IANA Blog- November 2025

 Blog

Happy November,

As 2025 is winding down, there were different things I wanted to talk about this week, from the Christian murders that were happening in Nigeria this month, to Trump wanting to “send troops” to Nigeria, but honestly, I wanted to talk about something that I had talked about before…

The Genocides happening in Palestine, The Congo and Sudan.

Over the past couple of months, I have noticed more people joining the movement, speaking out for a Free Palestine, which is what I was hoping for. As more people are taking part in speaking on the Palestinian genocide and are speaking for Palestine. As that is growing, I’ve been seeing people also speak out on the genocides happening in Sudan and The Congo. As mentioned, I’ve spoken about what’s happening in both Sudan and The Congo, but unfortunately, the media is still silent on what’s happening.

As more people have been speaking out on all genocides, I’ve also noticed something that I unfortunately saw coming…I’ve seen people playing “oppression olympics” between all genocides…I’ve also seen people straight up choose a genocide over the other ones…

I base this blog off a conversation I had with members of DetermiNation Black Men’s Group in Oakland. It is a program that I’ve been a part of since 2016, and we’ve had different conversations on multiple topics. It is part of Urban Peace Movement, an organization in Oakland. Our co-facilitator mentioned upcoming rallies to be a part of. One of them was a protest against ICE. Our other co-facilitator decided to play “devil’s advocate” and asked us if “this was our fight?” Other members, including myself, got to respond to his question. He explained why he asked that question and he brought up how Black people have no problem joining the fight for different movements, but when it comes to our plight, no one is there to fight for us. He used Palestine as an example and said, “I remember seeing people at protests chanting, “Free Palestine,” but none of them were chanting “Free The Congo!” None of them were chanting “Free Sudan!” None of them were chanting “Free Haiti!” He also lumped Arab Palestinians with other Arabs as he mentioned how, when “we were fighting for “Arabs” while the “Arabs” were killing the Sudanese!” Of course, he was referring to the involvement of UAE in the Sudanese Genocide.

The next week, we continued to speak on where we left off, and he then said, “from a human point of view, I understand, but capacity-wise, do we have what it takes to help?”

Although there were members that had to explain why it was our fight, there were some that understood why he said that and there were some that agreed with him. I remember one member said, “I agree with you, I ain’t focused on no Latinos, no Palestine, I’m only focused on Black people.” Of course I’m paraphrasing what he said, because he had a lot more cursing in what he said. He explained why he said what he said, because of the Antiblackness he received from members of the Latino and Asian communities, one of those moments got violent in which he had to defend himself. Like I said, other members challenged the co-facilitator's questions and thoughts. I’m paraphrasing, but he said, “You’re giving out White Supremacist talking points and the activist in me can go for that.” I also had something to say, in which I brought up the whole idea of Black people not being supported by other communities is all “divide and conquer,” and how they especially use lies and disinformation about Black people in the media and how all these communities fall for it.

I’ll say it like this, like I said in my October 2023 blog, I understand why he had to say it, because Antiblackness is real, especially in a lot of these non-Black communities, in the Asian communities, in the Latino communities, in the Indigenous communities, even within the African diaspora. It’s hard to ignore, trust me, I tried it, it didn’t feel good. However, I have to reiterate that…there are Black Palestinians as well…that some of our favorite freedom fighters and revolutionaries supported Palestine…despite what others think, Palestinians have stood up for Black people…the same people who support the genocide in Palestine support the genocide in Sudan and the Congo. As far as capacity-wise, I feel that we have no other choice, but to speak out for all three, because of how interconnected they are.

I do also have to say that I understand why some feel like Sudan and The Congo are getting no love, because as mentioned, the media isn’t saying a damn thing about it, and I surprisingly see people online speak out on Palestine, but stay silent on Sudan and The Congo. Those who choose to stay silent on The Congo and Sudan are looking very hypocritical. Thinking about it reminds me of the time when I took part in a documentary showing about Palestine. I remember someone I met at the showing and we were talking about when these documentaries about Palestine will show the point of view from an Afro Palestinian. We also saw a scene where one of the interviewees said that the genocide in Palestine is the most tragic thing to happen in the history of the world, and we gave each other that look and were like, “Do they even know what happened in Africa?”

Bottom line, some people have chosen to take sides when it comes to speaking out on these current genocides, after hearing why some Black people are focusing on certain genocides, I can at least understand why. However, I’m not playing the “oppression Olympics,” as I’m speaking out against all three of those genocides whenever I get the chance. Speaking of which, shoutout to artist, designer and activist Zul-Quarnain Nantambu, who for those that don’t know, performed at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show starring Hip Hop artist Kendrick Lamar, and raised a Palestinian and Sudanese flag, with the words “Sudan” and “Gaza” written on them with a heart and a raised fist. Zul-Quarnain risked getting arrested and banned from all NFL games doing the protest and he’s still protesting and speaking out for Sudan and Palestine. I saw him comment on social media on a video which depicted someone personally choosing to speak out on Sudan and the Congo over Palestine. Zul-Quarnain made it clear that you can speak out of all issues, because of how interconnected they are.

Just like Zul-Quarnain, nothing has changed for me. It’s Free The Congo, Free Sudan, Free Palestine, Free Haiti, Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon, Tanzania, South Africa, Philippines, Iran, Nigeria…free all the oppressed.

As Fanie Lou Hamer states, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” 

What are your thoughts on the Genocides happening? Has anything changed? Let me know.

Link to October 2023 Blog, in case you want to see my views on Palestine: https://issei2ndgen.blogspot.com/2023/10/iana-blog-october-2023.html