Sometimes life imitates art, other times art imitates life
The first time I watched Wakanda Forever , I remember thinking how magnificent it would be if Africa was blessed with Vibranium to power our technology ,infrastructure, and healthcare systems .
Lately, I have come to realize that that Wakanda isn't just a fragment of Hollywood's imagination. The Black Panther movie/Wakanda Forever is art imitating or reimagining what real life should have been .
Congo's Coltan is Africa's 'Vibranium'' and Africa already has enough 'Vibranium" and natural minerals /resources to power not just its own technology and infrastructure but that of the entire world.
Coltan also known as the Blood Mineral is a black metallic substance which in its refined state transforms into a heat - resistant Tantalum, with unique abilities to store electrical charge. Our smart phones, laptops ,advanced medical equipment all have Coltan as a fundamental building block.
Similar to Wakanda's Vibranium, Congo's Coltan's rare properties have made it indispensable for global technology, aeronautical and automotive industries.
70% of the world's supply of Coltan required to power phones in our hands and all the technological devices in the world, comes from Congo.
In any ideal world, Congo's Vibranium would have catapulted the country into wealth and global power status- Think Wakanda or the Gulf countries and their oil reserves. But the reverse case has been the case for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from externally fueled funded wars to internal conflicts.
At least 6million Congolese have died from conflict related causes in the past 20 years. Today, many Congolese children and adults are forced to mine Coltan with their barehand in order to survive, many suffer long-term illnesses as a result of unsafe working conditions. To worsen matters, mineral conflicts and violence have become the norm and people are constantly displaced due to externally instigated conflicts sponsored by the industries of the Global North who require a destabilized DR Congo in order to freely extract her resources and sustain their wealth.
Because history is repeating itself right before our eyes. Recall the atrocities enacted by the infamous Belgian King Leopold and how he pillaged Congo to extract rubber, enacting a Holocaust that brought about the genocide of about 10-15 Million Congolese from 1885-1908. Not forgetting the history of the Congolese hands that were chopped up as penalty for missed rubber quotas. Fathers, mothers and children with missing arms and limbs.
When we hear these histories, we like to imagine if we were alive in that era, we might have spoken up against the grave injustice .
The same history is repeating in our lifetime, and Congo is bleeding.
Today as her Vibranium is systematically extracted and shipped to the West for profits, the Congolese people are paying the ultimate price by suffering mineral conflicts, climate challenges, disease ,hunger and exploitation. The human cost is increasing daily.
Beyond human cost, there is a climate cost. DR Congo is a part of the second largest rainforest in the world and is vital to the wellbeing and balance of our climate /planet. If we are really concerned about climate change, then Congo should be the topmost on our agenda.
We cannot be numb to the second suffering/genocide/holocaust of our Congolese brothers/sisters. Few people know that the DRC is the size of Western Europe and contains hundreds of different ethnic groups. This drives conflicts making the West's access to the materials they need dirty cheap. Conflict mineral legislation was essentially ignored or overridden by the Tech industry.
BLACK PANTHER wasn't just a movie. It is art imitating life.
Let me know your take on this in the comment section below.