Amidst the Biden Administration’s Forever-Wars Policy in Africa, BAP Launches a Month of Action Against AFRICOM (U.S. Africa Command)

For Immediate Release:

Media Contact
communications@blackallianceforpeace.com
(202) 643-1136

SEPTEMBER 19, 2022—October 1, 2022 is the 14th anniversary of the launch of the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). Yet, jihadist terrorist violence on the African continent has increased since the founding of AFRICOM and NATO’s destruction of Libya resulting in civilian casualties and instability, which the West has used as pretext and justification for the continued need for AFRICOM. Since its founding, coups carried out by AFRICOM-trained soldiers have also increased.

That is why the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) is organizing an International Month of Action Against AFRICOM in October. This is an effort to raise the public's awareness about how the presence of U.S. military forces exacerbates violence and instability throughout the continent.

Despite its rhetoric, the purpose of AFRICOM is to use U.S. military power to impose U.S. control on African land, resources and labor to service the needs of U.S. multinational corporations and the wealthy in the United States. It also serves as a major boon to “defense” contractors.

AFRICOM is a direct product of NATO via the U.S. European Command (EUCOM), which originally took responsibility for 42 African states. In 2003, NATO started expanding; four years later, in 2007, EUCOM commander James L. Jones, who was also NATO commander of operational forces, proposed the creation of AFRICOM.

NATO has become a huge global axle in the wheel of the military industrial complex, which includes more than 800 U.S. military bases around the world as well as  joint bases or relationships with almost all African countries. These are all controlled by the U.S. empire for realizing the U.S. policy of Full Spectrum Dominance, which is driven by the ferocious appetite of international finance  capital.

NATO continues today in the form of AFRICOM facilitating wars, instability and the corporate pillage of Africa. This hypocrisy explains why 17 African nations abstained from the March 2 United Nations resolution condemning Russia. One African state, Eritrea, even voted no. Their experiences with NATO and AFRICOM ensure skepticism of self-proclaimed noble motives.

Motives such as bill H.R. 7311, the “Countering Malign Russian Activities in Africa Act',' a racist affront to African sovereignty designed to dictate what bi-lateral relations African states are permitted to have.

That is why we call on our friends and allies to endorse this month as an individual or organization. Beyond that, we are calling on you to participate each week using our calls to action, for which we have provided materials on our webpage. Each week’s call to action ranges from watching our kick-off webinar to organizing mass actions like banner drops, facilitating teach-ins using our materials and spreading the word using BAP’s custom graphics.

The Black Alliance for Peace calls for the dismantling of NATO, AFRICOM and all imperialist structures. Africa and the rest of the world cannot be free until all peoples are able to realize the right of sovereignty and the right to live free of domination.

We demand:

• The complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Africa;

• The demilitarization of the African continent;

• The closure of U.S. bases throughout the world; and

• The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) oppose U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and conduct hearings on AFRICOM’s impact on the African continent, with the full participation of members of U.S. and African civil society.

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns FBI Attack on the African People’s Socialist Party

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) unequivocally condemns and opposes the latest domestic U.S. state repression and intimidation tactics currently being leveled against the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP).

On Friday, July 29, 2022, the FBI executed multiple raids against APSP’s Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida and their Uhuru Solidarity Center in St. Louis, Missouri and the private residence of APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela also in St. Louis. The FBI employed flashbang grenades and handcuffed Yeshitela and his wife while their house was raided. The FBI claims that the raids are connected to the federal indictment of a Russian national, Aleksandr Ionov, alleging that he has been working to spread "Russian propaganda" in the United States.

BAP believes that these raids continue the history of state repression directed against Black people in the U.S. This repression now occurs under the guise of opposing “adversary” nations but regardless of how these actions are characterized, Black people still bear the brunt of surveillance and police violence. The APSP has the right to freely associate with people around the world, to hold any political beliefs it may choose, and to express them without fear of intimidation, persecution, or prosecution.

We believe this repression to be a hysterical response to the United States’ loss of legitimacy in the context of the deepening crisis of capitalism and U.S. global hegemony. The unleashing of policing and counterintelligence forces domestically and increased militarism and warmongering abroad in the name of national security are the only avenues left to the U.S. ruling class that is engulfed in an irreversible economic crisis. They represent the hallmarks of a naked fascism that the U.S. ruling class appears to be increasingly committed to in order to maintain the rule of capital. 

BAP reminds the public that the war against working class people generally, and Black, Brown, and Indigenous workers particularly, is ongoing. The masses must acknowledge and resist this reality. While it is APSP today, it will ultimately be the rest of us tomorrow. Resistance is our only option.

Given our steadfast commitment to rebuilding the broader anti-war, anti-imperialist peace movement, BAP is not intimidated and will not retreat. We are guided by the position articulated by the Black is Back Coalition, of which BAP is a proud member, that "Now is the time to throw off all hesitation, open up new forms of struggle and to launch every protest, demonstration, and anti-imperialist action - from the ballot box to the barricades - as an act to deepen the crisis of imperialism." 

The treatment of the APSP is reminiscent of McCarthyist witch hunts that targeted and criminalized workers, immigrants, and colonized people who organized domestically and internationally against capitalist imperialism. Likewise, the FBI’s actions represent COINTELPRO-like tactics employed to crush organizations and individuals fighting to protect and expand the rights of oppressed people in general, and Africans in particular.

