I am writing this without knowing whether you will ever get it, or when, or whether I shall be still alive when you read it. Throughout my struggle for the independence of my country I have never for one instance doubted that the sacred cause to which my friends and I have given our lives would triumph in the end. But what we have wanted for our country, the right to honorable life, to untarnished dignity, to unrestricted freedom-these things have never been desired on our behalf by those important officials in the UN in whom we put our trust, and upon whom we called for help, because, whether they knew it or not, they were directly or indirectly supporting the colonialism of Belgium and her friends in the West.

They have corrupted the minds of some of our compatriots, others they have simply bought, and they have played their parts in distorting truth and shackling our independence. Dead or alive, free or imprisoned by the colonialist, it is not I who matter, it is the Congo, it is our poor people whose independence has been turned into a cage in which we can be watched by those outside, either with positive pleasure, or with benevolent compassion. But my faith remains unshaken. I know, and feel in my heart, that sooner or later my people will shake off all enemies, inside and outside our land, and they will rise as one man to say "no" to the shame and degradation of colonialism and to assume once again their dignity under clear skies.

We are not alone, Africa, Asia, and the free and freed peoples all over the world will always stand beside those millions of Congolese who will not give up the struggle until the day when no colonizers and no mercenaries are left on our soil. I would like my children, whom I am leaving and may perhaps never see again, to be told that the Congo has a great future, and that it is up to them as to every other Congolese, to carry out the sacred task of rebuilding our independence and our sovereignty, for where there is no dignity, there is no freedom, and where there is no justice there is no dignity, and there is no independence there are no free men.

No brutality, no agony, no torture has ever driven me to beg for mercy, for I would rather die with my head high, my faith unshaken, and a profound trust in the destiny of-my country, than live in subjection seeing principles that are sacred to be laughed to scorn. History will have it one day-Not the history they teach in Brussels, Paris, Washington or the United Nations, but the history taught in the countries set free from colonialism and it's puppet rulers, Africa will write her own history, and both north and south of the Sahara. It will be a history of glory and dignity.
Do not weep, my love; I know that my country, which has suffered so much, will be able to defend it's independence and liberty.

Long live the Congo!
Long live Africa!