S/AFRICA OPPOSITION ASKS U.S. TO MONITOR FORTHCOMING ELECTIONS

The South African government has dismissed calls by the country’s main opposition party to invite US and EU election monitors to the upcoming general election.

On 7th March, the Democratic Alliance wrote a letter to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken - requesting that Washington send a team of observers for the May 29th vote to ‘safeguard against any attempts to disrupt the democratic process.’

An irritated President Cyril Ramaphosa slammed the DA’s appeal as ‘disingenuous’ and an attempt to ‘sell the country to other powers in the world.’

South Africa’s foreign minister expressed surprise at the DA’s request, claiming that the country had in the last three decades conducted elections regarded as free and fair by all stakeholders, including observers drawn from across the world.

What’s your view? Is this just pre-electoral politicking? Or is there a genuine concern about the upcoming ballot?

LOWKEY: HOW ISRAEL BACKED APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa’s support for Palestinians goes back decades.
And according to activist and rapper, Lowkey, the history between them is vital in understanding Pretoria’s tough stand against Israel today. While the world focuses on the genocide case at the ICJ, there are some key facts we shouldn’t forget. Palestinians backed South Africans in their fight against apartheid, while Israel backed South Africa’s racist regime both politically and militarily. Here, Lowkey runs through the details. A history lesson worth listening to.

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BLACK ARTISTS AND COUNTRY MUSIC

Country music owes everything to musical traditions derived from West Africa - and yet, Black artists have generally been excluded from the genre. Last month, Beyoncé became the first Black female artist to top the Billboard Country chart. However, some country stations refused to play her hit Texas Hold ‘Em, at least until online pressure became too much. This clip by @moyoafrica explores the significance.

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BLACK HOST DEFENDS RACIST JIBE AT UK POLITICIAN

A Black British TV host has caused a storm after defending alleged racist comments about a Black politician. It’s claimed in 2019, Conservative party donor, Frank Hester, said Diane Abbott made him want to ‘hate all Black women’ and that ‘she should be shot.’

However, GB News presenter Nana Akua, who has Ghanaian parents, reckons those words are NOT offensive. Listen to her bizarre argument during a televised debate with White author Amy Nickell.

In the meantime, the British Prime Minister says Hester’s remarks were ‘wrong and racist’ but his party won’t return Hester’s £10m donation.

Feel free to pile in with your comments.

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HAITIAN ACTIVIST: ‘OCCUPATION MEANS
HUMILIATION’

Kenya’s US-backed planned deployment of police to Haiti has hit another setback (phew!) with the resignation of the Caribbean nation’s unelected Prime Minister, Ariel Henry.

We got insight into what’s behind Haiti’s current woes, and why the Haitian people are so against outside ‘help,’ from an activist on the ground - Ezayi Jules from MOLEGHAF, a grassroots organisation on the island

In this clip, he reminds us of just how many occupations Haiti has had to endure and fight against, arguing that it’s a kind of ‘punishment’ for Haitians breaking their chains and founding the first free Black republic.

Hear him out and please also share your insights - they matter to us.

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SENEGAL OPPOSITION LEADERS FREED AHEAD OF POLLS

The release of Senegal’s main opposition leader from jail has sparked jubilant scenes on the streets of Dakar. It comes just days ahead of the country’s controversial presidential election.
Ousmane Sonko was freed along with his right-hand man, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

It’s been a turbulent few months for the country after its leader, Macky Sall, postponed the ballot. It was due to be held on February 25th and he wanted to push it back until December. However, that was rejected by the country’s constitutional court.

Having completed two terms, Sall won’t be standing again, meaning a new president will be elected. But who will that be? It’s a race that’s too close to call!

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Jamaican dancehall star Vybz Kartel has had his murder conviction overturned. The 48-year-old, known as Adidja Palmer, appealed to the UK’s Privy Council in London, which is also the final court in Jamaica. It agreed that his trial in Kingston in 2011 - which saw him jailed for life (35 years minimum) - had been compromised by corruption: one of the jurors had been bribed and attempted to bribe other jurors. The case concerned Clive ‘Lizard’ Williams, who was allegedly bludgeoned to death - though his body hasn’t ever been recovered. The original trial lasted 65 days and was one of the longest in Jamaican legal history. The court in Kingston must now decide whether to retrial Kartel.

