Patrice Lumumba
One of the beauties of writing your own blog is that you can write just about anything. The Congo doesn't have much to do with porn, gay sex, or penises (unless you count the Belgian crown and 80 years of colonial control-- 23 years of which included brutal nation-wide enslavement-- as one giant DICK). The
Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly
Zaire) is the second largest country in Africa and the 11th largest in the world. Only in Africa could a war that has claimed nearly 5.4 million lives since 1998 go virtually unnoticed in the West. Some of the violence stems all the way back to independence, when Leftist leader
Patrice Lumumba was assassinated with the help of the CIA and replaced by the ego-maniacal and equally flamboyant dictator
Mobutu Sese Seko, whose full, self-imposed title: Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga means "The all-powerful warrior who, because of his endurance and inflexible will to win, goes from conquest to conquest, leaving fire in his wake". Which is all to say, despite the horrible historical consequences, both men had otherwise great drag names.
I mention the Congo, first because I have a long standing personal fascination with Africa and this region in particular (I highly recommend Michela Wrong's "
In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz" if you're interested in learning more), but also because the Italian art magazine
Mousse recently inaugurated an artist curated video site called
Vdrome.org. The first film to feature, Sven Augustijnen's "Spectres", tells more of this story.
If the Congo isn't quite your bag, bookmark
Vdrome now and check in weekly for updated artist projects.
Why?
Cause Colby "the un-poweful Cumyounist Dicktator who, because of his uncompromising love for his readers, goes from blog post to blog post, leaving commands in his wake" tells you to!!!
Gurrrl werk: Mobutu Sese Seko