‘GO HOME? RETURN THE LOOT FIRST!’

Social-justice advocate and writer Ishmahil Blagrove has always been vocal about the mistreatment of immigrants in the UK and the British-state negligence that led to the deaths of 72 people in Grenfell Tower in West London. Right now in the UK, there is anti-migrant sentiment being flamed by South African-born billionaire Elon Musk, who is constantly sharing and retweeting disinformation about migrant communities. But, as you can see from this flashback clip of Blagrove at London’s famous Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, the racism and xenophobia in the country started long before Musk began tweeting.

Continued……A heckler tries to silence Blagrove and shouts out, “Go back home!” - and, off the cuff, Blagrove destroys him with a witty tale to remind him that it was the enslaving, looting Brits who came uninvited to Africa, overstaying their welcome for hundreds of years - so that he (Blagrove) has got every right to stay on in the UK for at least another 360 years, according to his calculations.

Video credit: ISHMAHIL BLAGROVE @ SPEAKERS’ CORNER

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

CHIMAMANDA ON GAZA: DON’T SKIP THE BEGINNING!

In her 4 April 2025 interview with Al Jazeera’s Redi Tlhabi (@reditlhabi on X), award-winning Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (@chimamandareal on X) didn’t just talk about her new novel, ‘Dream Count.’ She also tore into Israel’s ongoing massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.

According to medical journal The Lancet, Israel’s US-backed onslaught on Gaza had killed an estimated 186,000 people by July 2024. In a 5 April 2025 statement, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) reported that Israel’s massacres since 7 October 2023, have left nearly 40,000 Gazan children orphaned, with over a third losing both parents. The orphan crisis in Gaza today is the largest in modern history, according to PCBS President Dr. Ola Awad.

Continued…….. Adichie expressed disbelief at how world powers who have the capacity to bring the ‘mass murder’ of civilians to an end, sit and watch the carnage continue, while constructing narratives that justify the indiscriminate targeting of an entire population. She warned that ‘the danger of a single story’ can be observed in the manner that the Palestinian narrative is often told, where campaigns by H*mas are emphasised, but not the decades of ethnic cleansing and occupation that came before them. This, she said, would be like beginning the story of Native Americans without first telling of European invasion and the g*nocide of Native Americans on their land.

Chimamanda’s remarks serve as a timely reminder that the story of Palestine does not begin with 7 October 2023, but dates back to events like the Balfour Declaration of 1917, the Nakba of 1947-49, and the subsequent theft, occupation and blockade of Palestinian territories.

Video credit: @ajenglish (x)

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqA3vvZPhOo

https://www.google.co.ke/books/edition/Dream_Count/y-4jEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA4&printsec=frontcover

https://www.aaiusa.org/library/history-didnt-begin-or-end-on-october-7th

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2018/11/2/more-than-a-century-on-the-balfour-declaration-explained

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/8/gaza-toll-could-exceed-186000-lancet-study-says

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext

https://www.science.org/content/article/native-tribes-have-lost-99-their-land-united-states

For almost two years now, Sudan has been torn apart by war. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost, with millions uprooted. Vital infrastructure lies in ruins and the threat of widespread famine is looming. The cause of all this misery is the years of unaddressed political turmoil, including ethnic and political rifts that that outside powers were then able to exploit. Sudan’s roots were decaying - and now death has spread to its branches.

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

AFRICAN STREAM IN ERITREA VIDEO BLOG PART 2

Some call Eritrea the North Korea of Africa, although often, those people haven't visited either country. African Stream was fortunate to see Eritrea's capital, Asmara, to understand the country's character better, see the sights and sounds, and get a glimpse of what the country is like beyond the lazy Western mainstream caricature depictions. In this second instalment of our video blog, we leave the hustle and bustle of Asmara nightlife behind (see part 1!) to check out some history at a war museum and cemetery, take in some spectacular mountainous panoramas from up high, and look at religious life outside an orthodox cathedral. Let us know what you think and where we should visit in Eritrea next.

CONTENT MODERATORS SUE META IN KENYA FOR TRAUMA

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is currently facing trial in Kenya for allegedly infringing on workers’ rights, in a landmark case highlighting persistent exploitation of Africans at the hands of powerful Western companies.

Since 2022, Meta has been slapped with a series of lawsuits by former content moderators who allege a third-party company, Sama, discriminated against them and arbitrarily terminated their contracts after they demanded for better working conditions. The tech giant argued that a Kenyan court has no jurisdiction over a US company, but last September, the High Court ruled the case can proceed to trial. Behind every flagged piece of content on your feed are workers who were exposed to disturbing imagery - violent assaults, child abuse, torture and sexual violence, for hours on end, without mental health support.

Continued…….. President William Ruto’s administration has bent over backwards to attract global tech firms, even when it means eroding worker protections. Industry players say strong ethical practices and labour laws are needed to protect locals from exploitation. Kenya Tech Workers United, an umbrella body of tech workers, has decried proposed changes to laws governing the country’s digital economy, saying they are designed to shield the likes of Meta at their expense.

Meta ceased its partnership with Sama in January, but former employees are still battling mental health conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression due to working in what a civil-rights activist describes as ‘AI sweatshops.’

Sama came under fire in 2024 after a US television programme, ‘60 Minutes’ (CBS News), exposed deplorable work conditions and low pay at its Kenyan operations. Workers reportedly earned $2 an hour instead of the agreed-to $12.50 per hour.

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/18/why-former-facebook-moderators-in-kenya-are-taking-legal-action

https://nation.africa/kenya/business/kenya-s-digital-workers-proposals-that-shield-tech-giants-4840270

https://nation.africa/kenya/business/technology/dark-reality-of-content-moderation-meta-sued-for-poor-work-conditions-4165190

https://time.com/6247678/openai-chatgpt-kenya-workers/

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/4/1/african-workers-are-taking-on-meta-and-the-world-should-pay-attention

https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Kenyan-workers-win-High-Court-appeal-to-take-Meta-to-trial