Continued…. He joined the Union of African States, also known as the Ghana-Guinea-Mali Union. He was close with other revolutionary Pan-African leaders, such as Kwame Nkrumah, Ahmed Sékou Touré, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Ahmed Ben Bella. They became the prominent voices of the Casablanca Group, fighting for socialist unification on the continent.

Keïta became Mali’s first President in 1960. An ardent anti-imperialist, he moved his country out of France’s grip by expelling French troops, closing the French military base, and forging a new sovereign currency for Mali which lasted until his overthrow in 1968. Education was transformed and government-supported farming cooperatives became the backbone of the economy. Mali became a close friend of revolutionary governments worldwide from Cuba to Vietnam. National Youth Week was instituted as a cultural showcase bringing together various ethnic groups and regions to represent their heritage.

Continued…. On this day we remember the legacy of a great leader who continues to inspire the state of Mali today! Happy Birthday ancestor Modibo Keïta!

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MALEMA: I AM NOT DESPERATE TO BECOME PRESIDENT

The recently held South African elections saw a drop in support for Pan-African political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). The final results published by the country’s elections body gave the EFF a 9.5% vote share - a drop of about 1.5 % compared with 2019’s race.

Various possible reasons for the decline in support have been put forward, including the suggestion that the party’s refusal to jump on the anti-migrant bandwagon drove away xenophobic voters.

In recent years, South Africa has witnessed a rise in Afrophobia. Citizens blame African migrants for many social and economic ills, such as crime and unemployment.

This rhetoric is most loudly heard from fringe organisations such as Operation Dudula, which President Cyril Ramaphosa once described as a “vigilante-like force” dividing Africans.

Continued…. However, the run up to the elections saw even mainstream parties use xenophobic rhetoric to attract votes. But the EFF resisted that temptation, despite knowing that such a position would probably cost it votes.

In this clip from March’s campaign trail, EFF leader Julius Malema states very clearly that he would rather lose elections than yield to xenophobes. What do you think? Is sticking to your principles, even if it means making the attainment of power less likely, sensible politics?

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Germany’s football coach has branded a survey racist for asking if the national side should have more white players. State broadcaster ARD randomly polled 1,304 people, with 21 per cent saying yes.

Julian Nagelsmann said it was ‘madness’ for the TV channel to ask such a question. It was also slammed by one of his players, Joshua Kimmich.

ARD claims the survey was commissioned after one of its reporters was challenged about the side’s makeup while making a documentary. Whatever the excuse, it’s not a good look for the hosts of Euro 2024, with the championship kicking off in Munich on June 14th.

Since 2010, Germany’s national team has been significantly multiracial, with several Black and Turkish players.

Continued….. However, while its makeup has been lauded for reflecting the country’s multiculturalism, Black players still suffer abuse.

Germany defender Antonio Rüdiger, who has Sierra Leonian roots, has been vocal about the trauma he’s suffered during his career. He laid bare the treatment during an interview in 2021. You can read it here.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/antonio-ruediger-champions-league-soccer-racism-chelsea

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BBC WHITEWASHES ISRAELI RAFAH MASSACRE

Running alongside Israel’s destruction of Gaza is the mainstream media’s propaganda war. The recent Israeli air strike on a camp for displaced people in Rafah is the perfect example.

BBC presenters tell the story of what happened with language that distorts and deflects blame. It’s all done with the subtle addition of words and glaring omission of facts.

According to the presenters, over 35 people (not civilians) were killed by an explosion (not air strike). There’s no mention of the UN’s top court ordering Israel to stop its Rafah assault just days before. There’s no mention of the worldwide outrage, including from European leaders. It’s propaganda 101. This is our reaction.

NIGERIA ON STRIKE OVER MINIMUM WAGE

An indefinite strike led by two of Nigeria's biggest unions kicked off on Monday, paralysing parts of the country. Airports were closed, the main power grid shut down, and schools, courts and the Ministry of Finance closed.

Their demands: a higher minimum wage and a reversal of electricity-tariff hikes. The government calls them unreasonable, but the unions point to government extravagance, branding it an insult amid austerity among the population. What the unions are demanding, they say, is not even enough to feed a family.

