AfricanStream

So, just how much is a billionaire worth? The GDP of multiple African countries combined, apparently. Some people say they earned their money fair and square. Others say the children mining cobalt for them in Eastern Congo are lining their pockets. Here’s our take. Tell us if you think we’re on the money!

Assata Shakur, born in 1947, is a revolutionary who escaped a high-security US prison while eight months pregnant, gave birth in Harlem under the protection of the Black Liberation Army and fled to Cuba as an asylum seeker, where she lives to this day. This sister is a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, an underground revolutionary group that fought to defend Black people’s human rights in the United States. The FBI targeted Shakur through its Counterintelligence Program (or COINTELPRO). In 1973, she was convicted of killing a state trooper in a shootout and set to serve a life sentence. Under former President Barack Obama’s administration, the FBI placed Shakur on its most-wanted list in 2013, with a $1-million bounty for her capture. But, apart from her famous 1979 jailbreak, she’s known for supporting socialism. In this clip from a 2016 interview on @houseofkonsciousness, Professor James Small (@prof_jamessmall), a comrade of Zayd Shakur (Assata’s husband), narrates her story. Fun fact: Zayd Shakur was rapper Tupac Shakur’s uncle. Assata Shakur remains an inspiration to activists, artists and scholars.

Today marks the 102nd birthday of Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Tanzania’s first president. Nyerere was born in 1922 in a small village in Butiama, in Tanganyika, then administered by the British under a League of Nations mandate before becoming part of a larger country in 1964 that is known today as the United Republic of Tanzania. Nyerere, affectionately known by the honorific title, ‘Mwalimu’ (Swahili for teacher), was an anti-colonialist, political theorist and president of Tanzania from 1964 to 1985. But the struggle wasn’t easy. Nyerere, a beacon of resilience, stood against the West, which argued Africa wasn’t ready to govern itself. No better example exists than this classic 1960 interview of a young Nyerere answering emphatically and pushing back against colonialist lies. He asserted that Europeans granting us independence was merely returning a stolen right, as it were. Therefore, the question of whether Africans were ready for self-rule was meaningless. We Africans had managed our affairs well before colonisers arrived. After a battle with leukaemia, Nyerere became an ancestor on 14 October 1999 in London. Let us know what you think of Nyerere’s remarks.

Vaughan Gething is the new leader of Wales and some people are not taking it well. Not because they have problem with his leadership style or qualities, but because of his background. He is mixed race and was born in Zambia. Shortly after he was announced as Wales first minister, racist social media tropes went into overdrive bitterly complaining about how ‘non-Europeans’ are taking up leadership positions across Britain. Some even said it was a ‘tragic’ day for Wales. They argue someone with European ancestry would not be allowed to hold a similar position of power in Africa. African Stream’s Wambura Mwai explains why this claim is not only racist, but also false.

In 2022, Howard University School of Social Work hosted Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize winner and creator of the 1619 Project, for an intellectual sit-in. Jones argued for paying reparations to Africans who are descendants of enslaved people in the United States. She called out the US government for saying it could not afford reparations. Still, it can print money for military spending and pandemic relief packages for businesses. The key takeaway from this intriguing discussion was, in her own words, that 'slavery was a system of economic exploitation and racism is what justified it.' Moreover, she chided some who use the term 'Jim Crow' to refer to a system of discriminatory practices after US slavery ended, saying creating a class of exploited people based on race should be referred to as apartheid.

Are you familiar with Black and Pan-African solidarity with Palestine? According to this brother, @butchware, it did not start with the 7 October escalation, Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip beginning in 2005, the multiple Arab-Israeli wars in the mid-20th century, or the 1948 Nakba that forced 750,000 Palestinians off the land to make way for the state of Israel. In this clip from a longer 6 February presentation that can be viewed on YouTube, Butch Ware, a history professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, said many of our ancestors had already concluded in the late 19th century that Zionism, a political ideology that some say hijacks Judaism to justify settler-colonialism, is a white supremacist movement that European imperialists back. Ware says Black anti-Zionism is born out of a deep-rooted sense of revolutionary solidarity against the white-supremacist ethnic cleansing of an indigenous brown population. What do you think of his argument? Let us know in the comments.

