Historian/activist Sandra Baird remembers Armistice Day – the 11th hour of the11th Day of the 11th month of 1918 – called Remembrance day in Canada – and now Veterans Day in the US. Baird calls out to young people: “make sure your young lives are not wasted in the struggle of the empires of elites. If the sacrifice must be made let it be made for the battle to end all wars….”
The 9th Pan African Congress: postponed or cancelled?
Many of us at Toward Freedom were disappointed to learn that the long awaited 9th Pan- African Congress, to be held in Lome,Togo on October 29 to November 2, 2024 was postponed…or cancelled. Scant information has been available to clear the air. We are pleased to publish this backgrounder written by Siphiwe Baleka who has studied the history of Pan African Congresses and was closely involved in trying to work thru some of the knots that bedeviled the planning of this Congress. Siphiwe has been involved with many Pan African groups: the Republic of New Afrika (PGRNA), West Africa Region of the Pan African Federalist Movement (PAFM), NCOBRA to list just a few. You can reach him at: [email protected]
As Towards Freedom works toward its final goal of seeing the 9th Pan African Congress come to fruition in November of 2024, look for updates and relevant events here.
Global Tax Gets Another Look
LONDON – Proposals to pay for international aid, peacekeeping, and other humanitarian causes through global taxes have long been shunned by the US Congress. Suggestions range from an international lottery to a tax on the arms trade. But one idea – a tax on foreign currency transactions – may have a better chance after the currency fluctuations that crashed the “Asian miracle.”
Although congressional Right-wingers see it as a plot against US sovereignty, cuts in Western aid budgets and recent economic jitters are reviving consideration of the so-called Tobin Tax. Originally suggested by US Nobel laureate James Tobin, a tax on currency transactions supposedly would discourage trading and reduce exchange-rate volatility. With $1.2 trillion washing through the global economy every day, the proceeds could reach $80 billion a year. Princeton economist Peter Kenan suggests that funds be used for projects like disaster relief, AIDS research, and environmental clean-ups.
Moving Beyond Borders
PRETORIA – When southern Africa was wracked by civil wars in the 1980s, an electric fence was strung across the no-man’s-land separating South Africa from Mozambique. But it’s about to be replaced by a huge, trans-boundary "peace park" linking Kruger National Park in South Africa with two others across the border. Together with a reserve in Zimbabwe, the plan represents a new trend in nature conservation and regional cooperation.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019