

When we kept the hostages under threat,

there were no more bombings.

[Malcolm X] When the white public

uses its press to magnify

that the lives of white hostages are at stake,

they give me the impression

that they attach more importance

to a white hostage

than they do to the death of a human bei

despite the color of his skin.

[in French] We'll make this work at all costs.

We'll make a pact with the devil

to reunite the Congo.

End of story.

[man in French] Would you personally have killed

the European hostages?

Yes, I would have executed them.

Considering how we were bombed.

It's like...

being killed as wild animals.

But when a Black man strikes back,

he's an extremist.

He's supposed to sit passively and have no feelings,

be non-violent, and love his enemy.

No matter what kind of attack, be it verbal or otherwise,

he's supposed to take it.

But if he stands up and in any way

tries to defend himself...

[chuckles]

...then he is an extremist.

[Abo in French] At times, the military

would capture villagers.

They would encircle them like this

and call them out:

"Is this your daughter? Or your son?"

Parents were then forced

to have sex with their own children

in front of everybody.

[soft music playing]

[man in German] I'm fighting in Africa

for freedom and democracy.

Our operation in the Congo is a NATO operation.

Jacopetti arrived.

I received information from General Mobu

that he was authorized to take pictures.

Jacopetti is a good movie director.

Perhaps he said, "Listen, here's a man being shot,

put him a bit more to the left, so the sun shines better."

[somber music playing]

When I stayed in Leopoldville, I often visited

the Goethe-Institute.

Certainly, it's an institute of the Federal Republic.

But I have to say

we were running things along two lines.

We're running an "official" and an "unofficial" politics.

I've attended piano concerts at the Goethe-Institute.

I'm not a man who just kills niggers.

It is my privilege once again

to welcome you on this occasion.

To the outstanding artists

who speak to us today of those things

that can be told in music's universal tongue,

I offer our homage and our thanks.

[applause]

[Abo in French] We didn't know how to advance.

We had to build a bridge to cross a rive

It was dark and we decided to wait till morning to cross.

But the next morning,

the military attacked us by surprise.

Some escaped along the river.

Some were killed on the spot.

Mulele, me, and a few partisans fell into the river.

We stayed in the water

from morning till eight at night.

The water up till here.

While holding our bags and our rifles above the water.

[singing in Lingala]

The song tells:

"They lied when we were told that women aren't strong.

But through what we lived,

we realized that women are strong."

[Dulles] I think we overrated

the Soviet danger in the Congo.

CONGO

[in Russian] Mobutu's bandits brutally tortured

their prisoners.

With the support of American and Belgian colonizers,

the legally elected prime minister

of the Congo, Patrice Lumumba,

and his comrades were arrested.

[Khrushchev in Russian] The colonialists say

that Lumumba is a communist.

Clearly, Lumumba is not a communist, but a patriot.

But isn't it time to end colonialism?

[drum solo playing]

Some have yet to recognize their strength and truth.

They still follow yesterday's lynchers, their colonizers.

Perhaps today, but not tomorrow.

It just won't happen!

The people will rise

and straighten their backs to become their own masters

instead of being lackeys and slaves of the colonizers.

[moody music playing]

Keep this in mind, gentlemen.

This day will come sooner than you think

Death to colonial slavery!

Bury it!

Bury it deep in the ground!

The deeper, the better!

[applause]

["The Ballad Of Hollis Brown" playing]

We knew the U.S. would vote

for our resolution with grinding teeth.

So we put the U.S. in a real dilemma.

If they would vote against us,

they would look like the colonizers.

♪ The rats have got your flour ♪

♪ Bad blood it got your mare ♪

And one of the things that is going to help

to bring this about is the independence of Africa.

[Nina Simone] ♪ The rats Have got your flour ♪

♪ Bad blood it got your mare ♪

[Malcolm X] We began to identify with it.

And your Western imperialists and colonialists

consider this to be a grave threat.

More of a threat than communism or Marxism or socialism.

Africanism is what they consider

to be the real threat.

[man] A soldier tries to stuff into Lumumba's mouth

the crumbled speech...

♪ The rats have got your flour ♪

♪ Bad blood it got your mare ♪

[man] United Arab Republic? Yes.

Ethiopia? Yes.

♪ Bad blood it got your mare ♪

[man] Soviet Union? Yes.

India? Yes.

Nigeria? Yes.

♪ Is there anyone who cares ♪

[man] Belgium? Abstained.

United States? Abstained.

♪ So you prayed to the Lord above ♪

♪ Please send you a friend ♪

[applause]

[woman] And there was Asian-African unanimity

in the United Nations General Assembly

on the "Declaration Against Colonialism"

which won 89 votes.

[somber piano music playing]

[Bofane in French] We owe it to ourselve

to write our own story.

[dark music playing]

Look at "the opening of the Zaire border" at the time

decided by Westerners.

It's U.N. Resolution 929.

I know it by heart.

I could describe how from then onwards

it's genocide after genocide after genocide

and finally the Congo War.

In five minutes.

[alarm ringing]

[upbeat music playing]

[indistinct lyrics]

[somber music playing]

[muffled thrum of helicopter blades]

[Bofane in French] Everyone looks away.

The U.N. only observes.

It costs $2 billion per month.

They're in the DR Congo for almost 25 years.

They were able to capture Lumumba

because of the U.N.

[gunshot]

Lumumba was under U.N. protection.

Today it's the same thing.

[exploding]

[man in French] On January 17, 1961,

you were at the Elisabethville airport

when Lumumba, Mpolo, and Okito arrived.

How come you were at the Elisabethville airport?

I was told an important package would arrive:

the three persons in question.

How were they at that moment?

They were alive, but in what condition?

They were alive.

As far as I can tell from where I stood.

they were not necessarily in a state of "dying."

We have all learned this morning

by the Katanga authorities

of the reported death of Patrice Lumumba

and two of his colleagues.

["We Insist! Freedom Now Suite" playing]

[Abbey Lincoln vocalizing]

The issue then is simply this:

Shall the United Nations survive?

Shall the attempt to bring about peace

by the considered power

of international understanding be discarded?

[music resumes]

[Abbey Lincoln vocalizing]

[Abbey Lincoln vocalizing]

[cheering]

[Abbey Lincoln vocalizing]

[vocalizing]

[screaming]

[shouting]

[whooshing]

[vocalizing]

[shouting]

[vocalizing continues]

[music stops]

[radio static]

[somber music playing]

[muffled lively music playing]