'WE ARE BLACK FIRST!'

'We can't let where the boat dropped us off define who we are,' Laz Alonso (@lazofficial) powerfully reminded us on the Hollywood Unlocked (@hollywoodunlockedUL) entertainment news platform. 

The actor, known for roles including in the film 'Fast and Furious' (2009), referred to how the European Slave Trade sold kidnapped Africans in various parts of the Americas. Yet, modern Black people identify more with the countries they now find themselves in rather than recognising our shared African heritage. This mindset is crucial because, in the eyes of the oppressors, we're African first. 

Let us know what you think in the comments.

Video credit: @hollywoodunlockedUL (X)

Continued.......Sources:

1. https://time.com/6213368/afro-latino-history/

2. https://hispanicwealthproject.org/features/celebrating-afro-latinos-cultural-richness

3. https://www.un.org/en/un-chronicle/legacy-slavery-caribbean-and-journey-towards-justice#:~:text=Some%2040%20per%20cent%20of,principal%20market%20for%20enslaved%20labour.

4. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/05/02/about-6-million-u-s-adults-identify-as-afro-latino/

5. https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/26/us/black-latinos-afro-latinos-experience/index.html

6. https://www.kqed.org/news/11905454/we-are-black-we-just-speak-spanish-why-some-afro-latinos-want-more-visibility-during-black-history-month

SEX OR STARVATION: SUDANESE WOMEN
ABUSED BY AID WORKERS

Sudanese women escaping the war in Sudan are finding themselves at the mercy of those expected to protect them: aid workers.

Refugees in a Chadian camp are reporting cases of abuse and exploitation, alleging that humanitarian personnel are forcing them to have sex - withholding food, shelter and security if they refuse.

Although aid organisations have banned (even consensual) sex between workers and beneficiaries, such cases have been reported for decades. Yet, save for repetitive statements of condemnation, there seem to be no consequences for those who abuse their position of power.

Sources

https://apnews.com/article/chad-sudan-war-refugees-sexual-exploitation-49b3d344da3573d4abe06bb7c3be965e

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/2022/09/22/exclusive-alleged-sex-abuse-aid-workers-unchecked-years-un-run-south-sudan-camp

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2022/9/22/sex-abuse-allegations-against-aid-workers-in-south-sudan-un-camp

BURKINA FASO: OUT WITH COLONIAL LEGAL ATTIRE

Burkina Faso can do fashion revolutions as well as ideological ones!

Black gowns and white wigs - the traditional attire of the country’s court magistrates and clerks since colonial times - are out. Legal-sector officials will now wear a locally-sourced and produced garment, made from the traditional Faso Dan Fani fabric.

Not only will this support the economy, it’s another example of Africans reshaping their institutions in accordance with their roots. Another win for the Sahel country!

Video credit: @RTB (YouTube)

Sources:

https://www.africanews.com/2022/10/06/ibrahim-traore-appointed-president-of-burkina-faso//

https://journaldufaso.com/les-magistrats-du-burkina-faso-adoptent-le-faso-dan-fani-une-revolution-dans-le-monde-judiciaire/

https://www.uni-kassel.de/forschung/files/Global_Partnership_Network/2023_MasterarbeitFionaFaye.pdf

Continued......Sources

https://www.judiciary.uk/about-the-judiciary/history-of-the-judiciary-in-england-and-wales/history

https://www.liberationschool.org/sankara-revolution-not-a-replica/

https://journaldufaso.com/les-magistrats-du-burkina-faso-adoptent-le-faso-dan-fani-une-revolution-dans-le-monde-judiciaire/#google_vignette

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zxc2vj6#zhk6g2p

'NO SUCH THING AS A PALESTINIAN' - U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL

In these viral clips, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee’s pro-Israel positions are on display. 

Over the years, the evangelical preacher and former Arkansas governor has endorsed the ongoing Israel's ongoing illegal expansion and occupation of Palestinian lands. Huckabee has also rejected the two-state solution while supporting Israel's plan to annex the West Bank. The 69-year-old Republican Party member has advocated for the relocation of Palestinians from their indigenous lands, saying enough land is available elsewhere to re-settle them. In fact, members of the Zi*nist movement—with Zi*nism being a political ideology that uses Judaism for imperialist purposes—had considered establishing Israel in East Africa before shifting their attention to Palestine.

Continued......It seems Trump, who branded himself an anti-war candidate, may expand on President Joe Biden’s catastrophic West Asia policy that has enabled Israel to k*ll at least 186,000 in Gaza as of early July, according to the Lancet medical journal, and more than 3,500 in Lebanon.

Have a watch, and please share your thoughts.

Credit: @CNN

Before you blow off some steam, remember venting your anger might feel good at the time but it’s not very productive in the long run. As this Nigerian proverb nicely puts it, rage won’t feed you.

Momodou Taal, a 30-year-old PhD student at Cornell University in the United States, will neither be disenrolled from the institution nor deported from the country after the British national of Gambian origin won an appeal in October that reversed the university’s decision to expel him. 

Cornell suspended Taal in September for taking part in shutting down a career fair featuring weapons manufacturers, L3Harris and Boeing, which arm Israel. 

Taal, who is Muslim and participates in pro-Palestine activities, is banned from accessing campus premises and is not allowed to teach a course on Blackness and the racialisation process. However, he is allowed to complete his dissertation. Had Cornell expelled Taal, he would have lost his student visa and immediately been deported from the US.

Continued........
University officials bowed to intense pressure from students, faculty, alums and activists to reverse their decision. Taal's predicament came in the backdrop of a massive student protest movement across US universities demanding a US arms embargo and a ceasefire in Gaza. During April and May, students pitched Palestine solidarity tents on campus grounds, demanding their colleges divest from companies supporting Israel.

Photo credit: @momodoutaal on X

Sources:

https://links.org.au/united-states-students-movement-palestine-needs-everyone

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/cornell-protest-palestine-immigration-1235112444/

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2024/10/11/cornell-international-grad-student-says-he-wont-be-deported

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/it-bittersweet-cornell-university-over-suspension-mamadou-taal

GHANAIAN YOUTH NEED JOBS NOT HANDOUTS

This resurfaced viral clip shows frustrated young people in Ghana rejecting rice handouts - sent in by a minster who’d promised jobs at the last election. The clip (from July 2021) has become a symbol of Ghanaians’ dissatisfaction with political leaders who fail to address the root causes of unemployment and economic instability.

As a fresh election nears, both presidential candidates, Mahamudu Bawumia of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) and John Dramani Mahama of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), are promising to address the country's economic challenges.