“Today, South Africa stands with Palestine, bringing all its history of challenging oppression to the International Court of Justice. This is black unity and solidarity in action.”
By Myriam Kane, Black Liberation Alliance
We are living in troubled times where the imperialist empire expects to colonise, invade and subordinate the people of the global south, perpetuating a brutal unjust system that has oppressed us for centuries. However, we are also living in historic times, where, across the globe, this is being challenged, undermined and in some instances, overcome. Latin America and Africa are showing that another world is possible.
I am clear that unity and solidarity are formidable when we unite all those from African, Asian, Arab, Caribbean and Latin American nations that have historically been oppressed by imperialism.
I take inspiration from Thomas Sankara, Fidel Castro, Patrice Lumumba, Aline Citoe Diatta, Kwame Nkrumah, Omar Blondin Diop, Hugo Chavez and others who overthrew the yoke of empire and stood up for the people. In doing so they undid the racist myth that we need the white imperialist west to rescue us with their so-called civilisation. In reality, it meant enslavement, invasion, colonisation and ultimately the draining of our resources for their own benefit.
I am inspired by the solidarity of the Cuban forces who came to the rescue of Angola pushing back the invading Apartheid South Africa. As Mandela says, this was the first time a foreign country came to help black Africans achieve freedom, instead of taking things away. The defeat crushed the racist myth of white superiority and energised the resistance in South Africa which eventually led to the system of apartheid being toppled.
And today, South Africa stands with Palestine, bringing all its history of challenging oppression to the International Court of Justice. This is black unity and solidarity in action. South Africa spoke out and stood up whilst the West is disgracefully complicit with the brutality of Israel’s invasion of Gaza. The West had all the might, but South Africa stood up for what is right. And now Israel has a case to answer regarding genocide. And let’s remember the silence and complicity of nations who supported Apartheid South Africa. Shamefully, many of them are today supporting the war on Gaza. I am proud that Africa is increasingly finding itself at the centre of geopolitics as part of the rising global south and providing a moral touchstone that is putting the west to shame.
A new way is being forged, of unity and international solidarity. We are seeing the very real potential of a multipolar world where we, whose countries hold national resources, have ownership of our own resources, our own self-determination and our own destiny. And in Venezuela, it is inspiring to see that this includes a strong stance for the communities that face racism, with Venezuela’s National Assembly declaring 31 August as International Day of Afro-descendants. And it is inspiring to see them forging alliances internationally, 16 embassies in Africa were opened thanks to Chavez and Maduro.
But Imperialism is clamping down hardest on those that dare to challenge its order.
We see this repeatedly in Africa and Latin America:
Venezuela’s gold is being held in the Bank of England. This is as shameful as it is colonial and must be returned to the people. In Senegal, all our gold is mined and taken by armed guards to airplanes where it is flown direct to France! This is everyday life in Senegal in 2024!
I say give Venezuela and Senegal back their gold!
It is a disgrace that in Senegal, Sonko the leader of the opposition has been imprisoned. That PASTEF, a legitimate political party has been dissolved and that we are seeing the imprisoning of 1000 political prisoners. Over 50 people have been killed opposing Macky Sall, a firm ally of imperialism. Only this week we see what this allegiance means for the people of Senegal. Sall has enacted a constitutional coup, shutting down the elections and the internet, to suppress opposition. I urge you all to show solidarity with the movement in Senegal as we face the most challenging time in decades. People are laying down risking and losing their lives in calling for change, they are being denied their basic human rights, their freedoms and the choice to elect candidates that are not in the pocket of imperialism. Macky Sall must listen to the African Union which has called for elections as soon as possible.
Whilst the CIA routinely topples progressive leaders in Latin America, in Africa, the imperialist-supported army of ECOWAS threatened an invasion of Niger throughout last year. What stopped them was the unity of the surrounding states. Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea, all who also had popular uprisings like Niger, pledging their support in the face of an imminent invasion.
But why the threat of this military intervention?
Because these states are throwing out imperialism, taking away the privileges of French Imperialist corporations, taking control of their own natural resources like the gold, and uranium that France is dependent on. Niger produces over 5% of the world’s uranium but the extraction companies are majority French owned. One in three lightbulbs in France are powered by uranium from Niger, at the same time as 42% of the African country’s population live below the poverty line. So taking back control of its resources is a massive blow to France that it won’t give up easily.
Despite threats of military intervention and brutal crackdowns, there is resilience in the uprisings in the Sahel and all across Africa. We are seeing young Panafricanist people at the forefront of these struggles, challenging the tired, outdated order of neo-colonialism. Much like young people across the global south, they are connected, many become activists before they are old enough to work, they understand that the West’s world order cannot deal with the challenges:
From economic instability to covid to climate change. This January we have learnt that 2023 was the hottest year on record and the doomsday clock announced that we are 90 seconds to midnight, the closest we have been to nuclear annihilation.
In an age where the way forward from the West should be giving us, reparations for colonialism and empire, financial support for dealing with the worst impacts of climate change and an acknowledgement that their brutal exploitation through slavery and colonialism has ravaged the global south, instead, their response to the chance of a multipolar world is increased military interventions, and ultimately a cold war with China!
The proof that the West is failing on the global stage, is that the biggest headline about the US is Donald Trump is looking likely to run again to be the most powerful wasteman in the world. The proof of how imperialist Britain is, is that the most common mention of Africa by this government, is its brutal, inhumane and illegal Rwanda deportation scheme. Where the Western leaders bring us despair and destruction, it is the leaders emerging from the struggles against injustice in the global south that I take inspiration from!
And it is clearly rattling the west. We must oppose any military intervention in Niger by France backed by the US or its proxies in ECOWAS. We must stand in solidarity with the anti-imperialist coups in Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea. We must call for elections and the release of Sonko and political prisoners in Senegal.
As internationalists, we must extend the hand of solidarity to the struggles and social advances that are taking place in Latin America. Lets be inspired that all of us who stand in solidarity are on the same side as the winds of change in Africa and Latin America
We must unite with the people of the global south
Victory to the progressive states in Latin America and Africa!
And finally, Viva Palestina!
- Myriam Kane is an organiser for the Black Liberation Alliance, you can follow her on Twitter/X; and follow the Black Liberation Alliance on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter/X.
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