DRC TO PALESTINE: GLENCORE’S GLOBAL WEB OF DESTRUCTION

If you want an example of how a multinational can destroy local communities worldwide, Glencore is probably as good as any.

The Swiss-based commodity trader and miner helps fuel the g*nocide in Gaza by selling Israel coal from South Africa and Columbia. Elsewhere, it makes millions from the extraction of minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, corrupt deals have seen it avoid DRC taxes, and its activities have left a trail of environmental destruction.

William Sakawa looks at the global web of suffering brought by one conglomerate and the need for a unified response.

AMERICANS TAUGHT DISTORTED HISTORY OF SLAVERY

Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, it remains a stubborn myth that the North of the US was not involved in slavery. The prevailing narrative is that slavery was only deeply entrenched in the societal fabric of the South.

In this clip, speaking in support of H.R. 40, a bill proposing a commission to study reparations for slavery, filmmaker Katrina Browne, a Philadelphia native, explains how the North was complicit in slavery.

Along with nine relatives, Browne retraced her own family journey, discovering that they were the largest slave-trading family in US history - transporting over 12,000 Africans to the Americas in chains.

Continued…….. She recounts that learning the history of her Rhode-Island ancestors led to the realisation that the only reason most Americans are ignorant of the North’s slave history is because Americans are taught a distorted version of history.

Browne spotlights facts that contradict the idea that the North had little involvement, including the fact that Rhode Island, where her family roots lie, sent more ships to Africa in the European slave trade than any other state in the slave business, which spanned across centuries. A wide array of industries in the North profited as a result - from shipping to finance - meaning that slavery was largely responsible for the economic rise of the US as a whole.

Browne ended by stating that an understanding of true history should come with acceptance of the realities of what Black people were subjected to at the hands of White enslavers. She said that what Black people want is true understanding and repair, which must encompass meaningful solutions such as reparations to rectify the injustices, not revenge.

Video Credit: C-Span.org

ONE OF THE GREATEST ROMAN EMPERORS WAS AFRICAN

European historical accounts often whitewash the role of African figures.

The perfect example is that of North African warrior emperor Septimius Severus, who spearheaded construction of a 3-mile-long wall sometime between the years AD 190 and AD 225 to protect the Roman city of Londinium. Much of the wall no longer surrounds the city now known as London.

Septimius Severus is considered one of the greatest Romans to have ever arrived in Britain. Yet, his statue in the British Museum and in other European sites suggests he was a European. While Africa is the birthplace of humanity and our ancestors passed physical traits to create all of the people we see around the world, how likely is it that Severus looked like a Roman or an Englishman?

Here’s a brief look into his story and accomplishments in Britain. Let us know if you would like more content decolonising great Africans’ role in ancient and contemporary history.  

AKUFO AND RUTO SELLING OUT AFRICA

As the Sahel trio of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger lead Africa’s decolonisation, some African leaders are moving in the opposite direction, surrendering our sovereignty to imperialists. Two of these leaders, Ghana’s outgoing president, Nana Akufo-Addo, and Kenya’s much-protested president, William Ruto, have gained notoriety for their subservience to neocolonialists. 

Akufo-Addo recently celebrated receiving the Légion d’Honneur (Legion of Honour) from French President Emmanuel Macron, the highest civilian award for ‘outstanding service to France’.

Continued……. At the same time, Ghana struggles with a cost-of-living crisis, partly due to its foreign debts. Meanwhile, Ruto, who defied a High Court order by deploying police officers to Haiti, helped advance a centuries-old imperialist agenda to destroy the once-sovereign Caribbean island nation despite Kenya being barely able to keep a grip on bandits and al-Shabaab t*rrorists.

It’s clear sovereignty has slipped from our hands in certain parts of the continent, and it’s up to us to reclaim it.

Watch the entire discussion on our X handle, @african_stream, where you can subscribe for more Pan-Africanist content. We are also on Bluesky, Patreon, Rumble and Telegram.

Sources:

https://x.com/NAkufoAddo/status/1857108943966773389

https://www.modernghana.com/news/1357146/president-macron-honours-akufo-addo-with-grand.html

https://debtjustice.org.uk/countries-in-crisis/ghana-debt-crisis-rooted-colonialism#:~:text=Ghana%20is%20in%20a%20debt,external%20debt%20payments%20each%20year.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/world/africa/kenya-haiti-peacekeeping-force.html

https://apnews.com/article/kenya-haiti-police-gangs-united-nations-18c0ac92a1d842d05f6d073b0128f12d

https://kippra.or.ke/banditry-and-lawlessness-in-arid-and-semi-arid-lands-of-kenya-which-way-out/#:~:text=ASALs%20in%20Kenya%20are%20home,bandits%20between%202012%20and%202022.

AFRICAN STREAM PERSISTS DESPITE TECH BAN

On Friday, the 13th of September, outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about African Stream at a press briefing, claiming our news outlet showcases ‘Kremlin propagandists’ and is ‘secretly run’ by the Russian-state TV network RT. His comments came without providing a shred of evidence.

Shortly afterwards, tech giants Meta (parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Threads), Alphabet (parent company of Google and YouTube), TikTok and Stripe shut down our accounts.

As our Burkina Faso-based journalist Inem Richardson (president of the Thomas Sankara Centre or @defendburkina on X) noted in this clip from our end-of-year review, this is not the first time imperialists have tried to silence an independent African-owned media organisation.

Continued……. The British and French empires banned the sale or possession of the Negro World newspaper in their colonial territories. This publication was established by the pan-Africanist, Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), founder of the United Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A) and the African Communities League.

Despite these and other challenges, African Stream remains not only undeterred but steadfast in our stance for truth and freedom of expression. We need your support to keep our voice alive.

Subscribe to our X handle, @african_stream, and help us spread the word. You can also find us on Bluesky, Patreon, Rumble and Telegram.

Sources:

https://www.voanews.com/a/african-stream-distorts-us-military-s-mission-in-somalia/7765550.html

https://cyber.fsi.stanford.edu/io/news/african-stream

https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/19/entertainment/cold-war-movies-and-tv/index.html

If you relentlessly chase self-gratification, you might end up with more than you bargained for… better to machete the coconut into bite-sized, shareable pieces (and hack off that shell) than jeopardise your own tender innards!

HOW OPPRESSORS DEHUMANIZE THEIR VICTIMS

Since time immemorial, oppressors have dehumanized their victims. The downtrodden are made to appear like sub-humans that are not deserving of any sympathy nor that they have the right to be treated with dignity. Slave owners in the West justified their cruel system by portraying Africans as beasts of burden who could endure the degrading and inhuman treatment to which they were subjected. The same mentality was used during colonial times in Africa. Colonisers claimed Africans were incapable of governing themselves, hence, the need to place them under colonial control.

Continued……. In this September 2002 clip, a year after the September 11 attacks that were used to justify the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Indian author and political activist Arundhati Roy spoke in Santa Fe, USA, about how Western and several Israeli leaders have repeatedly dehumanized non-white people, such as Palestinians, the indigenous peoples of the Americas and Australia’s aboriginal peoples.

Let us know what you think of Roy’s remarks.