Pambazuka News 663: The woman, the dragon and black madness
Pambazuka News 663: The woman, the dragon and black madness
A new poll shows “Blacks remain more NSA spy-friendly than whites and Hispanics.” Earlier surveys showed Blacks were the ethnic group most willing to go along with Obama’s threatened air war against Syria. What happened to Black progressivism?
Rwanda’s leader uses UN peace missions to maintain the dictatorship in Kigali and to enhance his formidable global financial and criminal network that liquidates his opponents
When South Africa became democratic and political equality was adopted, little was done for economic equality. That mainly benefitted the already powerful whites. Economic liberalisation coupled with inequality and capitalist competition have engendered massive corruption
Through the years, the discourse about South Sudan has merely focused on power, wealth and armed conflict. The issues of identity, citizenship, unity and constructing the social fabric of the country have never been part of the conversation
The ruling elite in South Africa combines the worst aspects of apartheid and post-apartheid nationalism with pro-corporate neoliberalism. Public interest and participation in the nation's moneyed politics is purely tokenistic
The regime in power in Ethiopia today is orchestrating a full-court press demonization and vilification campaign against Atse Menelik II, the Nineteenth Century Ethiopian emperor whose centennial is being celebrated this year (Ethiopian calendar)
It is difficult to call the recent gathering in Montreux, Switzerland, a ‘peace conference’ on Syria, since the U.S. and its allies are determined to change the regime by force of arms. Washington has forged an ‘unholy alliance with its ‘Wahhabi allies from Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda,’ who act as America’s ‘boots on the ground.’
Last week’s appointment of Catherine Samba Panza as CAR’s transitional president, the third female head of state in Africa, raises a glimmer of hope that this troubled nation at the heart of the continent could finally end its long history of coups, political violence, ethnic-based exclusion and grinding poverty
Southern Tanzania’s coal and gas-rich region which is part of the Mtwara Development Corridor is to see the construction of a new railway line from Mtwara to Mbamba-Bay. There are huge hopes that this new Chinese built railway – 40 years after TAZARA, will foster economic development in the region
Africa was seen by Leopold II as a ‘magnificent African cake’ and still is considered as such by new foreign interests. Between the Chinese and the Japanese it seems the Japanese, like the West, seeks to ‘contain’ China’s influence in Africa. The Chinese aspire to a win-win-South-South cooperation and the restoration of Asia and Africa’s dignity
Pambazuka News 662: SPECIAL ISSUE: Amilcar Cabral and the unfinished African revolution
Pambazuka News 662: SPECIAL ISSUE: Amilcar Cabral and the unfinished African revolution
In this special issue on Amilcar Cabral we seek to return to the life, writings, legacy, political, social, economic and cultural insights of this revolutionary figure whilst examining what he means to Africans and their struggles of today
Of all the African political leaders none have made more profound theoretical and strategic contributions to the advancement of the black liberation movement than Amilcar Cabral. As long as capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, imperialism, and neo-colonialism exist as forces that exploit and oppress African (and all) people, Cabral’s insights and analysis will always have relevance
Africa’s post-colonial history is one of unfulfilled missions because the national leadership has been lacking in revolutionary theory and ideology. Since so-called independence, Africa is still awaiting that moment when leaders such as Cabral will once again rise to the occasion and drive an agenda for the total liberation of Africa, from all vestiges of imperialism and neo-colonialism
Some of the men who apparently revered him were amongst those who would eventually betray Cabral to imperialist forces. He was not the first nor the last victim in the long line of treachery, which stretches backward along the road to African decolonization
Amilcar Cabral rejected the notion that culture is primordial, immutable. He was not only interested in change, or how culture changes, but in how this change could be produced. For him then the nationalist liberation movement could point to the direction national culture could be moved
The ideas and example of Amilcar Cabral are an important link in the global quest for African liberation, a mission that, despite certain appearances and protestations to the contrary, persists. Cabral’s vision provides a theoretical roadmap for conceptualizing true freedom for Africa
Few countries in Africa have achieved total independence, despite the formal end of colonialism, and none have yet been able to liberate the productive forces and place them in the hands of the people. Amilcar Cabral’s thought provides the roadmap to achieve this
To Cabral, the liberation struggle was a revolution to overthrow the oppressive system of domination and exploitation of one human being by another. This has not been fully achieved in Africa, despite the end of formal colonialism. The liberation movements and current regimes lack an astute ideology grounded in the history and aspirations of their own people
Pambazuka News 665: Popular resistance can deliver: Haiti, Mozambique and South Africa
Pambazuka News 665: Popular resistance can deliver: Haiti, Mozambique and South Africa
In February, Pambazuka News plans to carry a special issue dedicated to the LGBTI situation in Africa. Send in your contribution
Pambazuka News 661: In pursuit of justice: CAR, Haiti, Ivory Coast & South Africa
Pambazuka News 661: In pursuit of justice: CAR, Haiti, Ivory Coast & South Africa
Richard Hart was a pioneer in the development of Trade Unions, political parties and organizations in the Caribbean. Although he pursued a career as a solicitor, he is more widely known as a historian and politician. He has written numerous books, pamphlets and papers
America celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday 20, the first ever public holiday in honour of a Black person. The history of this day is interesting, especially the strong resistance mounted by white politicians on the grounds that a Black person was no that important
From the more than 1000 workers in the factory, clinical examination suspected possible presence of lung silicosis in 450 of them, prompting around 300 workers to strike for ten days last year
Prosecutors go to bizarre lengths to put Black victims of police gunfire in prison. A young man blinded by a cop’s bullet may spend 35 years in prison. A unarmed, mentally ill man who was shot at by police faces 25 years behind bars because the cops wounded two bystanders. Who cares? “The black misleadership class are unconcerned with the plight of the people who are targeted by the system.
South Africa appears poised to reclaim its revolutionary legacy from the clutches of the African National Congress, which has “devolved into a fat and corrupt partner of white capital.” As the Age of Obama nears its end, Black America must also awake from the catastrophe of racial symbolism and self-delusion.
For more than 50 years, we’ve been campaigning for human rights, wherever justice, freedom and truth are denied. We’ve reshaped policies, challenged governments and taken corporations to task. And in doing so, we’ve changed thousands of lives for the better. Right now, we’re creating a new kind of force for human rights, combining Amnesty’s strength and reputation with the voices of grassroots activists across the world. Delivering world class content that connects with people individually, you’ll help us to realise this potential.
Racial and ethnic minorities are still disproportionately counted among the poor in America. Reducing employment among them and increasing the minimum wage would go some way in realizing the ‘promised land’ that Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of
The violent political conflict in the CAR continues to claim innocent lives, cause massive displacement and destruction of property. The efforts being made to end the carnage and restore the country will not achieve much without taking into account the role of France in destabilising CAR
The people of Haiti continue to suffer the economic tremors of a post-earthquake reconstruction programme that has failed to transform the lives of the majority of the people, despite the fact that it is the people of Haiti who must not only construct the future of Haiti but also decide that future
In the negotiations to dismantle apartheid in the early 1990s, Mandela was admirably tough on the political front, but excessively soft on the economic side. In the end, Madiba settled for a lopsided economic deal that disinherited his people. But he wasn’t alone in doing this
Pro-poor investment in key sectors like agriculture would hit all three of Kenya’s birds with one stone — job creation, poverty and cost of living. But the current government, like previous ones, is only interested in dazzling mega-infrastructural projects funded by loans but which are of little real economic value
Many Ivorians are convinced that Laurent Gbagbo’s arrest, transfer and detention at the International Criminal Court is a political decision that perpetuates France’s maneuvers to keep the Ivory Coast under her sphere of influence. The restoration of Ivory Coast is impossible without Gbagbo
It appears the All Progressives Alliance (APC) is an amalgam of personalities from Nigeria’s main opposition parties. Yet, will the APC strengthen the party in terms of an ideology and build a mass base or continue to consort with unsavoury figures from Nigeria’s past? And for what purpose?
In the future, South Africa will explode into a racial Armageddon unless the crimes committed under apartheid are addressed following the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that was the handwork of Nelson Mandela
The Toronto-based Biko Rodney Malcolm Coalition (BRMC) played an important role in isolating those African musicians who collaborated with the reviled apartheid regime and celebrating those who culturally boycotted South Africa. This history is important for us to remember
The debate surrounding privatization of public enterprises is a popular and on-going concern of scholars, public administrators and concerned citizens the world over. In privatizing Nigeria’s refineries many issues need to be considered and carefully implemented in order to ensure that the privatization benefits Nigerians
Fundamentalism is a significant social problem that has secular and also religious manifestations. It’s roots are psychological and the cure lies in nonviolent strategies to resist the violent behaviours of fundamentalists which are important and necessary
Around one billion people receive conditional cash transfers today, which have been praised as the magic bullet for poverty eradication. Such programmes are being implemented in Latin America and Africa. But they raise numerous ethical questions
Contempt for Africans is still so strong in Germany that the government sees no point in returning to Namibia the human remains of the massacred Herero and Nama peoples. Further, Germany is unwilling to offer an apology and compensation
Although Exxaro has denied that mining the wetland constituted an illegal environmental activity, investigations show that the remained in violation of the requirements of the law and committed a criminal offence
Since opencast coal mining started on this farm ten years ago, the lives of the people have gradually deteriorated. The mine replaced the previous agricultural business that employed them. A villager said that only one person in the village has a full time job
To truly honour Amiri Baraka, one must examine his travels, the political journeys he undertook in search of paths to self-determination for his people and all humanity. He sought a liberatory synthesis of culture and politics. ‘We need a Cultural Revolution in the US and internationally, to reorient the world and ultimately transform it where we and everybody else is self-determining.’
