EXCLUSIVE: AFRICAN STREAM TALKS GADDAFI WITH EX-SPOX

Muammar Gaddafi’s often mentioned along with the likes of Kwame Nkruhmah, Julius Nyerere, Patrice Lumumba and Thomas Sankara. All are leaders who spared no effort realising the liberation of Africa from foreign domination. African Stream recently had the chance to interview Gaddafi’s former spokesman and communication’s minister, Moussa Ibrahim. In this snippet, he sheds light on just how much Libya’s leader achieved in a short period of time after the revolution. He kicked out foreign military, ensured oil profits stayed in Libya, and used the wealth thereby acquired to fund vital infrastructure. It’s all very reminiscent of what’s starting to happen in the Sahel at the moment. Let us know your thoughts on this. If you want to hear more insights from Moussa Ibrahim, we’ll be posting more clips of our interview here - and the full interview on YouTube soon.

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LUPITA NYONG’O: ‘I PREDATE RACE!’

Kenyan-Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o was in for a surprise when she met in April 2023 with Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., on his PBS programme, ‘Finding Your Roots.’ He could trace her ancestral DNA to a group of women who lived in Africa 100,000 to 200,000 years ago, long before humans ventured out of the continent in search of resources. Gates said those women existed when all humans were Black. To that news, Nyong’o replied, ‘I predate race.’

Lead study author Rebecca Cann said she and her colleagues first theorised ‘Mitochondrial Eve’ in 1980. She called the choice to use Eve ‘a playful misnomer’ because it referred to the first woman mentioned in the Bible. They said the study didn’t imply that Mitochondrial Eve was responsible for all human origins, as many women existed before and at the same time this theoretical figure lived. Instead, this Eve is the most recent female ancestor to whom all modern humans can trace their genealogy.

Continued…..Genetic testing has become popular over the past two decades among many Black people in the United States, as we have only been able to trace our people’s roots to names listed on the manifests of trading ships that carried our kidnapped and chained ancestors from West and Central Africa.

Companies began offering consumer genetic testing in the early 2000s in the United States. Europe is another major hub for testing, while companies are looking at Asia and the Pacific Islands as potential sources of revenue and genetic material.

However, the fine print for some companies indicates they reserve the right to use DNA results in other ways. That has raised privacy concerns, especially given multiple people in the United States have landed in jail after their relatives’ DNA—not theirs—implicated them in crimes.

Have you taken a DNA test? Kindly share what you learned.

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S. AFRICAN SISTER SLAMS CAPE INDY MOVEMENT

You’ve heard of Brexit, but have you heard of CapeXit? It’s a movement calling for South Africa’s Western Cape - as well as potentially other parts of the Cape - to break away from the rest of the country.

What little support it currently has comes mainly from the region’s White population, who say Western Cape - currently run by the Democratic Alliance, which has roots in what was the ruling party under apartheid - is better managed than the rest of the country, and better off going it alone.

But in this clip, a South African sister exposes the movement for what it really is: a land project driven by a colonial sense of ennoscriptment to divide Africans even further.

Continued….As she notes, White people in South Africa - including in Western Cape - are descended from Dutch colonisers, and hence have no right to be trying to subdivide the country further. If anything, we should be removing borders, not imposing them: as she says, Nigeria is as much her home as Kenya is, and as South Africa - in its entirety - is.

Do you agree with her?

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CAMEROON’S MARTHE MOUMIÉ VS THE FRENCH

Cameroon’s Marthe Moumié (1931-2009) fought tirelessly for the independence of her home country and other African states, especially Equatorial Guinea. Her first husband was the nationalist Félix Moumié, who was assassinated. Her next partner would also be killed - executed for his role in a coup attempt. Marthe was imprisoned and tortured during her struggle against French imperialism, but that didn’t stop her from continuing to push back against the colonialists. She led the women’s wing at the Union of the Peoples of Cameroon. African Stream’s Wambura Mwai looks back at her life.

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WEST BEHIND SOUTH AFRICA’S BLACKOUTS?

Despite being Africa’s second-largest economy, South Africa’s been battling power blackouts for years. Many blame the corruption and inefficiency plaguing the state-owned power firm Eskom. However, some allege it’s being deliberately sabotaged to collapse it ahead of a cheap sell-off to the private sector.

Among those convinced this is happening is South African author and entrepreneur Mpho Dagada. He claims the public would never sanction Eskom’s sale unless it were on its last legs. He alleges Western capitalists are now encouraging senior members of the country’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), to help do that by embezzling Eskom funds. It’s an outlandish allegation, but could it be true?

Continued….The ANC has always denied such rumours. Last year it threatened legal action against former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, who described the firm as a ‘feeding trough’ of the party.

Whatever the truth is, Eskom is a faltering company, and South Africans are suffering as a result.

Listen to this guy’s take on the sad situation and give us yours.

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ISRAEL REALTOR SELLS WEST BANK TO NORTH AMERICANS

Fancy buying property in the West Bank in Occupied Palestine?

Events promoting the sale of settler developments in occupied Palestinian territories have been held in synagogues in the United States and Canada, apparently exclusively reserved for Jewish buyers.

This clip shows the public’s outcry in various cities as these events took place. For example, a Muslim man went to an event advertised in Toronto, Canada. On the way there, an online search showed the for-sale property is in a West Bank settlement. Then, a recording showed him being turned away because he’s not Jewish.

Continued…..Under international law, Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are considered illegal. According to the United Nations, between 2012 and 2022, the population of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, had grown from 520,000 to more than 700,000.

These events have been held regularly throughout the years. But amidst the Israeli bombardments and blockade that have killed more than 31,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since 7 October, protests have not only risen but been amplified by social media users.

Public awareness about the broader 75-year Palestine-Israel conflict has spiked, with the majority of people in the United States telling pollsters they support a comprehensive ceasefire. However, Canadian residents are less likely to support it.

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