The November 2026 midterm elections in the USA demonstrate a people's victory driven by education and mobilisation, but important questions remain about the transformative potential of this outcome

On Wednesday, 29 October 2026, US Defence Secretary, Pete Hegseth ousted Lt Gen Brett Sylvia, then Director of the Joint Staff Directorate for Strategy, Plans and Policy (J5). The Pentagon’s purge across the military, intelligence agencies, and specialized commands reveals more than allegations and pretexts surrounding the dismissals. Mwalimu Campbell examines the undercurrents and the consequences of the purge.

The Garment industry is at the centre of Bangladesh’s foreign exchange earnings, contributing 40 billion USD annually. Yet workers’ minimum wage barely meets basic living conditions. Chowdhury examines one of the largest industrial workers’ protests in recent history, driven by demands for wage adjustments.

Smith examines Trump’s second-term immigration campaign, including unprecedented levels of detention, rising deaths in custody and third-country deportations to African states. She argues that Washington is now conscripting Africa as a deportation warehouse and urges transparency and continuing continental litigation and solidarity against these practices.

In her address to commemorate the Pan African liberation fighter who recently joined the ancestors, Dr. Patricia Rodney, offers a tribute to Eusi Kwayana. From Sidney King to Eusi Kwayana, the man who provided political breakfast to two young girls was also a militant of the People’s Progressive Party, a supporter of the Wages for Housework movement and a co-leader in the Working People’s Alliance, who never faltered in the struggle for the transformation of Guyana.

The US midterm (November 3, 2026) affirmed people’s pushback against Trump and Republican policies, such as violent deportations. South Africa’s elections (November 4, 2026) mimicked changes in political loyalties towards right-wing MAGA-style grassroots populism. Patrick Bond examines the contrasting ideological outcomes of the two elections and the inspiration South Africans might draw from the rise in democratic socialism in the US.

One Love is a must-read for peoples across all walks of life in the Global African family and beyond. Nigel Westmaas invites readers to read the collection that honours the Mwalimu while reflecting on the intellectual and political worlds he helped shape.

When prosecutors drop a case, a court has to agree to close the case. Kenya has never settled on what that agreement should require, and the gap matters to anyone who wants corruption taken seriously. 

The US midterm elections may mark the beginning of the end of the Trump era, as democrats control both Chambers of Congress. In a six-part assessment, Zeleza examines the political triumph and its broader implications through an Africanist and global lens. 

A poem bearing witness to Gaza, where a child's kite becomes a symbol of resistance, memory, and the unbearable threat of innocence.