Continued….. Aware that Haiti’s crisis is caused by external forces, Ruto avoids mentioning the culprits. For decades France has forced Haiti to pay reverse reparations to slave owners after freeing themselves from slavery. Meanwhile, the US has consistently looted Haiti’s gold, imposed dictators, and deposed, not once but on two separate occasions, the island-nation’s popularly elected leader Jean Bertrand Aristide.

What are your thoughts on the convenient glossing over of these factors in the longstanding destabilisation of Haiti?

Freedom and South Africa are like twins - rarely is one mentioned without the other after the end of apartheid.

This time, freedom came for 6 captive lions held on a farm in Free State when South African police, acting on a tip-off from an animal rights group, arrested two wildlife traffickers who had sold them to undercover detectives. Vietnamese Nguyen Huu Tao and his associate, Nico Scoltz were detained on July 5 after attempting to illegally sell the big cats. The arrests came after Wildlife Justice Commission, a Dutch foundation assisting law enforcement fight wildlife trafficking, alerted police to an Asian man selling lions.

Continued….. Vietnam is a major hub in the illegal wildlife trade. South Africa has the world’s largest captive lion population, estimated to be around 8,000 on 350 farms while only 3,500 lions are left in the wild. Lions are currently listed as “Vulnerable” on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Africa has around 23,000 lions left in the wild, down from over 200,000 a century ago.

ISRAEL’S INHUMANE TREATMENT OF PALESTINIAN HOSTAGES

Russian novelist and journalist Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1821-81) once said, ‘The degree of civilization in a society can be judged by entering its prisons.’

While we cannot confirm how Israeli hostages are treated in H*mas custody, these clips reveal a glimpse of two value systems.

The first shows what appears to be a disabled Palestinian after Israel released him from administrative detention, meaning he was held without charge. Israel detains about 2,000 Palestinians as such. The West touts Israel as a democracy, but the facts paint a different picture.

The second clip shows H*mas releasing a few of the 109 Israeli hostages who had been set free in November during the temporary ceasefire in the latest escalation in the 76-year Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Continued…. About 116 Israelis remain in H*mas custody, 79 of whom are believed to be civilians, according to Amnesty International.

Western media outlets are also complicit in Israel’s inhumane treatment of Palestinians as they use the term ‘prisoners’ for all detained Palestinians, including children arbitrarily arrested and sometimes held for years without being formally charged. However, Israelis, including security forces captured by Palestinian resistance groups, are referred to as ‘hostages.’

Video credit: @aljazeera (on top) and @AlArabiya_Eng (on bottom)

JOHN H. CLARKE: FIGHT FOR FREEDOM NEVER ENDS

US-born Black historian and professor John Henrik Clarke (1915-1998) always championed the importance of education. He pioneered the creation of Pan-African and African-diaspora studies, focusing on the history, culture and education of Africans worldwide.

In this clip, he reminds us that freedom - including in what we learn and think - is never secure, but must always be fought for: each generation must reach out for it with its own hands and hold on tight to it. Freedom cannot be gifted to the next generation.

How are you fighting for yours?

ISRAELI PM: 'U.S. WON'T FORCE US INTO ANYTHING'
A ‘self-licking ice cream cone’ is a self-perpetuating system that exists to sustain itself.
In this TV clip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 74, may have been the 30-something-year-old Israeli ambassador to the UN at the time of this interview that some claim took place in the 1980s. Here, we hear him telling an Israeli journalist that Israel controls the US House of Representatives and Senate (collectively known as the US Congress), and has a strong lobby in the form of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Continued......AIPAC spends hundreds of millions of dollars backing elected officials as well as candidates in US elections. AIPAC just recently announced a $100 million ‘war chest’ to defeat US candidates who don’t fully support Israel amidst its military onslaught on the Gaza Strip. So far, Israel has k*lled at least 38,000 Palestinians, according to official estimates news outlets have released. But it may be as many as 186,000 casualties, according to a recent Lancet medical journal report.
AIPAC-bought candidates push through pro-Israeli policies, such as billions of dollars in military aid. And here comes the ‘self-licking’ part. US diplomatic, financial and military support allows Israel to carry out atrocities against Palestinians. Because of the billions of dollars Israel receives, the Israeli lobby can finance its political goals using mere hundreds of millions with change to spare.
Have a watch, and let us know what you think.

THE REAL FACE OF ISRAEL

Another day and here we see more evidence of Israel’s dehumanising occupation of Palestine.

In this 2016 clip, investigative journalist Abby Martin exposed a figure lauded as a hero in Israel. His claim to fame was the cold-blooded execution of an injured Palestinian. Interestingly, the video was captured in occupied Hebron in the West Bank, putting to rest the oft-heard erroneous conclusion that the events of 7 October pushed Israel to the wall. Such an argument negates decades of the Israeli oppression of Palestinians.

Important to address is the role the West plays in maintaining the Israeli occupation. Through diplomatic cover, and financial and military support, Israel enjoys a blank check with no consequences as it continues its military onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

Video credit: @empirefiles, @fababs (IG) @abbymartin (X)

RACISM AND THE “THREE LIONS”

England will face Spain in the final of football’s Euros on Sunday, with both sides enjoying stand-out performances from their Black players. There’ve been crucial goals from Watkins, Saka and Bellingham for the Three Lions and 16-year-old Yamal has grabbed headlines for the Spanish.

