AfricanStream

Watch how Nigerian teen Faith Odunsi went genius mode in Season 4 of a game show called, ‘Cowbellpedia,’ in 2018. Our only thought would be don’t succumb to the myth that we are not intelligent and that we need people from the West to do our maths for us, especially not our maths!

As the world observes Earth Day today, one institution seems to have been let off the hook: the U.S. military. It’s the planet’s biggest polluter, according to multiple studies. Washington has done much to bury this uncomfortable truth. It lobbied to exempt its military from reporting its emissions, as required by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The 2015 Paris Agreement overturned this exemption - but still does not legally bind the US to report military emissions. With at least 750 American army bases globally (29 in Africa), it’s not just US boots on the ground that are a cause for concern - but the carbon footprint they leave. African Stream’s Kenneth Kaigua looks at how this enormous war machine is killing our beautiful planet. It’s another reason to take pride in our brothers and sisters in the Sahel, as they kick out US forces from their counties - do you agree?

Hundreds of Moroccans gathered on 20 April in front of the US consulate in Casablanca to say the United States is just as responsible as Israel for the bombardments and escalated siege that have killed 34,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since 7 October. US diplomatic, financial and military support has allowed Israel to occupy Palestinian territories for 75 years. On 19 April, the US House of Representatives passed a bill giving Israel $26 billion in ‘emergency aid.’ If it passes in the Senate, US President Joe Biden, who has promoted the bill since October, is likely to sign off on the $95 billion military aid package to Israel, Taiwan and Ukraine. As of December, 244 aeroplanes and 20 ships had delivered more than 10,000 tonnes of military equipment worth $2.4 billion to Israel since October. Further, the Intercept reported the US Air Force has been flying surveillance drones over the Gaza Strip for the first time in history, and the news outlet reported a government document appears to indicate the United States has been providing Israel with targeting information to aid airstrikes and to help fire long-range artillery weapons. Last week, the United States vetoed a UN resolution that would have recognised Palestine as a state. Meanwhile, the US has long claimed to support a two-state solution. The US has also vetoed three ceasefire resolutions at the global body. What explains US support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine? Let us know in the comments.

For 11 years, the US military has intervened in and occupied the Sahelian West African country of Niger. However, on March 16th, 2024, the Nigerien government, led by anti-imperialist military officer Abdouramane Tchiani, announced that it would be putting an immediate end to the military accord signed by a prior administration with Washington. Niamey declared US military operations in Niger illegal. It means the 1,100 US troops stationed in the country now have to scoot. Across Niger, many have welcomed the decision - but many are also frustrated that, over a month on, nothing’s happened yet. After a major protest in the capital last week urging the Americans to get on with it and go, this weekend saw a similar rally in Agadez - the site of the Pentagon’s 201 drone base. People at the protest also shared their views on what any future military alliances must look like: “We are not slaves,” said one man. Have a watch and please tell us if you share the sentiments expressed.

Burkina Faso has been investing most of its resources into defending its territory against paramilitary forces roaming the Sahel region, most recently by acquiring aircraft seen in this @rtburkina clip. Words like 'sovereignty' and 'autonomy' are featured in President Ibrahim Traoré's speeches and increasingly in the everyday conversations of citizens. Burkina Faso, along with neighbouring countries Mali and Niger, are working to strengthen their relationships with one another, as well as with international partners, to fight back successfully. For Burkinabé, these aircraft are a step toward greater security, prosperity and self-determination. Over the past nine years, paramilitary attacks led France to occupy this small landlocked country militarily. However, attacks continued across Burkina Faso and the Sahel, an arid zone south of the Sahara Desert. Many people across the region believe paramilitary forces, or what some refer to as 'death squads,' are connected to foreign powers outside of Africa. These forces increased in the aftermath of the 2011 NATO destabilisation of Libya. After former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's ouster, rebel groups from Mali were able to access the fallen government's weapons stash. Since then, some have wondered how these militants have been obtaining new weapons and technologies. After the 2022 military coup that ousted a Western-aligned leader, France got the boot to the cheers of the Burkinabè people.

US philanthropic foundations’ have a long and dark history of trying to control reproduction in Africa. The Rockefeller Foundation advertised in 1979 that it was launching the ‘Nertus Project’ to depopulate Africa in exchange for food, water and housing. However, decades later, activists and justice-minded intellectuals are trying to hold some of these foundations accountable, as African Stream’s Wambura Mwai explains. How should Africans hold outsiders accountable for eugenicist projects? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. Should Africans hold foreigners accountable for trying to depopulate our continent?

Waist beads are all the rage on TikTok. For pretty much the same reasons our African ancestors loved them. African Stream’s Miss Phyll explains.

