Pambazuka News 652: Good and bad examples: Sankara, UPOV 91, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara
Pambazuka News 652: Good and bad examples: Sankara, UPOV 91, Sudan, Tunisia and Western Sahara
The operation is in no way a “clean up” of the inner city and does not comply with the City of Johannesburg’s existing economic, spatial or urban management policies or by-laws
Africa Contact demands that Morocco releases activist Sidahmed Lemjayed and 24 other political prisoners from Sale prison in Morocco
For years the Sudan Government has been indiscriminately bombing villages and other civilian areas in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile Provinces causing death and destruction to villages and crops. This needs to stop
The decision by Members of the European Parliament to support a report that is highly critical of Morocco’s human rights violations in Western Sahara is a welcome move. More pressure should be piled of Morocco to end its occupation of Africa’s last colony
Too much forgiveness is an unhealthy thing. It allows the excessively forgiven parties to believe that they can do no wrong. Of course, there have been times when Negroes had little choice but to forgive white people – or pretend to forgive – or die
The U.S. pounced on the small island nation of Grenada like an “elephant on a flea,” 30 years ago, to wipe out the remnants of a revolution. Adding insult to injury (and violation of international law), the U.S. pretended that Grenadians didn’t fight back
The African Union is moving towards a break with the International Criminal Court, a tribunal that only indicts Africans who get on the wrong side of the United States. Desmond Tutu and others claim the ICC needs to be there, to defend “the victims.” But its brand of justice is highly selective
Why Angola is buying junk military aircraft from Russia, which will require lots of money to service, is puzzling. Who will fly the aircraft? Where is Angola preparing to fight? These and many more questions beg for answers
If there is another breakdown in trust between the ruling Ennahda party, its allies and the secularists, and if the Islamists insist on completing the proposed new constitution prior to the creation of a new government, escalating tensions could prompt more mass demonstrations, general strikes and civil unrest
There is a new form colonialism under way in Africa. Foreign multinational companies and their governments are exerting relentless pressure on African countries to pass laws and implement policies whose net effect will be to promote agribusiness and destroy small-holder farming, which is the source of most food
The regime in Khartoum has adamantly refused to resolve the Abyei issue based on internationally agreed protocols. This week the people of Abyei, fed up with President Omar al Bashir’s shenanigans, voted in a self-organised symbolic referendum to determine their status
Pambazuka News 651: SPECIAL ISSUE: Thomas Sankara and inventing Africa's future: 26 years later
Pambazuka News 651: SPECIAL ISSUE: Thomas Sankara and inventing Africa's future: 26 years later
Although murdered by retrogressive forces opposed to Burkina Faso’s true liberation and that of Africa, Thomas Sankara’s revolutionary ideas and initiatives remain a powerful inspiration to those individuals and movements that are dedicated to struggles for social justice everywhere
The sharpness of Sankara's mind and the courage of his convictions are very apparent in this forceful to heads of state and government attending the Organisation of African Unity (OAU, now African Union) summit in Addis Ababa in 1987. The chains of foreign debt still remain a troubling issue for Africa
This short shows the neglected grave of Thomas Sankara, and compares to how heroes are celebrated elsewhere: the grave of Martin Luther King Jr and Mahatma Gandhi's place of cremation
Thomas Sankara was a visionary. He was very ambitious and wanted the Burkinabe revolution to bear immediate fruits for his people, and he paid no attention to the political intrigues of the time, which culminated in his assassination. His single-minded determination to serve his people is a lesson for all who aspire to public office
Instead of a bust, a life-sized carving, a portrait, or a decent tomb with a headstone and his epitaph, Thomas Sankara’s remains are placed beneath dirt and unkempt surroundings overgrown by weeds. Not that he would have cared
Like Nkrumah of Ghana and Nyerere of Tanzania, Sankara sought to restore dignity and honour to his country and to imbue the youth with the ideals of pan-African solidarity, dignity and honour
The political ideology of Thomas Sankara, including warmth and compassion towards other humans, dignity for peasants, self-sufficiency for all Burkinabes, women’s emancipation and a politics of anti-imperialism, along with his thoughtful considerations of Burkinabe traditions and histories, assert pan-African alternatives to the discourse and practices of homophobia
Twenty-six years after the death of Sankara, it remains true that the essence of struggle is to mobilise people to believe in transforming their lives; that they have the capacity to dare to invent the future through collective struggle, rather than belief in an awaited messiah to lead them.
Thomas Sankara, former president of Burkina Faso, was assassinated 26 years ago. His original ideas for his country prefigured the alternative world movement and current approaches to change in Africa and South America
Written on the ninth anniversary of Sankara’s assassination, insight into the personality and political motivations of Sankara reveal not only a workaholic but a sensitive individual who sided with the poor in Burkinabé society
It has been thirty years since Thomas Sankara took power, before he was assassinated in 1987. The Sankarist Revolution was one of the greatest attempts at popular democratic emancipation in post-Independence Africa and is considered a novel experience of broad economic, social, cultural and political transformation
On 15 November 1998, Kwame Ture died of prostate cancer. He was also known as Stokely Carmichael, one of the founding leaders of the Black Power movement in the USA during the 1960s. He was a radical figure who connected with downtrodden African Americans fighting for their civil rights in America; he later married the South African singer Miriam Makeba and relocated to Guinea-Conakry where he took up the name ‘Kwame’ after Ghana’s illustrious Pan-Africanist leader , Kwame Nkrumah, and 'Ture' after Guinea’s first leader, Sekou Touré.
Throughout his political career as a dedicated life-long activist, during his time with the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Council (SNCC); in the Black Power Movement, as well as in the All African Peoples’ Revolutionary Party (AAPRP) that he founded, Kwame Ture remained committed to Pan-Africanism – that is the unity of all people of African descent in the Diaspora with continental Africans. He was uncompromising in his belief that the plight of people of African descent in the Diaspora was intimately linked with the fate of the African continent for socio-economic and political liberation from the forces of imperialism and neo-colonialism.
This special issue seeks to commemorate the many ideas, activism and contribution of Kwame Ture. The issue seeks to remember his actions, thoughts and their relevance for African people today around the globe.
We would like articles on any of the following aspects (however, the topics below are not exhaustive):
• His contribution to SNCC; the fight for civil rights and Black Power
• Kwame Ture’s political thought
• His founding of the AAPRP and role as a leader and activist
• Kwame Ture’s contribution to internationalism
• His political activism in Africa
Articles are to be between 1000-3000 words in length
Please add a two line biography at the end of your article
Deadline for submission of articles is FRIDAY 1 NOV 2013
Please send articles to:
Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org) is organizing a special issue for November 2013 on the specific theme ‘Racial Relations in Brazil.’ Given the role and status of Brazil in the current global world order, as an emerging power from the South, some crucial issues in the social development of the country must be discussed. That specific issue is the problem of racial relations is an old one in Brazilian society. It is a country popularly known as a ‘racial paradise.’ However, this foundational myth relies on the cordial relations of the races (black, white and indigenous), but fundamentally Brazil has so far made little efforts to solve this problem.
November is the month historically chosen to celebrate black consciousness in the country. It is the month when Zumbi dos Palmares, who founded the maroon (quilombo) society of freed African slaves during the 17th century in northeastern Brazil, died on 20 November 1695.
We therefore invite people to write about the dynamics of racism in Brazil in order to publish this issue in this special month for not only black Brazilians but to remind our readers in Africa and globally that Brazil has historical, political, social and cultural ties to the African continent. We believe that Pambazuka can contribute to the debate on racism in a country that is emerging. Yet Brazil’s development will be halted if it fails to resolve the structural racism and its psychological impact that continues to withold human development in that country.
Authors are invited to write on any of the following topics (however, the list below is not exhaustive):
1.Racism and gender relations;
2.Race and class;
3.Racism and education;
4.Racism and psychology;
5.Racism and childhood;
6.Racism and the youth;
7.Environmental racism;
8.Institutional racism;
9.Case studies of racial problems;
10.Compared perspectives on racism;
Deadline for submission of articles in Portuguese, English and French languages is 26 October 2013
Texts must be sent to
Word length: articles must be between 1000-3000 words and in Times size 12 font.
Biography: please, submit a two line bio at the end of the article.
Bibliographical Endnotes can be submitted at the end of the article.
Pambazuka News 650: Fatal flaws: AU’s ICC tantrums, profiling women and foreign interventions
Pambazuka News 650: Fatal flaws: AU’s ICC tantrums, profiling women and foreign interventions
Friends of the Huntley Archives at LMA (FHALMA) are sad to announce the death of Jessica Huntley on Sunday, 13 October 2013, at the age of 86.
Effective translators must be like the texts they handle — at once bilingual and bicultural. The meaning of a text is to be found within its cultural, historical and literary contexts.
In the glaring rays of the
Rising Sons and Daughters of the
Global Poor and
Dispossessed
Revealed stinging
Infectious Mosquitos
On the flesh of an
Unjust
Marauding and
Violent giant
As years increased and
High levels of
Global
Deceptions
Larceny and
Injustices are revealed
Attacking Mosquitos multiplied
Weakening and overwhelming
The giant and its surrogates
Till they were no more
Collapsed by Mosquitoes
Whose bites can only
Be healed by
Truth
Justice and
Reparations.
The authors’ bold attempt to provide a theoretical framework for explaining the great divergence in living standards between the prosperous and poor countries in the world, unfortunately, fails to take account of the historical context of uneven relations between particular societies
The book, among the few in French, details New Delhi's ambitions in the continent and seeks to make African leaders and public opinion aware of the new “Indian reality” that is currently taking shape in the continent
More than 40 former African heads of state and government oppose foreign military intervention and urge continuation of efforts to bring the two sides to a negotiating table to find a peaceful solution to the conflict
Even though fast expanding citizen journalism has created new opportunities for the media, its content still clashes with mainstream operators mainly for lack of professionalism. There are especially important questions about ethics in such content
Since the advent of the ‘second liberation’ a decade ago, the ground seems to have shifted for three key players in Kenya’s political scene: the media, civil society and Western donor nations. Global realities have changed as well, and so these three need to re-evaluate their role going forward
Understanding gender as the primary way of signifying relationships of people enables one to see that even racial and class relations are constructed in relation to gender. One is not simply racialized as black, or classed as working class, but as a black man/woman and as a working class man/woman respectively
Welcome to the new Libya, a country ‘liberated’ by NATO which now finds itself without the oil revenues which could make it rich, with no security, no stability and assassinations and corruption at unprecendented levels
Despite pretensions to the contrary, the regime in Algiers is an obvious ally of Western imperialism. Algeria’s position, as can be seen from its response to foreign interventions in Libya, Mali and Syria, shows that the country has lost its heavy-weight and daring diplomacy of the 1960s and 1970s
The fact remains that African nations, which are now unhappy with the International Criminal Court, voluntarily accepted the ICC jurisdiction by ratifying the Rome Statute. And it is not true that the court is targeting Africa. But, yes, it has political weaknesses that need addressing
Citizens in all parts of the world who want a new relationship with other humans and with planet earth can learn a lot from the long life of Vo Nguyen Giap. The history of the struggle of the Vietnamese people and their victory over US imperialism is an inspiration for those who want another world beyond capitalism
A recent conference on Somalia held in Brussels has endorsed a new ‘Somali compact’ with development partners who are mainly from the North, pledging funds. The pact has many serious flaws – among them are the appointment of several foreign advisors without Somali counterparts
The Napoleonic syndrome of President Jammeh expressed through his recent withdrawal from the British Commonwealth conceals his gross human rights violations, executions of political dissidents and homophobic pronoucements – rather than any principled opposition against neo-colonialism
In Tanzania there is a prevailing assumption that if a single woman or a couple of women enter a hotel alone without being accompanied by a man, they are ‘prostitutes.’ The profiling of ‘prostitutes’ is deep-seated in many African societies and needs to be challenged head on
The Westgate terror attack brought out the best and worst in Kenyans in which Kenyans donated blood and elements of the military took time to rob high-class stores in the mall. The mentality of ‘our turn to eat’ is corrupting national security and signals a deeper malaise
Why does the African Union believe sitting heads of state should not be investigated and prosecuted for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide? There is no moral or legal difference between a warlord and a head of state who commit such crimes.
The US government shutdown is underpinned by a failing economy with a huge debt, massive unemployment, poverty and homelessness. This exposes the limitations of the capitalist economy: It fails to eliminate poverty despite having a lot of riches
Pambazuka News 649: AU and impunity, Biko, GMOs and political prisoners
Pambazuka News 649: AU and impunity, Biko, GMOs and political prisoners
An examination of the nationalist struggles in India and those in Africa reveals a historiography that is splashed with personalities. But these did not simply emerge as elite phenomena
The injustice of the Angola 3 is not an isolated situation. There are many political prisoners being held in prisons inside the U.S, despite repeated government denials
The recent violent repression of peaceful protests following the removal of fuel subsidy leading to a high coast of living showed a brutal government that has little regard for the lives and rights of its own people. State violence is still going on
Kenya has registered remarkable achievements in the fight against Female Genital Mutilation. But as the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child, evidence shows that the government and other stakeholders need to step up efforts to fully eradicate the vice
America looks like a perfect nation, but upon deeper reflection, one gets a very unflattering image. The nation is angry, grumpy, indulgent, violent, fearful, divided, distracted, in debt, addicted to power and material stuff, and in a self-inflicted siege
The American government bears responsibility for the loss of life at the Kenyan Westgate mall, yet most Americans are totally unaware of America’s role in keeping Somalia in a constant state of war as a consequence of huge omissions in American reporting
In efforts to end a political stalemate, Tunisia's governing Islamist Ennahda party and the opposition have agreed on the appointment of a caretaker government composed of independent figures to be in power until fresh elections. But that is no guarantee that the crisis is over
They say COMESA approval of seed trade regulations is a disaster for small farmers and food sovereignty in Africa and will open the door for GMO merchants to flood the region
Thirty-six years after Biko’s death, the issues of land repossession, ownership of the economy and wealth redistribution, which he in the 1970s regarded as essential to the meaning of freedom and power for black people, have now found their way back on our nation’s political discourse
Representation of Africa in the German public shows that a one-sided racist image prevails, which is disseminated via family socialisation, mass media, school books, films, advertising, and travel magazines/brochures. That is the image that informs German-Africa development cooperation
130 civil society organisations say the International Criminal Court, though having weaknesses, remains the only permanent court with the authority to act when a state with jurisdiction is unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute serious crimes
Africa’s anti-ICC crusaders who are threatening mass withdrawal from the Rome Statute are in a desperate last-ditch effort to rescue their brethren Kenyatta and Ruto from the ICC hook and simultaneously immunize themselves against any future legal accountability for crimes against international law
The African Union should be working hard to ensure that there is no impunity in Africa. If Kenyatta and Ruto are innocent they should not be afraid to get their day in court. Any discussion at the AU about mass withdrawal from the ICC could be tantamount to self-delegitimization
American workers and the poor are not part of the conversation around spending and the debt. When the US government resolves this phony drama of the shutdown, racial and capitalist oppression will not have been altered in any form
The landmark ruling of the Caribbean Court of Justice gives Caricom nationals the right of entry into Caricom member states for six months. It is a victory for strengthening the legal basis for the operation of the Caribbean Community
Given the injustices of apartheid, heritage has become a surrogate for the black majority in the country to attempt an earnest conversation with a historically privileged minority (whites) and underprivileged minorities (coloureds, Indians, and other Asians) that reaffirms the value and merit of Africanness in South Africa
Land reform in Zimbabwe was delayed by the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement and Britain’s subsequent failure to honour this agreement. Many African Heads of State applaud Mugabe for the stance he has taken to empower his people through land redistribution
At the conclusion of a visit to Kenya by a delegation of anti-torture experts, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and its coalition of partner organisations in Kenya call for the continuation of the reform path and effective steps to end impunity
Digital channels are key to connecting with our supporters, publicizing our campaigning work and encouraging people to take action. In this new post within our Digital Communications team, you’ll oversee the way we use multimedia content to reach target audiences.
Digital channels are key to connecting with our supporters, publicizing our campaigning work and encouraging people to take action. In this new post within our Digital Communications team, you’ll oversee the way we use multimedia content to reach target audiences.
Pambazuka News 648: Hidden hands in African lives: Sudan, Somalia and Kenya
Pambazuka News 648: Hidden hands in African lives: Sudan, Somalia and Kenya
When the Somali president tried to settle old scores with another clan, opportunity presented itself for Al Shabaab
'We cannot continue to pretend that those who have set their sight against that enabling spark that we call creativity, those who arrogate to themselves the right to dispose of innocent lives at will, belong within the same moral universe to which you and I belong'
Bang bang bang!
Rang out the shots
Stand up if you’re Muslim
Bang bang bang!
Confusion galore
Humans were no more
Bang bang bang!
Rang out the shots
On blacks n whites n coloureds
On Muslims n Christians n others
On rich n middle class n poor
On Kenyans n foreigners
On males n females
On adults n children n the unborn
Bang bang boom!
The death bell rung
Dividing the divided
Uniting the divided
Following the recent unjustified and brutal killings at Kyari Close, Zone ‘E’, Apo Legislative Quarters, near Gudu Cemetery, Abuja, by some security agents which left no fewer than eight (8) persons dead and several others wounded, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) hereby observes as follows:
Oakland Institute and the Housing and Land Rights Network Submit Human Rights Report on Ethiopia to the United Nations
International recognition is growing that supporting small farmers and agroecology is the way to solve the global food and climate crisis
Civil Society has been under vicious attack since March, especially by politicians and in the social media. Human rights defenders have been particularly targeted
The document is a bad deal for the people of Somalia because it violates the provisional constitution, delegitimizes the Federal Government of Somalia’s executive and parliament and creates clan satellites controlled by foreign powers
Today, communities all over the world are still engaged in an arduous resistance to the imperialist-capitalist system that is grabbing their lands, robbing their resources and destroying their lives. That is why Lumumba was killed
There seems to be a logic that if we get away from words that invoke the old neoliberal order, and instead transplant terminology from ecosystem science, the future will be secured for millions of hungry Africans. But the unstated agenda remains capitalist accumulation
The September 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!
There are still people who believe the BRICS can help fix global-scale problems caused by the persistent capitalist crisis. Yet strategies advocated by BRICS leaders have so far had no discernible effect on financial volatility
The latest terror attack in Kenya and other significant events throughout Eastern Africa must be viewed within the context of U S economic and strategic interests in partnership with its NATO allies and Israel. New findings of oil and natural gas are a source of imperialist interest in the region
Food Sovereignty Ghana is calling for an open debate on the issue of GMOs to set the record straight as well as to generate answers and questions in order to inform the Ghanaian public, instead of attempting to impose GMOs on people without their knowledge or consent
The group Justice for Blacks appeals to the Finance Ministers of Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya who are to participate in the forthcoming World Bank Annual Meeting to raise the issue of racial discrimination and reform that is sorely needed within the institution of the World Bank
Samar Al-Bulushi is interviewed by Jaisal Noor on the recent Westgate mall terrorist attack by Al-Shabaab. Al-Bulushi argues that it is not widely known that the Kenyan government has arisen as a prominent partner of the US government in its war on terror
It remains to be seen whether MDC would have won the 2013 elections if no rigging had taken place. What would you have voted if you had been that communal dweller who had received a fertile piece of land; if your small mine claim had just been registered; if your small business was gradually getting off the ground; if you had just received U$1,500 dollars at the tobacco auction; if you had been struggling with corrupt MDC council officials about a plot for your house; if …?