Denzel Washington has starred in and directed some great films. Here, he talks about the importance of knowing Black culture when making films about Black people. He was giving an interview while promoting his award-winning movie Fences. It focuses on a working-class African in America who raises a family in the 1950s. Making such films work, says Denzel, is about knowing what it feels to be Black. And that, he argues, is something that can’t be felt by White directors. Makes sense, right?

Dr. Joy DeGruy authored a 2005 book titled, ‘Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing,’ which addresses the residual impacts of trauma on descendants of enslaved Africans in the Americas. In this clip from a 2008 talk she gave in London, DeGruy compared the societal consequences of stomping a puppy versus killing a Black man. She argued someone would be punished for killing the puppy, even though both acts would traumatise—and, as DeGruy said, dehumanise—witnesses. Indeed, in places where Africans live under duress, we contend with much violence with neither regard to the mental and physical ramifications nor real solutions to end systemic violence. In the United States alone, a Black person is five times more likely to be incarcerated than a white person, while white households hold more than nine times more wealth than Black households. Let us know what you think about DeGruy's remarks.

Illegal logging has become a serious problem in Africa. It is reportedly being fuelled by increased Chinese demand for rosewood. The results include severe environmental degradation in places like the Congo Basin, the world’s second largest carbon sink. On top of that, there are dire impacts on peace and security as natural resources are plundered by criminal networks colluding with corrupt officials.

Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef used his recognisable dark humour to break down to CNN host Christiane Amanpour why the West's reaction to Israel killing seven World Central Kitchen aid workers was hypocritical. It has far outweighed their solidarity with the more than 33,000 Palestinians who have died at the hands of Israel over the last six months. Another critical point Youssef highlighted is the lack of accountability for Israel over the mounting civilian death toll and how the international community can suffice itself with an apology from Tel Aviv. Do you think Israel will get away with its reported war crimes in the Gaza Strip? Let us know what you think below.

Not all of Africa’s treasures were looted - it helped, for example, if you hid it under a mountain! That’s what the ancestors of Ethiopia’s Tigray community did in the town of Axum. Locals knew from folklore that there was something special under the local mountain, so when a road-construction project started drilling into the rock a decade or so back, they urged the authorities to intervene. This they did, and what they found only added to Axum’s fame - already dubbed an ‘open air museum’ and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1980. In this clip, travel vlogger Weyni Tesfin (aka @planbacktoafrica) tells the tale in full from the site itself. Do you think you’ll visit?

Another day, another unarmed man of African descent shot by police in the United States during a mental health episode. Donald Armstrong, a 47-year-old Miami resident, who surprisingly survived the gunshots, now faces charges of aggravated assault by the same police officers who shot him six times in a 7 March incident. In a bystander’s video that his attorney, Ben Crump, posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), Armstrong is seen in what appears to be an agitated state outside a house. He raised his hands to show he had no weapon and pulled up his T-shirt, indicating he had no concealed firearm. His mother had called 911 out of concern for her son, whom the family reportedly said was holding a screwdriver. Police tasered him, and as he stumbled under the impact of the electric jolt, officers shot him six times. Armstrong is paralysed and detained in a jail hospital with no bond. Crump said he is unsure if the paralysis is permanent. Attorneys call for police to drop all charges. People of African descent are three times more likely to face deadly police force than Europeans. Critics say the problem is rooted in the lingering impacts of slavery, which continue an apartheid situation. The police killings of African people like Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Trayvon Martin and a string of others triggered historic marches and rallies across the United States. The months-long uprising after Floyd’s 2020 recorded murder is considered the largest in US history. How can police violence against people of African descent in the United States be stopped? Join in the conversation with your thoughts.

In this clip, one of Haiti’s staunchest defenders - Randall Robinson, a lawyer-activist who once went on hunger strike over US treatment of Haitian refugees (and got the Clinton administration to change its policy!), and who passed just over a year ago - lays out two key facts about the world’s first Black republic: the West has never forgiven the Caribbean nation for liberating itself from its shackles, and the island will always be a natural home for oppressed freedom fighters the world over. Haiti had to be made an example out of. France, for example, used military threats to extract huge amounts in reparations for ‘lost earnings’ from highly profitable slave plantations - in what was essentially a heist. Hear Robinson tell it, and let us know - who’s got Haiti’s back now?

When seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen were killed by Israeli occupying forces in Gaza last week, the reaction of Western leaders and media changed dramatically. The usual lines of: Do you condemn H*m*s? Israel has a right to defend itself, and the Palestinians started this war; all suddenly disappeared. Instead, Tel Aviv was criticised and calls for a ceasefire and accountability were made. So why the change of tune? Anything to do with European lives being lost? Ahmed Ghoneim looks at how Palestinian lives haven’t mattered in a six-month war that’s killed over 33,000 Palestinians including more than 15,000 children.

The World Rally Championship traditionally descends on Kenya in March/April every year, when thousands of pleasure-seeking fans head to the main action in Naivasha. As African Stream's Wambura Mwai finds out, the town’s seedy past may have something to do with the wild parties often accompanying the event. A Las Vegas in the heart of the Kenya colony, that was Naivasha's reputation in the heyday of the British Empire. Cocaine-fuelled orgies, wife-swapping parties, crimes of passion and hedonism were standard fare for a group of mostly British aristocrats and adventurers who settled near the Aberdare Mountain Range between the 1920s and 1940s. Their decadent lifestyle earned them the nickname the "Happy Valley set" and is the subject of films and books depicting their antics, such as "White Mischief". Have a watch and pile in with your comments.

Niger’s popular coup government announced on 16 March that the US military is no longer welcome after more than a decade of occupying the country. This came days after US officials made an unannounced visit, in which they accused Niger of trying to make a deal with Iran over uranium. The West has imposed sanctions on Iran to prevent it from using the radioactive material to develop nuclear weapons. Niger nullifying a 2013 agreement has caused quite a storm, leading to the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee summoning US Africa Command (AFRICOM) head Michael Langley for a 21 March hearing. Langley told the committee that United States had invested hundreds of millions of dollars to secure access and influence in Niger. We at African Stream decided to unpack it. Please have a watch and let us know what you think.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin insisted no evidence indicates Israel is committing g*noc*de in the Gaza Strip during a 9 April appearance before the US Senate Armed Services Committee. Austin’s comments come as Israel’s military operations have killed more than 33,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, with 25,000 being women and children. In a case South Africa launched, the International Court of Justice on 26 January ruled the g*noc*de charge ‘plausible.’ A final ruling on whether Israel has violated the 1948 UN Genocide Convention may take years. However, the court also required Israel to take steps to avoid g*noc*dal acts. Israel has gone on to kill an additional 7,000 Palestinians since the ruling.

In the week commemorating three decades since the g*nocid* that killed some 800,000 Tutsis (including some Hutu and Twa people), Rwanda’s Paul Kagame has denied his country is backing the M23 rebel group - which is formed of ethnic Tutsi, and is fighting in neighbouring DRC. However, a UN report released in December 2023 casts serious doubt on Kagame’s narrative. It presented strong evidence that M23 in fact enjoy the support of Rwanda’s military. A recent flare-up in violence in DR Congo’s east has seen hundreds of thousands displaced, as the rebel group made inroads. The instability has been lucrative to the dozens of armed groups operating in the country, who profiteer from activities like illegal mining, human-trafficking and use of child labour in the resource-rich country. Please have a watch and let us know your verdict.

Despite the appalling death toll and suffering in Gaza, former UK Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, said this: ‘I very strongly rebut suggestions that Israel is in breach of international law. That there’s a genocide, that there’s a forced starvation.’ Many, including ourselves, are stunned and disagree. Despite six months of indiscriminate bombing, Braverman also questions the staggering Palestinian body count published by the Gaza Health Authority. We contrast her claims with those of UN experts. Please watch and comment.

On 8 April, Germany began facing Nicaragua’s charge of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Nicaragua alleges Germany is complicit in Israel’s actions against the Gaza Strip and has violated the 1948 UN Genocide Convention by providing Israel with military and financial aid. The small Central American country has asked the ICJ to issue emergency orders for Germany to immediately suspend military aid to Israel and ensure Israel doesn’t illegally use Germany’s provisions. Nicaragua’s case builds on South Africa’s, which led to the court stating in its 26 January provisional ruling that genocide is ‘plausible.’ It also ordered Israel to take measures to prevent genocidal acts against Palestinians. However, Israel has not abided by the ruling, going on to kill an additional 7,000 people. In this clip, Nicaragua’s ambassador to the Netherlands argues Germany’s weapons industry is profiting from the ongoing bombardments of the Gaza Strip, thereby aiding Israel in committing genocide. In 2023, about 30 per cent of Israel’s military hardware came from Germany, totalling $326 million. The deliveries were 10 times more than those in 2022, potentially making Germany complicit. Israel says it has been trying to eliminate H*m*s militants. However, reports say Israel has injured nearly 76,000 Palestinians and killed more than 33,000, with 25,000 being women and children. The UN said last month that over 1 million Palestinians are on the brink of famine. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced that a date had been set to launch a ground offensive against Rafah, but he did not provide details. The city is in the Gaza Strip’s southern end, where about 1.5 million Palestinians have sheltered since leaving their homes in the north.

