Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat

On a fateful February morning in 1961, the esteemed singer Abbey Lincoln along with renowned drummer Max Roach audaciously storm the UN Security Council to voice their outrage over the brutal assassination of prime minister Patrice Lumumba, who was leading the newly independent Congo. The scene erupts into chaos as sixty fervent protesters unleash their anger, throwing punches and slamming their stilettos, igniting a confrontation with bewildered guards while diplomats watch in astonishment. This climactic moment encapsulates the dizzying upheaval of decolonization, filling the atmosphere with a tumult of hope and despair.

Fast forward six months earlier, when sixteen newly liberated African nations earn their rightful place in the United Nations, setting off a political earthquake that drastically alters the balance of power and dismantles the old colonial regimes. During this turbulent period of the Cold War, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev creates a memorable scene at the UN General Assembly, emphatically banging his shoe on his desk to express his outrage over the unfolding neo-colonial exploits in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With a passionate outrage, he publicly condemns America’s racial injustices and the UN’s collusion in Lumumba’s downfall, clamoring for an immediate global decolonization.

In a bid to maintain access to the vast wealth of the territories formerly known as the Belgian Congo, King Baudouin of Belgium finds a compliant ally in the administration of Dwight D. Eisenhower, alarmed by the potential loss of crucial resources, particularly Uranium—a critical element for producing atomic weaponry. The Congo emerges as the epicenter of both the Cold War and the high-stakes maneuvering for control over the UN. The US State Department springs into action by dispatching jazz icon Louis Armstrong to charmingly win over the hearts of the African populace.

Unwittingly, Armstrong becomes a diversionary tactic, distractingly pulling attention away from the impending coup that will lead to the assassination of Lumumba, Congo’s first democratically elected leader. Meanwhile, the influential voice of Malcolm X passionately advocates for Lumumba’s vision of a United States of Africa, skillfully reframing the narrative of African Americans’ struggle not merely as a quest for civil rights but as a fight for universal human rights, determined to bring this cause before the UN.

As celebrated jazz ambassadors perform blissfully unaware in the shadows of covert CIA operations, jazz luminaries like Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Melba Liston are confronted with a profound moral quandary: how to symbolize a nation where segregation remains the law of the land.

This poignant amalgamation of jazz and decolonization unfolds in this often-overlooked chapter of Cold War history, showcasing how the greatest musicians graced the political arena while marginalized leaders became unintended vocal champions of their causes. The narrative of the subversion of African self-determination is eloquently articulated through the perspectives of celebrated activists such as Andrée Blouin, an advocate for women’s rights in the Central African Republic, the fiery Irish diplomat and provocateur Conor Cruise O’Brien, the insightful Belgian-Congolese writer In Koli Jean Bofane, and the fervent Nikita Khrushchev himself.

Last Updated: November 07, 2024 at 22:31