USAID IN AFRICA: ‘WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING’

In a recent X post, tech billionaire Elon Musk agreed with Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quao, a former African Union ambassador to the United States, who lauded the dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID). While speaking with journalist Steve Clemson (@scclemons on X), @HEDrArikana (X) argued in this clip that USAID had interfered in Africa, adding that its dismantling is a ‘wake-up call’ for Africans to build a self-sufficient continent.

Continued……Musk is no stranger to controversy, as he fuelled US President Donald Trump’s attack on South Africa for alleged ‘unjust racial discrimination’ of Afrikaners, descendants of Dutch colonists who ran the apartheid regime that denied fundamental rights to the Black majority until 1994.

Maybe it takes one imperialist to recognise another. Whatever may be the case, dismantling USAID amplified many Global South people’s criticism that the agency worked to keep many places, including the continent, subservient to the US. The mere threat of destabilising governments not towing Washington’s line has kept many countries obedient.

In February, US Congressman Scott Perry alleged USAID funded Boko Haram, ISIS and Al Qaeda, which came after years of Nigerians pointing to foreign powers funding Boko Haram.

Video credit: @aljazeera

Sources

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/africasource/trumps-dismantling-of-usaid-offers-a-new-beginning-for-africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55229894

https://newscentral.africa/usaid-funded-boko-haram-other-terror-groups-us-lawmaker

https://appliednetsci.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s41109-020-00264-4

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1197570/deaths-caused-by-boko-haram-in-nigeria

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/newsletter/2025/01/29/inklings-what-make-trump-aid-freeze-chaos

https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2025/3/3/why-some-in-the-global-south-are-not-mourning-the-demise-of-usaid

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1903671188754252133

ON THIS DAY: THE U.S. ARRESTS ITS YOUNGEST EXECUTION VICTIM

On this day in 1944, the discovery of two white girls’ corpses in a ditch in South Carolina led to the tragic execution of the United States’ youngest victim, George Stinney, Jr. 

Authorities had wrongfully accused the 14-year-old Black child of murdering Betty June Binnicker, 11, and Mary Emma Thames, 7.

On 23 March 1944, the girls, who had been riding bicycles in search of passion flower berries, stopped to ask Stinney and his younger sister if they knew where to find ‘maypops.’ That was the last time the girls were seen alive, as their bodies were found the next day.

Following an interrogation without Stinney’s parents present, plus a rushed investigation and a coerced confession, an all-white jury convicted Stinney in just 10 minutes after a two-hour trial on 24 April 1944, in which he had no proper legal defence. Despite widespread pleas for mercy, he was sentenced to death by electrocution.

Continued……On 16 June 1944, the state of South Carolina executed Stinney in an adult-sized electric chair, which was too large for his 95-pound frame, making his death particularly horrific.

His siblings and a former cellmate maintained his innocence for decades. But it was not until 70 years later, in 2014, that new evidence revealed authorities had coerced Stinney’s confession, and that he had an alibi placing him elsewhere during the crime. Judge Carmen Mullen ultimately overturned his conviction, calling it a ‘great and fundamental injustice.’

While some might call the 2014 ruling a victory, wrongful arrests continue to mark Black people’s existence as an internal colony in the US, violating our people’s human rights. From George Stinney (1929-44) to Breonna Taylor (1993-2020), George Floyd (1973-2020) and countless others, state violence against Black people in the US isn’t an anomaly but a pillar of its imperialist system.

Sources

https://allthatsinteresting.com/george-stinney-jr

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30529890

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1382796/stinney-ruling.pdf

S. AFRICAN ENVOY EXPELLED BY TRUMP HAS NO REGRETS

‘I have no regrets!’ - that was the message of South Africa’s expelled ambassador to the US, addressing supporters who’d come to greet him at Cape Town airport.

Ebrahim Rasool took his expulsion by the Trump administration as a ‘badge of dignity.’ The boisterous crowd praised him for serving the country honourably.

The veteran diplomat crossed swords with the Trump administration after he criticised the administration’s crackdown on equity and diversity programmes. Speaking during a webinar featuring academics and political activists, Rasool suggested that Trump had been mobilising the fear that White people could become a minority in the US to justify racist policies.

Rasool’s expulsion puts additional strain on already fraught relations between Pretoria and Washington. In recent weeks, the African country has been a frequent target of Trump’s tirades.

