Continued…. "We have come to deliver a message to the Americans to put an end to these accusations against our armed forces, who are defending the country at the cost of their lives," stated Mahamadou Ouedraogo of the Burkind Faangf Meenga (Liberation) Federation of Pan-Africanists, which organised the protest.

The people of Burkina Faso and neighbouring Sahel states Mali and Niger are increasingly fed up with media attacks on their countries and the governments that they work tirelessly to defend.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

U.S. CONGRESSMAN CALLS OUT 'COVER-UP' IN NIGER

Congressman Matt Gaetz, a vocal critic of the Biden administration's foreign policy, condemned the US State Department on 16th April for what he described as a 'cover-up' of the allegedly inhumane conditions American troops face while stationed in Niger, asserting that it puts at risk the lives of military personnel.

Gaetz questioned why the US is still in Niger after the latter’s new government recently ripped up an agreement on military cooperation. He also accused the US embassy in Niger of obstructing the dissemination of intelligence. Gaetz warned of potential security risks akin to the Benghazi attack.

Regardless of political affiliation, more people in the US are questioning why their country is in Niger, what's taking it so long to depart and the transparency of the Pentagon’s military operations overseas.

What would you tell these people?

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

WELCOME TO UNITED STATES OF ISRAEL

If you want a concise summary of how Israel influences US politics, look no further than high school student Guy Christensen. He’s racked up over three million followers since deciding to challenge Western narratives with his social media posts.

In this one, he nails how new laws and law enforcement are strangling pro-Palestine sentiment and how Joe Biden’s received millions of dollars from pro-Israel lobby group APAIC. Founded in 1951, it advocates pro-Israel policies to the US government, while Tel Aviv continues its illegal settlement expansion and inhumane treatment of Palestinians.

As of September 2023, AIPAC had given at least $3.6-million to members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Those who refuse AIPAC's political priorities, invitations to speaking engagements, and trips to Israel have historically faced smear campaigns and AIPAC-backed opponents in elections.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

BURKINA FASO PM SLAMS WEST’S HYPOCRISY

For far too long, words like 'democracy,' 'human rights' and 'freedom of speech' have been used as weapons employed by powerful imperialist nations who celebrate their minimal achievements while vilifying states that refuse to submit to their will. The West upholds itself as a champion of human rights while simultaneously exercising violent imperialist ambitions across the globe.

Continued…. Meanwhile, countries that stand up for their sovereignty and the wellbeing of their people, countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and others, are accused of violating human rights and the principles of democracy.

Well, Burkina Faso has had enough of this hypocrisy. On May 6th, 2024, the country’s prime minister, Apollinaire J. Kyélem de Tambèla, called France and other Western governments out for their manipulation of the above-mentioned ideals. How can a country that shakes hands with notorious dictators like Paul Biya and (until recently) Ali Bongo turn around and accuse Burkina Faso of human-rights violations? How can a country notorious for police murders of African migrants, such as the teenager Nahel Merzouk, believe itself to be democratic? French citizens have been out on the streets protesting state repression for years.

Perhaps it is time for the West to get its own house in order.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

UNI PROFESSOR ABUSING MUSLIM WOMAN VIRAL VIDEO

A depressingly familiar scene, this video shows two White men hurling abuse at Muslim women in the US.
What makes this more shocking, is that one of the abusers is a faculty member at Arizona State University.

Jonathan Yudelman, who’s wearing a blue T-shirt, is now being investigated by the college. You can see him screaming at a woman with a head scarf near the campus on April 5th at a pro-Israel demonstration.

Continued….. We can’t confirm the identity of the second guy in the video, although he’s been named on social media as Sammy Ben. It’s claimed he’s a US citizen who fought alongside Israeli forces as a reserve during the assault on Gaza.

It’s a sickening clip, but it’s not isolated. Since October 2023, there have been similar attacks where Israeli-supporting mobs target ethnic minorities for their real or perceived support of Palestinians. In this clip, you’ll also hear the thugs tell the Muslim women to ‘go back to Jihad’. It reflects a mentality among right-wingers that non-White individuals do not belong in the US or the West. It’s not uncommon to hear Black people being told to ‘go back to Africa’ whenever they stand up to racism.

