TUPAC: SISTERS, KEEP YA HEAD UP

The great Tupac Shakur - rapper, actor and activist - was born on this day fifty four years ago - on 16 June 1971. He met his untimely death in 1996 but today we celebrate his music, his legacy and his unwavering love for his people.

There’s no better tribute to the legendary artist than his own music. In this clip, he delivers an ‘unplugged’ rendition of his classic ‘Keep Ya Head Up’ - performed in the intimate setting of a classroom of students.

And what an education the lyrics are. The song’s message - about respect for women and female empowerment - still packs a punch.

Tupac was a master at articulating the struggles of his community, particularly the marginalised Black people in America.

An authentic music revolutionary, he deserves to be remembered and celebrated for his life and the passion of his powerful lyrics.

Rest in power, brother!

Video credit: @Adzmoose (YouTube)

NIGER KICKS OUT RED CROSS FOR HELPING T*RRORISTS

Lately, Nigerien President Abdourahamane Tiani has been exposing imperialist tactics and manoeuvres. 

For example, in this clip from a lengthy interview on 31 May, he called out the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for assisting t*rrorist organisations in Niger by funnelling money through its operations in Niger, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire (formerly the Ivory Coast). Tiani said he has evidence in the form of written and signed letters, which led the Red Cross to shutter its offices and send its foreign staff back home.

If true, this scandal would not be the first time this year that a government official has accused an organisation associated with humanitarian aid or seemingly philanthropic assistance of backing t*rrorism in West Africa.

Continued………Earlier this year, US Congressman Scott Perry alleged that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) financed B*ko Haram and other t*rrorist organisations worldwide. In response, Niger's ally, Mali, called for the US to take legal action against institutions and bodies that use foreign aid to fund such criminal activities. 

Video credit: @ortntele (X)

Sources

https://www.icrc.org/en/article/niger-icrc-forced-suspend-humanitarian-activities-behalf-local-communities

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9EEm7XRoxs

On this day in 1944, the tragic execution of the United States’ youngest victim, George Stinney, Jr, took place via electric chair. 

Authorities had wrongfully accused the 14-year-old Black child of murdering Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7. 

On 23 March 1944, the girls, who had been riding bicycles in search of passion flower berries, stopped to ask Stinney and his younger sister if they knew where to find ‘maypops.’ That was the last time the girls were seen alive, as their bodies were found the next day.

Following an interrogation without Stinney’s parents present, plus a rushed investigation, a coerced confession and no proper legal defence, an all-white jury convicted Stinney in just 10 minutes after a two-hour trial on 24 April 1944. Despite widespread pleas for mercy, he was sentenced to death by electrocution. On 16 June 1944, the state of South Carolina strapped Stinney to an adult-sized electric chair, too large for his 95-pound frame, making his death horrific.

Continued……His siblings and a former cellmate maintained his innocence for decades. But it was not until 70 years later, in 2014, that new evidence revealed authorities had coerced Stinney’s confession and that he had an alibi, placing him elsewhere during the crime. Judge Carmen Mullen ultimately overturned his conviction, calling it a ‘great and fundamental injustice.’

While some might call the 2014 ruling a victory, wrongful raids, violent arrests and violations of rights continue to mark Black people’s existence as an internal colony in the US. From George Stinney (1929-44) to Breonna Taylor (1993-2020), George Floyd (1973-2020) and countless others, state violence against Black people in the US isn’t an anomaly but a pillar of its racial capitalist system.

Sources

https://allthatsinteresting.com/george-stinney-jr

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30529890

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1382796/stinney-ruling.pdf

EGYPT CRACKS DOWN ON GAZA HUMANITARIAN CONVOY

Egypt's role in the ongoing devastation of Gaza has come under scrutiny as hundreds of pro-Palestine activists attempting to join the Global March to Gaza have been detained, interrogated or deported. Thousands of people worldwide aimed to join the Al-Somoud convoy driving from Tunis to the Egyptian border at Rafah to deliver aid in a challenge to the Israeli siege on Gaza. Activists report that Egyptian authorities confiscated their passports and blocked people from moving beyond checkpoints near Cairo. People also claimed Egypt forced them onto aeroplanes against their will.

While Egypt publicly criticises Israel's actions in Gaza, its security forces have cracked down on activism, arresting at least 180 people since October 2023.