These tactics came back forcefully in response to the 2014 uprisings in Ferguson, Missouri. FBI agents tracked the movements and monitored the individuals tied to the protests. In 2016, when the murder of Freddie Gray ignited protests in Baltimore, the FBI admitted to providing an aircraft for surveillance in the weeks following the unrest. In 2017, the FBI created the designation “Black Identity Extremist” to monitor Black movement organizers. The term was updated to “Racially Motivated Violent Extremism” in 2018. FBI surveillance was rampant going into the summer 2020 rebellions, with FBI agents attempting to infiltrate protests in Portland.

The Black population in the United States has historically stood at the forefront of resistance and condemnations of war and state repression. In this spirit, the Black Alliance for Peace reiterates the critical, moral stance against such government aggression and stands in resolute solidarity with the APSP. 

By comprehensively linking the issue of state violence and militarism, BAP will continue to concentrate its efforts on not only opposing the U.S. war agenda globally but the war and repression being waged on Black and Brown communities within U.S. borders.

In this charge, The Black Alliance for Peace says there will be "No Compromise and No Retreat!”

BAP Coordinating Committee

Photo credit: Omali Yeshitela stands in front of his St. Louis, MO home with his supporters (St. Louis Post-Dispatch}.

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of the UN Mission to Haiti (BINUH)

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Renewal of the UN Mission to Haiti (BINUH)  

The Ineffective and Unpopular UN Mission to Haiti Must End 

For Immediate Release            

Media Contact
communications@blackallianceforpeace.com
(202) 643-1136

JULY 18, 2022—On Friday, July 15, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted the resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) for one year (until July 15, 2023). The vote took place two days after it was postponed by the People’s Republic of China, which wanted additional consultation and significant adjustments to the resolution co-penned by Mexico and the United States.

The Black Alliance for Peace welcomed this delay, as well as several of the objections to BINUH’s renewal raised by China and supported by the Russian Federation. In reviewing the terms of BINUH’s renewal, we continue to condemn the UN Mission to Haiti as a foreign occupation and as a violation of the sovereignty of the Haitian people, as we outlined last week in our press release and open letter to Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, and in our communications to government representatives of China and Russia. 

Nonetheless, we recognize the adjustments made to the resolution—spearheaded by China and supported by Russia—represent a step forward against the often rubber-stamping of U.S.-led Western hegemony in Haitis. These adjustments included prioritizing the authority of regional institutions (like CARICOM) partnered with Haitian authorities over UN police advisers, as well as calling on states to stop the trafficking of weapons and ammunition to non-state combatants in Haiti. Yet, China’s suggested adjustments fall short because the focus is solely on the current upswing in paramilitary violence, not on the UN occupation itself. 

We ask again: What has the UN mission done in its 18-year militarized presence in Haiti except foment pain and violence on the Haitian people? Why does BINUH—and UN Special Representative in Haiti Helen La Lime—have such an outsized role in Haitian politics? When will the United States, Canada and France take responsibility for their promotion of the 2004 coup d’etat against Haiti’s democratically elected president? Why do the UN Mission and Western rulers of Haiti continue to support the unelected de facto Prime Minister, Dr. Ariel Henry, and his unpopular Pati Ayisyen Tèt Kale (PHTK)—the violent right-wing government installed by the West and the direct cause of the current crisis? Why not listen to the Haitian people who call for an end to foreign meddling and occupation?

We also note, with disappointment, the way the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has repeatedly fallen in line with the imperialist wishes of the United States and has supported the full renewal of the UN Mission. In their upcoming “delegation” to Haiti, we encourage CARICOM to reconsider this position and instead support Black sovereignty, by working to facilitate an end to the UN Mission to Haiti. There cannot be justice and self-determination in Haiti without an end to the UN Mission and re-establishing Haitian control of Haiti’s affairs. 

The Black Alliance for Peace calls on civil society organizations and the regional nation-states of the Americas to monitor the situation, oppose continued foreign occupation, and support sovereignty in Haiti. We want to remind CARICOM and the leaders of the Americas: The Americas cannot be free and sovereign unless all countries are free and sovereign. We say No to Occupation, Yes to Self-Determination. 

Photo credit: Haitians protest in 2010 (Mark Snyder)

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Extension of United Nations Mandate in Haiti and Calls on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Support Haitian Independence and Sovereignty

Español abajo

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Extension of United Nations Mandate in Haiti and Calls on Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Support Haitian Independence and Sovereignty

UN Mission to Haiti Is Foreign Occupation and Denial of Sovereignty 

For Immediate Release

Media Contact
communications@blackallianceforpeace.com
(202) 643-1136

JULY 12, 2022—On Wednesday, July 13, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) will vote on an extension of the mandate of the United Nations Integrated Office (BINUH) in Haiti. Since beginning a 2-year term on the UNSC, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) of Mexico has supported U.S.-backed initiatives that would extend BINUH’s occupation of Haiti. Mexico and the United States are “co-penholders” for this process, indicating the leadership role of the Mexican government in bringing forth this year’s UNSC resolution on Haiti. 

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) condemns in the strongest possible terms Mexico spearheading the renewal of the United Nations Integrated Office (BINUH)’s mandate in Haiti. The Haitian people view BINUH’s presence as a foreign occupation that undercuts Haiti’s independence and sovereignty. In solidarity, BAP, along with other civil society organizations, delivered an open letter to President López Obrador deploring Mexico’s role in extending the UN occupation. 

In this letter, we ask AMLO to reconsider Mexico’s role as a co-penholder (with the United States) of the UNSC mandate, effectively serving the interests of Western imperialism in Haiti. We argue that not only does the UN occupation deny the sovereignty of the Haitian people, but it has both increased violence and instability in the republic while undermining the goal of national independence and self-determination for all countries in the Americas.

