Today, the 7th of February, marks the 38th anniversary of the passing of a Pan-Africanist beacon, Cheikh Anta Diop. A champion of African history and identity, the esteemed scholar and philosopher dedicated his life to dismantling the shackles of colonial narratives to reclaim Africa's essence.

Diop’s work challenged the Eurocentric view of history, placing Africa at human civilisation's centre. His theories on linguistic origins, with the 'Paleo-African' hypothesis, sparked crucial conversations about Africa's intellectual and cultural contributions to the world. He confronted the distortions and biases that had marginalised African history, paving the way for an accurate understanding of the past.

Continued…Diop's unwavering belief in Africa's dignity and potential fueled the flames of Pan-Africanism, urging people of African descent to unite and celebrate their shared heritage. He emphasised the importance of cultural reclamation, urging Africans to rediscover their own languages, traditions, and knowledge systems. His message resonated deeply, inspiring movements for liberation and self-determination across the continent.

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Canada-based Somali rapper K'naan has won the first-ever Grammy Award for Best Song for Social Change - for his 2023 hit single Refugee. The song, released as a tribute to refugees worldwide, has garnered praise for its powerful lyrics and uplifting message.

K'naan has always channelled his personal experiences as a refugee into his music, arguably taking pride in the term ‘refugee’ and emphasising collectivity and community. The music video for the song Refugee juxtaposes scenes from migrant camps and boats, and footage of K'naan taking the train and singing in the street.

As of mid-2023, there were 110-million forcibly displaced people across the globe, including over 710,000 Somali refugees. K'naan's win is a significant recognition of the struggles faced by refugees worldwide.

Continued….Born in Somalia, K'naan's family fled to Canada in 1991, settling in Toronto. His music career took off with the hit single Wavin' Flag, which propelled him to worldwide fame when it was chosen as the anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He has since used his platform to raise awareness about refugee issues worldwide.

K'naan's music has earned him numerous awards, including a Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year and a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. With Refugee, he hopes to initiate a deeper conversation about the global refugee crisis and the need for empathy and understanding.

Let us know how that conversation should go - and show some love for @knaanstagram - in the comments!

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SOUTH AFRICANS FIGHTING FOR IDF ‘WILL BE PROSECUTED’

While South Africa stands up for Palestinians by going after Israel for war crimes in The Hague, a small number of its citizens have actually chosen to go and fight for the IDF in Gaza.

But they may regret doing so. Pretoria reiterated on Monday that it regards them as ‘mercenaries’ - and will prosecute them.

Foreign minister Naledi Pandor noted that South African law prohibits citizens from fighting for any army that targets civilians.

Pandor also revealed that the South African Justice Department had been alerted about a number of cases.

For over 120 days now, Israel has waged war in Gaza - killing some 27,000 Palestinians. Throughout this period, Pretoria has shown solidarity with, and stood up for, the Palestinian people, whose plight many South Africans regard as similar to their own under apartheid.

What do you think should happen to the South African mercenaries in Gaza?

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⚠️ WARNING: AFRICANS, DON’T MOVE TO CANADA

Listen to this warning about Africans migrating to Canada, only to accept jobs requiring lower qualifications than the ones they have in their home countries.

What do you think?

EDDIE GRIFFIN ON COLONIALISM IN AFRICA

In 2008, comedian and actor Eddie Griffin joked about what European colonialists did when they came to Africa. In his words, they gave us Bibles, and they took the gold, diamonds and land.

Tell us below who your favorite African comedian is.

THE YORUBA KINGDOM

When we talk about Africa’s rich history and ancient civilisations, Egypt often tops everyone’s list. However, if you headed west you would’ve found another kingdom that grew its wealth through vibrant international trade and powerful city states. The Yoruba Empire dominated an area that is now modern-day Nigeria, Benin and Togo. And its traditions are still held strong among its people who are one of Africa’s largest ethnic groups.

