William Henry Sheppard

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William Henry Sheppard (right) with Cuba eyewitnesses during the trial in Kinshasa, 1909

William Henry Sheppard (born March 8, 1865 in Waynesboro (Virginia) , † 1927 in Louisville (Kentucky) ) was one of the first African-American missionaries in Africa .

Life

childhood and education

Sheppard was the son of a former slave and a "free born". After an apprenticeship with a white dentist, he entered the Hampton Institute , a school for black children, at the age of twelve and subsequently trained as a pastor at Stillman College , a Southern Presbyterian school for black ministers and missionaries. After graduation, he initially accepted a position as a pastor, but pushed the Southern Presbyterian Church until they allowed him to initiate a mission to the Congo . Because of their racist prejudice, the church only granted his request after a white missionary was found who could officially take over the management of the mission station. During this time he earned his living with field work and hunting. As a result, he was probably better prepared for his new role than many of his white colleagues.

Missionary in the Congo

In 1890, Sheppard set out for the Congo under the supervision of his white colleague. The Belgian King Leopold II had invited US missionaries in particular to develop the country. Within three years, Sheppard built a mission station in Luebo in the upper Kasai region, approx. 1000 km from Leopoldville . At the same time he gained a legendary reputation as a traveler and big game hunter.

In 1892 he was the first foreigner to enter the capital of the Cuba Empire, which until then had been strictly sealed off from outside access. Because of his black skin color, however, he stayed alive and was allowed to live among the Cuba for 4 months. His reports from there are still valuable sources today, as they lack the latent racist position often taken by white observers.

On long home leave, Sheppard became a crowd puller through lectures about his trip. From the visit to the Cuba, Sheppard concluded that the cradle of mankind would be in Africa. Although Sheppard never fundamentally questioned Western imperialism in Africa, he publicly attacked the mistreatment and exploitation of Africans for Belgian business interests, which the Belgian government tolerated. Sheppard exposed many grievances and made a significant contribution to changing the attitudes and attitudes of black Americans towards the continent of Africa.

Sheppard was accepted as a member of the Royal Geographical Society for his services as a traveler in the then hardly explored Congo .

In 1899, Sheppard was sent from his church to the Cuba region to document the massacres carried out there by local Zappo-Zap mercenaries on behalf of the Compagnie du Kasai (CK). The Cuba refused to harvest rubber or pay taxes. Sheppard was able to photograph the genocide against the Cuba with a camera. His pictures documented the atrocities of the Congo and contributed to the fact that the Compagnie du Kasai and the Belgian King Leopold II later came under strong political pressure and the king's private colony was taken over by the Belgian state in 1908.

Process and return

In 1909 Sheppard was charged by the Compagnie du Kasai with a newspaper article in which he described in detail the genocide of the Cuban people by the rubber company. These accusations had been picked up by the international press, the company's share price fell sharply as a result, and the company wanted to make an example. Given the utterly corrupt judiciary, a long prison sentence in the Congo was almost certain. The trial was the first ever trial between a multinational company and a human rights activist. In Europe and the USA, the public mood was so heated and hostile towards the Belgian King Leopold II and the rubber companies that Sheppard had to be acquitted.

In 1910 Sheppard went back to the USA for good and was hailed there as the "Hero of the Congo". Sheppard pastored a small black church in Louisville, Kentucky for the last 17 years of his life .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andrea Böhm: Hero of the Congo . In: Die Zeit , No. 44/2008, p. 122.
personal data
SURNAME Sheppard, William Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sheppard, Reverend William Henry (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION African-American missionary in Africa
DATE OF BIRTH March 8, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Waynesboro, Virginia
DATE OF DEATH 1927
Place of death Louisville, Kentucky