Harlem event: ‘Lift illegal sanctions off Zimbabwe!’

Fifty-five years after Malcolm X was assassinated, people came to the National Black Theatre in Harlem on Feb. 21 to demand the lifting of illegal sanctions off Zimbabwe. The December 12th Movement organized this important event.

The renowned musician and jazz scholar Jerome Jennings opened the program with fantastic drumming. Omowale Clay of D12 welcomed the standing-room-only crowd. 

Viola Plummer, chairperson of D12, quoted Malcolm X: “We have to be free by any means necessary.” Plummer introduced the featured speaker, Ambassador Arikana Chihombori-Quao, M.D., as “a sister who speaks the truth.”

The diplomat and physician is the former representative of the African Union to the United States. Born in Zimbabwe, Dr. Chihombori-Quao is a scientist with a master’s degree in organic chemistry. 

A graduate of Meharry Medical College, she spent 29 years as a family physician in Murfreesboro, Tenn. Dr. Chihombori-Quao is currently leading the African Diaspora Development Institute.

Dr. Chihombori-Quao reminded people of the consequences of the evil Berlin conference of 1884 that carved up Africa among the European colonial powers. The Belgian King Leopold had millions of Africans in Congo killed and mutilated for rubber profits,

The ambassador spoke of how her father and his family were driven off their land by white settlers in Zimbabwe. Under British colonial legislation, whites could seize 2,000 hectares — almost eight square miles of land — and burn the homes of Africans.

Yet, virtually every capitalist media outlet denounced the late Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe for leading Africans to reclaim their land!

Dr. Chihombori-Quao also described how the French imperialists, while being forced to grant formal independence to African countries, demanded that their financial reserves be controlled by French banks. But the media only talk about the alleged corruption of certain African leaders.

She emphasized the importance of the African Union initiating an all-African customs union on July 1, 2020.

The doctor and diplomat also spoke movingly about how much was stolen from Africa. The African Holocaust includes thousands of African skulls that are displayed in European museums. Dr. Chihombori-Quao told how women belonging to the Ashanti nation in Ghana prevented the British colonialists from stealing the Golden Stool, an important symbol of nationhood.

Dr. James McIntosh, member of N’cobra, (National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America), gave a dynamic fundraising appeal. Dr. McIntosh is the author of “The Unauthorized Psychoanalysis of Donald Trump.”

Viola Plummer denounced the nearby Bloomberg for President office as an insult to Harlem. She reminded people that the U.S.sanctions against Zimbabwe are coming up for renewal by Trump in March.

Ending the meeting, Plummer led the crowds in chants of “Sanctions are a weapon of mass destruction!”

Hands off Zimbabwe!