Continued……. In February, Trump suspended aid to the country over discredited allegations that it is discriminating against White citizens. Trump’s order came after South Africa’s president signed a new law allowing the government to confiscate private land without compensation under certain circumstances. The law aims to redress the legacy of apartheid-era laws that prohibited Black South Africans from owning land.

In his address, Rasool also recalled how the American people had often stood with South Africans, even when Washington hadn’t - for example, by boycotting South African goods during the apartheid era when the US refused to apply sanctions.

Video credits: SABC News and Newzroom Afrika

‘GOLDEN VOICE OF AFRICA’ DEFENDS MALI REVOLUTION

Salif Keïta, Mali’s leading artist and one of Africa’s legendary musicians, defended the revolution underway in Mali following its 2020 people-backed coup d’état. 

In an interview with a French media outlet banned in Mali, France 24, the interviewer asked Keïta, dubbed the ‘Golden Voice of Africa,’ multiple times to clarify his position on Malian President Assimi Goïta and what the interviewer referred to as ‘the junta,’ or the new government. 

Continued……According to Keïta, many Malians love Goïta for his government’s work to secure and reunify the country, scoring significant victories against t*rrorist groups. On 14 November 2023, the Malian Armed Forces liberated the region of Kidal, previously a stronghold for these violent extremist groups, which Mali has accused France and Ukraine of supporting.

The Malian government suspended in April 2022 both France 24 and Radio France International (RFI) after they had reportedly published fake news about Malian soldiers committing abuses. 

In December 2022, Burkina Faso also suspended RFI’s distribution after the news outlet aired a message from the leader of a t*rrorist organisation, Al-Qa*da in the Islamic Maghreb. Then, in March 2023, Burkina Faso suspended France 24 for broadcasting a ‘t*rrorist message.’ 

Niger suspended France 24 in August 2023, a week after the military ousted a Western-aligned leader.

Video credit: @france24

Sources

https://orinocotribune.com/mali-celebrates-liberation-of-kidal-from-separatist-groups/ https://www.la-croix.com/Monde/RFI-France-24-quels-pays-dAfrique-medias-francais-sont-ils-interdits-2023-08-04-1201277831

https://www.dakar-echo.com/apres-rfi-et-france24-lci-suspendu-au-mali-pour-deux-mois-pour-de-fausses-accusations/

https://apnews.com/article/france-24-burkina-faso-freedom-of-media-1156e777056a9171b482ce78da40a015

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/8/mali-accuses-france-of-training-terrorists-in-country

https://apnews.com/article/mali-ukraine-wagner-junta-embassy-rebel-russia-senegal-a471c7332369d154af57ad0816fb3504

SUDAN’S ARMY RETAKES PALACE IN KHARTOUM

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced on 22 March that on the previous day, it had regained control of the presidential palace in Khartoum from the United Arab Emirates-backed paramilitary group, Rapid Support Forces (RSF), following intense fighting.

On social media, Sudanese soldiers posted videos that appeared to show them inside the presidential palace, celebrating their success. The RSF had taken over the palace in April 2023 at the outbreak of the foreign-backed proxy war that has displaced 12.9 million people and left close to 25 million acutely hungry, according to the UN. In May 2024, US special envoy for Sudan Tom Perriello stated that as many as 150,000 had been k*lled after a year of fighting. The actual death toll could be higher given the war destroyed the healthcare system, preventing accurate data.

Continued……In recent months, the army has been making gains, initially reclaiming territory in central Sudan before shifting its focus to Khartoum. It broke the RSF’s nearly two-year siege on the General Command headquarters in January. Then, in mid-March, the army reported that its troops had converged from north and south Khartoum, effectively surrounding the RSF.

While the UN has accused both the SAF and the RSF of war crimes, the UN has singled out the UAE-supported RSF and its allied militia groups for widespread s*xual violence and atrocities in areas under their control, particularly in Western Darfur, where they have attempted an ethnic cleansing of the Masalit and other non-Arab tribes.  

Video credit: @warfareanalysis

Sources

https://apnews.com/article/sudan-military-rsf-war-khartoum-c41e1d829ea2560c9ff8eb43daac85da

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160161

https://www.citizen.digital/news/sudan-army-recaptures-presidential-palace-from-rsf-after-fierce-battle-n359635

https://apnews.com/article/sudan-military-rsf-war-khartoum-c41e1d829ea2560c9ff8eb43daac85da

https://apnews.com/article/sudan-military-rsf-war-khartoum-c41e1d829ea2560c9ff8eb43daac85da

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news/2024/05/09/rsf-accused-war-crimes-ethnic-cleansing-darfur

https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2025/03/sudan-army-makes-gains-battle-khartoum-intensifies

‘I’LL SPARK THE BRAIN THAT CHANGES THE WORLD!’

