Black Power Talks: Recent Episodes
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Speeches and interviews with leaders of today's worldwide African liberation struggle. On reparations, building the African nation, combatting police violence, community control of education, health care, African women, the U.S. counterinsurgency, neocolonialism and winning freedom and independence for African people everywhere. Featuring African People's Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Luwezi Kinshasa, Dr. Aisha Fields, Kalambayi Andenet, Akilé Anai, Yejide Orunmila and more.
In this episode of Black Power Talks, we explore “Black Education and the Struggle for Anti-Colonial Free Speech.”
Upon his return to office, United States President Donald J. Trump amplified the attacks against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives. His administration has renamed institutions for confederate figures and overturned previous diversity initiatives inside government employment. President Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from educational institutions with DEI programming. This is the fourth and most intense wave of attacks against African-led education initiatives in recent years.
As DEI initiatives, Critical Race Theory and Black Studies come under attack, today’s guests agree the solution is to build power in the hands of the African community, to struggle for Black Community Control of Education. The speakers make the appeal for African students, intellectuals and culture workers to become African working class intellectuals; to actively use their knowledge and intellectual abilities to challenge colonial capitalism. The martyred Black Studies scholar Walter Rodney defined this as the process of being “grounded” and called such people “guerilla intellectuals.”
On this episode, we are joined by:
- Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the African People’s Socialist Party
- Betty Davis, Chair of the Black is Back Coalition Education Working Group. Sister Betty is a veteran of the Ocean Hill Brownsville struggle.
- Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly Associate Professor of History at Wayne State University, author of Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States
- Dr. Robin Kelley, Professor of History at UCLA author of many books including Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination, Race Rebels and Our History Has Always Been Contraband
- Dr. Yusef Doucet, poet, english professor co-leader of the JOKO Collective
This episode is the outgrowth a June 2024 webinar that was co-sponsored by the Hands Off Uhuru Fightback Coalition and the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations and co-hosted by myself, Dr. Matsemela Odom and Mwezi Odom, Secretary General of the African People’s Socialist Party and Chair of the Hands Off Uhuru Fight Back Coalition.
The complete webinar can be found at The Burning Spear TV Youtube Page.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida.
In 1982, the African People’s Socialist Party formed the African National Reparations Organization (ANRO). ANRO was the first mass organization created to forward the reparations struggle and make reparations a household topic. ANRO’s reach was wide and even garnered the support of people like Michael Jackson who signed an ANRO certificate demanding reparations. ANRO held twelve successive reparations tribunals. The most recent reparations tribunal was in 2003.
The Party and ANRO succeeded. The reparations struggle moved from being solely a legislative and legal conversation. The Reparations struggle has been taken up by the masses of African people in the US, and other parts of the African world.
Still, amidst these significant advances in the reparations struggle, Reparations activists have been targeted by the United States government for their work. On July 29, 2022, the Uhuru Movement was attacked by the US government for their reparations work amidst slanderous claims that attribute the movement’s 40-plus years of leadership in the struggle for reparations to quote malign russian influence unquote. WEB Du Bois, Paul Robeson and others suffered the same accusations.
The same city governments of St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri that have made news in the past years for their support for reparations plans also had their local police forces participate in these attacks.
In today’s episode, we explore current conversations on Reparations amongst African Internationalist educators with excerpts from the
panel discussion “Reparations: Examining The Necessity of Reparations and Efforts To Heal A Political Genocide” as part of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists 2023 Annual Meeting.
In this panel discussion, Dr. Matsemela Odom is joined Dr. Tiffany Caesar of San Francisco State University and Dr. Martin Boston of Sacramento State University. Both are previous guest on Black Power Talks.
Dr. Boston is the co-editor of the Third World Thematics Special Issue The Movement Resonated Deep in my Soul: New Perspectives and Pathways to International Research of South African Social Movements Past and Present. Dr. Matsemela and Dr. Caesar are contributors to this special volume.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks, we learn about the colonial origins of Santa Claus, also known as Sinter Klaas or St. Nick, the patron saint of shipping.
Colonial ideology purports the Christmas holiday to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. In fact, the Christmas holiday season is centered around the obsessive pursuit and aspiration to purchase gxifts, central to this is the Santa Claus Myth.
The Santa Claus myth has its origins in Dutch traditions surrounding the characters Sinter Klass and Zwarte Piet, Black Pete in English. These traditions are celebrated in the Netherlands, also known as Holland, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and throughout the colonial Dutch world with blackface festivals. Africans have organized organized a serious pushback against these festivals, yet they persist.
To help us understand the colonial-capitalist contradictions of the holiday season and the colonial origins of Santa Claus, we share clips from Chairman Omali Yeshitela. The first clip is an excerpt from a conversation between Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Peggy Burke of the Global Afrikan Congress, speaking direct from Amsterdam that took place on November 28th, 2004.
The second clip is an excerpt from a presentation given by Chairman Omali 2 weeks later, on December 19th, 2004, to the regular Sunday community meeting at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Kondji Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Black August is a month of remembrance and resistance dedicated to our African warriors imprisoned for their heroic stance fighting for African liberation.
It's also a month-long salute to the African liberation struggle, recognizing such historic milestones as the Haitian Revolution, the birth of Marcus Garvey, and the deaths of Jonathan Jackson and George Jackson.
The roots of Black August are in the uprisings and rebellions of African freedom fighters who were imprisoned as a result of their political activity during the height of the Black Power Movement of the 1960s.
The tradition of recognizing Black August was initiated in the 1970s by incarcerated Africans in California in observance of the death of George Jackson.
Some of our African freedom fighters such as Jalil Muntaqim, Janine Africa, Janet Africa, Mike Africa Sr., Charles Africa and Sundiata Acoli have been released from captivity. Sundiata and Muntaqim both spent almost 50 years behind bars. Some of our political prisoners were released only when they were critically ill and then died shortly after. Many more remain in prison.
Today, we have a guest from behind enemy lines. Comrade Makandal Cinque is a regular contributor to The Burning Spear newspaper, a monthly Black Power journal in its 54th year of publication.
We discuss his recent article, "U.S. colonial prisons: the present day sale and trade of Africans.” We talk about the history of African slavery and the practice of forced labor inside U.S. prisons today. Support The Burning Spear newspaper's Mafundi Lake Sponsor-a-Prisoner program at theburningspear.com/donate
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. This episode was hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
June is Black Music Month. On this episode of Black Power Talks, we uplift Miriam Makeba. Miriam Makeba’s music played an important role in the African Revolution by building bridges across the colonial borders that divide African people.
We discussed the role of Makeba's music and feature three of her songs: "Into Yam", "Pata Pata", and "Malcom X." We talk about the importance of her appearance in the film Come Back Africa (1959) and the importance of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in her own political transformation. Makeba had two uncles killed in the massacre. As Makeba appeared on the international stage. We discuss her shifts from the New African Movement and SophiaTown Renaissance to her All-African and anti-colonial position.
On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Martin L. Boston, assistant professor of Pan-AfricanStudies and Ethnic Studies at California State University Sacramento. Dr. Boston is the author of the doctoral thesis, “Be(Long)ing: New Africanism & South African Cultural Producers Confronting State Repression in an Era of Exile" and other recent articles on culture and the antiapartheid movement.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom, Kondji Mlimwengu and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks, we observe African Martyrs Day. At the first Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party in September 1981, APSP designated February 21 as “The Day of the African Martyr.” Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965 by agents of United States repression and counterinsurgency.