When discussing violence taking place in the Gaza Strip and across occupied Palestinian territories, people often explain it as a conflict between two equal sides fighting a war for decades. However, in this 1 April clip from @piersmorganuncensored, US-based journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin (@fababs) told @piersmorgan this is an inappropriate lens to view the issue. The root cause, she argues, is the 75-year Israeli occupation inflicted on an indigenous people in service of a settler-colonial state. Since the 7 October escalation, Israel has killed more than 33,000 people via bombardments and a siege. A provisional International Court of Justice ruling in January and a temporary UN Security Council ceasefire resolution in March have not stopped Israel. Do you agree with Martin’s perspective? Let us know in the comments.

Within the space of 10 days, a Senegalese prisoner became president. It’s an amazing story that saw Bassirou Faye go from his cell to the palace and lead his country with fellow inmate Ousmane Sonko joining him as prime minister. In just over a week, they managed to galvanise the youth vote and capitalise on years of popular discontent. But will this dreamlike rise to the top end well? There are fears Faye’s already back-pedalling on his election promise to ditch the CFA franc as the country’s currency. We look at the duo’s stunning path to power and what lies ahead.

On what would have been his 126th birthday, we remember ‘Afro-American’ artist Paul Robeson - with a clip from 1960, in which his wit, intelligence and insights shine through. First broadcast on Australian TV, he explains to host and audience how their country, and the United States too, got its wealth - as well as why he is proud of his African roots, despite institutional attempts to make him ashamed of them. His outspoken political beliefs got him blacklisted during the McCarthy era, effectively ending his mainstream success. But that didn’t stop him from saying what he thought. Does he impress you as much as he does us?

In 1974, boxer and activist Muhammad Ali shared his beautiful poem about friendship in a televised interview. Today, three countries in Africa are shining examples of what he meant. The Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—established in September by three countries that underwent popular coups: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger—have forged a bond, both at the level of heads of state and at the grassroots among civilians. These landlocked countries in the Sahel, an arid zone south of the Sahara Desert, are closer than ever as they have agreed that an attack on any of the AES member-states is an attack on them all. The countries recently announced they would leave the France-backed regional organisation, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), flustering their Western-aligned neighbours. The AES lays the groundwork for Pan-African unity. Burkina Faso and Mali are among Africa's top gold producers, yet they understand their alliance—or their friendship—is more powerful.

On 5 April, Haitian police forces reportedly uncovered an illegal shipment of weapons from the United States. According to the website, Haiti Libre, the container included 12 assault rifles, 14 9-mm pistol guns, 999 cartridges for various calibre sizes, and 34 chargers (sniper rifles). Haitian officials seized the weapons at the port of Cap-Haïtien. Haiti Libre reported Alliance Int’l Shipping LLC Agency of 6916 NW, 72nd Avenue in Miami, shipped the container to someone named 'Wilmane Jean,' described as a 'customs broker.' 'A man named Barthol, thus known, was responsible for receiving these contraband arms and ammunition,' the outlet added. While all details are not yet known, evidence already demonstrates the United States' role in destabilising Haiti. From 1915 to 1934, the United States occupied Haiti, taking control of the country's politics and finances. Reports say the US Marines violated the human rights of Haitian civilians. From 1957 to 1971, the United States backed President François Duvalier, who ruled over Haiti with an iron fist. More recently, the United States employed coups d'état twice to overthrow democratically-elected socialist leader, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Since the last coup in 2004, instability has wracked the Haitian side of the Hispaniola island in the northern Caribbean Sea. The United States has also participated in and sanctioned other military occupations on the island. After UN 'peacekeeping' troops poured sewerage into waterways, a cholera outbreak killed at least 10,000 Haitians in the 2010s. Plus, Haitian women and girls have reported sexual violence at the hands of UN troops. An unpopular Kenyan police deployment has yet to take place. What do you think about this alleged weapon shipment? Let us know in the comments.