by BAR editor and columnist Dr. Marsha Adebayo
The Bahamas has warned its citizens to be cautious in the U.S., and Black Londoners rallied in solidarity with Black American resistance to racist violence. “Leaders on the African continent, such as, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana as well as the Caribbean and South America, must also stand to account and express their solidarity with the struggle of Africans in America.”
World Recoils as U.S. Slave Patrollers Kill in Defense of Empire
by BAR editor and columnist Dr. Marsha Adebayo
“The whole word is watching the savage undeclared genocidal war against Africans in the US.”
Baton Rouge police officer Blane Salamoni, Howie Lake, III and Minnesota police officers Jeronimo Yanez and Joseph Kauser, in the tradition of their predecessors in the slave patrols, carried out their official duties by killing Alton Sterling, 37 and Philando Castile, 32. Unlike the slave patrollers who captured, mutilated and killed thousands of Africans in the US, this savage dance of death between armed government officials and unsuspecting black civilians was broadcast to a global audience triggering international condemnation and black solidarity demonstrations in the streets of London.
Sterling, the father of five children was selling CDs outside of a convenience store that he usually frequented when police slammed him to the ground and shot him. Castile was shot dead in the presence of his girlfriend and her 4 yeaer-old daughter during a routine traffic stop as he was attempting to provide police requested identification.
Indeed, the whole word is watching the savage undeclared genocidal war against Africans in the US. Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton found the courage to verbalize the obvious to a gathering organized outside his residence to protest the killing: “Would this have happened if those passengers would have been white? I don’t think it would have.”
“In an effort to protect their citizens, countries are warning them about visiting the US.”
Following the massacres of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, the government of the Bahamas, representing a majority Black population, issued warnings to its citizens this week, in particular to Black men, cautioning them about traveling to the US.
The Bahamian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration urged its citizens to exercise “appropriate caution” when traveling to the US, especially to cities where “recent police shootings have occurred.” The government warned: “Do not get involved in political or other demonstrations under any circumstances and avoid crowds.” Specifically focusing on the targeting of Black males by police, the government advised its citizens to take ”extreme caution” with police: “Do not be confrontational and cooperate.”
In the past, the US has taken the hypocritical “moral high ground” to warn its citizens about dangers in Nicaragua, Vietnam or other countries. Now, in an effort to protect their citizens, countries are warning them about visiting the US.
“America is not safe. Nor has it ever been safe or healthy for African people in the US.”
Countries in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America should follow the Bahamian example. The Bahamian government is right. America is not safe. Nor has it ever been safe or healthy for African people in the US. One does not have to tell the families of the late Amadou Diallo, Mohamed Bah or Emmanuel Okutuga about the deadly nature of America.
It takes courage to expose the Empire and to face its repercussions. The Bahamian government is the only Black government that has issued a travel warning. As a result of popular resistance and uprisings last year, France issued warning to its citizens about travelling to St. Louis, Cleveland and Baltimore. Canada and Germany are among the countries that in the past have warned their citizens about traveling to the US. The United Arab Emirates has also warned its citizens not to wear traditional Muslim dress when visiting the US following a spate of Islamophobic attacks.
We need the leadership of Africa and the AU to speak out against the atrocities occurring in the US. Leaders on the African continent, such as, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana as well as the Caribbean and South America, must also stand to account and express their solidarity with the struggle of Africans in America.
“As a result of popular resistance and uprisings last year, France issued warning to its citizens about travelling to St. Louis, Cleveland and Baltimore.”
On a positive and appreciative note, hundreds of protestors from the predominately black/brown community of Brixton, a suburb of London, spilled into the streets to protest the murders of Sterling and Castile. The demonstrators blocked major crossroads in south London that brought traffic on a number of major streets to a halt for nearly 4 hours. The protestors, in solidarity with Africans in America chanting “black lives matter” and “racist police, our streets”
Police officers and helicopters were deployed for surveillance. No reports of clashes with police were reported. Protesters cheered, as one speaker declared” we have locked down Brixton!”
As the struggle for liberation inside the US intensifies and the genocidal strategy of the US becomes more obvious we will need strategic allies and solidarity actions, such as the one by the protesters in Brixton and governments, such as The Bahamas to expose the murders and deliberate poisonings of African communities, such as Flint, Michigan to the global community.
Dr. Marsha Adebayo is the author of the Pulitzer Prize nominated: No FEAR: A Whistleblowers Triumph over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA. She worked at the EPA for 18 years and blew the whistle on a US multinational corporation that endangered South African vanadium mine workers. Marsha's successful lawsuit led to the introduction and passage of the first civil rights and whistleblower law of the 21st century: the Notification of Federal Employees Anti-discrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 (No FEAR Act). She is Director of Transparency and Accountability for the Green Shadow Cabinet, serves on the Advisory Board of ExposeFacts.com and coordinates the Hands Up Coalition, DC.
This week’s featured author is Dixa Ramirez-D'Oleo. Ramirez-D'Oleo is Associate Professor in the English department at Brown University. Her book is This Will Not Be Generative.
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