Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sun. May 30, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sun. May 30, 2021 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the podcast of this episode just click on the following URL: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 05/30 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on a recently-held summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Mozambique to discuss the security situation inside the country; thousands of Ethiopians have held a demonstration against United States intervention in the internal affairs of the Horn of Africa state; the diplomatic dispute between the Kingdom of Morocco and Spain has resulted in the mass outmigration of displaced persons into Southern Europe; and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held an emergency meeting in Ghana aimed at resolving the political crisis in Mali where another military took place several days before. 

In the second hour we review a number of current affairs on the continent and internationally. 

Finally, we listen to a speech delivered by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the new wave of COVID-19 infections and measures being implemented by the government.  

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sat. May 29, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sat. May 29, 2021 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the podcast of this episode just click on the following website: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 05/29 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

The program features our PANW report with dispatches on the admission by Germany that they had committed genocide in Namibia during the early years of the 20th century; an announcement of a second volcanic eruption in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is said to have been a false alarm; an Ethiopian analyst says that the United States is supporting terrorism inside the Horn of Africa state; and the interim civilian leaders appointed in Mali after a military coup have been removed from office and arrested. 

In the second hour we hear a World Health Organization (WHO) briefing from Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus discussing developments surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and the rollout of vaccines globally. 

Finally, we examine in detail news reports from the African continent and internationally.

Tulsa Commemorates Centenary of 1921 Race Massacre

Millions more becoming aware of the horrendous legacy of African American oppression in the United States

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 26. 2021

Commentary

May 31-June 1 represents the 100th anniversary of the attack by white mobs against an entire African American community in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

This somber centenary is being marked with numerous press reports and television segments about a racist massacre which has been largely hidden since the 1920s.

Previously coined as the “Tulsa Riot”, was in actuality a full-scale assault on the rights of African Americans to live in peace and stability in the United States. During the course of a two-day rampage by gangs of armed white men accompanied by the police and National Guard, it is estimated that 300 African Americans were killed.

In addition to the murders, hundreds of families had their homes, churches, fraternal organizations and small businesses destroyed. The belongings of the victims were stolen by the white mobs and authorities while several hundreds Black people were unlawfully detained for several days in the aftermath of the massacre.

The Greenwood Business District in Tulsa was largely owned and operated by African Americans. The educator and founder of Tuskegee Institute, Booker T. Washington, had labelled Greenwood Street and adjacent areas in Tulsa as “Black Wall Street” due to the proliferation of African American owned businesses. Washington in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was a proponent of Black business development as a means to overcome national oppression. 

Of course, Washington’s views were challenged on a political and ideological level by African American leaders such as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Monroe Trotter, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, among others. Nonetheless, the targeting of an entire community based on false allegations of an assault against a Caucasian woman in a department store elevator, prompted shock and outrage within the Black community during the early 1920s. 

The Tulsa massacre occurred within an historical context where lynching, false imprisonment and capital punishment were directed towards containing the African American people. Any efforts aimed at creating a semi-independent existence away from the total domination by the racist system were often attacked through mob violence. 

Although “separate but equal” and Jim Crow were enshrined within the legal framework of the U.S. by the close of the 19th century, Blacks were not allowed to build any institutions which would threaten the total domination of the nationally oppressive system of racism and super-exploitation.

Tulsa Finally Recognizes Race Massacre

Within Tulsa and surrounding areas, the centenary is being promoted even within the corporate media. There are reports that President Joe Biden will visit Tulsa in order to participate in the events surrounding the commemoration. 

An article reprinted in USA Today from the Oklahoman newspaper says of the anniversary events that: “President Joe Biden will visit Tulsa on June 1 to mark the centennial of the Tulsa Race Massacre, according to the White House.  Biden's visit will cap off a long weekend full of events, speakers and concerts to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the tragedy that marks one of the lowest points in Oklahoma history. Last week, voting rights activist and Georgia politician Stacey Abrams was announced as the keynote speaker at the ‘Remember & Rise’ Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial commemoration event.” (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/25/biden-tulsa-race-massacre-centennial-anniversary-greenwood-district/7433389002/)

This presence by the president of the U.S. represents a departure from the official denial that the incident never took place within Oklahoman history. The events of 1921 were not recognized by the educational institutions in the state and therefore were never taught for many decades in schools or universities. 

There have also been other attempts to minimize and trivialize the magnitude of the massacre and the destruction of property. Reports of the use of airplanes to drop incendiary devices on homes, churches and businesses were denied officially up until recently. 

Two Known Survivors Speak on the Events of 1921

The broader knowledge and understanding of the race massacre in Tulsa during May-June 1921 has provided a platform for survivors to discuss their recollections of events. One survivor, who is said to be the oldest at 107, Ms. Viola Fletcher, testified before a panel in the U.S. Congress during May.

Fletcher said that she was seven years old at the time of the massacre. She noted that the memories are still quite vivid. She said that this had been her first time visiting the capital of the U.S. and that justice for the victims and their descendants was imperative.

A quote from Fletcher in her speech before Congress said: “I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street. I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams. I have lived through the massacre every day.” (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/may/19/viola-fletcher-tulsa-race-massacre-congress-oldest-survivor)

Archaeologists and forensic scientists have been examining an area in Tulsa where mass burials of victims took place. Over the last year more information on the location and the examination of the burial site has been published in various press agencies. 

The existence of mass graves has been denied as well by Oklahoman authorities. Fortunately, the oral history of the survivors provided a guide to finding the location of the massacre victims.

During her testimony before Congress, Fletcher also emphasized: “Our country may forget this history, but I cannot. I will not and other survivors do not, and our descendants do not. When my family was forced to leave Tulsa, I lost my chance of an education. I never finished school past the fourth grade. I have never made much money. My country, state and city took a lot from me. Despite this, I spent time supporting the war effort in the shipyards of California. But most of my life, I was a domestic worker serving white families. I never made much money. To this day, I can barely afford my everyday needs. All the while the city of Tulsa has unjustly used the names and stories of victims like me to enrich itself and its white allies through the $30m raised by the Tulsa Centennial Commission while I continue to live in poverty.”

Another survivor, Lessie Evelyn Benningfield Randle, 106, spoke to Congress noting: “It means a lot to me to finally be able to look at you all in the eye and ask you to do the right thing. I have waited so long for justice.”

The survivors were given a standing ovation by members of Congress present in the room. Yet the demand for reparations over the last two decades has not been met by the State of Oklahoma or the U.S. government which today is profiting from the broad interest in the massacre of a century ago.

Oklahoma Governor Removed from Tulsa Centennial Commission

There is a struggle unfolding again within the U.S. over how to teach or ignore the legacies of racism and national oppression. Several states such as Oklahoma have passed legislation banning what they describe as “critical race theory” from being taught in K-12 educational institutions. Other states such as Louisiana and Georgia are developing legislation in order to ban the teaching of the actual history and social development of the U.S.

This is not a new development since the advent of African American, Black and Pan-African Studies in K-12 and higher education resulted from a political struggle waged by people since at least the 1960s. The notion of “critical race theory” can be defined by the capitalist class and right-wing politicians as anything they deemed to be undesirable. Documented scholarship on the origins, character and social impact of African enslavement along with racist violence, such as the Tulsa massacre, could be prohibited from discussion in these states. 

When Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, a ceremonial member of the Tulsa Centennial Commission, signed into law the bill that outlaws the teaching of social studies which does not glorify white supremacist mythology about the U.S., other members of the body voted to have him removed. The ultimate logic of these laws would in essence prohibit an honest evaluation of the events of 1921 in Tulsa. 

The history of African and other oppressed peoples in the U.S. has been one of exploitation and state-sanctioned violence designed to suppress the struggle for equality, self-determination and liberation. Although the Tulsa race massacre been exposed for the world to see, the ultimate objective is to remove the system that continues to oppress and exploit the people of color communities in the U.S.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sun. May 23, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sun. May 23, 2021 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the podcast of the program just log on to the following website: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast | Listen Notes

The program highlights our PANW report with dispatches on the worsening impact of the already challenging humanitarian crisis in the Gaza region of Palestine amid the declaration of a ceasefire with the Israeli regime; Ethiopians have held a rally demanding the halt to foreign interference by western states in the internal affairs of the country; a leading civilian member of the Sudan Sovereign Council has resigned following further deaths of protesters at the hands of the security forces; and an assessment is underway after the eruption of a volcano in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 

In the second hour we further examine issues related to the current situation in Africa and the international community. 

Finally, we hear excerpts from a briefing by the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) related to the status of COVID-19 infections and the rollout of vaccination programs on the continent.

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Interviewed by Press TV on the World Health Organization (WHO) Warning of Covid-19 Vaccinations Inequality of Access--May 21, 2021

Watch this worldwide news network interview with Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, discussing the recent statements made by World Health Organization Africa Regional Director, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, at a press conference held on May 21, 2021.

You can watch the video file of this broadcast at the following URL: Ethiopians rally in Addis Ababa against US over Tigray restrictions | Urmedium 

Azikiwe noted that the vaccine access inequality has its basis within the legacies of systematic underdevelopment by imperialism. 

The interview aired live on the same day as the press conference was held.

Chauvin’s Appeal and the Implications for Police Reforms

Other cops who killed Andrew Brown, Jr. in Elizabeth City declared justified in their actions

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 19, 2021

Political Analysis

With the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin in the brutal murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, many had hoped that this rare legal occurrence represented a turning point in holding law-enforcement agents accountable for their use of lethal force involving interactions with Black and Brown peoples.

Nonetheless, on the same day as the guilty verdict was announced in Minneapolis, a 16-year-old youth, Ma’Khia Bryant, was gunned down in Columbus, Ohio by cops.

Corporate news reports on the killing of Bryant brought a plethora of so-called experts on police services and culture to express their opinions that the gunman was once again justified in using deadly weapons. Many of these talking heads said that each case of police use of firearms against civilians should be viewed individually, that most officers are trained to respond in such situations and there is no pattern of racial bias.

Chauvin’s defense lawyers in their appeal were expected to suggest that the jury was tainted due to the presence of one person at a March on Washington during August 2020, which commemorated the 57th anniversary of the 1963 gathering addressed by leading African Americans such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., A. Philip Randolph, Mahalia Jackson, Odetta, Josephine Baker, Daisy Bates, Bayard Rustin, among others.

Could the presence of one African American at the rally in 2020 be considered by the defense to be enough to disqualify participation on a jury which decided the fate of Chauvin? A commemoration of the March on Washington was conveniently categorized as a “Black Lives Matter” activity, evoking the right-wing demonization of the Movement as a threat to policing across the United States.

Yet BLM and all antiracist campaigns since 2020 have been of a mass character. People have participated through a myriad of expressions which includes marches, rallies, letter writing, car caravans, bicycle rides, leafleting, social media posts, public debates and cultural work. The murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Hakim Littleton and a long list of victims of police brutality were covered by media outlets locally, nationally and internationally.

It is almost impossible that anyone living in or outside the U.S. would not be aware of these killings, the demonstrations which arose in response to the unjustified murders of African Americans and the prosecutorial investigations into the legality of these acts of state sponsored repression and violence. The fact that Chauvin’s defense lawyer would consider raising such issues illustrates the desperation of racist cops to ensure that their conduct on the job is not subjected to any scrutiny. 

However, the actual efforts aimed at winning a new trial for Chauvin are based on a number of issues such as pretrial publicity, the alleged unfairness of the proceedings to the former police officer and the failure to grant a change of venue in the case since the defense is arguing that their client could not receive a fair trial in Minneapolis.

According to an article published by the Associated Press on May 5 it outlines some of the issues raised by Chauvin’s defense lawyer Eric Nelson. The article says: “Nelson also took issue with Cahill's refusal to sequester the jury for the trial or warn them to avoid all media, and with his refusal to allow a man who was with Floyd at the time of his arrest to testify. Nelson said Cahill also abused his discretion when he submitted jury instructions that Nelson said failed to accurately reflect the law on the murder charges and use of force, permitted the state to present cumulative evidence on use of force, and ordered the state to lead witnesses on direct examination, among other things.” (https://abc7.com/derek-chauvin-attorney-files-for-new-trial-found-guilty-in-george-floyd-death-appeal-retrial/10580653/)

In an even more outrageous claim filed by Chauvin’s attorney, this same reports notes that: “Nelson also asked the judge for a hearing to impeach the verdict on the grounds that the jury committed misconduct, felt race-based pressure, felt intimidated or threatened, and/or failed to adhere to jury instructions, though the filing did not include details about that assertion. To impeach a verdict is to question its validity. The brief did not mention recent reports that one of the jurors participated in an Aug. 28 march in Washington, D.C., to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.”

Some legal analysts believe that the likelihood of Chauvin having the verdicts impeached or being granted a new trial is almost nil. Nevertheless, objectively it was the strength of the antiracist movement in the U.S. and worldwide which created the political atmosphere for the indictments of Chauvin and three other former police officers. 

Absent of the mass demonstrations, rebellions and other forms of protests, it is highly unlikely that the Chauvin trial, his convictions on three counts of murder and the subsequent federal indictments by the Justice Department, would have ever taken place. People are routinely killed by the police in the U.S., and it is extremely rare that the perpetrating officers are charged with any crimes.

Andrew Brown, Jr. Killing Deemed Justified by North Carolina Authorities

In another high-profile police killing of an African American, Andrew Brown, Jr, 42, on April 21, in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, the family and lawyers for the victim have been attempting to obtain the release of all police body cam footage of the incident. Brown, who was unarmed, was shot several times in the back, including the head, while he was driving away from his home.

The Pasquotank County District Attorney Andrew Womble said on May 18 that the officers’ behavior was justified since they were attempting to apprehend what he described as a violent felon who was utilizing his vehicle as a dangerous weapon. Such language is typical in prosecutorial investigations of police misconduct particularly when African Americans and other people of color are involved as victims.

