EUROPEANS’ SUPREMACIST VIEWS OF AFRICANS

For centuries, the European mind has perceived Africans and Africa as uncivilised and backward, as expressed in the poem, ‘The White Man’s Burden.’ White supremacy was used to justify slavery and colonisation.

However, much of African culture and history tells a different story. We are a mighty and intelligent people, whether we trace our roots to Egypt, or to the Dogon astral people of Mali or elsewhere on this vast continent.

Human rights activist and lawyer Brian Kagoro weighs in during this clip from the 10th National Security Symposium, jointly organized in May by the Rwanda Defence Force Command and Staff College as well as the University of Rwanda. The theme was ‘Foreign Interference in Africa: The Enduring Destabilising Factor.’

So, let us know: How can we build up Africa, regardless of how others view us? Jot your thoughts below.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

PLO: EUROPEANS REALISED AFRICANS = PROFIT

Here’s a quick reminder from PLO Lumumba that the abominable European slave trade was perpetrated not just by the dominant states there but even by what he calls “now very quiet” powers - like the Danes and the Norwegians. PLO also makes the point that - while the Europeans may have initially come to Africa in search of trade - they soon realised that, amid a growing need for labour back home, the African human being was the most profitable ‘commodity’.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

JULIUS MALEMA: APARTHEID ECONOMY
NEVER ENDED

South Africans have just marked three decades since apartheid officially ended. But while the collapse of that oppressive system no doubt improved the lives of the country's indigenous Black population, there are concerns that the racist regime's economic structures remain mostly intact - and continue to deny Black people opportunities to fully participate in the country's economy.

In this clip from 2016, Pan-African politician and leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party Julius Malema explains how this was no accident, but rather a result of the terms of the agreements that leaders of the-then liberation movement and now-ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) reached with White capitalists in the run-up to the end of apartheid.

Is this how you see it?

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

Our African proverb this week reminds us that certain things come to pass whatever we think or do - what does the sun care whether the cock crows or not?

You could read it as a kind of fatalism: accept the inescapable ways of the world. Or perhaps as a kind of optimism: more sunny days always lie ahead!

How do you read it?

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

BLACK TOWN CLEARED TO MAKE WAY FOR U.S. AIRPORT

Throughout US history, vibrant Black communities have often faced the devastating force of so-called ‘progress.’

One poignant example occurred in Willard, Virginia, an unincorporated Black settlement that formerly enslaved people seeking freedom and opportunity founded after the Civil War. By the early 20th century, Willard had blossomed into a bustling town with businesses, schools and churches, away from the apartheid Black folks had to endure in white-run cities and towns.

Continued…. However, as in the case of many other Black towns in the United States, impending construction of a new international airport displaced Black residents, with the US government handing one Willard family just $8,000 to leave by 19 September 1958, according to a survivor. Authorities bulldozed the town to make way for Washington Dulles International Airport, which serves diplomats, politicians and civilians just 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of Washington DC.

The airport was named after anti-communist US Secretary of State John Foster Dulles (1953-59), who implemented US Cold War policy in Korea, Vietnam, Iran, Guatemala, Africa and many other places where US interventions, coups, proxy wars and military interventions took place. His brother, Allen Dulles, served as CIA director from 1953 to 1961. During that time, he oversaw coups in Iran and Guatemala, as well as the Project MKUltra mind control program and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, among other ‘feats.’

Video credit: @moorthreads_store

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

A SECRET AFRICAN-AMERICAN LANGUAGE

A secret language of enslaved Africans in the United States has survived since the 18th century. Tutnese, also known as Tut, was developed in order to teach literacy during the era of chattel slavery. In linguistic genealogy, it is referred to as ‘cant,’ a family of languages designed intentionally to exclude or mislead observers, in this case, White-settler colonialists, enslavers and their acolytes. It was for this reason that the Tut language remained clandestine.

Throughout the United States, harshly enforced anti-literacy laws targeting enslaved, and sometimes free, African-descendants remained on the books for well over a century (between 1740 and 1867). Why? Effective, widespread and cohesive communication and literacy skills among African people meant increased chances of organised rebellion against the status quo - precisely what White society feared.

Continued…. In effect, Tutnese was developed as a means of communication and education to ensure the safety of Black people from their enemies (and, hopefully, successful rebellions against tyranny). Even up until the 1970s, many Black families were encouraged to keep the language a secret.

Teaching Tutnese publicly is heavily discouraged due to its historical development. It is unknown how many people actually speak the language today. However, researchers have found Tutnese spoken among African-descendant people in Canada, Mexico and even West Asia.

When it comes to the traditions of African people, do you believe that more gatekeeping is necessary? Or do you believe in a culture of mass organisation with closed-door secrecy among ourselves to move forward?

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

FRANCE TARGETTED COUNTRIES THAT CHOSE SOVEREIGNTY

The facts are as follows:

On 28 September 1958, France held a constitutional referendum in the country and its colonies. The question was as follows: 'Do you approve of the Constitution offered by the Government of the Republic?'

Countries that voted 'yes' joined the 'French community,' a status that would come with continued French military and economic domination. Countries that voted no were issued immediate sovereignty from formal French rule.

