Source: Chicken Bones
October 22, 2005
Who were the most brutal wielders of machetes in African history responsible for the amputation of thousands of human hands?
Under-age black combatants looking for revenge and survival by joining militia groups in unstable economies?
No. They were greedy Europeans who wanted easy fortunes derived from the sale of rubber for tires for the new auto factories that sprang up at the turn of the twentieth century.
By the time the Europeans were finished with the economic subjugation of the part of Africa called the Congo, an estimated 13 million Africans had been killed—more than twice the deaths attributed to Adolph Hitler during the World War II era.
This little known and often concealed genocidal fury is brilliantly explored in the film, Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death, which will have its first major theatrical screening in the New York City area from October 21-28 at the Quad Cinema at 34 West 13th St. Five showings are scheduled each day, starting at 1 p.m. to 10:55 p.m. to accommodate varied audiences.
Frederick Hudson, marketing consultant for the distributor, Artmattan Productions, noted that – the distributors view this film not as a commercial enterprise, but as a mission, a calling for the exploration of the genesis of the African continent’s current woes. Previous screenings of the film in small venues were extremely well received and the community called for the messages to be shared with all sectors of the community. Schools, churches, human rights groups are encouraged to take advantage of group rates to see this historical expose.
Leopold of Belgium was considered to be one f the first genocidal rulers of Africa. His devastation set into motion a shadow of colonialism which still casts darkness on the richest continent in the world in terms of natural resources. Audience members in the past saw many current parallel with the global crises that challenge our world today.
By the same token, there is a message of redemption of the human spirit in the movie when the human rights movement began in Belgium in response to journalists’ dogged determination to tell of the horrors that came from one man’s desire to degrade mankind.