This is taking place on the back of one year of neoliberal policies from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's administration. This has included currency devaluations and stripping fuel subsidies, which has made life unbearable for millions of Nigerians.

Do you support the strike action?

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African women find themselves at a high risk of violence.

London is no exception. Black people comprise 13.5 per cent of greater London and just 2.7 per cent of the city of London. And, yet, Black women make up 40 per cent to 60 per cent of femicide victims, depending on the year. These women are killed not only because of their race but also because of their gender.

While the report that we drew these statistics from looks at the United Kingdom, Black women experience similar forms of violence around the world.

Continued….. According to the 2019 Global Homicide Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, African women face the highest risk of femicide. According to South African NGO Women for Change, South Africa’s femicide rate is five times greater than the global average.

Women and girls of Africa and the African diaspora must organise collectively and fight for change within a global Pan-African framework. The violence of patriarchy is tightly bound to the capitalist and imperialist global system that dominates the world today. From London to Johannesburg to Rio de Janeiro, Black women cannot put an end to the gender-based violence we face until we dismantle the root of this global system.

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HARVARD GRAD SHAMES UNI OVER GAZA

In case you missed it, here’s the moment a Harvard University student grabbed global headlines with a stunning speech. Shruthi Kumar slammed the elite college for barring 13 students from graduating after they’d taken part in pro-Palestinian protests on campus. She’d won a competition to give the commencement address and took her chance to veer off noscript and lay into university authorities.

Her May 23rd outburst got a standing ovation and more than 1,000 students walked out of the ceremony waving Palestinian flags as part of a planned demonstration.

Since April, protests against Israel’s destruction of Gaza have been seen at colleges across the US.

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WHITES ONLY TOWN IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA!

South Africans went to the polls on 29th May - and the results were damning for the ruling African National Congress party, which has led the country since the end of apartheid 30 years ago. For the first time since 1994, its first election, the ANC failed to secure at least 50% of the vote (the threshold needed to form a government).

The drop in ANC support is seen as a verdict on its governance of the nation. Many Black South Africans accuse the government of not doing enough to dismantle apartheid-era socio-economic structures and injustices. Nothing exemplifies this better than the existence of Orania, a Whites-only town in the country's Northern Cape province.

Continued….. The town has been a source of tension since its establishment in the early ‘90s during the last days of apartheid. The founders and the residents of the town claim its purpose is to preserve the culture and identity of the Afrikaner people, White South Africans of mostly Dutch, French and German descent. However, many people think the town and its policy of not allowing non-White residents is nothing but a racist endeavour to maintain some vestiges of the apartheid system. The residents of the town insist that its existence is protected by Article 235 of the South African constitution, which guarantees self-determination. However, many have argued that the cited part of the constitution does not in fact permit people of a particular religious or cultural group to live in a secluded place away from other South Africans. In 2000, the Northern Cape High Court adjourned ‘sine die’ (without a further hearing date) after Orania’s proponents challenged attempts by the government to incorporate the town into the nearby municipal authority. In 2019, Zamani Saul, the elected leader of the Northern Cape province, vowed to set up an inquiry to review the legality of Orania - supporters saying that South Africa cannot move on from apartheid as long as places like Orania are allowed to exist. African Stream was shown around Orania by some of the locals, who shared their opinions about their community with us. We’d love to hear yours as well in the comments

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‘AMERICA SHOULD BE NEXT ON ICC LIST’ - S.A. FOREIGN MINISTER

To a US official’s worry that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may prosecute US leaders, Naledi Pandor replied, ‘Of course!’

Speaking in Cape Town recently, South Africa’s foreign minister affirmed her country’s support for the ICC in its work to bring war criminals to justice.

Pandor said Pretoria would throw its weight behind ICC arrest warrants for US officials, if it came to that. She was alluding to US House of Congress Speaker Mike Johnson’s statement that Washington intends to punish the ICC for issuing arrest warrants against top Israeli officials as a way to shield US officials from prosecution.

On 20 May, the ICC’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced he filed applications to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip since 8 October.

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NYPD OFFICER DEFIANTLY WEARS ISRAELI FLAG PIN

One protester noticed something unusual about a New York police officer’s badge: A US-Israeli double flag pin.