A lawyer for the family of Brown, Atty. Wayne Kendall, told the media in response to the DA’s decision not to prosecute the police that a local judge: “[D]id not allow all of the defense team to see the videos. He only allowed one representative who was a North Carolina-licensed attorney to view that 19-minute segment of the four or five bodycam videos. And what our representative who saw those videos stated to us was that Andrew Brown had his hands visible on the wheel of the vehicle when the videos began and his hands were clearly visible at all times. The deputies shouted commands to him. He backed his car up and drove across a vacant lot, which is next door to his home, and they were shooting into the vehicle. According to our representative, the shots started before he ever put the vehicle in reverse to try to flee that particular scene. So there is a discrepancy between what our representative said he saw and what the district attorney indicated yesterday in his press conference that was on the videos. So we don’t know until we see all of the videos in their entirety as to what those videos actually show.” (https://wskg.org/npr_story_post/andrew-brown-jr-did-not-use-vehicle-as-a-weapon-against-deputies-attorney-says/)

On May 19, another lawyer for the Brown family, Atty. Chance D. Lynch, announced that a civil lawsuit was being filed for the wrongful death of the victim. Lynch said that he had already filed a petition demanding the release of all related police videos of the entire encounter between the officers and Brown. 

Police Reform Must Be Comprehensive Nationally

More people in the U.S. are advocating the defunding and even dismantling of police forces as they currently exist. Some reforms such as de-escalation tactics and the curtailing of traffic stops have been instituted in some cities.

In Newark, New Jersey, city officials working under Mayor Ras Baraka, say that due to changes in policing practices, officers did not fire their weapons at all during 2020. Baraka also stated in a recent “60 Minutes” CBS News program that crime has been reduced by 50% due to changes in the conduct of police.

Despite this seemingly improvement in police-community relations in Newark, in other regions of the U.S. the overall conditions are worsening. The Justice Department has been raised by the attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown, Jr. seeking their intervention to investigate whether federal civil rights laws were violated. The Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in April that consent judgments were being leveled against several municipalities including Minneapolis where Floyd was killed and Louisville, the home of Breonna Taylor, shot to death in her apartment in an apparent case of mistaken identity.

The origins of policing in the U.S. are to be found within the war against Indigenous, African and working class people. Consequently, it will take far more than policy reforms to end police brutality. The entire system of oppression and exploitation as a whole must be eliminated. 

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sun. May 16, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sun. May 16, 2021 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this episode go to the following website: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 05/16 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the escalating violence in Palestine where more than 40 people were killed within 24 hours in Gaza; Zimbabwe says it is continuing to rollout its vaccination program and other mitigation efforts to curb the COVID-19 pandemic; Ethiopia has postponed the national elections once again this time due to security issues inside the Horn of Africa state; and the United Nations Secretary General has called for all so-called foreign rebels to leave the North African state of Libya. 

In the second and third hours we look more in-depth at the situation in Palestine and other issues in Africa as well as internationally. 

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sat. May 15, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sat. May 15, 2021 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To hear the podcast of this episode just go to the following URL: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 05/15 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the ongoing resistance by the Palestinian people to the occupation and repression of the United States funded government in the Occupied Lands; Seychelles is attempting to vaccinate its population against the COVID-19 pandemic in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) state; Madagascar is battling drought and a threatened famine in the south of the SADC member country; Kenya is facing the impact of climate change as the threat of crop destruction remains a major threat inside the East African territory. 

In the second hour we listen to a briefing from the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the international vaccination efforts aimed at curbing the coronavirus pandemic. 

Finally, we examine in detail the current struggle in Palestine and other currents events in Africa and the international community.

Detroit Police Chief Departs While Calls Intensify for Defunding and Abolishing Policing

James Craig was appointed by an illegal emergency management regime in 2013 and represented the right-wing approach to law-enforcement related to the antiracist movement.

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 12, 2021

Commentary

Since the summer of 2020 there have been consistent calls for the resignation of Detroit police chief James Craig.

Craig announced on May 10 that he was retiring from the Detroit Police Department (DPD) and would possibly seek the office of governor as a Republican candidate during 2022.

In the aftermath of the brutal police execution of George Floyd in Minneapolis, demonstrations erupted across the United States and the world.

Detroit was no exception to this phenomenon when thousands gathered outside the police headquarters downtown on a daily basis to denounce the murder of Floyd and other atrocities committed against African Americans and other oppressed peoples. After rallies featuring militant speeches, people would march through the downtown area and other neighborhoods in the majority African American municipality.

Although the movement in Detroit was highly politicized and disciplined, local law-enforcement officials at the aegis of the federal government under the leadership of former President Donald Trump, launched repeated attacks on antiracist demonstrators. In a matter of days, Detroit Will Breathe (DWB) was formed bringing together a wide spectrum of seasoned and new activists committed to fighting racism and police brutality.

Detroit police during late May and June of 2020 utilized an unwarranted curfew along with crowd control weapons such as mace, pepper spray, rubber bullets, clubs, concussion grenades and mass arrests in a failed attempt to halt the daily protests. DWB organizers and other were subjected to arbitrary arrests, beatings and the gross vilification of the movement by the administration of corporate Mayor Mike Duggan and police chief Craig. 

Within a matter of weeks, a coalition of more than 40 organizations purchased a full-page ad in the Sunday Free Press denouncing the targeted brutality against DWB and other activists. Although the corporate media attempted to convince the public that the Duggan administration was supported by the people of Detroit, the demonstrations continued and were warmly welcomed by communities throughout the city where they marched on a daily basis.

DWB took a strong position against the deployment of federal forces into the city under the guise of “Operation Legend”, a law-enforcement project ostensibly designed to reduce crime and provide assistance to the police department. A U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan openly stated on a local news program that the federal government was paying the salaries of more than 30 local police officers as part of the project.

Chief Craig became a darling of FOX News while former President Trump described him as “terrific.” Meanwhile, as part of Trump’s plans to crush the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) and its counterparts around the U.S., former Attorney General William G. Barr visited Detroit during August and was given a helicopter tour by Craig. 

Several days later, police viciously attacked hundreds of DWB demonstrators and spectators on Woodward avenue in the heart of downtown. People were beaten severely and arrested on spurious charges. Videotaped accounts of this incident on August 22-23, was widely circulated on social media and through various corporate entities.

A group of progressive civil rights lawyers formed a committee along with DWB activists taking their claims of brutality into federal court. Within a matter of day, the federal court had issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the DPD. In addition, the suit demanded compensation for the damages incurred through illegal arrests, beatings and falsification of evidence.

A History of Racist Policing

The finding of a recent study conducted by the University of Michigan further reiterated what has been common knowledge for many years that the DPD was firmly rooted in racism and unjustifiable use of lethal force. The research report was based upon archived police and court records along with media accounts of killings by law-enforcement between 1957-1973. (https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/dcc-project/2021/04/01/just-released-detroit-under-fire-mapping-police-violence-and-misconduct-in-detroit-1957-1973-series/)

During this time period, Detroit was in demographic transition where hundreds of thousands of whites were relocating to suburban areas as well as leaving the city and state altogether. The policy of successive mayoral administrations in the post-World War II period were openly designed to contain the African American population in Detroit in a manner in which their political representation and economic growth would be ruthlessly suppressed.

After the 1943 racial unrest and the conclusion of the War, a Detroit urban renewal plan took effect extending from the late 1940s to the 1960s. Entire neighborhoods and small commercial districts were destroyed forcing hundreds of thousands to relocate while abolishing jobs and social institutions which would never be fully recovered. 

Nonetheless, the consistent racist municipal governance strategies prompted outrage which exploded during the early morning hours of July 23, 1967. The following week represented the largest and most violent urban rebellion in the history of the U.S. which was led by African Americans. By 1973, the city would elect its first African American Mayor Coleman Young, a veteran labor organizer and communist who instituted affirmative action within the civil service and the police while attempting to recorrect decades of discrimination and exploitation.

The police in Detroit were a key element in enforcing the racist divisions related to unequal job opportunities, city services and access to public offices. Black people were routinely stopped, frisked, beaten, jailed, framed and murdered by the police. By 1972-73, the city was on the verge of another rebellion, perhaps even more violent, when the Young administration took power after the November 1973 municipal elections.

An article published by the Boston Review discusses the U-M Study entitled “Detroit Under Fire: Police Violence, Crime Politics, and the Struggle for Racial Justice in the Civil Rights Era.” The research report includes the mapping of police violence in Detroit during the time period in question.

The Boston Review analysis by Matthew D. Lassiter says: “Anyone seeking to give a complete accounting of the history of Detroit police violence faces significant hurdles. We know that DPD officers killed at least 219 civilians between 1957 and 1973, but this is definitely an undercount. The real number is unknown and ultimately unknowable. There is not even an official public tally of killings by on-duty officers, and the identities of their victims can only be uncovered through fortunate discoveries in non-police archives, including newspapers…. Revisiting the civil rights era in the urban North is a good place to start because activists went to extraordinary lengths to document police violence and to demand community control over the systems designed to disguise and justify it.” (http://bostonreview.net/race/matthew-d-lassiter-police-and-license-kill)

Defunding and the Abolition of Policing: A Foundational Component of African American Liberation

Although Craig’s resignation is a manifestation of the movement which has gained momentum over the last year, it will by no means end police misconduct and brutality in Detroit. Craig’s announcement of his allegiance to the Republican Party does not surprise activists. His close affinity with the Trump administration and the corporate rulers of Detroit such as Dan Gilbert’s Quicken Loans and Illitch Holdings, is also shared by Duggan, who self-identifies as a Democrat.

Both Duggan and Craig are functionaries of the racist capitalist system which is committed to the continuing national oppression and super exploitation of African Americans and other people of color communities. Duggan’s installation as mayor during the illegal emergency management and bankruptcy of Detroit in 2013-2014 was an integral part of the ruling class aims of maintaining the control of the banks and multinational corporations over the city.

With the municipal elections of 2021 taking place in August and November, Duggan is seeking to put distance between himself and Craig. However, his class bias in favor of the ruling interests can never be doubted.

Just days prior to the departure of Craig, the Moratorium NOW! Coalition (MNC) issued a statement demanding his resignation. This effort came in the aftermath of Craig’s attacks on U.S. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of the 13th District, demanding her resignation for stating that policing, as has been historically known in the U.S., should be abolished.

The MNC statement said: “Craig betrays our trust; and his actions, his comments, and in particular his police department’s policies and practices, harm the residents of Detroit. As an employee of the City of Detroit, Craig is using public resources to attack our elected official. This is unethical. Where is the Mayor of Detroit?  Why is Mayor Duggan allowing his appointee to go rogue? Is Craig speaking for the Mayor? We join the many community groups who last year called for Chief Craig’s resignation. We, the residents of Detroit, call for Chief Craig’s resignation today! Chief Craig has taken positions against the people of Detroit. Report after report cites Detroit Police Department’s harmful treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters. The City even took protesters to court in a failed attempt to intimidate the movement. The City and Chief Craig did not prevail in court.” (https://moratorium-mi.org/detroit-police-chief-craig-must-go/)

Progressive forces in Detroit have welcomed Craig’s resignation. However, the struggle to end racist policing will continue in the city and around the U.S.

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sun. May 9, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sun. May 9, 2021 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

The podcast of this episode can be accessed at the following link: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 05/09 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

The program features our PANW report with dispatches on the World Health Organization (WHO) assessment that the African continent is preparing to prevent another surge of COVID-19 infections on the continent; a study in the United States suggests that the number of actual coronavirus deaths have been undercounted by over 300,000; Swaziland has reported that it has run out of available vaccines inside this Southern African state; and the European Union has been accused attempting to sabotage the upcoming national elections in the Horn of Africa state of Ethiopia. 

In the second hour we examine in details many of the news stories impacting Africa and the international community. 

Finally, we pay tribute to Pan-African musician and poet Bob Marley on the 40th anniversary of his transition in 1981.

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sat. May 8, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sat. May 8, 2021 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire.

To play the podcast of this episode click on the following URL: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 05/08 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the release of a new book highlighting the contributions of Zimbabwe liberation movement co-founder Herbert Chitepo; Algerians have commemorated the 76th anniversary of the French massacre of demonstrators marking the beginning of the struggle for national independence; the Pentagon Africa Command (AFRICOM) general has expressed concern over the growing influence of the People's Republic of China on the continent; and militia groups temporarily took over the headquarters of the newly-installed United Nations interim government in Libya. 

In the second hour and third hours we listen to a briefing from the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus discussing the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccination programs aimed at curtailing the pandemic. 

Radio Sputnik Program "By Any Means Necessary" Features Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Discussing Uganda-United States Relations and the Security Crisis in Chad on May 7, 2021

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Pan-African News Wire editor Abayomi Azikiwe to discuss the suppression of mass protests in Chad by the ruling military junta, the efforts by Ugandan authorities to secure a $900 million loan from the International Monetary Fund as the coronavirus pandemic drags on, and why it appears the country’s political actors have outsourced their public relations to western lobbying companies.

To listen to the podcast of this entire program just click on the following URL: DC Mutual Aid Organizer On Capitalism: How Can The Caner Be The Cure? - Sputnik International (sputniknews.com)

Instability in Somalia Continues Despite Years of Western Interventions

Incumbent president agrees to hold elections after threats from the United States and the European Union

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday May 5, 2021

Analytical Review

A decades-long effort by the United States and other western states to remake the Horn of Africa nation of Somalia in their images has only resulted in further political fragmentation and economic underdevelopment.

The current President Mohamed Abdullahi had attempted through the parliament based in the capital of Mogadishu to postpone the elections in order to extend his term of office for another two years.

This attempt by the president had triggered violent clashes within the Somalian National Army (SNA) in the capital. Such divisions only compound the already limited capacity of the armed forces to control the situation outside Mogadishu where the al-Shabaab guerrilla organization controls large swaths of territory in the central and southern regions of the oil-rich country.

Since late 2006, the U.S. State Department, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Pentagon has attempted to engineer yet another political dispensation which would establish Somalia as a beachhead for imperialist interests in East Africa. These machinations have been carried out utilizing proxy military forces from Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, among other states funded and trained by the Pentagon and allied NATO governments.

Eventually by 2007, after regular surveillance and bombing campaigns by the Pentagon and the Royal Air Force (RAF), the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) was deployed with up to 22,000 troops from regional and contiguous states. AMISOM has served as the underpinning of the security apparatus of the federal dispensation while the U.S. has deployed drones, a CIA field station along with soldiers from the U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM). Additional training and supplies are provided by the EU as well as financial contributions. 

AMISOM has threatened to withdraw from Somalia on several occasions over the last few years calculating that the Somalian government and SNA forces were in a position to stabilize the country. Nonetheless, the AMISOM troops have remained while under the former U.S. administration of President Donald Trump, a larger number of AFRICOM soldiers were deployed in the so-called “anti-terrorism” efforts.

Trump had ordered the withdrawal of the 700 Pentagon troops officially operating in Somalia where they are said to be there assisting the SNA. However, no announcement has been made by the current Democratic President Joe Biden on whether AFRICOM has been withdrawn. 

Since the month of February, conflict in Somalia has intensified due to the stalemate between the president, opposition elements and the military. Al-Shabaab has taken advantage of these divisions by moving into areas previously under the control of the central government in Mogadishu.

According to a recent article on the domestic situation: “Somalia is dependent on donor funding, with domestically generated revenue contributing less than half of its annual budget. The government has received less than half of the 100 million euros ($120 million) the EU pledged in a three-year budget-support program that ends this year. The government has warned there’s a risk of increased unrest if funding gaps leave it unable to cover its wage bill.” (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-05/budget-pressures-spur-somalia-to-hasten-end-to-political-crisis)

This dependency on foreign capital and military forces is not only the principal weakness of the federal government in Mogadishu in that such a scenario is a by-product of neo-colonialism in modern day Africa and other geo-political regions. Successive Somalian administrations since the advent of national independence in 1960 have been compelled to address the same question. How can a post-colonial state build a genuinely independent and sovereign entity while still relying upon the financial institutions, multi-national corporations and western military structures for assistance?

What is at Stake for Imperialism in Somalia?

As was alluded to earlier, Somalia has been cited as a potentially large-scale oil producing country which is strategically located with sections of the country on the coast of the Indian Ocean in East Africa. In fact, the entire Horn of Africa and Eastern regions of the continent has undergone tremendous explorations over the last two decades which indicate the presence of enormous energy resources including offshore oil and natural gas.

A November 2020 article published by Africa Reports says of the energy prospects that: “Somalia fits the bill for bona fide frontier status. It is relatively unexplored, and only one offshore well has been drilled to date; Seismic surveys in 2014 and 2015, shot respectively by Soma Oil and Gas and Spectrum, were the first to map the deep offshore. Exploration studies have also occurred onshore in Somaliland in recent years. These included 2D Seismic and macro-seepage studies in 2018 and 2019 by Genel & RAK Gas. Moreover, the area shares similar geological characteristics with Kenya, Tanzania and Mozambique, where giant discoveries have been made in the past 20 years.” (https://www.theafricareport.com/49364/somalia-the-new-oil-and-gas-frontier/)

Northern Mozambique has been the center of the extraction of natural gas in the Cabo Delgado province. Several companies involved in Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) production are inside Mozambique for the purpose of exporting these resources internationally. 

Yet in Mozambique there has been the advent of an insurgency which has disrupted LNG production in Cabo Delgado by launching attacks which have killed and displaced thousands in the region. The Southern African Development Community (SADC), the 16-member regional organization which Mozambique is a founding state, has recently committed to assisting the country in their internal struggle against the rebels, who ironically enough, call themselves al-Shabaab. Although there has not been any definitive link between the rebels in Somalia and those in Mozambique, both countries are being disrupted by similar formations which claim to be Islamic in orientation. 

Al-Shabaab in Somalia, grew out of the Islamic Court Union (ICU) which initially arose as an opposition movement to the ongoing attempted dominance of the U.S. during the mid-2000s. Al-Shabaab, meaning the youth, were a part of the resistance to the interference by Washington in Somalia internal affairs. 

Nevertheless, in subsequent years, the ICU entered the political process in Somalia. Al-Shabaab was reported to have continued the armed struggle against the central government while declaring allegiance to al-Qaeda. Later another faction would emerge which claims to be aligned with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

No Stability Under Neo-Colonialism 

At present, absent of a national unity government which can maintain stability and provide resources for the population, the U.S. will continue to maintain the neo-colonial arrangements in Somalia. The continuing insurgency and the factionalism within the federal government based in Mogadishu only provides a rationale for the ongoing presence of AFRICOM and other imperialist military forces.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in March of this year reauthorized the contingents of AMISOM troops in Somalia. The document presented and signed indicated that over 19,000 AMISOM troops will remain inside the country pending the ability of the western-backed administration to resolve the internal situation. 

A press release from the UNSC emphasizes that: “Recognizing the role of the African Union Peace and Security Council, the Council took note of its request that the African Union Commission finalize its independent assessment and urged it to mandate, in May 2021, an AMISOM that ‘supports and enables’ the implementation of the Somalia Transition Plan, implementing the necessary steps to ensure continued delivery of support to Somali security efforts in 2022. More broadly, the Council underlined the need for Somalia and its partners to take a ‘coordinated and cohesive’ approach towards Somali-led political and security reforms to ensure the transition of security responsibilities agreed by the Somali authorities, the Somali security forces, and AMISOM from the outset.” (https://www.un.org/press/en/2021/sc14467.doc.htm)

However, until the people of Somalia take control of their own political destiny there is the possibility of U.S.-UNSC coordinated indefinite occupation of the country. The presence of western-backed forces in Somalia can only benefit the multi-national energy corporations and the banks which finance them. Somalians need more than anything a political and economic system which serves the people. This will only take place when western interests are forced out and the masses take control of their land, resources and waterways.  

Chadian Military Council Suppresses Mass Demonstrations Demanding Civilian Rule

Longtime western-backed ruler was killed last month on the battlefront with FACT armed fighters, the government says.

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Tuesday May 4, 2021

Political Analysis

Thousands of people took to the streets in the two largest cities in Chad of N’Djamena and Moundou on April 27 in the aftermath of the state funeral of slain President Idriss Deby Itno, who had been the leader of this oil-rich state for more than thirty years.

The people involved in the protests were demanding the resignation of the Transitional Military Council which assumed power after the death of Deby on April 20.

This supposedly interim governing structure is led by the 37-year-old son of the former president, the military General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno. The parliament in the country was suspended by the military council while it was announced that elections will be held within 18 months.

Members and supporters of many mass organizations attempted to march peacefully in the streets when they were attacked by the Chadian security forces. Reports are that the police and military personnel utilized live ammunition to end the demonstrations.

In the security crackdown at least six people were killed and more than 700 were arrested by the authorities. The military ruling council accused the demonstrators of violently attacking them and that they were justified in the use of lethal force.

Opposition parties and organizations argued that the Chadian constitution was violated because it stipulates the appointment of the president of the national assembly in the event of the death or incapacitation of the head-of-state. Instead after announcing the death of the Deby, the ruling military council was declared, absent of any consultation with representative bodies within the legislature.

Additional demonstrations were scheduled to take place after the April 27 attacks on demonstrations and the subsequent arrests and deaths. Nevertheless, the streets were reported to have been calm on Friday April 30 and continued throughout the weekend. 

