Sources
https://www.britannica.com/topic/bull-papal

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_papal_bulls

https://www.facechangealliance.com/dumdiversas

https://globalhealth.emory.edu/_includes/documents/unsettling-truths_chapter-1.pdf

https://www.searchablemuseum.com/papal-bulls/

https://www.papalencyclicals.net/nichol05/romanus-pontifex.htm

https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/8aa95306-9256-443f-9e89-de5871874288/external_content.pdf

https://slaverylawpower.org/chapters/antecedents/romanus-pontifex/

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/nativevoices/timeline/171.html

https://archive.org/details/inter-caetera-papal-encyclicals-1493

https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/treaty-tordesillas

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/21/543/

https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1169&context=shlr

https://revolution.chnm.org/d/335

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Noir

https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2011/01/slavery-in-the-french-colonies/

https://slaverylawpower.org/nhprc-sample-documents/barbados-slave-code/

http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/18880/1/114.pdf

https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/8aa95306-9256-443f-9e89-de5871874288/external_content.pdf

https://san.beck.org/9-5-Spain&Portugal.html

https://www.savemyexams.com/gcse/history/aqa/16/aqa-british-depth-study/revision-notes/elizabethan-england-c1568-1603/troubles-home-abroad/conflict-spain/

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1992/02/22/Pope-asks-forgiveness-for-slave-trade/8666698734800/

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/21/caribbean-leaders-slavery-reparations

SOUTH AFRICA IS PROUD FOR STANDING AGAINST IMPERIALISM

When South Africa opened a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 29 December 2023, accusing Israel of committing acts of g*nocide in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, the US opposed the case and continued its political and military support for Israel. South Africa says Israel has violated the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

On 23 January 2025, South Africa's land expropriation law was signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, allowing for limited cases of land expropriation to remedy the inequity that remains decades after dismantling apartheid.

Continued………Today, the white South African minority holds over 70 per cent of private farmland. In response, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February halting aid to South Africa. US politicians also regurgitated the unfounded claim that white supremacist groups in South Africa have repeated a so-called white genocide.

Many, including Julius Malema (@julius.malema.sello on IG, @julius_s_malema on X), president of the Economic Freedom Fighters (@effsouthafrica), have said US allegations are nothing but a punitive measure against South Africa for daring to bring legal actions against Israel at the ICJ.

In this clip from his conversation with BreakThrough News (@btnewsroom on X) hosts @EugenePuryear (on X) and @raniakhalek (on X), Thapelo Mohapi, General Secretary of South Africa's pro-democracy and land reclamation grassroots movement of over 150,000 shack dwellers, the Abahlali BasMjondolo (@abahlalibasemjondolo on IG and @abahlalibM on X), unpacks the claims.

Video credit: @btnewsroom (YouTube)

Sources

https://www.eui.eu/events?id=567397

https://www.gov.za/news/media-statements/president-cyril-ramaphosa-assents-expropriation-bill-23-jan-2025

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg9w4n6gp5o

https://www.chathamhouse.org/2024/01/south-africas-genocide-case-against-israel-international-court-justice-explained

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/imposing-sanctions-on-the-international-criminal-court

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/06/aid-trump-south-africa

https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/south-africa-trump-cuts-aid/

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-06-trumps-us-is-punishing-sa-for-supporting-palestine-against-apartheid-israel-says-malema/

PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PALESTINIAN POET SCHOOLS JOURNO

You wouldn't normally criticise a talented poet on which words to use, especially if he had just won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary. Yet, that's what MSNBC journalist Catherine Rampell did with Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha (@mosab_abutoha on IG).

Rampell claimed Toha's criticism of Western media was controversial because he called out Israelis being referred to as ‘hostages’ while Palestinians are called ‘prisoners.’

