AFRICOM is the re-colonization of Africa by the U.S., and constitutes the new scramble for Africa tantamount to when, in the 1800s, the colonial powers fought over which of them would dominate which parts of the resource rich continent. One of the forms the new scramble takes is that of militarized interventions that are framed as interventions against domestic terrorist entities. Meanwhile, it is the US/EU/NATO axis of domination that wages a war of terror against African people.
The U.S. military recently announced that it is sending 1,000 National Guard members to the Horn of Africa as U.S. intervention in Ethiopia becomes more likely. Earlier this year, the U.S. intensified the militarization of the DRC with the introduction of U.S. special forces and the escalation against the ADF by the U.S. and Uganda. The U.S. and U.K. are driving militarization in Kenya, and France and Rwanda are militarizing Mozambique to fight Al Shabab. These more contemporary events are comparable to when Tanzania intervened in Uganda and depose Idi Amin.
Important political and economic considerations, including the ability for western multinational corporations to access African land, labor, and resources, are obscured when the labels “terrorist” and “terrorism” have been strategically used by imperialist powers to militarize and destabilize the African continent. The labels are also strategically used by these powers to surveil, target, imprison, and isolate African people. It is imperative that we oppose these imperialist interventions and end the new scramble for Africa. U.S. Out of Africa! Shut Down AFRICOM!
If you are interested in getting more directly involved in the fight to liberate Africa, please consider joining the U.S. Out of Africa Network.
P.S. Freedom isn’t free. We are doing this work with no full time staff and no big foundation support. Consider giving today.
U.S. Out of Africa: Voices from the Struggle
AFRICOM Watch Bulletin speaks with Jared A. Ball, who is a Professor of Communication and Africana Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. and author of The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power (Palgrave, 2020). Ball is host of the podcast “iMiXWHATiLiKE!” and co-founder of Black Power Media which can be found at BlackPowerMedia.org. Ball's decades of journalism, media, writing, and political work can be found at imixwhatilike.org.
AWB: What is Emancipatory Journalism and why is it important in the struggle for African Liberation and in the process to rid the continent of AFRICOM?
JAB: The proliferation and mission success of AFRICOM requires and involves a public relations (psychological warfare) component which means the dominant presses of the US and Western worlds will be used to promote a justification for the project. This messaging also targets African people themselves in an attempt to justify or at minimum normalize the presence of Western military control, leadership, presence, etc. As a result Emancipatory Journalism, or the philosophy of journalism which calls for the conscious production of media for the purposes of expanding the ranks of anti-colonial organized struggle, produced by and for the colonized, must be part of resistance efforts.
AWB: Talk about Black Power Media. Is this the natural evolution of IMIXWHATILIKE that you envisioned.
JAB: BPM is a natural extension of the work of anyone interested in the creation of revolutionary public spheres meant to impact and move oppressed people. This is why BPM originated with a call from Kalonji Changa, Kamau Franklin, and Ear Dr who were doing their work with Renegade Culture and called me to begin the expansion to BPM. So as much as BPM is indeed a natural extension of iMWiL! its origins are actually elsewhere, with others who also recognize the need to create new public spheres, new spaces where more appropriate politics can be shared, discussed, debated.
AWB: There are too many myths and propaganda about Africa for us to cover here. Milton Allimadi does a great job covering them in his book Manufactuaring Hate: How African was Demonized in Western Media. Talk about a couple that actually give cover for AFRICOM and how they do so.
JAB: Among the greatest and most pervasive myths is, of course, that today’s Africa is somehow “African.” The continent itself is still a mirrored reflection and literal creation of European imperialism, from name, to shape, to identity. No “African nation” is “free” or even “authentically African.” And yet, just as we in the diaspora fight desperately to cling to our imposed identities, those on the continent have been further mythologized into thinking, because they remain on the land, that they are somehow farther away from the West. “Nigeria” is no more authentically African than Maryland. Both result from the same on-going process and neither exists to benefit African people.
AWB: You work at an HBCU. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being emancipatory, how would you rate the communications programs and specifically the journalism programs and how can they improve if they fall short of 10?
JAB: Journalism programs are bought and run by the corporations HBCUs hope their students will work for and from which HBCUs hope to get investment. There is no emancipatory potential there or at PWIs for that matter. That is, in fact, the point of EJ; that the colonized, the oppressed perform the journalism work their movements need.
AWB: Talk about 2-3 things anyone can do to improve his/her media literacy and or hold outlets accountable when they fall short of Emancipatory Journalism standard?
JAB: Become and continue to work towards being politically educated.
Step 1 is best served in collaboration with radical political organization.
Produce or help others in the production of EJ and expand the imaginative approaches to that work.
AWB: Thank you for your time and analysis!
News and Analysis
Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the U.S. National Guard deployment to Horn of Africa
December 10, 2021 by Black Alliance for Peace
On International Human Rights Day, BAP called for the U.S. to end its military occupation of the African continent.
US Still Strong Arming “Democracy” Onto Libya
December 7, 2021 by Netfa Freeman
The Western imperialist forces responsible for the overthrow and assassination of Muammar Gaddafi, as well as the destruction of Libya, are now trying to force elections and so-called “democracy” onto the country.
The Truth About Ethiopia | Unmasking Imperialism Ep. 44
December 4, 2021 by Ramiro Sebastián Fúnez
Yolian Ogbu, an organizing member of the Horn of Africa Pan Africans for Liberation and Solidarity as well as the All African People's Revolutionary Party, discusses attempts by Western imperialism to interfere in the internal affairs of Ethiopia.
Eritrea Versus AFRICOM: Defending Sovereignty in the Face of Imperialist Aggression
December 1, 2021 by Dina M. Asfaha and Tunde Osazua
The rapid expansion of AFRICOM on the African continent should be a cause for concern as African nations are surrendering their sovereignty to the U.S. As the only country without a relationship to AFRICOM, Eritrea bears the brunt of U.S. vilification.
Backed by AFRICOM, corporations plunder DR Congo for “climate-friendly” materials and blame China
November 30, 2021 by TJ Coles
Cobalt, a key metallic element used in lithium batteries and other “green” technology, is sourced from slave labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo. As the West points the finger at China, the US Africa Command is indirectly policing mining operations that profit US corporations.
Senate eyes plan to send military aid to Africa — to fight Beijing and Moscow
November 19, 2021 by Sobukwe Odinga
The Senate’s 2022 National Defense Authorization Act empowers the Pentagon to establish a strategic competition initiative for the U.S. Africa Command.
November 18, 2021 by Center for Constitutional Rights
Security forces trained by the CIA and the UK's MI6 use the "war on terror" as justification for killing and abducting Kenyans. In fact, the US/EU/NATO axis wage a war of terror against African people.
If you are interested in getting more directly involved in the fight to liberate Africa, please consider joining the U.S. Out of Africa Network.
P.S. Freedom isn’t free. We are doing this work with no full time staff and no big foundation support. Consider giving today.
(Banner Photo: Senegalese soldiers practice live fire maneuvers during an AFRICOM training exercise, Senegal, June 19, 2014 (U.S. Army Africa photo by Staff Sgt. Donna Davis). )