Colonization and Its Current Impact on Africans - More specifically the Congo
col·o·ni·za·tion
/kälənəˈzāSH(ə)n/
noun
1. the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area.
"Africa boasts a tradition of higher education institutions that predate Western colonization"
The action of appropriating a place or domain for one's own use.
"the complete colonization of television entertainment by reality shows"
Colonization ... something we are all familiar with. Another reason why some people in America have decided to honor “Indigenous People’s Day” instead of “Columbus Day”, to pay respect to the originators of the land Columbus claimed to discover.
Unfortunately, us Americans are not the only ones with a history of colonization, as many countries around the world have been negatively affected as well. Right now, let us focus on the colonization of countries in Africa and the impact of that colonization currently. More specifically, let us focus on the Congo -- a country in Central Africa -- that has been greatly affected by colonization.
In the 1800s, King Leopold II of Belgium colonized the Congo. His motivation was of course the profit and power he would gain by doing so (Mudane). Fortunately, the Congo achieved independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 under the name Republic of the Congo (Wikipedia). However, it was extremely sudden, so one can only imagine how hard it would be to transition to a stable lifestyle due to all of the policies and processes the colonizers forced in place. Since the Congolese people were not ready to self-rule due to this hasty decolonization, they struggled with creating their own policies that kept domestic life stable. This is because they had no idea what it was like to hold government positions nor make government decisions due to the lack of access (if any) Belgium gave them to those “higher positions”. This “chaos” then “led to civil wars and political corruption that then brought in the engagement of the United States and the UN” (Caldwell). That is just one example of the many ways the Congo and other similar countries have been affected by colonization -- even after gaining independence.
To further bring awareness to what is going on in the Congo, please feel free to tune in to “Congo Week” (10/18-24/2020) where you can learn more about the Congolese culture and their contributions to the world. This information can be found on our instagram (@ucsdbsu), the
ABC’s instagram (@afrikanblackcoalition), and the official congoweek website at congoweek.org, where we are all Breaking the Silence on Africa's Best Kept Secret.
Sources:
https://www.google.com/search?q=colonization&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS816US816&oq=coloniz ation&aqs=chrome.0.69i59j35i39j69i59j0l5.5152j1j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318658871_Examination_of_the_Impact_of_C olonialism_in_Cong
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo#:~:text=Congo%20achiev ed%20independence%20from%20Belgium,name%20Republic%20of%20the%20Congo.&text= Conflict%20arose%20over%20the%20administration,South%20Kasai%20attempted%20to%2 0secede.
https://medium.com/@megancaldwell62/the-effects-of-colonization-how-it-happened-and-h ow-it-still-continues-b463350d1ac5
Jaida Day
Communications Director, UC San Diego