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100,000 YEAR OLD FOOTPRINTS DISCOVERED IN MOROCCO

Archeologists from Morocco, Spain, France and Germany have discovered a set of footprints dating back 100,000 years. They are the oldest in North Africa, and follow a 2017 discovery of 300,000-year-old Homo sapien bones in Jebel Irhoud, Morocco.

More-frequent storms caused coastal erosion, revealing the footprints.

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SOMALI-ORIGIN CONGRESSWOMAN SMEARED BY U.S. RIGHT

We all know about the dangers of deep fakes. But more primitive forms of online deception are still catching people out as well. Something as simple as adding misleading subnoscripts to someone speaking in another language. That’s what happened to Somali-born Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who’s faced calls to be sacked, stripped of her US citizenship and deported as a result!

Continued….Addressing a crowd in her native tongue, she spoke about how Somalis in the US could petition their representatives to try and influence Washington’s policy on their homeland - in particular, over the question of the status of the breakaway republic of Somaliland. But someone deviously added subnoscripts to the speech that made out she was saying the Somali diaspora had the US government in its pocket, that the likes of Omar could dictate US foreign policy, and that she put Somalia and the Muslim faith before everything else - including, by implication, US interests.

That led to a barrage of performative outrage by prominent right-wingers, from Rob DeSantis to Marjorie Taylor Green. Omar has brushed off the smear - poking fun at the amateurish nature of the attempted hit-job translation (which used ‘Somalians’ rather than ‘Somalis’ to refer to her people - something no self-respecting Somali would do) - branding it a ‘manufactured controversy’ rooted in xenophobia and Islamophobia.

What do you think about the whole episode?

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8 February marks 56 years since the Orangeburg Massacre, when police killed three young Black people and wounded 27 others during a civil rights protest at South Carolina State College, a historically Black institution of higher education that later was renamed South Carolina State University.

The incident was the culmination of a crescendo of protests that had started two days earlier, when Black youths—mostly university students—had gathered outside All-Star Bowling Lane to denounce the bowling alley’s refusal to admit Black patrons.

That protest ended in arrests. When student demonstrators returned the next night, officers attacked them with billy clubs and arrested more people.

Continued….This led to heightened tension in the town and on campus. In an attempt to put down the protests, South Carolina’s governor called in the state’s National Guard (civilians who serve in military roles on an as-needed basis) to support highway patrol officers, adding fire to the already tense situation. Despite authorities’ manoeuvers, the determined students gathered at the university on 8 February to continue with their protests.

A scuffle broke out when firefighters tried to extinguish a bonfire the students had lit. During the ensuing chaos, one officer apparently fired into the air and other officers started shooting into the crowd.

By the time guns went silent, three students lay dead, while 27 were injured. Most of the victims were shot in the back and in the soles of their feet as they tried to flee, thereby making it hard to believe the police claim that they acted in self-defence.

In the aftermath of the massacre, nine officers were charged with ‘imposing summary punishment without due process of law.’ However, they were all acquitted.

The only person who went to jail was Cleveland Sellers, whom the state accused of inciting the protests. The national program director for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee received a one-year prison sentence, of which he effectively served seven months. In 1993, South Carolina’s governor pardoned Sellers.

Nearly six decades later, survivors and relatives say justice was never served.

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BURKINABÉ ‘WOULD RATHER DIE’ THAN ACCEPT NEW COLONIAL MASTERS

Burkina Faso’s president, Ibrahim Traoré, sat down for an exclusive interview with Cameroonian journalist Alain Foka, just two days after his country, along with Niger and Mali, announced they were exiting the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The three states underwent anti-imperialist coups in recent years, forming the Alliance of Sahel States on 16 September. ECOWAS member-states are mostly former French colonies whose economies remain under the thumb of France. They are forced to use the CFA franc currency for international transactions and they must store at least 50 per cent of foreign reserves in that currency at the French Public Treasury.

