Conrad’s Congo Journey Joseph Conrad’s own experiences during his trip through the Congo helped him provide a foundation for the writing of Heart of Darkness. In 1890, Conrad took a job as a captain on the river steamer Kinshasa. Before Conrad took this job, he had worked for the French merchant navy as a way to escape Russian military service and also to escape the emotional troubles that had plagued him. Conrad had been in a financial crisis that was resolved with help from his uncle. After
Congolese guitarist, singer, bandleader and composer Francois Luambo Makiadi (Franco) “the sorcerer of the guitar” was 20th century Africa’s most important musician; he was the greatest. My opinion is amply supported by the recent release of two double CD retrospectives Francophonic Volume 1(1953-1979) & 2 (1980-1989). The sets demonstrate Franco’s amazing longevity, prolificacy, and innovation. From 1950 until his death in 1989, he record over a thousand songs, created a dominate style of African
What is the Congo Congo’s population is estimated at 4.04 million, over half of which live in the two major cities of Brazzaville and Pointe- Noire. In this area since the 20th century three fourth of the population lives in urban areas, making the Congo one of Africa’s most urbanized countries. Almost all Congolese are Bantu, a name that refers to the people living in Central, Eastern and Southern Africa. The Bantu originated from Nigeria and Cameroon and migrated to Southern Africa 2,000 years
War demands innovation. The constant political corruption and tension between the Congolese Government and its people have forced both sides to resort to drastic measures. The threat of cannibalism is one of the ingenious war tactics that the people of the Congo have used during times of need. While killing someone with a gun, public executions, or torturing have not gotten the desired results, the Congolese viewed cannibalism as the new method for winning the war. During the Congo-Arab War, the
The liberation of Africa was a slow, often violent, process. The continent, having been torn apart by colonial powers was fraught with ethnic and tribal divides. This made liberation movements complicated because of the necessity for non-existent nationalization. In most countries this caused the movement towards liberation to be a violent struggle, often resulting in war, mass murder, and in one instance, genocide. Even in some of the semi-successful transitions, warlords or autocratic dictatorships
Africa has long been a nation of conflict and strife. Certain countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have a prolonged history of corrupt leaders, violence and lack of resources. These conflicts often can lead to spill over and create wars in their neighboring countries. When a weak state has internal conflict it often spreads to surrounding weak states as it did with many of the countries in central Africa. This type of crisis will often involve the entire world in a variety of
Murder, destruction, mayhem, three things the people of Kinshasa, Congo know too well. This city was started with Eurocentric ideals embedded into the very nature of the land. Originally named Leopoldville, claimed in the name of King Leopold II of Belgium by a British explorer known as Henry Stanley.1 The colony was established as the personal property of the King at the Berlin Conference in 1884. By 1885 King Leopold II had established the Congo as the new Congo Free State.2 The Belgian government
Democratic Republic of the Congo Located in the heart of the continent of Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a diverse nation with rich, intricate history. Despite political, economic, and social struggles, the large African country has continued to endure and develop against adversity. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is abundant in natural resources and is home to many different cultural and ethnic groups of people. The geographic, demographic, economic, and governmental history
About one-third of the northern part of the country is above the equator with the remaining two-thirds below. Because of this, it receives a high amount of rainfall causing a wet, humid, tropical climate. The average temperature of the capital, Kinshasa, is about 77 degrees fahrenheit. The country’s climate can mainly be classified into two types, a equatorial climate, where it's humid all year with no dry season, and a tropical climate, where it's hot all year except for a brief dry season. There
Economics and a Master’s in Mathematics from the University of Paris (Soukous, 2015). Due to several political turmoil back home in Kinshasa, Koffi has made numerous trips in between Kinshasa and Paris recruiting his teams and in which sometimes French government has accused him in bringing people with him without visas and some of his fan teams never want to return home to Kinshasa. Out of all these confusions and political oppressions, Koffi has been one of the richest artist and talented musician in Africa