Amidst the historical importance of the Hands Off Uhuru Hands Off Africa counteroffensive that we have waged, this year’s African Martyrs Day takes on an even deeper significance.
We hear excerpts from a webinar organized by the Hands Off Uhuru Hands Off Africa Defense Campaign, “Long Live Our Fallen Warriors - Day of the African Martyr”. In this episode we hear from:
- Akile Anai, Director of Media and Communications for the African People’s Socialist Party
- Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International
- Tafari Mugeri Director of Organization for the ASI Africa Region
- Jalil Muntaqim, former political prisoner and veteran of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army
- And Chairman Omali Yeshitela, head of the Uhuru Movement
To view the entire webinar, visit The Burning Spear TV Youtube Page or the HandsOff Uhuru Facebook page.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we say NO THANKS TO COLONIALISM. We expose the colonial mythology of Thanksgiving as the ideological support for Manifest Destiny and European/White North American colonial-capitalist domination; namely but not only the project of settler-colonialism. We speak with two activists and educators about the long history of anticolonial resistance and African and Indigenous solidarity.
We discuss a variety of topics such as the colonial origins of the Thanksgiving holiday, created amidst the genocide of indigenous people, namely the mass lynching of Lakota people by the US military, the struggle for an America without borders, and the continued resistance of indigenous people.
Our guest are Dr. Jimmy Patino and Ron Gochez.
Dr. Patino holds a PhD in Chicano History from the University of California San Diego and is a Professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Dr. Patino is the author of the book Raza Si, Migra No! Chicano Movement Struggles for Immigrant Rights in San Diego which chronicles the activism of Chicano movement activist Herman Baca and the Committee on Chicano Rights (CCR).
Ron Gochez is the Undersecretary of Union Del Barrio in Los Angeles, California. Ron is also a history teacher in South Central Los Angeles. In 2013, he ran for Los Angeles City Council. He currently leads work with the Association of Raza Educators and the Committees of Resistance.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks we lift up the memory of late Calypsonian Black Stalin of Trinidad and Tobago.
Black Stalin passed away in December 2022 at the age of 81. Black Stalin was a five-time winner of the Calypso Monarch competition and was donned Calypso king of the world in 1999. Still, Black Stalin was not merely a calypso singer, Black Stalin used his music to forward the liberation of African people specifically and all oppressed people generally. Even after our struggle suffered crippling military defeats, Black Stalin used his music to challenge colonial powers and profess the never-ending struggle for African freedom.
This is Part One of a two-part episode with our guest Trini Trent. Trini Trent is a video blogger and podcaster from, in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago. For the past 11 years he has operated the YouTube channel Trini Trent TV where he has offered important political analysis of music and culture throughout the African world.
In this part we discuss the anti-colonial roots of Calypso and the revolutionary period that produced Black Stalin and his cohort of artists and African revolutionaries.
Trini Trent can be viewed on this Youtube page @TriniTrentTV. He can also be followed on most other social media platforms.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In 1982, the African People’s Socialist Party formed the African National Reparations Organization (ANRO). ANRO was the first mass organization created to forward the reparations struggle and make reparations a household topic. ANRO’s reach was wide and even garnered the support of people like Michael Jackson who signed an ANRO certificate demanding reparations. ANRO held twelve successive reparations tribunals. The most recent reparations tribunal was in 2003.
The Party and ANRO succeeded. The reparations struggle moved from being solely a legislative and legal conversation. The Reparations struggle has been taken up by the masses of African people in the US, and other parts of the African world.
Still, amidst these significant advances in the reparations struggle, Reparations activists have been targeted by the United States government for their work. On July 29, 2022, the Uhuru Movement was attacked by the US government for their reparations work amidst slanderous claims that attribute the movement’s 40-plus years of leadership in the struggle for reparations to quote malign russian influence unquote. WEB Du Bois, Paul Robeson and others suffered the same accusations.
The same city governments of St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri that have made news in the past years for their support for reparations plans also had their local police forces participate in these attacks.
In today’s episode, we explore current conversations on Reparations amongst African Internationalist educators with excerpts from the
panel discussion “Reparations: Examining The Necessity of Reparations and Efforts To Heal A Political Genocide” as part of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists 2023 Annual Meeting.
In this panel discussion, Dr. Matsemela Odom is joined Dr. Tiffany Caesar of San Francisco State University and Dr. Martin Boston of Sacramento State University. Both are previous guest on Black Power Talks.
Dr. Boston is the co-editor of the Third World Thematics Special Issue The Movement Resonated Deep in my Soul: New Perspectives and Pathways to International Research of South African Social Movements Past and Present. Dr. Matsemela and Dr. Caesar are contributors to this special volume.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we address current FBI and Department of Justice economic sanctions against African self-determination.
As Black History Month 2023 drew to a close, the U.S. government and its partners in the financial sector escalated its campaign against the right of today’s Black Power Movement to freedom of speech and association.
The DOJ and FBI have extended their efforts to stop the Uhuru Movement from continuing its 50-year history of work building African self-determination into the economic arena.
In early March 2023, Regions Bank notified the Uhuru Movement’s nonprofit African People’s Education and Defense Fund that their “relationship would be terminated”, including for accounts tied to programs of the Black Power Blueprint. The Uhuru Movement has over 20 years history dealing with Regions.
The Black Power Blueprint is an Uhuru Movement project building economic development for the impoverished African working class community of North St. Louis. Thousands of people, including the white community have donated to these programs.
To view the entire webinar, visit The Burning Spear TV Youtube Page or the HandsOff Uhuru Facebook page.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks, we observe African Martyrs Day. At the first Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party in September 1981, APSP designated February 21 as “The Day of the African Martyr.” Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965 by agents of United States repression and counterinsurgency.
Amidst the historical importance of the Hands Off Uhuru Hands Off Africa counteroffensive that we have waged, this year’s African Martyrs Day takes on an even deeper significance.
We hear excerpts from a webinar organized by the Hands Off Uhuru Hands Off Africa Defense Campaign, “Long Live Our Fallen Warriors - Day of the African Martyr”. In this episode we hear from:
- Akile Anai, Director of Media and Communications for the African People’s Socialist Party
- Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International
- Tafari Mugeri Director of Organization for the ASI Africa Region
- Jalil Muntaqim, former political prisoner and veteran of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army
- And Chairman Omali Yeshitela, head of the Uhuru Movement
To view the entire webinar, visit The Burning Spear TV Youtube Page or the HandsOff Uhuru Facebook page.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
"We put these people in the same camp of what Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, is doing here with the banning of black history from education. By taking out history; by taking out the actual voice and opinions and the world view of black people from the public eye, they're trying to prevent what is even able to be communicated to our people and to the rest of the world." - Akile Anai
This Black History month, independent black community radio came under attack by the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners who voted to revoke $86,801 in funding for Black Power 96.3 FM in St. Petersburg, Florida - home of Black Power Talks.
We talk with African People's Socialist Party Director of media and communications Akile Anai. We also hear from:
- Eddie Maultsby, Black Power 96 Station Manager
- Janice Kant, African People's Education and Defense Fund Administrator
- Jabaar Edmond, host of Tampa Bay Breakfast Club, representing 99 Jams Carifesta Radio
- Allan Perry, aka Dally Boy, author and cultural worker
Black Power Talks is produced at Black Power 96.3 FM, WBPU in St. Petersburg, Florida. This episode was hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele. For more info, visit www.blackpower96.org.