The artist has a number of hits under his belt - including Clarks, Romping Shop and Summer Time. He made headlines years back after admitting to skin bleaching. He also became the first dancehall artist to star in his own reality TV show, Teacha’s Pet.

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On this day 64 years ago, students at South Carolina State College and Claflin College in Orangeburg, South Carolina, braved the cold weather and turned out to protest segregation at lunch counters and in stores. S.H. Kress & Company was the main target because Black students had spent money at the restaurant, but they were not allowed to sit in the view of white customers.

The build-up to the protests had started in late February when about 40 students from the two institutions attempted to organise a sit-in at the 'white-only' lunch counter. However, this did not materialise because the store authorities quickly removed the stools at the counter and closed the business.

The city's leaders claimed outside agitators, like communists, had organised the student action. That is an argument often thrown around when the masses rebel. The city consequently outlawed picketing.

Continued….However, the students were not deterred. On 15 March, after the counter re-opened, Claflin College Student Council President Tom Gaither and South Carolina State College freshman Charles 'Chuck' McDew led nearly 1,000 students on a march to protest segregation and support sit-ins occurring in other South Carolina municipalities and across the US South.

Despite the peaceful nature of the march, police attempted to block the protest and demanded they return to campus. When students stood their ground, the officers attacked using clubs, tear gas and ice-cold water from fire department engines. Police arrested about 400 students during the melée.

On 18 March, they appeared in court, where the judge detained the students' attorney, Matthew Perry, for 'pursuing his case vigorously.' The protesters were convicted and fined $50 each, or $524 when adjusted for inflation. The US Supreme Court overturned the sentences following an appeal.

Even though the protest did not lead to the end of segregation, it was one of several setting the tone for future uprisings, announcing Black people would no longer suffer in silence.

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‘PALESTINIAN CONFLICT DIDN’T START OCTOBER 7’

The Global South is waking up, and we are here for it. At a joint press conference in Berlin, on March 11th, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim schooled German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the Palestinian conflict by reminding him it did not start on October 7th.

Ibrahim accused Western leaders, his host included, of being one-sided. He said they concentrate purely on the October 7 H*m*s attack, while neglecting atrocities that Israel has committed against Palestinians since 1948. Scholz, who had spoken earlier, had focused on the repetitive Western message about Israel’s ‘right to defend itself.’

More than 31,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7th when Israel launched its brutal assault on Gaza. The majority of those killed have been women and children, despite Israeli claims the military operation is targeting H*m*s fighters.

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46 ATTEMPTS TO SPEAK! 1ST BLACK BRITISH WOMAN MP IGNORED

The United Kingdom has been abuzz this week after the Guardian published racially disparaging remarks that the Conservative Party's biggest donor, Frank Hester, a white man, has admitted to making regarding the first Black woman member of parliament, Diane Abbott. During a 2019 meeting at Hester's software company, he said Abbott made him 'want to hate all Black women.'

Labour Party leader Keir Starmer called Hester's comments 'racist and misogynist' during a 13 March exchange on the parliament's floor in which he demanded the Tories return Hester's recent donations totalling $12.7 million USD. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Hester's 'remorse should be accepted.'

During the 35-minute parliamentary session, Starmer and Sunak debated for four minutes. However, according to a Sky News count, Abbott was not allowed to express herself despite trying to get the speaker's attention 46 times.

Continued….Abbott later criticised Starmer for trying to score political points because he had suspended the 70-year-old MP last year for alleged 'anti-semitism.'

Amnesty International's review of tweets in the run-up to the 2017 UK elections found that 20 Black and Asian women MPs were 41 per cent more likely to receive abusive tweets even though white women in the study outnumbered them by a factor of eight. Abbott the most abusive tweets, with 45 per cent directed at her in the six weeks prior to the election.

What do you make of this exchange? Let us know in the comments.

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