AMLO has emerged as one of the more progressive voices in the hemisphere, ostensibly working towards more equitable relationships between the peoples and nations of the region. BAP was heartened by and commended AMLO’s decision not to attend last month’s Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, as a call for fair representation and recognition of the sovereignty of all nations. In this vein, we have asked AMLO if — for some reason — Haiti does not count among those countries whose sovereignty and independence should be respected.

Like Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2004, who displayed his “leadership” by spearheading military action during the 2004-17 UN occupation of Haiti (MINUSTAH), AMLO’s support of BINUH’s mandate will result in the Haitian people paying the price for others’ political gains. Unfortunately, this is all too common among so-called “progressive” and “leftist” politicians in the Americas, who conform to the U.S.-led imperialistic system that these UN occupations represent.

Instead, we ask AMLO to contribute toward ending the foreign control of Haiti. This would be a positive step toward allowing Haitian people to determine their own fate, reversing regional militarization, and facilitating the realization of the Americas as a Zone of Peace, as the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States has called for.

We say No to Occupation. Yes to Self-Determination.

La Alianza Negra por la Paz Condena la Extensión del Mandato de las Naciones Unidas en Haití y Llama al Presidente Mexicano Andrés Manuel López Obrador a Apoyar la Independencia y Soberanía de Haití

Misión de la ONU a Haití es ocupación extranjera y negación de soberanía

Para publicación inmediata

Contacto para medios de comunicación
communications@blackallianceforpeace.com
(202) 643-1136

11 DE JULIO DE 2022—El miércoles 13 de julio, el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas (CSNU) votará sobre una extensión del mandato de la Oficina Integrada de las Naciones Unidas (BINUH) en Haití. Desde que comenzó un mandato de 2 años en el Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas, el presidente Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) de México ha apoyado iniciativas respaldadas por los Estados Unidos que extenderían la ocupación de Haití por parte de la BINUH. México y los Estados Unidos son “coautores” de este proceso, lo que indica el papel de liderazgo del gobierno mexicano en la presentación de la resolución del CSNU de este año sobre Haití.

La Alianza Negra por la Paz (BAP) condena en los términos más enérgicos que México encabece la renovación del mandato de la Oficina Integrada de las Naciones Unidas (BINUH) en Haití. El pueblo haitiano ve la presencia de BINUH como una ocupación extranjera que socava la independencia y soberanía de Haití. En solidaridad, BAP, junto con otras organizaciones de la sociedad civil, entregó una carta abierta al presidente López Obrador deplorando el papel de México en la extensión de la ocupación de la ONU.

En esta carta, le pedimos a AMLO que reconsidere el papel de México como coautor (con Estados Unidos) del mandato del Consejo de Seguridad de las Naciones Unidas, sirviendo efectivamente a los intereses del imperialismo occidental en Haití. Argumentamos que la ocupación de la ONU no solo niega la soberanía del pueblo haitiano, sino que ha aumentado la violencia y la inestabilidad en la república al tiempo que socava el objetivo de la independencia nacional y la autodeterminación de todos los países de las Américas.

AMLO ha emergido como una de las voces más progresistas del hemisferio, aparentemente trabajando por relaciones más equitativas entre los pueblos y naciones de la región. BAP se sintió alentada y elogió la decisión de AMLO de no asistir a la Cumbre de las Américas del mes pasado en Los Ángeles, como un llamado a la representación justa y el reconocimiento de la soberanía de todas las naciones. En ese sentido, le hemos preguntado a AMLO si, por alguna razón, Haití no cuenta entre esos países cuya soberanía e independencia debe ser respetada.

Al igual que el presidente brasileño Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva en 2004, quien mostró su “liderazgo” al encabezar una acción militar durante la ocupación de Haití (MINUSTAH) por parte de la ONU entre 2004 y 2017, el apoyo de AMLO al mandato de la BINUH hará que el pueblo haitiano pague el precio para ganancias políticas de otros. Desafortunadamente, esto es demasiado común entre los llamados políticos “progresistas” e “izquierdistas” en las Américas, que se conforman con el sistema imperialista liderado por los Estados Unidos que representan estas ocupaciones de la ONU.

En cambio, le pedimos a AMLO que contribuya a terminar con el control extranjero de Haití. Este sería un paso positivo para permitir que el pueblo haitiano determine su propio destino, revirtiendo la militarización regional y facilitando la materialización de las Américas como una Zona de Paz, como lo ha pedido la Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños.

Decimos No a la Ocupación. Sí a la Autodeterminación.

Photo credit: In the Jean Marie Vincent camp in Port-au-Prince, soldiers from Brazilian troops from the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) are on patrol after deadly demonstrations following elections held in November 2010. (Marcello Casal Jr/ABr - Agência Brasil)

Autor de la foto: En el campamento Jean Marie Vincent en Port-au-Prince, soldados de las tropas brasileñas de la Misión de Estabilización de las Naciones Unidas en Haití (MINUSTAH) patrullan después de manifestaciones mortales tras las elecciones celebradas en noviembre de 2010. (Marcello Casal Jr/ABr - Agência Brasil)

The Black Alliance For Peace Denounces Biden Regime’s New Sanctions on Cuba and Stands with the Cuban People

For Immediate Release     

Media Contact

communications@blackallianceforpeace.com 

(202) 643-1136 

Various right-wing groups across the Americas are preparing demonstrations in support of the one-year anniversary of the exaggerated and media-manipulated protests that took place in Cuba on 11 July 2021. In perfect lockstep, the Biden administration has issued further sanctions on Cuba—visa restrictions on 28 Cuban officials whom they have declined to name. The Black Alliance For Peace (BAP) denounces these efforts to smear the Cuban process and continues to stand in revolutionary solidarity with the peoples of Cuba. 

