It’s very difficult to really get to the bottom of an issue with a celebrity at the center. On Hood Communist, we have written and talked a lot about the issues created by celebrity-centered analysis. Once the concept of celebrity enters a room, it stands in the middle of the floor and expands outward in every direction, making it impossible for other issues, like class, to get a word in. The conversation can no longer be about the issue itself, only the spectacle of the celebrity and what we project on our relationship with that person. This is proven true . . .
Africa
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 . . .
Building Power with Food Sovereignty
Let’s talk about food sovereignty, Africa, the economic impoverishment of the diaspora and Indigenous people at large. How does Africa, the biggest continent on the planet, import 85% of its entire food chain? African countries consist of 27 out of 34 the countries around the world that are unable to feed themselves, according to worldatlas.com. That’s 27 out of Africa’s 54 divided countries. Half the countries of Africa! The countries the world atlas refers to are also heavily involved in conflict or are in post-war devastation. This is all neo-colonial industrial military complex profiteering and resource extraction. Europe still has . . .
Neo-Colonialism is Inherently Patriarchal
I was asked to talk about women fighting for Pan-African unity against neo-colonialism but one of the things that came up on our call when I was preparing for this was neo-colonialism as an inherently patriarchal system of exploitation. So I want to begin by talking about the ways in which neo-colonialism is inherently patriarchal. As we may know, colonialism and neo-colonialism impact every facet of life for colonized peoples so there is no way to analyze any aspect of our lives while ignoring the reality of neo-colonialism and imperialism, but since neo-colonialism is fundamentally an economic system, I want . . .
From Black Power to Pan-Africanism with Mukasa Dada
Transcript Mukasa Dada, formally known as Willie Ricks, when he was a member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC – pronounced SNICK), was a frontline organizer who faced naked terror in the 1960s engaging in organizing work against white supremacy. In June of 1966, Mukasa played a pivotal during the “March against Fear” in Mississippi. Moving away from much of the philosophy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. which, up to that point, dominated the ideology and actions of the U.S. civil rights movement, SNCC saw itself further embracing the militant ideas of Malcolm X and nationalism as . . .
The Mistake of the First African Summit Conference – Shirley Graham DuBois
This is an excerpt from a speech given by the great Shirely Graham DuBois at UCLA on November 13, 1970, almost a decade after the African Summit Conference in Ethiopia where Pan-Africanists from all over the world came together to sign the Charter of African Unity. You can listen to the section below here, or the entire speech here. . . .
NATO in Africa: Colonial Violence and Structural White Supremacy
Considering the public media attention and concern about possible expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), it is worth reminding people about NATO’s bloody history in Africa. NATO was founded in 1949 after WWII at a time when African countries were still under the yoke of colonialism. In fact most of the original founders of NATO had been Africa’s principal colonizers such as UK, France, Portugal, Belgium, Italy and the USA as lead NATO organizer and dominant partner. The organization was established as a collective defense against the Soviet Union with the requirement (Article 5) that any attack on . . .
Individualism & the Attack on African Identity
African identity is much more than glamorizing our past. For proponents of Pan-Africanism it’s really a recognition that there are 2 billion Africans worldwide, living in 120 countries and in each of those countries we occupy the bottom of society. And, at the core of this is the continued subjugation of Africa. . . .