As for Yudelman, the post-doctorate research scholar has been placed on leave pending the university’s probe. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is demanding he’s sacked and arrested.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

SISTER DEBUNKS BLACK PEOPLE'S 'VICTIM MENTALITY'

Some criticise Black people in the United States for allegedly playing victim more than 150 years after slavery's abolition. These people who disparage Africans often point to Jewish community, holding them up as an example of overcoming adversity to forge progress and development.

However, as sister @mayaechols illustrates, that's a poor comparison, given Germany paid reparations to Holocaust survivors while Black people in the US have still not received any reparations from the U.S government let alone the 40 acres and a mule which was promised to formerly enslaved Africans after the American Civil War.

Our people remain among the most resilient racial groups in the United States, with significant influences on all aspects of American culture. Yet, as @mayaechols says that doesn't mean the history should just be brushed under the rug.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

LATE GLEN FORD: 'OBAMA WAS NEVER PROGRESSIVE'

Many have praised the late Glen Ford (1949-2021) as an exemplary journalist on the Black left in the United States. He co-founded Black Agenda Report (@blkagendareport), a leading media outlet covering radical perspectives across the Pan-African world. However, he admitted to making a mistake in his career when he labelled Barack Hussein Obama a 'progressive' years before Obama became the first Black president.

In this video clip, @glenfordBAR explained Obama did not take an honest position on some of the most critical issues of the time: Healthcare, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Iraq War. As early as 2003, Obama skirted around US imperialism, preferring to obfuscate his allegiances to the empire.

Continued…. Revolutionary Indigenous Mexican Zapatista rebels denounced NAFTA as a 'death sentence' for Indigenous peoples and rural farmers. Many have seen the pact as a continuation of the US expansionist foreign policy known as the 'Monroe Doctrine.' And, while Barack Obama ended the Iraq War, he proliferated a new warfare strategy in the form of drone operations used to attack seven countries.

Ford is remembered for his sharp political analysis and pioneering journalism, co-launching, producing and hosting the first nationally syndicated Black news interview programme on US commercial television, 'America's Black Forum,' in 1977. May he rest in power.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

WHY IS CONGO CRISIS SO COMPLEX? PLO EXPLAINS

Why has ending the genocidal war in the DR Congo proven so difficult? In this clip, Pan-African scholar PLO Lumumba explains one of the chief reasons.

During his recent appearance on our flagship podcast, Pan-African Attitude, he notes that tensions between African nations can often be traced back to the way communities were cut in two by the artificial boundaries imposed by colonial powers. This carving-up of Africa at the infamous Berlin Conference took no consideration of the realities on the ground, with boundaries steamrollering right through what had been longstanding organic societies.

Continued…. Lumumba also highlights how Western nations have continued to exploit Africans and pit them against each other in and around the Congo in order to keep extracting resources from the region as cheaply as possible - whatever the human (African) cost.

His comments come amid mounting evidence presented by numerous organisations, including the United Nations, that Rwanda is backing the M23 rebel group, which is blamed for the recent spike in violence in eastern DRC - supplying it with weapons that Kigali buys with Western aid (and implicit consent).

So is the Congo crisis actually that complex? Or, given how much Rwanda’s backers profit from chaos in DRC, is it simply another case of neocolonial exploitation (made possible by the colonial past)?

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

On this date, 37 years ago, Obafemi Awolowo, a Nigerian nationalist and statesman, died. ‘Awo,’ as he was fondly known, played a crucial role in Nigeria’s independence movement. During the colonial period, he was an active member of the Nigerian Youth Movement that opposed British rule. In 1945, he attended the Fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester as a representative of the Nigerian Youth Movement alongside Hezekiah Oladipo Davies, a leading Nigerian trade unionist and lawyer.