“It remains clear,” says BAP South member, Salifu Mack, “that the enemies of African people and the Cuban Revolution will not rest until total death and destruction are visited upon the island, all in the name of white supremacy and U.S. imperialism.”

In announcing the 28 new sanctions on Cuba on 9 July 2022, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is quoted saying that the sanctions have been implemented to "support greater freedom and economic opportunities for the Cuban people." The Biden administration has declined to name the 28 Cuban officials that they claim these sanctions have been applied to. BAP understands that sanctions targeted toward any person or group of persons, especially in a country like Cuba, which has struggled under the weight of 60 years of a U.S. economic blockade, severely limits the country’s ability to advocate for itself on the international stage. The U.S. economic blockade already excludes Cuba from international trade and banking, punishes countries which try to circumvent it, and overcomplicates immigration from the island. 

“We have seen how sanctions have been used to attack efforts toward self-determination in countries like Libya, Zimbabwe, and Eritrea,” says Austin Cole of BAP Haiti/Americas Team. “And we have also seen recently how sanctions against Russia backfire as the U.S. and NATO attempt to maintain hegemony in Eastern Europe.”

Of the 28 new sanctions being imposed upon Cuba, Blinken remarked that this measure is aimed at those who, in his opinion, allowed or facilitated violent and unjust arrests, false trials and prison sentences for those involved in the riots that took place in July of last year. As a continued strategy, U.S. imperialism is leaning into the trope of “critical support to political prisoners.” 

Today the United States holds more than 2 million people within its jail cells, the equivalent of roughly 25% of the world’s prison population. Among that prison population is an aging demographic of political prisoners, like Mutulu Shakur, Mumia Abu Jamal, Joseph Bowen, Veronza Bowers, Kamau Sadiki, Ruchell Magee, Leonard Peltier, Ed Poindexter, and Rev. Joy Powell. While the enemies of the Cuban revolution attempt to make heroes out of Cuban citizens who now face the consequences of collaborating with U.S. imperialism, African freedom fighters are rotting away in prisons, being denied life-saving medical treatment, and are only strategically released on their deathbeds. 

Additionally, there is an extreme irony in a country that supports reactionary riots throughout the world, yet regularly brutalizes protestors seeking justice within its borders and is helpless to stop its epidemic of mass shootings.  As U.S. hegemony continues to weaken, meeting formidable challenges across Latin America and the Caribbean, its violence returns home and compounds against its domestic colonies. 

The week to come is certain to be filled with the same circular and baseless attacks using “anti-Blackness” in Cuba as a tool to turn Africans in the U.S. away from support of the Cuban Revolution. BAP is clear that anti-Black racism, a development of colonialism, will only be eradicated with the defeat of colonialism. While U.S. non-profits and NGOs pour billions every year into toothless “diversity and inclusion” and “anti-racist” marketing schemes, we have faith in the people of Cuba to lead their own processes, without U.S. interference, in establishing a world where People(s)-Centered Human Rights—based on materialist reconfigurations of land, healthcare and education—are at the forefront.

When Black people in the U.S. repeat the same positions and talking points of the U.S. government they are not helping Afro-Cubans in Cuba. They are giving cover to the regime change agenda of U.S. imperialism. 

The Black Alliance for Peace calls on all serious anti-imperialists in the U.S. to continue standing with the Cuban Revolution. We must be clear that sanctions and other forms of U.S. interventions are an affront to national sovereignty and the right to self determination. It is the duty of African people living within the belly of the beast to remain vigilant against opportunism and co-optation.

Banner photo: Cuban supporters of the government of President Miguel Diaz-Canel at a demonstration in Havana on July 17, 2021. (Yamil Lage / AFP)

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Massacre of African Migrants by U.S.- Backed Moroccan Armed Forces

For Immediate Release

Media Contact                                                                                                    

press@blackallianceforpeace.com                                                            

202 643-1136

July 5, 2022 - Video images captured the horrific actions of Moroccan security forces armed and trained by the United States through the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and working on behalf of the Spanish government, systematically beating and slaughtering African migrants on June 24, 2022. The migrants' only crime was attempting to cross from Morocco to Europe via the Spanish held enclave of Melilla. For that, at least 39 human beings were beaten to death, as recorded by the NGO Walking Borders. This racist barbarism by a U.S.-backed neo-colonial regime and the lack of swift and unambiguous condemnation by the U.S. State demonstrates, yet again, that human life, especially African lives hold no value for U.S. officials. 

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) denounces first, the Moroccan government’s security forces and the Spanish government for their collaboration in this massacre and their ongoing dehumanizing treatment of African asylum seekers. We must note that, as the Moroccan police were beating and hog-tying the African migrants, AFRICOM was carrying out “Operation African Lion'' - military exercises in Morocco with more than 7,500 troops from Western nations and African neo-colonies. Soon after, NATO nations (the coterie of U.S. minions) held their meeting in Spain, with no acknowledgement of the massacre.