What ensued was a masterful response from the 32-year-old Palestinian poet. In explaining how the Israeli military has inflicted violence on him and his family, Toha exposed the media's attempt to dehumanise Palestinians and delegitimise their suffering to justify the Western-backed 77-year occupation of their land.

Continued……Israel's ongoing military onslaught in Gaza has so far k*lled 53,010 Palestinian people, according to Gaza authorities. Many are women and children. The Economist estimates as many as 109,000 deaths, based on research by British medical journal The Lancet. In July 2024, The Lancet put the figure over 186,000.

Toha won the Pulitzer for ‘essays on the physical and emotional carnage in Gaza that combine deep reporting with the intimacy of memoir to convey the Palestinian experience of more than a year and a half’ of Israel’s onslaught on his homeland. He depicted the actions of imperialists in Western Asia, helping the world appreciate the human cost of colonialism and apartheid. Toha’s work earned him an award, but as he pointed out, the oppressors would not celebrate his achievement.

Maybe someone needs to tell Rampell (@crampell on IG) that words shape our understanding of the world.

Video credit: @MSNBC

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/may/05/palestinian-poet-mosab-abu-toha-pulitzer

https://www.npr.org/trannoscripts/nx-s1-5153581

https://jewishchronicle.timesofisrael.com/freed-hostage-emily-damari-to-pulitzer-board-mosab-abu-toha-is-the-modern-day-equivalent-of-a-holocaust-denier

https://una-oic.org/en/palestinians/2025/05/06/The-death-toll-in-the-Gaza-Strip-rose-to-52615

https://investigate.afsc.org/tags/wall-and-checkpoints-palestine

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250321-un-records-highest-number-of-israeli-checkpoints-in-2-decades-across-occupied-palestinian-territory

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/2/us-gives-bunker-buster-bombs-to-israel-for-war-on-gaza-report

https://www.state.gov/military-assistance-to-israel

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpvne94v1rdo

https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rj00ztjiakx

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

https://www.economist.com/interactive/middle-east-and-africa/2025/05/08/how-many-people-have-died-in-gaza

https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129942

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

https://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-year/2025

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/gaza-death-toll-tops-53-000-as-israel-continues-its-genocide-against-palestinians/3568927

https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2025/5/15/one-long-nakba-palestinians-mark-77-years-since-mass-expulsion-by-israel

BOKO HARAM USING ISRAEL-UKRAINE-STYLE DRONES

The Nigerian Army has confirmed that Boko Haram is now using armed drones in its northeast region. These drones are harder to detect on radar, making defence more difficult. Senior military official Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar said these drones are similar to those used in Israel and Ukraine. He also noted that insurgents have shifted tactics to launch coordinated attacks on vulnerable military positions and use such events for propaganda.

While Boko Haram formed in 2002 and took up arms in 2009, the West backing rebels who ousted Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011) through the 2011 US-led NATO invasion added fuel to the fire. The ensuing chaos allowed Libyan weapons and ‘rebels’ to pour into Africa’s Sahel region.

Continued………. This influx helped Boko Haram sharpen its guerilla skills, fighting alongside more experienced groups in Mali, such as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Boko Haram went from using low-cost AK-47 assault rifles to using combat vehicles designed for traversing deserts and anti-aircraft/anti-tank guns, according to The Week. As political commentator Dan Glazebrook (@DanGlazebrook on X) argued in 2015 on RT.com, ‘NATO had effectively turned over the entire armoury of an advanced industrial state to the region’s most sectarian militias.’

Nigerian civilians have paid the highest price, with 37,530 Boko Haram-related fatalities between 2011 and 2018.

