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On March 19, 1916, Ota Benga built a fire near his adopted home in Lynchburg, VA, where he removed the "civilizing" caps from his pointed teeth, undressed out of his "civilized"
On March 19, 1916, Ota Benga built a fire near his adopted home in Lynchburg, VA, where he removed the "civilizing" caps from his pointed teeth, undressed out of his "civilized" clothes to begin his mournful native dance around the flames. Ota would then lose himself in the gyrations, spinning, chanting and mournful singing done in his native tongue, as he twirled under the sky of his ancestors. Soon after, while Lynchburg slept, he would take the pistol he hidden in a shed behind Mammy Joe’s store on Garfield Street and fire one bullet into his heart, feeling this would be the only way he could be with his people once more. Ota Benga’s story started when the Congo was overtaken by the genocidal maniac Leopold I and bled of all its natural resources. He was kidnapped by The Force Publique soldiers, after they slaughtered his wife and children, where he was sold to a rival tribe, where he would marry again to start life over. Unfortunately, soon after the tribe woul