We especially condemn the United States government for its unmitigated hypocrisy in claiming that its presence and policies in Africa are to “promote regional security, stability, and prosperity.” The only securing and stabilizing AFRICOM and U.S. policy are doing in Africa are for the prosperity of international finance capital and hegemony of U.S. interests. We know that U.S. militarism - which guarantees European imperialism on the African continent, while giving cover to the repressive actions of neo-colonial states such as Morocco - will continue to be the main cause of escalating violence for the African people.

“All evidence suggests that U.S. militarism and training of police, and other repressive forces in Africa has only intensified death and destruction;” says Netfa Freeman, Co-Coordinator of BAP’s Africa Team 

BAP extends solidarity to all the African migrants and their families, victims of the brutal racist attack. We also demand a full independent investigation and indictment of the actions of Morocco, Spain, and the U.S. And we demand, once again, that the U.S. get out of Africa and that NATO and AFRICOM be shut down!

The Black Alliance for Peace calls on all anti-imperialists to join the U.S. Out of Africa Network to help us achieve this imperative.

U.S. Out of Africa!

Shut Down AFRICOM!

No Compromise! No Retreat!

###

Banner photo: Riot police cordon off area after people crossed fences separating the Spanish enclave of Melilla from Morocco (Javier Bernardo/AP)

Ukraine: Biden Administration’s “Wag the Dog” Diversionary War?

Immediate Release                                                            

Contact:

press@blackallianceforpeace.com                                                                                                         

(202) 643-1136

January 27, 2022. The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) along with the ANSWER Coalition, CODEPINK, Maryland Peace Action, Popular Resistance, and many other organizations will gather in Washington today at noon in front of the White House as part of an emergency mobilization of anti-war activists to express opposition to the unnecessary and extremely dangerous possibility of war in Ukraine.

With a 39% job approval rating, more deaths from covid than during the Trump administration, and a failure to deliver on most of promises made during the 2020 presidential campaign, the intentional escalation of tensions by the United States with Russia appears as a clumsy attempt by the Biden administration and the Democratic Party to divert attention from the historic failures of the administration’s domestic policies.

There could be no other rational explanation for why the Biden administration would encourage the Ukrainian coup government to reject the Minsk II agreement that provided a diplomatic framework for peacefully resolving the internal struggle between the Ukrainian government and regions that declared themselves independent of that government, unless, according to BAP National Organizer, Ajamu Baraka:

“The manufactured crisis with Russia over Ukraine, demonstrates once again the incredible recklessness and outrageous opportunism that the U.S./NATO/EU Axis of domination is prepared to pursue in order to achieve its geo-strategic objective of full-spectrum economic and political global domination.”

Whatever the explanation, it is clear that for African peoples, the U.S./NATO/EU Axis of Domination continues to represent the greatest threat to peace, human rights, and social justice on the planet today. That is why it is so absurd to see the Black Misleadership class lining up to demonstrate their support for war with Russia while Black people still face the structural violence of capitalism and the terror of state violence from the domestic army occupying our communities that are referred to as the police.

BAP says that it is irrational for any African to embrace the agenda of empire by giving credence or legitimacy to the crude mobilization of public opinion for conflict on behalf of NATO, a structure created to perpetuate white power and the colonial/capitalist project.

We are clear: we say once again, not one drop of the blood from Black workers, the colonized and nationally oppressed in defense of the U.S. capitalist oligarchy.

Banner photo: The Pentagon has put 8,500 troops on high alert as the U.S. escalates tensions with Russia over Ukraine. (Stefani Reynolds/The New York Times)

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the Policies of the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination in Ukraine

For Immediate Release:

  Contact Information

press@blackallianceforpeace.com (202) 643-1136

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the Policies of the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination in Ukraine

The Manufactured Crisis in Ukraine Confirms Why NATO Must be Dismantled

January 12, 2022 — The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) concludes that the full responsibility for the dangerous crisis unfolding in Ukraine has its genesis in the illegal policies of the U.S./EU/NATO “Axis of Domination” beginning in 2014. As the corporate press presents a one-sided presentation of event in Ukraine as part of a massive propaganda effort to mobilize public opinion to support the reckless positions of the Biden administration, BAP believes that the public must be presented with a counternarrative of the chronology of events in Ukraine. BAP National Organizer; Ajamu Baraka summarizes some of those events: 

“During the latter part of 2013 until February 2014, the Obama/Biden administration gave material support and encouragement to anti-democratic right-wing elements in Ukraine to execute “regime change” against the democratically elected government of Victor Yanukovych. This plunged Ukraine into crisis because substantial sectors of Ukrainian society did not support the coup, especially sections of predominantly Russian speaking Ukrainian citizens in the Eastern portions of the nation. Those Ukrainian citizens rejected the legitimacy of the coup government and began to voice support for independence from the neo-Nazi government that took power. And what was the response from the illegal coup regime? It attacked their citizens in the East. In other words, they attacked their own citizens – a crime that the Obama administration pretended was the excuse for U.S. subversion in Syria. “ 

The conflict that ensued as a result of the invasion of Eastern Ukraine by the Ukrainian government with the full support of right-wing paramilitary forces like the neo-Nazi Azov battalions, did not succeed in forcing the republics that subsequently referred to themselves as the Donbas Peoples’ Republic to submit to the coup government.  An agreement between Donbas and the coup government was arrived at that became known as the Minsk II agreement. Terms of the agreement included a commitment to a ceasefire along with relative autonomy for Donbas. The agreement avoided all-out war and provided some degree of “stability” until the Biden administration came back to power. 

