AIME CESAIRE : EUROPE IS INDEFENSIBLE

Martiniquan poet and politician Aimé Césaire reading from his brilliant Discourse on Colonialism (1950).

The essay explores the damning implications of colonialism - for the coloniser. Césaire wanted to think through the consequences of building a civilisation based on exploitation and oppression. The essay came at a time when Europeans were still reeling from the horrors of WWII. Césaire reminds us that these shouldn’t have come as a surprise to anyone with a nodding acquaintance of colonial atrocities. The real shock was that it was inflicted on fellow Europeans.

Continued.....SOURCES:

https://files.libcom.org/files/zz_aime_cesaire_robin_d.g._kelley_discourse_on_colbook4me.org_.pdf

https://violencespolicieres.fr/signalement/8197/#martinique-une-enquete-pour-violences-ouverte-contre-la-crs-8

https://www.la-croix.com/france/vie-chere-en-martinique-des-policiers-blesses-lors-d-affrontements-avec-des-manifestants-20241008#:~:text=Onze%20policiers%20ont%20été%20blessés%20lundi%207%20octobre%20en%20Martinique,île%2C%20a%20indiqué%20la%20préfecture.

https://www.palestineiseverywhere.com

How important is leadership? Will a great people under a lesser leader succumb to weaker forces led by someone great? We might want to take this week's African Proverb seriously, considering our leaders' quality (or lack thereof) outside the Sahel and a few other notable exceptions. Can we achieve what we need to accomplish in our countries, offices and elsewhere if sheep lead us?

MALCOLM X: ENTERTAINERS ARE
PUPPETS OF WHITE-SUPREMACY

The failed Kamala Harris campaign wheeled out a string of Black celebrities to sway the community’s vote, which reminded us of this Malcolm X gem. As he says, entertainers are not political leaders. Worse, more often than not, they’re simply puppets - used by the White-supremacist system to keep Black people distracted from the real issues.

SOURCES:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n88ONdIISV4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oozaVp5M93g

IS BOTSWANA'S NEW PRESIDENT UNDER THE CONTROL OF FOREIGN INTERESTS?

After nearly 60 years of being governed by one political party, Botswana has a new president and ruling party. Amid the euphoria that the change-of-guard has brought to the diamond-rich nation, there are concerns that the new president, Duma Boko, has ties to some not-so-progressive forces - including right-wing liaisons and links to controversial business people. African Stream's William Sakawa dives deeper.

Angola gained independence on this day in 1975 after centuries of Portuguese colonialism. The Portuguese presence in the Southern African nation of goes as far back as 1448, explorers arrived on the country's coast. They established settlements and moved inland to exploit natural resources and enslave Africans, shipping them off to Brazil and other colonies.

In the mid-20th century, the anti-colonial movement gained traction and became formalised with the emergence of organisations such as the leftist Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola. Continued suppression led the MPLA and other groups to launch an armed struggle against the Portuguese in 1961. This lasted until 1974, when Portugal's military dictatorship was overthrown by young military officers who were more open to freeing the country's African colonies.

Continued......In January 1975, MPLA and other liberation groups met with the new Portuguese government and signed the Alvor Agreement, paving way for the country's independence. Ideological differences between the three independence movements led to decades of civil war.

The country is still healing from this conflict but is trying to build itself up on the back of significant oil resources. Alas, in recent years, the ruling MPLA, which has governed the country since independence, has been accused of abandoning its revolutionary roots and transforming into a kleptocratic organisation serving the interests of Western governments and oil companies.

SOURCES:

https://nasseryouthmovement.net/AngolaDay-3306

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/11/30/fact-sheet-the-u-s-angola-partnership/#:~:text=Angola%20is%20a%20strategic%20partner,in%20Africa%20and%20the%20Atlantic.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/may/25/kissinger-at-100-the-bloody-dreadful-filthy-angolan-civil-war-in-pictures
https://thediplomaticinsight.com/angola-celebrates-independence-day-2/
https://www.britannica.com/place/Angola/History

WHAT IS PAN-AFRICAN VETERANS DAY?

Every year since 1954, Veterans Day (11 November) has honoured military veterans who have served in the US armed forces. However, it is crucial to examine the role of patriotic celebrations in the world's largest empire built on unceded land and through the labour of enslaved people. 

In the case of the United States, the military serves imperialism, a system that benefits a small group of wealthy individuals through military domination.