Sources
https://saharareporters.com/2025/05/14/nigerian-army-confirms-boko-harams-use-armed-drones-borno-similar-israeli-ukrainian

https://www.infoplease.com/current-events/special-issues/what-boko-haram

https://www.globalresearch.ca/is-boko-haram-a-cia-covert-op-to-divide-and-conquer-africa/5431177

https://www.cfr.org/article/boko-harams-deadly-impact

https://www.counterpunch.org/2015/11/27/deadliest-terror-in-the-world-the-wests-latest-gift-to-africa

https://theweek.com/articles/447032/whos-financing-boko-haram

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Boko-Haram

Our African proverb this week suggests that not all problems can be solved through confrontation. Every problem has its own unique solution. Some challenges require understanding, diplomacy and a flexible mindset.

BISHOP AMENUKU AGBLE: THE CHURCH MUST SPEAK ON IMPERIALISM!

The church remains one of the most influential and revered institutions in Africa. Yet, many times, it opts to uphold the status quo in the face of injustice, going against the teachings of Jesus Christ, whom the Roman Empire k*lled for his anti-imperialist preachings and principles. 

In this clip, Ghanaian bishop Amenuku Agble (@johnnyamenuku on IG) highlighted President Ibrahim Traoré’s revolutionary leadership in Burkina Faso, noting Africa needs more leaders, not politicians. Agble raised the issue amidst increasing calls from ordinary people on the continent and the diaspora that Traoré must be protected, given Western powers' history of assassinating or ousting revolutionary leaders.

Continued………On 3 April, US Africa Command (AFRICOM) General Michael Langley said during a US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that Traoré's government nationalised gold to protect a 'junta regime.' That remark angered Africans, leading to a day of solidarity rallies and marches worldwide on 30 April.

Like many on the continent, he also argued that the church should advocate for African people. An example of this trend includes Kenyan youth demanding that church leaders take a stance during the 2024 protests against a finance bill that included tax hikes and programme cuts recommended by the International Monetary Fund. While Kenya suppresses calls for decent living standards, it has been leading an unpopular US-backed occupation in Haiti. 

Traoré came to power following a people-backed coup d’état in Burkina Faso. Under a Western-aligned leader, foreign companies primarily controlled the country's resources, such as gold. Of course, imperialist-dominated global and local media have branded Traoré a dictator for closing the doors on Western exploitation and pushing back against neocolonialism.

Video credit: @the_arm__y (YT), @the_arm__y (IG)

Sources

https://www.ensafrica.com/news/detail/9259/new-mining-code-enacted-in-burkina-faso-major

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czq60w351zjo

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/10/5/coup-in-burkina-faso-what-you-need-to-know

https://tcwanyanwu.medium.com/why-western-media-and-military-voices-are-calling-captain-ibrahim-traor%C3%A9-a-dictator-86b3319798aa

https://amp.dw.com/en/kenya-sends-more-troops-to-haiti-to-fight-gang-violence/a-71339807

KENYAN PILOT KILLED IN SUDAN

Fresh evidence points yet again to Kenya’s involvement in Sudan’s spiralling conflict. When Nairobi hosted the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and gave them a platform to announce a parallel government, a move that threatens to tear the country in two, it crossed a dangerous threshold - no longer a bystander, but an enabler of the RSF in a deadly proxy war. Now, the confirmed presence of a Kenyan pilot aboard a plane struck by Sudanese forces casts more doubt over Kenya’s claims of neutrality.

Two African pilots allegedly moving weapons to be used for the slaughter of fellow Africans met a grizzly end following a Sudanese airstrike on an airport in Nyala, South Darfur’s capital.

Kenyan Captain Michael George Oluoch Nyamodi and South Sudanese pilot Samson Ohide were reportedly k*lled in the attack, alongside 18 Emirati nationals - among them, four officials.

Continued………. The 3-May strike was launched after the plane made several logistical stops. It’s been tracked operating between Somalia and Chad. Chad has previously been outed as a transit hub for weapons shipments from the United Arab Emirates to its proxy, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary in Sudan.

Kenya has hosted RSF leader Hemedti multiple times, treating him with honours typically reserved for a head-of-state. Kenya’s president, William Ruto, also seems personally invested, once sharing a flight with the RSF’s deputy commander (Hemedti’s brother).

