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Thank you Julia Books for your time and thank you Jasmin for everything.

TwoandaMic clocking out,

Enjoy!

This is a short account of Libya, mainly after the arrival of Colonel Gaddafi in 1969, its history post Ottoman Empire, post-Italian rule and post-war. In 1945 when the world was finally putting away its weapons and picking up instead debris to clean away the ruins of communities the pride of ignorant men had brought about, other movements were beginning to take shape. There was an opportunity to build freedom and independence from colonial rule. Some of these were attained through aggression or in the case of Libya, for the first time ever, through the new United Nations organisation.

It must be noted first of all however that after this destructive war in which Italy had played an aggressive role under Mussolini, and France had been occupied by nazi Germany, these two nations, despite having had time to consider their own misfortunes, immediately sought to seize or continue to control other countries. I cannot imagine what kind of people would think like that. Imagine a man, stumbling home from the pub where he has just been beaten up, walks into another person’s home and tries to kick them out. That was France and Italy.

It didn’t work out for them on this occasion and Libya achieved its independence with the return of Emir Idris from exile.

Gaddafi is a complicated and controversial figure. In the end he was disliked by many of his countryfolk, much like Bashar Assad in Syria at the moment. Gaddafi was occasionally embraced by western leaders, in the end he was killed by them. His country has since fallen into endless domestic conflict, the people live in uncertainty and poverty, they have no access to water, and warlords rule over natural resources. Would Libya have been better off under Gaddafi? Nobody can answer that question. Do the nations that instigate regime change have a direct responsibility to the people of that nation? Absolutely. Do the people of those nations have an irrefutable right to the profits of the resources taken from their lands by foreign powers? Even more so.

Our world is not a just one. International politics may have laws, but they lack dignity and respect because those laws are not enforced.

We argue for better. Thank you Esheru for your time and insight.

TwoandaMic clocking out…

Enjoy!

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!

This is an episode borne of a social media thread which Esheru led and I supported. This chat developed in an impromptu fashion where we were actually going to talk about something completely different. Funnily enough though this was exactly how we met. Esheru leading the fight against racism. That fight is a fight of all conscientious, understanding and awake people. Racism is a path to self-destruction. If your hate consumes you so much that you would eradicate communities to satiate your bloodthirst, where will you direct it when you are done?

History has answered that question several times over. You will turn on yourselves. You will destroy your own families and communities and when you are finished, when you are weak, so weak that you can hold your home no longer, the hordes will cross the channel, and raise a different flag above the parapet and you will know again as you have in the past, your petty squabbles, your false alliances and your revised histories are worth no more than a pile of ash.

Thank you Esheru for your time.

TwoandaMic clocking out!

Enjoy.

The books we referred to in this episode are:

Empire Land by Sathnam Sanghera

Blask AF History by Michael Harriot

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!

This poem by Shoshee Chunder Dutt is a wonderful collection of thoughts from the Bengali essayist, writer and poet. It is hard to find information on Shoshee, but a search for him produces a number of educational materials and documents. It is perhaps a compliment that he should be so fixedly remembered in this way, as a teacher and a guide.

I would love for people to write to me of Shoshee Chunder Dutt. Tell me your thoughts and opinions of his work.

Peace and freedom and understand…

Enjoy

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!

In this concluding part of our discussion on Burkina Faso, Esheru and I delve into the horrific loss and significance of the murder of Thomas Sankara by his best friend Blaise Compaore. As if by means of deciding to exemplify exactly what Burkina Faso lost, Ibrahim Traore is blazing a trail of leadership that every people of every nation would wish to find in their government.

When left alone to rule without foreign influence, African nations are more than capable of showing the rest of the world what real leadership means.

Thank you Esheru for your time, as always.

Enjoy!

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!

There is so much to write about to introduce this episode. Instead I will leave the bare facts for people to encourage them to locate and follow the 3 fantastic guests I had here. I have also included below their suggestions for further reading and if other people have suggestions of their own to make, then please feel free to send them in.

Ademola Topic: The continuing humanitarian crisis in Congo. This crisis remains completely underreported by the media. It is a glaring example of how colonialism continues to affect African nations today. The uninspiring leadership that we see in Africa is structured by some men in Washington, London and Berlin. Multinational business interest struggling for dominance in Congo is at the heart of the crisis and thereby interfering in the internal governance of the country.

@OgbeniDemola

Book recommendations:

Women’s liberation and the African Women’s Struggle by Thomas Sankara

The End of Oil by Paul Middleton

Podcast: Ubuntu: The African Perspective with Ademola and Dele Ogun

Esheru: Extraction and exportation. These are the primary goals of all the international interests present on the continent of Africa today and that work to the absolute detriment of the local peoples. The world needs Africa, Africa doesn’t need the world.

@esherukwaku

Book recommendations:

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney

African Women: A Historical Panorama by Patricia W. Romero

Florah: Speaks about September 5th when the Ugandan athlete Rebecca Cheptegai was horribly killed by her ex-partner. Florah also refers to feminist philosopher Maria Lugones explaining how post-colonialism African countries were 50 times more likely to have domestic violence cases than those countries that had not been under colonial rule. We also need to look at the connection between social and environmental phenomena and crises and gender-based violence.

Book recommendations:

The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls. By Mona Eltahawy.

Invention of women: Making an African Sense of Western Gender Discourses by Oyeronke Oyewumi

Many thanks to Esheru, Ademola and Florah for your wisdom, time and insight.

TwoandaMic clocking out.

Enjoy!

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!

In this the most spontaneous of my recent episodes, Esheru, the gallant, the informed and the flexible, joins me, from a cafe in Sweden no less, to analyse as quickly as his cappuccino would allow, the result of the US Election 2024.

We talk about some of the race dynamics, gender breakdown and why things turned out the way they did.

Is there any solace to be found from our discussion? We have opinions and no more. We hope to have given you food for thought and I welcome your thoughts by way of response. How do you see President no. 47 doing? What changes will his election have on the world? And where next for the Democratic Party? Answers in a tweet please...

As always, thank you Esheru for your time and knowledge.

Enjoy!

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!

This episode delves deeper into the human wonder that was Thomas Sankara in part two of our podcast on Burkina Faso. Sankara was a visionary, a dedicated Burkinabe and someone who genuinely wanted to make the world a better place. Even when in following the letter of the law, some people who failed in a coup against him were executed, he was dismayed. He did not want them to be executed. Yet he accepted the rule of law.

In the next episode of our trip through the history of Burkina Faso, we will venture into a story that looks at the demise of Thomas Sankara and the dictatorial rule of a friend and ally who turned his back.

It is interesting to note as an aside that none of the information referred to in our podcast is secret, designated confidential or indeed hard to find, yet the horrific violation of sovereignty by western nations is remarkably underplayed by mainstream media. There is a dissociative characteristic that does not allow us truly to fathom the actions conducted by western authorities on other nations. We ignore the severity and illegality of them because they were done by our ‘side.’ Yet when any similar activity occurs from another state there is absolute outrage

Let us look at two examples. France, a former colonial power and current neo-colonial power, creates a backstory of corruption and treachery against a leader in an African country and with the help of allies like the UK seeks to introduce a regime change to bring about a more amicable trading partner. The media is relatively silent on the whole thing. Russia sends two spies to the UK to murder a person they have labelled a national security risk, and the UK media goes crazy, and it is thereafter always referred back to.

In my opinion both of these actions are wrong. The difference I refer to is the prejudicial role the media plays in its reporting. I would invite people to reconsider many of the truths they believe they know, especially if they were taught such things at school. If we are to allow our opinions to dictate our actions, then we are responsible for making sure our opinions are based on facts. That also means do not automatically accept whatever you hear on a podcast. What we talk about, if they are topics that interest you, should inspire you to do a bit of fact checking yourselves. The world today is highly volatile, and understanding why this is the case, and how to diffuse the situation is fundamental if we wish to try to pass on a habitable world to the next generation.

I am as usual joined by Esheru, who I shall dub “Esheru the informed” because of his amazing depth of knowledge in all topics concerning colonialism and global injustice. Esheru is an activist and a friend, and I thank him dearly for his time.

TwoandaMic clocking out!

Enjoy

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!

This episode begins the multi-part journey that is the story of post-war Burkina Faso. It is so full of characters, twisting plots, love and deceit, violence and intrigue, it would have been a bestseller, had it ever been reported properly. Always remember the name Thomas Sankara!

That is the way unfortunately. Once-colonial powers will cling on any way they can and on this occasion, the clinging-on is achieved through disinformation tactics.

Burkina Faso is a remarkable country, like so many other African nations, which if left to themselves can prosper in ways nobody thought possible. The world is at a crossroads and we need to make the right choices. We need to become active to guarantee that the indigenous rights of nations are upheld. We need to start today for we should have started years ago.

Thank you Esheru once again for your time.

Enjoy!

The book we refer to in the beginning is called The New Jim Crow and it’s by Michelle Alexander.

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!

We don’t always seek alternative perspectives to our own when we are engaged in heated debate. We don’t reflect how our words may strike others. We don’t always focus on what is happening around us when we have something to say ourselves.

With Lulu we discuss on the topic of feminism and how through incorporating feminist ideals into how we live, we can achieve elevated levels of understanding and cooperation for everyone, regardless of gender.

Communication remains a significant stumbling block in many situations, at home, at work, in international politics. We are constantly told to accept what we are told and not to question the efficacy of that limitation, let alone the veracity of the information we have been given.

As an exercise, let us try occasionally to listen more than we speak, question what we do not feel to be true, and express what we know in our hearts needs to be said. Today is not a day to remain silent. If we are to achieve gender equality, and if we are to extend that sense of justice to encompass other areas of life, we need to make a concerted effort to introduce these principles every day, everywhere.

You can follow Lulu on IG: Suinarts

Here website can be found here: readymag.website/u966652154/lulusuin

I welcome opinions of every kind so please come and find me on social media at:

Instagram: TwoandaMic

Twitter: TwoandaMic1

Should I really have to ask? 😉 If you like the developing story of this social journey unfurling in my series of podcasts, feel more than free, feel partially responsible for spreading the word by subscribing and sharing and where possible, liking. It is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Oh, and if there is a possibility to do some rating, that would be nice as well. Thank you.

PS. The transcript has been generated automatically and does not always reflect what has been said with 100% accuracy. I hope however that it will still provide some clarity on the content...!