At African Stream, we instead choose to honour revolutionary African heroes worldwide by celebrating Pan-African Veterans Day. From the Black Liberation Army in the US to Afro-Cuban revolutionary Victor Emilio Cruz, our fighters sacrificed their lives to combat the dehumanisation of African people everywhere and the exploitation of our people and natural resources.

Check out this video we published on 11 November 2023 featuring Salifu Mack (@pititlafrik) and let us know your thoughts on Pan-African Veterans Day.

END THE GENOCIDE! IT'S NOT A WAR - UN EXPERT

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, recently summed up Israel's 76-year occupation of Palestine as a 'settler-colonial conflict' and a g*nocide, not a 'war between two armies.'

Speaking before the UN's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Albanese (@franceskalbs on X) described Israel's ongoing military onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza as the most 'basic infringement of the law of self-determination.' She argued that the Palestine question must be seen through the framework of settler colonialism to employ a proper application of international law.

Continued......In 'Bad News from Israel,' a 2011 book documenting the findings of extensive research on the BBC's coverage of Israel's occupation of Palestine, authors @greg_philo (X) and Mike Berry showed that the broadcaster did not provide viewers with in-depth context or include the perspective of Palestinians. International media has continued to publish this skewed portrayal.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments

SOURCES:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45243578_Bad_News_from_Israel

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2024/jul/08/greg-philo-obituary

https://www.plutobooks.com/author/greg-philo/

https://profiles.cardiff.ac.uk/staff/berrym1

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/western-media-frames-events-of-oct-7-as-having-triggered-israeli-palestinian-conflict-expert/3371128

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154496

MEDIA DOWNPLAYS ISRAELI FANS’ BEHAVIOUR

The mainstream media’s reporting on the recent attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam has been criticised not only for failing to provide the full context but also for its condemnation of a pogrom that never happened. While picking up American and European leaders’ allegation of anti-Semitism, outlets downplayed the behaviour of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in the lead-up to, and during, the match.

For example, Sky News retracted and re-edited a report posted on the network’s social-media pages that had depicted Israeli fans as instigators - alleging they’d shouted racist chants. This report had also noted that “Israeli far-right ultras are notorious for their racism and physical violence.” Meanwhile, Reuters used double standards when describing the abuse shouted by Israelis and Arabs - using ‘slurs’ in the one case, and simply ‘slogans’ in the other.

Continued... There are also accusations of ‘manufactured anti-Semitism’ - spread to justify alleged initial violence by Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters. Some would argue that the flawed media coverage has only reinforced a supposed Israeli ‘monopoly’ on victimhood - one that some Israelis allegedly exploit to license bad behaviour in the streets of Amsterdam as well as in Gaza. (In July, British medical journal The Lancet reported Gaza's death toll could be over 186,000 and climbing, given Israel has not relented since the October 7 escalation of violence in the ongoing 76-year-old occupation.)

Sources:

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/news/2024/11/10/sky-news-maccabi-tel-aviv-amsterdam/

https://www.reuters.com/pictures/pictures-israeli-soccer-fans-attacked-by-antisemitic-squads-amsterdam-2024-11-08/

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/amsterdam-violence-an-explosion-of-anti-semitism-says-citys-mayor/vi-AA1tKee8

https://x.com/POTUS/status/1854953886328799588

https://x.com/EmmanuelMacron/status/1854865167181308409

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/11/no-there-were-no-antisemitic-pogroms-in-amsterdam-heres-what-really-happened/

https://www.yahoo.com/news/more-60-arrested-amsterdam-attack-234941255.html

https://x.com/SMohyeddin/status/1854756872982581396/video/3

https://9gag.com/gag/a7oWr5L

https://x.com/i/status/1854720159077872104

EQUATORIAL GUINEA SEX-TAPE LEAKS A GAME OF THRONES?

Reports have surfaced alleging the leaked sex tapes involving Baltasar Engonga, a prominent official and the 54-year-old nephew of Equatorial Guinea’s 82-year-old president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, may be part of a power struggle in the ageing president’s administration.

Engonga’s intimate videos with women who reportedly are connected to people close to the government spread online a few days after authorities seized his devices during an investigation into alleged embezzlement. The reports suggest the leaks may be politically motivated by Nguema’s son, Vice President Teodoro Obiang Mangue, 56, and his mother, who are allegedly sidelining rivals to secure Obiang’s succession according to Equatoguinean activist Esimi Cruz of the rights organization GE Nuestra.

Continued……. Sources
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr4ledr19nyo

Poverty in E. Guinea
https://www.unfpa.org/data/transparency-portal/unfpa-equatorial-guinea

Obiang, Engonga all represent the decadent elite class
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-58001750