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“Africa will write its own history, and it will be, to the north and to the south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity.” -Patrice Lumumba Patrice Émery Lumumba (2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese independence leader and the first democratically elected leader of the Congo. As founder and leader of the mainstream Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) party, Lumumba played an important role in campaigning for independence from Belgium. Within twelve weeks of Congolese independence in 1960, Lumumba’s government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis following his attempt to solicit support from the Soviet Union against Katangan secessionists. This led to growing differences with President Joseph Kasa-Vubu a…