The Black population of Los Angeles, California erupted in fury in six days of unrest today in August 1965, known as the Watts Riots. The unrest occurred during the tense period of the Civil Rights movement where the racist Jim Crow laws of the southern US states were being challenged by activists. However, in Los Angeles the context was slightly different and the causes of the unrest were more long-term.

During the Second Great Migration in the 1940s, the Black population of Los Angeles increased due to defense industry recruitment efforts. As a result, the Black population increased from 63,700 in 1940 to 350,000 in 1965.

However, the white bourgeoisie did not welcome the Black migration. Many covenants prevented minorities, including Black people, from owning property in certain areas of the city. At the same time, the Los Angeles Police Department was gaining a reputation for racist violence. It was these events that created a pressure cooker that exploded in August 1965.

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Today marks the anniversary of the first genocide in the history of the 20th century, the blood of which is on the hands of the German colonialists in Namibia. From 1884 to 1915, the German Reich ruled over what is now Namibia, brutally suppressing local uprisings.

The Herero and Nama War from 1904 to 1908 saw mass killings, with historians estimating that 65,000 out of 80,000 Herero and at least 10,000 out of 20,000 Nama were killed in retaliation for their anti-colonial resistance.

Even today, the legacy of this violence lingers. Seventy percent of Namibia's farmland remains in the hands of the descendants of German settlers, while the destruction of Herero and Nama culture has led to widespread poverty among their communities.

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