NIGERIENS DISH UP RESISTANCE

These pictures further highlight the level of grassroots support for the coup in Niger. Female volunteers turning up to feed demonstrators outside the French military base in Niamey. It’s the sixth day of protests calling for the removal of French troops. Niger’s new government terminated military accords with Paris after taking power in July.

However, France insists its 1,500 soldiers will stay in the West African country. Meanwhile, Niger’s army warns the French are preparing an invasion to reinstate ousted President Bazoum. Niamey has vowed to defend itself, and has garnered support from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso. Thousands have attended rallies backing their new leaders. And this latest footage again shows the strength of support.


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BRICS+ EQUALS EQUALITY

Fear not, all members of BRICS will be treated equally. That’s the message of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He was responding to a list of concerns reeled off by Namibia’s leader Hage Geingob. After all, what’s the point in joining the rapidly growing bloc if it’s structured like the UN, where big countries get veto rights. Well, BRICS won’t go down that route. Equality and respect were the words used by Ramaphosa.

The organisation announced six new members at its recent summit in Johannesburg. And with the promise of a voice at the table, no doubt more will join as an alternative to skewed Western institutions.

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BEYOND FLAG INDEPENDENCE

The recent spate of coups is triggering a new kind of conversation amongst Africans: what happens after a revolution? So says Nigerian journalist David Hundeyin, who spoke to us about why our generation is better equipped than Kwame Nkrumah’s to bring about ‘genuine’ independence. While our predecessors achieved ‘flag’ independence for African nations, they weren’t as equipped as we are today to stand up to the dangers of neo-colonial exploitation. Thanks to the Internet, knowledge and info is more widely available - and knowledge is power. People in Niger, for example, now know a lot more about how exploitative France’s relationship with their country really is. They’re not easily going to let the opportunities presented by the recent coup slip away. The key, argues Hundeyin in this clip, is planning. Watch our full interview with him on our YouTube channel.

https://youtu.be/Dc8kV-RrUZI?si=ac0NIykSQZc6zO6U

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AFROCENTRIC SCHOOLS RULE!

Most African countries adopted a Eurocentric form of education at Independence. But there is a school in Kenya disrupting the colonial form of education. Children in Freedom School, the first of its kind, offers an Afrocentric system of learning. It focuses on incorporating African culture and teaching its students about their roots and history. It even teaches and examines students in their mother tongue, something that’s banned in some western-styled classrooms.
We paid a visit, and definitely give them top marks!
Click the video and tell us how highly you grade what they’re doing.

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Angola celebrates September 17th as National Heroes Day. Those who paid the ultimate price in the struggle against Portuguese colonial rule are remembered. And, one in particular, comes to mind. Angola’s first President, Antonio Agostinho Neto, who was born on this day in 1922. But his path to leading his country to independence was full of hardship and struggle.

After moving to Portugal to study medicine, he joined anti-colonial organisations. That saw him targeted by authorities who jailed him several times between 1951 and 1957. The following year he returned to Angola to set up a medical clinic. However, he also kept up his political activism and that again saw him arrested. It sparked a mass protest demanding his release and police opened fire killing thirty demonstrators. Neto was subsequently banished to the Portuguese colony of Cape Verde and later to another jail in Portugal. He was then moved to house arrest where, in 1962, he escaped and fled to Morocco.

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Continued- Angola celebrates September 17th as National Heroes Day.

While there he led the communist and anti-colonial organisation Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola (MPLA). And events then took a significant turn.

The Salazar regime in Portugal collapsed in 1974 paving the way for Angolan independence. The MPLA competed for control with Western-backed nationalist groups such as UNITA.

Eventually Neto’s party gained the upper hand and when his country gained independence in 1975, he became its first president. However, his time in power wasn’t smooth either - having to fend off further attacks by UNITA who were backed by South Africa’s infamous Battalion 32. On September 10th, 1979, just a week shy of his 57th birthday, Neto died in Moscow while undergoing cancer treatment.

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BUJU: SOLIDARITY WITH RISING AFRICANS!

A message of solidarity from a dancehall legend: in a video-selfie, Buju says he stands with the Africans who are rising up to bring about revolutionary changes in their countries. He speaks with passion of a ‘wind of change’ blowing across our continent - describing Africa as a ‘sleeping giant’ that is now finally waking up and getting on its feet. It matters deeply to Africans in the diaspora as well, he says, as the Black man will not be free until Africa is. Watch and let us know your thoughts - as well as your top Buju track!

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WEST LOVES PLUNDERING PUPPETS

One reason why the West - and France in particular - is throwing tantrums over its dwindling influence in Africa is because so-called leaders beholden to them are being kicked out of power.

In this clip, former African Union ambassador to the U.S. Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao explains why an African leader’s popularity in the West is directly related to chronic underdevelopment at home.

Such is the case with Niger’s deposed president Mohamed Bazoum, who is a darling of the IMF, the World Bank, the United States and France. Dr. Arikana says Bazoum is loved because he was an enabler and beneficiary of exploitation of Niger’s resources.

Africans are now holding their leaders to account and will not tolerate those that impoverish them in order to stay in the good books of the West.

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HAMER DEMANDING JUSTICE AND CHANGE

African-American Fannie Lou Townsend Hamer was a powerful and passionate voice for the civil rights movement. Having worked on cotton plantations and suffering forced sterilisation, she fought tirelessly against racism and for change. Heartfelt speeches like this one, encapsulated the grotesque injustices dished out to Blacks. And highlighted the struggle of building a society where all races are treated equally.

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BIDEN’S RACIST BLOOPERS

With President Joe Biden bidding for another term in the White House, his record on race is worth a reminder. The 80-year-old boasts about his fifty years of experience in Washington, but if you're Black, his record isn't pretty. We've put together a few moments he may like to forget. From telling radio host Charlamagne tha God, you ain't black unless you vote for Biden, to stating poor kids can be as talented as White kids.
But perhaps the most damning of them all is how he bragged about being the author of the notorious 1994 crime bill that pushed for more cops and accelerated the prison industrial complex. And we know how that turned out.

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Continued- BIDEN’S RACIST BLOOPERS

Today, in the U.S., Blacks are five times more likely to be arrested and six times more likely imprisoned than Whites. Moreover, once convicted, they are more likely to experience lengthy prison sentences. A few examples of Sleepy Joe making a mess of it while he's awake.

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MAKEBA: WE JUST HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING!

In this clip, the late South African singer and freedom fighter Miriam Makeba explains why Africans around the world are engaged in the same struggle. She reminds us that diaspora Africans were taken out of Africa, and that - whether we are in Mozambique or Brazil, in Namibia or the US - actually, we are brothers and sisters. The fight for total liberation goes on, and it’s by uniting in our struggle that we’ll achieve our aim. Hit the like button if you share Makeba’s vision!

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