This recording took place as the officer stood on a police line at a pro-Palestine demonstration on 31 May in New York’s borough of Brooklyn.

While it could not be confirmed, social media users have said a law prohibits New York police officers from wearing anything that may be perceived as political while on duty. 

Continued….. About 1,000 protesters had stormed the Brooklyn Museum that day to demand prominent institutions like the museum divest from Israel, which has k*lled more than 36,000 Palestinians with a military onslaught and escalated siege since 7 October. Some demonstrators had attempted to set up a tent encampment in the museum’s lobby while others unfurled a ‘Free Palestine: Divest from G*n*cide’ banner from the rooftop of the city’s second-largest museum. Recordings also showed police brutality against demonstrators, including Within Our Lifetime: United for Palestine organiser, Nerdeen Kiswani (@nerdeen_kiswani), whose hijab (Muslim head covering) came off while police tackled her to the ground.

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NASSER AND SIX-DAY WAR

Today marks the anniversary of the Six-Day War. On June 5th, 1967, Israel launched pre-emptive strikes against Egypt and its allies. Aided by the US, Israel went on to invade the Sinai Peninsular and colonise the West Bank, Golan heights and more.

At the time, Egypt was led by one of its most popular presidents, Gamal Abdel Nasser. He’d beaten the British, French and Israelis in 1956 Suez War and changed the landscape of his nation and the Arab world. He also pushed for more African integration with other leaders. But his socialist movement and defiance of the West ultimately came to a head.

Nasser remained resolute before and after defeat in the Six-Day War. Many believe if he hadn’t died in 1970, Egypt would still be fighting to free all the occupied lands. His successor, Anwar Sadat, did manage to liberate the Sinai Peninsula.

Continued…. However, his normalisation and peace deal with Israel after the Arab–Israeli War remains controversial topic among African and Arabs alike.

Listen to Nasser’s TV interview in 1967 where he spells out, in no uncertain terms, his take on Israel and the US, just before the conflict broke out.

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U.S. COURT CLEARS TECH GIANTS OF CONGO ABUSES

Not guilty.

That’s the verdict of a US federal appeals court in a case involving five tech companies accused of benefitting from child labour in Congolese mines. On 5th March, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia made a 3-0 decision in favour of (Google’s parent company) Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell, Tesla and Apple Inc. in a case filed by 16 former Congolese child miners and their guardians.

The plaintiffs accused the companies of “deliberately obscuring” their dependence on child labour, in effect abetting the exploitation of many children to ensure steady supplies of cobalt. Some of the complainants were the guardians of children who’d been killed in cobalt-mining operations.

Continued…. The court ruled that buying cobalt in the global supply chain did not amount to “participation in a venture,” and there was no proof that the tech giants had anything more than a buyer-seller relationship with suppliers or had the power to stop the use of child labour.

Cobalt is in high demand as competition for market leadership in Electric Vehicle sales kicks into high gear. Nearly two-thirds of the world’s cobalt is mined in DR Congo. The country has 2-million artisanal miners working under horrible conditions, according to DelveDatabase, an online database. Four critical minerals - copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium - will generate $16 trillion in the next 25 years, according to the IMF.

DR Congo’s vast wealth is the key reason for the country’s long history of exploitation and conflict - from Belgian King Leopold II running the country as his private estate to Western tech firms churning out high-end goods using Congolese minerals.

Help raise awareness of the exploitation of Congolese children by sharing this video widely.

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MANDELA’S GRANDSON CALLS FOR OLYMPICS TO BAN ISRAEL

Nelson Mandela’s grandson has pointed out the double standard in international sports. 

Nkosi Mandela, a former South African National Assembly member, called for the International Olympic Committee to ban Israel from the upcoming Paris Olympics during a 3 June press conference in Moscow.

As Russia faces sports bans over the Ukraine conflict, Israel continues to participate despite the International Court of Justice stating in its provisional ruling that it is ‘plausible’ that Tel Aviv is committing g*nocide in Gaza.

Mandela argued that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians mirrors apartheid and, thus, should not permitted on the global sports stage. Apartheid South Africa faced an Olympic ban from 1964 to 1988, and every major world sports federation barred the regime until apartheid ended in the early 1990s.

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