BLACK DOCTORS BOOST BLACK LIFE EXPECTANCY?

On average, life expectancy of Black people in America is 70 years old. That’s six years shorter than White Americans, according to the National Centre for Health Statistics. Many factors have been blamed, and one is a lack of Black primary care doctors.

A study shows when the number of Black doctors goes up in a community, so does the life expectancy of Black people living there. In this clip, one of the co-founders of the report runs through the correlation.

Whatever the causes, it’s clear more doctors are needed. Black people make up around 12 per cent of America’s population and yet represent only six per cent of the physician workforce.

Have a listen to this interview on PBS news with Dr Michael Dill, from the Association of American Medical Colleges. He has a few ideas on what can be done to improve the situation. Do you agree with him? Maybe you’ve got some suggestions of your own?

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60 HRS OF NON-STOP CHESS - NIGERIAN BREAKS MARATHON RECORD

When it comes to breaking records, Nigerians have few equals.

This time, 29-year-old Tunde Onakoya smashed the world chess marathon record by playing for 60 hours on 19 April against US chess champion Shawn Martinez.

Cheered on by fellow Nigerians and well-wishers at New York’s Times Square, Onakoya broke the previous record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds that Norwegians Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad had set in 2018.

Continued…. Onakoya hopes to raise $1 million for children’s education in Africa through his feat. His non-profit, Chess in Slums Africa, works to uplift poor children by teaching the game.

More than 10 million Nigerian children are out of school, one of the highest rates in the world, as one out of every 5 children who is not in school lives in Nigeria.

Onakoya credits chess with saving him from the poverty he endured growing up in Lagos’s infamous floating slums.

The Guinness World Records has yet to confirm his success.

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DRC IGNORED: AFRICANS ‘JUST HERE TO SUFFER‘

Activists, online and off, have been working tirelessly to bring global attention to the catastrophe in the Democratic Republic of Congo - yet the world’s governments and publics remain mostly unmoved by the genocidal violence, mass internal displacement and the millions of Congolese facing food insecurity (not to mention child labour and exploitation). Why is that?

@marylaurakato is one of those campaigning, and admits it can be emotionally difficult. In this clip, she connects the lack of reaction to White supremacy. Blacks and other non-Whites are seen as ‘expendable’ and their suffering isn’t taken as seriously - they are deemed, she says, bottom of the hierarchy when it comes to moral considerations. (Compare reactions to the attacks on Israel and Ukraine.)

And, of course, there’s the fact that the rest of the world actually depends on Congo’s resources. Keeping Congo down keeps prices down - helping Congo would incur Western economic pain.

Continued….. The exploitation of Congo goes back to - and hasn’t stopped since - the days of King Leopold II. Millions were killed under the Belgian monarch’s reign of terror, as the population was turned into his private army of slave labourers, whose bodies could be mutilated and dispensed with at will.

Later, Pan-African icon Patrice Lumumba was killed by the Belgians in cahoots with the CIA and Britain. In his place, the West installed puppet Mobutu Sese Seko, who pilfered the country’s resources for decades. Other Western allies - Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni - then helped overthrow him once he was no longer useful. In the process and aftermath, millions of Congolese were killed, with millions more turned into refugees.

As this is ongoing, DRC’s minerals leave the country and find themselves in the custody of multinational giants like Apple, Google and Tesla.

As this sister says, the reason the suffering of the Congolese people doesn’t get any traction globally is that a racial hierarchy exists - and Africans are at the bottom.

Do you agree with her?

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ISRAELI JOURNO: NOT ENOUGH PALESTINIANS K*LLED

The best argument against the Israeli occupation of Palestine is asking people to hear out the Zi*nist settlers themselves. 

In this video clip from Israeli Channel 12, journalist Yehuda Schlesinger expressed his frustration at the sight of Palestinians appearing to enjoy the beach as Israel continues its bombardment and escalated siege of more than 2 million people. 

Continued….. Israel has k*lled more than 34,000 Palestinians, and an Israeli blockade is on the brink of causing famine by next month in the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations. Plus, the UN International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) says one-third of toddlers and infants are acutely malnourished.

While many in the West have lost scholarships and jobs after condemning Israel, Zi*nists have faced no consequences for these kinds of calls to violence against a besieged population that has no military for defence. Instead, Western powers like the United States have provided what US President Joe Biden has called 'ironclad' support. This has come in the form of financial aid, UN diplomatic cover, and shipments of at least 10,000 tonnes of military equipment to Israel.

Would Israeli society feel so emboldened to make such utterances if not for the US? Please share your thoughts.

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BLACK FACES IN HIGH PLACES WON'T SAVE US

University prepares us for life. And professor Ruha Benjamin didn't hold back when talking to graduating students in Atlanta, Georgia. She told them: 'Black faces in high places won't save us.' The message being, don't expect your rights to be defended by Black people holding professional, political or economic power.

Ruha gives the example of Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy to the United Nations. Yes, the woman who vetoes ceasefires in Gaza.

Continued…. She also takes aim at Black politicians running the city of Atlanta who support the creation of a 'cop city' and expansion of violent police forces that target Black youth. We might add to her list Black mis-leaders such as Barack Obama, who oversaw US military operations across the African continent. Or maybe US Vice President Kamala Harris, who's built her career on the mass incarceration of Black and Brown youth and families.

Ruha's speech is cheered by students at Spelman College, a historically Black institution. She finishes by encouraging them to stand up for what's right, despite being labelled 'troublemakers' by authorities.

It's a refreshingly honest take on the real world. Is there anyone else you'd add to Ruha's list?

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ISRAEL VS IRAN. WHO IS AFRICA BACKING?

Prospects of an all-out war between Israel and Iran are growing following more tit-for-tat strikes. Such a scenario would be devastating for the Middle East, but it could also pull in African countries.

Based on existing allegiances, we look at which nations could get caught up in a potential global conflict. Of course, we can only speculate on the chain of events, but it’s wrong to assume our continent would be on the sidelines.

On April 19th, Israel hit an Iranian airbase near Isfahan in retaliation to Tehran’s air strikes on Israel a few days earlier. Iran says that was in response to Israel’s bombing of the Iranian consulate in Syria on April 1st. You can see where this is headed. Things are moving fast, and not in a good direction. That’s why we’re running this piece, although we hope it remains speculation. As always, your thoughts are welcome.

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