As the UK’s lockdown goes into it’s third strong, deaths attributed to Coronavirus/COVID-19 have now topped 10,000. (1) While some hoped that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would be included in that number, it wasn’t to be. (2)
Much of the mainstream media has acquiesced to the government’s approach, in spite of its initial, shambling response. (3) Yet with sufficient scrutiny we can identify the ideological basis for the government response to this public health crisis, rooted in its neoliberal approach to the NHS, which in truth has been inherited from previous administrations across the political spectrum. For example, in October 2016 the Conservative government undertook a drill, code-named Exercise Cygnus involving all major government departments, the NHS and local authorities across Britain. The objective was to examine the preparedness for a pandemic. It showed “gaping holes in Britain’s Emergency Preparedness, Resilience and Response (EPRR) plan.” This included shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), shortages of ventilators and critical care beds and morgues stretched beyond capacity. The report was supressed and never made public the recommendations remained unacted upon – until now. (4)
Thus, a deliberate decision was made to not invest in the NHS as part of an ongoing privatisation agenda. This is most clearly identified in the 2012 Health & Social Care Act. This effectively, facilitates supplanting the old NHS structure, in place since 1948, to a new system based on the USA health care model. Former health secretary Dr David Owen called it “a monstrous piece of legislation” and a “grotesque lie on the British public.” Since then tens of billions of pounds have been siphoned off from the NHS to support the market system. (5) The last thirty years have also seen a massive reduction in hospital beds from around 299,000 in 1987/8 to 127,000 last year. The NHS now has the fewest beds of any comparable system in the world. At it’s founding the NHS had over 400,000 beds. (6)
So the Prime Minister’s advice on March 12th that the country should prepare to “lose loved ones before their time,” was an arguably an implicit acceptance of the ‘collateral damage” from what the World Health Organisation officially declared a global pandemic a day earlier. (7)
However, studies have begun to surface indicating just who is bearing the brunt of this ‘collateral damage’. The BBC reported on April 12th:
“There is “emerging evidence” to suggest coronavirus is having a disproportionate impact on people who are black, Asian and minority ethnic. Research suggests that more than a third of patients who are critically ill in hospital with the virus are from these backgrounds.” (8)
The statistics from the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) that also utilise 2011 census data indicate that although the “Black” group make up 3.3% of the England, Wales and Northern Island population, they account for 13.6% of critically ill coronavirus patients. (9)
There is not yet any available similar data for health care professionals, we do know that while the UK media urges the public to clap for a “whitewashed” NHS, three of the first four doctors to die from treating COVID-19 patients were Afrikan and the other Asian. (10) Guardian columnist Afua Hirsch remarked on the findings in her article entitled, If coronavirus doesn’t discriminate, how come black people are bearing the brunt?:
“Racial disparities have a history, and it is no surprise to see a colonial mindset at work in much of the coronavirus response. From some of the early failure to take advice seriously when it came from east Asian countries, to the debate in France about testing new vaccines on Africans (a time-honoured practice in which black lives are valued less). Covid-19 has a way of drawing out the rot in our systems and exposing them.
To say coronavirus is a disease that does not discriminate is wishful thinking. If you are poor, have had a life of income anxiety, poor healthcare, live in inadequate housing and can’t afford healthy food, space and rest, you are vulnerable. Similarly if you are a black or Asian medical professional, no matter how loved by your community and respected in your field.” (11)
Whatever the responses one might have to the foregoing, it shouldn’t really include surprise. Pretty much every measurable metric denotes a life of oppression for Afrikans in the UK. (12)
We should also be clear that this is part of a global agenda. For example, in the USA “Coronavirus wreaks havoc in African American neighbourhoods.” (13) Joe Jorado at TheRoot.com, provides additional information:
“Nationally, we’ve seen that COVID-19 has had an inordinate impact on minority and low-income communities. Early data has shown that black people are dying at higher rates from COVID-19. In Chicago, black people have made up nearly 70 percent of coronavirus deaths despite being only 29 percent of the population. In Michigan, black people have made up 40 percent of deaths while representing only 14 percent of the state’s population. Despite there clearly being a disparity, the majority of states have yet to include race as a factor in its coronavirus data.
