Continued……. He contends that such a position allows for the continuation of a war whose death toll is now said to be grossly underestimated, with reports of 60,000 people killed just in Sudan’s Khartoum State. He emphasizes that the SAF has been hijacked by Islamists dating back three decades. Consequently, the Sudanese regular army, rather than being representative of the Sudanese people, is an Islamist-led force.

Islamist rule in Sudan is mainly responsible for the vicious cycles of wars the country has been subjected to. Therefore, professor Kaballo argues that the current military leadership cannot spearhead genuine reform or justice and that Sudan needs civilian-led governance.

The whole episode of this critical discussion between African Stream’s editor-in-chief Ahmed Kaballo and his father is available on X, Patreon, and Rumble.

Sources:

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudan-army-air-strikes-kills-over-100-north-darfur-market

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/14/sudan-war-death-toll-much-higher-than-previously-recorded-new-study-finds

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/14/sudan-war-death-toll-much-higher-than-previously-recorded-new-study-finds

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN BELLA

On this day in 1916, independent Algeria’s first elected president, a true revolutionary fighter, was born.

Ben Bella's journey to prominence began during World War II, in which he actually fought for his colonial master, France. For this, he was awarded the Croix de Guerre. However, the massacre of Algerians by French forces on 8 May 1945 was a turning point - it spurred him to organise resistance against colonial oppression.

His leadership of the National Liberation Front (FLN) during Algeria's war of independence was instrumental to the country's liberation in 1962. Following independence, he held significant political roles, serving as prime minister and later as first elected president. His tenure was marked by efforts to rebuild Algeria and implement reforms aimed at national development, including campaigns for literacy and land redistribution.

Continued……Internationally, Ben Bella was a proponent of pan-Africanism and sought to strengthen alliances among emerging nations. He collaborated with leaders such as Gamal Abdel Nasser, Kwame Nkrumah and Che Guevara to support liberation movements across Africa. Despite his overthrow in 1965 and years of isolation, Ben Bella remained committed to pushing for reform and global solidarity until his death at the age of 95.

His legacy as a champion for the oppressed and an advocate for socio-economic equality continues to inspire generations.

Happy birthday, Ahmed Ben Bella!

JESUS WAS BLACK IN AFRICA BEFORE HE WAS WHITE!

Many assume Christianity in Africa was a purely Western missionary import. However, as Ethiopian Christian Orthodox history shows, the religion was on the continent as early as the 4th century AD. It was heavily influenced by local Ethiopian culture. Depictions of figures such as Jesus and the apostles show them with dark skin and giant afros - very different from the blond-haired, blue-eyed figure many associate Jesus with. The Ethiopian Bible is also among the oldest and contains 81 books, 15 more than the King James’ 66.

Surely it is time we replace the images of White Jesus with this more historically accurate one especially on our continent.

We often get trolls in the comments asking us why we post about Palestine and why Africans should care?

The answer is simple: as Africans, we can view the Palestinian struggle for self-determination and justice as analogous to our historical struggles against colonialism and apartheid. This shared history of fighting oppression fosters a sense of solidarity against imperialist forces.

But the late honourable Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr, (1929-68) has a much better answer than that featured in this week’s Wednesday’s Wisdom, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’

Source:

https://www.gphistorical.org/mlk/mlkspeech/

ETHIOPIAN JEWS STERILISED IN ISRAEL

Aside from Palestinians, Ethiopian Jews have faced their own form of ethnic cleansing in the Zionist state. For decades, Israel hustled to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel. However, since they arrived in the country, they have suffered rampant racism and have frequently complained of being treated like second-class citizens. Then, from 2003 to 2013, the community experienced a 50 per cent decline in its birthrate. Israel admitted in 2013 that it had been injecting Ethiopian Jewish women—without their knowledge—with the contraceptive drug Depo-Provera, which can prevent pregnancy for months at a time.

Watch @leadingleah break it down and let us know what you think in the comments.

Video Credit: @leadingleah (Tik Tok)

ETHIOPIA'S ROCK CHURCHES: AFRICAN CIVILISATION ON DISPLAY

The Lalibela churches in Ethiopia are a complex of religious buildings that were skillfully carved out of stone in the 12th century. The churches are not only architectural marvels that have stood the test of time. They also serve as a clapback to racists, who often say colonialism and slavery brought 'civilisation' to Africa. Outstanding African civilisations, such as Lalibela, show this theory has no legs to stand on.