Pambazuka News 660: South Sudan at a tipping point and Africa's schizophrenias
Pambazuka News 660: South Sudan at a tipping point and Africa's schizophrenias
Looking ahead beyond an end to the current violence, these academics propose measures that would ensure long-term stability of the world’s newest nation
South Sudan is facing a profound crisis of governance within the ruling party and its military wing, the SPLA. Without addressing serious nation-building issues, democratizing the ruling party and opening up the political space, any temporary solutions will only defer the problems to a later date
Among some of the important ways to continue to honour, cherish and act upon Madiba’s legacy are for Africans to stop fighting one another and the white minority to give up their white privileges and economic might
It is up to the progressive forces favourable to radical changes within our societies to reconnect with the tradition of organizing and struggle by combining forces and by clearly stating through a clear vision where they would like to take Africa in the decades to come
The deaf signer at Mandela’s memorial who confessed to schizophrenia revealed a deep-seated schizoid behaviour among African people. Voices in the heads of African people continue to program Africans to elevate all that is Western; African governments, intellectuals, businessmen, students, teachers and parents continue to suffer from an imitation of all that is non-African and anti-African
What makes African politics particularly fragile is that African politicians inherited weak superstructures from their former colonial masters and failed to dismantle such structures as their political egos sought to step in to the former master’s shoes
It is necessary to place the current political crisis in South Sudan within a historical context and accept that if the South Sudanese were able to fight for independence over six decades and unanimously vote for independence in 2011, there is no reason that they cannot vote for peace and stability in 2014
Baba John Watusi Branch was and is the spiritual embodiment of an African with profound love, an authentic legacy and an uncompromising loyalty to African people
The route to time-warmed freedom is still long
And is a thousand Mandela’s resilience strong
The aura of the splendid Cape Mountains
Just lay few metres away from Qunu’s fountains
For here, the great’s remains have been buried
And here, his scepter of freedom’s is carried
In these terrains of bigoted Apartheid, he walked
And here, the towering figure of history has talked
To a people, but all the people of his homelands
For to one brother as to one sister all make bands
And here forever the light of the night has risen
In his long walk to freedom, injustice has fallen
Mourn all nations, if not this peace we butcher
For yourselves, not the dead, and your
The movie serves up a series of perfectly punctuated snapshots of the late stateman’s life. But it lacks the kind of psychological depth befitting a man who was larger than life
The metal wokers union has consistently refused to be used as a rubber stamp to all the anti-worker policies of the South African government that is clearly pursuing policies that have put profits above people, especially workers
Justice Africa calls for support for civil society engagement in transformation processes in South Sudan
The groups say open and free dialogue that yield a mutually accepted agreement reached through the informed opinion of all the concerned parties, are the only way to resolve the current political differences
Sudan Solidarity Network calls for immediate end of the fighting that has killed hundreds of people and displaced thousands of others in the world’s newest nation
His eminently outstanding scholarly contribution, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’, is set to be translated into Chinese. The decision is a vindication of Rodney’s scholarship and global vision
There was noticeable evidence last year that the Somali people are ready and willing to rebuild their country after many years of turmoil. External support also improved. But the government of Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud squandered a lot of opportunities
Oil is big business. In Nigeria, it is the life of the economy, blood as oil pumping through the veins of pipelines. But the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) that replaced the Joint Venture (JV) agreements between the cash-strapped state hydrocarbon company (NNPC), and oil companies, have facilitated a loss of $5 billion annually from deepwater extraction
Western leaders who sow violence around the world to entrench capitalism were full of praise of Mandela as a man of peace. Yet from thousands of miles away, President Obama, who led the charade, decides who dies by the unmanned drone, whether they are at a wedding or funeral, women collecting firewood, infants or the elderly
The South African sugar giant Illovo has 6159 hectares of sugarcane in Malawi, where it is a monopoly with an annual production of 2.8 million metric tonnes of sugar. The company denies persistent claims that it has grabbed land from smallholder farmers
A Chinese company in Madagascar, with strong links to the government, is accused of unlawfully acquiring land, blighting the environment and leaving farmers destitute
The crisis in South Sudan is the outcome of a deadly cocktail of personal ambition, state failure, high level corruption and neglect of service delivery to the people, political manipulation of negative ethnicity and failure to transform a revered liberation movement into an accountable ruling party. To start with, the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement should be dissolved
South Sudan is at a crossroads. The government might have to swallow its pride and reward Riek Machar‘s unconstitutional and deadly political actions. Any attempt to punish him could backfire terribly. But this option has its own dangers as well
The horrendous violence that has torn the lives of South Sudanese in the past three weeks has caught many people by utter surprise. Former Vice President Riek Machar, believed to be leading a rebellion against President Salva Kiir, appears determined to get a favourable political settlement at whatever cost
Pambazuka News 659: Nelson Mandela: Human rights & ethics for Africa
Pambazuka News 659: Nelson Mandela: Human rights & ethics for Africa
The Editorial Team would like to notify our readers, contributors and other partners that Pambazuka News will take a break from December 20, 2013 to January 6, 2014. We will publish the next issue on Thursday, January 9, 2014.
