Conscious Africans Must Neutralize The CIA's New Propaganda

When he wasn't busy trying on a new dress, or prying into Dr. Martin Luther King's sex life, J. Edgar Hoover spent a great deal of time shaping the public's perception of his beloved criminal enterprise, the FBI.

Even though the agency routinely engaged in residential break-ins, mail tampering, frameups, illegal wiretapping, and in some cases, outright assassinations, Hoover sought to portray the FBI as a by-the-book, squeaky-clean law enforcement agency. One of his more successful public relations tools was a 1960s television series about the FBI. Those who studied the agency learned that Hoover and his colleagues personally reviewed and approved all of the scripts. Each program featured square-jawed, darksuited white men who brought criminals to justice. This series was an extremely effective propaganda device.

While the FBI has committed crimes to protect the interests of capitalism on the domestic front, the Central Intelligence Agency has done the same thing abroad. In 1961, the CIA was responsible for the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Congo's first democratically elected leader. Lumumba was a charismatic, progressive Pan-Africanist who was quite serious about making the idea of "Africa for the Africans" a reality. His nationalization of certain industries and plans to use Congo's enormous natural wealth for the benefit of the country's people caused the U.S. to conclude that Lumumba would not be an ally in the Cold War, and he would otherwise be a major obstacle to corporate plans to maintain access to Congo's indispensable natural resources.

The British press has reported that the order to kill Lumumba came from the top. President Dwight Eisenhower instructed CIA director Allen Dulles to eliminate the African leader, whereupon Dulles termed Lumumba's removal "an urgent and prime objective." Journalist Alexander Cockburn has reported that Sidney Gottlieb, a CIA technician was instructed to work out the details of the assassination. Gottlieb's work involved brainwashing, biological warfare, electro-shock torture, etc. He developed a special poison for Lumumba that would cause symptoms comparable to those resulting from a disease found in central Africa.
Cockburn reported that the poison, a hypodermic syringe and other implements were smuggled into the Congo by a CIA agent in a diplomatic pouch. Gottlieb had provided instructions to CIA agents about how to apply the poison to Lumumba's toothpaste and food. When the agents were unable to get close enough to Lumumba to carry out the operation, the CIA resorted to Plan B, which involved having Lumumba captured, tortured and murdered by cooperating Africans. Lumumba's body was then placed in the trunk of a CIA agent's car.

The CIA's crimes against the African World did not end with the Lumumba assassination. A long series of bad acts reached a crashing crescendo when it was reported in 1996 that the agency was significantly responsible for the explosion of crack cocaine distribution in America's African communities.

This Fall, network television is broadcasting a new series about the CIA called "The Agency." While it is possible that the series will dramatize the CIA's criminal conduct, the advertisements suggest that the program will attempt to sanitize the CIA's image in much the same way that the old FBI television show did years ago. The series even features a couple of Africans in leading roles.

As conscious Africans, we have a choice about how to respond if this series turns out to be offensive propaganda. We can sit back and allow our children to watch this program and develop undeserved admiration for the CIA. As an alternative, we can meet this propaganda assault and re-direct it in a way that will move our liberation struggle forward.

One useful approach involves taking advantage of the groundbreaking film "Lumumba" which is scheduled for showing in numerous U.S. cities this Fall. Much goodwill result from assembling small groups of Black high school students in our respective communities, and engaging in collective reading and discussion of Lumumba and the CIA. If the groups then watch the Lumumba film together, there is certain to be inspired discussion in the aftermath, and the birth of a fierce hatred of the CIA by these budding warriors.

As a people, we Africans have endured far too much suffering, and experienced far too many setbacks in our struggle for liberation as a result of the CIA's crimes. It is critical that we not allow the agency to win yet another victory by capturing the admiration and allegiance of our children with a stupid television program.

Mark P. Fancher is a writer, lawyer and activist. He can be contacted at: fancher@tbwt.com for information about books he has written, and his availability for speaking engagements.

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