Back in power, Biden and the democrats who have now become the party of war, begin to encourage Ukraine authorities to ignore Minsk and to forcefully take back control of Donbas. Even more dangerously, the U.S. and some European powers began to indicate that Ukraine might be invited to become a member of NATO. That could allow NATO with its nuclear weapons to be positioned right on the borders of Russia and with its nuclear arsenal. 

BAP regards NATO as an illegitimate offensive force in the service of Western imperialism. Therefore, we call on all social forces committed to peace to join us in demanding that NATO be dismantled. In the meantime, and specifically on Ukraine, BAP is calling on the international Anti-war movement to demand that the U.S. and NATO deescalate the situation. Concretely this means demanding that: 

1. All parties to the conflict adhere to the provisions reflected in the Minsk II agreement

2. And that the Ukrainian situation is taken up by the United Nations Security Council, the only body by international law tasked with the responsibility to address international threats to peace – not the arbitrary and illegal activities of the United States and its allies. 

The undermining of international law by the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of Domination committed to maintaining Western imperialist hegemony by operating outside the framework of international law, is now seen by much of the non-European world as the primary threat to international peace, security, and human rights. 

BAP shares that assessment and pledges to continue to oppose U.S. policies, understanding that today as it was more than fifty years ago when Dr. King first uttered these words – “the U.S. is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.” 

###

(Banner Photo: US president Joe Biden and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office in September 2021 — Image by The White House)

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the U.S. National Guard deployment to Horn of Africa

Contact Information:

Kyle Kidd 

press@blackallianceforpeace.com

(202) 643-1136

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns the U.S. National Guard deployment to Horn of Africa

On International Human Rights Day, BAP calls for the U.S. to end its military occupation of the African continent

December 10, 2021 -- The US Africa Command, AFRICOM, has launched “Task Force Red Dragon,” which includes more than 2,000 Virginia National Guard (VNG) personnel (by January), the largest VNG deployment since WWII. Added to that will be National Guard Soldiers from Maryland and Kentucky which totals the most soldiers the division has mobilized since 1942. While Maj. Gen. Timothy P. Williams, the Adjutant General of Virginia said, “The soldiers of Task Force Red Dragon are great examples of citizen-soldier service.” The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) rejects the idea that there is any useful service to be had in the continuing U.S. interference in the affairs of sovereign nations on the African continent or elsewhere. BAP demands not only the withdrawal of all U.S. troops in Africa, but the closure of all U.S. bases throughout the world.

According to BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka, “U.S. president Joe Biden is exploiting International Human Rights Day with his farcical and exclusionary “Summit for Democracy” in an attempt to advance the obscene notion that the U.S. and by extension the colonial states of Western Europe are somehow the defenders of democracy and human rights. This is despite the increasing lawlessness of the U.S. state in the form of murderous sanctions, support for coups, illegal wars, military agreements and anti-democratic destabilization campaigns in nations across the planet. These actions represent a massive assault on democracy and the dignity and human rights of colonized and racialized peoples and nations across the planet.” 

AFRICOM is responsible for all US Department of Defense operations, exercises, and security operations on the African continent, its island nations and surrounding waters. AFRICOM initially began in 2007 and became fully operational on October 1, 2008. AFRICOM maintains relations with 53 African countries. AFRICOM’s role is to support and work in tandem with US foreign policy in Africa to support its national interests. 

 As Netfa Freeman, co-cordinator of BAP’s Africa Team, reminds us, “the real purpose of AFRICOM is to enable terrorism while at the same time prosecuting the “war on terror” in Africa. This contradictory action ensures that Africa is in a constant state of war and instability. In doing so AFRICOM nurtures and justifies its own reason for being while developing a dependence of African states on AFRICOM for their defense.`` 

BAP believes that this is done to comply with  US and its European allies ‘strategic interests and objectives to have unfettered access to Africa’s natural resources via their comprador neocolonial “partners”. The dependency on AFRICOM by partner African states also facilitates the training of most of Africa’s military by US or NATO forces thereby increasing  their allegiance to US imperialist interests. Research also shows that since the founding of AFRICOM there has been a marked increase in militant extremist groups operating in Africa.

While the Black Alliance for Peace is committed to peace, we understand there can be no peace without justice, and we will stand in solidarity with all peoples (and nations) who strive to liberate themselves from all forms of neocolonial oppression. BAP takes a resolute anti-colonial, anti-imperialist position that links the international role of the U.S. empire to the domestic war against poor people and working-class Black people within the United States. We unequivocally support and uplift mutual cooperation, solidarity, and peace among all parties and people in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the broader Horn of Africa region. 

The U.S.-EU-NATO axis of domination will ultimately find its deathbed in Africa at the hands of the Pan-African masses. We support African-led, localized conflict resolution that is not tied to advancing imperialism, neo-colonialism or any other nefarious Western agendas. 

International human rights day is a perfect opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to authentic democracy and People(s)-Centered Human Rights. 

The deployment of U.S. troops to Africa and the phony democracy summit are a reminder that we must remain vigilant against all efforts to confuse the real intent of the U.S./EU/NATO Axis of domination. All of our organizing and mobilizations must have one objective- to  forge transcontinental public cooperation that will save ourselves from the greatest threat to peace and stability on the planet, the U.S. government. 