Outside of the virus itself, the economic and educational impact has also disproportionately affected those same communities. Black and Latinx communities are losing jobs at a higher rate and students from minority and low-income homes are less likely to participate in online classes. There’s been a lot of talk about coronavirus being the great equalizer but so far the data has shown the opposite.” (14)
In France, as referred to by Afua Hirsch above, we have seen the scandalous, yet predictable suggestion on TV by two French doctors, Jean-Paul Mira and Camille Locht, that COVID-19 vaccinations be bested in Afrika because they are “are highly exposed and don’t protect themselves”. (15)
The comments sparked worldwide outrage and condemnation, typified by the response of Kenyan politician Moses Wetangu’la:
“The epicenter of COVID-19(Coronavirus ) is China, Italy, Spain, France, US. Clinical trials on its possible cure must start there and not in any African country. African leaders must resist any attempt to use our people as Guinea pigs. Resist.” (16)
Unfortunately, recent reports from Guinea indicate that the proverbial horse may have already bolted. Galaxy’s very own Sista Shanice brought us this breaking news from Guinea:
“After being exposed by Wode Maya for conspiring to carryout vaccination trials in Africa, French doctors nevertheless implemented a deadly vaccination trial in Guinea that killed two children and left others gravely ill.
Young people in the village of Dubreka in Guinea were enraged to discover that two of their school friends had died and others were seriously ill after taking vaccines and tables handed out at their local school by visiting French doctors.
On TV two French doctors described Africa as being “highly exposed” implying a soft target for experimental vaccine trials and for spreading diseases. Despite a meaningless public apology for the conspiracy, within days French doctors were pressing ahead with experimental tests on village school girls in Africa.
The Dubreka community in Guinea are calling on their government and Health Ministers for protection, action and justice for the murdered girls.” (17)
Yet Mira and Locht aside, Afrika’s doom mongers are gathering a head of steam with assertions by, for example, Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, who claims that “Africa faces a Covid-19 catastrophe unless immediate action is taken,” while other predict 2.5 million deaths on the continent without any “mitigation measures.”:
“In the advanced economies, governments have committed hundreds of billions of dollars to mitigate the resulting economic stress on households. In Africa, such approaches will hit people even harder. Many live on what they earn each day, and won’t eat if they don’t work. Working from home via the internet will only be feasible for a tiny fraction. African governments don’t have the financial resources to protect family incomes.” (18)
What Sands fails to mention is that the “advanced economies” are built of the back of the ongoing exploitation of Afrika and its resources from colonialism to neo-colonialism up to the present. A blatant example being France’s continued “monetary imperialism” through its CFA Franc. (19) Former French President, Jacques Chirac, even confessed:
“We forget one thing: that is, a large part of the money that is in our [i.e, the French’s] wallet comes precisely from the exploitation of Africa [mostly Francophone Africa] over centuries… without Africa France would slide down into the rank of a [third] world power.” (20)
Vaccinations are regarded by many as the leading edge of global Europe’s plan to depopulate Afrika which predates COVID-19, with Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates who reportedly said “We Must Depopulate Africa To Save Europe”. (21) However, it was first explicitly explained in the 1974 the National Security Study Memorandum (NSSM) 200 (also known as the “Kissenger Report”.) This was the first of many documents that outlined the USA governments need for “creating conditions conducive to fertility decline,” “greatly intensified population programs,” and “effective, safe, long-lasting and acceptable methods of fertility control,” among what it terms the “Least Developed Nations (LDC).” (22)
However, not everybody is convinced of the efficacy of the COVID-19 reports. As The Guardian reported on April 9th:
“Local television station London Live is being investigated by the media regulator after the channel broadcast an interview with the conspiracist David Icke in which he suggested the coronavirus pandemic was part of a plot by governments to destroy the economy and conduct mass surveillance.” (23)
The view that the Coronavirus is a hoax, a cover for 5G or some part of a New World Order agenda is gaining considerable traction, especially on social media. These have been dismissed as “conspiracy theories” by the establishment who in turn are demanding action from the social media companies. (24) What is rather less conspiratorial though is the government were already “looking very seriously” at making vaccinations compulsory for state school pupils before Coronavirus became an issue. (25) The fear being generated at the present time could very lead to a demand for vaccinations from the people themselves.
