Diasporic Engagements with the Legacies of Lumumba and Sankara: Extending Du Bois’s Double Consciousness and Fanon’s Theory of Colonial Alienation Toward the Decolonisation of Knowledge

Legendary African leaders have inspired the African Diaspora. Growing up in Africa in the late 1970s and 1980s, I was inspired by Bob Marley and his music, especially the liberation song, “Redemption Song.” Bob Marley and the rest of the Rastafari movement saw Haile Selassie as their hero and inspiration. Likewise, the heavyweight boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Kinshasa highlighted how the Diaspora looked back to the continent for inspiration. I will be focusing on two African leaders who inspired me. Patrice Émery Lumumba (July 2, 1925 - January 17, 1961) and Thomas Sankara (December 21, 1949 - October 15, 1987), whose uncompromising visions for self-determination and resistance to neocolonial influence inspired many among my contemporaries. Their tragic and untimely deaths in the 1960s and 1980s, respectively, left a mark, and their legacy lives on. Living in Western Europe for decades, my interest in Diaspora identity has led me to two scholars who theorised on the experience of children of Africa in Diaspora. W.E.B. Du Bois' concept of Double Consciousness and Frantz Fanon's analysis of colonial alienation came to mind when I reflected on the legacy of Lumumba and Sankara in Diaspora. When reflecting on the psychological impact of displacement and cultural struggles faced by the Diaspora, I noted that these experiences are not only related to the colonial legacy that underpins migration but are connected to the global structures that shape global politics that Lumumba and Sankara sought to challenge. This chapter calls for a renewal of engagement with the decolonial thought underpinning authenticity. Authenticity was at the core of Lumumba and Sankara's politics. Epistemic sovereignty, decolonising the mind and pride in African identity in Diaspora are worthy causes to pursue when building the legacy of Lumumba and Sankara and bridging the links between the African Continent and its global Diaspora.