(Banner Photo: American special forces training with West African soldiers in 2018 in Agadez, Niger. Credit: Tara Todras-Whitehill for The New York Times)

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Trial of Black Activist Dedan Waciuri as a Violation of Human Rights

Immediate Release:

Kyle Kidd

press@blackallianceforpeace.com

202 643-1136        

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns Trial of Black Activist Dedan Waciuri as a Violation of Human Rights

December 6, 2021 -- After a number of delays and questionable prosecutorial behavior in their attempts to force a plea-deal because of the weakness of their case, Dedan Waciuri, a resident of Greenville, North Carolina is scheduled to be tried December 7th in the city of Greenville on two charges: “damage to government property” and “inciting a riot.” These charges stem from a protest organized in Greenville on May 31, 2020, in relation to the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and police violence directed at members of the Black community in general.

The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), a national anti-war and human rights organization believes that the charges against Dedan, a member of BAP’s Coordinating Committee, are a blatant attempt to send a message to the Black communities in Eastern North Carolina that resistance to oppression and the fight for human rights will result in confronting the full weight of the power of the state.

According to Ajamu Baraka, internationally recognized human rights activist and spokesperson for BAP, “It is no accident that Dedan is one of over thirteen thousand activists arrested across the country during the anti-police violence demonstrations sparked by the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The response to those protests across the country resulted in massive human rights violations by U.S. authorities. Therefore, it is not ironic but consistent, that Dedan is facing imprisonment for defending the collective human rights of his community and people three days before International Human Rights Day.”    

Activists and human rights organizations from around the country have been contacting the Pitt County prosecutors demanding that they stop the charade and drop the charges against Dedan.

Background to Governmental repression targeting Black activists:

Domestic political repression is considered by many to be a relic of the past with examples like the FBI’s COINTELPRO, but it continues to this day as a valuable tool of the state to attack liberatory movements.  

There are also numerous changes and attempted changes in state laws across the country with the intent to criminalize protest and silence dissent.  In May of this year, the NC House of Representatives attempted to pass HB 805, a measure that would impose harsh penalties for protesters who are charged with “rioting.”

In Greenville and other communities in Eastern North Carolina, police and other state agencies have continuously made targets out of activists who speak up for Black lives. Dedan’s case is the city’s response to a community organizer and the people’s democratic rights to speech, resistance, and justice.

###

(Banner Photo: Dedan Waciuri of CAR leads a canvassing group educating about the Sterling Point neighborhood that black people have been forced to move to because of the gentrification and policy violence causing displacement and dispossession.)

The News From the Venezuela Election? Victory for the People of Venezuela and Defeat for the U.S.

Black Alliance for Peace Statement on Venezuelan Elections

The news out of Venezuela related to the elections is that there is no news. All attempts to attack and delegitimize the process failed and the people of that beleaguered nation once again chose independence and dignity over surrendering to the imperialist gangsterism of the United States and their white supremacist, European colonial allies.

For the first time in four years elements of the political opposition participated in elections that saw nearly 70,000 candidates representing 37 national political parties and 43 regional organizations for 23 governors, 335 mayors, 253 lawmakers, and 2,471 councilors.

Demonstrating once again that it is committed to open, fair, and clean elections, the Consejo National Electoral (CNE), the governmental body responsible for organizing elections in the country, issued credentials to over 300 international observers from 55 countries and institutions such as the European Union (EU), the United Nations (UN), and the Carter Center.

The result?

The “Great Patriotic Pole” (GPP), a coalition of parties and social movements organized by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), won overwhelmingly including 20 out of 23 key governorships in the sub-national election.

According to BAP National Organizer Ajamu Baraka, “The support of the Venezuelan people for their process demonstrates once again, like what we just saw in the Nicaraguan elections and the failed revolt in Cuba on the 15th, that the white supremacists do not understand that when a people have tasted freedom, reconnected with their pre-colonial cultural traditions of knowledge production and independence, they become immune to the political, ideological and material attempts to drive them back into subordination.”

The elections in Venezuela and Nicaragua, the abandonment of reactionary forces in Cuba by the Cuban people, and the solidarity from progressive forces globally in support of the struggles for national liberation and self-determination in the Americas, represent the upsurge of popular opposition and the growing weakness and fragility of U.S. and European imperialism.

They all forcefully affirm that the colonial realities are being reversed. It is a victory for all oppressed, colonized, and working-class peoples when a people, working to build a new society for themselves freed from the dehumanizing effects of the colonial/capitalist system, are able to withstand the systematic assaults on their democratic process and national sovereignty. BAP stands firmly with all of these attempts and proudly salutes the people of Venezuela.

No compromise, no retreat! 

#NoMore U.S. in Africa: BAP Statement to Nov. 21st Rallies for Ethiopia

We in the Black Alliance for Peace stand in uncompromising opposition to the U.S.-led imperialist aggression against Ethiopia and by extension against her neighboring countries Eritrea, Somalia, and beyond. U.S. policy against Ethiopia cannot be understood without putting it within the broader context of U.S. imperialism’s geostrategic interest in the Horn of Africa in particular, and the whole of Africa in general. 

It is not lost on the Black radicals and revolutionary Pan-Africanists that the U.S. settler colonialist state is an extension of Western Europe and as such it is motivated by a white supremacist, imperialist worldview. 

In spite of its benevolent rhetoric, the U.S.’ unwavering commitment to full spectrum dominance reveals the only true intentions it has for Ethiopia and for our homeland, Africa. Since the 1950s African movements against colonialism and for continental unity, have been sabotaged by U.S. administrations of both parties. Leaders such as Patrice Lumumba of Congo were assassinated by the CIA, and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana was overthrown in a CIA orchestrated coup. Ten years  ago, the U.S. led the NATO bombing of Libya  which decimated the country, killing not only the leader Muammar Gaddafi but also an untold number of Libyans. This was the first operation of its U.S. Africa Command, AFRICOM, that has since been responsible for thoroughly militarizing the continent of Africa, including waging an unmitigated drone war in Somalia.

