Graves of the Seven Congolese who died @ World Exhibition 1897 "Human Zoo" - Black Brussels Tour

We took our group on our Black History Tour of Brussels to visit the graves of the seven Congolese people who died at the World Exhibition of 1897. King Leopold II, who never set foot in the Congo had summoned 267 Congolese men, women and children to ‘exhibit’ as part of the "human zoo" who had to re-enact life in the Congo before colonisation according to the imagination of the coloniser in Tervuren, where Leopold had his country estate. During the course of the exhibition, seven people died due to pnemonia and influenza, only dressed in their traditional clothing. They were buried in a mass grave before given a proper burial at the Sint-Jan Evangelistkerk Church in Tervuren, Belgium. Some of the group purchased flowers to express love and pay respect to the departed who have become footnotes in history that people would like to rewrite and erase. Never forget them.
The seven names are
MIBANGE
SAMBO
ZAO
MPEIA
EKIA
PEMBA
KITOUKWA
.
#congo #drc #congolese #humanzoo #kingleopoldII #colonizer #africamuseum
#tervuren #colonialism #historian #congo #brussels #belgium #belgiumtrip #belgiumcongo #congolesehistory