In this famous clip from a 1994 MTV News interview, hip-hop icon Tupac Shakur (1971-96), one of the most influential artists of the genre, explained to TV producer and writer Abbie Kearse why he continued to advocate for Black people and against the establishment, despite having ‘made it out’ of poverty himself.

Until his tragic murder in 1996, Tupac remained committed to amplifying the struggles of marginalised and disenfranchised Black people in the United States. The messages in his raps appealed to audiences globally. However, they also attracted the attention of those who viewed him as a threat to their establishment. Rather than choosing to play it safe and polite, his artistry relayed the realities of US society.

Continued……Three decades later, questions of racism, police brutality, and street violence, among many more issues that he wrote songs about, remain pervasive, disproportionately affecting Black people in the US.

In this interview, Tupac emphasised that his refusal to conform parallels his aspirations to see a better world. Therefore, even if he doesn’t change the world, he will not be so selfish as to not plant seeds for the ones who will.

Video credit: @MTVnews (X)

Sources

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/29/arts/music/tupac-shakur-death-legacy.html

https://vocal.media/history/tupac-shakur-the-legacy-of-a-revolutionary-artist

https://variety.com/2023/music/focus/tupac-music-hollywood-walk-of-fame-1235636404/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ogdenpayne/2016/09/13/20-years-later-tupac-shakurs-legacy-by-the-numbers/

https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/

https://naacp.org/resources/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHOrL-qcwRU

NAMIBIAN HEALTHCARE WORKER DONS INDIGENOUS ATTIRE

As part of Namibia’s 35th Independence Day celebrations on 21 March, workers were encouraged to wear traditional dress, such as this medic donning Himba attire while caring for a patient.

This proud display of culture is a form of decolonisation as colonial rule forced Western attire onto indigenous peoples while Europeans plundered our continent. The looting continues today under the gaze of Western-aligned African leaders, all while Western attire remains associated with civility and professionalism. 

The Himba, a semi-nomadic pastoralist group primarily living in northern Namibia's Kunene region and southern Angola, speak a dialect of the Herero language. German colonial forces committed the 20th century’s first g*nocide by k*lling around 100,000 Herero and Nama people starting in 1904.

Continued……Himba fashion reflects their cultural identity, social status, spiritual beliefs, rites of passage, and adaptation to the Namib Desert’s extreme temperatures and aridity. The attire includes leather garments, intricate beadwork, and elaborate hairstyles coated with red ochre paste and butter fat, symbolising beauty, fertility and a connection to the ancestors. Jewellery made from beads, shells, bones, and metal also signifies social standing and life milestones, while hairstyles indicate age, marital status and community roles. 

Despite modern influences, the Himba, like their ancestors, continue to preserve their traditional attire as a vital expression of their heritage, ensuring its relevance for future generations.

Photo credit: @BassieBuzzing (X)

Sources

https://namibiatoday.com/the-unique-fashion-styles-of-namibias-himba-people/

https://x.com/MVAFundNamibia/status/1902983006127632646

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=928736642804566&id=100070047152304

https://x.com/_AfricanSoil/status/1903465629362840048

20th century's first genocide
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38530594

https://cultureandmind.sites.sheffield.ac.uk/fieldsites/himba

https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1190801006379650&id=100063492856007

‘I’M NOT RACIST, I HAVE BLACK FRIENDS’ - ELON MUSK

Elon Musk’s father says his billionaire son cannot be racist because he had Black friends as a boy - namely, his servants! As if the ‘Black friends’ defence wasn’t bad enough, Errol Musk makes it worse by assuming the power relations between his son and servants were equal. He is either woefully - or willfully - ignorant of the fact that these ‘servants,’ as Black South Africans, were forced into subservient roles by a regime designed to oppress them. Pointing to good relations between (essentially) master and servant as proof of non-racism ignores the obvious. The servants had no choice but to be friendly to their boss’s son. The extreme power imbalance in these interactions made it impossible to see them as genuine connections rather than coerced dynamics.

