Sometimes it's wiser to leave things as they are and not find fault: else you might just end up creating worse problems!

DEBUNKING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION MYTHS

Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled that race-conscious affirmative action programmes for college admissions were illegal. Since then, institutions across the board have reported a drop in Black student enrolments.

It paints a grim picture for racially marginalised groups in higher education in the coming years.

There are many misconceptions about what affirmative action is and the reasons why it exists. Here, we debunk the idea that it does away with merit-based achievement, giving opportunities to unqualified or undeserving candidates.

What do you think of affirmative action?

Continued….. SOURCES:

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-10925-establishing-the-presidents-committee-equal-employment-opportunity

https://edtrust.org/blog/a-brief-history-of-affirmative-action-and-the-assault-on-race-conscious-admissions/

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/affirmative-action.asp#:~:text=Affirmative%20action%20refers%20to%20a,in%20leadership%20and%20professional%20roles.

https://clintonwhitehouse3.archives.gov/WH/EOP/OP/html/aa/aa02.html#:~:text=In%20response%20to%20the%20civil,designed%20to%20achieve%20non%2Ddiscrimination.

https://www.aaaed.org/aaaed/About_Affirmative_Action__Diversity_and_Inclusion.asp

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/11/us/harvard-affirmative-action-diversity-admissions.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2024/09/11/harvard-black-enrollment-drop-affirmative-action/

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/30/black-college-student-enrollment-declines-affirmative-action-strike-down


https://www.sidley.com/en/insights/newsupdates/2023/08/us-supreme-court-ends-affirmative-action-in-higher-education--an-overview-and-practical-next-steps

META'S CENSORSHIP OF PALESTINE CONTENT EXPOSED

Tech giant Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, has come under fire for 'systemic and global' censorship of Palestine-related content. Former employees have expressed frustration about what they term Meta's campaign to silence voices speaking up about the plight of Palestinians enduring Israel's Western-backed 76-year occupation. They raised their concern to Meta's management to no avail. While Israel k*lls their relatives in Gaza, Meta has already fired two employees who spoke to Al Jazeera Network's AJ+, which recently released an exposé of Meta's reported bias against pro-Palestine users in an investigation noscriptd, 'Inside Meta's Palestine Censorship.'

Continued......Meta was one of the tech companies that banned African Stream after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed on September 13 that we are 'Kremlin propagandists' who are 'secretly run' by Russian-state TV network RT, without offering any evidence. Perhaps one of the reasons Meta booted us is we have consistently stood with Palestine as part of our commitment to be 'with the lions, not the hunters.' We tell the stories of all oppressed people, regardless of race, nationality and creed. We weave the thread to show how much Africa's liberation struggles have in common with Palestine's struggle for liberation from imperialist occupation.

We will not be silenced, though. When Palestine is finally free, African Stream will be included in the annals of voices that courageously spoke for our brothers and sisters.

You, too, don't remain silent. Follow us on Telegram, Patreon, Rumble, and X to keep the flame burning.

Video credit: AJ+ @ajplus 

SOURCES:

https://www.hrw.org/report/2023/12/21/metas-broken-promises/systemic-censorship-palestine-content-instagram-and

https://www.accessnow.org/publication/how-meta-censors-palestinian-voices/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/21/meta-facebook-instagram-pro-palestine-censorship-human-rights-watch-report

https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/meta-allegedly-censors-pro-palestine-voices-on-a-global-scale-hrws-report-claims/

https://www.techpolicy.press/a-perspective-on-metas-moderation-of-palestinian-voices/

LINGUISTIC IMPERIALISM

Linguistic imperialism is the process whereby dominant powers impose their language on those they colonise, suppressing indigenous languages and thus marginalising their speakers and sustaining power inequalities.

Indigenous languages in colonial Africa were frowned upon, while colonial languages were made mandatory. In Anglophone Africa, policies were all written in English; media and broadcasting used English; and there were many systemic policies forbidding the use of indigenous languages.

For example, students in many Kenyan schools were punished for using any other languages, with most of these punishments involving shaming tactics such as the wearing of bones from dead animals as chains around the neck. This also happened to the indigenous people who were forced to speak Arabic and change their names in places like Sudan.

Continued......This warped the consciousness of individuals, leading to a loss of appreciation for indigenous languages and cultures - and promoted the adoption of the coloniser’s worldview, values, systems and structures.