The relative instability in Ethiopia can only be sustained through U.S. support. The empty rhetoric from officials like U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken represents the propaganda aspect of the hybrid war waged against Ethiopia.

It is important that we see the sanctions, media misinformation, and arrogant ultimatums by U.S. imperialism for what they are; the desperate machinations of a global power in crisis. 

Western imperialism is being confronted by people-centered expressions of resistance in Africa and globally.

This week a French military convoy from Ivory Coast transiting across Burkina Faso towards Niger (a source of uranium for France) was stopped by 10,000 demonstrators demanding that the French forces evacuate from the region. The convoy had already been stopped on November 17th in the Burkina Faso city of Bobo Dioulasso and on the 18th in the capital of Ouagadougou. The imperialist press won’t cover this resistance.

Now expressions of solidarity from around the world are standing up for the Horn of Africa. 

While the Black Alliance for Peace is committed to peace, we understand there can be no peace without justice, and we will stand in solidarity with all peoples (and nations) who strive to liberate themselves from all forms of neocolonial oppression. 

BAP takes a resolute anti-colonial, anti-imperialist position that links the international role of the U.S. empire to the domestic war against poor people and working-class Black people within the United States.

We unequivocally support and uplift mutual cooperation, solidarity, and peace among all parties and people in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the broader Horn of Africa region. We support African-led, localized conflict resolution that is not tied to advancing imperialism, neo-colonialism or any other nefarious Western agendas.

We must all transform our mobilizations into organized protracted struggle that forges a transcontinental cooperation that will save ourselves from the greatest threat to peace and stability on the planet, the U.S. government. 

The U.S.-EU-NATO axis of domination will ultimately find its deathbed in Africa at the hands of the Pan-African masses.

U.S. out of Africa!

Shut down AFRICOM!

No compromise!

No retreat!

Banner photo: Refugees, who arrived recently from Ethiopia, setting up their shelter in Sudan. (UNFPA/Sufian Abdul-Mouty)

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns U.S. Sponsorship of Reactionary Anti-government Protests Against Cuba

For Immediate Release

Media Contact:
(202) 643-1136
communications@blackallianceforpeace.com

Black Alliance for Peace Condemns U.S. Sponsorship of Reactionary Anti-government Protests Against Cuba

The US government continues to amplify its war on the Cuban people through political, economic, and media efforts. In their own words, the US State Department has announced its role in organizing reactionary protests in Cuba, scheduled for November 15 as a continuation of the #SOSCuba campaign that began in July. The US has also preemptively threatened to place even more sanctions on Cuba if it deems that the Cuban government has interfered with the protests. As we know, sanctions kill, and while these will be framed as supporting human rights, the 60+-year long blockade and recent Trump and Biden administration crackdowns are war tactics that represent violence against the Cuban people, particularly Afro-Cubans. 

The Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti/Americas Committee recognizes these signals as part of a long-term concerted attempt to destabilize and delegitimize the Cuban government, whose socialist principles and decades-long defiance of US imperialism are unacceptable to the US white supremacist empire. As Mint Press News has reported, the US appears to be exerting a ‘soft power’ strategy to orchestrate a color revolution in Cuba, co-opting language around human rights and racial justice while simultaneously ignoring such concerns at home.

We condemn this interventionism by the US government, and call on all supporters to stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and against the broad US war on Cuba. We also recognize these acts as a continuation of US-sponsored regime change, capitalist exploitation, and military intervention in the region – from Haiti to Bolivia to Nicaragua and beyond. We must stay vigilant of US propaganda, such as false claims of “Havana Syndrome,” US State Department statements preemptively dismissing the democratic elections in Nicaragua, and the dubious deployment of charges of antiBlackness against Cuba. We must also condemn attempts by US liberals to co-opt and weaponize radical language to garner support from the US left. Included below are a few opportunities to show solidarity:

Rally in solidarity with the Cuban people: Monday, November 15th at 12p in front of the Cuban Embassy, 2630 16th St NW, Washington, DC. (Organized by Black Workers Center Chorus, DC metro Coalition, Code Pink, and BAP-affiliate, Friends of the Congo)

War on Cuba series: Belly of the Beast Cuba has recently launched the second season. Black Alliance for Peace’s Haiti/Americas Committee will co-sponsor a webinar with Belly of the Beast on Saturday November 20th at 5pm EST to discuss the US war on Cuba’s impact on Afro-Cubans and the connections to broader US militarism and imperialism in the Americas.

Political Education: As a starting point, we recommend BAP member organization Hood Communist’s Guide to understanding the US blockade on Cuba - Don’t Get Caught Slippin’. Belly of the Beast’s recent Instagram series of #FromUnderTheEmpire offers a brief overview of the history of Cuban struggle against imperialism, from 1800 to present.

The people of Cuba have endured decades of insults, attacks, and systematic subversion but their revolutionary moral has not been broken. The Black Alliance for Peace will never abandon the Cuban people. We remember how revolutionary Cuba responded to the call made by African comrades to help them confront the colonial occupations. BAP pledges to stand with Cuba today, ready to sacrifice and struggle until victory. 

Banner photo: Cuban supporters of the government of President Miguel Diaz-Canel at a demonstration in Havana on July 17, 2021. (Yamil Lage / AFP)