Julius Nyerere, born on this day in 1922, was a socialist and anti-colonial Tanzanian politician who promoted a Pan-Africanist ideology known as Ujamaa, which means "extended family" or "brotherhood" in Swahili.
Julius Kambarage Nyerere was born on April 13, 1922 in Butiama, on the eastern shore of lake Victoria in north west Tanganyika. His father was the chief of the small Zanaki tribe. He was 12 before he started school (he had to walk 26 miles to Musoma to do so). Later, he transferred for his secondary education to the Tabora Government Secondary School. His intelligence was quickly recognized by the Roman Catholic fathers who taught him. He went on, with their help, to train as a teacher at Makerere University in Kampala (Uganda). On gaining his Certificate, he taught for three years and then went on a government scholarship to study history and political economy for his Master of Arts at the University of Edinburgh (he was the first Tanzanian to study at a British university and only the second to gain a university degree outside Africa. In Edinburgh, partly through his encounter with Fabian thinking, Nyerere began to develop his particular vision of connecting socialism with African communal living.
On his return to Tanganyika, Nyerere was forced by the colonial authorities to make a choice between his political activities and his teaching. He was reported as saying that he was a schoolmaster by choice and a politician by accident. Working to bring a number of different nationalist factions into one grouping he achieved this in 1954 with the formation of TANU (the Tanganyika African National Union). He became President of the Union (a post he held until 1977), entered the Legislative Council in 1958 and became chief minister in 1960. A year later Tanganyika was granted internal self-government and Nyerere became premier. Full independence came in December 1961.
In 1962, Nyerere was elected the first president of Tanganyika, a predecessor to modern Tanzania and a newly independent republic. His administration emphasized decolonizing society and the state, also unsuccessfully pursuing a Pan-Africanist East African Federation with Uganda and Kenya.
In 1967, Nyerere issued the "Arusha Declaration", forbidding government leaders from owning shares or holding directorates in private companies, receiving more than one salary, or owning any houses that they rented to others. In compliance with this declaration, Nyerere sold his second home and his wife donated her poultry farm to a local co-operative.
Nyerereβs integrity, ability as a political orator and organizer, and readiness to work with different groupings was a significant factor in independence being achieved without bloodshed. In this he was helped by the co-operative attitude of the last British governor β Sir Richard Turnbull. In 1964, following a coup in Zanzibar (and an attempted coup in Tanganyika itself) Nyerere negotiated with the new leaders in Zanzibar and agreed to absorb them into the union government. The result was the creation of the Republic of Tanzania.
Nyerere's government also aided in liberation struggles elsewhere in Africa, training and aiding anti-apartheid South African groups and helping to depose Ugandan ruler Idi Amin. In 1985, Nyerere stepped down as President and was succeeded by Ali Hassan Mwinyi in a notably peaceful and stable transition of power.
"Unity will not make us rich, but it can make it difficult for Africa and the African peoples to be disregarded and humiliated."
Julius Nyerere
- Biography : Julius Kambarage Nyerere
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I discovered today that John Tester, who was a US Senator for Montana for 18 years until he was unseated by Tim Sheehy (the man who broke the arm of that (former?) marine that was protesting Israel and the Iran War), hosts a political podcast along with a journalist. Out of sheer boredom I decided to listen to the most recent episode, which came out Thursday, and features an interview with US Senator Adam Schiff, who you might remember led the first impeachment trial against Trump when he was still in the House back in 2020.
I was surprised how enraging it was to listen to. In the first portion of the show, before the interview, Tester is going back and forth with his cohost discussing the Iran War, mostly, and laughing at the antic of Pete Hegseth. The only thing I remember strongly is that there was one point where Tester was laying out the many wasteful follies of Donald Trump and he felt the need to stop and genuflect and say that "the President does some stuff right." Why bother, in this political landscape, to make a meaningless gesture at bipartisanship? My only conclusion is that Tester genuinely believes that Trump has done some good things as President.
Then Schiff came on and the episode became more enraging. They discussed at length how they believed their Republican colleagues aren't evil in their hearts, they are just scared for their jobs and prepared to vote however Trump wants them to. Immediately after that they discussed how, back in June of '25, Senator Padilla tried to get in Kristi Noem's face when she was holding a press conference and got forcibly hauled off by security, and Tester asked Schiff if the republicans were privately aghast by that and Schiff had to somewhat impotently say that he couldn't think of any Republicans who approached Padilla privately. And they both talked a lot about how much they wished fucking John McCain were still around to ream Trump a new one.
Embarrassing, cowardly drivel. Impotent criticisms of Trump. At one point they subtly implied it's the voters fault for voting for bad people and not good people.
Also, I kinda forgot that as mainstream Democrats they were going to be opposed to Trump's particular conducting of the War in Iran while also broadly agreeing that the Iranian government is bad and needs to go and offering no critique of Israel. I've gotten so used to my little media bubble that I forgot about the callous disregard most Americans have for the lives and suffering of the people in nations that are deemed enemies of the US. Test and co. weren't particularly bloodthirsty about it but there was also no sorrow or regret or righteous anger for the indignity forced upon a whole people.