NO JAIL, NO FINE FOR UHURU 3

What started with FBI raids in 2022 that ransacked and destroyed the African People’s Socialist Party’s (APSP) properties in Saint Petersburg, Florida, and Saint Louis, Missouri, and proceeded with chants of ‘Not one day, not one dime,’ ended with federal judge William Jung ruling against prison time on 16 December for party founder and chairman Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Solidarity Committee (APSC) Chairperson Penny Hess and APSC mass organisation Uhuru Solidarity Movement National Chair Jesse Nevel. The ‘Uhuru 3,’ as they came to be known, each faced five years behind bars and a $250,000 fine following convictions in September for conspiring to act as foreign agents. They had been acquitted on the charge of acting as Russian agents.

The judge deemed prison time unnecessary in a free-speech case, instead sentencing each person to three years of probation and 300 hours of community service.

Continued…………The court banned the Uhuru 3 from contacting Russian nationals during probation. They are appealing the conviction, saying it violates their freedom of speech.

‘When they indicted us, they expected us to fold. They expected us to run or to take a plea, which is mainly how they achieved their 99 per cent conviction rate in federal criminal cases,’ Yeshitela’s granddaughter told the WFTS TV station in Tampa Bay (@abcactionnews on X). ‘We didn't fold. We didn't run.’

The party’s anti-war and self-determining position has made them a prime target for the US state. The group has worked toward reparations for descendants of enslaved Africans, the unification of African states under a single socialist government and the release of political prisoners. In the United States, they have built institutions for Africans, including a prisoner-transition programme and a doula school. 

Last week, the judge sentenced a fourth defendant, Augustus C Romain Jr, to five years’ probation. Romain, better known as 'Gazi Kodzo,' was the party's secretary-general until a 2018 expulsion. Romain was prosecuted on similar charges while running another organisation they founded, Black Hammer. The judge ordered them to participate in mental-health treatment and submit to random drug tests.

You can follow the Uhuru 3 and their organisations on X: @apspusa, @omaliyeshitela, @PennyAPSC, @uhurusolidarity, @realJesseNevel

Sources
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/12/13/uhuru_three_case_russian_agents_accusation

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-hillsborough/the-uhuru-3-sentenced-to-probation-and-community-service-no-prison

https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2024/12/16/uhuru-3-trial-tampa-russian-election-interference-meddling-sentence

https://apspuhuru.org/2018/11/18/important-psa-of-the-african-peoples-socialist-party

https://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-news/leader-of-atlanta-based-radical-group-sentenced-for-working-with-russian-agent/4COW2BWBBFGCDA5JEW24PC7QMM/

UHURU MOVEMENT FOUNDER SHOW’S WEST’S HYPOCRISY ON HAITI

The Uhuru Movement will avoid jail time following trumped-up charges of them being Russian agents. The movement is characterized by its antiwar position, which has put it at odds with the US empire. The movement also agitates for reparations for Black people whose ancestors built the wealth of the United States, the unification of Africa under socialism and the release of Black political prisoners.

In this video from August 2023, we had the honour to speak to the founder, Omali Yeshitela. Using Haiti, he points to the hypocrisy of the US attempting to put him behind bars for his activism when the real criminals, France and the U.S, still posture as vivacious actors. France forced Haiti to pay reparations for decades to enslavers for the loss of ‘their property’. The US, on the other hand, is responsible for multiple regime change operations and the theft of Haiti’s gold, all while painting Haitians as somehow unable to govern their affairs.

Assata Shakur, a Black Liberation Army member exiled in Cuba since 1984, is the only person among the top 10 on the FBI's 'Most Wanted Terrorists' list who is not an Islamic militant.

You see, long before the Islamic terrorist 'threat,' the United States had a long history of vilifying African freedom fighters who could care less to sing 'kumbaya' and just 'get along' with everyone (particularly their oppressors) at the expense of their own freedom.

This week's dash of Wednesday Wisdom reminds us that freedom is not something that is handed over to the oppressed by their oppressors simply because the oppressed appeal to the oppressor's 'moral sense.'

Continued……If freedom was so easily won, the oppressed would not march for decades and sing the same songs. It is not that the oppressors are unaware of the morally defunct nature of their actions. Rather, it is that the benefits to them outweigh the freedom of those they oppress. Time and time again, history has proven that people must 'fight' for their freedom, not ask politely.

Sources:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/100322.Assata

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/terrorism

Continued……. Washington has about 750 bases in at least 80 countries (including 26 African ones) worldwide. All of them require fossil fuels for their operations, contributing to waste and pollution. In Africa, the risks are even more pronounced, with deforestation for military operations (amongst other factors) pushing countries closer to severe climate change.

Sources:

1. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/papers/ClimateChangeandCostofWar

2. https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/us-military-and-oil

3.guardian.
4. https://theconversation.com/us-military-is-a-bigger-polluter-than-as-many-as-140-countries-shrinking-this-war-machine-is-a-must-119269

5. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/12/elephant-in-the-room-the-us-militarys-devastating-carbon-footprint

Continued….. 6. https://watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/files/cow/imce/papers/Pentagon%20Fuel%20Use%2C%20Climate%20Change%20and%20the%20Costs%20of%20War%20Revised%20November%202019%20Crawford.pdf


7. https://theconversation.com/the-defense-department-is-worried-about-climate-change-and-also-a-huge-carbon-emitter-118017

8. https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2023/06/08/if-dod-cares-about-security-in-africa-it-must-reduce-co2-emissions/

REMEMBERING STEVE BIKO

One of South Africa's most illustrious anti-apartheid icons, Stephen (Steve) Bantu Biko, was born on this day in 1946.

