Tabu Ley Rochereau performing at a 2003 festival in Hertme, Netherlands.
By Anastasia Tsioulcas – NPR
One of Africa’s biggest hitmakers, Tabu Ley Rochereau, a star with a honeyed voice who went on to become one of the continent’s most successful music impresarios, died Saturday. He never truly recovered from cardiovascular problems two years ago, and died at a hospital in Brussels after being admitted with an infection.
He was born Pascal-Emmanuel Sinamoyi Tabu in either 1937 or 1940 (sources differ) in a small village in Bandudu province in what was then still the Belgian Congo and is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. He became one of Africa’s most prominent musicians — dubbed “the voice of lightness” for his effortlessly sweet tone — and along the way was one of the pioneers of Congolese rumba, the dance music that managed to meld the sounds of a Cuban bandstand with…
The Democratic Republic of Congo is potentially one of the richest countries on earth, but colonialism, slavery and corruption have turned it into one of the poorest, writes historian Dan Snow.
The world’s bloodiest conflict since World War II is still rumbling on today.
No, I’m not talking about school but grammar!!! Here we are going to tackle something essential to understand. A first classification of words has been done in the 19th century. The linguists classified words in main 8 categories but later on, the linguists became more precise and now the number of classes has doubled. Over the years, it came down to the following list. Those classes are important to know because they will determine how you form, not only the plural form of words, but the adjectives and adverbs as well.
Classe
Type
Description
Examples
1
mu-
words defining people, gender, family members, trades, professions, etc.
kumbelu (from home), kunyima (in the back, behind, after)
18
mu-
adverbs
munjila (on the road, on the way)
I must admit that it is difficult for me to remember what class a word belongs to so what I do is just remember how each word forms its plural. Why is it important to know word classes or at least have a rough idea of what it looks like? Because to build a correct sentence, you have to match the adjectives and determinants that follow a word according to its class.
Près de trois mille policiers du Kasaï-Oriental se plaignent de n’avoir touché, depuis huit mois, leurs salaires. L’un d’eux qui a requis l’anonymat a déploré cette situation dans un entretien à Radio Okapi :«Une délégation était venue de Kinshasa depuis le 23 mars 2011 pour nous contrôler. Nous disposons des cartes de contrôle. Arrivés en octobre de la même année, nos noms figuraient sur les listings, mais les chefs nous disaient d’attendre février 2012. En Février, nos noms disparaissent des listings, jusqu’à ce jour, on ne reçoit rien. Il y a des majors, des capitaines, des lieutenants et autres, qu’on fasse quoi ?»
HAPPY 88TH #BORNDAY Patrice Lumumba (2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese independence leader and the first democratically elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo, after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only twelve weeks later, Lumumba’s government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis. The main reason why he was ousted from power was his opposition to Belgian-backed secession of the mineral-rich Katanga province.
Barack Obama a appelé lundi 1er juillet à Dar es Salaam les pays frontaliers de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC) à cesser de soutenir les groupes armés qui y opèrent, tout en demandant au président Joseph Kabila de “faire plus et mieux” pour réformer les forces de sécurité du pays. Le président américain séjourne en Tanzanie,
30 Juin 1960. 30 Juin 2013. 53 ans d’Indépendance. Bonne fête d’indépendance à tous les Congolais et à toute la diaspora congolaise répartie dans le monde entier, France, Belgique, Angleterre, Inde, Chine, Japon, USA, Allemagne, Russie, etc…
Happy Independance Day to all Congolese people around the world!
Translation
Independance (cha-cha) was declared
Freedom (cha-cha), we’ve conquered
At the Round Table****, they won
Oh Liberty (cha-cha) we’ve conquered!
The MNC**, the UGECO**
ABAZI** and PDC**
The PCA** and African Jazz Band***
were all victorious at the Round Table!
*Patrice Lumumba was the first prime minister of the independent Congo (assassinated in January 1961) and Joseph Kasavubu was the first President of the Congo. Jean Bolikango, Paul Bolya, Moïse Tshombe, Albert Kalonji, Cleophas Kamitatu, Essandja and Mbuta Daniel Kanza were leaders of political and/or separatist congolese movements.
**Congolese political parties
***African Jazz Band was commissioned to write this song. Joseph Kabasele aka Grand Kalle unite his own musicians of African Jazz (Roger Izeidi, Petit Pierre, Déchaud Mwamba, Dr Nico) and invite OK Jazz musicians (Vicky Longomba et Brazzos), the 2 most popular groups of the moment, to write this song. The song will be first sang on the official day of independence, June 30th, 1960.
****The Round Table took place in Brussels’ Hotel Plazza from January 20th to February 20th and from April 26th to May 26th of year 1960.
Vocabulary
budììkadidi: indépendance / independence cisùmbu: parti / parti cisùmbu cya cìdììdì: parti politique / political party cisùmbu nkààyà: parti unique musambu: chanson / song mèèsà: table mèèsà a cijèngù: table ronde / round table
You have probably heard of them by now but do you know where this sub-culture’s roots come from?
This movement occured in the 1970’s in the Congo as a revolt towards the oppresive,strict regime of Mobutu Sese Seko which prescribed traditional clothing as the attire of no-choice.
There are strict rules of dress for Sapeurs: three colors are the maximum for an outfit and the status of style is increased by accessories, such as cigars, pipes, ties, glasses, and walking sticks.
Artist and photographer Richard Mosse reveals the stories behind the making of his latest film, ‘The Enclave’ (2013), in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which will be shown in the Irish Pavilion at this year’s 55th Venice Biennale.
LUBANATION.COM 