UK SUPPRESSING CRITICISM THAT UAE BACKS SUDAN’S RSF

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has just released a damning report on the atrocities committed by the warring parties in Sudan’s 18-month war. While both sides - the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - have carried out war crimes, the report, noscriptd “Khartoum is not Safe for Women!,” shows that the United Arab Emirates-backed RSF has committed most of the heinous and brutal acts against civilians, especially women and children. According to HRW, the RSF’s tally of atrocities includes r*pe, forced marriages and ethnic cleansing.

Continued….. However, an exposé by British newspaper The Guardian reveals that, despite this sordid RSF record, the UK government has continued to engage with the group and their Emirati backers. The report indicates that not only has the UK government held secret meetings with the group, but it has also vigorously pressured African leaders not to condemn the UAE’s backing of the paramilitary. African Stream’s William Sakawa takes a closer look.

Our week’s African proverb is a little crude but true enough. In essence, you’ll always have to face the consequence of your actions, no matter how big or small)

NATION OF ISLAM DEFENDS AFRICAN STREAM FROM NBC ATTACK

Nation of Islam member Rizza Islam was one of NBC’s six targets in their recent smear campaign against independent Black media - as was African Stream. In this clip, he gives a kind shout-out to our contribution to African discourse and explains why Pan-African media organisations are in the mainstream’s crosshairs.

NBC made a big deal about us not being based in the US - thereby revealing its failure to grasp that Africans might be concerned about their kin across the Atlantic. But as Islam notes, it also shows they don’t like Black minds being told hard truths - for example, as to why neither main political party in the US has African interests at heart.

Your thoughts on this in the comments are appreciated.

Video credit: @RizzaIslam

SENEGALESE PAN-AFRICANISTS DEMAND FRENCH MILITARY EXPULSION

Senegalese organisers from dozens of Pan-African groups demanded that newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye expel the French military from Senegalese soil.

A few days later, on 14 July, Diomaye Faye said to the media, ‘I do not think there is any need today, whoever the partner may be, to go in the direction of brutal ruptures.’ This is a significant blow for Pan-Africanists and Diomaye Faye’s young working-class base.

While there was initially much hope that the new president would join his revolutionary neighbours’ Alliance of Sahel States (AES) confederation, Diomaye Faye instead visited the conservative neo-colonial governments of Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Ghana to meet their presidents in his first few months in office. Then, the 44-year-old’s first visit outside the African continent occurred in Paris, where he met with French President Emmanuel Macron. 

Continued……When Diomaye Faye finally made his way to Burkina Faso, he asked President Ibrahim Traoré to abandon the AES project and rejoin the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). 

The organisations behind this recent memorandum addressed to Diomaye Faye include Urgences Panafricanistes (@urgences_panafricanistes), Africa First, Jif’Afrik (@jifafrik), La Ligue Panafricaine Umoja (@liguepanafricaineumoja), Sénégal Notre Priorité (@senegalnotrepriorite) and others.

Video credit: @dakaractutvhd (YouTube) 

UK RACISTS STOP CARS TO CHECK SKIN COLOUR

Among the many repellent scenes of racist violence and abuse coming out of the UK this weekend was this in Middlesbrough in the North of England: far-right yobs blocking traffic to check if the drivers are White. The video shows drivers accelerating to get away as people aggressively crowd around. It adds to terrifying images of extremists in Rotherham and Tamworth trying to burn a hotel for migrants and of a gang of White people attacking a Black man in Manchester. Mosques and Muslim-owned businesses have also been targeted, and there’s been looting and general vandalism in numerous UK cities and towns. Nigeria is one of a number of countries that have now issued travel warnings to their citizens over the anti-immigrant violence. Do you think the UK is safe for non-Whites?

HOW PRIVILEGE ALLOWED COP TO KILL SONYA MASSEY

Another senseless killing of a Black sister by US law enforcers has shocked, appalled and enraged. 36-year-old Sonya Massey’s life was cut short when Illinois deputy Sean Grayson fired a bullet into her head at close range. She had called the police because she was afraid there might be an intruder in or near her home. She was compliant with police instructions but was murdered after Grayson was apparently angered by something she said. Now it’s transpired he’d been kicked out of the army for serious misconduct. And there were other red flags, like drink-driving offences. So how did he get to be in a gun-wielding position of authority? African Stream’s Wambura Mwai talks us through the grim events that night and concludes that it’s privilege. Do you agree?

U.K. RACIST MOBS ATTACK ASYLUM SEEKERS' HOTELS

Warning: This video clip contains scenes of violence that may disturb some viewers.

Waves of far-right Islamophobic and anti-migrant violence spread across the United Kingdom on the weekend of 3-4 August following the 29 July fatal stabbing of three girls. Initially, racist mobs blamed an illegal Muslim migrant who had gotten off a boat that had crossed the English Channel until court documents revealed the accused to be a 17-year-old non-Muslim of Rwandan descent who was born in Wales. To stop the misinformation, the courts side-stepped the rule forbidding naming suspects under 18. 

However, this has not been enough to stop the Islamophobia-fuelled violence.

Continued…. In Manchester city's Piccadilly Gardens, a horde of white men attacked a Black man. The clip that has since gone viral shows white men punching and kicking the man before police intervened. However, in a strange but not surprising fashion, the police tackled the victim to the ground instead of going after his attackers.

The mobs also targeted two hotels housing asylum seekers. Riots targeting Muslims and other non-white minorities have engulfed the UK since the end of July.

SCINTILLATING SOUTH SUDAN SHOULD UNITE US!

South Sudan’s male Basketball team have left the Olympics with their heads held high. They just missed out on a quarter-final spot after losing to Serbia and the USA in their group. And their performances have silenced a lot of the racist and derogatory narratives we heard from some commentators in the lead up to the games. Chief among them was former NBA star Gilbert Arenas who happily mocked the Africans as ‘dart-shooters’ when they narrowly lost to the USA a pre-Olympic friendly.

In this clip @kingxgreen stresses the importance of Black people being united and not divided, especially when it comes to this amazing side from South Sudan. The country only gained independence from Sudan in 2011, and its men’s national basketball side didn’t play their first competitive match until 2017. Quite rightly, Arenas got ripped for his xenophobic tropes and has since apologised.

Video credit: Tag@kingxgreen