The Struggle of the Untouchables (2014): India's caste system has a legacy of persecution and discrimination. One of the few hopes for the country's 240 million Untouchables is a grass-roots movement that is changing Dalit's lives across the country.

Political activist M.C Raj has found himself at the forefront of The Dalit Movement. Born into the untouchable caste, Raj tirelessly campaigns for the recognition of the rights of the Dalits. According to Raj it begins with the right to own land. "Only then can we end dependence on caste forces", he argues. Discrimination against Dalits has been prohibited by law since 1949, but in practice segregation persists today. That's why, despite the significant gains made by the movement, Raj refuses to stand still. "Of course we always live under threat to our lives, but that is immaterial for us. We are ready to die. Our people should have land."Marion Mayor-Hohdahl

We are happy to welcome Bevin Magama to 'Africanus Talks' to discuss his passion for professional storytelling and writing. Bevin travels extensively around the UK and internationally conducting themed storytelling workshops alongside his own live performances. In both schools and workplaces, Bevin's wealth of knowledge about 'Storytelling' as more than just an art form, but a cultural backbone much needed within Africanus communities is exhaustive. Bevins skills allow him to use storytelling to challenge bullying in workplaces, conflict resolution, while still creating a safe environment renowned for being fun, building confidence, improving literacy and oracy in schools. We hope you enjoy this introspective interview from our brother Bevin Magama!

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People's Party with Talib Kweli arriving soon!
A weekly interview show with big-name guests exploring hip-hop, culture, and politics.
1st episode on Sunday, June 9th at youtube.com/UPPROXXvideo

From 1999 Album: "Black On Both Sides"

Born Dante Terrell Smith on December 11, 1973, in Brooklyn, NY, Mos Def began rapping at age nine and began professionally acting at age 14, when he appeared in a TV movie. After high school, he began acting in a variety of television roles, most notably appearing in 1994 on a short-lived Bill Cosby series, The Cosby Mysteries. In 1994 Mos Def formed the rap group Urban Thermo Dynamics with his younger brother and sister, and signed a recording deal with Payday Records that didn't amount to much. In 1996 his solo career was launched with a pair of high-profile guest features on De La Soul's "Big Brother Beat" and Da Bush Babees' "S.O.S." A year later, in 1997, Mos Def released his debut single, "Universal Magnetic," on Royalty Records, and it became an underground rap hit. This led to a recording contract with Rawkus Records, which was just getting off the ground at the time, and he began working on a full-length album with like-minded rapper Talib Kweli and producer Hi-Tek. The resulting album, Black Star (1998), became one of the most celebrated rap albums of its time. A year later came Mos Def's solo album, Black on Both Sides, and it inspired further attention and praise. Yet, aside from appearances on the Rawkus compilation series Lyricist Lounge and Soundbombing, no follow-up recordings were forthcoming, as the up-and-coming rapper turned his attention elsewhere, away from music.

During the early 2000s, Mos Def acted in several films (Monster's Ball, Bamboozled, Brown Sugar, The Woodsman) and even spent some time on Broadway (the Pulitzer Prize-winning Topdog/Underdog). He simultaneously worked on the Black Jack Johnson project with several iconic black musicians: keyboardist Bernie Worrell (Parliament/Funkadelic), guitarist Dr. Know (Bad Brains), drummer Will Calhoun (Living Colour), and bassist Doug Wimbish (the Sugarhill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Living Colour). This project aimed to reclaim rock music, especially the rap-rock hybrid, from such artists as Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, who Mos Def openly despised. What made Black Jack Johnson so anticipated though was not so much the supergroup roster of musicians or even Mos Def himself, but rather the lack of black rock bands. Following the demise of Living Colour, there were few, if any, that had attained substantial success. Mos Def hoped to infuse the rock world with his all-black band, and during the early 2000s, he performed several small shows with his band around the New York area. In October 2004, he finally delivered a second solo album, The New Danger, which involved Black Jack Johnson on a few tracks.

Two years later, after a few more acting roles — including the Golden Globe-winning Lackawanna Blues and the Emmy-winning Something the Lord Made, both of which were made-for-television movies — Mos Def released his third solo album, True Magic (2006). A contract-fulfilling release for Geffen, which had absorbed Rawkus years prior, the album trickled out in a small run during the last week of 2006. Bizarrely, the disc came with no artwork and was sold in a clear plastic case — though its single, "Undeniable," did manage to grab a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo Performance. The Ecstatic, released on the Universal-distributed Downtown label, followed in June 2009; at that point, Mos Def had significant acting roles in Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind (in which he co-starred with Jack Black) and Cadillac Records (he played Chuck Berry).

Extended & Updated Info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_def

In Part two of this documentary the story of courage and persistence continues. Fatima Adam, one of the chibok girls abductees soldiers on past the trauma she under went at the hands of the boko haram.Bukky Shonibare fights on to have the rest of the chibok girls released. A story of courage and resilience.

⁣Diapositives Cheikh Anta Diop

The multiplicity of foreign interests in African mineral wealth and resources has resulted in increased military bases on African soil and the threat of a reemergence of cold wars, civil wars the millions of people displaced of on the continent. How can this be avoided?

⁣Pro. Houyeleet Thiam talks with another fellow Mauritanian who is fighting the fight from afar. [2018]

While all deserts, including the Sahara, increase in size during the dry season and decrease during the wet season, human-caused climate change in conjunction with natural climate cycles, are causing the Sahara desert to grow more and shrink less. Since 1920, the Sahara has grown beyond its initial boundaries and gobbled up more space, growing by nearly 10 percent. The desert is advancing south into more tropical terrain, turning green vegetation dry and soil once used for farming into the barren ground. Despite the Global North being the most significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, it is people like those living in the Sahel who are paying the price.

Ten African countries are moving ahead with an ambitious pan-African effort to protect arable land from the encroaching Sahara —by planting trees from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east. Dubbed The Great Green Wall, it is an African-led movement with an ambition to grow an 8,000km NEWEST WONDER OF THE WORLD across the entire width of Africa, designed to trap the sands of the Sahara, halt the advance of the desert and restore 100 million hectares of land. It was initially intended to be just a line of trees, stretching east to west, to help push back the Sahara’s expansion down south.

In arid Tete province of Mozambique, rural community-built sand dams store water for vegetable gardens that transform the lives of farm families.

Saturday, July 23rd 1960.

Footage of Patrice Lumumba, the Prime Minister of Congo-Kinshasa, arriving in London on a Saturday evening while en route to New York.

He was met on arrival by the British Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, John Profumo. He had a private talk with Profumo and other British officials.

Lumumba was interviewed in French by ITN correspondent John Connell.

Source: Getty Images.