The United Nations and a World in Pain

Since its founding, the United Nations survival has depended on how it positions itself in situations of injustice. This piece links the story of the U.N. to the story of Congo. It traces Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba's assassination, and a subsequent 1960s demonstration at the U.N. led by the writers Maya Angelou and Rosa Guy, as well as the jazz great Abbey Lincoln. Doing so reveals how the U.N.'s legacy of malignant neglect reverberates into contemporary challenges in South America and the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, and beyond. Although relegated to the annals of history, the 1960s protest the U.N. is powerful E reminder of the importance of connecting international freedom struggles with those at home.