TRUMP GLAZES ELON MUSK

Given America’s multiple woes right now - domestic and foreign - you might think a presidential candidate who’d called a media conference would like to get his message out on these matters. But, true to form, it was ‘me, me, me’ at Donald Trump’s latest Mar-a-Lago press blitz. Besides rambling incoherently on a host of tropics - such as crowd size and ‘would he, wouldn’t he?’ debate Dem rival Kamala Harris - he took the opportunity to boast that he had ‘full-throated’ support from ‘the’ Elon Musk, owner of X. In fact, he said ‘the’ Elon Musk would be interviewing him Monday. From an African - or African-in-America - perspective, what would you ask him?

Video credit: @WFAA

BRITISH MEDIA’S SYSTEMIC RACISM

Many around the world, including in Africa, have been disgusted by the racist violence witnessed in the UK lately. And lots of people inside Britain have been pointing the finger at their country’s press and media generally. In this clip, writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch (@afuahirsch)- speaking a few years back - explains clearly why ‘journalism’ is systemically racist in the UK. Along the way, she relates an incident when she was a panel-debate guest that will strike a chord with many of you.

Video credit: @Penguin Books UK

AFRICA WARNS CITIZENS UK IS TOO RA… RAINY?

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

Following the race riots in Britain, Nigeria, Kenya, and the African Union issued travel advisories against the former colonial power, which has often targeted African countries with travel warnings.

This is an African Stream skit - written by @ahmedkaballo and presented by @erickgavala.

According to a new Human Rights Watch report, the impact of the - effectively forced - relocation of indigenous Maasai in Tanzania is “like killing culture.” The Tanzanian government launched a programme in 2022 to evict 82,000 people from their ancestral land in Ngorongoro and move them to Msomera, roughly 600 km away.

Between August 2022 and December 2023, @hrw interviewed close to 100 residents, including some of those who’d been resettled, and learned that what had been touted as a ‘voluntary’ relocation was far from it.

Continued……To ‘encourage’ those unwilling to comply, the government’s been systematically reducing essential services in the Ngorongoro area, while also taking measures to restrict the grazing of animals. There were also allegations of intimidation from park rangers.

Activists are calling on the government to desist from pressuring Maasai people to relocate - and instead, to consult those affected, seek their consent and put measures in place to adequately compensate those who do agree to move.

What’s your gut reaction to what’s happening to Tanzania’s Maasai?

MOZAMBIQUE’S MIGHTY MACHEL

Happy Birthday Josina Machel!
We remember Mozambique’s fearless freedom fighter, who was born on August 10th, 1945, and married the country’s first president, socialist and nationalist Samora Machel.

Josina gallantly fought against Portuguese occupation through the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO,) where she championed for women’s rights and even provided political and military training in order for them to be part of the liberation struggle. Even as her health failed, her resolve was strong to the very end. She died from liver cancer aged just 25, but achieved a lot during her short life.

Continue to rest in peace, Josina.

HOW UK MEDIA DEMONISED ASIAN MEN AS S*X PREDATORS

In this clip, UK rapper and activist Lowkey (@lowkeyonline) gives a striking example of how the British media has been fanning the flames of racism that have been engulfing the country lately.

When a report by the Quilliam Foundation concluded that so-called ‘grooming gangs’ - which prey on often underage girls to s*xually abuse them - consisted, in the UK, predominantly (84%) of Asian men, the media ran wild with the story, plastering their front pages with headlines that painted immigrants as s*x pests.

Yet the study had serious methodological flaws - so bad, that Lowkey calls them criminal. First and foremost, the sample size was tiny (a hundred or so cases) compared with the vast number of s*x crimes committed in the UK - so that no general conclusions could confidently be inferred from it.

Continued……The Crime Survey for England and Wales reported that an estimated 1.1-million adults (798,000 women and 275,000 men) aged 16 years and over were victims of sexual assault (including attempts) in the year ending March 2022. Around 227,500 identifiable child-abuse offences were recorded by the police in the year ending March 2019.

Of course, when the flawed nature of the study was finally realised, the media did little to disabuse the public. Why do you think that was?

WHEN ICE CUBE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO USE HIS A.K.!

In a 1993 TV interview that apparently never made it to air, rapper Ice Cube - then aged 24 - articulately called out the false assumptions behind questions designed to make him admit that his music s*xualised children and fostered violent tendencies in them. He refutes both claims in this excerpt.

As for the s*xual content of his songs, he points out that it accounts for only a small fraction of his work - and that holding it up as representative would be like confusing the porn industry with the entire movie industry.

