The 1919 Kipushi Mine Strike: Congo's First Industrial Uprising

In 1919, the Union Minière du Haut-Katanga's Kipushi copper mine saw the first major strike by African workers in the Belgian Congo. This episode follows the strike's leader, a Luba headman named Kabwe, as he organized 1,200 miners against grueling conditions — a 12-hour workday, brutal beatings from European overseers, and wages that hadn't changed since 1912. We explore the strike's suppression by the Force Publique, its aftermath in Élisabethville, and how it planted seeds for the independence movement decades later. Along the way, we examine the copper industry's explosive growth during World War I, the role of the mine's director Félix Laroche, and the colonial administration's response — a commission that proposed reforms but never implemented them. A forgotten chapter in Congo's labor history. #Kipushi #UnionMinière #Katanga #BelgianCongo #1919Strike #Kabwe #Luba #Élisabethville #Lubumbashi #ForcePublique #CopperMining #LaborHistory #FélixLaroche #ColonialResistance #WorldWarI #CongoHistory #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo