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 . . .
White Supremacy
Xenophobia, Narrow Nationalism, & Capitalism
There is a devastating and unfortunate manifestation to the ruthless oppression African people have faced for over 500 years that we must discuss. Capitalism, built and maintained through its barbaric and horrific exploitation of cheap African human and material resources, has always utilized systemic white supremacy as its chief weapon to perpetuate its dominance. What this looks like in real time is a remote controlled misinformation campaign that paints Africa and the African masses (approximately two million of us scattered and suffering in almost 120 countries worldwide) as lazy, shiftless, dishonest, violence prone, and irresponsible. The reality is that those . . .
Thankstaking & The Normalizing of Colonialism
The key to oppressing a people is to break their spirit. And, the way to break a people’s spirit is to destroy their connection to their culture. A significant piece of white supremacy is to deny the Indigenous story. Doing so diminishes them just as denying slavery is a clear attack against the dignity of African people. The more we do to challenge this attack against oppressed people in every form we can, the more we weaken imperialism’s ability to control the thinking of the masses of people.cu . . .
Rittenhouse and Verdict Mania
Black people give great attention to certain court cases in hopes of receiving justice when the system is designed to be unjust. That recognition and the commitment to fighting back will be of greater use than divining conclusions about a racist nation when juries reach verdicts. . . .
Anti-Communism, Anti-Blackness, and Imperialism
In this talk prepared for the Albuquerque Anti-War Coalition’s Anti-Communism & Imperialism panel discussion, Dr. Charisse Burden Stelley discusses how anti-communism and anti-Blackness are intrinsically intertwined structures of white supremacist and capitalist control. . . .
The Anti-Blackness of “Professionalism”
Racist narratives under capitalism considers African people as commodities for profit, whilst creating conditions that assimilate them to their white or Non-Black People of Color (NBPOC) counterparts. Whiteness is treated as the standard, with employers who hold similar views policing Black bodies into what they deem acceptable. Under the guise of professionalism, features associated with Blackness—attire, mannerisms, vernacular, and general appearance—are viewed as unfit for an occupational setting and are deeply rooted in anti-Black sentiments. The process of upholding such standards requires focus on features that are prevalent in the African diaspora. Employers and recruitment personnel look at hair, dress . . .
“Candyman” and the Impact of White Supremacy
That long history of racist violence against Black men is told in cleverly laid-out shadow puppetry, which simultaneously removes the physical gruesomeness of the acts portrayed while delivering their inhumane brutality. Each shadow-puppet story relates to a different iteration of Candyman, and the collective trauma of centuries of violent racist brutality against Black men turns the Candyman figure into something other than a villain. Terrifying in his visage and actions, certainly, but the question emerges as the connections are made between this history and the urban legend come to life: Is Candyman the monster, or is the monster what created Candyman? . . .
African Athletes, U.S. Patriotism & White Supremacy
During the 2020 Olympic games (which due to the pandemic, are being carried out in the summer of 2021) gymnast Simone Biles suddenly withdrew from competition for the U.S. team. Biles, who has been so dominant in her performance over the last several years that she has earned the title GOAT, has been so outstanding that many judges have admitted being confused about how to properly evaluate other gymnasts in comparison to her incredible capabilities. Biles, apparently feeling pressure to justify her decision to withdraw, took the painful step of revealing publicly that she has struggled with depression and needed . . .