During World Cup season, billions of people around the world have a new dose of entertainment to take their minds off the horrors of widespread economic stagnation, environmental degradation, as well as lower economic prospects for the working class than ever before, it is almost as if there isn’t an ongoing war in eastern Europe…strange times. As sports create an ‘us versus them’ atmosphere, it is also a key tool for soft power, diplomacy, and nationalism. National identity is also fostered through sports, meaning flagship events like the World Cup in Qatar are key opportunities for countries to exhibit national . . .
Pan-Africanism
Reject the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit
The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) recognizes the “U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit” — scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. December 13-15th — as nothing more than collusion between neo-colonial powers and U.S. attempts to advance and maintain dominance over the continent. Liberal elements of U.S. civil society will preoccupy themselves with the issues they think should be addressed at the Summit, claiming to act in the best interest of Africa or, as with the Summit of the Americas held earlier this year, attack those who they say do not deserve to be invited. Such dispositions presume the U.S. has honest . . .
Steps to a Socialist Pan-African Movement
A recently published book by Vita books publishers Essays on Pan-Africanism edited by Shiraz Durrani & Noosim Naimasiah contains essays on Pan-Africanism written by Pan-Africanist intellectuals at various times. In its preface, Prof. Issa Shivji says writings on Pan-Africanism never become dated for the desire of Africans globally for freedom continues burning, sometimes dimming into a flicker, at other times shining bright but never stuffed out however strong winds. The book has diverse chapters dating back to Karim Essack’s publication in 1993. Nevertheless, there is an important chapter on the necessity of building a Socialist Pan-African movement by Shiraz Durrani . . .
How Guinea and the PDG Helped Shape Modern Pan-Africanism
Today, the European left has embraced African revolutionaries like Amilcar Cabral from Guinea-Bissau. If you follow their writings on his contributions, you would believe he was a Marxist-Leninist who was seeking to build a Marxist-Leninist party in Guinea-Bissau. In Ghana, the truth and actual legacy of Kwame Nkrumah is finally being brought to the surface and as a result, those same white left forces are moving to position Nkrumah in their analysis as an African leader they endorse. Cabral and Nkrumah are being embraced by these forces as a result of their continuing popularity among the African masses. They have engaged . . .
Social Democracy Will Not Save Us
The Black Liberation Movement in the United States has reached an almost unprecedented level of ideological confusion. Unlike in the 20th century, significant sections of the contemporary Black Left openly embrace an understanding of ‘identity politics’[i] that is based in philosophical idealism.[ii] A somewhat resurgent US Left has, correctly, begun to critique these perceived political errors. Unfortunately, social democrats such as DSA, Jacobin and Cedric Johnson in his award-winning article[iii] add to the ideological confusion. This essay asserts that contrary to the claims of advancing democracy and freedom, social democracy has consistently undermined the struggle for national liberation and socialism. In 1896, Eduard Bernstein, the . . .
The Lethal Threat of the White Boss
In the early morning hours of October 2nd, relatives of 20-year-old Porter Burks called Detroit police because the young Black man, who was challenged by schizophrenia, wandered the neighborhood brandishing a knife with a blade slightly longer than three inches. He slashed his brother’s tires and was otherwise acting out in ways that concerned his loved ones. The specific request was that police assist with getting control of the young man so that he could be transported for treatment. When five officers arrived, they took positions more than fifty feet away from Burks. As they shouted pleas for cooperation, they . . .
The Enemy’s Unity vs. African Unity
Unity has been the watchword for Africa’s enemies. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) united countries engaged in colonialism and imperialism under the leadership of the United States. NATO’s role in Africa has been to defend the United States and Western Europe’s economic dominance over Africa’s land and resources. As just one example, NATO supported fascist Portugal with planes, ships, and arms in the fight to preserve colonies in the 1960s and 1970s. NATO remains a threat to Africa and the world. Under the leadership of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM), Africa’s enemies united and used military force to attempt to . . .
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 . . .