WHY DO BLACK CHURCHES WELCOME CROOKED POLITICIANS?

Why do Black churches welcome ‘crooked’ politicians? It’s a question asked by podcaster Sabby Salvati following President Joe Biden’s recent appearance at the Mount Airy Church of God in Christ, in Philadelphia. He also pulled off a similar stunt in January when he visited the historic Mother Emanuel AME Church Charleston, in South Carolina.

For Sabby, it’s more than an invasion of a sacred space by politics. She sees it as a collaboration between Black community ‘misleadership’ and the political class that controls it. For her, it makes no sense churches open their doors to leaders who bankroll Israel and Ukraine, but ignore the poverty of congregations who can’t afford to put money on the collection plate.

Continued….. Mt.Airy is no stranger to U.S. politicians. Republican President George Bush, whose father’s presidency was marked by criticism of his inaction on HIV/AIDS, made a visit there in 2007 for World Aids Day. It’s also received other notable guests such as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Do you agree with Sabby on this?

Video credit: @Sabbysabs2

SISTER SOULJAH ON KU KLUX KLAN

In this 1992 interview with Larry King, rapper and activist Sister Souljah responds to an incredible accusation.
A caller claims her actions are on a par with white supremacist David Duke. Her answer is as powerful as it gets.
To do it justice, you’ll have to listen to the clip, but let’s just say she lays out some history that should never be forgotten.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a violent white supremacy organisation founded after the U.S. Civil War. Since 1865, the KKK has killed many Blacks in the U.S., including by lynching. Members burn crosses and march wearing hooded gowns to terrorise Black people. In addition to hate crimes, the KKK has opposed any form of equality with Africans in the U.S. Perhaps that’s why the caller thinks our sister doesn’t deserve to wear her jewels?

Video credit: @Larry King Live, CNN

KAMALA: BLACK FACE OF US IMPERIALISM

So, it looks almost certain US Vice President Kamala Harris will be the Democratic Party’s torch-bearer for the 2024 presidential elections. After Joe Biden quit his bid for a second term, she’s expected to get the nod at the Democratic National Convention slated for August. And if that goes to plan, she’ll then fight Republican Donald Trump for the presidency.

But do you think a Harris victory would signal anything good for the Global South? Her record shows little difference to Trump when it comes to pushing US imperialism around the world.

African Stream’s Salifu Mack takes us through her foreign misadventures in Latin America and the Caribbean.

AGEING AFRICAN LEADERS SHOULD BOW OUT LIKE BIDEN?

US President Joe Biden recently announced his withdrawal from November’s presidential race amid concerns of age-related cognitive impairment following the 27 June debate against fellow hopeful and former president, Donald Trump.

While the empire has agreed on the risks another Biden term would carry, a few African countries might consider the same.

Here’s a short list of aging heads of state, featuring 72-year-old South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, 72-year-old Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and 91-year-old Cameroonian President Paul Biya. All three have given Africans reason to worry. 

Continued……Take Kiir, appearing to urinate on himself in a December 2022 clip that he later arrested journalists for recording. Meanwhile, Tinubu gave an incoherent address at the 2023 UN climate-change conference, COP28. Plus, onlookers at the US-Africa Leaders Summit in 2022 witnessed Biya’s three minutes of confusion on stage with his handlers.

It’s hard to imagine healthier candidates don’t exist on a continent of more than a billion people.

In the comments, please let us know what you think about these figures and who else should be on the list.

INDIGINEOUS AUSTRALIANS CELEBRATE CULTURE WEEK

Indigenous people of Australia recently celebrated NAIDOC week - a festival of their culture. (NAIDOC is the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee.)

What started in the late 1930s as a day of protest against colonial mistreatment that was deliberately timed to coincide with Australia Day has grown into a week-long celebration of Indigenous identity, rooted in the land for 60,000 years.

The event is especially important today, as issues from a century ago still persist. Australia last year voted against recognising Indigenous people. A referendum to enshrine in law the obligation to consult Indigenous people before implementing policies that affect them was defeated - with 60% of Australians voting against it.