Africa’s most prized resource, its people, have been relegated to mere footnotes by Africa’s ruling elite. With low literacy rates and high poverty and hunger on a continent with 67 per cent of the world’s arable land, what gives? Everyone is clamouring for Africa, except the Africans, who, on rickety boats, look for opportunities their governments should have provided. Imperialism plays a role in the current state of affairs, as well. Leaders of the 20th century, such as Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Patrice Lumumba, Burkina Faso’s Thomas Sankara, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah and Grenada’s Maurice Bishop, all executed pro-people policies, looking to utilise their natural resources to develop African people. They all saw their final days at the hands of the colonial powers. PLO Lumumba, a Pan-Africanist and former director of the Kenya School of Law, made the case in November 2022 that development is impossible without improving the African condition. In this clip, he spoke to Nigerian politicians in Abuja before the 2023 elections. Could greed, a lack of self-esteem and insecurity explain the disconnect? How relevant would the tired unimaginative elite be if Africans were empowered? How much better would the continent fare if the lions refused to be led by bought-and-paid-for sheep? What do you think of Lumumba’s remarks? Let us know in the comments.

Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, while speaking to France 24 about immigration, reminded viewers of the root cause: Europeans coming to Africa to enslave, plunder and colonise - and leaving Africa underdeveloped while robbing it of resources to this day. That’s why those in a panic in the EU and the United States about Africans seeking a new life there ought to be more understanding. Had the West not enriched itself at the expense of Africans and done everything to keep our continent down and divided, this ‘crisis’ would not be at their door. What are your thoughts on this?

At African Stream, we think Scottish trade unionist Jimmy Reid’s remarks in this clip from about 50 years ago are relevant for Africans. From the continent and throughout the world, governments tell us we have rights. According to international law, a Malian farmer has the same legal rights and responsibilities as Nestlé CEO Ulf Mark Schneider. However, when Malians lost a lawsuit against food companies Nestlé and Cargill for child slavery, we saw that, in practice, equality before the law isn’t real. Rural Nigerian villagers are allegedly equal to the executives running oil companies Shell and Chevron. But who do you think has the upper hand in the courtroom? Legally, African Stream has the same rights to freedom of speech as the New York Times, CNN and the BBC. But which do you think has to contend with censorship? Under capitalism, most of our freedoms are abstract because, while we have the same legal rights as those who rule over us, we do not have the resources to fight to maintain these so-called freedoms.

The US has used its Security Council veto to override - singly - the will of Algeria, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and other Security Council members to let the Palestinians have full UN membership. In all, 12 out of 15 voted for what would have amounted to recognising a Palestinian state. (Currently, the Palestinians have observer status.) The UK and Switzerland abstained. Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, the US used a person of Colour as their envoy to defend White supremacy. It previously used African-American Linda Greenfield-Thomas to veto a ceasefire resolution on Gaza. In the lead-up to the Iraq war, Colin Powell was used to present fabricated evidence to justify war. Many have long questioned the veto right held by the five permanent members of the UNSC (China, France, Russia, UK, US) - pointing out that it can be abused, un-democratically, to oppose the will of the majority (something particularly ironic - or hypocritical - in the case of the self-styled world champion of democracy!). What are your thoughts on the issue?

If you’ve never read any Toni Morrison, this short clip might just inspire you to. The Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist is known for her unmatched poise, authority and articulacy - qualities on display here, as she halts the interviewer in her tracks to call out the implicit racism of her question (essentially: why doesn’t Morrison write about White characters?). The interviewer is left shell-shocked. What’s your reaction?

Sierra Leone's first lady has attracted global attention for her ‘Hands Off Our Girls’ initiative, which works to protect women and girls against sexual violence and patriarchal practices. In this 6 March interview with Harvard University’s Takemi Program in International Health Executive Director Jesse Bump, Fatima Maada Bio detailed how she is working to close the gender gap in Africa. Women account for slightly more than half of the continent's population. The first lady also delved into Sierra Leone's bloody history and described how foreign interests still exploit its mineral wealth, making the case that, as a whole, Africa is not yet fully liberated. Bio also said the United Nations Security Council must be reformed after almost 80 years to include Africa as a member. Enjoy watching, and, as always, join the conversation by sharing your thoughts in the comments section.

The world is teetering on the edge of the abyss of a world war because Western powers have been unwilling to rein in Israel, said Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In this clip from a fiery address given during a 15 April event to commemorate the first anniversary of @nicolasmaduro’s TV programme, ‘With Maduro More’ (@conmaduromas_), he dragged the West for condemning Iran’s 13 April retaliatory attack on Israel. What the West does not mention is Israel bombed the Iranian consulate in Syria on 1 April, killing 16 people, including high-ranking Iranian military figures. The Geneva Conventions lay out the right of countries to host diplomatic buildings abroad as sovereign territory. Further, international law stipulates the right to proportionate responses to attacks. What would a Western country have done if a state attacked its diplomatic buildings? This is hardly the first time the West has provided Israel with cover as it flagrantly violates international law. After the 7 October escalation in the 75-year Israeli occupation of Palestine, the US vetoed three resolutions calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. In the meantime, the United States has shipped and flown hundreds of containers of arms to Israel, which has killed more than 33,000 people. The UK has conducted 50 spy mission flights over Gaza, and Germany has sent more than 10,000 tank shells to the Israeli occupation. However, the West’s days of dictating global affairs look to end soon, and this head-in-the-sand attitude carries a real risk of ending human civilisation. Please share your thoughts.

