As he did last year, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has announced another recruitment of Africans. But this is a PR gimmick meant to cover up deeply rooted racial discrimination against Black staff at the Bank. The Bank’s latest diversity report stresses that the Bank will not make substantive progress in eliminating subtle as well as overt racism unless more systemic changes are made.
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim is eyeing another 5-year term in 2017. He is the first Bank chief to be personally accused of racism against black staff. Believed to have been endorsed for his first term by Hilary Clinton, Bank employees are freaking out about the possibility of having Kim at the helm for a further five years, which they fear would be a forgone conclusion if Clinton wins the US presidency.
How can a small club of extremely rich white men who have bullied markets, governments and competitors in the most undemocratic ways, now be looked upon to decree on democracy and accountability merely by the size of their bank balances and trust funds? This perhaps is the most insidious form of state capture.
The pervasiveness of anti-blackness across the globe suggests that whiteness is not only spread through white people’s bodies but is also a system that survives on consuming and destroying other bodies. The only truly human body is the white body. Capitalism is the logical consequence of this. The challenge for societies across the globe is to nurture and defend alternative versions of being human.
Was it Africans who went to the Americas and butchered tens if not scores of millions of native Americans? Was it Africans that used their religion to hide their intent to steal as much territory as they could all the while denigrating the beliefs and cultures of innumerable peoples? Who was it that did so much raping that the bloodlines of Latin America changed forever?
Regardless of where in the world Black people are killed or brutalized, the violence is rooted in the white man’s diminution of African life. With their long history of struggle, the people of Biafra who seek to break away from neo-colonial Nigeria want to build for themselves a new civilisation where African life, all human life, fundamentally, is sacrosanct.
In an antagonistic relationship defined by an imbalance of power between two forces, the oppressor and the oppressed, who is illegitimate? Protests by students, workers and other oppressed classes can never be illegitimate. In any case, it is not the part of those enjoying the privileges of the status quo to decide how the oppressed should understand and deal with their reality.
To celebrate the 15 anniversary of Pambazuka News, Fahamu the publisher in conjunction with the Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, University of Nairobi, organized a public lecture on 25 July 2016 delivered by one of the longest and most prolific contributors to Pambazuka News, Horace G. Campbell, Professor of African American Studies and Political Science, Syracuse University. Here’s theaudio on Soundcloud and a video on YouTube of the lecture.
The job of a US president is to protect and enhance the American Empire. But sadly, African leaders continue to waste time expecting manna from Washington. Decades of being let down by unfulfilled promises from American (and Western leaders) appear not to dampen enthusiasm to keep on expecting a miracle.
Fraudulently under-reporting the price, quantity of a product or service and the value of a commercial transaction in invoices are resulting in Africa and developing countries missing out on billions of dollars in tax revenues, foreign exchange and ultimately development.
Inside the deeply corrupt, incompetent and brutal dictatorship in Zimbabwe, brave voices can still be heard risking life and limb to question the regime and rally the people towards the change they desperately need. With these efforts, Zimbabwe shall rise again. The spirit of Nehanda who inspired the nation’s liberation struggle still lives.
A wave of homegrown leaders, movements and activists is sweeping across the continent and bringing with it African solutions to Africa's LGBTI people. Their efforts and alliances have resulted in palpable change in legislation, court decisions, health policies and shifting public opinion across Africa. They need support.
Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has captured global attention for his zealous pursuit of accountable and reformist government. But Magufuli is no revolutionary. His many years as a key minister in a neoliberal Tanzania tied to the apron strings of Empire speak volumes. Some of his current policies support the private sector while in fact pushing the poor deeper into destitution.
Opinion is divided over the legacy of the AU Chairperson. It is arguable that she has resolved some of the historical challenges of the Commission and predictably either failed or worsened others. However, on the whole, Dlamini-Zuma has demonstrated what leadership can do if it is impelled by a clear vision.
The name of Islam, a religion of 1.6 billion people, has been used to not only commit terrible crimes but is also tarnished by politicians, the media and commentators who are angered by those same crimes. That serves the interest of the perpetrators. Acts of terrorism are never committed by “radical Muslims”. They are committed by criminals.
The continuing support across the world for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process demonstrates that it is still relevant and useful. More work is needed, however, to enhance the support which the process deserves, and especially to deepen its understanding by all key stakeholders.