UNESCO's 1953 report, The Use of Vernacular Languages in Education, indicated that around 40% of the global population received education in an unfamiliar language. Sub-Saharan Africa, which is home to nearly 30% of the world’s languages, still uses the colonisers’ languages as national languages.

Consequently, the education and values instilled remain those of the colonisers. Many languages are at risk of extinction, with only a few speakers left. The loss of these languages is equivalent to the loss of African heritage and culture.

SOURCES:

https://books.google.co.ke/books/about/The_Use_of_Vernacular_Languages_in_Educa.html?id=rKH1nAAACAAJ&redir_esc=y

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10032042/

https://repo.pacuniversity.ac.ke/items/55d065ce-2b5d-4b16-9b81-93ff9ba4d218

https://publishingperspectives.com/2017/04/ngugi-wa-thiongo-on-translation/

A Post-Colonial Perspective on African Education Systems by Getahun Yacob Abraham

English and American Linguistic Hegemony: A Case Study of the Educational Testing Service by Yeonhee Yoo and Gon Namkung

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-02821-z

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/379561854_Linguistic_Imperialism_as_a_Tool_in_Cultural_Hegemony_Language_Decline_and_Revitalization_of_Indigenous_Communities_in_Canada

THE RACIST NEANDERTHAL FACELIFT

Neil deGrasse Tyson, author and astrophysicist, discusses the racial biases propagated by the early scientific community. They claimed that Europeans were at the top of the evolutionary hierarchy, while Neanderthals, whom they considered less evolved, were likened to Black people and other races they deemed closer to the apes. However, when it was discovered that Europeans have 1-3% Neanderthal DNA and Africans have none, the scientific community changed its tune. Have a watch and let us know your thoughts on this.

Video credit: @The 92nd Street Y, New York

SOURCES:

https://www.popsci.com/excerpt-superior-race-science/

AFRICAN STREAM'S ROLE IN AFRICA'S RENAISSANCE

Ahmed Kaballo (@AhmedKaballo on X), African Stream's founder, engaged in an insightful discussion on Africa's promising future during the 2nd Sobh International Media Festival in May 2024 in Tehran, Iran.

Hosted by Hassan Tavakoli on 'The Sobh Show,' the conversation delved into African colonisation, the interconnectedness of liberation struggles in Africa, Palestine, and beyond, and the prospects for a new era with the resurgence of Pan-African consciousness. Watch the interview and spread the word.

Video credit: 'The Sobh Show' (@thesobhshow on X)

Continued….. SOURCES:

https://www.cityam.com/lets-be-honest-the-uk-will-never-grow-all-its-own-food-nor-should-it

https://worldrainforests.com/congo/

https://africa.panda.org/?49003/5-things-to-know-about-the-Congo-Basin-Rainforest

https://explorersweb.com/exploration-mysteries-an-early-african-voyage-to-the-americas/

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/12/us/christopher-columbus-slavery-disease-trnd/index.html

https://adf-magazine.com/2024/01/uae-role-in-sudans-civil-war-draws-criticism

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/15/trump-abraham-accords-palestinians-peace-deal-415083

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/north-africa/sudan-warlord-accuses-egypt-of-targeting-rsf-troops-4792260

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudan-yemen-sending-hundreds-troops-saudi-arabia

HOW THE U.S. CREATES MIGRANTS AND SCAPEGOATS THEM

Western politicians have used African migrants as a scapegoat for the failings of capitalism, blaming our people for few decent jobs and high crime, despite no evidence to back up the claims. As @theconsciouslee recently highlighted, US Republican presidential contender Donald Trump has made false claims that Congolese criminals are getting into the US.

However, our people are merely escaping countries that the West has propped up, exploited and corrupted. For example, the instability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) began after decades of g*nocide under the Belgian king’s rule during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Then, the US, UK, Belgium and Congolese forces backed the 1961 assassination of the DRC’s visionary Pan-Africanist prime minister, Patrice Lumumba (1925-61).

Continued.....Afterward, the West installed a reactionary named Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-97), who went on to loot Africa’s richest country over three decades. US allies Rwanda and Uganda have helped further destabilise Congo since the end of the mid-1990s Rwandan g*nocide.

It is a similar case across Haiti, Libya and countless other countries that the West has intervened in, creating migrant crises as people flee their homes.