Continued…. As the first indigenous premier of Nigeria’s Western region, Awolowo introduced free education for all and free healthcare for children. He also introduced a minimum wage in the Western Region; the first Television station in Africa, Western Nigeria Television, in 1959; the first stadium in 1960; and he laid the foundation for Cocoa House, the first skyscraper in Nigeria and West Africa in 1965. He coined the name ‘naira’ for the national currency and is featured on the 100 naira note. His contributions to decolonisation and Nigeria’s socio-economic growth have earned him a place in the pantheon of Pan-African greats.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

NIGERIANS AGAINST U.S. & FRENCH MILITARY BASES

Now that Niger has announced its expulsion of US troops and Sahelian states have kicked out French military forces, could the two Western powers be eyeing its southern neighbour, Nigeria?

The leaders of research institutes and civil society organisations delivered a letter on 3 May to Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the National Assembly, rejecting any proposal to allow Western military bases into Nigeria.

Continued….. The letter points out that terrorism worsened in the Sahel, an arid zone south of the Sahara Desert, during the period of US military occupation. According to a study by the US Department of Defense’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies, terrorism has increased by more than 100,000 per cent since US launched its ‘War on Terror’ in 2001. Additionally, according to the Global Terrorism Index, 43 per cent of all terrorism-related deaths in 2022 occurred in the Sahel. That year, more people died from terrorism there than in West Asia, South Asia and North Africa combined.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

The gold-backed Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG) currency has been formally designated the country’s main medium of exchange. On 7th May, Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube, directed all banks and government institutions to carry out all transactions and payments for goods and services in the new currency.

The ZiG was announced and launched by the country’s Central Bank on April 5th as the latest measure to arrest runaway inflation.

Spiralling costs have tormented the nation for more than two decades as a result unilaterally-imposed sanctions by the West following Harare’s land-reform programme. The new currency is backed by about $285-million worth of foreign currencies, gold and precious minerals.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

WHITE MAN TAUNTS PALESTINIAN, COPS IGNORE

In this 30 April video, a person identified in the original X post as a Columbia University student and as a Palestinian tried to lodge a complaint with New York police officers about a white man spitting in his ear outside of campus. That’s where an encampment demanding the university divest from Israeli investments has taken place since 17 April, drawing pro-Israel protesters to the perimeter of the urban campus.

However, this video showed the offender walked scot-free.

It isn’t an isolated incident as US police forces have stood idly by as pro-Palestine supporters have reported pro-Israel ‘mobs’ have wreaked havoc across encampments that began popping up on university campuses. US police have had a history of doing nothing or protecting right-wingers, as seen during the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, among other instances.

Continued….. So far, police have arrested more than 2,800 protesters on more than 50 US campuses, according to an Associated Press tally.

Meanwhile, new congressional legislation has enshrined a broader definition of anti-Semitism into the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, an anti-discrimination law. While complaints of anti-Semitism on campuses have risen, Jewish students have played a significant role in these encampments and have denied these encampments are anti-Semitic.

Credit: @itslaylas

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

EU SAYS ‘NOTHING TO HIDE’ AS SÉNÉGAL SCRUTINISES FISHING

Senegal’s decision to begin reviewing fishing licences and deals that authorise European Union vessels to fish in its Atlantic Ocean waters has prompted the EU’s ambassador to say the EU has ‘nothing to hide.’

However, evidence points to the EU being one of the players in the illegal fishing industry that drains over $3 billion from West Africa annually.

Have a watch, and let us know what you think.

Please follow us on Telegram, Link in Bio

KENYA: SLUM DEMOLITION PROTESTERS
ALLEGE LAND-GRAB

When it rains, it pours. Slum dwellers in Nairobi face having no roof over their heads, as the authorities are demolishing their makeshift homes, citing concerns over safety after recent floods swelled nearby rivers.

At least 26 activists were arrested on May 8th, following protests over the pulling-down of houses in Mathare, one of the biggest slums in the Kenyan capital. Police raided the offices of the Mathare Social Justice Centre, a group that documents human-rights violations in poor urban areas. The latest reports suggest those detained have now been released on bail.