IMF & WORLD BANK NEED AFRICA

Arikana Chihombori-Quao, the former Permanent Representative of the African Union to the United States, argued the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank can only exist if Africa struggles. She cited high interest rates that strain poor African states compared to favourable terms countries like the United States receive.

In this 2020 clip, the long-time Pan-Africanist urged the children of Africa, both within the continent and the diaspora, to break the cycle of debt entrapment and subjugation.

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AFRICA - STOP THE BRAIN DRAIN!

Did you know that a Black man in America was one of the chief architects of the home computer as we know it today? Dr. Mark Dean, a computer engineer with many other inventions under his belt, holds three of the nine IBM patents that all PCs are based on.

African brains have contributed to everything from sanitation systems to traffic lights. The problem is there is a brain drain: for example, many Africans who train to be doctors end up working outside the continent, in the States and elsewhere.

In this clip, YouTuber Julie Ryan urges that something be done ASAP to resolve this situation. Why squander our talents and brains on improving other societies?

Do you think her idea can be turned into reality?

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KWAME TURE: MARX DIDN’T ‘INVENT’ LAWS OF SOCIALISM

Some Africans are suspicious of socialism - regarding it as a European ideology and invention. They argue that our continent needs a homegrown economic doctrine to address the socio-economic injustices there (many of which are a legacy of European colonialism).

But revolutionary Pan-African activist Kwame Ture begged to differ. As he argues here, Karl Marx didn’t ‘invent’ socialism, he ‘discovered’ it - just like Isaac Newton didn’t ‘invent’ his laws of motion but ‘discovered’ them.

That is, Ture considered socialist truths to be a real feature of the world - ‘out there,’ waiting to be discovered like any other facts of science. They are universal in character, and hold good for all humanity. (Nobody would argue we need a special ‘African physics,’ would they?)

Do you share Ture’s moral certainty? Have a watch and see whether it strikes a chord.

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POLITICIAN: ‘TRANSFORM’ SOUTH AFRICA’S ECONOMY

Malusi Gigaba is a charismatic politician who served in multiple administrations led by the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa. He was home affairs minister under Jacob Zuma and served in other ministerial positions under Thabo Mbeki. Earlier in his career, he was an elected member of parliament, representing the ANC.

However, a man touted to reach the top position one day fell from grace as sex tapes of him were leaked online, which forced him to resign as minister of home affairs from incumbent Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration.

Despite the scandalous end of his political career, during his maiden budget speech to parliament in 2018, he dropped some gems and quoted hip-hop artist Kendrick Lamar! A real mic drop!

What do you think of his speech? Let us know in the comments.

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WHY U.S. AFRICANS REMAIN UNORGANISED

African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) Chairman Omali Yeshitela has attempted to build a revolution for decades. You may recognise him from clips of our 2023 interview, where we discussed foreign interference in Haiti, coups in Africa’s Sahel region, and the FBI targeting the APSP. Before that, Yeshitela went from being a US military veteran to organising with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement. Then, he became a Black Power Advocate and, later, a Pan-Africanist.

In this throwback to 1998, he summarises the conditions African workers face in the US and worldwide. He defines the war imposed on the African community in the United States as a counterinsurgency.

Continued…. Omali explains how the brutal repression of the African revolution in the 1960s and ‘70s, followed by crack cocaine flooding our communities in the ‘80s and ‘90s, derailed the movement for Black self-determination in the United States. Rap group, Dead Prez, later sampled a portion of this speech in their militant 2000 album, ‘Let’s Get Free.’

In April 2023, the Biden administration charged 82-year-old Yeshitela, as well as three current and former APSP members, with conspiring with Russia to sow domestic discord.

What do you think of Yeshitela’s 1998 remarks? Hit us in the comments.

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Our African proverb for the week comes from Sierra Leone - and brings with it a lesson on tuning in to one’s current contentment. It’s a reminder that we should be grateful for what’s already here, as opposed to looking for problems where there aren’t any. Sometimes it’s just about enjoying the moment. Is that how you interpret it?

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TIME TO BOYCOTT ISRAELI SPORTS?

Why is everyone so reluctant to impose a sports boycott on Israel over the war on Gaza? Football’s governing body FIFA has so far refused to ban the country from competitions. And recently Olympic chiefs green-lighted their participation at the Paris games this summer.

Boycotts can have an impact, as South Africa’s apartheid regime found out. And a few years ago NFL stars took their own personal stand against Tel Aviv. And won. May be it’s time for all athletes to do the same?

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People often question us on why we don’t use the term African-American on African Stream. Well, our revolutionary elder breaks this down much better than we can. Have a listen and leave your thoughts below.

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GADDAFI’S SPOKESPERSON: AFRICAN UNION COULD
HAVE SAVED LIBYA IN 2011

Gaddafi’s former spokesman told African Stream - in an exclusive interview - that he believes the African Union had the mechanisms necessary to prevent the overthrow of the Libyan leader by NATO in 2011, as well as the ensuing collapse of the state.

Moussa Ibrahim told us that he personally lobbied to have the AU replace the UN Security Council in matters Libya, as well as for the use of African peacekeeping forces (as opposed to the ruthless NATO bombing campaign). Ultimately, he says, Africa was too weak back then.

However, he also told us that the reassertion of the Sahel’s sovereignty in recent years is a cause for optimism. And he’s noticed that fewer Africans buy the Western narrative about what happened to Libya these days.

Have a watch of this clip from our interview - the full version is on our YouTube page.

Do you think Africa is strong enough and clued up enough yet for a ‘Libya 2011’ never to happen again?

WHO WAS USMAN DAN FODIO?

