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I have always had more dread of a pen, a bottle of ink, and a sheet of paper than of a sword or pistol. - Alexandre Dumas
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Wikipedia – racism and hazing in the editorial suite: Black Lives Matter
28/06/2020
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There has been many  individual complaints to us  about the culture of Wikipedia editors. There is a strong contingent of alt.right editors who haze pro Black contributions. These people appear to be well funded as they have endless time to revert edits and make snide comments at all times of day and night.  One contributor informed us that she had made over 50 edits/contributions and every single one was reverted without clear explanation. Sometimes the only comment was ‘controversial’…

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Bim Afolami – follow up
27/06/2020
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We spoke about Bim  recently (https://african-century.org/bim-afolami-a-great-disappointment/ ) but overlooked a small matter. We were desperately trying to be as charitable as possible. We attributed some foolish comments to Club table talk. But there were some statements in that interview which cannot be excused so easily. In defence of Cecil Rhodes’ statue he said that it should be remembered that  several Black Africans have become recipients of the Rhodes scholarship! Cecil Rhodes, a staunch believer in white supremacy and that…

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Bim Afolami – a great disappointment
25/06/2020
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[:en]Bim Afolami[:]

I had such high hopes of Bim. He is bright , personable and engaging. Quite an ambassador. Today, 23 June 2020, on the BBC he revealed a rather shallow side of his nature. Asked about  the tearing down of statues he commented that  if we tore down statues of  all racist imperialist politicians there would be none left in UK. He smiled and thought he had made a witty point, not a huge gaff. Let me show where this…

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Cornel West – prophet or turncoat?
07/06/2020
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| history, Policy, Politics, Uncategorized
Prof Cornel West

Cornel West was once considered part of a triptych including  Skip Gates, and Anthony Appiah, representing the Black Academy. This triptych can be viewed as  either the leading edge of the Black Academy or a rogue’s gallery. Let us put this in context so as to understand the connection with Trump.  We need to understand the historical dynamics that generated this context.  For several decades ‘the conservative moment’  involved suppressing dissent of both left and right  by denying it…

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Follow up – Turkish Airlines
07/06/2020
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We wrote of the prejudice and mistreatment of Africans by Turkish airlines.  I wrote at that time to the senior directors to complain. I recently travelled again on Turkish Airlines (the only flight available at the time). I am pleased to state that the treatment of Africans was punctilious and fair. I could not see any difference in treatment of African travellers from non-African. I thought my communications had been ignored as no acknowledgement was received. But better than…

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Failure of US journalism
31/05/2020
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| General, Policy, Politics

After the widespread diffusion of the video of the assault on George Floyd rioting broke out in US cities  calling for the arrest and charging of the police officers involved.  There was considerable expressed surprise that when the demands were met the riots escalated.  ‘The turmoil was on display a short distance from the White House, where President Trump had called earlier in the day for his supporters to rally. Instead, hundreds of protesters mobilized on the streets of…

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President Trump to Hong Kong police: ‘start shooting!’
29/05/2020
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| General, Policy

We are not among those who take a default position that President Trump is racist. We take him at his word until we cannot . In this case Trump has said on Twitter on 29 May 2020: “Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you.” Clearly these statements are made with a concern for safety and the rule of law. We have all seen the images of violence and looting…

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Coming collapse of US cultural dominance:
27/05/2020
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| General, history, Policy, Politics

At the present time the world dominance of US culture seems uncontestable. However closer scrutiny would show that the world is a far more complex place and the apparent dominance can be less than it seems. First, we can begin with the humorous. I remember listening to an American in the 1980’s describe the coming world dominance of US culture as  inevitable and universal and as a proof and precursor he pointed to the ubiquity of the  ‘Walkman’. It…

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Dr Umar Johnson – Does the FBI pay him?
25/04/2020
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There is a popular video travelling around the internet of Umar Johnson . ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVhBOcUv4QY ) He is advocating anti Chinese views and race hatred against other races in the name of Black nationalism. He even goes so far as to advocate ending inter racial marriage. First thing: this is full of outright lies. So let us identify the outright lies: he states that Mandarin is an official language of South Africa – untrue, and that Xhosa and Zulu…

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Covid-19: Dr Fauci to Black America – WE DON’T CARE!
09/04/2020
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This is important and we need to parse Dr Fauci’s statements carefully. Quote A: ‘Jacqueline Policastro: New data shows  African Americans  are dying of coronavirus at higher rates. What can you tell us? Dr Fauci: Yeah, unfortunately that’s not surprising and the reason is there is a health disparity as we call it, that African Americans disproportionately suffer from diseases diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and even some cancers like prostate cancer in African American men. One of the problems…

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