From an early age, he demonstrated intellectual and political prowess. While in high school, he became involved in student activism against the racist apartheid policies. This resulted in his expulsion from school. However, he managed to find another school through the help of his elder brother. After successfully completing high school, he enrolled as a medical student in the Black section of the segregated University of Natal. He continued with his political activism and helped found the South African Students Organisation (SASO) in 1969 to represent the interests of Black students, whom he felt were being discriminated against in the White-dominated National Union of South African Students (NUSAS).

Continued……. Within the auspices of SASO, Biko founded the Black Consciousness Movement (BMC), which aimed to liberate the minds of Black people from apartheid propaganda, which constantly told them they were inferior to White people.

By the ‘70s, Biko's activism had gained nationwide acclaim. He was one of the leading Black voices that filled the gap created by the banning of liberation movements such as the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) in the 1960s.

However, his activism eventually put him in the racist regime's crosshairs. He was arrested on 18 August 1977 in Eastern Cape province and detained by the notorious 'security' branch of the apartheid police force. While in detention, Biko was severely tortured, leading to his death on 12 September.

Biko's shocking death sparked outrage across South Africa and beyond. More than 20,000 people turned up for his funeral in his hometown of King Williams Town.

Despite being brutally cut short, Biko's life was so impactful on his country's society impact it continues to be felt today. His death at the hands of the apartheid regime robbed the country of a future leader who would have played a key role in post-apartheid South Africa, a country he was so passionate about.

In his memory, we've selected this clip, where he speaks about the South Africa he envisioned. In this prophetic speech, Biko warned that if racist economic structures were not dismantled, the majority of Black people would remain trapped in poverty - even after the fall of apartheid.

Some fifty years later, Biko's words ring true. In today's South Africa, White people still hold over two-thirds of the country's wealth, despite making up less than ten per cent of the population.

Sources:

https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/099125003072240961/p1649270b73f1f0b5093fb0e644d33bc6f1

https://www.ictj.org/node/35024

https://www.npr.org/2024/06/14/nx-s1-5003237/south-africa-anc-da-national-unity-government-coalition

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cw9yx5w9577o

https://theguard.co.za/new-cabinet-members-to-be-sworn-in/

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/afrikaner-police-admit-to-killing-stephen-biko

TRAORÉ BONDS WITH BURKINA FASO CHILDREN

Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traoré recently dedicated half of his busy work day to hosting more than 200 children on 21 November to commemorate World Children's Day, which falls on 20 November.

Originating from the Sahel state's 13 regions, the youngsters began the day on a patriotic note, raising the national flag alongside Traoré. Watch as a child representative briefs the head of state on their legislative meeting, where child labour in the nation's mines and maternal and children’s healthcare were among the topics discussed.

Some have described Traoré, 36, as a reincarnation of President Thomas Sankara (1949-87), Burkina Faso's assassinated pan-Africanist leader. Along with Mali's Assimi Goïta and Niger's Abdourahamane Tiani, the three have booted the French military, curbed French influence in media, begun nationalising natural resources, and established the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) confederation that shares defence, economic and foreign policies.

Continued……Africa is the world's youngest continent, with a median age of 19. With leaders like Traoré (@capitaineib226 on X) inspiring the youth, Africa's future is in good hands.

Video credit: BF1 Television (@bf1tv on X)

Sources:

https://lefaso.net/spip.php?article134353

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/africas-median-age-about-19-median-age-its-leaders-about-63

https://trtafrika.com/insight/ibrahim-traore-why-burkina-fasos-leader-attracts-attention-14479334

https://www.facebook.com/arfsBlog/posts/world-childrens-day-burkina-faso-the-president-of-the-transition-head-of-state-c/896715458485368/

https://www.ecofinagency.com/public-management/0602-45178-burkinas-captain-ibrahim-traore-signals-major-shift-amidst-ecowas-departure-cfa-exit-may-follow

CNN CAUGHT LYING IN SYRIA

CNN has made the news for publishing what fact-checking organisation Verify-Sy says is a staged story of a Syrian prisoner gaining freedom after allegedly enduring jail time under the now-fallen government of Bashar al-Assad. International correspondent Clarissa Ward claimed to have witnessed the release of the man, who Verify-Sy says is Salama Mohammad Salama, an alleged extortionist and thief who worked in Syrian Air Force intelligence.

While CNN can mislead its global audience with a staged story, other media, like African Stream, are banned for publishing factual reports that challenge those in power. In September, tech giants Meta, Alphabet, TikTok and Stripe deleted our accounts after we published a story about how all US presidents since George W Bush have bombed Somalia.

To support the fight for media integrity, follow us on X (@african_stream) for factual, anti-imperialist content. You can also find us on Bluesky, Patreon, Rumble, Telegram and X.