Afrikan Heritage Month: Soundtrack to a Coup D’etat Film Screening and Panel Discussion

In celebration of Afrikan Heritage Month, join us Tuesday, Feb. 18 for a film screening of Soundtrack to a Coup D’état followed by a discussion with Prof. Judith Anderson and Stuart A. Reid, author of the critically acclaimed book The Lumumba Plot: A Secret History of the CIA and A Cold War Assassination. The book has been described as “a spellbinding work of history that reads like a Cold War spy thriller about the U.S.-sanctioned plot to assassinate the democratically elected leader of the newly independent Congo” (NY Times) and a “best book of the year” (The New Yorker, The Economist, Financial Times). The discussion will center around U.S. efforts to disrupt politics on the African continent. Join us for what is sure to be a lively event.

From the Congo to Harlem and back again, Johan Grimonprez’s kinetic, urgent documentary delivers the politics of decolonization in jazz form, replete with virtuosic archival riffs, historical text in the form of Blue Note album covers, and musical performances by jazz legends (Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Nina Simone) who in the ‘60s doubled as cultural ambassadors to Africa.

Their roles as unknowing decoys in the CIA’s plot to assassinate Congo’s prime minister Patrice Lumumba threads through this deeply researched, densely textured tapestry — which scrambles the simplistic good guys/bad guys narrative, foregrounds powerful women behind the revolution (Simone, Abbey Lincoln, and activist/chief advisor to Lumumba, Andrée Blouin), and sounds a call to clear-eyed interrogation of Western powers’ collusion in the guise of liberal values.

Film screening: 2-4:30 p.m.
Panel discussion: 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Please register if you are interested in attending:

Organized by the Department of Ethnic and Race Studies and the Office of Diplomatic Engagement and Training

See a list of all Afrikan Heritage Month events. Attend 2 or more events for Co-Curricular Transcript credit.

For more information, contact Ashtian Holmes at aholmes@bmcc.cuny.edu.

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