EXPOSING UK FAR RIGHT’S TV CHEERLEADER

What makes someone far right? That was the question raised by TalkTV’s Alex Phillips in response to the race riots that swept the UK recently. She was apparently panicked by the thought that ‘ordinary people’ wearing certain clothes might and raising ‘legitimate concerns’ might be demonised. The African Stream team was unimpressed. Watch us dismantle her word games and (parts of) the media’s efforts to offer cover for extremists. The full discussion is on our YouTube channel.

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SUDANESE DISPLACED BY WAR BUILD MUD HOMES

As calls for a ceasefire go unheeded in Sudan’s devastating civil war, the country’s millions of internally displaced are losing hope of ever returning home.

Some have decided to build new homes - where they intend to wait out the war.

With little access to modern building materials, people in the town of Merowe - famous for its pyramids - are drawing on the ancient knowledge of their ancestors, using clay and palm fronds to construct sturdy shelters. In this clip, we see them in action - and sharing their reflections on the conflict.

It’s been over a year since the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces began their deadly power struggle. The war has created what experts call the world’s worst humanitarian catastrophe. The Norwegian Refugee Council estimates that 25-million people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. Over 10 million have been displaced - almost 8 million of them internally.

AFRICA’S DEBT TO HAITI

Today marks the first day of the Haitian revolution that began on 22nd August 1791 against European enslavers in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, now the sovereign state of Haiti.

While Haiti may seem a world away for many, the Haitian Revolution is a chapter in history that connects us all. It was the first successful slave rebellion in the world, leading to the establishment of the first independent Black republic in 1804. This event, with its profound impact on the global struggle against colonialism and slavery, inspired enslaved people and colonised nations across the world. From Latin America to the Caribbean and Africa, the Haitians inspired oppressed people to break away from the shackles, bondage and subjugation that they had been subjected to and fight for their freedom and self-determination.

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PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTS DISRUPT DEMOCRATS’ CONVENTION

Imagine the US State Department’s outrage if the events happening this week in Chicago outside the Democratic National Convention had taken place in a country at odds with the US. On 19 August, the self-proclaimed champion of democracy and human rights cracked down on pro-Palestine protesters marching to denounce US aid to Israel amidst its 10-month-long massacre of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.While the Biden-Harris administration claims to be interested in a ceasefire and a two-state solution between Palestine and the Israeli occupation, the US has shipped tonnes of arms and ammunition, wired tens of billions of dollars, and vetoed calls for a permanent ceasefire at the UN.

Continued….. And, despite a majority of countries on the UN Security Council voting in favour of Palestinian membership at the UN, the US vetoed it in April.Neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump represents a departure in US foreign policy regarding West Asia, Africa or elsewhere.

Video credits: @chuckmodi1 (X), @statuscoup (X) @ur_ninja (X)

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Today marks the 35th death anniversary of Huey P Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party (BPP). He was shot and k*lled by a member of the Black Guerilla Family gang on 22 August 1989 in Oakland, California.

The youngest of seven children, Newton was born in 1942 in Monroe, Louisiana. The family later fled to Oakland, California, because of the South's history of violence against Black people.

Newton co-founded the party in 1966 with classmate Bobby Seale, becoming its leading theorist and political strategist, and introducing internationalism among the party's ranks.

Continued…Their efforts to challenge police brutality were significant, but equally impactful were the over 60 social programmes—renamed Survival Programmes—by 1971. The most famous was Free Breakfast for Children, which fed youths in US cities where BPP had chapters. J Edgar Hoover, the FBI's director at the time, worked against the party because of its considerable support among Black people in the US and liberal white people. Federal agents had arrested or killed some party members.

In 2021, a commemorative plaque that reads, 'Dr. Huey P. Newton Way,' was applied to a three-block section of the city's 9th Street at the corner he was murdered, serving as a reminder of Newton's enduring legacy.

TOUR OF HAITI HEROES

Today marks 233 years since the start of the Haitian Revolution, which saw Africans free themselves from slavery, and birth the first Black republic. It was a boon not just for the Caribbean island, but the region as well. As part of its foreign policy, Haiti gave assistance to Simon Bolivar, who would go on to fight for the liberation of countries like Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador, with one condition, he had to free slaves wherever he found them.

In memory of what happened on 22 August 1791, we thought we’d treat you to a quiet corner of Ecuador and slice of Haitian history. This video shows Republic of Haiti Square, in Quito’s San Juan neighbourhood. You’ll spot two busts: the first is of Jean Jacques Dessalines, the founder of the Republic of Haiti.

Continued….. The second is of Alexandre Sabès Pétion, the ‘father of Pan-Americanism’. Both were crafted by sculptor Vicente Bolaños.

The West continues to portray Haiti as the poster-child for failed states, overrun by gangs and rampant instability. But that can never hide how the small Caribbean island has hit well above its weight in terms of revolutionary solidarity throughout the bad days of colonialism.