The 55 member-states African Union (AU) has expressed concern over developments in Chad. AU protocols call for the suspension of any government on the continent which comes to power through military means. These measures are designed to prevent the assumption of power by the armed forces which had been a common occurrence in the first few decades of post-colonial African governance. Oftentimes these coups were coordinated and funded by western imperialist states seeking to maintain their influence. 

Chad had been a colony of France from 1900 to 1960 when the country gained national independence. Nonetheless, Paris has maintained a military presence inside the country designed to protect its economic and security interests as the former colonizer.

An article in Africa News on the current crisis in Chad notes the role of the AU, saying: “A team from the African Union arrived Thursday (April 29) in N’Djamena, Chad on a seven-day Fact-Finding Mission to assess the situation in country and examine ways of a speedy return to democratic rule. Following several days of internal pressure, the delegation will produce a report at the end of its mission which will enable the Peace and Security Council to adopt a definitive position on the measures to be taken. Several member countries have called for Chad to be suspended from the African Union because of the Transitional Military Council's takeover of power. Many also estimated that this was a coup d'état, as the Constitution was not respected.” (https://www.africanews.com/2021/04/30/au-commission-undertakes-a-fact-finding-mission-to-the-republic-of-chad/)

The AU Peace and Security Council issued a communique on April 22 after the takeover by the military regime noting that the regional organization: “Recalls relevant provisions of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, as well as the Lomé Declaration; and expresses grave concern with respect to the establishment of the Military Transitional Council.

Urges the Chadian defense and security forces and all national stakeholders to respect the constitutional mandate and order, and to expeditiously embark on a process of restoration of constitutional order and handing over of political power to the civilian authorities, in accordance with to the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Chad, and create conducive conditions for a swift, peaceful, constitutional and smooth transition. Underscores the urgent necessity of an all-inclusive national dialogue between all stakeholders in Chad, with the aim of restoring constitutional order and calls on all Chadian stakeholders to immediately engage in the national dialogue.” (https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/eng-com-993rd-psc-meeting-on-chad-22-april-2021.pdf)

The Role of Chad in the Regional Military Strategy of France and the U.S.

Former President Idriss Deby Itno was a military person who came to power through the overthrow of his former leader Hissen Habre in 1990. Habre had been cited for human rights violations while Deby took off his military uniform in exchange for civilian clothing in order to run for political office. 

As Deby was praised by Paris and Washington for maintaining stability in Chad, the government and its military forces became a conduit for French and other imperialist interests in West and Central Africa. The military forces were built into an army which principal aim was to ostensibly fight “Islamic terrorism” in the region along with suppressing its own democratic aspirations among the people.

France through its Operation Barkhane has created an alliance of West African military units which serve as frontline troops in several countries including Mali and on the border areas with Nigeria. The objective of these military alliances is to prevent attacks in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and the Lake Chad Basin territories. Yet many of these Islamic Jihadist groups were initially formed and funded by the imperialist countries to fight against the former Libyan government of Col. Muammar Gaddafi during the counter-revolution of 2011.

The rebel Chadian Front for Change and Concord (FACT) was based in post-Gaddafi Libya while recently on April 11 many of its forces reentered the country after the formation of another United Nations-supported interim government in Tripoli. The aims of FACT seem to be solely centered on the removal of the Deby regime. 

Reports indicate that the rebel group was in alliance with Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA). Haftar is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset who after defecting from the Gaddafi-era Libyan military during the Chadian war of the 1980s, relocated to the U.S. and was sponsored by the federal government. Haftar was flown back to Libya during the counter-revolution of 2011 where he has repeatedly sought and failed to seize power in Tripoli. Haftar has been supported by France in his unsuccessful military efforts to become the leader of Libya.

A host of rebel groups have been used in Syria, Yemen and Iraq as well to serve the interests of the U.S. and other western states. Whenever the utilization of these forces contradicts the interests of imperialism they can easily be labelled as “enemies” providing further incentives for Washington and Paris to remain in these geo-political regions under the guise of the “war against terrorism.”

According to the State Department funded Voice of America (VOA): “Déby presided over one of the largest and most well-resourced militaries in West Africa. His forces provided crucial support to international security efforts in the Lake Chad Basin and the Sahel, where Islamist militant groups have wreaked havoc in recent years. That is likely why Western powers such as France and the U.S. turned a blind eye to the ever-mounting accusations of human rights abuses and to his habit of suppressing political opposition…. If Déby’s son does not earn the loyalty of Chad’s armed forces, the region could lose a key player in the fight against Islamic extremists.” (https://www.voanews.com/africa/chad-president-debys-death-raises-security-concerns-west-africa)

Yet Paris and Washington are not at all enthusiastic over the prospects of the ascendancy of a civilian government coming to power in Chad which is ideologically and politically opposed to France and the U.S. French President Emmanuel Macron attended the funeral of Deby and praised his role in the putative fight against “Islamic Jihadism.” Macron says he supports the formation of a civilian government. However, it does not appear that France will break ties with the military transitional council pending the holding of multi-party elections. 

Situation in Chad Reflects the Crisis of Governance in Post-Colonial Africa

Although there are 54 independent states on the African continent, with the Western Sahara still suffering under the colonial occupation of the imperialist-backed Kingdom of Morocco in the northern region, due to the legacy of colonialism and enslavement, the AU member-states face formidable challenges in gaining genuine independence through the control of economic and military affairs. The U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and France’s Operation Barkhane are proof that these leading imperialist states have no interests in leaving the continent to resolve its own problems.

The struggle against neo-colonialism and imperialism must be led by the African workers, farmers and youth. The military and police forces which are largely trained, armed and financed by the western states, cannot provide the revolutionary leadership required to bring the type of social change which can empower the masses to make the transition from peripheral capitalism and neo-colonialism to socialism and African unification. 

Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sun. May 2, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sun. May 2, 2021 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the podcast from this episode just go to the following URL: Pan-African Journal: Special Worldwide Radio Broadcast 05/02 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com)

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the May Day address delivered by Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the important role of workers inside the country; the Somalian parliament has rescinded the decree which would have allowed the incumbent president to remain in office for another two years; the Biden administration is continuing the attempted liquidation of the Western Sahara independence struggle by recognizing the arbitrary announcement by the previous administration to officially concede to the Kingdom of Morocco's occupation of the territory; and the United States is saying it wants to revive the nuclear deal with Iran. 

In the second hour we examine closely some of the breaking news stories from the African continent and internationally. 

Finally, we look at the history of May Day and some of the important figures in the early phases of the movement for labor rights.

Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast for Sat. May 1, 2021--Hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor

Listen to the Sat. May 1, 2021 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. 

To hear the podcast for this episode just click on the following website: Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast 05/01 by Pan African Radio Network | Politics (blogtalkradio.com) 

The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional organization and their efforts to end the insurgency in northern Mozambique; an editorial published in the Zimbabwe Herald suggests that Africa should lead the struggle for a new economic world dispensation; instability has increased in Chad in the aftermath of the assassination of former President Idriss Deby Itno and the ascendancy of his son as leader of the oil-rich state; and the police in the United States are continuing to inflict repression on the African American people and other oppressed communities. 