In the early morning hours of Friday, July 29, 2022, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), aided by local police, raided the offices and homes of members of the Uhuru Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri, seizing computers, hard drives, phones, office equipment and files.
They temporarily detained APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela, APSP Deputy Chair Ona Zene Yeshitela, APSP Agitprop Director Akile Anai, APSC Chairwoman Penny, and APSC members Kitty, Jesse and Amanda.
This episode of Black Power Talks presents first hand accounts of the raids and an analysis of the government's actions. Learn about the history of U.S. government counterinsurgency programs within the U.S. and abroad. Hear statements from social justice organizations, declaring "Hands off Uhuru!".
Includes comments from:
- African People's Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela
- African People's Solidarity Committee Chairwoman Penny Hess
- Union del Barrio leader Benjamin Prado
- New York City Councilman and former New York State AssemblymanCharles Barron and his wife Inez, former NYC Councilwoman
- St. Louis Alderman Jesse Todd
- New York State Senator Jabari Brisport
- Kofi Taharka, National Chairman of the National Black United Front
- Viola Plummer, Chairperson of the December 12th Movement
- Al-Awda New York Palestinian Right to Return Coalition representative
- International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild representative
Just months after the FBI's brutal assault against the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement, a report surfaced showing that the FBI surveilled the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin for four decades.
In today's program, we will turn the spotlight on some of the popular African artists who have been surveilled, harassed and targeted by the FBI and other government police agencies over the decades.
We discuss the surveillance, harassment, and sabotage of the careers of African culture workers and entertainers such as:
- Billie Holiday
- Paul Robeson
- Miriam Makeba
- Hugh Masekela
- Horace Tapscott
- Nina Simone
- Aretha Franklin
- and More
We begin by hearing from Yusef Doucette of the JOKO Collective in Los Angeles, California who addressed the Black is Back Coalition’s Black Power Conference on Sunday November 6, 2022 in Washington DC. Yusef spoke on the long history of US counterinsurgency against African culture workers, a campaign that dates back to the 18th century.
Yusef Doucette is a member of the JOKO Collective, a college professor, and a doctoral candidate. Prof. Doucette ends by underscoring the importance of the arts to liberation struggles.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we talk with Angelika Mueller-Rowry about her husband, Robert Rowry, an African man who died chained, inhumanely chained to a prison bed in 2014. This story is extremely relevant in conversation with contemporary discussions about mass imprisonment in the US.
On Thursday December 8, 2022, the Women’s National Basketball Association superstar Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penal colony where she had been held for a period of time following her conviction on drug charges.
Upon her release, President Biden spoke of the intolerable prison conditions in Russia. Yet, the cases we chronicle in this episode shows the intolerable and inhumane conditions in the US. In Mississippi, the African man Allen Russell received life in prison for 1.5 ounces of marijuana; a conviction the Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld. Robert Rowry was imprisoned for only a few grams of marijuana and eventually died in prison over $50 of crack cocaine.
In the United Sates, drug sentences commonly become death penalties for African people.
Our guest is Angelika Mueller-Rowry a resident of North St. Louis, Missouri, the wife of Robert Rowry, a working class African man. Robert was a mechanic and a blues musician.
In this episode, Angelika chronicles:
- The life of Robert Rowry in North St. Louis
- The shifting conditions in his community of North St. Louis following the US counterinsurgency war and the imposition of a drug economy on African communities;
- The inhumane conditions that Robert experienced and the circumstances around his death;
- Her struggle for justice for Robert and all other incarcerated people.
We will also hear excerpts of two of Robert's blues recordings, James Brown's "It's a Man's World" and Albert King's "I'll Play the Blues for You." In his early years, Robert toured with Albert King.
To support justice for Robert Rowry and people like him, visit missouricure.org.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks, we learn about the colonial origins of Santa Claus, also known as Sinter Klaas or St. Nick, the patron saint of shipping.
Colonial ideology purports the Christmas holiday to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. In fact, the Christmas holiday season is centered around the obsessive pursuit and aspiration to purchase gifts, central to this is the Santa Claus Myth.
The Santa Claus myth has its origins in Dutch traditions surrounding the characters Sinter Klass and Zwarte Piet, Black Pete in English. These traditions are celebrated in the Netherlands, also known as Holland, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and throughout the colonial Dutch world with blackface festivals. Africans have organized organized a serious pushback against these festivals, yet they persist.
To help us understand the colonial-capitalist contradictions of the holiday season and the colonial origins of Santa Claus, we share clips from Chairman Omali Yeshitela. The first clip is an excerpt from a conversation between Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Peggy Burke of the Global Afrikan Congress, speaking direct from Amsterdam that took place on November 28th, 2004.
The second clip is an excerpt from a presentation given by Chairman Omali 2 weeks later, on December 19th, 2004, to the regular Sunday community meeting at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Today on Black Power Talks we examine the case of two wrongfully convicted African men and the organized pushback they are waging against the system that stole almost thirty years total from them.
The US prison system plays a significant role in the colonial mode of production. Chairman Omali Yeshitela notes that “Massive prison building projects were established all over the U.S. as white communities vied and fought for prisons to be able to provide colonizer nation white workers well-paying jobs at the expense of tens of millions of colonized African people stuffed into these concentration camps.”
In the United States, Africans are more likely to be incarcerated for the same crimes that whites might never see jail time for. The United States Sentencing Commission found that African men will get about 20 percent more time than white men when they are convicted for the same crime. In states like Nevada, Black people make up 8 percent of the state and one-third of the people in prison. White people make up 54 percent of the state, are 83 percent of the people arrested but are only 44 percent of the people sent to prison.
This reveals the colonial nature of US prisons, whether they work a job or not, the incarceration of African bodies alone produces wealth for the system.
The very similar cases of our guests, two wrongfully convicted African men, evinces the measures through which the colonial state will go to maintain the status quo. Their stories also show the commitment of the formerly incarcerated to clear their names and to fight for their brothers and sisters who are still locked behind bars.
Our first guest is LeRoy Jones. In 2007, LeRoy Jones was arrested and later falsely convicted for a robbery he did not commit with not even any material evidence linking him to the crime he was accused of in the state of Nevada. Leroy was released from prison in October 2022. Leroy's story was recently chronicled in the The Burning Spear newspaper.
Our second guest is Omar Gent. In 2008, Omar was arrested in Colorado for a robbery he did not commit. The police broke all sorts of evidentiary procedures and the state ignored important judicial processes that could have acquitted Omar. Omar was also released in October 2022. Omar leads the "Free Our Brothers" Campaign. You can find more about his campaign at freeourbrothers.com
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we say NO THANKS TO COLONIALISM. We expose the colonial mythology of Thanksgiving as the ideological support for Manifest Destiny and European/White North American colonial-capitalist domination; namely but not only the project of settler-colonialism. We speak with two activists and educators about the long history of anticolonial resistance and African and Indigenous solidarity.
We discuss a variety of topics such as the colonial origins of the Thanksgiving holiday, created amidst the genocide of indigenous people, namely the mass lynching of Lakota people by the US military, the struggle for an America without borders, and the continued resistance of indigenous people.
Our guest are Dr. Jimmy Patino and Ron Gochez.
Dr. Patino holds a PhD in Chicano History from the University of California San Diego and is a Professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Dr. Patino is the author of the book Raza Si, Migra No! Chicano Movement Struggles for Immigrant Rights in San Diego which chronicles the activism of Chicano movement activist Herman Baca and the Committee on Chicano Rights (CCR).