Political Islam in Sudan remains very strong and manifests itself in floggings of Sudanese women that are justified by the constitution in the Indecent and Immoral Acts. Yet, Sudanese women remain defiant and resist these unjust and misogynistic laws
Pambazuka News 647: Terror in Kenya, election dramas and building Africa
Pambazuka News 647: Terror in Kenya, election dramas and building Africa
Exploding the dangerous myth of American exceptionalism is absolutely critical if the global community ever hopes to collectively solve the existential challenges that we face on the planet today. For people of colour around the world the US has imposed itself on the world as the exceptional state
The Somali militant group Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the September 21 attack at an upmarket shopping mall in Nairobi in which dozens of people were killed. Progressives must intensify their opposition to extremists who manipulate Islam, but also reject the imperial forces inside Africa and their allies
Youth involvement in pan-African discourses is minimal because they have largely been excluded from the deliberative and decision-making spaces in continental institutions, especially the African Union. This needs to change
Much has been achieved since the Protocol came into force. But to ensure gender equality and transformation in gender relations between women and men, a comprehensive change that radically alters the status quo of the power relations rather than ad hoc or piecemeal reforms is needed.
Discussions are ongoing inside South Sudan about building an oil pipeline through Kenya to the port of Lamu to better exploit the country's most important natural resource. But roads would be a better option
Rwanda's recent elections were a sheer wasteful circus, like previous ones since Paul Kagame came to power in Kigali. The ruling party has a choke-hold on the country's politics. Progressive forces have a difficult task to truly free Rwanda
‘Dark Girls’ is a much needed candid film to expose the psychological scars of slavery and colonisation on the psyche of African people, scars that exist on account of the global white supremacist paradigm that promotes European forms of beauty
The duplicity of the West at election time in Africa is evident. In Kenya’s recent election there were threats such as that made by Johnny Carson, former official in the Obama administration who warned Kenyans that voting for particular leaders will ‘have consequences’
The International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, known as UPOV 91 is dangerous to African farmers. It will force farmers to buy patented corporate seeds and agrochemicals from the same corporations. The consequences will not only be debt for farmers but a harmed ecosystem
The Pan African Parliament has a way to go in terms of consolidating its position as a continental parliamentary institution, not only with the AU system, but also in the eyes of the member states of the AU and the general public across the continent
Afrikan unity after 500 years of a holocaust cannot be like perfect geometrical shapes. Yet it is imperative that the 54 countries that make up the Afrikan continent unite to solve the conflicts facing Afrikans at home and abroad
Pambazuka News 646: Reimagining another Africa: Food security, economic freedom and self-organising
Pambazuka News 646: Reimagining another Africa: Food security, economic freedom and self-organising
After spending the better part of their adult lives working for the government or private sector, many retirees find it difficult to access their pension. Many of them have even died of curable illnesses due to poverty
The law reflects the spirit of ubuntu, which safeguards the dignity of child offenders and aims to reintegrate them back into society
Zimbabwe is being attacked because it is tired of flag independence and seeks to control its own riches. Africa must defend Zimbabwe
We have the ability to limit climate change’s negative effects but only if we act, only if we change, only if we critically revisit and redefine what it is that drives us. We must revisit the goals that motivate us and between ourselves and our environment
The African continent accounts for only one percent of global manufacturing. To reverse this dismal state of affairs government must lead the process of industrialisation with political will channelled into education, science and technology, which are the missing links to West Africa’s future
A strong-but-decentralized state model is not necessarily ‘the answer’ to the problem of development in Africa, but it is a critical part of that answer. The state has a very important role in creating the conditions and directing development in a nation