Video credit: @theconsciouslee on X, TikTok, Instagram

Sources
Trump says Congolese criminals getting into country
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2024/jun/12/donald-trump/no-evidence-for-donald-trumps-claim-that-congo-is/


Migrants as a scapegoat
https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/02/10/us-should-stop-scapegoating-migrants


Western roots of instability in DRC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIENV2h6eYg


Rwanda, Uganda destabilize DRC
https://mronline.org/2023/11/06/if-the-u-s-told-rwanda-and-uganda-to-get-out-of-congo-the-war-would-end/

West destabilized Haiti
https://theconversation.com/assassinations-and-invasions-how-the-us-and-france-shaped-haitis-long-history-of-political-turmoil-164269

West destabilized Libya
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/17/libya-conflict-10-year-anniversary/

Niger's ability to provide food for its citizens has been impacted by ECOWAS sanctions which were in place from July 2023 to February 2024. On top of this, regional flooding likely caused by global climate change is impacting Niger's ability to grow its staple foods. Thus, the Nigerien government has decided to stop all exports of important cereals such as rice, sorghum, millet, and corn as well as legumes such as the cowpea to all countries outside of the AES. Niger's government is concerned with guaranteeing its own population its necessary food supply first and foremost.

Continued......The willingness to continue exports to Burkina Faso and Mali demonstrate Niger's commitment to unity among the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) countries. Niger is the third of the three countries to have a revolutionary anti-imperialist seize power through a military-led coup d'état. The three countries seek to unify into one single Pan-African federal state and have formed into a Pan-African confederation in the meantime. The citizens of the three countries, are increasingly adopting a shared AES identity and are in favour of a unification process.

SOURCES:

https://www.barrons.com/news/niger-bans-grain-exports-to-all-bar-burkina-mali-7f34e260

https://www.dw.com/en/niger-west-african-bloc-ecowas-lifts-post-coup-sanctions/a-68361861

Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia face increasing risks of abuse due to escalating clashes and violence, according to a report by Human Rights Watch. The conflict involves Ethiopian federal forces and Fano militias, one of several regional groups in the northwestern Amhara region. These clashes expose thousands of fleeing Sudanese to a range of serious abuses.

The report reveals that for over a year, unidentified gunmen have subjected refugees to killings, beatings, abductions, and forced labour. Those fleeing the civil war in Sudan are often provided with limited security in Ethiopia. Preliminary reports have been submitted to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Ethiopian government's Refugee and Returnee Services (RRS) for further action.

Currently, Ethiopia hosts over 90,000 Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers, including more than 38,000 who escaped the armed conflict that erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces in April 2023.

Continued.....https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/17/ethiopia-fighting-abuses-putting-sudanese-refugees-risk

https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/111270

IMF REFORMS PUSH 56% TO POVERTY IN NIGERIA

A World Bank report indicates that the reforms pushed by the IMF in Nigeria have exacerbated poverty levels. Since taking office, President Bola Tinubu has implemented measures aimed at 'economic revival' and attracting investors, such as removing fuel subsidies and liberalizing the Naira. However, these reforms have led to skyrocketing energy prices and the highest inflation in 30 years, at 30%. As a result, the poverty rate has surged from 40.1% in 2018 to 56% in 2024, with 129 million Nigerians now living in poverty.

The most vulnerable segments of Nigerian society have been hit hardest, with a declining standard of living. Despite this, institutions like the World Bank and IMF appear indifferent to the widening inequality when imposing reforms. Meanwhile, Nigeria's extreme wealth disparity persists, as the combined wealth of the country's five richest individuals, at $29.9 billion,

Continued….. could end extreme poverty, yet millions still face hunger, according to Oxfam.

In addition to poverty and inequality, corruption remains a major issue in Nigeria, which these global financial institutions seem to overlook. Between 1960 and 2005, approximately $20 trillion was embezzled from the country's treasury by public officials. What, then, is the sense of impoverishing an already struggling population despite the majority of Nigerians not benefiting from its vast natural resources or World Bank/ IMF debt?

Let us know what you think.

Sources.
More than 50% of Nigeria in poverty
https://www.gulftoday.ae/news/2024/10/19/more-than-half-of-nigerians-live-in-poverty-world-bank

IMF backed Nigeria reforms
https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/05/08/pr-24144-nigeria-executive-board-concludes-2024-art-iv-consultation

Nigeria inequality
https://www.oxfam.org/en/nigeria-extreme-inequality-numbers

Nigeria looted trillions
https://www.oxfam.org/en/nigeria-extreme-inequality-numbers