IS THERE NO JUSTICE FOR MURDER, EVEN AFTER 36 YEARS? COMMISSION REPORT ISSUED ON ASSASSINATION OF DR. WALTER RODNEY. HOWEVER, THE GUYANA GOVERNMENT HAS REFUSED TO MAKE THE REPORT PUBLIC OR ACT ON THE COI RECOMMENDATIONS.
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As he did last year, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has announced another recruitment of Africans. But this is a PR gimmick meant to cover up deeply rooted racial discrimination against Black staff at the Bank. The Bank’s latest diversity report stresses that the Bank will not make substantive progress in eliminating subtle as well as overt racism unless more systemic changes are made. 
World Bank President Jim Yong Kim is eyeing another 5-year term in 2017. He is the first Bank chief to be personally accused of racism against black staff. Believed to have been endorsed for his first term by Hilary Clinton, Bank employees are freaking out about the possibility of having Kim at the helm for a further five years, which they fear would be a forgone conclusion if Clinton wins the US presidency.
How can a small club of extremely rich white men who have bullied markets, governments and competitors in the most undemocratic ways, now be looked upon to decree on democracy and accountability merely by the size of their bank balances and trust funds? This perhaps is the most insidious form of state capture.
The pervasiveness of anti-blackness across the globe suggests that whiteness is not only spread through white people’s bodies but is also a system that survives on consuming and destroying other bodies. The only truly human body is the white body. Capitalism is the logical consequence of this. The challenge for societies across the globe is to nurture and defend alternative versions of being human.
Was it Africans who went to the Americas and butchered tens if not scores of millions of native Americans? Was it Africans that used their religion to hide their intent to steal as much territory as they could all the while denigrating the beliefs and cultures of innumerable peoples? Who was it that did so much raping that the bloodlines of Latin America changed forever?
Regardless of where in the world Black people are killed or brutalized, the violence is rooted in the white man’s diminution of African life. With their long history of struggle, the people of Biafra who seek to break away from neo-colonial Nigeria want to build for themselves a new civilisation where African life, all human life, fundamentally, is sacrosanct.
In an antagonistic relationship defined by an imbalance of power between two forces, the oppressor and the oppressed, who is illegitimate? Protests by students, workers and other oppressed classes can never be illegitimate. In any case, it is not the part of those enjoying the privileges of the status quo to decide how the oppressed should understand and deal with their reality.
The job of a US president is to protect and enhance the American Empire. But sadly, African leaders continue to waste time expecting manna from Washington. Decades of being let down by unfulfilled promises from American (and Western leaders) appear not to dampen enthusiasm to keep on expecting a miracle.
Fraudulently under-reporting the price, quantity of a product or service and the value of a commercial transaction in invoices are resulting in Africa and developing countries missing out on billions of dollars in tax revenues, foreign exchange and ultimately development.
Inside the deeply corrupt, incompetent and brutal dictatorship in Zimbabwe, brave voices can still be heard risking life and limb to question the regime and rally the people towards the change they desperately need. With these efforts, Zimbabwe shall rise again. The spirit of Nehanda who inspired the nation’s liberation struggle still lives.
A wave of homegrown leaders, movements and activists is sweeping across the continent and bringing with it African solutions to Africa's LGBTI people. Their efforts and alliances have resulted in palpable change in legislation, court decisions, health policies and shifting public opinion across Africa. They need support.
Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has captured global attention for his zealous pursuit of accountable and reformist government. But Magufuli is no revolutionary. His many years as a key minister in a neoliberal Tanzania tied to the apron strings of Empire speak volumes. Some of his current policies support the private sector while in fact pushing the poor deeper into destitution.
Opinion is divided over the legacy of the AU Chairperson. It is arguable that she has resolved some of the historical challenges of the Commission and predictably either failed or worsened others. However, on the whole, Dlamini-Zuma has demonstrated what leadership can do if it is impelled by a clear vision.
The name of Islam, a religion of 1.6 billion people, has been used to not only commit terrible crimes but is also tarnished by politicians, the media and commentators who are angered by those same crimes. That serves the interest of the perpetrators. Acts of terrorism are never committed by “radical Muslims”. They are committed by criminals.
The continuing support across the world for the environmental impact assessment (EIA) process demonstrates that it is still relevant and useful. More work is needed, however, to enhance the support which the process deserves, and especially to deepen its understanding by all key stakeholders.
