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More folks are learning about the late Nelson Mandela. He has a lot of courage in his life and he became more and more mature as time went in his life. In the last years of life, he expressed great compassion, humility, and strength. His strength was very strong even when he suffered his disease. He was the famous leader of the ANC or the African National Congress. The necessity of social revolution in South Africa is still coming upon us. Nelson Mandela was born in July 18, 1918 in Cape Province when South Africa was ruled by British imperialists. He attended a school ran by British Methodist missionaries. We all know the history of missionaries in Africa. It is what it is. We do not need Eurocentric, white supremacist spirituality (that teaches unnecessary fear, hatred of black African culture, and the love of European imperialism). We need true spirituality that can help the people. True spirituality is not just prayer. It is about having great thoughts of upliftment, peace, harmony, love of humanity, love of black people, etc. all day every day. The true test of spirituality is when you encounter confrontation, and conflict. If you can tall and transform yourself to be better in the midst of conflict, then you have great spirituality. In 1939, he began attending the University of Fort Hare, where he met future ANC leader Oliver Tambo. He worked in a mine pit before he met ANC figure Walter Sisulu. Nelson Mandela studied part time to complete his law degree at Witwatersrand University, one of the four universities that would accept blacks on specialist courses. White racists call him a Communist, but Communism was never monolithic. Also, Mandela was never a strong Communist. He never condemned all facets of capitalists at all. Mandela further raised his stature within the ANC with a defiant speech in which he pledged to die if necessary in pursuit of the destruction of Apartheid, while at the same time rejecting allegations that he was a communist. He told the court: “The realization of the Freedom Charter would open up fresh fields for a prosperous African population of all classes, including the middle class. The ANC has never at any period of its history advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my recollection, ever condemned capitalist society.” Nelson Mandela in December 1947 supported an unsuccessful measure to expel communists from the ANCYL, considering their ideology un-African. He did befriend communists, nationalists like Anton Lembede, etc. But he also made a point of distancing his own party. "The ANC is not a communist Party," he said. Enough said. After his prison sentence, he embraced more pacifist views. "As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison," Mandela said after he was freed. "He was rather strong against racism," Terreblanche said. "The day before he was sent to Robben Island, he made a speech in parliament that he was against all forms of racism." Nelson Mandela wanted Palestine to have self-determination too. So, there should be no token change. There must be complete revolutionary change for human liberation. Ironically, the U.S. government once called Mandela a terrorist. That is hypocritical since the CIA done terrorist acts for decades. Also, the CIA tipped off South African apartheid racists on Mandela's whereabouts as a means for these authorities to arrest Nelson Mandela. Ironically, NATO and modern imperialists are seeking to further rule Africa in neo-colonial efforts. We also have sick drone attacks killing innocent human beings of color in Yemen, Pakistan, various nations of Africa, etc. The revolution for change in South Africa is not yet over. We have massive economic inequality still in South Africa. Union workers have been killed by South African authorities recently. There is still huge poverty, unemployment, and other issues in South Africa. The good news is that there are still tons of real warrior Brothers and Sisters fighting for real change in South Africa indeed. Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years for opposing a tyrannical, fascist, and brutal regime in South Africa. He was on the U.S. terror watch list until 2008. The death of Nelson Mandela is a somber time. We all have prayers and condolences to the family and friends of Nelson Mandela. Again, RIP Nelson Mandela.

 

 

Africa is a wonderful continent. It is the world second largest and second most populous continent in the world. It has over 1 billion human being living in it now. Nigeria is the largest nation in Africa by population. A lot of the ancestors of African Americans came from Nigeria and West Africa in general. Africa has excellent human beings. It has great biodiversity as well. There are many famous Africans who inspired the world not the beautiful Motherland of Africa. There were many Pan-Africanists that wanted justice for African peoples of the world. Now, Pan-Africanists still exist today that desire freedom, justice, and true liberty given to all African peoples of the globe too. Pan-Africanism is the movement that wants the solidarity of all African peoples of the world economically, socially, politically, morally, and intellectually. It seeks to unify and uplifts all human beings of black African descent. All black people of the world do not just share a common history, but a common destiny. We know that the hero of Kwame Nkrumah was a famous leader of the black Pan-Africanist movement. Those who believed in this view included of course Marcus Garvey, WEB DuBois, Malcolm X, and others. Those who believed in Pan-Africanism wanted resources to work in collaborated with Africans as a means to enrich the entire African community. Pan-Africanism is against slavery, racism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism. The great black African abolitionist Ottobah Cugoano wanted to free Africans from slavery. He was born near Ajumako, Ghana in 1757.  Pan-Africanist thinking has been embraced by Martin Delany in the 1800's. Modern Pan-Africanism came about in the late 19th century. There was the African Association to be later renamed the Pan-African Association. It was created in 1887 by Henry Sylvester-Williams. Henry Sylvester-Williams opposed racism, imperialism, paternalism, etc. in the world. He organized the first Pan-African Conference in 1900 in Westminster Hall in London. Pan African leaders are diverse like Jomo Kenyatta, Julius Nyerere, Ahmed Sekou Toure, Duse Mohamed Ali, Nkrumah, and so many Brothers and Sisters. One great African intellectual who was the first President of Senegal was Léopold Sédar Senghor. He lived from 1906 to 2001. One of the greatest scholars in human history about Pan-Africanism was the great John Henrik Clarke. Many Caribbeans were involved in the growth of pan-Africanism too. Pan-Africanism represented a profound truth that we should work together as one African people, because all of us are one African people. The fifth Pan-African Congress can about in 1945. John Henrik Clarke wrote the following about it: "...The basic ideas that went into the African independence explosion came out of the fifth Pan-African Congress convened by George Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah, and other Africans, some of whom would become future heads of state. All "Pan" efforts among African people must ultimately lead to a concept of a world union of African people, in spite of geography, religion, and culture. African people live in many lands, under many regimes and practice many religions and represent many cultures. Wherever they are on the face of this earth they must think of themselves as first and foremost an African people, no less patriotic to the nations where they live outside of Africa." Fundamentally, we should be revolutionary not reactionary. True African culture loves women and men to have leadership roles in society. True African culture allows the love of music and the love of dance including great fashion. True African culture deals with the love of family and the reverence of the ancestors. Real African culture deals with a living spirituality that seek to fight injustice, to fight for truth, and develop spiritual power among African human beings. True African culture also deals with the love of history. We have to know about science, mathematics, technology, engineering, the environment, and other important subjects. Also, we have to know history. If someone doesn't know their history, bad history can be repeated. There should be total liberation of African peoples. Africans should own their own power.

 

 

 

The Salafists back the new neo-liberal Constitution in Egypt. Egypt's second largest Islamist party is named Al-Nour. It will vote yes to support the new controversial constitution. The current draft of Egypt's 2013 neo-liberal Constitution can be compared to the publicly approved Constitution of 2012 in many ways. The new head of the junta in Egypt is named al-Sisi. The new Constitution is much more neoliberal than the previous one. The old one deals with the state ensuring maternal and child health services. The new one omits that completely. The old Constitution dealt with wanting to protect workers' rights, to establish social justice, and to protect consumer rights. The new one omits all of that and talks about encouraging investment.

By Timothy