The proxy war in Sudan has cost millions of Sudanese lives. The International Organization for Migration reports that 15-million Sudanese have been uprooted from their homes (with 4 million fleeing to other countries). The UN says half of the country’s 50-million people face acute food insecurity. And according to the US envoy for Sudan, Tom Periello, by May 2024, the war had already killed up to 150,000 people.

Sources
https://archive.ph/Lu9sH#selection-1365.45-1365.60

https://deepnewz.com/kenya/sudanese-airstrike-on-nyala-airport-kills-emirati-officers-kenyan-pilot-targets-753d1210

https://deepnewz.com/kenya/kenyan-pilot-george-nyamodi-killed-sudan-rsf-mission-plane-registered-uganda-18-bf5f76a2

https://archive.ph/E4Ni3#selection-1297.71-1299.4

https://www.unocha.org/publications/report/sudan/humanitarian-crisis-sudan-statement-humanitarian-coordination-forum-hcf

https://dtm.iom.int/reports/two-years-conflict-sudan-visualizing-worlds-largest-displacement-crisis

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-accuses-rsf-of-sudan-genocide-and-sanctions-its-leader/ar-AA1x9ZAb

PIETER KRIEL TO WHITE SETTLERS FLEEING SOUTH AFRICA: YOU ARE NOT REFUGEES!

On 12 May, the Trump administration granted refugee status to a reported 59 white settlers from South Africa, predominantly descendants of Dutch colonialists, on the grounds of alleged persecution by the country’s government.

South Africa has countered the claim, with President Cyril Ramaphosa calling those who fled ‘cowards’ opposed to the policies his government is implementing to address the inequities caused by apartheid.

Activist and writer Pieter Kriel @pieterkrielorg (X) has also added his voice to the debate, arguing that crime affects all South African communities. For instance, police statistics show South African homicide victims are predominantly young Black men.

On top of that, the ‘white gen*cide’ theory has been widely debunked and dismissed recently by a South African judge as ‘clearly imagined’ and ‘not real.’

Continued…….. South Africa maintains that the US government’s decision to prioritise admitting white ‘refugees’ from the country while suspending a refugee programme for people in countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo was politically motivated. 

In short, while South Africa grapples with crime and inequity, white South African persecution has no basis in facts. 

Video credit: @pieterkriel (X)

Sources

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/12/trump-afrikaners-refugees-immigration-00342029

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwyj1198wy3o

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv2jlyl20lzo

https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-us-refugees-trump-afrikaners-16e34760b93cfa66f15b4cd8380743c1

https://www.saps.gov.za/services/crimestats.php

https://www.statssa.gov.za/?page_id=737&id=5=5

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/22/trump-refugee-program

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2q937wlqgo

MALCOLM X STANDS FOR PALESTINE

On this day a century ago, 19 May 1925, Malcolm X, one of the most prominent Pan-Africanist revolutionaries, was born in Omaha in the US state of Nebraska.

Like many revolutionaries, Malcolm knew that the African struggle was fundamentally linked to the struggles of other oppressed people in different parts of the world.

One struggle Malcolm stood with was that of the people of Palestine. In early September 1964, Malcolm X visited Gaza to witness first-hand the horrors of the Israeli occupation. During the trip, he visited the Khan Younis refugee camp, which housed displaced Palestinians, which deepened his appreciation of the suffering of the Palestinian people. 

Continued……. Shortly after the visit, Malcolm X authored an article in the Egyptian Gazette highlighting the flawed logic of the Zi*nist project in Occupied Palestine, laying out the lack of logic or legality for the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. He also raised that the state of Israel also threatens African sovereignty. Though the article is now more than 60 years old, his arguments remain relevant today, especially as Tel Aviv ramps up its brutal onslaught against Palestinians in Gaza.

Rest in power, Malcolm X.