Continued….During the interview, the journalist pressed Traoré about his country’s relationship with Russia. The president responded that Burkinabé people ‘would rather die’ than replace one colonial master (France) with another (Russia).

Have a listen and let us know what you think about Traoré’s remarks below.

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South Africa’s much-anticipated genocide case against Israel—which the global public was able to watch live in January—appears to have inspired other Global South countries to stand up to Israel’s atrocities against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Nicaragua announced on 1 February that it will hold accountable Canada, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom via ‘all measures,’ including at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), for providing arms, ammunition, technology, and other components to Israel. The Central American country stated such acts violate multiple international laws, including the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.

Continued….Nicaragua further warned these governments, that suspending funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees is an act of ‘disregarding’ their obligations under international law. While they were warned in written notices, Nicaragua provided no deadline before it would begin to take legal action.

The ICJ said in a provisional ruling on 26 January that Israel’s actions could ‘plausibly’ amount to genocide. Since 7 October, Israel has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave.

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PITCH PERFECT: SONGS UNITE RIVAL FANS AT AFCON

The AFCON final four nations are special this year - all are (besides good at football!) African musical powerhouses.

So while the fans will be cheering their own team - be it Nigeria or Côte d’Ivoire in the final, or South Africa or DR Congo in the runners-up game - they’ll also be humming, singing, dancing and vibing to each other’s tunes and songs outside the stadium and long after the tournament.

Be it Afrobeats or amapiano, DJ Arafat or Fally Ipupa - African Stream’s Inem Richardson mingled with the fans to find out how music unites Africans… even when they are footballing rivals!

Share your musical winners - and AFCON final predictions - in the comments.

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THOUSANDS FLEE M23 RESURGENCE IN GOMA

East DRC is witnessing a mass exodus, amid fears the M23 rebels will capture the region’s biggest city, Goma. In the last few days, thousands have abandoned their homes and fled, while rockets have been raining down on the city’s outskirts. The Congolese army appears to be on the back foot but the government has vowed it will hold the city.

M23 - allegedly armed by Rwanda (something Kigali strongly denies) - has been making gains recently in the country’s mineral-rich provinces of North and South Kivu. The conflict, decades old, has seen over a million Congolese leave the country, and over 7 million internally displaced - in the grip of a humanitarian disaster.

It’s feared the intensifying conflict could draw in neighbouring countries in the Great Lakes region if the violence is not decisively quelled fast.

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NIGERIA IN AFCON FINAL FANS GO MAD

Nigerian football fans are dreaming of a fourth AFCON noscript after beating rivals South Africa to reach the final. Wild celebrations lasted long into the night, as you’ll see from these pictures from Lagos.

It’s been over a decade since the Super Eagles were last crowned African champions. But the penalty-shootout win has got everyone believing another noscript is within their grasp. They’ll play hosts Ivory Coast in Sunday’s final.

Win or lose, the tournament has been a much-needed tonic for many Nigerians. Inflation topped 26 per cent last year and a cost-of-living crisis has been sharpened by government subsidy cutbacks.

Check out the reaction of these fans after substitute Kelechi Iheanacho slotted home his winning spot kick to decide the tie which had finished 1-1 after extra time.

There’s nothing like success on the pitch to lift the spirits of a nation!

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IVORY COAST AFCON DREAM CONTINUES!

The footballing fairytale continues for AFCON hosts Ivory Coast who’ve reached Sunday’s final. In fact, their fans probably have to keep rubbing their eyes to believe what’s happening. They beat DR Congo 1-0 to set up a showdown with Nigeria in what’s been an amazing turnaround.

Just days ago, the Elephants were on the brink of elimination from the group stage and sacked their coach. They were in complete disarray with few giving them any chance of progressing. And yet, here they are, just a few days later, in the final after Sebastien Haller popped up to score last night’s winner.

Ivory Coast fans have gone mad! Who can blame them? And who’d bet against them from beating Nigeria to claim a third AFCON noscript? Would you?