Continued……Authorities justified the most recent clampdown by citing visa violations and national security concerns. Despite the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, where Israeli forces have k*lled 274 people and wounded more than 2,000 since Israel forcefully took control of aid deliveries in May, Cairo's policies appear more aligned with Israeli security interests than with the cries for Palestinian relief. 

Have a watch, and let us know what you think.

Video credits: @Africa4Pal on X, @doamuslims on TikTok, @Palestine001 on X and @thecrispinflintoffshow on YouTube

Sources

https://archive.ph/5iz1e#selection-2319.1-2319.39

https://www.lbc.co.uk/world-news/egypt-deports-activists-march-gaza/

Continued……Critics say this makes Safaricom complicit in abductions and extrajudicial killings of activists and vocal citizens.

Sources

https://tech-ish.com/2025/06/11/safaricom-ca-albert-ojwang/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn9jw20nr5ro

https://tech-ish.com/2024/10/31/safaricom-daily-nation-police-surveillance/

https://khrc.or.ke/press-release/mck-complaints-commission-must-reject-safaricoms-baseless-complaint-against-the-nation-and-its-journalists/

https://nation.africa/kenya/news/exclusive-how-kenyan-police-use-mobile-phones-to-track-capture-suspects-4804416#google_vignette

https://khrc.or.ke/press-release/safaricom-must-immediately-cease-its-attacks-against-khrc-muhuri-daily-nation-and-journalists-and-answer-grave-allegations-against-it/

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/kenya-safaricom-pursues-retaliatory-action-through-a-slapp-by-filling-a-meritless-complaint-with-the-commission-against-nation-media-group-and-its-journalists/

https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/telecom-investment-mergers/18531-kenyan-government-may-sell-some-of-its-safaricom-shares.html

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-06-11-safaricom-denies-involvement-in-tracking-ojwang

https://www.safaricom.co.ke/about/who-we-are/our-story

17 JUNE 1871: WRITER, LAWYER & ACTIVIST JAMES WELDON JOHNSON BORN ON THIS DAY

On this day, 17 June 1871, James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. A renowned writer, composer, civil rights activist, lawyer, diplomat and leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Johnson was a true polymath. He was the first Black lawyer admitted to the Florida bar since the Reconstruction era following the US Civil War. Johnson is perhaps best known for co-writing the powerful hymn ‘Lift Every Voice and Sing,’ which became the NAACP's official anthem and later widely known as the 'Black National Anthem.'

Before his time at the helm of the NAACP, Johnson served as the United States consul in Venezuela in 1906 and in Nicaragua in 1909.

Continued……. During this period, he anonymously published his groundbreaking novel, ‘The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man’ (1912), which explored the complex questions of racial identity and 'passing' as white in the post-Reconstruction era. He was the first Black author to use Harlem and Atlanta as subjects in fiction.

Later, as executive secretary of the NAACP for a decade, he played a central role in steering the organisation's fight for justice. 

Johnson, who helped develop the Harlem Renaissance or the Black artists' community in New York, died in a car crash on 26 June 1938 at the age of 67. 

Today, we remember James Weldon Johnson not only for his immense literary contributions but also for his tireless advocacy.

Sources

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/james-weldon-johnson

https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/james-weldon-johnson

https://jamesweldonjohnson.emory.edu/about/about-james-weldon-johnson.html

https://poets.org/poet/james-weldon-johnson

https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/james-weldon-johnson

KENNETH KAUNDA REMEMBERED

Kenneth Kaunda, one of Africa's greatest liberation heroes, passed away on this day in 2021 at the age of 97.

Fondly known as KK and Super Ken, he was not only Zambia's founding president but also a pan-African icon who dedicated the best of his life to ensuring that every single inch of African land was free from colonialism. As President of Zambia, Kaunda led other African leaders in forming the Frontline States coalition, a group of countries in southern and East Africa that gained their independence in the early 1960s. The group played a key role in mobilising resources and support for the armed struggle against racist and colonial regimes in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Namibia, Mozambique, Angola and South Africa.

Continued……. Kaunda turned Zambia into a hub for the liberation struggle in Southern Africa. In addition to providing diplomatic and material support, Kaunda allowed liberation movements, such as South Africa's African National Congress (ANC), Namibia's South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) and the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) to use Zambia as a launch pad for cross-border attacks against the settler regimes in their homelands. These efforts helped ensure that, by the 1990s, when he left office, most colonial regimes in the region had either collapsed or were on the verge of collapse.

In this video, African Stream's Clinton Nzala provides a detailed account of Kaunda's contributions to the freedom of millions of Africans.