(GIN) Africa was ever on the mind of Martin Luther King Jr. and his concerns for the continent appear in his many papers in the King Institute.
MLK spoke out about the Congo at an event celebrating the independence of Kenya: “There are many problems on a world scale today and one of them is the Congo.”
“The Congo problem can be solved when there is a withdrawal of all foreign troops and mercenaries,” he said. “The problem must be solved by negotiations, with the United Nations offering its assistance.
“We must not rest in any nation until the problem is solved in South Africa. I called for a massive boycott of that country because of the vicious regime existing there.”
In another speech in Stockholm Cathedral, he said there could be no peace in the world as long as conditions such as those in Mississippi and South Africa continued.
And at an Africa Freedom Dinner at Atlanta University at the end of a five-week U.S. tour by Kenyan nationalist leader Tom Mboya, King observed: “Our struggle is not an isolated one. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
“As you well know,” he continued, “there is a great revolution going on all over our world. And we think of the fact that just 30 or 40 years ago, there were only two countries in Africa that had independence at that particular time—that was Liberia and Ethiopia. And today eight countries have been added to that number, and in 1960 four more will be added: Somalia, Togoland, the Cameroons and the largest country in Africa — Nigeria.
“This reveals that an old order is passing away. And our guest speaker is one of the great leaders in this struggle for freedom and independence.
“And in a real sense, what we are trying to do in the South and in the United States is a part of this worldwide struggle for freedom and human dignity. Our struggle is not an isolated struggle; it is not a detached struggle, but it is a part of … the worldwide revolution for freedom and justice.
“So we are concerned about what is happening in Africa and what is happening in Asia because we are a part of this whole movement. And we want Mr. Mboya to know, as he prepares to go back to Africa, that we go with him in spirit and with our moral support and even with our financial support.
“Certainly injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. And so long as problems exist in Africa, or in Asia, or in any section of the United States, we must be concerned about it.
“I hope as a result of this meeting, we will go out with grim and bold determination to make the ideal of first-class citizenship a reality. And that we will go away with a new concern for Africa and Asia and all of the oppressed peoples over the world as they struggle to realize the dream of brotherhood and man’s love for all men.”