We sincerely thank you all for your generous support for Pambazuka News and look forward to continued collaboration in the coming year.
Happy holidays.
The Editors
Father of the successful African struggle for the restoration of independence in South Africa after centuries of the European conquest and occupation. This resistance is surely one of the momentous liberation upheavals of recent human history. At its apogee, we mustn’t forget, quite a few seemingly influential global public figures and intellectuals had variously dismissed eventual African victory as “impossible”, “couldn’t achieve such a feat”, “[European rule] here to stay”… What a year, this 2013 – Africa and the world have bidden farewell to the dual-colossi of 20th/21st centuries’ African renaissance: Nelson Mandela and Chinua Achebe, Father of African Literature.
* Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe is visiting professor in graduate programme of constitutional law, Universidade de Fortaleza, Brazil
The past 25 years have witnessed fundamental sociopolitical and cultural changes in Sudan. Women have been the terrain of many of the uneasy shifts in the country, even down to their skin, which they are now being encouraged to bleach
There is growing dissatisfaction and even mistrust of human rights as an instrument for radical social change. What is needed is a revolutionary approach to human rights informed by an analysis of the oppressive, anti-human social/historical context of national and global social relationships
The former president’s tirade against the man he foisted on Nigerians is totally uncalled for, considering that Obasanjo’s failed two-time administration laid the foundation for much of the mess Jonathan is busy consolidating
Those who branded Mandela as a terrorist are now seeking to program the minds of the youth to see him as some sort of messiah, without links to real struggles for peace. But Mandela was very clear that his life was linked to the collective struggles of humans everywhere
After a historic handshake between President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro, relations between the United States and the island nation have been put in the spotlight. Castro was one of five world leaders invited to speak at Nelson Mandela’s memorial, highlighting Cuba’s importance to the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
In this interview with Democracy Now! historian Piero Gleijeses of Johns Hopkins University puts the Obama-Castro handshake in context and discusses his new book, “Visions of Freedom: Havana, Washington, Pretoria, and the Struggle for South Africa, 1976-1991.” Gleijeses believes that Cuba had "destroyed the myth of the invincibility of the white oppressor ... [and] inspired the fighting masses of South Africa."