In the second hour we listen to a recent briefing by the World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic and the vaccination programs aimed at curtailing the pandemic. 

Finally, we review issues related to contemporary affairs in Africa and the international community.

Police Reforms Prove Inadequate to End Misconduct and Brutality

Killings continue while the United States Justice Department opens investigations into what is already obvious

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Thursday April 29, 2021

Political Analysis

As demonstrations erupt across the United States against the oppression inflicted on the African American people, the first three months of the presidency of Joe Biden and his administration has been marked by ongoing racial unrest and social strife.

In the aftermath of the police killings of Ma’Khia Bryant and Andrew Brown, Jr. in Columbus, Ohio and Elizabeth City, North Carolina respectively, many are convinced that the convictions of Minneapolis former police officer Derrick Chauvin will not ease the level of violence by law-enforcement directed toward Black and Brown peoples.

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced on April 16 that the Biden administration was rescinding the limitations on consent decrees related to the monitoring of law-enforcement agencies involving problems of racial bias, the use of lethal force and other issues. These measures were utilized by previous administrations, even Republican, in response to excessive complaints made to police departments and governing bodies.

The cities of Minneapolis, Minnesota and Louisville, Kentucky, the municipalities where police brutally killed George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Garland has already announced the commencement of federal investigations related to civil rights violations. These two urban areas were the scene of mass demonstrations and rebellions during the summer of 2020, when people all over the U.S. and internationally went into the streets in response to the racist killings by police and vigilantes. 

Demands and contentious debates have surfaced surrounding the future of policing in the U.S. as well as Europe. Defunding and dismantling the law-enforcement agencies are topics of discussion in cities such as Minneapolis, Oakland and Detroit. No city government has gone to the extent of completely abolishing police budgets and reinvesting these tax funds to social services, healthcare, education, utilities, clean affordable water services and environmental quality.

Some municipalities have mandated the halting of traffic stops which are utilized as an initial form of contact for the criminal justice system. However, in most areas, the aggressive character of policing has intensified, making many believe that a rash of killings since the convictions of Chauvin may be in response to the anger felt by law-enforcement agents for the mass pressure which was critical in the outcome of the trial in Minneapolis.

In Elizabeth City, North Carolina, where Andrew Brown, Jr., a father of seven was killed on April 23, a local judge blocked the release of all body cam footage of his death which resulted in multiple gunshot wounds to his arms and head, people are marching through the small coastal town on a daily basis. The family of Brown is demanding justice through a complete investigation and the indictment of the police officer responsible. Only 20 seconds of the incident was shown to the family and their attorneys in a private meeting with law-enforcement. Even within this limited time frame the family members say it was clear his death was an unnecessary execution.

The question then becomes, how can the Justice Department response to a myriad of similar cases from the east to the west coasts and all through the southern, northern and midwestern regions of the country, provide relief to the besieged communities? By opening probes into every single municipality where there is police misconduct would surely overwhelm the federal investigative law-enforcement system.

An article published by CNBC says of the process that: “Consent decrees are court-ordered agreements that can be used to resolve violations of the law or systemic misconduct discovered during federal investigations of state or local law enforcement agencies. For instance, after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, the DOJ launched an investigation of the Ferguson Police Department for ‘an alleged pattern or practice of unlawful misconduct’ and other issues. Less than a year later, the DOJ said it found ‘a number of patterns or practices of unconstitutional conduct.’ A federal judge in April 2016 approved the consent decree between Ferguson and the DOJ, which required broad changes at the police department. Just before he was fired by Trump in November 2018, then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions signed a memo curtailing the Justice Department’s use of consent decrees.’” (https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/16/ag-merrick-garland-erases-trump-limits-on-consent-decrees-for-police.html)

Nonetheless, there is the need to examine the actual history of these judgments declared by the federal courts and the DOJ and their effectiveness in curtailing abuses by law-enforcement agencies. These actions by a succession of attorney generals are by no means a novel approach to a centuries-long crisis of policing of the oppressed peoples.

Previous Consent Decrees Did Not End Police Brutality

In the city of Detroit, an epidemic of killings by police officers during the 1990s and early 2000s prompted the formation of a Coalition Against Police Brutality and other mass efforts in response. A November 1992 brutal police murder of 35-year-old Malice Green by two white police officers on the southwest side, prompted the then first African American Mayor Coleman Young to terminate both individuals directly involved.

Former Detroit police officers Walter Budzyn and Larry Nevers were convicted of second-degree murder in a highly publicized trial in the summer of 1993. This represented the first conviction of white law-enforcement agents for murder against an African American in the U.S. The holding of Budzyn and Nevers criminally accountable was due to community mobilization and the threat of another citywide rebellion. Just months prior to the murder of Green in Detroit, the U.S. had exploded over the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers in the brutal beating of Rodney King. 

This unprecedented action was carried out by a jury impaneled in the municipal Recorder’s Court in Detroit. Since Detroit was and still is a majority African American city, the jury backed up by public sentiment, was able to find both white officers guilty of murder. Subsequently, with the retirement of Mayor Young in 1992 and the ascendancy of Dennis Archer the following year, police violence against residents accelerated.

By 2000, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department had begun an investigation into the Detroit Police Department (DPD). A consent judgment was rendered in 2003, placing the City of Detroit and the DPD under a consent decree related to the use of lethal force and the deplorable conditions existing then in the lock up facilities.

Despite these federal mandates, there were enormous difficulties associated with the process of review and the actual reforms required. There were huge cost overruns and obvious corruption related to the federally appointed monitors. Police abuses and killings would continue during the period following the imposition of the consent decree.

The most egregious incident was the police killing of 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley Jones on the eastside of Detroit in May 2010. This horrendous act was carried out while a national network television program, the First 48, were filming the entire bogus raid which resulted in the death of the child.

There was never anyone held accountable criminally for the killing of Jones. The suspect being sought by police lived in an upstairs flat from where the disastrous raid was executed. A resident of the upstairs residence said that the suspect could have been arrested on several occasions because they were in and out of the home for several days. 

Later in 2014, amid an illegally imposed emergency management and bankruptcy, the consent decree by the Justice Department was lifted absent of any public discussion. The current Chief of Police James Craig was appointed by the emergency manager Kevin Orr. Corporate-oriented white Mayor Mike Duggan has kept Craig in office despite his ineffectiveness and ineptitude, resulting in the call by over 40 community-based organizations for his removal during summer of 2020.

At present the DPD is being sued by antiracist activists from Detroit Will Breathe, which surfaced last year in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. The DPD engaged in systematic violence and false arrests of demonstrators and bystanders at the aegis of the Duggan administration and its bank-led backers in the form of the business interests of Quicken Loans, Illitch Holdings, Chase Bank and other ruling class magnets dominating the politics of the majority African American municipality.

These acts of subversion of the people’s will as it relates to the imposition of consent decrees and other police reforms illustrate the institutional and systematic resistance to even minimal efforts to ease pressure on oppressed peoples. Consequently, the capitalist racist structures of oppression and exploitation must be removed in order that genuine equal justice becomes a reality in the U.S.   