Ron Gochez is the Undersecretary of Union Del Barrio in Los Angeles, California. Ron is also a history teacher in South Central Los Angeles. In 2013, he ran for Los Angeles City Council. He currently leads work with the Association of Raza Educators and the Committees of Resistance.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On Monday, October 24, 2022, the United States’ “Justice Department” held a press conference to accuse China of breaking U.S. laws in its efforts to challenge U.S. power on the world stage.
They charged several Chinese nationals with spying on behalf of Beijing and seeking to disrupt a U.S. government investigation into the Chinese technology company, Huawei.
In New Jersey, the FBI charged two Chinese nationals with conspiring to act as illegal agents on behalf of China by using a “purported academic center in that country to seek sensitive information from U.S. academic institutions,” end quote, thus criminalizing working relationships between universities in the U.S. and China.
These indictments come on the heels of FBI raids targeting African and Puerto Rican organizers in the U.S., who are accused of acting as illegal foreign agents on behalf of Russia and of Cuba.
This episode presents excerpts from a Sunday, October 31st panel discussion with African and Indigenous activists, representing liberation Movements in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Haiti and the continent of Africa, responding to this current wave of aggression by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation targeting anti-colonial struggles. Hear from:
- Benjamin Prado, UnderSecretary General of Union del Barrio
- Dahoud Andre, organizer with Komokoda, the Committee to Mobilize Against Dictatorship in Haiti
- Ana Lopez with the Frente Independentista Boricua
- Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International
- Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the African People’s Socialist Party
In this episode of Black Power Talks we uplift the legacy of the martyred revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, the president of Burkina Faso. Sankara was killed 35 years ago on October 15, 1987, at the age of 37. His assassins were tried and convicted in 2022.
Sankara gave Burkina Faso its name, which means "land of the upright or incorruptible people."
Sankara’s program challenged French colonialism and neocolonial policies in Africa with policies focused on preventing famine with agrarian self-sufficiency and land reform, prioritizing education with a nationwide literacy campaign and promoting public health. Sankara built schools, health centers, water reservoirs, and railways. He combatted desertification, redistributed land, eliminated poll taxes and rent. He created policies that overturned the oppression of women and elevated the role of women in the Burkinabe government and military.
Sankara is loved by the African working class, affectionately known as the African Che Guevarra although his reach is even further than that. Sankara’s legacy has fueled a generation of anticolonial activity on the continent and throughout the African world.
We talk with Cinque Brath, the co-founder and president of the Elombe Brath Foundation, about the work of his father to build African anti colonial resistance. As a young man, Elombe was a member of the African National Pioneers Movement led by Carlos Cooks, and understudy of Marcus Garvey. Elombe co-founded the African Jazz Art Society and Studios, a significant front that re-claimed Jazz as an African art, and co-founded the Patrice Lumumba Coalition which organized a cultural boycott against apartheid in the 1980s and 1990s.
This episode of Black Power Talks is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom. The show is produced by Black Power 96.3 FM radio in St. Petersburg, Florida. www.blackpower96.org.
This episode features a roundtable discussion about the 2022 film “The Woman King”, starring Viola Davis. The feature length movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 9th, 2022 and opened in theaters on September 16th. Panelists explore key issues raised in the movie's plot, including:
- The impact of slavery and the colonial mode of production on African people and on the rise of the European colonial nation
- Class conflict within the African Nation
- The role of African women as leaders, warriors, makers and shapers of history
- Unification of the African Nation through destruction of tribal or country boundaries
Hear from:
- Dr. Matsemela, historian and newly appointed President of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement
- Secretary General Luwezi Kinshasa of the African Socialist International. SG Luwezi was born in the Congo and joins this program directly from London where he lives and works in exile
- Kalambayi Andenet, former president of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement, who currently serves as the Midwest regional organizer for the African People’s Socialist Party, from her birthplace of St. Louis, Missouri
- Tafarie Mugeri, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party in Occupied Azania, named South Africa by the colonizers
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU, Black Power 96.3 FM radio in St. Petersburg, Florida. This episode is hosted by Solyana Bekele.
From Friday September 2nd through Sunday September 4th, 2022, the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement held its 30th annual convention in St. Louis, Missouri.
The theme of the convention was Defending the Black Community! We Are Our Own Liberators! The theme for the 2022 InPDUM Convention had historical and immediate importance to the liberation of African people.
In recent months, colonial-capitalism, and its collaborators, have increased their assaults against Africans and other colonized people. This includes the May 14, 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, the May 24, 2022 mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and the July 2, 2022 flamethrower attack on the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The apex of this assault against African independence has been July 29, 2022 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) military assault against the Uhuru Movement.
At the convention, our very own Dexter Mlimwengu was renamed Kondji. Kondji moderated the capstone panel Defending the African Community (African Community Defense and Survival). In this episode, we present excerpts from that panel.
The panel included:
- Amanda Wallace, former CPS (Child Protective Services) worker and founder of Operation Stop CPS, provides advice for African families dealing with CPS investigations that disrupt the lives of more than half of all black children in the U.S. today.
- Chimurenga Selembao, African Peoples Socialist Party Director of Organization, details security protocols for dealing with encounters with police and FBI at home and while driving or bicycling, and cautions activists on dangerous uses of social media.
- Dr. Aisha Fields, Director of the All-African Peoples Development and Empowerment Project, explains the need and role for independent African rescue and relief mobilization.
- Chairman Omali Yeshitela, leader of the Uhuru Movement, explains the role of theory and knowledge of identity in successful self-defense.
- Alderman Jesse Todd of St. Louis's 18th Ward, discusses how our security is in our work serving our community.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom, Kondji Mlimwengu and Solyana Bekele bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Now that you have seen The Woman King, revisit the anti-colonial and African Internationalist film, Bush Mama.
On this episode of Black Power Talks we will be presenting to you a roundtable discussion on the 1979 film Bush Mama by Haile Gerima.
Bush Mama is described elsewhere as the story of Dorothy and her partner T.C. TC is a Vietnam veteran who thought he would return home to a "hero's welcome." Instead TC is falsely arrested and imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Dorothy’s life revolves around the welfare office and a community facing poverty and unemployment. As a result of the film's events, both the main characters develop revolutionary consciousness. Bush Mama ends with Dorothy committing an act of revolutionary violence.
In this roundtable discussion you will hear from some previous Black Power Talks guests, and some new voices. Alongside Dr. Matsemela and Dexter, you will hear from Michelle Mwezi Odom, Denzel Draughn, and Parrish Davis of San Diego, California. You will also hear from Themba Tshibanda of St. Louis.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we speak with Professor Layla Brown about her scholarship, the covid-19 pandemic and the way forward. Professor Brown’s work is emblematic of that anticolonial turn, or might we say anticolonial return, that has taken place in Africana Studies. This anticolonial return has been directly impacted by the spread of African Internationalism, evinced in the Chairman Omali Yeshitela's 2019 Oxford Union "Africa Debate".
Professor Brown is trained as a Cultural Anthropologist, researcher, and educator. She earned her PhD from Duke University and specializes in the contemporary and historical study of social movements in the African Diaspora. She places specific focus on African communities in the Americas as well as African women liberation. She is Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Africana Studies at Northeastern University but is currently a visiting professor in Germany. Professor Brown’s recent research looks at the covid-19 colonial virus pandemic, African resistance, and colonial domination. Her recent article “The Pandemic of Racial Capitalism: Another World is Possible” was published in From the European South.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Kondji Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks, we discussed the role of the African Intellectual in the world. African students and teachers everywhere are entering into their fall semesters. Some students are beginning the end of their educational journeys and some are just getting started.