Continued……Elon Musk himself has done little to assuage doubt. The billionaire endorsed a tweet suggesting Black students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have lower IQs and shouldn’t become pilots. He adopted a similar stance during an interview with Don Lemon, attributing hypothetical adverse medical outcomes to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion programmes despite evidence to the contrary. When swastikas and nooses were found at Tesla, not only did the company (whose largest shareholder is Musk) refuse to investigate complaints or take steps to end abuse, it retaliated against Black employees who complained or opposed the abuse.

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. When explaining why he imported emeralds from an unregistered mine in Zambia, Errol Musk said, “[otherwise] you would wind up with nothing, because the Blacks would take everything from you.” He also fondly remembers apartheid South Africa, describing it as a “well-run, law-abiding country with virtually no crime at all.” Failing to recognise the apartheid regime itself as a crime - against humanity, no less.

Sources
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/elon-musk-dad-friends-black-servants-b2719651.html

https://futurism.com/civil-rights-groups-horrified-elon-musk-racist

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/03/elon-musk-racist-tweets-science-video/

On 25 March 1931, nine Black boys in Alabama, USA were wrongly charged with rap*ng White woman. They were initially sentenced to death, but this was overturned and retrials were ordered - sparking a mass (nationwide and global) campaign under the banner ‘They Must Not Die!’ aimed at preventing a legal lynching of the so-called Scottsboro Boys.

The case also reminds us of George Stinney Jr, executed in 1944, accused of killing two White girls, and Emmet Till, lynched in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a White woman, who later admitted the accusation was a lie.

It was a pivotal moment in Black history in the United States that would impact generations to come. The international struggle to free the Scottsboro Boys led to the largest resistance movement against racism in the US justice system in history.

Continued….. The global reach of the case was so far that a Sedition Bill was passed in Ghana (then the British colony of the Gold Coast) to prevent Africans from agitating in support of the Scottsboro Boys.

While the case did officially bring about certain legal reforms to the carceral system, such as mandating the presence of Black jurors in cases with Black defendants, this would often go unenforced throughout the 20th century and into the present.

In one example, Black revolutionary Assata Shakur was sentenced to life in prison by an all-White jury. In 1986, a court ruled that race could not be used as a factor in the initial establishment of a jury pool. In 2021, there were two high-profile cases in which nearly all-White juries acquitted White men for shooting and killing Black men - the murders of Jake Blake and Ahmaud Arbery.

Africans in the United States and throughout the diaspora continue to struggle against a racist criminal justice system in which they are disproportionally incarcerated.

REMEMBERING VICTIMS OF SLAVERY

On every 25 March since 2007, the United Nations has observed the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. 

We must first note that African Stream refers to this event as the European slave trade, as we put the responsibility on the people who forced slavery upon our ancestors rather than blaming the body of water through which the ships sailed.

Europeans kidnapped and forcibly transported between 10 million and 12 million Africans across the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas to be sold into slavery beginning in the late 15th century.

The Portuguese started trading Africans, but the Spanish, Dutch, English and French soon joined. The trade reached its peak in the 18th century.

Continued……Slavery allowed European settler-colonists to till occupied land in the Americas for the raw materials needed to make products to sell worldwide, allowing the burgeoning economic system called capitalism to evolve from mercantilism to industrialism to the finance capitalism we see today. Meanwhile, the trade depopulated parts of Africa while creating a comprador class of African leaders who sold out their people.

As the trade came to a close, European powers carved up Africa during the Berlin Conference of 1884-85, providing certain European states with control over different parts of Africa to loot the continent’s resources. The racial hierarchy that slavery imposed exists today, with Western financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, imposing austerity, labour deregulation and currency devaluations that loot wealth and lower living standards.

CARICOM, a Caribbean regional body, now claims $33 trillion from Europe. Meanwhile, a US consulting firm, Brattle Group, calculated in 2024 that all enslaving countries owed between $100 trillion to $131 trillion to 31 countries.

As we remember the victims of the horrific European slave trade, we should not forget that imperialist shackles remain in Africa and the Americas.

Sources

https://bvinews.com/caribbean-asks-europe-for-33-trillion-in-reparations

https://www.britannica.com/topic/transatlantic-slave-trade

https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1837/slavery-in-plantation-agriculture/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxt3gk7/revision/1

https://actionaid.org/publications/2023/fifty-years-failure-imf-debt-and-austerity-africa

https://www.un.org/en/observances/transatlantic-slave-trade

https://caricomreparations.org

https://www.brattle.com/insights-events/publications/brattle-consultants-quantify-reparations-for-transatlantic-chattel-slavery-in-pro-bono-paper