ALABAMA’S BLOODY SUNDAY REMEMBERED

Sixty years ago today, a pivotal moment unfolded in Selma, Alabama, when police assaulted a group of more than 600 determined protesters advocating for Black voting rights. 

TV stations across the United States broadcast the harrowing scenes of primarily Black people and their white comrades being beaten and tear-gassed, compelling US President Lyndon B Johnson (1908-73) to sign the Voting Rights Act just five months later. 

The march in Selma began on Sunday, 7 March 1965, at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, making its way to Edmund Pettus Bridge. Pettus (1821-1907) was a Confederate general and ‘grand dragon’ of the white-supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan. 

Awaiting them were Alabama state troopers. When the marchers refused to retreat from the bridge, the officers on horseback chased and assaulted fleeing men, women and children with whips and rubber tubing wrapped in barbed wire.

Continued……Many required medical attention, including 25-year-old John Lewis (1940-2020), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee chairman and later a congressman, who led the protest.

Just two days later, another march took place in Selma, with the Rev Dr Martin Luther King, Jr (1929-68), urging people from all over the US to join in solidarity. 

The bravery displayed in Alabama reminds us that we must never forget the struggle for justice in the diaspora.

Sources

https://www.history.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-attack-civil-rights-movement

https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/mar/7

WILL KENYA POLICE BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR KILLING?

Last year, when Kenya’s Gen Z flooded the streets of the country to protest IMF-backed tax hikes, they were met with a violent and deadly police crackdown.

Officers shot directly into crowds - infringing upon their constitutional right to peaceful assembly. At least 60 protesters were killed, with another 66 abducted, according to Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR). So far, no police officers have been brought to justice.

Since then there have been further alleged cases of state abductions and attempts to silence dissenting voices.

Although the government denies being behind these abductions, evidence is mounting. For example, former attorney general Justin Muturi, whose son was among those kidnapped, has revealed how the latter was freed by the country’s National Intelligence Service after President William Ruto made a call to its director general, Noordin Haji.

Continued……
In this clip from a recent sit-down interview with Kenya’s majority leader of the National Assembly, Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan asks why Kenyans are yet to see any accountability over the killings and abductions. Do you find the answer Kimani Ichungw’a gives convincing?

Video Credit: @aljazeeraenglish (YouTube)

Sources

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2025/country-chapters/kenya

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-01-14-cs-muturis-full-statement-to-dci-on-sons-abduction

https://nation.africa/kenya/news/cs-justin-muturi-nis-was-behind-my-son-s-abduction--4889104

https://www.ipoa.go.ke/ipoa/

Continued……The RSF—formerly known as the Janjaweed—has been synonymous with heinous human-rights abuses and war crimes, including g*nocide. The Janjaweed were usually members of nomadic Arab tribes who'd long been at odds with Darfur's darker-skinned, non-Arab African farmers. Now, the RSF’s war against the Sudanese military has created what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 12.5 million internally and externally displaced and half the country facing acute food insecurity.

Sources

https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/emirati-weapons-found-in-sudan-s-wad-madani-report

https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/197/197-20250306-pre-01-00-en.pdf

https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/197/197-20250306-wri-01-00-en.pdf

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/21/world/africa/uae-sudan-civil-war.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/world/africa/sudan-genocide-icj-uae.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/uae-flights-flood-airstrip-un-says-supplies-weapons-sudan-rebels-2024-12-12/

https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/05/09/massalit-will-not-come-home/ethnic-cleansing-and-crimes-against-humanity-el

https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/sudan/

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/kenya-turns-uae-railway-funds-after-china-cut-financing-2025-01-15/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crln9lk51dro

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2772

https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/emirati-weapons-found-in-sudan-s-wad-madani-report

https://www.unrefugees.org/news/sudan-crisis-explained

THE SYMBOL OF EAST AFRICAN FOOTBALL

Africa has produced some of the greatest football legends: Drogba, Salah, Weah, Okocha, Eto’o, McCarthy… but for East Africa, the wait for a football icon was long.

Enter Alexander Isak, the 25-year-old forward who is not just a star for Newcastle and Sweden but a symbol of hope for millions of East Africans. Born to Eritrean parents, Isak is breaking myths and putting East African football on the global map, proving that talent knows no borders.

Beyond his incredible skills, his visits to Eritrea to inspire young players show his dedication to honouring and giving back to his roots.

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

JULIUS MALEMA: ISRAEL BEHIND U.S. ATTACK ON SOUTH AFRICA

In this recent clip, South African revolutionary Julius Malema argued the United States suspending HIV/AIDS funding to South Africa was not because of misinformation about the so-called ‘white g*nocide’ and discrimination against white settlers in South Africa. Instead, Malema said the US is acting on behalf of Israel, which the US has provided the most foreign aid to since World War II. In late December 2023, long-time Palestine ally South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice, accusing it of g*nocide against the Palestinians.

Malema (@julius_s_malema on X, @julius.malema.sello on IG), founder and president of South Africa’s Pan-African political party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (@effsouthafrica), backed up his claim by listing examples of the United States’ long history of strong arming countries that don’t obey the US and walk an alternative path to meet their people’s needs. 

Continued……The US and other Western countries have bankrolled Israel’s military onslaught, which had k*lled as many as 186,000 as of early July 2024, according to the Lancet medical journal.
 