On campuses, African students are organizing summits where they tackle some of the pressing issues in the world such as the mass imprisonment of African people, reparations, and the university investments into the colonial settler state of Israel.
On the flip side, many African students will increasingly feel the pressure to decide their postgraduate career plans.
In his fundamental essay, "The Role of African Intellectuals in the World," Secretary General Luwezi Kinshasa identifies the colonial contradictions of higher education and lays out a blueprint for African students and intellectuals to join the revolution. Students cannot be apolitical because the colleges they attend are not apolitical. The role of intellectuals is to solve the solution of a given society. Colonialism uses African genius to solve colonial problems. Luwezi calls on African students to become African Working Class intellectuals and solve the problems of the African Nation.
In this episode, we hear from a presentation that SG Luwezi gave on the role of African Intellectuals. Luwezi the Secretary General of the African Socialist International. Under the leadership of Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Luwezi oversees the work of the African People’s Socialist Party around the world, including but not limited to Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. SG Luwezi was born in the Congo and is currently based in London. He is affectionately known as Mwalimu, which means “teacher” for his extensive knowledge and engaged story-telling about the history of the world’s peoples.
Then we talk with Solyana Bekele. Solyana is the Managing Editor and a writer for The Burning Spear Newspaper. Solyana is also a junior at Hampton University, one of the oldest Black colleges in the US. Solyana studies Political Science and Journalism. Solyana was born in Ethiopia and raised in the Washington DC area.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we’re going to showcase several African poets and talk about the role of poetry and culture in the African anti-colonial struggle.
We know that the spoken word is powerful. If not, colonizers would not have stripped Africans of their names, their language, their traditions and their songs.
The anticolonial writer from Martinique Aime Cesaire wrote extensively on the power of poetry, the spoken word and culture. In the important essay, “Poetry and Knowledge”, Cesaire argued that poetry was an anticolonial tool because it challenged the conventions of colonial society and allowed the oppressed to imagine new worlds.
In the essay, "Poetry is not a luxury," Audre Lorde wrote, “poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hope and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into tangible action. Poetry is the way we can help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.”
There is not a time in the struggle for African liberation that we have not seen the power of spoken word, poetry and music as anticolonial cultural influencers.
Today we will speak with revolutionary culture workers including FoFeet Alkebulan. FoFeet is the Economic Development Coordinator and organizer with the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement in St. Louis. As part of her organizing efforts, FoFeet organizes the Musa Abantu Poetry Nights for the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement.
FoFeet is joined by Valerie VKween Young from St. Louis Missouri, Jheanelle Owens from Jamaica, and Dzidzor from Boston.
We also showcase the poetry of Claude McKay and Gil Scot Heron.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom, Dexter Mlimwengu and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Black August is a month of remembrance and resistance dedicated to our African warriors imprisoned for their heroic stance fighting for African liberation.
It's also a month-long salute to the African liberation struggle, recognizing such historic milestones as the Haitian Revolution, the birth of Marcus Garvey, and the deaths of Jonathan Jackson and George Jackson.
The roots of Black August are in the uprisings and rebellions of African freedom fighters who were imprisoned as a result of their political activity during the height of the Black Power Movement of the 1960s.
The tradition of recognizing Black August was initiated in the 1970s by incarcerated Africans in California in observance of the death of George Jackson.
Some of our African freedom fighters such as Jalil Muntaqim, Janine Africa, Janet Africa, Mike Africa Sr., Charles Africa and Sundiata Acoli have been released from captivity. Sundiata and Muntaqim both spent almost 50 years behind bars. Some of our political prisoners were released only when they were critically ill and then died shortly after. Many more remain in prison.
Today, we have a guest from behind enemy lines. Comrade Makandal Cinque is a regular contributor to The Burning Spear newspaper, a monthly Black Power journal in its 54th year of publication.
We discuss his recent article, "U.S. colonial prisons: the present day sale and trade of Africans.” We talk about the history of African slavery and the practice of forced labor inside U.S. prisons today. Support The Burning Spear newspaper's Mafundi Lake Sponsor-a-Prisoner program at theburningspear.com/donate
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. This episode was hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
From August 7th through August 12th, 2022, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to South Africa, the Congo and Rwanda, to fight for continued access to the continent’s wealth in the face of growing competition from China and Russia.
He also sought to win support for the U.S. condemnation of Russia and arming of Ukraine, in the face of the refusal of African countries to budge from a neutral position in the United Nations. His visit followed visits to Africa by leaders of Russia and France.
To understand America's doomed effort to maintain colonial control, we talk with:
- Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International. SG Luwezi was born in Congo and is currently in exile in London. He speaks English, French and several African languages including Lingala, the language of the African region of his birth.
- Tafarie Mugeri, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party in Occupied Azania, also known by its colonial name of South Africa. He is the Director of Organization on the African continent for the African Socialist International.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. This episode was hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In the early morning hours of Friday, July 29, 2022, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), aided by local police, raided the offices and homes of members of the Uhuru Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri, seizing computers, hard drives, phones, office equipment and files.
They temporarily detained APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela, APSP Deputy Chair Ona Zene Yeshitela, APSP Agitprop Director Akile Anai, APSC Chairwoman Penny, and APSC members Kitty, Jesse and Amanda.
This episode of Black Power Talks presents first hand accounts of the raids and an analysis of the government's actions. Learn about the history of U.S. government counterinsurgency programs within the U.S. and abroad. Hear statements from social justice organizations, declaring "Hands off Uhuru!".
Includes comments from:
- African People's Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela
- African People's Solidarity Committee Chairwoman Penny Hess
- Union del Barrio leader Benjamin Prado
- New York City Councilman and former New York State Assemblyman Charles Barron and his wife Inez, former NYC Councilwoman
- St. Louis Alderman Jesse Todd
- New York State Senator Jabari Brisport
- Kofi Taharka, National Chairman of the National Black United Front
- Viola Plummer, Chairperson of the December 12th Movement
- Al-Awda New York Palestinian Right to Return Coalition representative
- International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild representative
June is Black Music Month. On this episode of Black Power Talks, we uplift Miriam Makeba. Miriam Makeba’s music played an important role in the African Revolution by building bridges across the colonial borders that divide African people.
We discussed the role of Makeba's music and feature three of her songs: "Into Yam", "Pata Pata", and "Malcom X." We talk about the importance of her appearance in the film Come Back Africa (1959) and the importance of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in her own political transformation. Makeba had two uncles killed in the massacre. As Makeba appeared on the international stage. We discuss her shifts from the New African Movement and SophiaTown Renaissance to her All-African and anti-colonial position.
On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Martin L. Boston, assistant professor of Pan-AfricanStudies and Ethnic Studies at California State University Sacramento. Dr. Boston is the author of the doctoral thesis, “Be(Long)ing: New Africanism & South African Cultural Producers Confronting State Repression in an Era of Exile" and other recent articles on culture and the antiapartheid movement.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom, Dexter Mlimwengu and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks we will be presenting to you a roundtable discussion on the 1979 film Bush Mama by Haile Gerima.