migration” and the second being the concept that the city of Kinshasa while being very poor, was a thriving center of arts and popular music from the Kinshasa article, I could not find the author of this article as there was many different names there. There are many similarities in these articles, one being that in the Bronx, despite the challenges it faces, it has overcome much of its violence with the use of arts such as they did in Kinshasa, all on their own. Instead of using violence, they have resorted
Since Lumumba's physical elimination had removed what the west saw as the major threat to their interests in the Congo, internationally-led efforts were undertaken to restore the authority of the moderate and pro-western regime in Kinshasa over the entire country. These resulted in ending the Lumumbist regime in Kisangani in August 1961, the secession of South Kasai in September 1962, and the Katanga secession in January
like Pennsylvania whose laws are not strict enough regarding animal abuse. This will be a growing dispute with years to come if society does not do anything about it. Poverty in Contemporary Democratic Republic of Congo Poor as I am I live in Kinshasa, The founda... ... middle of paper ... ...ds yearn to learn and sadly sometimes their conditions don’t allow them too. Kids without shoes are seen at school all in order to succeed and perhaps have a chance to go further in life. The excitement
other climate humid tropical to the southwest, the tropical climate dry to the southeast, and also the equatorial climate following its position at the equator. Democratic Republic of the Congo in the acronym DRC, with Kinshasa as its political capital, can also be called Congo Kinshasa to distinguish it from Congo Brazzaville one of the neighboring countries of the nine that are:
social problems such as ethnical rivalries, sexual exploitation and a substantial amount of death. The endeavour for independence started somewhat late in the Congo. In January 1959, there was a great riot in Leopoldville which is today known as Kinshasa for which the leaders of the ABAKO, the ethnically-based political party of the Bakongo people, were blamed and jailed. This caused a complete boycott of government services in the Lower Congo district and a successful mobilization of the Bakongo
secret and his death was widely rumored. He was in various African countries, notably the Congo surveying the possibilities of turning the Kinshasa rebellion into a Communist revolution, by Cuban-style guerrilla tactics. He returned to Cuba to train volunteers for that project, and took a force of 120 Cubans to the Congo. His men fought well, but the Kinshasa rebels did not. They were useless against the Belgian mercenaries, and by autumn 1965 Che had to advise Castro to withdraw Cuban aid. Che's
In this essay I will contend that the state failure in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo hereafter) can best be explained by local level analysis. I will claim that identifying the governance structures left behind by the DR Congo’s colonial legacy explains why the local level of analysis is better suited for explaining the DR Congo’s continued fragility. I will discuss the failures and successes of both the local and national level of analyses in explaining the actions of Mobutu (ruled
The SAPE of Brazzaville. It was on a February 11. My father and I were driving home when we got stopped in the traffic. Apparently, there was a parade. I was told that this was common in that period of the year in Kinshasa the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, when I saw the participants of the show, I was blown away. This was a very colorful parade rich in haut couture brands: Gaultier, Vuitton, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Yamamoto, and other brands. When I asked my
JOSEPH KABILA, THE CONGOLESE ENIGMA Joseph Kabila has been president in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2001; and as foolish as it appears, President Joseph Kabila is an enigma for his people. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a country located in central Africa. The Congo became an independent state in 1960, and was mostly ruled by dictators; one of them, Laurent Désiré Kabila, is told to be Joseph Kabila’s father or step-father or foster father. Nobody really knows. Joseph Kabila became
Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 1994. Web. 06 May 2012. . Smith, Fran. "Why Arts Education is Crucial, and Who's Doing it Best.”. The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 28 Jan 2009. Web. 5 May 2012. . Tsioulcas, Anastasia. "'Kinshasa Symphony': An Ode To Musical Joy In Central Africa." Deceptive Cadence from NPR Classical. NPR, Washington DC, 07 Mar. 2012. Radio.