IS RELIGION HOLDING BACK AFRICA?

The oft-quoted Jomo Kenyatta saying goes something like, ‘When the white man came, he had the Bible. We had the land. He told us to shut our eyes and pray. When we opened them, he had the land. We had the Bible.’

While we cannot dismiss the ancient grassroots history of Christianity in Africa, the European version of the cross came before the flag, with missionaries paving the way for European settlers to permeate the continent. Initiatives like missionary education for the natives supported the colonial project and created a class of African elites to govern us after ‘flag independence’ in the mid-20th century.

COLONIAL METAPHOR IN 'GOLDEN BALLS' GAME SHOW?

In the British game show, 'Golden Balls,' which aired between 2007 and 2009, contestants competed to win as much money as possible by choosing from balls containing prizes ranging from £10 to £75,000 (or $12.74 to $95,580 in today's dollars). In the game's final round, the two remaining contestants must choose whether to 'split' or 'steal' the jackpot.

In this episode, a Black contestant trusted her white rival to split the prize money so that she could donate the proceeds to her church. This came after the white contestant told her that she, too, was a Christian like her. However, shockingly (although we weren't shocked), that was just a ploy to bring down the Black player's guard so she could steal the entire prize money.

Some online are saying the episode itself is a metaphor for the relationship African people have with European people: Too trusting and easily fooled when it comes to promises predicated on religion.

Continued……. When the Portuguese first arrived in Africa in 1418, they came initially for trade and to spread Christianity, but it soon turned into a land grab to extract our resources for as little as possible whilst trading our people as slaves. Conversions to Christianity were used early on as a diversion only for religion to be imposed on the masses over time.

The late South African Bishop Desmond Tutu described the process best when he said: 'When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said, 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible, and they had the land.'

For many online, this clip symbolises how many of us have not learned from our history. Or is this just another case of the internet overthinking stuff?

Let us know in the comments.

BREAD REVOLUTIONS -THE TAX INGREDIENT

Bread is at the heart of politics across the world. It represents labour, life and livelihoods. Ruling classes down the ages have always offered ‘bread and circuses’ to keep a lid on mass discontent over unpopular policies. Kenya’s President William Ruto seems to have skipped a lesson on keeping citizens pacified when he attempted to ram through unpopular IMF-backed tax hikes, including a proposed 16% hike on bread. The IMF had warned Ruto’s administration that implementing steep tax hikes would spark civil unrest but urged the president to push ahead anyway. It set off a series of violent protests in which police officers reportedly killed more than 60. Ruto relented and declined to sign the bill. However, parts of the bill are reportedly being sneaked in.

Continued……African Stream’s Erick Gavala brushed up on his baking skills and takes us on a journey - from the oven to street protests, where much of history is fermented.

Written by @kenneth_kaigua and presented by @erickgavala

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce77ld43lngo

https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/editorials/sneaking-in-high-taxes-a-betrayal-of-citizens-4810086

https://nation.africa/kenya/business/imf-told-state-to-ignore-anti-tax-protests-4672248#story

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/06/kenya-security-forces-abducted-killed-protesters

https://reliefweb.int/report/kenya/kenya-security-forces-abducted-killed-protesters

ANTONY BLINKEN KNOWS WE DON’T WORK FOR RUSSIA

In 2024, African Stream was banned from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, even Gmail and Google Drive after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused us of being Kremlin propagandists. But what if he doesn’t believe his own claims, especially since he provided no proof to validate them? In this video clip from our ‘Africa’s End of Year Review’ livestream, journalist Inem Richardson states that Blinken most likely knows that African Stream is not Russian-funded. However, claiming that we’re Russian propagandists, puppets and parrots, sounds a lot better than stating outright that the US State Department opposes Pan-African ideas. She also points out that the targeting of Pan-African media is nothing new. Over 100-years ago the then-famous Negro World newspaper run by Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA) was also heavily targeted by imperialist powers.

The full video is on https://x.com/african_stream.

The Pentagon recently failed its 7th audit in a row, failing to account for $824 billion in defence expenditure.

