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Bang Bang in Da Manor screening leads to debate on gun and knife crime
2012-02-04 13:58:00
By J L Samboma Britain’s black community must look inward rather than to the wider society for solutions to the increasing black-on-black gun and knife culture and its growing toll on young lives, according to parents, young people and community activists at the recent screening of Bang Bang in Da Manor, a film on the subject. The screening was organised by A Just Movement for African Unity (AJAMU) and the OMEGA Foundation Society.  Speaking after the documentary show, which took place at the Park View Learning Centre in north London, one concerned parent* said: “We have to take a hard look within ourselves.  We are catastrophically failing our young people.” 
More About: Crime , Leads , Debate , Knife

Lumumba film screened for 51st anniversary of killing
2012-01-22 14:55:00
By J L Samboma Patrice LumumbaA documentary film on the death of Patrice Lumumba was screened at London’s Human Rights Action Centre Saturday 21 January to mark the 51st anniversary of the slaying of the Congo’s first post-colonial leader. The event was organised by the Save the Congo group and was well-attended. Arguably the most important political assassination of the twentieth century, the Pan-Africanist leader was killed on January 1961 in a plot involving the USA, Belgium – the former colonial overlord in the Congo, the United Nations and local, African pawns such as Colonel Joseph Mobutu.  According to Vava Tampa of the Save the Congo group, the consequences of that plot haunt the country to this day.
More About: Film , Anniversary

Prepare to seize the moment for revolution
2011-10-26 19:14:00
By J L Samboma Our present epoch, the era of neo-colonialism and imperialism, will come to an end but it will only do so when we – the downtrodden in society, Fanon's wretched of the earth – tip it into the dustbin of history.  It is difficult for many to accept that this can happen, especially given the recent victory of imperialism in toppling and murdering Muammar Gadaffi and returning Libya back into its deadly embrace. Surely, goes this school of thought, the forces of imperialism are too strong for us to defeat. A trawl through history shows that international capitalism has been able, eventually, to ride roughshod over previous attempts by progressive forces to counter its attacks.  It has always been able to reassert its will. At best, we are led to believe, the current dominance of imperialism over Africa and the Third World as a whole, is but a stage we must go through and, eventually, through step-by-step hacking at its foundations, we will overcome...
More About: Revolution , Moment

Police brutality and political violence in Sierra Leone
2011-09-28 22:11:00
By J L Samboma Sierra Leone’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Musa Tarawallie (left), has effectively voided a nationwide ban on rallies and other party political activities announced by the Inspector General of Police last week.  While many see this as a slap in the face for Francis Munu, the whole incident stinks to high heaven of political corruption and, once again, raises serious doubts about the judgement of the country’s top cop and the probity of the force he heads. The Inspector General – handpicked by President Ernest Bai Koroma and seen as being very close to him – shocked many when, in the run-up to next year’s general elections, he issued a press release proscribing overt political activity. He declared “a blanket ban on all political rallies, processions and public meetings until further notice,” adding that, during this “cooling off period,” all political meetings should be confined to respective party offices.
More About: Political , Sierra Leone , Violence

The role of independent journalism ? my take
2011-09-25 05:54:00
By J L Samboma The following piece is the outcome of a recent encounter I had on an internet forum.  It began after I commented on the role of independent journalism in society.  It was the first time I had been forced to define what independent journalism means to me.  I say "forced" because it made me dig deep.  Ducking out of a response was not an option.  I have reproduced it here because I believe it is relevant.  Secondly, because I hope to open up the debate to anyone who has a contrary view, so that the dialectice can continue on in a wider sphere.  This is what I wrote:
More About: Journalism , Independent , Role

As political violence continues, is Sierra Leone on the road to hell?
2011-09-17 08:51:00
By J L Samboma The man chosen by Sierra Leone’s main opposition party to challenge President Ernest Bai Koroma in elections next year has been whisked to Ghana for treatment after he was injured a fortnight ago by government supporters ahead of an opposition rally in the southern city of Bo. Sources say Julius Maada Bio (left), a former military officer, left the country for Accra earlier this week.  The head injury he sustained during the incident became worse and he opted for further treatment in Ghana, bringing an abrupt end to his “Meet the People” tour of the country in preparation for elections next year.
More About: Political , Sierra Leone , Violence , Hell

The President's Pressmen, an eBeefs film
2011-09-14 04:53:00
by J L Samboma Earlier this month security personnel attached to State House beat up four journalists in Sierra Leone and left one in a coma.  The independent press in the country has for many years been subject to violent harrassment and intimidation by the state.  Below is the trailer for a 25-minute documentary - "The President's Pressmen" - on the undeclared war the government is waging on the press in Sierra Leone.  The DVD is free, so please place your order before present stocks run out.
More About: Film

The suspicious death of Murdoch whistleblower Sean Hoare
2011-07-24 16:02:00
L Samboma The suspicious death of Sean Hoare, the former showbiz reporter for the News of the World, who blew the whistle about senior Murdoch executives being complicit in phone-hacking at the now-defunct paper, has understandably raised questions about whether he was “silenced” in a bid to pre-empt further revelations into the scandal, which threatens Murdoch’s media empire and Britain’s political establishment.
More About: Death

Hackgate could be cover for the West?s fiasco in Libya
2011-07-22 10:56:00
By J L Samboma The “Hackgate” scandal, concerning industrial-scale phone-hacking by journalists at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World newspaper, could have been choreographed by the London authorities to provide cover for the West ’s stalled bid to effect regime change in Libya , a review by eBeefs of information surrounding the scandal has revealed.
More About: Cover

On Terrorism
2011-07-20 11:11:00
An ocassional series on The Struggle, by J L Samboma As a dialectical materialist, I am opposed to individual acts of terrorism, no matter how "revolutionary" or "romantic" they may appear at the subjective level. I believe that the liberation of the oppressed must be achieved by the oppressed themselves, through their self-activity in the training ground of class struggle.
More About: Terrorism

?Communism? is not a swear word in my lexicon
2011-07-20 08:30:00
A retort, by J L Samboma My "admission" in a previous article that, as a Marxist, I could also be described as a communist, aroused some forthright comments on my Facebook page.  That was not surprising in the least.  It seemed that my crime, according to my correspondents, was to have the gall to call myself a communist – especially at a time when that word is viewed with derision and outright hostility by all and sundry.
More About: Word , Communism

Is editor of The Independent too close to Rupert Murdoch?
2011-07-18 19:21:00
By J L Samboma With the various branches of the British establishment united in heaping ordure on media magnate Rupert Murdoch and his “corrupting influence” on public life in the aftermath of the phone-hacking scandal, it is not surprising that many of Big Rupe’s spivs, cheerleaders and assorted fixers have gone to ground.  One of these is the former business editor of the London Evening Standard, who was recently appointed as editor of Britain’s Independent newspaper.
More About: Close , Editor

I, Communist
2011-07-15 06:56:00
By J L Samboma It is a phenomenon of enduring wonderment to me that to be called a Marxist these days is almost the equivalent of someone saying you're a wife-beater; whereas to be called a communist - which is but the same thing - is to be reserved the same esteem as befits a pederast.

What's in a name?
2011-07-15 06:56:00
By J L Samboma It is a phenomenon of enduring wonderment to me that to be called a Marxist these days is almost the equivalent of someone saying you're a wife-beater; whereas to be called a communist - which is but the same thing - is to be reserved the same esteem as befits a pederast.

On America's Wars
2011-07-15 05:43:00
An occasional series on The Struggle, by J L Samboma  The wars and conflicts America has initiated and surreptitiously started in recent years - not to mention those of yonder years - never fail to invoke in my mind one of my favourite quotes from Marx, the validity of which endures to this very day. He was not writing eternal truths or dogma, as he himself said.  He was making profound observations.
More About: Wars

On History
2011-07-12 18:43:00
An occasional series on The Struggle, by J L Samboma Learning is a lifelong process and your initiative to use the opportunity of the national days of African countries to study their history falls within that remit.
More About: History

On Revolution
2011-07-12 13:49:00
An occasional series on Marxism, by J L Samboma A revolution without violence? Yeah, right! Dream on, brother. Whether you want it or not, the po-lice are gonna jump on your back. How about going on a turkey shoot, and you be the bird? Go read some Malcolm. Listening to him might be better. Well, I never!
More About: Revolution

The Beast will come for you too
2011-07-12 13:43:00
By J L Samboma There are many Africans, both at home and abroad, who have internalised the divide-and-conquer propaganda that Libya is not Africa, that Libyans are not Africans. If that is the case, then Americans of European, African and other extraction are not Americans.

On Revisionism
2011-07-12 13:15:00
An occasional series on Marxist theory, by J L Samboma Marx was not writing dogma or eternal truths. He was a writing a blueprint to change the world. I sometimes perceive the materialist conception of history, which he propounded with his good friend Fred Engels, as a lens through which to observe the world – and the lens still works after all these years. On this point Marx himself wrote:

War on Libya leaves Africa at a crossroads
2011-07-12 11:30:00
By J L Samboma The Horn of Africa is today within the stranglehold of drought and famine. Libya , a significant player in the so-called African Union under any reckoning, is currently under sustained imperialist assault by the Western powers, a mass-murdering adventure led by the first black president of the United States of America.

Challenge to Playthell Benjamin: Defend Obama?s war on Libya and Africa
2011-06-21 14:21:00
By J L Samboma As the first Africa n-American leader of the Land of the Free lays waste to the African nation of Libya in league with co-imperialists from the rest of the West, international corporate media from ABC to the BBC are falling over each other to defend the indefensible with their skewed coverage.  A few pseudo-leftist intellectuals are also crawling from under their sinecures to join the massed ranks of the media mis-informers.
More About: Obama , Challenge

Shats for my Father - a poem
2011-06-15 12:42:00
By J L Samboma   He thundered in promising change To shut Guantanamo, establish a new Jerusalem New beginings, he said, this off-colour Zionist   But what we've got are more wars and bombs From a pretty boy adorning imperialism's ugly visage Raining big fat shats on his father’s land   They question 9-11 and London’s 7-7 As they shower Armageddon on wog-land And lament pigeons coming home to bomb   Skulduggery, hypocricy, fuckery Poof! there smokes my visa to Terror-ica Damn! this Boma ain't never gonna be a Bama   But poor and impotent as we may be We sure ain't goin' be shafted by The Man In that place where the sun don't shine   Share |
More About: Poem , Father

War on Libya headlines African Liberation Day in London
2011-05-31 10:36:00
A report on an all-African day, by J L Samboma African Liberation Day (ALD) was commemorated in London Saturday 28 May at North London’s Chestnut Community Centre by progressive African organisations and well-wishers.  The occasion was observed at the precise moment imperialist dogs of war are softening up international opinion for their impending deployment of “bunk-buster” bombs and killer-drones in their bloody onslaught against the people of Libya and Africa.

Olu Gordon, the philosopher-king Sierra Leone and Africa never had
2011-04-21 13:42:00
A Revolutionary Life, by J L Samboma A giant has fallen with the death of Olu Gordon .  He wore many hats in his 53 years, but above all he was a revolutionary socialist, a Romeo in love with the amorphous mass of the Africa n dispossessed.  A former University lecturer, he was a Pan-Africanist, a journalist and a philosopher.  He could not take part in social revolution and he refused to rustle one up.  But he made sure his life was a study in personal revolution -- one over which he had undisputed command.
More About: Sierra , Sierra Leone , King

Malcolm X, Black Liberation and Pan-Africanism II*
2011-01-06 06:47:00
By J L Samboma In the previous section of this essay we demolished American SWP leader Jack Barnes?s positions on Pan-Africanism, as espoused in his book Malcolm X, Black Liberation & the road to Workers Power (henceforth Workers Power). These positions, as we saw, were that Pan-Africanism was not revolutionary, and not sufficiently internationalist or anti-imperialist.  We also proved that his claim that Malcolm X was not moving towards a ?new form? of Pan-Africanism was baseless.

Jobless numbers up in UK
2010-12-16 09:14:00
By J L Samboma Yesterday’s depressing news, that unemployment in Britain had increased yet again, arrived with a dose of comic relief to soften the impact, thanks to the BBC and UK top dog David Cameron.
More About: Numbers

Better safe than sorry!
2010-12-10 07:51:00
By JL Samboma I have removed two posts from this blog after advice from a trusted source.  They were about personal experiences which informed the plot of a novel I went on to write. Since that novel has yet to be published -- and as you can’t copyright experiences -- I agreed with this sage of my acquaintance that it was best to remove them.  Why didn’t think of that?! I promise to put them up again when the blockbusting, bestselling masterpiece of the decade gets published.  I sure would hate to read my story in some smart Alec’s book! ?

Malcolm X, Black Liberation and Pan-Africanism *
2010-12-09 07:28:00
By J L Samboma - I am speaking of a ruthless criticism of everything existing, ruthless in two senses: The criticism must not be afraid of its own conclusions, nor of conflict with the powers that be [1].  The new book by Jack Barnes, national secretary of the American Socialist Workers Party is a great disappointment; it raises expectations it is ill-equipped to satisfy, fomenting discord where there need be none. As a consequence this essay, originally conceived as a “simple, straightforward review” of Malcolm X, Black Liberation & the Road to Workers Power[2] (henceforth Workers Power), is instead going to be a “ruthless criticism” a la Marx.

Bankers? bonuses hit £7bn as austerity bites UK
2010-11-18 07:15:00
By Julian Samboma As Britain's coalition government slashes spending and jobs in a widely-criticised austerity drive, the nation’s bankers are set to award themselves £7 billion in bonuses this year. There has been hardly a pipsqueak form the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition which, incidentally, is chock full of millionaires. They say sacrifices have to be made to get the economy back on track, but it seems it is ordinary people who are shouldering the burden.

The London student demo, violence and bourgeois hypocrisy
2010-11-11 11:18:00
By Julian Samboma Conservative co-chairman Baroness Warsi, speaking to the BBC hours after a student demo against the raising of tuition fees, said the violence which erupted outside her party HQ yesterday “certainly doesn't take the debate any further.”
More About: London , Student , Hypocrisy , Violence , Demo