Baltimore Protest - Collected Articles

Baltimore Been Burning

The Dominant White Response to Baltimore Shows Why Black Residents are Justified in their Anger

Eyewitnesses: The Baltimore Riots Didn't Start the Way You Think

You’d be surprised who the outside agitators in Baltimore really are

Historian on Freddie Gray: Baltimore policing grew from ‘slave patrols’ used to enforce social order

The Brutality of Police Culture in Baltimore

10,000 Strong Peacefully Protest In Downtown Baltimore, Media Only ReportsThe Violence & Arrest of Dozens

Right-wing media exploits unrest in Baltimore to push ‘race war’ narrative

11 Stunning Images Highlight the Double-Standard of Reactions to Riots Like Baltimore

State of emergency in Baltimore after Gray funeral

Weeklong Curfew in Baltimore, Cops Injured by Rioters, National Guard Called by Governor

Hey, Step Back with the Riot Shaming

Bloods and Crips Team Up to Protest Baltimore’s Cops – The Daily Beast

Names Of 255 Black People Killed By The Police In 2015 (R.I.P)

Chair of Black Studies Department - Portland State University

https://jobs.hrc.pdx.edu/postings/15591 

Position Summary
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences invites applications for a tenure track position (associate, full professor) for appointment in the Department of Black Studies beginning September 1, 2015.
Responsibilities: Tenure track faculty are expected to provide classroom instruction; engage in research activities, including the pursuit of grants and external funding; the publication and/or dissemination of scholarly and research based knowledge; advise students; participate in department and university governance through committee work and related activities; participate in community involvement activities that support the goals and objectives of the Black Studies Department.
Qualifications: Doctorate and a record of effective teaching, scholarly research and community involvement with a focus on the Black experience are required. The candidate must be able to instruct courses focused on the African American and/or African experiences drawing on the history and traditions of the Black Studies and Africana Studies disciplines. Candidates with strong credentials in the areas of local, national and diasporic history are encouraged to apply. Candidates with experience and expertise in the traditional disciplines of the Humanities and Social Sciences are also welcome to apply if their background is appropriately linked to a focus on the Black and/or African experiences. All candidates should be comfortable and competent working within a framework of interdisciplinary assignments and responsibilities.
Demonstrated success and ability in obtaining funded research as well as scholarly publications commensurate with rank are expected. Evidence of excellent classroom teaching and effective interactions with students is advantageous. The candidate is expected to be qualified to assume the administrative and management responsibilities of the Chair of the Black Studies Department. The Department expects that the successful candidate will assume the chair role immediately or soon after hire. Appointment may include tenure or credit towards tenure depending on experience and qualifications.

Minimum Qualifications 
Doctorate and a record of effective teaching, scholarly research and community involvement with a focus on the Black experience are required. The candidate must be able to instruct courses focused on the African American and/or African experiences drawing on the history and traditions of the Black Studies and Africana Studies disciplines. Candidates with strong credentials in the areas of local, national and diasporic history are encouraged to apply. Candidates with experience and expertise in the traditional disciplines of the Humanities and Social Sciences are also welcome to apply if their background is appropriately linked to a focus on the Black and/or African experiences. All candidates should be comfortable and competent working within a framework of interdisciplinary assignments and responsibilities.
Demonstrated success and ability in obtaining funded research as well as scholarly publications commensurate with rank are expected. Evidence of excellent classroom teaching and effective interactions with students is advantageous. The candidate is expected to be qualified to assume the administrative and management responsibilities of the Chair of the Black Studies Department. The Department expects that the successful candidate will assume the chair role immediately or soon after hire. Appointment may include tenure or credit towards tenure depending on experience and qualifications.

Key Cultural Competencies
Creates an environment that acknowledges, encourages and celebrates differences.
Functions and communicates effectively and respectfully within the context of varying beliefs, behaviors, orientations, identities and cultural backgrounds.
Seeks opportunities to gain experience working and collaborating in diverse, multicultural, and inclusive settings with a willingness to change for continual improvement.
Adheres to all PSU policies including the policies on Prohibited Discrimination & Harassment and the Professional Standards of Conduct.

Complete the on-line application and include a statement of interest; a curriculum vitae; three writing samples (optional); and provide the names and email addresses of individuals (minimum of 3 – maximum of 5) who have agreed to serve as references.
Review of applications will begin May 14, 2015 and continue until finalists are identified.