While many African leaders at the time waged national campaigns to join the French community, only Guinea's Ahmed Sékou Touré voted no. He famously declared, 'We prefer liberty in poverty to slavery in riches.'

Continued…. However, it was not his decision alone. Guinean people turned out 85.5 per cent to vote 95 per cent against the constitution.

Then France launched Operation Persil to destabilise the country and try to turn citizens against Sékou Touré. Before the campaign, French nationals destroyed much of Guinea's infrastructure on their way out. During the campaign, France deployed spies to counterfeit the new Guinean currency and encourage revolt.

At the time, Pan-African leader of Mali, Modibo Keïta, voted to remain a part of the French community. France said those who voted against the constitution would achieve independence separately from the other African states. Keïta identified this as a Balkanisation tactic and attempted to instead form a Pan-African entity with Senegal known as the Mali Federation. Within two years of independence, Keïta would withdraw from the 'French community,' expelling French troops, closing the French military base in 1961, and creating a sovereign currency in 1962.

Today, 12 former French colonies in Africa use the CFA franc currency, as does former Portuguese colony Guinea Bissau and former Spanish colony Equatorial Guinea. After a coup overthrew Keïta, Mali re-adopted the CFA franc. Guinea is the only former French colony in West Africa with a sovereign currency.

Let us know what you think of Arikana Chihombori-Quao, the African Union's former permanent representative to the United States, breaking it down in this clip.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

This illustration by Carlos Latuff vividly captures the crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rwanda and Uganda have played significant roles in destabilising the vast, mineral-rich central African country for the past 30 years - through invasions and funding militia groups to fight against DRC troops and Kinshasa-backed militia. In 2023, a UN report concluded that Rwanda aids and supports the M23 rebel group, supplying cash and weapons.

Continued…. Such weaponry has been used against civilians - including, allegedly, the horrific bombing of two refugee camps near Goma on May 3rd, which k*lled at least 12. The beneficiaries of this three-decade conflict have been Western powers - chiefly, the US and the UK, both of which fund Rwanda's Paul Kagame and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni. Former US President Bill Clinton hailed Kagame and Museveni as examples of a "new breed of leaders" when describing Washington's allies in Africa. MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping force in DR Congo, is exiting after a 25-year presence, and has been accused of doing little to keep the peace in the volatile region. As foreign powers profit from extracting DRC's vast mineral wealth, it is the Congolese people who bear the horrific brunt of the country's long-running conflict.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

CRIMES OF APARTHEID: SOWETO STUDENT MASSACRE

Three decades ago, South Africa's brutal apartheid policy officially came to end with the election of longtime political prisoner and anti-apartheid stalwart Nelson Mandela as the country's first Black president.

It was a moment of great hope and expectations - not only hope for a brighter future for the Black population, which had faced centuries of oppression, but also hope that there would be justice for the numerous atrocities that the apartheid regime had perpetrated against Black people as it violently enforced its racist policies.

Continued…. One such atrocity occurred on the morning of 16th June, 1976, when over 20,000 students in Soweto township, on the outskirts of Johannesburg, took to the streets to protest against the apartheid regime's education policy - in particular, the introduction of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction.

The students attempted to march to Orlando stadium for a rally to register their displeasure, but they were confronted by heavily armed police officers and soldiers. After a brief standoff, police fired teargas and live ammunition on the peaceful march, killing at least 176 students and injuring nearly a thousand. Some estimates of the death toll are even higher.

This clip is from our full-length documentary looking at the state of South Africa 30 years on from the fall of apartheid - which you can find on our YouTube channel.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

KENYA'S DOCTORS' STRIKE: NO BACKING DOWN!

For almost two months now, Kenyan doctors have been on strike - embroiled in a bitter row with the government over pay and conditions. Services in public hospitals are at a standstill, with citizens paying the highest price.

The medics want the government to honour a 2017 agreement, but rather than improving conditions, the government seems intent on making them worse - for example, by slashing medical interns’ pay by 77%. At the same time, the government is facing criticism for its lavish expenses on foreign travel and inner-circle residences.

Continued….. In the background is the IMF, which, like the World Bank, is heavily involved in Kenya's economy. One of their typical loan conditions is limiting public spending, including on healthcare. With billions of dollars in new loans flooding in, it raises the question of the role of the Bretton Woods institutions in this stalemate.

How do you see this confrontation between Kenya’s medics and government (hamstrung by the IMF?) playing out? Which side of the picket line are you on?

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

WHY H*TLER IS MORE FAMOUS THAN LEOPOLD

In this video, African Stream’s editor-in-chief Ahmed Kaballo tries to make sense of the indifference shown to the suffering of the Congolese people. He argues that history shapes current perceptions and responses to atrocities. King Leopold’s atrocities in Congo in the late 19th century, which k*lled an estimated 10-million people, set a precedent that allowed subsequent mass k*llings in Africa to receive less attention and condemnation. Because Leopold got away with the Congo atrocities, it made it easier for the world to ignore the around 6-million Congolese people k*lled in the late 1990s and early 2000s.