The incident that took place at the Bloemfontein Maselspoort resort complex on the afternoon of Christmas 2022 reminded me of Julian Kunnie’s inquiry on democratic South Africa when he quizzed, “Is apartheid dead?” At the resort, two teenage boys of African descent were involved in a racist scuffle with several seemingly Dutch descendants [Afrikaners/ white people] about the use of a swimming pool that was ‘exclusively segregated for whites only’. Social media was abuzz about the incident and the New York Times strangely got hold of the story and video footage of the incident. Most members of the society condemned . . .
Local Organizing Updates
I Witnessed the Truth about Nicaragua
Entering adulthood alongside the dwindling of 2020 uprisings for Black liberation (that I had naively seen as the beginning of the end), I felt very stuck. Understanding I am a poor queer Black woman, I saw myself facing a world where the options presented for survival were dehumanizing at best, and the innate dream of living as a free person essentially destroyed. I wanted to fight the liberal tendency of American youth to begin with strong spirits of resistance, before colleging, working and/or drugging, and ultimately, laying down into the nuzzle of the . . .
Missouri is About to Murder Kevin Johnson
Editors Note: At 7:40pm CT on November 29, 2022, the State of Missouri murdered Kevin Johnson. It is, or should be, universally recognized, that poor children are not responsible for their hunger, that abused children are not to blame for being abused, and that we all have a collective responsibility to protect those too young to protect themselves. Yet if we fail in our duty to protect, and those we’ve failed to protect are irreparably damaged, and through that irreparable damage grow up to break the law, we as a society treat those same tormented children as unworthy of empathy . . .
The African Middle-Class is Either Sleeping or Disarmed
Capitalism and its fraying edges should be discarded, its presence grows dull and boring even though millions of Africans experience capitalism in its most vicious expressions, maybe this is why there is a kind of passiveness to its observation or critique. It becomes the most affected, the most harmed, and the most vulnerable that move to educate whoever will listen on the contradictions staring everyone in the face and how to resist and change the status-quo. With the Nigerian, and by extension, African middle-class in mind, it is vital to note the subtle complicity with neoliberalism within our societies. The . . .
Black & Indigenous Solidarity Takes Root in Ecuador
Last week the Black and Indigenous Liberation Movement (BILM) organized a coalition congress between Black and Indigenous communities throughout Abya Yala, which includes the regions of North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean. BILM held the congress in Quito, Ecuador which has been the center of nationwide strikes throughout this year. This strike led by Indigenous and Black community leaders, against rising food and fuel costs, awakened a decades long issue of the Ecuadorian government excluding Indigenous and Black Ecuadorians politically, socially, and economically. The strikes brought together Black, Indigenous, student, and women groups, to bring the country to . . .
Shut Down AFRICOM!
SEPTEMBER 19, 2022 — October 1, 2022 is the 14th anniversary of the launch of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). Yet, jihadist terrorist violence on the African continent has increased since the founding of AFRICOM and NATO’s destruction of Libya resulting in civilian casualties and instability, which the West has used as pretext and justification for the continued need for AFRICOM. Since its founding, coups carried out by AFRICOM-trained soldiers have also increased. That is why the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) is organizing an International Month of Action Against AFRICOM in October. This is an effort to raise the . . .
Justice for Jackson Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi is currently suffering through an unprecedented water crisis. After decades of systematic and intentional neglect due to environmental racism, capital flight and deindustrialization, the city’s water system has collapsed. . . .
Biden Gaslights Us With $10,000 Student Loan Forgiveness
Just as I suspected, Biden is announcing that he will approve the cancellation of $10,000 in federal student loan debt. I guess Biden is expecting some kind of returns on his efforts in the midterm elections, but I seem to recall his campaign promise to “Forgive all undergraduate tuition-related federal student debt from two- and four-year public colleges and universities and private Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) for debt holders earning up to $125,000.” That’s directly from the Biden/Harris campaign website as confirmed by Politifact and their Biden Promise Tracker (which you should definitely check . . .