"BALDWIN'S NIGGER" (James Baldwin and Dick Gregory)

The U.S. military is never leaving Africa: How 9/11 spawned a permanent war

The war on terror extends beyond the Middle East, and a new agreement could keep soldiers on the ground for decades

Nick Turse

TomDispatch.com -  Thursday, Apr 16, 2015

For three days, wearing a kaleidoscope of camouflage patterns, they huddled together on a military base in Florida. They came from U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and U.S. Army Special Operations Command, from France and Norway, from Denmark, Germany, and Canada: 13 nations in all. They came to plan a years-long “Special Operations-centric” military campaign supported by conventional forces, a multinational undertaking that — if carried out — might cost hundreds of millions, maybe billions, of dollars and who knows how many lives.
Ask the men involved and they’ll talk about being mindful of “sensitivities” and “cultural differences,” about the importance of “collaboration and coordination,” about the value of a variety of viewpoints, about “perspectives” and “partnerships.”  Nonetheless, behind closed doors and unbeknownst to most of the people in their own countries, let alone the countries fixed in their sights, a coterie of Western special ops planners were sketching out a possible multinational military future for a troubled region of Africa.

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8 African Countries Whose Independence Is a Direct Result of the Teachings of Marcus Garvey

by Taylor Gordon 

Atlanta Black Star - April 16, 2015

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe, formerly known as Rhodesia, is one of the greatest examples of a country being impacted by Garveyism. According to an article titled “The Seeds are Sown: The Impact of Garveyism in Zimbabwe in the Interwar Years,” Marcus Garvey’s teachings had an “electrifying effect on colonial Zimbabwean migrant workers in South Africa, inspiring them to form various associations.” Garvey’s emphasis on Black nationalism along with other principles that were considered radical at the time helped spark the “colony’s most radical African movement in the interwar years.” The teachings ultimately helped shape the political, religious and social landscape for the associations that eventually came together to form Zimbabwe.
Ghana
Garvey’s teachings inspired many great leaders including Kwame Nkrumah. As a result of this influence, Nkrumah went on to start working to free Africa of colonial with rule starting with Ghana, according to Black Business Network. From 1952 to 1966, Nkrumah acted as the leader of what was then known as the Gold Coast before he led the country to win its independence from British colonial rule. This made Ghana the “first Black African country to become independent,” according to the BBC. It also led to many people in the country crediting Nkrumah with “stabilizing a turbulent political scene and leaving a legacy of democracy.”

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14 African Nations Being Forced By France to Pay Taxes for the ‘Benefits’ of Colonialism

Atlanta Black Star - September 30, 2014

Fourteen nations listed below are in agreement to deposit 65 percent of all foreign currency reserves in a shared reserve fund to France. The countries established the Monetary and Economic Union of West Africa. Their currency, the CFA-Franc, is printed under supervision of the French National Bank in Chamaliéres, France.
Christof Lehmann wrote for nsnbc.me in 2012, “France is indebting and enslaving Africans by means of Africa’s own wealth; for example: 12.0000 billion invested at three percent creates 360 billion in interests which France grants as credits to Africa at an interest rate of five to six percent or more. The allegory of ‘Bleeding Africa and Feeding France’ is no exaggeration, not alarmist, and not revolutionary.”
All numbers below according to the World Bank.

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Minister Farrakhan on 60 mins. with Mike Wallace

Persona non-grata: Judge Jane Matilda Bolin and the NAACP, 1930-1950.

Black women have always boasted a strong presence in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). They have served overwhelmingly as fundraisers and proselytizers tying the organization to the Black community and creating a Black-led NAACP. (2) But a number of Black women have also made their mark as national officers serving as members of the Board of Directors, and as vice-presidents early in the organization's history. Jane Matilda Bolin, the nation's first African American woman judge, is among this small cadre of Black women which includeds such notable educators and clubwomen as Mary McLeod Bethune and Nannie Helen Burroughs. (3) Bolin became a member of the NAACP national leadership in 1943, serving consecutively as a member of the Board of Directors and then as vice-president before resigning in 1950. An active member and officer of the New York Branch of the NAACP and a recent judicial appointee, Bolin's nomination for election to the Board of Directors came as no surprise. Her resignation, however, broke with convention and was dissected in the Black press. The question is therefore not so much how Bolin rose to prominence in the NAACP, but more importantly, how and why she plummeted to the depths of its disregard. She allows us a rare glimpse into the tenure of Black women as national officers in the NAACP. But, an examination of Bolin's positioning within the NAACP leadership also affords us some insight into her philosophy of leadership, its conformity to that of the National Office, and how she became "persona non-grata" to the organizational leadership.

