Welcome to the Congo

My beloved Congo,
The joke of the African continent
The world’s gold, diamond, and coltan mine
Rwanda’s concubine

This country of mine,
Poisoned with the swine that is Western policy
Westerners and Asians exploit the riches
But live behind gated communities
With underpaid Congolese security

So they’re closing the door
On fractured Congolese faces with one hand,
While robbing her of her resources with the other
And no province is safe
Because some of our own,
Corrupted Congolese leaders,
Are involved in this race

But even they can’t keep pace
In the face of our Rwandan aggressors,
Annexing our spirit
To their sickened, stricken, sinister soul
To such an extent that to now call eastern Congo,
You must dial Rwandan area codes
While they toy with the possibility
Of introducing Rwandan currency in the east

The United Nations talks of peace
Knowing full well
That peace can only be attained
Through violence

Jean Pierre Bemba
Becoming the Congolese Prime Minister
Can only happen through violence

Child soldiers
Fighting in fear
Of retribution on their families,
Join in the spread of violence

Raping my mother country
And spilling her black coltan blood
Only continues through VIOLENCE

But when I talk to you
About Congolese genocide
With Western compliance
Your response - silence!

I know
Because I used to be just like you,
Sittin’ there smilin’
While other folks lie dyin’
Even bought my wife-to-be a diamond
And probably spilled the blood
Of a distant cousin for it
And chose to ignore it

But now I’ve visited Congolese refugee camps
To find that
There’s not even any refuge for refugees
Abandoned Congolese mothers and children
Living in tents
Made out of empty rice bags
While lice drags through their hair

And their daughters
Living in despair,
Start having babies
At 12-years-old
With 50-year-old married men
With no humility
Who pay them $.25
For their virginity
And the possibility of exchange for AIDS
While the World Bank
Gives this absentee father of a government aid

But I’m searching for a cure for both diseases
Because 4,000,000 have died in 4 years
And too many orphans are shedding tears

As they start dying in the street
At 11 years old
Because even though it’s hot on the outside,
Their inner spirits are cold
From walking around starving in a capital city
That barely has paved roads

And eating ½ a meal a day
Can’t heal that
Living on less than $1 a month
Won’t heal that
And since you only see
Israel and Palestine on the news
Y’all can’t feel that

So I’m hoping that a thousand words
Can be worth a picture
Because this image of the Congo
May not fit your stomach
But it’ll fit your fingers with diamonds,
Your ears with gold,
Your cell phones with coltan,
While newly discovered Congolese oil
Heats your house when it’s cold

But y’all still don’t give a damn
Even when I talk to you
About Congolese with polio,
Walking as if their left knee
Was glued to their left hand

See there may be a cure for measles and malaria
But there’s no medicine for misery
In a country being steered
In the wrong direction
With children dying
From all types of infection
And 12-year-old girls condemned to death
Because rich married men,
Don’t use protection
And all of their relationships
End in rejection
It’s like the entire country’s suffering
From a lethal injection

A second genocide in less than 100 years
That’s gone without mention
Along with the fact that we’ve gone 12 years
Without an election
On the Congolese street
Called the “Avenue of the Future”,
…That’s where my father was tortured
And nearly died in detention
So you’ll have to forgive me
When I say that our future looks bent in
The eyes of the people

And I’m also pissed off because,
They say, “Long live an independent Congo”,
But I don’t remember when it ever was

The international community correctly condemns Congolese corruption
By questioning where the ministers bought their cars from
But the world’s ears become deaf
When I ask where our invaders got their arms from?

This is the Congo damn it!
And ain’t none of it funny
Americans who work here
Say it’s a great place to make money
Folks with connections from Bush to Bin Laden
Steady robbin’ this country of her resources
Through Lebanese liaisons
Living in the land of internationally sanctioned genocide
Where
Pathetic US
+ Putrid UN policies
= Pesticide

Claiming that they’ve finally brokered peace
But don’t let them fool ya
’Cause up ‘til today
We’re still diggin’ up body bags in Bunia

Because their role in the Congo
Supports nothing but violence
Our continual purchase of Congolese riches
That never benefit the masses—compliance
Possible experiments with untested AIDS drugs
On unsuspecting Congolese—in the name of science
Poems like this to try to wake us all up—a simple act of defiance
All I’m asking for my beloved Congolese people—self-reliance
But when I ask you to help me heal the hurting heart of Africa,
Your response—SILENCE!

(Written in Kinshasa, 2002)

• Urban Music Award winner Omékongo Dibinga, M.A., is a motivational speaker, rapper, and poet. He is the Founder & CEO of Free Your Mind Publishing. A first generation Congolese-American, Omékongo writes and performs in English, French, Swahili, and occasionally has used Wolof. He has released 4 CDs, 2 books, and 1 DVD. He is the host of “Flava,” an international satellite hip-hop radio show in Asia, Europe, and Africa. He has performed/lectured in the United States, South Africa, England, Congo-Kinshasa, Tanzania, France, Cuba, and Canada. His work has been televised in over 130 countries. For more information, please visit
• Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org