That’s why beautiful squares like this exit. They may not be big or get much publicity, but they remember what should never be forgotten. Hope you enjoy our little tour.

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FARRAKHAN: HAITI REVOLUTIONARIES FRIGTHEN WEST

Today, August 22, marks the date the Haitian Revolution began in 1791. It culminated in 1804 when the Caribbean island nation made history as the world’s first independent Black state. In this clip, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, succinctly lays out how Haiti’s revolutionary past still influences foreign interventions. Napoleon’s ‘greatest army on earth’ got whopped thanks to the Black brothers of François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and Henri Christophe. And that’s a lesson that still frightens the USA today.

What’s your perspective on the Haitian Revolution and its enduring influence? Share your views in the comments below.

PS. In case you’re interested, here’s some extra info on those three Black brothers that shaped history.

Continued……Toussaint Louverture was a Haitian general and the most prominent leader of the Haitian Revolution. Known as the ‘Father of Haiti,’ he turned a slave rebellion into a revolutionary movement fighting against Napoleon’s Empire. In 1802, Toussaint Louverture was betrayed, captured, and sent to prison in France, where he died.

Dessalines then became the main leader of the resistance, the first Haitian Emperor, and the first ruler of an independent Haiti. He spearheaded Haiti’s defeat of French forces committing massacres and won independence from France in 1804. Under him, Haiti became the first country to abolish slavery in the Americas. Dessalines also freed Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic) from French colonial rule. He was assassinated in 1806.

After Dessaline’s death, Henri Christophe retreated to the Plaine-du-Nord and created a separate government. In 1807, he was elected president of the state of Haiti. Later, in 1811, he created a kingdom in the north and became Haiti’s only monarch.

Video credit: SISTER NINETEEN

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WHEN AFRICANS GAVE COLONIALISTS HELL

For more than 200 years, Africa was a target of European imperialist aggression. This saw the continent’s people, natural resources and territory stolen. The period was marked by the inhumane European slave trade, during which over 12-million Africans were forcibly shipped across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and the Americas, where they were sold as slaves. Those who remained on the continent became victims of colonial subjugation.

Despite the odds being stacked against them due to the invaders’ superior military might, Africans - both on the continent and in the diaspora - did not take Europe’s imperialist aggression lying down. On several occasions, Africans rose up and gave colonial forces a good whipping.

Continued……One of those occasions was on this day (22nd August) in 1791, on the island of Haiti, when enslaved Africans revolted against their oppressors in a revolution that lasted until 1804, when the country became the world’s first Black republic.

Settle in as African Stream’s Clinton Nzala relates this event and three other stunning occasions on which African defenders outsmarted, defeated and humiliated militarily ‘superior’ invading imperialists.

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KWAME TURE ON HAITI’S ROLE IN AFRICAN LIBERATION

Today marks the 233rd anniversary of the Haitian revolution kicking off against French enslavers. Haiti’s path to freedom is a testament to Africans’ courage and resilience. From the revolt led by Haitian general Toussaint Louverture to the historic 1804 declaration of independence, Haitians fought tirelessly to end the brutal system of slavery.The world’s only successful slave revolt helped spark the end of slavery in all French colonies and inspired neighbouring countries to struggle for independence.

Continued……Today, Haiti’s revolutionary beginnings remain a beacon for all oppressed peoples, making it all the more important to oppose foreign interventions, including the current UN mission led by Kenya’s police and mostly funded by the United States.In this video estimated to have been recorded in the 1990s during Bill Clinton’s US presidency, All-African People’s Revolutionary Party co-founder Kwame Ture (1941-98) discussed Haiti’s exploitation at the hands of the US and the potential role of the African masses in its liberation. Do you share his views? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Video credit: @Joe__Bassey (X)

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In a major move towards greater technological sovereignty, Senegal has just launched its first space satellite. Known as GAINDESAT-1A, it was developed by Senegalese scientists who’d trained at the University of Montpellier‘s Space Centre - something that serves as an important reminder that Africans who go and get degrees abroad in Europe, North America and other parts of the world can choose to come back to Africa and facilitate technology transfers and share know-how that will help to develop the continent.

Ever more African countries are working to develop satellites and launch them into space. There are currently plans for 125 new satellites from 23 African countries. These orbital friends will boost Africa's Internet connectivity, telecommunications, agriculture, weather prediction and resource management.

Continued….. Countries that are likely to launch satellites soon include Zambia, which has just completed a satellite station, and Burkina Faso, whose orbiter will be called 'Burkina-Sat1.' Namibia has just launched its Namibia Space Port programme to turn the country into a satellite hub. Botswana is planning its own satellite launch and Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan and Uganda are collaborating on a project known as the African Development Satellite.

Looks like our continent is taking ‘one giant leap for Africa-kind’ in the space race!

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