Bush Mama is described elsewhere as the story of Dorothy and her partner T.C. TC is a Vietnam veteran who thought he would return home to a "hero's welcome." Instead TC is falsely arrested and imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Dorothy’s life revolves around the welfare office and a community facing poverty and unemployment. As a result of the film's events, both the main characters develop revolutionary consciousness. Bush Mama ends with Dorothy committing an act of revolutionary violence.
In this roundtable discussion you will hear from some previous Black Power Talks guests, and some new voices. Alongside Dr. Matsemela and Dexter, you will hear from Michelle Mwezi Odom, Denzel Draughn, and Parrish Davis of San Diego, California. You will also hear from Themba Tshibanda of St. Louis.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Today, we are excited to examine Kendrick Lamar and his new album Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. Lamar has produced his first album in five years, following much anticipation. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers double album that engages a variety of topics that pertain to the lived experience of African people. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers is representative of Lamar’s general intervention into hip hop.
Over the past 12 years, Lamar’s music has defied the form and genre that has historically been applied to hip hop culture and rap music. There has historically been a division between what people call “conscious rap” and “hardcore or gangsta rap”.
Kendrick Lamar’s immediate entry into hip hop has been to give definition to the African experience under US counterinsurgency. This was the point of his debut studio album Section .80 and it has continued for the past 11 years.
While defining the conditions that Africans endure, Kendrick, like many other African artists, does not point the political way forward. In this episode we take it upon ourselves as African Internationalists to interpret Kendrick Lamar's work and identify the way forward.
To do this, we are joined by our newest co-host, and die-hard K.Dot fan, Solyana Bekele.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Today on Black Power Talks we uplift and look at the importance of May 19th to the anticolonial struggle for liberation. Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. Malcolm’s Birthday is an important day of political organization. Just six days before African Liberation Day, May 25th, Malcolm’s birthday is often celebrated as an important kick off to a week-long mobilization for African Independence.
Malcolm shares his birthday with Ho Chi Minh and Yuri Kochiyama. May 19 has often underscored the importance of Afro-Asian Solidarity. In this episode we explore this alongside the importance of May 19 to anti-colonial struggle for liberation of African and colonized people around the world.
This episode contains excerpts from the #OmaliTaughtMe episode entitled "Remember May 19: Uplifting Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh" featuring Chairman Omali Yeshitela and our very own Matsemela Odom. The full video of the talk can be viewed at The Burning Spear TV Youtube Channel.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this special 100th episode of Black Power Talks we uplift African Liberation Day. African Liberation Day is May 25. May 25, 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the first African Liberation Day mobilizations in the United States. May 25, 2022 also marks the 50th anniversary of the African People’s Socialist Party.
As African Internationalists, we know that Africa is not free and that the Organization of African Unity, now rebranded the African Union (AU), served the colonial and neocolonial interests of legitimizing the colonial borders in Africa. These colonial borders were forced upon African people through centuries of colonial assault that produced the wealth of the white world at the expense of the African world: the colonial mode of production. African Internationalists observe African Liberation Day as a part of our quest for true African Liberation, the way Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba and others envisioned it: A united socialist Africa governed by the African Working Class.
We have a real treat for you. First, we introduce our newest team member, Solyana Bekele. Second, we dug in the crates and found a real gem in our archives: the 1973 African Liberation Day presentation by Chairman Omali Yeshitela entitled "We Are At War" delivered in Gainesville, Florida.
For more information on African Liberation Day mobilizations happening around the African World, visit alduhuru.org.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On part two of our reparations series, we lift up a leader in the struggle for reparations to African People, Queen Mother Audley Moore. Elements of the reparation demand go back to the 19th century. Yet, in 1957, Queen Mother Moore gave the struggle an important mass character and organization when she formed the Universal Association of Ethiopian Women (UAEW) in New Orleans. Queen Mother Moore and the UAEW took their reparation demand to the United Nations. The UN shot it down but she passed on the legacy of her work to African National Reparations Organization and the Uhuru Movement.
To discuss Queen Mother Moore with us today, we are joined by Dr. Tiffany Caesar, the Margaret Walker Center Visiting Mellon Scholar and History Lecturer at Jackson State University in Mississippi. Dr. Tiffany gained her PhD in African American and African Studies at Michigan State University in 2019 where she completed the research project entitled “African Women Stories: Mothering in African Centered Educational Leadership.” Tiffany has researched African women’s stories from the United States to South Africa (Occupied Azania). Her recent project is a public history project on Queen Mother Moore and New Iberia, Louisiana.
You can find more information on the Queen Mother Moore Celebration being held in New Iberia at the Iberia African American Historical Society: iaahs.org.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In 1982, the African People’s Socialist Party convened the first international tribunal on reparations in Brooklyn, New York. The verdict is that Africans in the US are owed no less than 14 trillion dollars in damages, or about one million dollars per family. The African People’s Socialist Party aimed to make reparations a household word by taking it out of the hands of the legislative and legal sector and giving it to the African working class. It has succeeded.
Black Power Talks salutes the 40th anniversary of the Reparations Tribunal. Throughout 2022, we will be presenting a series of episodes that explore the issue of reparations from an African Internationalist perspective.
This episode is part one in that series. It is entitle "Make Wall Street Pay Reparations" and features excerpts from a March 20, 2022 panel by the same name. The panel discussion featured Matsemela Odom, Pres. Yejide Orunmila of the African National Women's Organization, and Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People's Solidarity Committee. More information on the Make Wall Street Pay Reparations campaign can be found at uhurusolidarity.org.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks, we discuss the Black Arts Movement, the role of the African artist and African revolution with Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets. Abiodun is one of the founders of The Last Poets and penned some of their most widely known works such as New York, New York and When the Revolution Comes. He is one of the original emcees.
Abiodun discusses the origins of the Last Poets and their political inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X to the poet Keorapetse Kgositsile from South Africa, father of Earl Sweatshirt.
Abiodun also discusses his new album Gratitude, a family endeavor. You can learn more about Abiodun and the Last Poets at thelastpoets.com. You can find his album wherever you get your music.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
It’s been a month since the beginning of Russia’s military campaign to stop NATO expansion in Ukraine.
The March 2nd vote in the United Nations General Assembly on a resolution denouncing Russia revealed a split between the white countries of the world and many of the countries of Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, 52 of which either voted against the resolution, abstained or did not cast a vote at all.
On today’s episode of Black Power Talks, we explore the African Internationalist perspective on this war.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
We discussed hip hop and politics with our guest for this episode is Jermaine"Complex" Simpson. Complex is a rapper from San Diego, California.
Born Jermaine Simpson, Complex was raised in the heart of the African community of San Diego. Complex is the author of four albums, West Coast MC’n, State of Mind, A Beautiful Mess and Wrath and Roses. Much like his favorite artists, Ice Cube, Rakim, Tupac, and among others, Complex straddles the lines of a few genres of hip hop, namely the hardcore hip hop and the much more political genres of rap music. He explores topics such as mental health, reparations, police terror, and African resistance.
In his colonial job, Jermaine is a trained counselor and holds four different degrees and many other certifications but his profession is as a hip hop artist. After a long hiatus, Jermaine released his first studio album in over 15 years in January 2021, A Beautiful Mess. In January 2022, he released his fourth album, Wrath and Roses. You can find his music at https://complexgotbars.com/
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we engage what is amongst the most important interventions into socialist and communist thought ever, Colonialism as the Mode of Production. Since its inception, the African People’s Socialist Party, the Uhuru Movement and the ideology of African Internationalism has clearly stated that the African struggle for liberation is against colonialism.