SOUTH SUDAN OVERCOME ANTHEM HITCH FOR OLYMPIC DEBUT WIN

Nothing seems to faze South Sudan’s basketball team. When they lined up against Puerto Rico for their first-ever Olympic match, organisers mistakenly played the national anthem of neighbouring Sudan. Over 99% of South Sudanese voted to separate from Sudan in 2011, so imagine their frustration in hearing the Olympic games still thought they were one country. But Sunday’s disrespectful mix-up only spurred the Bright Stars to victory, according to their forward Nuni Omot. His side claimed a 90-79 win to go joint-top of their group with the mighty USA, who they face on Wednesday. And you’d be foolish to write off the Africans’ chances in that one, given they only lost to the USA by a single point in a friendly a few days ago.

Continued….. Before that match, former NBA stars and pundits ridiculed the South Sudan players but were soon left eating humble pie.

Whatever lies ahead for the Bright Stars, the world’s youngest country has had an amazing journey. It gained independence from Sudan in 2013, and its men’s national basketball side didn’t play their first competitive match until 2017. Now, they’re on the brink of reaching the quarter-finals of their first-ever Olympics.

We could be hearing the South Sudan national anthem a couple more times yet!

PRAYING ‘THE DEVIL’ DOESN’T TAKE VENEZUELA!

Oil-rich Venezuela has been in the crosshairs of the US for decades, enduring crippling sanctions aimed at provoking a regime-change that will enable easy exploitation of the country’s natural wealth.

Resisting imperialism has made life difficult for millions of Venezuelans, as their government sticks to the principles established by late revolutionary leader, Hugo Chávez.

Not one to cower under Washington's threats, Chávez - addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York in 2006 - had choice words for the then-US president, George W. Bush, branding him the Devil. It is a speech that still resonates today.

Continued….. Incumbent Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has just been declared the winner of the July 28th election - but the US is already interfering, saying, ”the will of the people of Venezuela must be respected” - or, translated: "We are not pleased with the results as they do not serve our interests, and therefore Maduro must go!"

It’s the kind of treatment Africans have also had to endure.

How do you think Chávez would have handled this kind of meddling?

Video credit: UNTV

This image has sparked some debate online. It shows members of St. Cloud, Minnesota‘s Somali community donning their MAGA caps in support of Donald Trump. That’s quite a shocker, given the things he’s had to say about Somalia and Somali immigrants - including as president. He branded Somali refugees a “disaster,” accusing them of bringing crime and terrorism into the United States.

Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American elected to Congress - as Democratic Representative from Minnesota - has been a frequent target of Trump’s disparaging remarks. He has accused her of being unpatriotic and has made xenophobic statements about her, which have been widely criticised as racist and Islamophobic. His insinuations include doubting the legitimacy of her citizenship and labelling her as a representative of a problematic ideology, which has amplified divisions and hostility towards the Somali and broader Muslim communities.

Continued….. One of Trump’s many bigoted policies includes the infamous Muslim Ban, which was enacted immediately after his 2017 inauguration. This ban restricted travel from several predominantly Muslim countries, including Somalia. The policy was widely criticised as discriminatory and harmful to Muslim communities worldwide, including Somalis in the US, who felt targeted and marginalised by the sweeping restrictions.

With all that in mind, why would Somalis in the US back Trump this time round? Answers in the comments please!

Image credit: @suud_olat

CHAVEZ’S SOLIDARITY WITH HAITI

Venezuela’s election authority has declared incumbent president Nicolas Maduro the winner of Suday’s presidential election. The National Electoral Council announced that Maduro amassed 51.2% of the 11-million votes cast. His closest challenger, opposition candidate Edmundo González, garnered 44%.

Maduro’s victory means the Bolivarian revolutionary project initiated by late President Hugo Chávez continues to move forward. Many in Africa will remember Chávez for deepening ties between Caracas and the African continent.

Under his leadership, two Africa-South America Summits were held to enhance South-to-South relations.

Continued….. Chávez was also the first Latin-American president to openly declare himself of African descent. His powerful words, “We carry Africa inside us, Africa is part of us, Latin-Caribbean America cannot be understood without Africa,” continue to inspire across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Chávez was not only a man of words but he backed them with action. While in office, he played a critical role in improving the lives of the historically marginalised Afro-Venezuelans.

