By R. Drew Smith, RNS — American religion and politics have been stubbornly connected — except where we pretend they aren’t. Despite constitutional separations between church and state, religion has been more closely tied to politics and politics more closely tied to religion than most care to admit. And yet, advocates for international religious freedom often treat religious freedom and political freedom as totally separate and distinct domains. This separation…
By Nick Turse, The Intercept — Since U.S. Africa Command began operations in 2008, the number of U.S. military personnel on the African continent has jumped 170 percent, from 2,600 to 7,000. The number of military missions, activities, programs, and exercises there has risen 1,900 percent, from 172 to 3,500. Drone strikes have soared and the number of commandos deployed has increased exponentially along with the size and scope of AFRICOM’s constellation of bases. The U.S. military has recently conducted 36…
By Sharif Paget, Hande Atay Alam, Nada Altaher and Bukola Adebayo. (CNN) — Authorities in Sudan have suspended all schools beginning on Wednesday after street protests turned deadly, according to state news agency SUNA. “The Secretary General of the Federal Government Bureau, Siddiq Gumaa Babal-Khair, has directed the caretaker Walis (governors) of States to suspend education at all the school levels as of Wednesday,” SUNA reported, citing a directive of…
The uproar over Disney casting Halle Bailey as the Little Mermaid overlooks generations of Caribbean and African folklore. By Tracey Baptiste, The New York Times — As a young child growing up in Trinidad and Tobago within sight and walking distance of the Caribbean Sea, I was gripped by the intrigue of mermaids. I was introduced to one version of a mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, whose tale of a magical girl…
By Kelebogile Zvobgo — Between 1850 and 1950, thousands of African American men, women and children were victims of lynchings: public torture and killings carried out by white mobs. Lynchings were used to terrorize and control black people, notably in the South following the end of slavery. Yet despite the prevalence and seriousness of the practice, there has been an “astonishing absence of any effort to acknowledge, discuss, or address lynching,” reports the Equal…
By Howard W. French, NYR — There is a broad strain in Western thought that has long treated Africa as existing outside of history and progress; it ranges from some of our most famous thinkers to the entertainment that generations of children have grown up with. There are Disney cartoons that depict barely clothed African cannibals merrily stewing their victims in giant pots suspended above pit fires.1 Among intellectuals there is…
The disproportionate focus on corruption of national leaders distracts from the systemic theft of national wealth by multinational corporations By Celina della Croce — Every year, the vast majority of Ghana’s natural wealth is stolen. The country is among the largest exporters of gold in the world, yet—according to a study by the Bank of Ghana—less than 1.7 percent of global returns from its gold make their way back to the Ghanaian…
By Dr. Maulana Karenga — It is yet another year and still the struggle for the liberation of African people everywhere continues. And it must continue for even at the height of the liberation movement on the continent of Africa, one of our honored freedom fighters, Oginga Odinga of Kenya, reminded us with his book titled Not Yet Uhuru (Freedom) and with his own continued struggle – we are not really free…
The African continent is developing its digital infrastructure with the support of know-how and technology from Silicon Valley. But is it giving the tech giants too much power? Yellow is the color of South African telecommunication giant MTN. The market slogan Y’ello is plastered on billboards along South African highways, promising bargain offers. As one of Africa’s frontrunners on the digital scene, MTN has also embarked into the Arab market….
By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA — Throughout this southeastern African nation of nearly 20 million residents, the strength and resiliency of women is on display 24 hours each day. The sustainability of democracy in any nation can be evaluated by the inclusive leadership roles performed by women in its social, political and economic life. According to statistics from the World Population Review, nearly half (49.1 percent)…
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