Saturday, October 17th, at 1pm Women Against Military Madness' U.S. Out of Africa committee (UOA) will hold a protest against AFRICOM outside of the Mayday bookstore plaza (301 Cedar Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55454). The protest is endorsed by Decolonize Sudan, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, The Anti-War Committee, Families Against Military Madness, Veterans for Peace, Black Lives Matter Grassroots, Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over Sentenced Families Council. This protest is in alignment with The Black Alliance for Peace’s 6th annual International Month of Action Against AFRICOM. 

AFRICOM, or the United States Africa Command, is a military operation that was launched under the Bush administration in 2007. With dozens of military bases, AFRICOM spans across several countries. AFRICOM’s highest concentrations of bases are in the Sahelian region of Africa and has been linked to the perpetual destabilization, exploitation, and violence upon civilians. Notable instances of AFRICOM’s human rights violations include, a 2017 massacre of civilian farmers by AFRICOM operatives in Somalia, lethal drone strikes, the kidnapping and torture of Indigenous African community leaders and civilian populations, and long history of AFRICOM’s sexual violence upon civilians, children, and their own service members. In addition, activists and advocates have linked AFRICOM’s exploitation to the overall destabilization of national sovereignty across the continent of Africa. 

UOA’s October 17th protest joins global anti-imperial and anti-war efforts to demand the following: 1) Shut Down AFRICOM, 2) Close U.S. military bases across Africa and withdraw military forces 3) Oppose US sanctions and economic warfare on Africa, 4) Oppose US support for proxy wars 5) End U.S. aggression against Sahelian, 6) Support self-determination and sovereignty of African Nations. 

“The fight to protect our neighbors amidst escalating racist and xenophobic rhetoric and the fight to end U.S. imperialism in Africa are one and the same when weapons used to destabilize our neighbors’ homelands are created in our own backyard, said Khrys Wetzel, a founding member of the U.S. Out of Africa committee (UOA) and volunteer with the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC). 

“The Minneapolis Honeywell factory in particular is directly complicit in drone strikes in Somalia, Nigeria, and Iran–it is the only factory that builds a critical component used in the missiles and precision-guided bombs used in these strikes. For this reason and more, it is imperative that Minnesotans do everything we can to demand an end to U.S. military involvement abroad, and an end to AFRICOM.” he said.