But as Ahmed Ghoneim reports in Africa in 90 seconds, the tone can quickly change if things go wrong over 90 minutes. Black players often face racial abuse if their team loses, or are scapegoated by the media. There are plenty of examples, and it’s not only about tabloid sensationalism. It’s about deeply ingrained attitudes. In the past, the English FA reportedly enforced a racial quota on the national team. Imagine, a team not deemed ‘English’ enough without limiting Black players.

Continued….. We can only hope those on the losing side on Sunday don’t suffer a wave of racist abuse. However, past experience means we are not holding our breath.

Today’s football success stories—England, Spain, France—are triumphs of diversity. Yet, when these teams lose, suddenly nationality and identity overshadow their talent. It’s a reminder of the uphill battle Black players face.

AFRICAN STREAM SPILLS TRUTH ABOUT CONGO TO U.S. STUDENTS!

African Stream’s Erick Gavala recently chatted with US university students about the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 

Little is understood about the giant central African state apart from news about death and destruction. Our man (@erickgavala on IG) enjoyed educating the eager students on Congo’s colossal potential: Its vast mineral wealth and proud African culture. His presentation demonstrated why the DRC would be a superpower if foreign intervention and attacks didn’t cause havoc, the internal displacement of more than 7 million people, the deaths of at least 6 million, corruption and resource theft. These facts are generally unknown to Western audiences. 

Continued……However, in this clip, one student testified that mass ignorance about the Congo proves deliberate misreporting and lack of reporting. That’s compared to the extensive mainstream media coverage of Israel’s military onslaught on the Gaza Strip that his generation has been exposed to.

Have a watch, and let us know your thoughts on how more people can learn the truth about the Congo.

THE TUSKEGEE SYPHILIS EXPERIMENT

The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was a study conducted between 1932 and 1972 by the United States Public Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on a group of nearly 400 Africans in America. They were injected with syphilis, and the aim of the study was to observe the effects of the disease when left untreated - though by the end of the study, medical advancements meant it was entirely treatable. The men were not informed of the nature of the experiment and there was no signed consent. 128 of them either succumbed to syphilis or died of complications related to the disease - or, as @corruptionreport puts it this clip, were “killed.”

An official apology wasn’t forthcoming until 1997, and no one was ever prosecuted over the deaths. According to the Equal Justice Initiative, “an undisclosed portion of the settlement money remains in court-controlled accounts with an uncertain fate.”

KENYAN SENATOR CALLS OUT CORRUPT MPS

Kenyan senator Richard Onyonka summarises what every disgruntled Kenyan has been asking. Why are corrupt leaders not being held accountable for the stealing and misappropriation of taxpayers money? In this powerful speech during senate proceedings, Onyonka calls out politicians for their frivolous spending at the expense of the suffering public. His fiery speech follows youth-led nationwide demonstrations against IMF-backed tax hikes during a cost-of-living crisis. Listen in.

video credits: Mutembei TV(Youtube)

COLUMBUS WAS GOOD? YOU’RE KIDDING!

Here’s social media commentator Sizwe SikaMusi @SizweLo setting the record straight on Christopher Columbus.

Open a history book and it will probably gush the Italian navigator’s voyages paved the way for European exploration. His brutal displacement, enslavement and killing of Native Americans will likely get glossed over.
As does the fact Mansa Abubakr II (the brother of Mansa Musa, the ninth Mansa of the Mali Empire) is believed to have crossed the Atlantic Ocean nearly 200 hundred years before Columbus.

Well, Sizwe reads an excerpt from Columbus’ own journal that underlines how ‘horrible’ he was. And she says it’s time we burnt every bit of history the United States has taught us.

Continued……The rosy picture painted of Columbus is just one example. Schools have excluded topics like slavery, racial violence, or systemic discrimination to avoid political backlash or community disputes. Recently, changes in Florida state’s Black History curriculum teaches how slavery was beneficial to Black people because they learnt agricultural techniques, specialised trades and worked as labourers, musicians, and healers in the North and South. The depiction of Thanksgiving commemorating a peaceful feast between pilgrims and Indians is another warped interpretation of history. The ‘holiday’ is connected to the massacre of Native Americans by the English and Dutch in the 17th century.

Sizwe doesn’t mince her words. Give us yours and take our poll.

Video credits:
@SizweLo
@lajefacat via Tik-tok

AFRO-MEXICANS, A FORGOTTEN LOT!

Afro-Mexicans make up about 2 per cent of Mexico’s 129-million population. However, after the Mexican Revolution in 1910, the state emphasised a Mestizo (mixed Indigenous and European) identity, marginalising Afro-Mexicans.

But who are the Afro-Mexicans? Spaniards captured their ancestors in Africa and sold them into slavery in ‘New Spain,’ now modern Mexico, after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire in the 16th century. Those Africans who escaped plantations settled on Mexico’s highlands and Pacific Ocean coastline to become what we know today as Afro-Mexicans, now one of Mexico’s 69 distinct cultural identities. 

Continued….. Almost 500 years later, during the 2019 census, Mexico amended its constitution to recognise Afro-Mexicans as an ethnic group. This historic step acknowledged Africans’ existence in the country and paved the way for healthcare funding, among other benefits.

We hope this marginalised community of Africans obtains economic and political equality in the country they call home.

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