Clare Daly, Irish member of the European Parliament, has long shown support for the Palestinian people. Since Israel’s bombardments and escalated siege of the Gaza Strip began on 7 October, Daly has criticised the United States and the European Union for their diplomatic, financial and military support for Israel. A few days after European Union President Ursula von der Leyen condemned Iran for its retaliatory attack on Israel, Daly called von der Leyen a ‘gen*cidal psychopath’ in an 18 April address to the EU Parliament. The EU has provided Israel with aid while it has killed nearly 34,000 Palestinians. Was @claredalymep right to condemn the EU Commission president? Let us know in the comments.

Five Black and Latino teenagers spent years behind bars for a rape and brutal assault that happened on this day in Central Park, 35 years ago. They were all innocent. During their trial, Donald Trump - then a New York businessman - took out full-page ads in a number of newspapers, calling for the death penalty to be applied. That didn’t happen, but the Central Park Five, as they became known, each served between five and 13 years - before being exonerated in 2002, when the real attacker confessed.

Italy’s Georgia Meloni was in Tunisia on Wednesday for talks on curbing cross-Mediterranean migration. It was her fourth visit in less than a year. Among the agreements signed was a promise for 50-million euros in aid. It comes on top of last July’s splurge - 150-million euros for curbing migration and another 150-million euros for budgetary support for the debt-ridden country. Europe’s externalisation of its borders - which has also included deals with Libya and Morocco - has benefitted corrupt government officials and traffickers, while exposing migrants to exploitation. There have been allegations of endemic police abuse, including extortion, violence and sexual assault. Arrested migrants have been fined and deported for illegal entry - without regard to whether returning them to their countries would put them at risk of torture or imprisonment, which is a violation of the UN’s Refugee Convention. Tunisia last year forcibly drove more than 1,000 Africans into the desert, with reports numerous abandoned migrants died from heat and thirst. Ultimately, the root causes of cross-Med migration remain unaddressed. Most make the dangerous journey to Europe in search of opportunities unavailable back home. The reason for poverty back home is European imperialism - from slavery and colonisation, to today’s neo-colonialism. As Walter Rodney opined, the development of Europe was built on the underdevelopment of Africa. What Africa needs is reparations, not financial carrots to incentivise corrupt governments to do Europe’s policing for them. Many Tunisians are unhappy about Rabat’s deals with the EU - and came out to protest Meloni’s latest visit. In this clip, one of them speaks his mind. Do you agree with his sentiment?

Colonial Germany’s genocide in Namibia is slowly attracting the attention long denied it. But the imperialist power also did despicable things in its East African ‘possessions’ that are even less widely known about. One of its most revered scientists - Robert Koch, who won a Nobel Prize for his work on tuberculosis - used Africans, kept in concentration-like conditions, as guinea pigs for trials of a dangerous experimental drug for sleeping sickness. While some might put it all down to the ‘bad old past,’ as African Stream’s Clinton Nzala here explains, some things haven’t really changed. Would you agree?

In the face of an anti-imperialist revolution unfolding across France's former colonies of the Sahel region, French army general François Gérard Marie Lecointre speaks in this @lefigaro clip about the need for greater European unity to re-engage in military action across Africa. He makes clear that European action in Africa would be a matter of protecting European interests. Lecointre suggested hardship and population growth in Africa would spill into Europe and that only Europe could solve Africa's problems. His emphasis on European unity also sheds light on Europe's shared supranational foreign policy. Meanwhile, after successful military coups in recent years in the Sahel, the unity and shared foreign policy of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger—together known as the Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—have been able to combat terrorist paramilitary groups without French intervention. It seems as though European military leaders are clear on the need for a Pan-European policy and actions. Are Africans ready to adopt Pan-Africanism? "Watch the whole @LeFigaro interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBe6GelWkxE

Here we are again. Another US presidential election is coming up in November, and we are back to the same old, same old: Democrats vs Republicans, Joe Biden vs Donald Trump, deadly foreign policy vs deadly foreign policy. But is the 'lesser of two evils' a real choice? In this clip from comedian Aamer Rahman's comedy standup tour in February in London, he relays to the audience the reality in which our people live. We are stuck in a system that only demands that we choose in the voting booth who will oppress us and kill people like us around the world. We cannot ignore the Biden administration's role in aiding Israel in killing more than 33,000 Palestinians while it continues to play a covert role in aiding the displacement, hunger and murder of our people in the Sudan and the Congo. Our people's unwillingness to back Biden is not an endorsement of Trump. With the system as it is, we find ourselves in a lose-lose situation. But we need not despair. All around the world, people are waking up to reality and coming together to struggle for a better world. Through collective organised efforts, change is possible. Do you support Joe Biden or Donald Trump, or do you think it's time for something new?

Despite promises to reduce immigration, the United Kingdom actively recruits foreign teachers due to a severe shortage. In 2023, the UK hired 486 Jamaican teachers, double the previous year. This has left Jamaica's education system in crisis, with unfilled vacancies and fewer subjects for Jamaican children to study. While low wages and economic challenges contribute to teachers leaving, what do you think Jamaica should do to retain its homegrown talent?

The U.S. political establishment is pressing to ban TikTok, and it’s being framed as a bid to counter Chinese influence. But is this a red herring? African Stream’s Ahmed Ghoneim argues it’s Israel that’s behind the drive to axe the platform which is spreading pro-Palestinian sentiment. And a leaked recording of the head of the Anti-Defamation League, seems to back the case. However, even if TikTok does get the chop before the US presidential election, would it really make any difference to public opinion? Give us your thoughts.

Today marks 44 years since Zimbabwe became an independent state - breaking free of the yoke of British settler-colonialism. Independence came after a bitter and protracted armed struggle, waged against the racist regime of Ian Smith by two liberation movements: the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) and the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU). In December 1979, the warring parties signed the Lancaster House Agreement, which paved the way for the country's first democratic elections. ZANU’s Robert Mugabe won those, and officially became the country's first post-independence leader on 18th April, 1980. To commemorate that momentous occasion, here’s a flashback to when Mugabe put a condescending British journalist in his place. At an African Union summit during the late noughties, the ITN correspondent tried to get a reaction out the Zimbabwean president. Mugabe did not hold back. Which of today’s African leaders do you think are equally ‘no nonsense’?

Did you know that African people invented the banjo? The banjo is an instrument that nowadays is largely associated with rural White country artists, but it would not exist without African innovation. Africans were kidnapped and brought to the Americas, bringing with them their culture and their music styles. Stringed instruments are common across Africa, and many of them bear a striking similarity to the banjo found in the southern United States. African instruments such as the kora, the akonting, the ubaw-akwala, the xalam and the ngoni are all precursors to the American banjo. The earliest historical documentation of the American instrument all attribute its origin to enslaved Africans. The latter used materials that were readily available to them in the Americas to recreate the instruments they were familiar with in Africa. They originally used gourds and animal skins, which is how these instruments are usually made in Africa. Banjos and other, similar stringed instruments were also created by African people across the Caribbean. The Banjo was such an important centrepiece of African life across the Americas and the world at large that Jamaican-born writer Claude Mckay titled his novel about Pan-African exchanges 'Banjo.' It was only through generations of racism in the US music industry that the instrument was decoupled from its African roots and attributed to Southern White populations. This clip by @protectourhistory gives a good account of the story - as well as some fine examples of the instrument being played! Do you play?

In this @thepeoplesbubbiefilm clip, @jvpny member Esther Farmer reads from a piece she wrote published in a 2021 book she co-edited, ‘A Land With a People: Palestinians and Jews Confront Zi*nism.’ She describes her father’s opposition to Zi*nism, as it collaborated with fascism and Nazism. However, African Stream would like to point out that the state of Israel also collaborated with former N*zis to support apartheid in South Africa. The apartheid system bore striking similarities to European Nazism in that the populations were strictly categorised based on race, and various laws forbade intermarriage and intermixing. Laws also kept white people in power. The first leader to officially impose apartheid laws, D.F. Malan, once said, ‘I have been reproached that I am now discriminating against the Jews as Jews. Now, let me say frankly that I admit that it is so.’ However, authorities recognised South Africa’s wh*te population had a disadvantage in being small, so they bestowed the wh*te status onto Jewish people, too. John Vorster led South Africa from 1966 to 1979, serving as prime minister and later as president. He spent much of his early adulthood supporting the N*zi expansion across Europe as an active member of the organisation, Ossewabrandwag, which sought to bring N*zism to South Africa. Despite this history, Israel lent generous material support to the apartheid regime beginning in the late 1970s, even inviting Prime Minister John Vorster, who expressed public admiration for H*tler, as a guest to Israel. From that point on, Israel would supply South Africa with all sorts of weapons to combat freedom-fighting Africans. Israel even gave South Africa the information it needed to build nuclear bombs. Did you know about the collaboration between Zi*nist Israel and South African apartheid leaders? Let us know in the comments.