Good evening,
first and foremost, of course, to Juliana and all the family members of Patrice Lumumba,
dear rector, lecturers, staff at UAntwerp,
and especially dear fellow students,
and everyone with Congolese and African roots,
welcome,
My name is Victorine Mpanzu Kwamy. This is my first year at this university and I am taking a bridging programme for the Master in Multilingual Professional Communication. Besides being a student, this year I am the chair of AYO, the African Youth Organisation. AYO is a student association here in Antwerp. We target students with African roots or anyone interested in Africa. AYO’s goal is to provide a meeting space for Afro-Belgian young people to promote their cultural knowledge and self-knowledge.
The collaboration with AYO for this inauguration started five years ago. It was a challenge with several concerns including that we, the student association AYO, were only brought in to create the impression of participation without any real participation from AYO. Today, these concerns are behind us, because I, Victorine Mpanzu Kwamy, stand proudly here before you. I am proud as chair of AYO, but also proud as a student of Congolese origin who can pay due honour and respect to a hero of her country of origin.
I stand proudly here before you as chair of AYO, but also proud as a student of Congolese origin who can pay due honour and respect to a hero of her country of origin
At the age of eleven, I first learnt about Patrice Lumumba. Not at school, but from my mother. She told me about the exploitation, violence and oppression the Congolese were victims of at the hands of the Belgians. From then on, I tried to learn more about the topic of colonialism by listening to what my parents and grandparents said about it, by reading books, by watching films and so on. Upon reflection, I found that during my entire secondary school education, Patrice Lumumba was never mentioned, and here at university he was only mentioned when we talked about him for the inauguration.
Now I ask myself the question: How much do people who are not of Congolese origin know about Belgium’s colonial past? Belgium’s colonial past is not taught or taught insufficiently in Belgian schools. Research shows that 80% of Belgians do not know who Patrice Lumumba is. I find this outrageous.
Now I ask myself the question: how much do people who are not of Congolese origin know about Belgium’s colonial past?
The story of Patrice Lumumba is a story of courage, pride and determination. Through his courage, pride and determination to bring about change, he has not only become a key figure in his country’s independence
, but an inspiration to the many who are fighting for justice. Today, this lecture hall, located in a building where men were trained to govern the colonies, is being named after the man who gave his life to free his country from the clutches of these men – Patrice Lumumba. A very strong and powerful symbolic action. A necessary action to give him and his struggle the visibility they need and to contribute to the recognition and exposure of history, but of course it should not stop there.
As a student, I have been engaged with the Strategic Framework for Global Engagement. A strategic framework that is focused on education, research and international partnerships. The most important thing for me as a student is the focus on education and the curriculum. Decolonise the curriculum! Eurocentric knowledge is still too often considered the standard. There needs to be room for diverse sources of knowledge, and attention needs to be paid to the reality and impact of the colonial past, and specifically Belgium’s role in this.
Decolonise the curriculum. Eurocentric knowledge is still too often considered the standard
The strategic framework is a comprehensive and ambitious framework that aims to create critical and inclusive global citizens. I hope the university invests and continues to free up the necessary resources to transform the framework into a plan that can be implemented at our university. Education without social justice as a topic and critical reflection on privilege and distribution of opportunities remains hollow. The university should provide students with tools to think critically about the past, the current inequalities that arise from it, and encourage students to be positive changemakers for the challenging future.
The thing I miss in the university’s policy is a safety net for students who are victims of racism or discrimination. As an AYO board member, I regularly receive reports from students who have been victims of racism or discrimination at the university. We do our best to help the student as best we can, but there is not much we can do as a student association. There are actual bodies at the university that handle these cases, but they are either not known or the incidents are minimised. A university should be a place where students should feel safe regardless of their origin or skin colour.
Besides the discrimination that students may experience, the presence of well-known far-right politicians who can proclaim their racist views at the university is a thorn in the side of many students. In the future, we hope that the university takes a clearer position on this.
Let us not only use Patrice Lumumba’s name to name this lecture hall, but let us embody him in our actions
For me, decolonisation is about daring to name normalised power inequalities. Change is inevitable in the process of decolonisation. Let us not only use Patrice Lumumba’s name to name this lecture hall, but let us embody him in our actions. Dare to bring change, be determined to bring change. It is very easy to simply label this action as ‘woke’, however, it takes real courage to question and adjust a system built on white privilege. This is the only way to achieve structural change. Because without real change, our university will remain stagnant. Stagnate in a position where those at the top are comfortable and those at the bottom continue to suffer in silence.
Let us see this inauguration as a start. A start to work boldly, proudly and in the spirit of Patrice Lumumba, to build the world we want for tomorrow.