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African Origin in America ~Dr Yosef A.A. Ben-Jochannan

Celebrating Dr. Ben’s extraordinary life

AMSTERDAM NEWS | 4/9/2015

As family and friends prepare to commemorate the lifelong achievements of renowned factologist, Dr. Yosef A. A. ben-Jochannan, affectionately known as “Dr. Ben,” at Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, 132 W. 138th St., Thursday and Friday, April 9 and 10, thousands from all walks of life are expected to attend.
He was born Yosef Alfredo Antonio ben-Johannas, Dec. 31, 1918, in Ethiopia, the homeland of his father, Kriston ben-Jochannas. When he was 6 years old, the family moved to Fajardo, Puerto Rico, the native town of his mother, Julia Matta, where his younger sister was born.
The family practiced the Beta Israel way of life, and ben-Jochannan credited his parents for instilling the hardened discipline in him that allowed him to feed his insatiable appetite for knowledge.
When ben-Jochannan was a teenager, his father suggested he go to Egypt and study that country’s Black heritage. He made his first voyage there in 1938. And until the late 1990s, “Dr. Ben’s Alkebu-Lan Educational Tours” conducted annual fact-finding journeys to Egypt, taking hundreds at a time.
During his early years, ben-Jochannan also spent time in St. Croix, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where he was heavily influenced by Pan-African pioneers Edward Wilmot Blyden and Hubert Harrison.

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Chinese Dreams and the African Renaissance A China in Africa Podcast

Eric Olander, Cobus van Staden, Mothusi Turner    

CHINA FILE - April 10, 2015

Leaders in both China and Africa have articulated new visions for their respective regions that project a strong sense of confidence, renewal, and a break from once-dominant Western ideologies. In both cases, argues East is Read blogger Mothusi Turner, Chinese and Africans are using these new slogans to define themselves as something other than victims of their colonial pasts. Mothusi joins Eric and Cobus to discuss how these two ideologies converge and why this new intellectual framework is so important for both sides of the Sino-African relationship.

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BOUND: Africans vs African Americans OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER 2015

Remember Sobukwe! - South Africa

Life and Times of Chris Hani

Chris Hani’s political legacy

Africa is a country -  April 10, 2014

The American political scientist Adolph Reed Jnr. once wrote about Malcolm X that “… he was just like the rest of us—a regular person saddled with imperfect knowledge, human frailties, and conflicting imperatives, but nonetheless trying to make sense of his very specific history, trying unsuccessfully to transcend it, and struggling to push it in a humane direction.” Like Malcolm X, Chris Hani, who was also assassinated (Hani was murdered on this day in 1993), should not be made into an ideal type or used to settle political scores in the present.
Yet, any observer of contemporary South Africa can’t help noticing that while Chris Hani is still lionized and his name invoked in speeches and songs, the principles he stood for no longer  animate the political project of the liberation movement he laid down his life for or that his erstwhile comrades in the ruling party, its Communist ally and the main trade union federation have been disappointing.

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ZULU 1964 - BATTLE SCENE

Paul Robeson: On colonialism, African-American rights (Spotlight, ABC,1960)

Song of Freedom (1936) - Paul Robeson Film

The Rise of a Post-colonial University

Africa is a country - April 6, 2015

In the last two weeks, students belonging to the #RhodesMustFall collective have rechristened and remade of one of University of Cape Town’s key administrative building as ‘Azania House.’ They have been occupying the building since March 20and it has become a nodal point for the student led collective. At the end of one of the first teach-ins at Azania House, a UCT student and member of the collective, Ru Slayen, half-jokingly and half-seriously suggested instituting teach-ins like the one we had just had in a new summer school to be named the Post-colonial School of Cape Town.