In his recent treatise, Colonialism as The Mode of Production, Chairman Omali Yeshitela synthesizes 50 years of his relentless leadership and the Party’s relentless leadership on this question and points the way forward.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela’s “Colonialism as the mode of production” Chapter Two of his political report to the 3rd Plenary of the Seventh Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party. Today’s episode is composed of excerpts from the January 16, 2022 episode of Omali Taught Me, the regular Sunday study held by Chairman Omali Yeshitela. The episode can be viewed in its entirety at the The Burning Spear TV youtube page.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we speak with Professor Layla Brown about her scholarship, the covid-19 pandemic and the way forward. Professor Brown’s work is emblematic of that anticolonial turn, or might we say anticolonial return, that has taken place in Africana Studies. This anticolonial return has been directly impacted by the spread of African Internationalism, evinced in the Chairman Omali Yeshitela's 2019 Oxford Union "Africa Debate".
Professor Brown is trained as a Cultural Anthropologist, researcher, and educator. She earned her PhD from Duke University and specializes in the contemporary and historical study of social movements in the African Diaspora. She places specific focus on African communities in the Americas as well as African women liberation. She is Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology and Africana Studies at Northeastern University but is currently a visiting professor in Germany. Professor Brown’s recent research looks at the covid-19 colonial virus pandemic, African resistance, and colonial domination. Her recent article “The Pandemic of Racial Capitalism: Another World is Possible” was published in From the European South.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On today’s episode of Black Power Talks, we discuss the Covid-19 Omicron Variant surge and a recent trip to Cuba with Dr. Aisha Fields.
Dr. Fields is a physicist who has dedicated her skills for the development and empowerment of African people. She is the International Director of the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project (AAPDEP), a non-profit organization whose mission is to “collectivize the vast skills of Africans around the world in order to establish community based development projects that improve the quality of life for African people everywhere while promoting self-reliance and self-determination as key to genuine, sustainable development.”
Dr. Fields recently led a team of AAPDEP officials to Cuba where they visited the Latin American School of Medicine, ELAM, and learned about Cuba’s progressive fight against Covid-19 which dwarfs the US.
AAPDEP has organized renewable energy, water purification, farming, healthcare and ecological sanitation projects in West and Southern Africa, and community gardens in Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas and Huntsville, Alabama. AAPDEP’s “Project Black Ankh '' is a worldwide African emergency response organization. Since March 2020, Project Black Ankh has mobilized volunteers to conduct health education and community support efforts to combat COVID-19.
Project Black Ankh was initiated during the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone and was employed to assist Africans trapped in flood waters in Houston during Hurricane Harvey where emergency aid was denied to the black community.
On this episode of Black Power Talks, we discussed the role of the African Intellectual in the world. African students and teachers everywhere are entering into their spring semesters. Spring semesters are often filled with academic conferences and graduations. On campuses, African students are organizing summits where they tackle some of the pressing issues in the world such as the mass imprisonment of African people, reparations, and the university investments into the colonial settler state of Israel. On the flip side, many African students will increasingly feel the pressure to decide their postgraduate career plans.
In his fundamental essay, "The Role of African Intellectuals in the World," Secretary General Luwezi Kinshasa identifies the colonial contradictions of higher education and lays out a blueprint for African students and intellectuals to join the revolution. Students cannot be apolitical because the colleges they attend are not apolitical. The role of intellectuals is to solve the solution of a given society. Colonialism uses African genius to solve colonial problems. Luwezi calls on African students to become African Working Class intellectuals and solve the problems of the African Nation.
In this episode, we hear from a presentation that SG Luwezi gave on the role of African Intellectuals. Luwezi the Secretary General of the African Socialist International. Under the leadership of Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Luwezi oversees the work of the African People’s Socialist Party around the world, including but not limited to Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean. SG Luwezi was born in the Congo and is currently based in London. He is affectionately known as Mwalimu, which means “teacher” for his extensive knowledge and engaged story-telling about the history of the world’s peoples.
Then we talk with Solyana Bekele. Solyana is the Managing Editor and a writer for The Burning Spear Newspaper. Solyana is also a junior at Hampton University, one of the oldest Black colleges in the US. Solyana studies Political Science and Journalism. Solyana was born in Ethiopia and raised in the Washington DC area.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of Black Power Talks, we learn about the colonial origins of Santa Claus, also known as Sinter Klaas or St. Nick, the patron saint of shipping.
Colonial ideology purports the Christmas holiday to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. In fact, the Christmas holiday season is centered around the obsessive pursuit and aspiration to purchase gifts, central to this is the Santa Claus Myth.
The Santa Claus myth has its origins in Dutch traditions surrounding the characters Sinter Klass and Zwarte Piet, Black Pete in English. These traditions are celebrated in the Netherlands, also known as Holland, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and throughout the colonial Dutch world with blackface festivals. Africans have organized organized a serious pushback against these festivals, yet they persist.
To help us understand the colonial-capitalist contradictions of the holiday season and the colonial origins of Santa Claus, we share clips from Chairman Omali Yeshitela. The first clip is an excerpt from a conversation between Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Peggy Burke of the Global Afrikan Congress, speaking direct from Amsterdam that took place on November 28th, 2004.
The second clip is an excerpt from a presentation given by Chairman Omali 2 weeks later, on December 19th, 2004, to the regular Sunday community meeting at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On December 22, 2021, The Burning Spear Newspaper turned 53 years old. The Burning Spear Newspaper is the oldest Black Power Newspaper in continuous print. The Burning Spear Newspaper was founded by Chairman Omali Yeshitela, then named Joseph Waller, in 1968, in St. Petersburg, Florida. First established as a newsletter produced on a mimeograph machine, the Burning Spear, or The Spear for short, became a full-spread newspaper in 1969.
Dubbed, the Voice of the International African Revolution, the Burning Spear Newspaper has been the leading organ of political and material support for the oppressed and exploited people of the world such as: Vietnam, Iran, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Occupied Palestine, Zimbabwe, Occupied Azania (South Africa), Cuba, Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Congo, Walter Rodney's Guyana, Maurice Bishop’s Grenada, and everywhere else colonized and oppressed people have struggled for liberation.
The Burning Spear Newspaper has been the base through which an entire African Internationalist media complex was formed. This includes a publishing house, audio and visual communications.
In this episode, we speak with the Editor-In-Chief of the Burning Spear Newspaper, Akile Anai. Akile Anai is also the Director of Agitation and Propaganda for the African People’s Socialist Party. Akile oversees the work of print, audio, and visual media of the Burning Spear Publications and Black Power Media. She also supervises the political education processes of the Uhuru Movement and co-hosts the weekly political study #OmaliTaughtMe. Akile was featured in Ebony magazine as a Millenial of Change.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On December 9, 2021, Denzel Draughn, an organizer with the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement in San Diego, California was found not guilty on all charges after a highly-profiled case of resistance to police terror.
Denzel faced eight felonies, two counts of pepper spraying a group of San Diego cops and six counts of preventing an arrest. Denzel faced as many as 11 years in prison and had been originally charged with almost 20 felonies. Denzel had testified that his actions were in defense of the protestors who had been brutalized by the San Diego Police Department, and the jury agreed in their unanimous decision.
With similar cases in the docket against organizers in San Diego, and around the United States, the case versus Denzel Draughn had important legal implications. The jury's acquittal represents the shaky foundation of colonial-capitalism, and the willingness of many to break with the culture of violence. The aggressiveness of the San Diego DA represents a hunkering down of the colonial state. We can see similar measures in Florida where Governor Rick DeSantis's House Bill 1 has attempted to criminalize protest with the possibility of up to 15 years in prison.
