Kenyans must defend the right to protest in all legitimate forms and those who used pigs in the recent Occupy Parliament demonstrations are free to do so, just as those who choose other means have the right to express their views

Kenya’s poorest are about to be hit with a staggering 16% tax increase on basic goods, while large corporations enjoy huge tax breaks that only benefit the richest

The University of Toronto's impositions on the TYP entail a blatant disregard for the struggles of the Afrikan community that founded TYP and all oppressed people who struggle(d) for TYP and continue to fight for access and equity in higher education

With the release of his latest poetry book, entitled ‘Today na Today’, an anthology of poems written in Naija langwej (pidgin English), a waning subsector of Nigerian literature gains a vent

The greed of the rich to propagate their interest at the cost of fellowmen in other countries is the root cause of piracy in the Indian Ocean. In a sense, piracy is good for conservation of tuna and other African resources

How is it that 50 years on, the OAU/AU has failed in the main objective for which it was founded? Because the United States of Africa cannot be brought about by leaders who are not Pan-Africanists

Africa is undergoing an artistic renaissance that could be a part of the African Union’s approach in communicating the aspirations of Africa and Africans, engaging Africans in critical discussion and representing the potential strength in the diversity of the continent

The African Union must cultivate a united Africa and national governments need to be keenly wary of the divide-and-rule tactics of external powers pursuing selfish interests

There is a need for a cultural rebirth in Africa as part of the radical economic and social transformation of the continent. A new African consciousness that is free from the chains of ‘colonial’, ‘post-colonial’ and ‘decolonial’ must be located in African reference points

In a personal reflection of the late Dr.Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, a foremost champion of Pan-Africanism in recent years, he is remembered as one who spoke truth to the powerful and the powerless with indefatigable commitment to the poor of Africa

A reflection on five decades since the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), while the Pentagon and NATO escalate their war drive on the continent

Africans yearn to come and go within the continent without visas; to work where they like; and expect to be treated as if they were ‘home’ – despite being far away from the territorial limits into which they were originally born

Food security has been a major concern for Africans over the decades but, surpringly, the OAU/AU did little to support agriculture and other forms of food production. This needs to change, beginning with effective support for the small-scale farmer

This special issue celebrates not only 50 years of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and its successor, the African Union (AU), but also the life of the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, a staunch Pan-Africanist. Some of the themes of this issue are set out, as well as future challenges facing the AU and Pan-Africanists

In a petition, the organisations say the ongoing widespread and systematic nature of human rights violations in Eritrea underlines the need for continued and urgent action by the African Union

Kenyans must defend the right to protest in all legitimate forms and those who used pigs in the recent Occupy Parliament demonstrations are free to do so, just as those who choose other means have the right to express their views

Toronto, ON -The Toronto chapter of the Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA), will commemorate the African Liberation Day 2013 on Saturday, May 25th 2013 at 5:00 p.m. This will mark the 50th anniversary of the creation of the OAU (Organization of African Unity). This public education event will take place at A Different Booklist which is located at 746 Bathurst (next to the Bathurst Subway station).

In the New Scramble for Africa, the continent is facing the dual threat of militarization and capitalist-driven land grabs. In militarist terms, the US and its European allies are increasingly consolidating their imperialist stranglehold in the region. Under the auspices of the so-called United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), the US is seeking the recolonization of the continent in bid to secure unfettered access to vital resources in the wake of China’s ascendancy in Africa. The bloody military intervention in Libya was swiftly followed by deployment of Special Forces in Uganda, paving the way for militarization in the Central African region and the new escalation by President Obama of America’s two decades old war in Somalia.

In the Sahel region, Mali has suddenly become the centre of a new global “war on terror.” Paradoxically, US-backed, French forces in Mali are fighting the same terrorist bands trained by US and NATO Special Forces, now justifying a full-fledged, neo-colonial invasion of Mali by France. Under the pretext of fighting terror, the French-led militarization strategy in Mali is rooted in AFRICOM’s hegemonic military objectives of securing vital resources, countering China’s strategy and confronting the revolutionary wave sweeping across the continent.

The choice of Mali as a new staging ground for a joint AFRICOM/NATO military offensive on the African continent is not a mere coincidence. With proven oil reserves as well as gold and uranium deposits, resource-rich Mali is strategically located in the heart of the oil-rich Sahel region. Its proximity to oil-rich Libya to the north and the vastly oil-rich, Gulf of Guinea region to the south comprising of oil-producing states of Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and newly oil-rich Ghana, makes it a convenient springboard to direct a new phase of imperialist-driven, military intervention in the continent. Mali is touted as a potential site for AFRICOM’s proposed base in Africa.

In addition to threats posed by AFRICOM/NATO militarization, there is also a growing threat to African food security and prosperity from massive land grabs by external capitalist forces. Africa is being used to bail out the world’s food crisis by secretive, powerful land grabbers seeking control over land and water resources. The new scramble for prime African land erstwhile dubbed the “Great Land Grab,” is driven by biofuel demands in the European Union and other industrialized nations and renewed global attempts to augment food security in other regions of the world, principally in the Persian Gulf and East Asia. The threat posed by AFRICOM’s militarization and ongoing land grabs calls for sustained Pan-African response from the grassroots level to national and continental level. On Saturday, May 25th, 2013, join concerned Pan-Africanists at an African Liberation Day Panel discussion on the unfolding situation in the continent.