Ru’s words might have been half-serious and half-joking but they also, as I grasp them, iterated a desire to institute and inhabit a university that in the first instance enables an understanding of the after-effects of colonialism and then reflects on how to ‘go beyond’ them, as Stuart Hall argued in 1996. Cecil John Rhodes’ statue is one such manifest symbol of colonialism and the students’ passionate calls for its removal are a reminder of the visceral ways in which history is experienced. But the visceral sting of colonial inheritances can be felt repeatedly and in many places. At Azania House students remind us of that experience through the posters that they have put up on its walls. Amongst the many that have come up in in the last two weeks, one announced that, “we are no longer at ease.” Several others bear printed copies of the many racist Facebook responses that the #RhodesMustFall page has received; these Facebook comments appear intent on hurting and demeaning the students who are part of the movement. Some of these racist comments are from fellow students, and others perhaps from members of the wider Cape Town and South African citizenry who disagree with the #RhodesMustFall collective’s cause and dispute its members’ position. On its part, the university administration has also had to deal with vicious outpourings. It had put up writing boards around the statue to invite comments from the university community on transformation issues but had to remove them because, according to a university missive, many of the comments penned there constituted ‘hate speech.’

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Will Africa’s Industrial Revolution Be Made in China?

Africa is a country -  April 3, 2015

Over the past three decades, consumers have grown used to seeing the “Made in China” label adorning their less expensive purchases. Once China opened its economy to international trade and investment in the 1980s, it did not take long for it to wrest domination of the lower-end manufacturing sector from its East Asian neighbours and flood the world’s high streets with cheap goods.

Low wages were at the heart of China’s success. The majority of the population lived on less than a dollar a day, so businesses had no need to pay high salaries. Combined with high productivity, this enabled them to undercut manufacturers in more advanced economies.

As China has grown wealthier and wages have increased, however, this advantage is eroding. Higher wages render Chinese producers less competitive in low-value, labour-intensive manufacturing, but they are unlikely to want to relinquish control over the lucrative cheap goods market. Higher technology products contain many low technology components and China will need a supply of such inputs as its economy becomes more sophisticated. To whom will it turn to fill its shoes?

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Sagallo, Russia's Short-Lived Cossack Colony In Africa

RADIO FREE EUROPE - 2 April 2015  

In 1888, the "Scramble For Africa" was nearly over. European powers had carved out their colonies, and Imperial Russia still lacked a "place in the sun." But adventurer Nikolai Ivanovitch Achinov came up with a bizarre plan to create a Russian territory in what is now Djibouti. The following year, he and a small group of Cossacks raised their flag above the village of Sagallo. But after French objections, the tsar disowned them and the colony lasted less than a month.

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A Nigerian autocrat who embraced democracy: Story of Muhammadu Buhari

AFP, Lagos | Apr 01, 2015

Muhammadu Buhari, the one-time coup leader who won Nigeria's historic presidential election Tuesday, is not a man who is easily put off.
He tried three times previously to become head of state since the return to civilian rule in 1999 -- and failed on each occasion.
But the straight-backed former major general, who overthrew elected president Shehu Shagari -- widely seen as inept and corrupt -- in a military coup in 1983, was determined to lead the country again.
He was given the chance when President Goodluck Jonathan conceded his loss, paving the way for the first ever peaceful transfer of power between political parties in the history of Africa's most populous country.
"Our country has now joined the community of nations that have used the ballot box to peacefully change an incumbent president in a ree and fair election," he said on Wednesday.
"To me this is indeed historic."

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‘Debt is a cleverly managed reconquest of Africa’ – Thomas Sankara

By Paula Akugizibwe 

This is Africa - July 23, 2012 — A week before he died, Sankara said, “revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, but you cannot kill ideas”. And so, for us today, the final challenge rests not in finding more Sankaras, but in becoming them – in bringing these ideas to life

Thomas Sankara, former leader of Burkina Faso, was the apparent opposite of everything we are often told that success should look like. Mansions? Cars? Who? What? Get out of here. As Prime Minister and later as President, Sankara rode a bicycle to work before he upgraded, at his Cabinet’s insistence, to a Renault 5 – one of the cheapest cars available in Burkina Faso at the time. He lived in a small brick house and wore only cotton that was produced, weaved and sewn in Burkina Faso.
Going by his lifestyle, Sankara was the antithesis of success, but it is this very distinction that enabled him to become the most successful president Africa has ever seen, in terms of what he accomplished for and with his people. Sankara would not have chopped P-Square’s money given twice a chance – in fact, he might have sat him down and taught him a thing or two about the creeping menace of pop culture patriarchy – because Thomas Sankara, “The Upright Man”, was a feminist. In this and many other ways, Sankara was the African dream come true, the only living proof that hopes of African independence are not dead on arrival.

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