The name Kimathi wa Waciuri has dominated the political scene in Kenya for years. In the early 1950s, he was active in the Kenya Land and Freedom army (Mau Mau) as an organizer in the Rift valley. Later, he led the guerrilla army fighting the British colonial occupation army and rose to its highest military rank, Field Marshal. With victories on the battlefield, came the need to consolidate the political authority of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army. This was done by the establishment of the Kenya Parliament which was the first legitimate African Government of Kenya. On 6th March . . .
Kenya
A Guide To #ShutDownAFRICOM
On October 1st, the criminal and genocidal US military command, AFRICOM, will have been in existence for 14 years. In those 14 years, a sizable amount of awareness on the program has been raised by committed individuals and organizations who want to see our homeland released from the clutches of the US empire. But as that thirteenth year begins, the necessity of ending this initiative, once and for all, grows more and more dire. We are dedicating this entire newsletter to laying out the best resources for learning about AFRICOM that we can find. Read and share with your networks who can use this information. You can not fight a beast that we do not understand. . . .
Black Consciousness and Steve Biko
In his illustrious life as a Pan-African Historian, Dr. John Henrik Clarke once remarked in the many lectures he delivered that some people are confused about where they belong among us. You can clarify this situation very easily. Your creator, the oppressor, has made no room in his house for you; you either belong among us or you don’t belong in any place. In September 1977, 45 years ago, Africa lost one of its revolutionary sons, Steve Bantu Biko, who proudly upheld an unshakeable spirit of uncompromising struggle against the Apartheid regime in South Africa. Biko fronted the Black Consciousness . . .
Elite Capture: Martha Karua and the Politics of Representation
Kenya’s former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and a front-runner in the upcoming August 9th presidential election announced that Martha Karua, a former Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister (and an erstwhile fierce opponent), would be his running mate. This historic nomination made her the first woman in Kenya to run on a dominant political party’s presidential ticket. The news was met with varying degrees of enthusiasm and concern. In her acceptance speech, Karua, who vied for the presidency in 2013 and came in sixth said “This is a moment for the women of Kenya. It is a moment that my grandmother . . .
There is No Such Thing as Black Capitalism
51 years ago on 4th Dec 1969, Fredrick Allen Hampton Sr then chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP), and deputy chairman of the national BPP was assassinated by the Chicago County police in an unlawful raid. Hampton was only 21 years old when he was killed alongside Marl Clark another BPP member who was 22 years old. The anniversary to remember the life of Fred Hampton was quiet in 2021 without much celebration and recognition, obviously the mainstream media for known reasons do not have a history of celebrating radical revolutionaries. Although, maybe mistakenly one . . .
Misogyny and Homophobia in Kenyan Leftist Spaces
The rallying cry you will hear at almost every leftist gathering in Kenya is “Liberation for the masses! End all forms of oppression!” Often, it is men who send out this noble clarion call for emancipation from the shackles of capitalism and all the ills it represents. But, whose liberation is it anyway? What oppression are we ending when many leftist movements in Kenya harbor persons who hold on to harmful patriarchal attitudes like misogyny and homophobia? . . .
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 . . .
Why We Need A Mau Mau in Amerikkka
During a speech delivered in 1964, Malcolm X made a profound assertion about a rebel group that fought against British colonialism in East Africa known to many as the Mau Mau. “We need a Mau Mau revolution in Mississippi, we need a Mau Mau revolution in Alabama, we need a Mau Mau revolution in Georgia, and we need a Mau Mau revolution in Harlem.” . . .