AFRICA NEEDS OWNERSHIP OF ITS ECONOMY

Zimbabwe-born public speaker Joshua Maponga explains where true power lies: The economy. Without control of it, it would be misguided to claim sovereignty. An apt example of this would be South Africa, which, despite formally declaring independence in 1994 from white-minority rule, its economy is still in the hands of a small white elite. 

He also poses the question of what happens the day after a revolution in the face of increasing African awareness of the global systems of subjugation. That requires a plan, organisation, and ideological clarity, not just running on vibes. Building a state, after all, is a monumental task.

Do you agree with him? Let us know in the comments. 

Video Credit: Wake Up Blaq (YouTube) @wakeupblaq_ on TikTok

Sources
https://theconversation.com/white-people-in-south-africa-still-hold-the-lions-share-of-all-forms-of-capital-75510

Continued……Sources
https://www.snljamaicantours.com/tours/accompong-january-6

https://jis.gov.jm/information/get-the-facts/the-maroons-and-the-abeng/

https://www.penn.museum/sites/expedition/guerilla-warfare-in-eighteenth-century-jamaica/

https://discover.vacaymenow.com/listing/accompong-maroon-festival/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Maroon_War?

Who were the Maroons? https://discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/against-slavery/black-resistance-against-slavery/the-maroons-of-jamaica/

Fought against slavery https://discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/against-slavery/black-resistance-against-slavery/the-maroons-of-jamaica/

First Maroon war https://face2faceafrica.com/article/how-the-maroons-from-africa-battled-the-british-in-jamaica-and-won-in-the-1700s
https://discoveringbristol.org.uk/slavery/against-slavery/black-resistance-against-slavery/the-maroons-of-jamaica/

Second Maroon war https://jamaicatimeline.com/history/maroon-2ndwar.html

Deportation to Canada
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20240731/what-happened-trelawny-town-maroons

British breaking the agreement
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20240731/what-happened-trelawny-town-maroons

Petition to go to Sierra Leone
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20240731/what-happened-trelawny-town-maroons

Legacy today.
Accompong https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/legendary-community-that-fought-for-its-freedom-in-jamaica

Moore Town https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3xW808tdJE

https://schoolhistory.co.uk/early-modern/second-maroon-war

https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2018/04/07/what-triggered-the-second-maroon-war-in-1795

Captain Cudjoe
https://nlj.gov.jm/history-notes/The%20Maroons%20edited%20final.htm

Maroon Festival
https://maroonfestja.com/about-us

BLACK TOWN EATONVILLE WINS AGAINST DEVELOPER

Freed enslaved Africans established the town of Eatonville on 15 August 1887. The Florida municipality is one of the earliest self-governing Black towns in the United States. It embodies the spirit of Black resilience and freedom, having emerged from the shadows of slavery to foster a vibrant community of landowners, educators, and leaders. 

However, in 2023, Eatonville residents waged a struggle to prevent land appropriated for educational purposes from being sold to a private developer.

What came of their struggle? Watch and find out.

Continued ….Sources

https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/town-of-eatonville-incorporated

https://jamesmadison.org/the-history-and-legacy-of-eatonville-floridas-pioneering-african-american-town-2

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eatonville-florida-residents-fight-over-land

https://jamesmadison.org/the-history-and-legacy-of-eatonville-floridas-pioneering-african-american-town-2

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eatonville-florida-residents-fight-over-land

https://archive.org/details/lifetimesofjosep0000mitc/page/n3/mode/2up

https://www.floridatrend.com/article/17832/the-town-that-freedom-built

https://www.neilsberg.com/insights/eatonville-fl-population-by-year/?utm_source=chatgpt.com#:~:text=In%202023%2C%20the%20population%20of%20Eatonville%20was%202%2C284%2C%20a%200.04%25%20increase%20year%2Dby%2Dyear%20from%202022.%20Previously%2C%20in%202022%2C%20Eatonville%27s%20population%20was%202%2C283%2C%20a%20decline%20of%200.39%25%20compared%20to%20a%20population%20of%202%2C292%20in%202021

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eatonville-florida-residents-fight-over-land

https://datacommons.org/place/geoId/1219650?utm_medium=explore&mprop=income&popt=Person&cpv=age,Years15Onwards&hl=en

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eatonville-florida-residents-fight-over-land

https://www.splcenter.org/presscenter/splc-hopeful-affirmative-resolution-hungerford-property-after-courts-ruling/#:~:text=%E2%80%94%20The%20Ninth%20Judicial%20Circuit%20Court%20dismissed,(P.E.C.)%20and%20Hungerford%20descendant%20Bea%20Leach%20Hatler.&text=Judge%20Alvaro%20denied%20that%20motion%20as%20moot%2C,sale%20of%20the%20Hungerford%20property%20at%20issue.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eatonville-florida-residents-fight-over-land

https://capitalbnews.org/historic-black-towns-survival

$10K TOILET SEAT? PENTAGON’S
BLOATED BUDGET

If you had to take a wild guess at which country's military forked out a whopping $10,000 for a toilet seat, what would your answer be? Spoiler alert: It's not some 'corrupt' African state. It's the good old USA.

In November 2024, news broke that the Pentagon had failed its seventh consecutive audit, shedding light on the astronomical levels of corruption that run rampant within the US Department of Defence.

By 2027, the defence budget is projected to surpass $1 trillion for the first time. And those ridiculously bloated contracts with contractors? Yeah, they help explain the eye-watering price of defending, or more truthfully, expanding the US empire.

Continued……. In this 2024 report, African Stream's Kenneth Kaigua delves into the jaw-dropping prices the US paid for subpar goods. He also pulls back the curtain on the revolving door that links politicians with arms manufacturers.

Washington's 2025 $848.3 billion defence budget dwarfs the combined spending of the next 10 biggest country budgets. 

Maybe it's high time we rebranded the US military headquarters as the Penta-con!

Sources

https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/exclusive-inside-secret-world-us-commandos-africa

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/the-air-forces-10000-toilet-cover/2018/07/14/c33d325a-85df-11e8-8f6c-46cb43e3f306_story.html

https://insidedefense.com/insider/austin-discloses-financial-ties-defense-contractors

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/13/us/politics/lloyd-austin-private-public.html

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2000/08/cheneys-multi-million-dollar-revolving-door/

https://www.wired.com/2008/09/dumb-as-a-bag-o/

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/07/hegseth-trump-1-trillion-defense-budget-00007147

https://archive.ph/iczyt