His push for economic and social policies that empowered people of African descent went beyond the borders of his homeland to places such as Haiti, where millions benefitted from his government’s solidarity and support. African Stream’s Clinton Nzala explores that side of Chávez’s legacy in this report. Please let us know your reactions in the comments.

Scandal has rocked Judo at the Olympics, over accusations an Algerian athlete deliberately exceeded his weight limit to avoid facing an Israeli opponent.

Messaoud Redouane Dris was set to fight Israel’s Tohar Butbul on Monday (July 29th) in the 73kg class. However the Algerian was disqualified after weighing 400 grammes over the maximum, handing Butbul a walkover win.

The International Judo Federation (IJF) has stated that it will investigate the incident following a claim by the Israeli Olympic Committee that Dris purposefully gained weight in order to avoid competing with an Israeli athlete.

The IJF has made it clear that if Dris is found guilty, he will face the consequences. This incident, however, is not an isolated one, as the IJF has noted that similar cases of athletes exceeding their weight limits have occurred in previous Olympics.

Continued……. In September 2021, the IJF handed a ten-year ban on Dris’s compatriot Fethi Nourine and his coach Amar Benikhlef for withdrawing from the 2021 Tokyo Games in order to avoid facing Butbul, the exact Israeli athlete Dris was to face today.

Nourine stated that his refusal to face Butbul was in solidarity with the people of Palestine.
Dris has not issued any statement that his being ‘overweight’ has anything to do with politics. However, a social media post by one of his sponsors, Algerian telecommunications firm Mobilis, hinted in that direction. The post stated that ‘Dris won everyone’s respect. Honour and the [Palestinian] cause come first before anything else.’

In the run-up to the 2024 Olympics, several stakeholders and human rights organisation called for Israel to be banned from the games over its genocidal military onslaught against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 39,000 people since October 2023.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has, however, refused to do so, claiming it wants to remain ‘neutral’ to avoid turning the games into a ‘political tool.’ This position has been ridiculed by many for its obvious hypocrisy, considering that Russian athletes have been told they cannot compete under the banner of the country due to its war against Ukraine.

AMERICA’S GOT A PROBLEM

The United States has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, with an estimated 393 million firearms. That’s more than one gun for each of about 341 million people. It should then not come as a surprise that gun-related injuries killed 42,967 people in the United States in 2023.

Research shows a correlation between stricter gun laws and lower rates of gun violence.

However, the mainstream media doesn’t point out that, for Africans, ensuring the right of self-defence against white supremacist violence is paramount. Further, guns find their way into inner cities, where many of our people are forced to live, amplifying the danger of street violence.

Continued….. The modern gun-control movement emerged after California enacted legislation in 1967 upon seeing Black Panthers wielding firearms in public to defend their communities against brutal police violence.

Some say the high rate of gun violence in the United States mirrors US military violence around the world.

Some would also say it really should not be a surprise that the United States doesn’t offer its citizens healthcare or guarantee other human rights, as the speaker, Ayishat Akanbi (@ayishat_akanbi on IG and X) mentions, because the US began as a profit-driven settler colony rather than simply as a refuge for those allegedly escaping religious persecution.

PAID CROWD CHEERS NETANYAHU IN CONGRESS

Does this 60 second clip show the power of money in politics? Watch as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets nearly 50 standing ovations during his address to US Congress last week.

He called pro-Palestine protesters ‘Iran’s useful idiots’ and demanded more American support to ‘finish the job’ in Gaza, as if the deaths of likely more than 186,000 Palestinians, according to Lancet, is not enough. Dozens of Democrats boycotted his speech but, as you can see, his message was well received by most.

Although disheartening, it’s worth remembering this is largely a paid crowd. In 2024, Israel’s main lobby group, AIPAC, is set to spend $100-million across its political entities, according to Politico. And their main targets are politicians deemed insufficiently supportive of Israel.

Continued….. So, just how influential is the lobby group? Here is an excerpt from their website, ‘So far this cycle, an AIPAC-endorsed candidate has won in every district (224 races) where an endorsee was on the ballot. All 90 AIPAC-backed Democrats who have had their primary races in 2024, have won. These Democrats are strong pro-Israel voices’