A fighter for the oppressed: Cynthia McKinney (pictured), the former African-American Congresswoman, is famous for her fight for oppressed people everywhere in the world, especially in Africa. In recent years, however, her political career has taken a turbulent course. Our correspondent, Antoine Lokongo, interviewed her when she visited London in April. Here are excerpts.

Q: Would you like to tell our readers why you are in London?

A: I came to attend the Forum on Palestine organised by the Kuala Lumpur Foundation to Criminalise the War, which was founded by the former Malaysian prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohammed.

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Q: How did it go? What did you achieve?

A: We certainly ended on a high note, more so with the news that Spain has accepted a complaint from some victims of George W. Bush's crimes against humanity; and so six members of the Bush administration, including Bush himself, will be investigated by Spain for war crimes.

Q: That is certainly a high note given the fact that in DRCongo, you were nicknamed "Maman Congo". What does this signify for crimes against humanity committed in Congo?

A: Well, we have got an indictment in Spain against 40 members of the Rwandan military for the genocide nobody talks about. It is a genocide that the Rwandan soldiers, President Paul Kagame's soldiers, committed in Congo against the people of Congo.

Q: Are you involved in that?

A: Yes I am involved in that legal action as well.

Q: Many of our readers might be wondering what has become of Cynthia McKinney politically.

A: That is very interesting. Basically the pro-Israeli lobby targeted me and, figuratively, I lived with the bull's eye on my forehead since I was first elected in 1993. And, you know, I did not really talk about it, I did not complain. I have overcome a lot of obstacles, you know. The pro-Israeli lobby filed a lawsuit against the District in Georgia which I represented [on the basis of an old Georgia statute designed to keep black people from getting elected]; and the lawsuit went all the way up to the Supreme Court. The District was represented, and the District was dismantled; and I had to run in another District.

I mean everything you can possibly imagine has happened to me, all because I did not go along with the wishes of the pro-Israeli lobby. And so in 2002 when I ran for re-election, they found a black woman to run against me. They gave her a lot of money, and a lot of positive press, and she won. Then in 2004, I decided to run again for Congress and they worked very hard to keep me from winning. But I won anyway. We ran a great campaign!

Then in 2006 they did it again. They targeted me, and they found a black man to run against me, and he won. It was clear that the pro-Israeli lobby controls both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. So I left the Democratic Party, and I was asked by the Green Party to run as their presidential candidate, and I did. I declared my independence from the national leadership of the United States that was responsible for war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity, and crimes against the peace. It was the most liberating thing I have done.

Then Israel decided to bomb Gaza. I was asked by the founder of the Free Gaza Movement in the United States to join a boat carrying medical supplies and try to break the siege and deliver the medical supplies to the people of Gaza.

I didn't get there because the Israelis rammed our boat and tried to sink us, they tried to kill us in international waters, in the Mediterranean Sea. But this time they overplayed their hand. We had a CNN journalist on board, and so there was an eyewitness who was not an Arab, who could talk to white people around the world and say, this is what the Israelis did. And I don't think they have ever been in that position before when they could not count on the CNN to sanitise their message.

Interestingly, CNN headquarters in Atlanta tried to lie but their journalist who was in the boat with us refused to allow the CNN to change his story. And when that happened - I had been saying all these things all along when I was in Congress but I don't think people heard me - but now they listened, they saw the ramming of the boat on CNN; and so I have been invited to go around the world, including the United States, to tell the story of what I was doing on that boat. I am not an Arab, I am not a Muslim, and so why was I on that boat?

Going around the world talking about the boat has enabled me to tell the story about how I was targeted since Day One by the pro-Israel lobby, and so the ramming of the boat was just a metaphor really for the ramming of my entire political career. I think it has backfired now. Today, more people know that I am willing to take a stand, that I have taken a stand, that I have been punished for taking a stand, and I have sacrificed a lot for my principles.

Now people are saying: "We don't have anybody like you in our country, you represent us too." And so, everywhere I go now, people say, "yeah, you can speak for us too". And all the time, one question is asked of me, whether I'm going to run for Congress again?

Q: Yes, I was going to ask the same question. Now that you say the ramming of your political career has backfired, what are you going to run again?

A: Well, that is the 64 million dollar question. What I think I have to do is find a constituency that does not subject me to the manipulation of the pro-Israel lobby. That lobby was able to manipulate a certain Georgia statute that generally exists only in the South and it was designed to keep black people from getting elected. It does not exist in other parts of the country. And so, that means if I have to run in another part of the country, I would not be subjected to this fossil phenomenon. And I just have to think about it because I am less well known in other parts of the country.

Q: There will be a lot of work to do.

A: Yes, and I don't have much time. Honestly, if I were to run, I would need to be raising money now. So I don't know. But I do know that if I were to run and win, it would be watched all over the world because of the people I have connected with across the world. Which means I would go back into Congress with the support of the world.

Q: But not with the support of the Democrats any more?

A: That is right! It is totally unimaginable to me because that would be the utmost expression of freedom to vote the way I want to vote; in fact, to vote the way people need me to vote, to talk about things that the people need me to talk about on the floor of the House; to introduce the legislation that people really need. So, there is a lot of power in the position. That is why they worked really so hard to get me out of it.

Q: Black people all over the world have celebrated the election of Barack Obama as the first black president of the United States. What do you think of his election? Is it a cause for celebration for us?

A: First of all, if it is an advance to have someone with black skin in the White House, then that is something to be celebrated. If it is an advance to have someone who has black skin and who shares our policy values, then we have not yet arrived. And policy is very important to us. And ultimately, what takes us to the streets and protests is policy.

Q: The global financial crisis is hitting Africa hard, but Africa is not responsible for it. What do you think Obama's African policy is going to be like?

A: It is not going to be good, unfortunately. If you look at President Obama's response to the situation in Zimbabwe and [his] comments about Sudan, it is clear that Africom will be established on the continent, the military presence of the United States will be deepened, and that does not bode well for the African people. That is just very simple.

Q: What about the financial crisis?

A: Well, of course it is a crisis for all of us; black people have always had a financial crisis. And so Africa will be further pillaged, the resources will be further stolen, people of African descent in the United States who would normally concentrate on political linkages in changing US policies now have to worry about making sure that they have a roof over their heads. So it is going to be very difficult, and this is not going to be a quick problem to solve. There are some estimates that this is going to last a decade. And, unfortunately, the people who caused the crisis are the very people who are benefiting from Obama's economic policies. That is the sad thing!

Q: What would be your final word to our readers?

A: Oh well, stay tuned. We've got a lot of work to do together.