Date:Saturday, May 25, 2013
Time: 5pm - 7pm
Location: A Different Booklist -746 Bathurst (South of Bloor), Toronto

Brought to you by the Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa (GRILA – Toronto Chapter) .org Email: [email][email protected], [email][email protected] Phone: (416) 721 – 4531

NOTE: A major international campaign around these issues (Militarization and Land Grab) will be announced the same day.

The greatest enemy against achievement is negativity. And victory isn’t cheap; it’s accomplished through sweat, tears and braving betrayal from within

Youth unemployment and hopelessness pose a serious threat to development and peace in the north. Increased initiatives and budget spending on youth unemployment, poverty alleviation and empowerment programmes are quite positive. If sustained, these programmes could reduce the risk of violence

In Africa’s last monarchy – the kingdom of Swaziland, the major question is: for how long multi-party politics should be construed as incompatible with Swazi tradition, when that tradition is static? It appears that Swazi tradition was not only hijacked by the monarchy but has arrested the development of genuine democratic participation of Swazi citizens

The Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent, nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide, urges President Jacob Zuma not to sign the Protection of State Information Bill and to send it back to the National Assembly for further revisions that meet the standards of openness and transparency demanded by South Africa's Constitution

Wednesday 29 May 2013, a fortnight away, is the 47th anniversary of the beginning of the Igbo genocide. Starting from that fateful mid-morning of Sunday 29 May 1966 and through the course of 44 months of indescribable barbarity and carnage not seen in Africa for 60 years, the composite institutions of the Nigeria state, civilian and military, murdered 3.1 million Igbo people or one-quarter of this nation´s population. The Igbo genocide is the foundational genocide of post-(European)conquest Africa. It inaugurated Africa´s current age of pestilence.

This year´s commemoration will, as in the past, be a day of meditation and remembrance in every Igbo household in Igboland and the Igbo diaspora for the 3.1 million murdered, gratitude and thanksgiving for those who survived, and the collective Igbo rededication to achieve the urgent goal of the restoration of Igbo sovereignty. There will also be lectures, discussions and exhibitions on varying features and phases of the genocide organised by individuals, students, the youth, women, family unions, village, town, district, regional and professional associations.

The 50 million Igbo people heartily welcome all peoples of goodwill across the world to join them in commemorating the 47th anniversary of the launch of the genocide.

* Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe is the author of Readings from Reading: Essays on African Politics, Genocide, Literature (Dakar and Reading: African Renaissance, 2011).

The principal drivers of the Somali crisis are identifiable foreign powers exploiting the vulnerabilities of the Somali people rooted in clan rivalry, poverty, religion and selfish ambitious personalities

On the 40th anniversary of the shooting and capture of Assata Shakur, the FBI and the State of New Jersey has now placed the African American revolutionary on the most wanted terrorist list

For Sudan which listed as a sponsor of terrorism and whose president is a suspected war criminal, the invitation to Washington of Al Bashir’s aide is an extraordinary reward to a regime that craves nothing so much as legitimacy, and to a man who is utterly ruthless and savagely cruel

There is a genuine concern that trade unions and its leadership have failed to protect workers and that trade unions are dens of corruption in Kenya. There is a need to revive a genuine trade union movement that protects workers’ rights and promotes workers’ solidarity

Chinua Achebe’s recent book has revived fierce discussions about the Biafra genocide, the darkest chapter in Nigerian history. The country is still divided over the issue and ‘Biafrans’ want out of Nigeria

See

With the recent loss of 12 South African troops in the Central African Republic and the US bogged down in Afghanistan and Iraq, the extent to which an African peace keeping mission will meet a similar fate seems likely

The Adilisha Program will be holding a movement building boot camp for activists’ from social justice movements and organisations in Lesotho, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.The boot camp being held in Lusaka ,Zambia from May 12 -17, 2013 will facilitate activists' consciousness of their context from a deep analysis and connect what they are doing to the bigger picture or vision of social change they seek to achieve.

Participants will critically analyse their organising strategies and tactics to develop alternative strategies for effective and creative organising.It is also expected that the participants will derive approaches for educating political education and elevation of the voice and leadership of their constituents.

This will also be a space to examine, reflect and learn why social movements occur, who joins or support social movements, how social movements are organised, what they do and what change social movements bring about. It is expected that this will inspire the participants to embrace strategies that build collective action.

The unresolved land question at the Kenyan coast has continued to stagnate development, stoke negative ethnicity and create squatters. Successive governments have displayed lamentable laxity in carrying out the required reforms. The people need to push the new administration on this urgent matter

Violence across Africa is often fueled by political elites who try to cling to power. They play on tribal historic injustices and often leave the poor to fight each other. Transitional processes in the post-conflict societies of Kenya and Zimbabwe are yet to fully achieve their goals

New York, May 2, 2013-The Committee to Protect Journalists asks Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chairperson of the African Union, to uphold press freedom by calling for justice in journalist murders in Africa and for the release of all imprisoned journalists.

Mass movement against education cuts, mass unemployment, pro-rich looting and obnoxious electoral laws

City cannot ‘throw up hands in horror’ when asked to house the homeless, Judge says