Sources

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/malcolm-xs-final-written-words-were-about-zionism-here-is-what-he-said

https://www.newarab.com/news/what-did-malcolm-x-say-about-palestine-gaza-and-zionism

https://www.workers.org/2025/05/85675

https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/socialist-viewpoint-us/mayjun_05/mayjun_05_21.htm

MALCOLM X'S REVOLUTIONARY TRIP TO AFRICA

Revolutionary pan-African icon Malcolm X would have turned 100 today. He was born 19 May 1925 to parents who followed the teachings of Black nationalist Marcus Garvey. He would go on to become one of the most revered figures in African history.

His trips to Africa in 1959 and 1964 were pivotal in shaping his evolving political ideology. These exposed him to newly independent nations, pan-Africanist leaders and vibrant anti-colonial movements. His experiences deepened his understanding of global racial and economic oppression.

He began drawing clear parallels between colonialism abroad and systemic racism in the US. He once said, ‘As long as we think that we should get Mississippi straightened out before we worry about the Congo, you’ll never get Mississippi straightened out.’

In Nigeria, he was welcomed as a returning ‘child.’ He engaged in dialogue with influential figures such as Egypt's Abdel Nasser, Ghana's Kwame Nkrumah and Tanzania's Julius Nyerere.

Continued……. During his Africa visits, Malcolm X spoke passionately about the need for the Black population to connect with global struggles against imperialism and capitalism. He embraced an internationalist perspective, emphasising the interconnectedness of Black struggles worldwide.

One century of iconic life and influence. Happy 100th, X.


Sources
https://africasacountry.com/2011/06/malcolm-x-in-africa1/

ITALIAN PM DRAGGED OVER ISRAEL HYPOCRISY

Italy’s support for what the International Court of Justice has called Israel’s ‘plausible’ g*nocide in Gaza has come under fire. Angelo Bonelli, Italian parliamentarian and spokesperson of the Italian left-wing political party Green Europe (@AngeloBonelli1 on X), denounced Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government on 14 May.

Italian support for Israel survived the 7 October 2023 escalation of Israel’s 77-year occupation of Palestine, with Italy immediately declaring its support for Israel. Thus began a hike in Italian arms transfers, such as the $2.3 million in arms and munitions sold to Israel in the final three months of 2023. In December 2023, Italy exported $1.47 million in arms, three times the value of its December 2022 exports. Meanwhile, Italian law forbids sales to entities at war or international human rights violators.

Continued….. However, Italian Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto defended the sales, saying they fulfilled outstanding contracts and that Italy had ascertained the weapons wouldn’t be used against civilians. Francesco Vignarca, head of a national pacifist network, however, criticised the lack of clarity on the arms sales and attempts to reform the export law.

Italy also hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, announcing it would not fulfil its obligations to carry out an arrest warrant against him and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Italy's Foreign and Justice Ministries claimed immunity for visiting leaders is permissible under the Vienna Convention.

Israel’s massacres of Palestinians in Gaza, ongoing since 7 October 2023 with a brief reprieve in January 2025, possibly claimed more than 186,000 Palestinian lives by July 2024, according to the Lancet medical journal. Israel has also weaponised humanitarian aid deliveries, with convoys of trucks carrying essentials like food stranded outside Gaza as its population grapples with a hunger crisis. In 2024, the United Nations reported 100 per cent of Gaza’s people faced acute food shortages.

Video credit: la Repubblica (@repubblica on X)

Sources
https://apnews.com/article/gaza-israel-hamas-palestinians-aid-explainer-ecc0e70d5ff1120a04bf36626dfd96f4

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/artc-italy-joins-france-in-granting-immunity-to-netanyahu-rejecting-icc-arrest-warrants

https://archive.ph/jhy9E#selection-1875.0-1875.55

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/artc-italy-joins-france-in-granting-immunity-to-netanyahu-rejecting-icc-arrest-warrants#google_vignette

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/05/1163321