On this episode of the MintCast, hosts Mnar Adley and Alan MacLeod speak with Ahmed Kaballo, the man behind the viral media outlet that the U.S. government has been trying to silence.
In September, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave a speech smearing media platform African Stream as secretly funded and controlled by Vladimir Putin himself. As Blinken said:
According to the outlet’s website, ‘African Stream is’ – and I quote ‘a pan-African digital media organization based exclusively on social media platforms, focused on giving a voice to all Africans, both at home and abroad.’ In reality, the only voice it gives is to Kremlin propagandists.”
Blinken provided no evidence to support these assertions. Yet, within hours, Silicon Valley reacted and crushed Kaballo’s organization. African Stream’s YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook pages were permanently deleted, while its Twitter account was demonetized.
The incident underscored both how frightened Washington is of radical Black voices calling for African unity in the face of imperialism and how intimate the relationship between the deep state and the fourth estate has become.
African Stream reached 30-40 million people per month with their radical message, including millions of Black Americans. Quite simply, they became too powerful.
For a full breakdown of what African Stream stood for, and how this act of worldwide digital censorship came about, read Alan MacLeod’s investigation, “Blinken Ordered the Hit. Big Tech Carried It Out. African Stream Is Dead.”
Having long been a continent of colonial domination, parts of Africa are in open rebellion against empire. This week, Senegal became the latest country to evict French troops from its territories, while many countries in the Sahel region are engaged in anti-imperialist, pan-African struggles.
Of particular note are Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, where young military leader Ibrahim Traoré came to power in 2022. On the Burkinabe president, Kaballo told the MintCast, “He is the real deal. And he is a fantastic, very charismatic leader (and we need that charisma). But what comrades in the Sahel keep emphasizing is that it is not just about him.” “It is not a top-down movement,” he added, “This is a movement from the grassroots. These three countries [Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso] have been devastated by terrorism and by neocolonialism.”
In April, Traoré was the subject of a failed coup, which many suspect had American backing. Since then, Kaballo notes, vast numbers of Burkinabe citizens have camped out around the presidential palace in an attempt to prevent any future actions that subvert the will of the people.
Since coming to power, Traoré has nationalized the country’s gold industry, announced a wide-ranging industrialization plan, begun an enormous effort to pave Burkina Faso’s roads, and positioned himself close to other revolutionary leaders, such as Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel and Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro. For a full rundown of the coup and why the United States wants Traoré gone, read Alan’s report, “Why Washington is Worried About Burkina Faso’s Young Revolutionary Leader.”
Ahmad Kaballo is a British-Sudanese journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. In 2022, he founded African Stream, transforming the platform into one of the world’s fastest-growing and revolutionary media outlets. African Stream offered a pan-African perspective on national, continental, and world events, and worked to expose the role of imperialism on Africa.
Don’t miss this fascinating interview.
Mnar Adley is an award-winning journalist and editor and is the founder and director of MintPress News. She is also president and director of the non-profit media organization Behind the Headlines. Adley also co-hosts the MintCast podcast and is a producer and host of the video series Behind The Headlines. Contact Mnar at mnar@mintpressnews.com or follow her on Twitter at @mnarmuh.
Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer for MintPress News. He completed his PhD in 2017 and has since authored two acclaimed books: Bad News From Venezuela: Twenty Years of Fake News and Misreporting and Propaganda in the Information Age: Still Manufacturing Consent, as well as a number of academic articles. He has also contributed to FAIR.org, The Guardian, Salon, The Grayzone, Jacobin Magazine, and Common Dreams. Follow Alan on Twitter for more of his work and commentary: @AlanRMacLeod.
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