The dismissal of the Coronavirus/5G may actually be a way of deflect from the undoubted issues of 5G itself that has been subject to scores of peer reviewed research that the industry seems quite to sidestep by not conducting for funding independent studies into 5G safety. (26)
However, more than 240 scientists who have published peer-reviewed research on the biologic and health effects of nonionizing electromagnetic fields (EMF) signed the International EMF Scientist Appeal, which calls for stronger exposure limits. The appeal makes the following assertions:
“Numerous recent scientific publications have shown that EMF affects living organisms at levels well below most international and national guidelines. Effects include increased cancer risk, cellular stress, increase in harmful free radicals, genetic damages, structural and functional changes of the reproductive system, learning and memory deficits, neurological disorders, and negative impacts on general well-being in humans. Damage goes well beyond the human race, as there is growing evidence of harmful effects to both plant and animal life.” (27)
What the Coronavirus has at least achieved is to bring the issue into public discussion. Until recently the main concern occupying mainstream coverage of 5G tended to focus on Chinese espionage rather issues of health and safety. (28)
So while questions persist of whether the deaths that are occurring are really due to COVID-19 or not, people are still dying and the social structure, through legislation and guidance, has been transformed into what one top calls a “hysterical slide into a police state.” (29) This could have a devastating effect throughout the Afrikan World Community. This realization has sparked different responses. Hip-Hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was moved to moderate an online Town Hall the “State of Black America & The Coronavirus,” featuring a range of politicians and establishment figures such as Sen. Kamala Harris, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell, the Rev. Al Sharpton, Van Jones, Angela Rye, Meek Mill and others. (30)
In contrast, National Football League veteran for the New Orleans Saints’ Malcolm Jenkins says “black community can’t wait on a government that has never prioritized us in the coronavirus pandemic.”:
“This pandemic is real, and the damage that is left in wake of the coronavirus is realized mostly in our communities. Bad policy, institutional neglect, and overexposure place us disproportionately within arm’s reach of the dangers of this deadly virus. We are the essential worker. We are the most impacted yet the focus of the resources aren’t being invested in us. We cannot wait on a government that has never prioritized us. We must look out for ourselves. So take care of you first, share your resources, protect the elderly and stay home as much as possible. Please stay safe. Stay healthy and survive.” (31)
Jenkin’s assertion certainly need widespread application, preferably through organised, institutionalised initiatives. As we continue to pay tribute to our beloved Sis. Nkechi Ode who passed away on April 6th, we remember her as someone who demonstrated the necessary commitment to organization and institution building while leaving a legacy for future generations that Afrikan people have to establish to have any hope of survival. She outlined this imperative while reflecting on the Mosiah Daily affirmation, God Commands Self-Mastery, at the Alkebu-Lan Mosiah Day Observance in 2016: (32)
“It’s true to say that individually and collectively that we stagnate quite a lot in terms of our character development and the work that we do on Liberation Road. I just believe if we always to absorb what we read and really challenge ourselves then we would get a lot more and we would see the production of institutions a lot more and a lot quicker. It really is about our mindsets, how we can impact each other very negatively, so that’s why it’s always important that you do have to have these poetic words (affirmations) to inspire you on a daily basis. We live in a society that will suck you dry, especially as Black people, as Afrikan people. The daily challenge is, you know one of the things that Bro. Ldr teaches us and seeks to impart in the children, is about shyness. To be an Afrikan is not to be shy and shyness is one of those things that holds us back big time, doing what we’re doing and sometimes we’re always trying to not take up the baton and deal with the challenges we have to deal with. That’s the greatest thing that we can do – is to rise to the challenge. I speak to myself, on a daily basis you can say ‘I can’t be asked’ and we have that mentality and when we all infect ourselves with that we really just don’t get anywhere. It’s time for us to infect each other with word sounds that we truly believe, internalise and make manifest daily.
If we come here ever year, year after year we should be striving to be somewhere more than where were this year. So we keep being these creeping crawling things, like the tortoise will take how much years to get where it’s going and where we’ll be if we don’t quicken up the pace and really challenge ourselves.
I just really have to give thanks. It is challenging being in an organisation. Then again, that’s about your character, your own personal development. But you have to remember it’s about your children, because ultimately, society is not making life easier for the Afrikan, it’s making it a lot worse. If we’re not together collectively and we’re not even willing to work on our own issues and our own weaknesses and challenges, then to me you might as well just give up because the children’s got to carry it. Where most of us are hitting those years, it’s got to be about the children. They are going to suffer and if we claim that we’re about our children then we have to be doing a lot more collectively so that they imbibe what it is that we do. Our cultural imperatives they have to be involved in it. They have to see it and they have to see us manifest it as well in order for them to take that on board for years to come.” (33)
Thus in response to the current crisis the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement, through Health & Social Welfare Dept. and in the tradition of organizations developing programmes to meet the needs of the people, has established an urgent food relief service. This is particularly important right now where the lockdown conditions effectively compel us to abandon our Elders and vulnerable in order to not contravene the new regulations.: (34)
“The Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement has set up an Urgent Free food delivery service especially for the elderly in our community. Every Wednesday in the East & North East of London. If you need or know someone who would need this service then please WhatsApp us (link in the caption) and we will get back. Group Link: https://chat.whatsapp.com/CbYPuWczu6Q15WzdZh7zs3. • No. 07908 814 152” (35)
Not surprisingly, one of the first to volunteer to assist the Urgent Free food delivery service was Sis. Nkechi’s son Bro. Jawanza.
We understand that Lady Leo of Gold Onyx has undertaken some extensive co-ordination work in co-ordinating food distribution to our community. Ras Prince and Auntie Jean are doing food distribution work in the south London area. The current time means that a number of initiatives have moved online including Amosu Awoyemi’s Mind Over Body Chess Academy and moral philosophy classes for young people, to name just a few examples.
These are needed initiatives but as a community we need to develop (or re-develop) more comprehensive life enhancing institutions that advance community self-reliance and self-determination.
(1) BBC News (12/04/20) Coronavirus: ‘Sombre day’ as UK deaths hit 10,000 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52264145
(2) Conor Gogarty (08/04/20) Bristol restaurant owner sorry for saying he hoped Boris Johnson would die. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/food-drink/boris-johnson-coronavirus-condition-nhs-4030126; Rowena Mason (12/04/20) Boris Johnson leaves hospital as he continues recovery from coronavirus .https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/apr/12/boris-johnson-leaves-hospital-as-he-continues-recovery-from-coronavirus
(3) Tom Clark (27/03/20) Locking down too much or too little? Why our leaders will end up damned whatever they do. https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/magazine/locking-down-leaders-damned-whatever-they-do-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-quarantine-social-distancing-economy-recession
(4) Paul Nuki and Bill Gardner (28/03/20) Exercise Cygnus uncovered: the pandemic warnings buried by the government. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/28/exercise-cygnus-uncovered-pandemic-warnings-buried-government/+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
(5) John Pilger (2019) The Dirty War on the National Health Service. Dartmouth Films
(6) Going Underground on RT (08/04/20) John Pilger-What Governments Aren’t Telling You About the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19). EP.867. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt58it26jCs&t=613s; Leo Ewbank, James Thompson, Helen McKenna, Siva Anandaciva (26/03/20) NHS hospital bed numbers: past, present, future. https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/nhs-hospital-bed-numbers
(7) Sebastian Payne and Laura Hughes (12/03/20) Johnson warns public to prepare to lose loved ones to coronavirus. https://www.ft.com/content/65094a9a-6484-11ea-a6cd-df28cc3c6a68; Bill Chappell (11/03/20) Coronavirus: COVID-19 Is Now Officially A Pandemic, WHO Says. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/03/11/814474930/coronavirus-covid-19-is-now-officially-a-pandemic-who-says
(8) Rianna Croxford (12/04/20) Coronavirus: Ethnic minorities ‘are a third’ of patients. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52255863
(9) Benjamin Butcher & Joel Massey (09/04/20) Are minorities being hit hardest by coronavirus? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52219070. The “Asian” group are 7.5% of the population and account 13.8% of cases. “Other” make up 6.6% of cases while being just 1% of the population, whiled “Mixed” are 1.2% of cases being 2.2 of the population.
(10) Natalie Morris (03/04/20) Ethnic minority medics are ‘being whitewashed’ out of celebrations of the NHS. https://metro.co.uk/2020/04/03/bame-medics-whitewashed-appreciation-nhs-12494218/; Afua Hirsch (08/04/20) If coronavirus doesn’t discriminate, how come black people are bearing the brunt? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/apr/08/coronavirus-black-people-ethnic-minority-deaths-pandemic-inequality-afua-hirsch?fbclid=IwAR2PO-7LWSAVlCc2qqKrYVo7RZw5Z9jbdP2Gfac6W3Rv5a6o-QfciNa6J30
(11) Hirsch. Ibid.
(12) Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka (2013) Britain Fails UN Race assessment: Calls for inquiry into Black Deaths in Custody. The Whirlwind, Edition 10. p. 17
(13) BBC News (07/04/20) Coronavirus wreaks havoc in African American neighbourhoods. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-52194018?intlink
(14) Joe Jurado (07/04/20) New York City to Release Data Showing Racial Disparities in Coronavirus Impact. https://www.theroot.com/new-york-city-to-release-data-showing-racial-disparitie-1842729566
(15) Musa Okwonga (10/04/20) The French doctors who wanted to test vaccines on Africans and Western medicine’s dark history. https://qz.com/africa/1836272/french-doctors-say-test-covid-19-vaccine-on-africans-spark-fury/
(16) Masolo Mabonga (04/04/20) Resist: Senator Wetangu’la calls on African leaders to reject COVID-19 vaccine test on continent. https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/other/resist-senator-wetangula-calls-on-african-leaders-to-reject-covid-19-vaccine-test-on-continent/ar-BB129qIU
(17) The Sista Shanice Show (11/04/20) WHAT??? French Doctors Kill Two in Deadly Vaccine Trials/ WODE MAYA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnfpjWiURSw&t=1270s
(18) Peter Sands (07/04/20) Africa faces a Covid-19 catastrophe unless immediate action is taken. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/africa-brink-covid-19-catastrophe-unless-immediate-action-taken/+&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk; Adrian Blomfieldin and Peta Thornycroft (06/04/20) From denial to brutal lockdown: How Africa’s response to ‘rich man’s’ disease has evolved. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/science-and-disease/denial-brutal-lockdown-africas-response-rich-mans-disease-has/
(19) Mariamawit Tadesse (10/08/18) The CFA Franc Zones: Neocolonialism and Dependency. https://economicquestions.org/cfa-franc-neocolonialism/
(20) Ibid
(21) Johan van Dongen (15/05/19) Depopulation Of Africa Needed To Save Europe. https://www.modernghana.com/news/932558/depopulation-of-africa-needed-to-save-europe.html; Don Jaide (05/03/10) Africans must beware of vaccine-bearing Bill Gates. https://www.africaresource.com/rasta/articles/africans-must-beware-of-vaccine-bearing-bill-gates/
(22) National Security Council (10/12/74) NSSM 200 Implications of Worldwide Population Growth For U.S. Security and Overseas Interests (The Kissinger Report). https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pcaab500.pdf
(23) Jim Waterson (09/04/20) London Live prompts inquiry after showing virus conspiracy theories. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2020/apr/09/london-live-sparks-inquiry-david-icke-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories
(24) Jonathon Read (06/04/20) Social media networks urged to action over 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories. https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/5g-coronavirus-conspiracy-theories-1-6596131
(25) Peter Walker (29/09/19) Hancock: compulsory vaccinations being seriously considered. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/29/government-seriously-considering-compulsory-vaccinations-matt-hancock?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other&fbclid=IwAR2XbkAafFd2b8o7BPgrTzzvj9waph1pSRr24nXDtaJQrBwlWslt2DzcCsY
(26) J B (08/02/19) BIG WIRELESS CONCEDES: No studies showing safety of 5G – 7th Feb 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ5soLrvXFg; Collective Evolution (31/10/18) Veteran MD Drops Bombshell About 5G Technology Dangers At 5G Hearing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Qt5B39LB7c
(27) Joel M. Moskowitz (17/10/19) We Have No Reason to Believe 5G Is Safe :The technology is coming, but contrary to what some people say, there could be health risks. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/we-have-no-reason-to-believe-5g-is-safe/
(28) Leo Kelion (04/04/20) Huawei set for limited role in UK 5G networks. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-51283059
(29) Nina Schwalbe (04/04/20) We could be vastly overestimating the death rate for COVID-19. Here’s why. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/we-could-be-vastly-overestimating-the-death-rate-for-covid-19-heres-why/; Nicola Bartlett (30/03/20) Coronavirus rules are ‘hysterical slide into a police state’, warns top judge. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/coronavirus-police-state-hysterical-slide-21780341?fbclid=IwAR1g6vnuFag–ze0GdcE2Rsacsh42kAs8V0bPTuEiCPoid97Q_EpEgGYLH8
(30) Carl Lamarre (09/04/20) Diddy to Moderate Town Hall Meeting on ‘State of Black America & The Coronavirus’. https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/9355147/revolt-tv-town-hall-coronavirus-diddy
(31) Jabari Jenkins and Leah Asmelash (11/04/20) New Orleans Saints’ Malcolm Jenkins says black community can’t ‘wait on a government that has never prioritized us’ in the coronavirus pandemic. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/11/us/malcom-jenkins-new-orleans-saints-trnd/index.html?fbclid=IwAR0E9BB5A_lV40FrFbiBDB-TELLjGEA80PV3OQPOzo0RCPpklJgB5-52pKM
(32) Bro. Ldr Mbandaka (2009) Mosiah Daily Affirmations. Day 4 Affirmation: God Commands Self-Mastery. Soul Force Promotions. p. 26.
(33) Nkechi Ode (17/08/16) Reflections on God Commands Self-Mastery. h Alkebu-Lan Mosiah Day Observance in 2016
(34) Jemma Carr (11/04/20) Manchester police are forced to apologise after shocking video reveals officer threatening man with pepper spray and arresting him for running errands for his mother – before warning bystanders ‘you’ll be next’. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8210029/Police-threaten-man-pepper-spray-arrest-running-errands-mother.html?fbclid=IwAR3c88GiOjPfmhy48RGxRpjDkFCyDFrBd0G0mGQ-W-dFKiMMtdEoEXv5_6M
(35) Alkebu-Lan Nommo (11/04/20) ALKEBU-LAN URGENT FOOD RELIEF SERVICE! https://www.facebook.com/alkebulan.sessions?__tn__=lC-R&eid=ARDuq4pnClz2tiiaShjdnwNlfnnO2r1gxd394r0aHauapTujABISGpEO_svH4j14hiby0JLy3aAjeKZj&hc_ref=ARSQlDDZ0B2YBXOOH8g6kdk9yvhkkMmJsYPpzlTNLnylgEYq6zGMQ-ovYRtl7BF-hFI&__xts__[0]=68.ARDaeBu2s2Wl9eKcDc2f2VjK9OlNMJvItOSChV2dIHkDY76pmpK7OJ9U09-0VI-83zDY7nWJ_5Gm8aHMfqF0MJOp9qEzb-hxcbTvx6NO1qXIze7VDQxpfACLJAytQ4Uw7cNmkKNRfL3Ry9ljL-8Mo3kC5UBpR99wTl8XbAMDmsyw-mmy_Bg-2M6riRCT6th6gQCE-LWEGtyjySU_ytOG-OVt9LZRVXUVBAp-tSkX7Ly9r6x2smr5TkQd_aKC346wZ4KJTAFVxfMafrHZQffh3u1Bk0kGiOpSR_cDVPUpHLhEfkooYAU1uYMHVJdwWB29ENRyEatiPAvMIE0E6A
We ask the question:
Is COVID-19 a War on Afrikan People? What’s our response?
1) Given the outcome of the 2016 drill is the current crisis in the UK deliberate?
2) Why are Afrikans disproportionately affected by COVID-19?
3) What can we believe about the COVID-19 media reports?
4) If we “cannot wait on a government that has never prioritized us,” do we have the necessary structures in place to cater for our people?
5) To what extent are we prepared to work on our own weaknesses and challenges to develop the resources we need?
Our Special Guests:
Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and UNIA-ACL Ambassador for the UK and national co-Chair of the interim National Afrikan People’s Parliament. Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of over 30 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.
Sis. Kai Ouagadou-Mbandaka: is the Chief Officer of Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement’s Education and Health & Social Welfare Departments. She Head Teacher for the Alkebu-Lan Academy of Excellence Saturday School, and Co-ordinator for the Ma’at Academy of Excellence Home School Collective. She is also head of ARM’s Rites of Passage Programme for Girls and a Columnist for The Whirlwind Newspaper. Sis. Kai is one of the original co-hosts of Afrika Speaks with Alkebu-Lan when it first launched in 2006.
Bro. Diye Wareibi: is currently the CEO of DigiBridge CIC, a not for profit social enterprise based in London, Diye also serves on the board Diverse City, a charity promoting diversity in the performing arts. Diye was born in Liberia and schooled in England from the age of eleven. He earned both a BEng (1992) and MSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester in 1996.
Diye began his professional career as a graduate engineer with the engineering consultancy firm Sir Alexander Gibbs and Partners. As a civil engineer, he worked on diverse projects ranging from the Devonport Nuclear Dockyards to the Jubilee Line Extension. In 2000, he left civil engineering to pursue a career in information technology. He attended the School of Social Entrepreneurs, in 2005, after which he setup DigiBridge CIC.
In 2011, DigiBridge CIC established the first re-use and repair service on small waste electrical and electronic equipment (Bright Sparks Re-use Project) in London in partnership with the London Borough of Islington. In 2013, DigiBridge was recognised as finalist for 2 national awards for this initiative. In 2013 Diye expanded the electrical reuse and repair to include furniture and other household items. They now have 3 stores in North and East London with a staff team of 18. Diye visited Liberia in 2011 and returned to the UK committed to transforming the failing educational system in the country. As a result, in September 2013, Diye launched the Wariebi Academy in Monrovia, Liberia, with a capacity for 1000 students, from K1 – 12th grade. In 2019, Diye launched his latest initiative, a 6.5 acres urban city farm in Monrovia, Liberia.