Abayomi Azikiwe, PANW Editor, Featured in Press TV Program The Debate on Police Misconduct in the United States

Watch this worldwide television segment featuring Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire, discussing the history and character of policing in the United States. 

The program comes amid a growing debate over the future of law-enforcement inside the country. This report aired live on Wed. April 28, 2021.

To view the interview just click on the following website:  US racial tensions (presstv.com)

Guilty on All Charges: Chauvin, Cops and the Racist System

After the verdict in Minneapolis more African Americans are gunned down by law-enforcement agents

By Abayomi Azikiwe Editor, Pan-African News Wire

Wednesday April 21, 2021

Commentary

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on three counts of murder in the brutal death of 47-year-old African American George Floyd.

The jury impaneled in the historic case only deliberated 11 hours prior to reaching a unanimous conclusion that it was the action of Chauvin and other police officers which caused the untimely demise of Floyd, who had been shopping earlier in a neighborhood store.

Police initially reported that Floyd died due to a medical emergency. This same line of argument was articulated by the defense lawyer in a failed effort to absolve his client of murder. 

Despite the videotaped murder of Floyd which was viewed by billions of people throughout the world, Chauvin plead not guilty requiring a trial. Many governments, media agencies, popular organizations and interested individuals followed the hearings with intense anticipation.

These proceedings are rare within the context of the United States legal system. More often than not, law-enforcement personnel are routinely absolved of culpability when their interactions with civilians result in serious injury and death.

After the widely publicized police killing of Floyd, people rose up in anger and rebellion in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as well as throughout the U.S. The response was in fact global when outrage over the blatant violation of Floyd’s civil and human rights spread to continents across the world. The plight of George Floyd became a rallying cry for those committed to ending racism, national oppression and all forms of injustice.

Within the U.S. last summer, people took to the streets both nonviolently and violently. Cities many miles away from Minneapolis such as Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City, Philadelphia, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Atlanta, Portland, Oakland, Los Angeles, among others, saw mass demonstrations which attracted hundreds of thousands of participants.

Floyd’s murder prompted a fierce debate surrounding the origins and character of policing in the U.S. Once again there was the recognition that policing in the U.S. directed towards African Americans is a continuing remnant of the period of enslavement. The character of law-enforcement practices is often the first entry by the oppressed and the working class to the prison-industrial complex.

African Americans and people of Latin American descent are disproportionately represented in instances of racial profiling, arrests, convictions and imprisonment. Black and Brown populations constitute over 50% of all those incarcerated in U.S. jails and prisons. Clearly, in viewing these statistics, it becomes quite obvious that the criminal justice system is designed to contain these oppressed peoples in an effort to maintain white supremacy and capitalist class rule.

In response to the guilty verdicts, the family of George Floyd along with millions of others felt a sense of jubilation that justice had been done. The sister of Floyd, LaTonya, said of the situation: “I feel like heaven is standing on my shoulders. My brother got justice, and that’s very rare. He didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve none of that. I just miss him so much. I am so hurt right now, but I am so happy. When I watch this man get handcuffed in court behind his back, just like he did my brother, he is not in control anymore. He has no power. But my brother does. My brother does.” (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/apr/20/george-floyd-family-reaction-guilty-verdict)

Hundreds were gathered outside the courthouse and the Cup Foods store where Floyd was murdered eagerly awaiting the announcement of the jury’s decision. People around the U.S. and internationally breathed a sigh of relief feeling that some semblance of justice was served to Floyd and his family.

Police Killings Continue Around the U.S.

While the verdict against Chauvin was being read, police in Columbus, Ohio shot and killed a 16-year-old African American woman named Ma’Khia Bryant. Police claim that Bryant was holding a knife and threatening another woman. A video of the incident was released the following day on April 21 by the Columbus police and city administration.

As usual, the police and city rulers are attempting to justify the shooting death of this young person. Demonstrations erupted in the aftermath of the death of Bryant while people all over the U.S. were compelled to think that the conviction of Chauvin will not prevent future incidents of this nature.

Other police killings have been reported in recent days leading up to and after the Chauvin verdicts. Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old youth in Chicago was gunned down while his hands were up facing the officer who took his life. Police in this instance said that Toledo had been carrying a gun. Yet the video released by the police and the city administration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, illustrates that the teenager was not holding a weapon at the time of the discharge of the police officer’s firearm.

In Knoxville, Tennessee, at Austin-East Magnet High School, 17-year-old Anthony J. Thompson, Jr. was killed by police in what was described as a confrontation with law-enforcement officers on April 16. The Knoxville police claimed that Thompson fired one shot and that they responded with two rounds killing the teenager. Protesters gathered outside the Knoxville police station on the following day demanding that the video cam of the police officers involved be released to the public. 

Detroit police reported on April 18 and April 20 that they had killed two people in separate incidents. Police Chief James Craig as normal immediately declared the killings as being justifiable homicide. The names of the individuals gunned down were not released by the authorities or the corporate media which typically defends the police in such incidents.

The Detroit police are being sued by local anti-racist activists for brutality and false arrests during mass demonstrations during the summer of 2020 in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd and later Hakim Littleton, a 20-year-old was killed by law-enforcement in July. The Wayne County Prosecutor Kim Worthy has refused to file charges against police in the Littleton killing, saying the cops were justified in shooting the youth in the head while he was already subdued.

On April 21, police while serving a search warrant in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, shot dead Andrew Brown, Jr., who was unarmed. The local authorities in the North Carolina city of 18,000 have not released much information on the death of Brown saying the case is under investigation while the officer involved has been placed on paid leave.

The U.S. System of Law-enforcement and Criminal Justice Must be Dismantled 

Not only are people around the U.S. demanding the defunding of the police, calls for their abolition are growing among significant segments of the African American, Latin American and other sectors of the population. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of the 13th District in metropolitan Detroit drew the ire of the police by issuing a statement demanding the end of policing as we know it in the U.S.  Chief Craig soon called a press conference where he said the Congresswoman, who is a Palestinian American, should leave her office from which she was duly elected.

The Moratorium NOW! Coalition and its allies later issued a statement calling for Craig’s resignation saying he was a holdover from emergency management illegally imposed by the-then Republican Governor Rick Snyder and the right-wing legislature in Lansing at the aegis of the banks on the majority African American city during 2013-2014. Craig is now an appointee of the corporate-oriented Mayor Mike Duggan who has designated 30% of the municipal budget to the police. Moratorium NOW! Coalition wants the police budget slashed to fund education, city services and mental health centers. 

An announcement on April 21 by the U.S. Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland said the division is conducting a review of the Minneapolis Police Department in the aftermath of the guilty verdict against Derrick Chauvin, saying the administration of President Joe Biden wants to determine whether the policies of law-enforcement are guided by racial bias. It is quite obvious from looking at arrest records in Minneapolis, noting that African Americans are detained at a rate of 300% percent above their numbers within the population which is just 19%, suggest strongly that racism is an important factor. 

Until the issue of racist policing and the prison-industrial-complex is resolved there will be no peace in the U.S. A total political, economic and social overall of the capitalist system is required to end the national oppression and class exploitation of the majority of people inside the country and indeed around the world.