THE BOOK THAT GOT NKRUMAH DEPOSED?

Today marks 58 years since Pan-African icon and Ghana’s founding leader Kwame Nkrumah was removed from office in a military coup engineered by the CIA.

After leading Ghana to independence from British colonial rule in 1957, Nkrumah embarked on a mission to unite the African people on the continent and the diaspora. It was his firm belief that Africans share not only a common history, but a common destiny.

He was one of the founding leaders of the African Union’s predecessor, the Organization of African Unity, in 1963. In a key speech at the opening summit, he eloquently made the case for African unity. He explained that true independence and prosperity could only be attained if African nations united on both the economic and political front.

Continued…..He said this was the only way they could defeat the menace posed by the neo-colonial system, which was hell-bent on maintaining its control over the continent, even as most countries attained ‘flag independence.’

To the CIA, revolutionary Pan-African leaders like Nkrumah were a danger that needed to be ‘neutralised.’ Their words were perceived to threaten the US establishment.

But don’t take our word for it - take it from Kwame Nkrumah’s editorial assistant, June Milne. As she relates in this clip, his book ‘Neo-Colonialism, The Last Stage of Imperialism,’ in which he detailed how Western countries were looting Africa’s resources, was the last straw for the US, and is what spurred it into sponsoring the coup that removed him.

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Faced by a mass exodus of nurses and midwives, Nigeria’s government is implementing tough measures to stem the 'brain drain' of its medical personnel, who are increasingly looking for better working conditions away from home. But the medics are up in arms over Abuja’s stringent new rules, which make it significantly harder for them to work overseas. It’s a tricky issue. What do you think the right approach is?

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MARKED MEN: MALCOLM X AND PINTO

On the anniversary of his assassination, we look back at the legacy of Pio Gama Pinto. He was one of Kenya’s leading socialist voices and, in the spirit of internationalism, developed a brotherly relationship with the revolutionary activist Malcom X. In this clip, Dick Gregory, a Black writer, activist and social critic, explains their close bond.

This was first formed during Malcolm X’s 1959 visit to Kenya. Pio Gama Pinto, a Kenyan revolutionary of Asian origin, was deeply involved in Kenya’s struggle for independence. Both men were fighting similar fights against oppression. Together, they planned a joint strategy to combat injustices. Notably, Pinto advocated taking the US to the UN for its treatment of Black people. Tragically, within three days of each other, in February 1965, both were assassinated, highlighting the danger their voices posed to powerful interests. Pinto’s killing was Kenya’s first political assassination.

Continued…..An accomplished journalist and propagandist, Pinto used his energy to publicise the cause of African freedom through political pamphlets and press articles. When, in 1952, the colonial government declared a state of emergency and detained most African leaders, he was involved in funnelling weapons to Mau Mau fighters.

Pio Gama Pinto had to die because he was perhaps the perfect African socialist in a Kenya whose independence was hijacked by capitalist elites. He was virtually at war with those accused of land-grabbing - including Kenya’s first President Jomo Kenyatta and his ‘Kiambu mafia’ (a group of the elite from Kenya’s Central province) - and with Western capitalism led by the US and British governments.

Pinto was shot on 24th February, 1965, as he drove out of his Westlands home in Nairobi. Though departed, his legacy lives on in the millions of Africans keeping up the fight for a fully liberated and dignified Africa. Rest with the ancestors, Pio Gama Pinto.

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ECOWAS VIOLATED INTERNATIONAL LAW

Many African Stream followers may know the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has enacted sanctions and other measures to punish the Sahelian states of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger for recent popular coups.

President Ibrahim Traoré of Burkina Faso told a Burkinabé crowd that such measures violate international law, adding, ‘You cannot close ports to a landlocked country.’ He may have been referring to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Multiple coups have rocked West Africa since ECOWAS was established in 1975. However, the regional body has not responded to previous coups with sanctions and threats of military intervention.

Why do you think ECOWAS imposed such measures on Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger? Let us know in the comments.

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GUINEA BISSAU’S UNSHAKABLE CARMEN PEREIRA

Carmen Maria Pereira was a relentless fighter during Guinea-Bissau’s struggle for independence from the Portuguese.

At an early age, she joined the resistance movement, becoming a member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC) - a party that produced some of Africa’s finest female freedom fighters, such as Titina Silá.

Pereira would go on to serve as Guinea-Bissau’s president - though only for three days.

She may not be with us now, but the people of Guinea-Bissau remember her as a radical spirit in the face of injustice. May she Rest in Power.

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‘EUROPEAN CIVILISATION? THERE’S NO SUCH THING!’

European civilisation is a myth and Whites are intimidated by Black superiority. Those are the views of Pan-African scholar James Small.

The ancient Greeks and Romans are revered as cultural high points in the West. But as he explains in this clip, there’s too much war, too much death and destruction, too much blatant pillaging and cultural appropriation to talk about ‘civilisation.’

As for the White inferiority complex, Small says that’s due to an awareness that - given the same opportunities - we’d flourish and excel, without having to rely on domination.

Do you agree with him?

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