Following President Cyril Ramaphosa recently signing into law a land expropriation bill to address apartheid-era inequities that linger, the Trump administration took on the government of South Africa. White settlers hold over 70 per cent of the country’s agricultural land, but they make up less than 8 per cent of South Africa’s population. Aside from suspending HIV/AIDS funding, the US offered refugee status to South Africa’s white settlers, and South Africa-born Tesla CEO and Trump advisor Elon Musk called Malema an ‘international criminal.’

Video credit: @ParliamentofRSA (X)

Sources

https://dirco.gov.za/south-africa-delivers-evidence-of-israel-genocide-to-icj/

https://nacla.org/sanctions-cuba

https://www.trtworld.com/africa/all-you-need-to-know-about-south-africas-land-expropriation-law-18263403

https://pepfarwatch.org/pepfar-funding-freeze/

https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201802/landauditreport13feb2018.pdf

https://www.cfr.org/article/us-aid-israel-four-charts

HARRIET ‘MOSES’ TUBMAN!

Today, on International Women's Day, we remember the remarkable Harriet Tubman. Born 203 years ago (also in March), she was an abolitionist and suffragist who earned herself the nickname ‘Moses’ - for leading enslaved people to freedom. Having escaped slavery herself in 1849, she led her first rescue mission the following year.

Famously, she led Union troops up the Combahee River in South Carolina to destroy Confederate stockpiles of weapons, food and cotton - a raid that freed more than 700 enslaved Africans.

She was also referred to as a ‘train conductor’ because she guided escapees along a network of safe houses and secret routes across the US to reach Canada, known as the ‘underground railroad.’

African Stream’s Brenda Mwai brings us her story.

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

No African state made the cut for the 2025 US visa waiver programme, which allows travellers from certain countries to enter the United States without a visa for up to 90 days.

This news comes amidst US President Donald Trump ramping up strict border policies and deportations, with African and other immigrants often feeling the heat. Thousands of undocumented Africans in the US are now staring down the barrel of deportation.

The move mirrors US systemic discrimination against Black people and reminds us of Trump's alleged 2018 remark that he didn't want people migrating into the US from 'sh*thole' countries in Africa.
Visa restrictions imposed on Africans not only discriminate, but make it more difficult for scientists, business people, and other professionals from Africa to attend seminars and other gatherings they require to further their practices.

Continued….. But it's a bit rich, isn’t it? Evidence has shown the US has meddled in African affairs, with shocking reports revealing that it has indirectly supported extremist groups like Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al-Shabaab in Somalia. The resulting conflict, economic despair and persecution have led many Africans to seek asylum in the US.

And let’s not forget this: The US doesn't refund visa rejects. Considering a study from the Higher Ed Immigration Portal found that in 2023, the US denied 57 per cent of African student visa applications, these rejections may be a clever way to fund consular services!

While some might lament the hurdles Africans face in entering the US, as Pan-Africanists, we say good riddance! Those of us passionate about our homeland see this as a chance to double down on the commitment to liberating Africa. And the inability to easily travel to the US may be a hidden blessing, keeping our people from heading to a country with the highest incarceration rate in the world, where seven out of 10 of its nearly 2 million prisoners are Black, and where Black people face a disproportionate risk of police brutality and a long history of racial discrimination and violence.

Sources

https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/lifestyle/all-54-african-countries-excluded-from-us-2025-visa-waiver-list/h4f1mrg

https://www.getaway.co.za/travel-news/african-countries-excluded-from-newly-released-u-s-visa-waiver-list/

https://www.higheredimmigrationportal.org/research/the-interview-of-a-lifetime-an-analysis-of-visa-denials-and-international-student-flows-to-the-u-s/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLQc2dYikyU

https://www.firstpost.com/web-show/firstpostafrica/usaid-funding-boko-haram-isis-firstpost-africa-subscribe-to-firstpost-n18g-vd922504-shorts.html

https://www.prb.org/resources/u-s-has-worlds-highest-incarceration-rate/

https://www.sentencingproject.org/reports/mass-incarceration-trends/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/report-black-people-are-still-killed-police-higher-rate-groups-rcna17169

https://www.semafor.com/article/07/28/2024/us-rejects-african-students-visas-rising

https://www.theelephant.info/opinion/2022/06/10/africans-not-welcome-the-punitive-us-visa-application-process/

20TH CENTURY’S POWERFUL WOMEN.

It’s International Women’s Day, so we’re celebrating a selection of extraordinary African women who made significant contributions and advancements throughout the 20th century.

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

‘NIGERIAN PRINCE’ SCAMMER WAS A WHITE 67-YEAR-OLD

Police say a white 67-year-old Louisiana resident named Michael Neu managed to con people out of thousands of dollars by posing as the beneficiary of a Nigerian prince’s will.

However, if you skim the headline, you almost might mistake Neu for the victim. Ah, the wonders of Western media! Once again, we see the art of sloppy (and sometimes misinforming) journalism at play, crafting headlines that obscure the role of white wrongdoers while painting people of colour as guilty before proven innocent.

Many times, the media have smeared our brothers and sisters in the US when they were victims of police brutality or other crimes against their humanity.

Continued….. We remember that the press dug up 17-year-old Trayvon Martin’s school suspension records after a vigilante shot him in 2012, kicking off the Black Lives Matter movement of protests against state violence. We also cannot forget how the media called Black teen Michael Brown ‘no angel’ after police k*lled him in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. 

For this reason, we rightfully raise our eyebrows when we skim headlines.

Video credit: @auntiebuffie (TikTok)

Sources

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-johnson-black-victim-20170330-story.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/nigerian-prince-scammer-was-67-year-old-louisiana-police-say-n833801