Western researchers have often equated the ideology of the great African Islamic leader Usman Dan Fodio with the terrorism of Boko Haram. But let’s set the record straight as to who this man really was - a revolutionary and reformer who founded the great Sokoto Caliphate across present-day Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger.

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GADDAFI CALLED FOR BIN LADEN’S ARREST

Did you know Libya was the first country to call for an international arrest warrant for Osama bin Laden? The al-Qaeda founder was wanted over a double murder in the Libyan town of Sirte in 1994. A warrant was subsequently issued by Interpol in France in 1998 - a full three years before the 9/11 attacks.

In this 2010 interview, Gaddafi explains why he regarded al-Qaeda a terrorist organisation, in contrast to liberation movements. He says freedom fighters want to liberate their land from occupiers, while terror groups have no plan or justification for ‘existence’.

A 23-page UN report released February, 2024, said the threat from al-Qaeda in conflict zones was high, particularly in West Africa and the Sahel. It also warned al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabab remained ‘resilient’ in Somalia.

Would the Global War on Terror have taken a different turn if Osama bin Laden had been arrested in the late 1990s, way before 9/11, as Gaddafi requested?

YOUNG GAMBIAN NAILS NEED FOR AFRICAN UNITY

Population-wise, Africa is one of the youngest continents in the world - and if this young Gambian youth leader is anything to go by, it’s in safe hands. Watch Ousman Touray lay out the case for why our colonially imposed borders mean nothing - can’t prevent us from recognising each other as brothers and sisters - and why we’re better off learning from each other and working together as part of one united African family.

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On April 1st, 1955, the African National Congress (ANC) appealed to South African parents to withdraw their children from schools. It was in protest against the so-called Bantu Education Act the apartheid regime had passed two years earlier as it ramped up its oppression of Black people. It introduced an inferior curriculum for Black students, further segregating the education system, and essentially condemning them to menial jobs.

The man behind the act was future Prime Minister Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd. At the time he was minister of native affairs and infamously said: ‘When I have control of Native education I will reform it so that Natives will be taught from childhood to realise that equality with Europeans is not for them.’

Continued…. Despite thousands of pupils initially staying away from schools nationwide, the campaign generally received a lukewarm response and in 1956 the ANC called it off. However, opposition to the Bantu Education Act continued to simmer and exploded two decades later.

The regime insisted schools should teach in Afrikaans - a language widely associated with the apartheid government. It sparked peaceful student protests, but they were violently suppressed by government forces. At least 176 demonstrators were killed and over a thousand more injured. The massacre sent shockwaves across the globe and laid bare the brutality of the apartheid regime.

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CHRISTIANITY: WHITE MAN’S RELIGION?

Christianity has a long history in Africa that predates any European nation docking on African shores. The ancient Egyptian Coptic Church, as well as Ethiopia’s Orthodox Church, which had both started by 1 AD, are some of the oldest Christian centres in the world. The assertion that Christianity is a White religion is neither historically accurate nor theologically correct. Is Christianity just another case of appropriation? Give us your thoughts in the comments.

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WHITE LIBERTY GOOD BLACK LIBERTY BAD?

Here's a quote from American-born African writer James Baldwin: "When any White man in the world says, 'give me liberty or give me death', the entire White world applauds. When a Black man says exactly the same thing, he is judged a criminal and treated like one."

Baldwin was speaking on The Dick Cavett show in 1969. And it highlights the hypocrisy underlying Western society that many of us know and feel.

Africans growing up in the United States and other imperialist countries are educated on the brave struggles of Western 'freedom fighters', from George Washington to Joan of Arc. However, when it comes to the question of the emancipation of African people who have been subjected to hundreds of years of oppression, all of a sudden, fighting for freedom is unacceptable.

Continued…. Baldwin gives two examples: The treatment of Nat Turner, who led the famous US slave rebellion in the 19th century, and the backlash against human rights activist Malcolm X around a hundred years later.

Baldwin also talks about Israel in this video but later made clear he's anti-Zionist, saying: "I don't believe they have the right, after 3,000 years, to reclaim the land with Western bombs and guns on the biblical injunction."

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ARE YOU BLACK OR AFRICAN?

Pan-African scholar Dr. John Henrik Clarke breaks down the reason why he prefers to refer to himself and his people as ‘African’ rather than ‘Black.’ He may have been born and raised in the United States like his parents and grandparents before him, but as an African whose ancestors were forcibly brought to the Americas during the European slave trade, he understands that identity is a crucial part of Pan-African politics and liberation. He notes that most people of the world are referred to by names tied to their geographical origin. For example, a Chinese person born in the United States will still be called ‘Asian,’ after the Asian landmass - even if his parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents were born in Chicago.

What do you think about this? Do you prefer to identify as Black or as African (or African-American, say)? Why? Let us know in the comments below.

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RACIST ALGORITHMS IN MEDICAL AI: WHAT’S THE CURE?

AI chat bots are everywhere - but would you trust one with a medical issue? Worrying new data suggests that the algorithms running artificial intelligence in health care are based on racist stereotypes - including false assumptions about Black tolerance for physical pain. With AI having the potential to revolutionise medicine, we look at the dangers involved - and the need to include Black-African perspectives from the get-go.

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RWANDA: LAND OF HIGH JUMP

The high jump is a sport dear to Rwandans. It used to be an integral part of the culture, eagerly watched by Rwandan royals - with participants pulling off feats fit for modern-day Olympics. Unfortunately, the sport declined with the monarchy in Rwanda - but government-backed efforts are now underway to make it a thing of national pride again. Bring on the medals!

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