As for the violence, he notes that he’s not promoting it - but merely reflecting it.

Continued……The point is to hold up a mirror to society so as to change it - just as when you notice your hair is a mess in the mirror you might start re-styling it.

Ramming his point home, Ice Cube then reminds the interviewer that children in America are violent because the country itself is. Moreover, society at large - and Black communities in particular - have been flooded with easy-to-get guns.

Add poverty and systemic injustices to the mix, and what you get is violence. Pulling the plug on rap music wouldn’t change that - it would simply remove one route to self-awareness. Only addressing the core issues will stop the gun crime.

In our book, Ice Cube wiped the floor with this interviewer. Were you nodding along too?

Video Credit: @krazethekingofcontent

BREAD REVOLUTIONS -THE TAX INGREDIENT

Bread is at the heart of politics across the world. It represents labour, life and livelihoods. Ruling classes down the ages have always offered ‘bread and circuses’ to keep a lid on mass discontent over unpopular policies. Kenya’s President William Ruto seems to have skipped a lesson on keeping citizens pacified when he attempted to ram through unpopular IMF-backed tax hikes - which included a proposed 16% hike on bread. It set off a series of violent protests in which police officers reportedly killed more than 50. African Stream’s Erick Gavala brushed up on his baking skills and takes us on a journey - from the oven to street protests, where much of history is fermented. Written by @kenneth_kaigua and presented by @erickgavala

WESTERN FRENZY OVER VENEZUELA EXPLAINED

Venezuela’s President-elect Nicolas Maduro claims the unrest unfolding in his country is part of a US-backed coup attempt.

Well, if that is the case, what would Washington have to gain? It’s all to do with controlling the South American nation’s vast oil and mineral reserves, according to Grayzone journalist Anya Parampil.

She says the West has long been angered by the country’s socialist leaders nationalising key industries and blocking ownership by private multinationals. Washington has in turn throttled Venezuela’s economic potential through sanctions and sponsored coup attempts.

In this interview with journalist Clayton Morris, Anya gives some background to what’s happening now. You can find a more detailed analysis in her book Corporate Coup - Venezuela and The End of US Empire’

Do you agree with her take?

Video credit: @Redacted
@claytonmorris, @anyaparampil

IBRAHIM TRAORÉ: NOT JUST COUNTER-TERRORISM, BUT DECOLONISATION

Congratulations to Burkina Faso, which has made tremendous strides toward land reclamation this year.

In this speech given in the Burkinabé town of Banfora in April, President Ibrahim Traoré congratulated the armed forces for liberating and reclaiming territories in the Cascades Region and the neighbouring South-West Region from terrorist paramilitary organisations, marking a significant victory for all Burkinabé.

When Traoré arrived in this part of the country, crowds of civilians applauded and cheered his entourage. However, the fight is not over. As Traoré explained, these paramilitary groups will likely retaliate.

Continued….. The 36-year-old president told the crowd that the fight against terrorism is part of a larger ‘war of decolonisation’ as some forces seek to help Western powers re-colonise the landlocked African country once under French control.

Burkina Faso, along with neighbouring Mali, has publicly accused the French military of aiding terrorist organisations. Recently, Ukrainian officials admitted to also assisting paramilitary organisations in Mali. 

These alleged collaborations reinforce Traoré’s argument that the question of colonialism is at the heart of this conflict.

Video credit: @sigburkinafaso (YouTube) and @sigbf (X)

Compare and contrast. In this pair of posts by UK MP Zarah Sultana (from the governing Labour Party), she highlights the rank hypocrisy of two British media outlets - by placing their newspaper front covers (same rag in each post) side by side. On the left, the headlines praise Brits for coming out en masse to say ‘no’ to racism - after a flurry of sickening anti-immigrant violence across the country (though note how neither outlet actually calls the ‘thugs’ racist!). On the right, the headlines reveal the outlets’ true colours: an endless sewage pipe of race-baiting, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim front covers.

Continued….. Here’s an example that UK activist and rapper Lowkey (@lowkeyonline) recently discussed with us: when a methodologically faulty (Lowkey argues ‘criminally’ faulty) study by the Quilliam think tank concluded that 80% of (so-called) grooming gangs in the UK consisted of Asian men, the British media lapped it up - as did their consumers. But when you compare the sample size used in the study with the number of sex crimes committed across the UK, you realise it couldn’t possibly tell you anything about the general picture. But did the papers bother issuing a correction, let alone a front-page one? Damage done.

How much blame do you think the UK media carries for the recent anti-immigrant riots? Pleased with yourselves @dailymail and @dailyexpress?