African-American writer and political activist Alice Walker believes President Barack Obama is a huge disappointment especially to black people in the US, many of whom had hoped that a black president would improve their fortunes
Nelson Mandela dedicated the best of his years to the struggle for freedom of his people, whose aspirations are contained in the Freedom Charter of 1955. That struggle is not yet over and the people should not relent
One the important lessons from the life of Nelson Mandela, a former prisoner, is that ex-prisoners should be given all the support they need in order to make positive contributions to society
Nelson Mandela belongs to history now. We should be able to look at his whole life, his whole record in perspective. That perspective ought to include who is praising Nelson Mandela nowadays and why
Nigerians must demand that their leaders make meaningful the economic, social and political rights of ordinary people as expressed in the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights and Universal Declaration on Human Rights
Debt relief for Sudan gives the Sudanese goverment a lifeline to continue to oppress its people. Yet, the reasons for Sudan’s external indebtedness derive from various forms of corruption that many Western governments turn a blind eye to
The axiom ‘African solutions to African problems’ hides complex issues that require untangling as the problems conceal many agendas. Focusing on governance, development and institution-building will assist in future conflict prevention
The East African Community (EAC) modeled on the EU has enormous potential and resources. Resolving political differences and harmonizing with other regional blocks remains the foremost challenges
There is no doubt about the monumental contribution of Nelson Mandela to the freedom struggle in South Africa. But still his personal life and political choices as the first black president raise troubling questions
Pambazuka News 658: Celebrating Nelson Mandela, the sinner-saint
Pambazuka News 658: Celebrating Nelson Mandela, the sinner-saint
The Dominican Republic, which defines itself in opposition to Haiti, has enraged its Caribbean neighbours by preparing to deport a quarter million residents of Haitian descent. Dominican racial views are well known
‘The whites of the land’ who rule the Dominican Republic have over time increasingly become the agents of racist propaganda and actions against Haitians, Dominicans of Haitian-descent and Dominicans " accused " of being Haitian
As we evaluate the outcomes of the recent UN climate negotiations in Warsaw, one lesson that we are invited to learn, again, relates to our strategy for getting effective action taken on the ongoing climate catastrophe and other critical environmental problems. Is lobbying elites to change their behaviour an effective strategy for change?
The political and economic realities of bringing down carbon emissions are a complex process and the Warsaw talks failed to overcome them. But there is still an opportunity to salvage the trust and ambitions lost at Warsaw
While climate change was not the issue that defined Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom”, a reflection on his philosophy and life reveals a profound overlap with the principles and commitments of the climate justice movement
Nelson Mandela's passing has drawn responses from throughout the US and the world. To oppressed and working people Mandela was a symbol and example of self-sacrifice and lifelong commitment to revolutionary change.
The life and struggles of Mandela have important and urgent lessons especially for young people in Africa today. As for his many critics who rightly point out many opportunities the South African icon missed, they should be thankful that he was just a human being who dared to try
As the world celebrates Mandela, the quintessential public servant who chose the path of principle and integrity over expedience and personal aggrandisement, it must not be forgotten that Africa still crawls with assorted charlatans and tribal plutocrats who should be resisted
The Revolution that Nelson Mandela dedicated his life to so many years ago has not yet been completed. We still inhabit a world in which black people are routinely devalued, denigrated and disrespected
Mandela’s greatest contribution is that he tried his best to secure a prosperous and happy future for everyone in South Africa, but the greed of the architects of apartheid backed by the West betrayed him. The victims of apartheid in the end gave far more to “reconciliation” than the perpetrators
In this new introduction to Nelson Mandela’s book, Prof Gumede compares the ANC leadership of Mandela’s generation and the situation today. He concludes that in many respects, the liberation party is now a fading memory
In Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was an example of the best that Africa has to offer - indeed a giant amongst giants. He was aware that peace and democracy were dangerously threatened by poverty of the people
We owe it to Mandela to assess his qualities as a politician and leader, and his true impact on South Africa, rather than simply remembering what was done to him by others
Whilst Mandela's death forces South Africans to reflect on the post-apartheid state he helped create, for the rest of the world Mandela's life and legacy resonate deeply because his progressive nationalism was fundamentally a struggle for human freedom and dignity, for social justice and equality
Under Mandela’s presidency, the foundations for an enabling environment for civil society in South Africa were laid and Civicus, the global civil society alliance honours the passing of Madiba who in 2004, bestowed his name to the Nelson Mandela-Graca Machel Innovation Awards
Mandela is indisputably an icon of resistance and his positive legacies should be evaluated alongside his negative legacies
Pambazuka News 657: Blacks unbowed: Confronting racists, polluters and looters
Pambazuka News 657: Blacks unbowed: Confronting racists, polluters and looters
From the 7 to 9 December Unemployed People's Movement, other organisations of the unemployed and the poor, and allies in unions, civil society and other progressive formations will converge on Grahamstown for the first Assembly of the Unemployed.
Kenya: Statute Law Bill poses grave threat to civil society and must be rejected – UN rights experts
"The Bill is an evidence of a growing trend in Africa and elsewhere, whereby governments are trying to exert more control over independent groups using so-called ‘NGO laws’”
The Upinde Awards (formerly gay and lesbian awards) is an annual event organized by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission. The Awards aims to appreciate the contributions made towards making Kenya an open democratic society by equality actors and allies as well as LGBTIQ individuals and groups The awards are also to honor politicians, journalists, employers, business leaders, journalists and other allies who are committed to advancing equality and social acceptance for LGBTIQ individuals in Kenya.
The December 2013 issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter is now available: Please help us distribute it, and consider contributing in the future. You can also like our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter!