PBS NewsHour, 2022, 8:10... As a debate over how and when to repatriate art continues to roil, one clear-cut case of looting in the 19th century has art leaders taking strong stands now. Jeffrey Brown went to look at a museum that is confronting the controversial origins of its collection
Philanthrocapitalism
DW Documentary, 2022, 42:25… From the video’s description: Across Africa, lobbyists, philanthropists and businesspeople are working to open up the continent to GMOs. They argue that GMOs can provide a miracle solution to two of Africa’s biggest problems: famine and malaria. One of the main supporters of the movement is Bill Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals and founder of the most powerful philanthropic foundation in history. The film shows how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation became the main funder of genetic experiments underway on the continent. Discreetly and beyond the reach of critical voices, scientists are conducting research on the genetic modification of cassava plants and mosquitoes as a solution to the malaria problem.
Universities & Racist Legacies
Vice, 2020, 6:17… Zing Tsjeng visits Oxford to examine the ongoing controversy as universities across the UK reckon with their unsavoury connections to colonialism. People like slave owners, slave traders and white supremacists have historic connections to some of the UK’s finest universities. They don’t put that bit in the prospectus, but it’s the truth.
Colonialism & Opium Addiction
Exporting Homophobia
Vice, 2020, 4:58… A set of laws known as the penal code was exported from Britain to its colonies and is still affecting LGBTQ politics to this very day. The penal code laws made being gay a criminal offense, and while Britain decriminalized homosexuality in 1967, it’s still illegal in over 30 former British colonies. These countries didn’t have a history of homophobia before Britain enforced their own ideas of morality, but thanks to the empire these laws mean many live in fear.