Could one reason be its covert operations in Africa, supposedly to fight terrorism? Yet, terrorism in Africa grew exponentially after the start of US military operations on the continent.

According to a report by the Pentagon’s Africa Center for Strategic Studies, the number of Africans killed by terrorists jumped by an astonishing 100,000% in the last 2 decades since the US embarked on the Global War on Terror in 2001. The report adds that since then, the US has been providing billions of dollars in security assistance, training thousands of African military personnel, setting up military outposts, deploying special service troops on secret missions, creating proxy forces, launching drone strikes, and engaging in ground combat with militants in Africa.

Continued…….. In 2023, fatalities from terrorism in Africa soared to “a record level of lethal violence,” says the Center - 23,322 (versus 19,412 in 2022). Compare that with the 23 deaths blamed on terrorism in 2002-2003.

The two main theatres of US operations, the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, have seen large increases in civilian deaths. The al-Shabaab insurgency in Somalia claimed 7,643 lives in 2023.

With 29 bases across our continent and millions of dollars spent, is AFRICOM (United States Africa Command) - launched in 2007 - good for Africa’s security? Or is it a magnet for malign forces?

Sources:

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/africa-terrorism/

https://breakingdefense.com/2024/11/pentagon-fails-7th-audit-in-a-row-eyes-passing-grade-by-2028/

https://www.twz.com/8008/a-guide-to-the-pentagons-shadowy-network-of-bases-in-africa

https://theintercept.com/2020/02/27/africa-us-military-bases-africom/

SAHEL STATES LEADING AFRICA’S DECOLONISATION

Guinea’s first president and Pan-Africanist leader, Ahmed Sékou Touré (1922-84), championed the revolutionary idea that Africa should ‘liquidate all dependence complex’ by striving to achieve ‘real’ and ‘complete’ ‘independence,’ for imperialism cannot survive in countries that are culturally, socially, ideologically, politically and economically independent.

Touré, we are sure, would agree with the analysis of our panel in this video that Africa can only realise real democracy by gaining total independence from domination by former colonial powers and modern-day imperialists. The Sahel trio of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, who bravely kicked out the French military from their soil with the support of the country’s populace, are an inspiring example of decolonisation in action. Not to mention Niger booted US troops, too. These states are moving to reclaim their sovereignty and control over their natural resources.

Continued………. As our man, William Sakawa, notes, the East African state of Kenya espouses Western-style democratic values. But is Kenya genuinely democratic if its leaders ignore the wishes of its citizens, such as when thousands rushed into the streets to denounce International Monetary Fund-backed tax hikes? Has Kenya gained independence from Britain, given the British military maintains a base in Nanyuki, where its troops commit atrocities against the local communities?

Subscribe to our X handle @african_stream and watch the entire discussion that we posted a few days ago. We are also on BlueSky, Patreon, Rumble and Telegram.

Sources:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/532497

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c7ve6y735djo

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/02/thousands-rally-in-niger-seeking-withdrawal-of-french-troops

FANCY A BANANA BEER?

Let’s make banana beer. Africans were using locally available crops to brew beer long before Europeans introduced their own techniques, but East Africans stand out in this respect. Their traditional beer is made with bananas. We travelled to Rwanda to find out how urwagwa - a local blend of crushed bananas - is made.

‘LIBERATE AFRICA LIBERATE MANKIND’

Mukasa Dada’s well known for his role popularising the slogan “Black Power.”
He did it alongside Kwame Ture as a youth organiser in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC).
That may have been a few years back, but he hasn’t stopped preaching the message.
In this clip, Dada talks at the recent Socialist Horizon conference in Atlanta, GA, USA.
From civil rights to anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism, many SNCC veterans like him have lived their lives fighting to build Pan-Africanism, which they define as “one united socialist Africa.”
His flair for public speaking has earned him the nickname “The Reverend”.
Listening to this, you’ll understand why.

NGO IMPERIALISM: TOOLS OF REGIME CHANGE

Aid organisations are generally thought of as good things. Humanity in action, as it were. But dig a little deeper, and it soon becomes clear that the primary purpose of some of the NGOs and humanitarian groups operating around the world today is not helping people - rather, it’s political: they are tools of regime change and Western-interest protection.