Monday, January 09, 2023

Books (Ava and C.I.)

1summerread
Ava: We are starting back up with book reviews at community sites.  After the review is posted, we will again interview the person who wrote the review.  The reviews for 2023 kicked off with C.I. who posted "Mafia Wives (Susan Williams' WHITE MALICE)" on Saturday.  Obviously, she can't interview herself -- maybe she could? -- so I'll ask questions.  Your book was Susan Williams' WHITE MALICE: THE CIA AND THE COVERT RECOLONIZATION OF AFRICA


Why did you pick that one?

C.I.: It was in a pile on my desk of books I wanted to read but hadn't gotten around to yet.  I grabbed ten and checked them on KINDLE.  This book was on sale for $4.99 so I thought it was something a lot of people might want to follow up on -- as opposed to one that's 18 dollars or more.  

Ava: Susan Williams is a historian.  You noted she has a wide range of sources -- including government documents. 

C.I.: Right.  Patrice Lumumba is one of the leaders that the US, the UK, Belgium and the United Nations worked to destroy in Africa.  He was the Prime Minister of the Congo.  Then President Dwight Eisenhower decided Lumumba needed to be killed and the CIA began working on that -- with help from MI6.  The US government may have spent as much as $150 million on their operation to take out Lumumba and other leaders including Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah who was overthrown in 1966.  

Ava: At one point, we were talking about the book when you finished reading it, at one point, Lumumba is ahead of the killers and then he's not.  Talk about that.

C.I.: So they want to kill  him.  He and his crew are attempting to escape.  They go to the British embassy and are refused.  And they're also refused military help.  But either the British military there didn't know that or decided to ignore the order so they help stop the people pursuing Lumumba. Coll Mobutu Sese Seko is trying to overthrow -- capture and kill -- Patrice. And no one is helping.  When people in Africa distrust the United Nations, it's not by mistake and it's not because they don't know what the UN does.  It's precisely because of what the UN did that they are distrustful.  And Maya Angelou was over there during this time period.  She talked about how it went from people telling her they didn't understand how she could leave the US and big cars to come to Africa to becoming very wary of the so-called American dream because that dream was targeting them.  

Ava: You strongly recommend this book, correct?

C.I.: Absolutely.  It's an important moment in US history and it goes to why we are seen so poorly around the world.  

Ava: You talk about us being "mafia wives."

C.I.: Absolutely.  Lumumba was killed because the US government could profit from his death, could profit from uranium and diamonds.  We want to wear the furs our mafia husbands bring to us but we don't want to know about the blood spilled to get those perks.  

Ava: One last thing, Jim just texted me.  Can we reprint the review here?

C.I.: Only if we agree that we're going to do that with everyone's review throughout the year.

Ava: Agreed.