The numbers are hard to fathom. Nearly two million people driven from their homes in 2017 alone. The worst cholera epidemic of the past 15 years, with over 55,000 cases and more than 1,000 deaths. Countless others killed, maimed or sexually assaulted. The human costs of the ongoing crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo are borne disproportionately by women and children.
Somali farmers who can barely point out America on a map are innocent victims of the US "war on terror."
Most Moroccan journalists admit they do not cross certain “red lines” in Morocco. These lines include critical coverage of Morocco’s king and his advisers, Morocco’s sovereignty over the Western Sahara territory, Islam, and big businesses tied to the monarchy. In order to survive, self-censorship is mandatory among journalists. “I cannot write everything I want,” explained journalist Soulaiman Raissouni. “Everybody does self-censorship to different degrees.”
In Yemen, eight million people are on the brink of starvation as conflict-driven near-famine conditions leave millions without food and safe drinking water. Civil war has exacerbated and prolonged the misery while, since March of 2015, a Saudi-led coalition, joined and supported by the U.S., has regularly bombed civilians and infrastructure in Yemen while also maintaining a blockade that prevented transport of desperately needed food, fuel and medicines.
Dr. King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech pushed past the boundaries of what is acceptable in American politics, to where his anti-war and global solidarity values were unapologetically linked to the fight against racism and poverty at home. On that day, the American civil rights struggle courageously broke free from the confines of American exceptionalism, to join a worldwide movement of struggles against racism, colonialism and war.
There is a real - but largely concealed - war which is taking place throughout the African continent. It involves the United States, an invigorated Russia and a rising China. The outcome of the war is likely to define the future of the continent and its global outlook.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019