In this episode, we talk with Denzel Draughn and his partner Parrish Davis about their victory in court as well as the way forward. Denzel and Parrish are both organizers with the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement in San Diego, California. They have participated in many programs and campaigns in San Diego including the Black Power at the Border Working Group that brought material resources and political education to African migrants across the colonial border in Tijuana Mexico, the Uhuru Shule Virtual Freedom School for children during the Covid shutdown, and Beta Selam Academy. They are currently developing the Black Community Control of the Police Working Group in San Diego.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we talk about the current surge in the movement for reparations to African people in the United States and elsewhere. In St. Petersburg, Florida, organizers with the Reparations Now Committee of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement are leading the Take Back the Dome Campaign in response to the decades of economic devastation that the building of the 86 acre Tropicana Field has caused the African Community in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The struggle over the Tropicana Field has implications for the liberation struggles of African people around the world. In the small Caribbean island of Barbuda, Africans are fighting wealthy white American land developers and neocolonial African politicians who have turned their communally owned land into vacation resorts.
In a repeat of the build up to the 1984 Summer Olympics, the African and Mexican-Indigenous Communities in Inglewood and South Los Angeles are being ripped up and exported to the surrounding deserts. In their stead, a new complex of sports stadiums have been developed. With the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood as the site of the 2022 Super Bowl, the working class communities have been promised economic development and jobs.
The history of Tropicana Field and the Gas Plant area suggests otherwise. But the history of resistance led by the Uhuru Movement offers a political way forward and revolutionary optimism for the people.
To discuss this with us today, we have Chimurenga Selembao. Chimurenga is the National Director of Organization for the African People’s Socialist Party and the President of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement branch. It is in that role where he leads the Take Back the Dome Campaign. A lifelong member of the Uhuru Movement, in 2001, Chimurenga took the Reparations Demand to the world stage at World Conference Against Racism in Durban South Africa.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On November 19, 2021, 18-year old Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges. Rittenhouse had been charged with two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide, two counts of reckless endangerment, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, and one count of curfew violation following an incident August 25, 2020.
In a seeming contrast, the three white men who murdered Ahmaud Arbery, an African jogger in Glynn County, Georgia were found guilty on November 24, 2021. On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, an avid jogger, was lynched by father and son George McMichael and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William Bryan.
We know that power in the hands of the African Working Class is the highest form of true justice and liberation, no colonial courts can give us this. In this episode, we will deepen the analysis of these differing judgements by hearing the words of various Uhuru Movement leaders Chairman Omali Yeshitela and President Kalambayi Andenet and speaking with Kobina Bantushango, the African People’s Socialist Party’s Southern Regional Representative. It is there that Kobina is organizing the Black People’s Court to take the African community from Protest to Power.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we say NO THANKS TO COLONIALISM. We expose the colonial mythology of Thanksgiving as the ideological support for Manifest Destiny and European/White North American colonial-capitalist domination; namely but not only the project of settler-colonialism. We speak with two activists and educators about the long history of anticolonial resistance and African and Indigenous solidarity.
We discuss a variety of topics such as the colonial origins of the Thanksgiving holiday, created amidst the genocide of indigenous people, namely the mass lynching of Lakota people by the US military, the struggle for an America without borders, and the continued resistance of indigenous people.
Our guest are Dr. Jimmy Patino and Ron Gochez.
Dr. Patino holds a PhD in Chicano History from the University of California San Diego and is a Professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Dr. Patino is the author of the book Raza Si, Migra No! Chicano Movement Struggles for Immigrant Rights in San Diego which chronicles the activism of Chicano movement activist Herman Baca and the Committee on Chicano Rights (CCR).
Ron Gochez is the Undersecretary of Union Del Barrio in Los Angeles, California. Ron is also a history teacher in South Central Los Angeles. In 2013, he ran for Los Angeles City Council. He currently leads work with the Association of Raza Educators and the Committees of Resistance.
Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On November 6th and 7th, the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations held its 13th Annual Black People’s March on the White House followed by its annual Conference in Washington DC. Africans, other colonized people and white people in solidarity gathered at Malcolm X Park and marched to Lafayette Park where they held a rally to mobilize for justice and self-determination for black people. The next day local and remote representatives of the various organizations that make up the Black is Back Coalition came together - some in-person and some virtual - and held their annual conference, broadcast online for the safety of the audience during the current pandemic.
In this episode, we present some excerpts from the rallies, the march and the conference. Full coverage of the conference can be found at the Black is Back Coalition’s Facebook Page.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On October 24, 2021, Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was honored with the unveiling of a bronze bust at the intersection of Mandela Parkway and Dr. Huey P. Newton Way (formerly 9th street) in West Oakland, California. Ninth Street was changed to Dr. Huey P. Newton Way on what would have been Newton’s 79th Birthday, February 17, 2021. The revealing of the bust marked the 55th anniversary of the Black Panther Party.
Today we talk with Bakari Olatunji is the Western Regional Representative of the African People’s Socialist Party about the Uhuru Movement's historic defense of Huey and the Black Panther Party. Bakari led a contingency of six forces who served as the honor guard for the unveiling.
Bakari was raised in Oakland and still lives there. His organizing efforts span from to Little Bobby Hutton Mobile Health Clinic, to the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement, to Uhuru Foods and Pies.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On October 24, 2021, the African National Women's Organization held the Arrest CPS organizing conference to bring together parents, organizers and lawyers as a strategy to strengthen parents’ defense of their children and offer a network of support that is rooted in empowering African families. The organizing conference featured panel discussions from members of the Uhuru Movement, Union Del Barrio, Operation Stop CPS and Movement for Power.
This episode features excerpts from that conference. It establishes the state-sponsored child welfare system as part of a long history of colonial domination of African and Indigenous people and provides practical ways for people to organize in their best interest.
Guest featured on this episode are Yejide Orunmila, President of the African National Women's Organization, Chimurenga Selembao, National Director of Organization for the African People's Socialist Party, Demetria Hester, also of ANWO and the APSP, Erin Miles-Cloud of Movement for Power, and lastly Taffarah Austin and Amanda Wallace of Operation Stop CPS.
To view the full conference go to the African National Women's Organization Facebook Page.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Today on The People’s War Radio Show, we are looking at the water crisis in Benton Harbor, Michigan. Benton Harbor is 85 percent Black and more than 45 percent of the residents live below the poverty line. As far back as 2015, residents began to notice high amounts of lead in their water.
Residents began to raise the alarm but local and state officials did nothing. After years of complaints, a 2018 was finally done that showed the presence of lead in the Benton Harbor water at rates that exceeded the highest point of the Flint Water Crisis. That was three years ago. Thanks to the efforts of organizers, this issue has finally gained international attention.
The Benton Harbor water crisis is another example of the colonial virus. The Benton Harbor Water Crisis, the Flint Water Crisis and all other environmental crises are the result of an unjust economic system where white people in the US and Europe, less than 20% of the world’s population, consume over 80% of the world's resources.
This status quo is unsustainable but we know that there will never be peace until African people and colonized peoples all over the world have control over their own land and resources.
Today we talk with two activists from Benton Harbor, Reverend Edward Pinkney and Akinsheli Sayero’ Oshosi.
A longtime activist, Rev. Edward Pinkney has organized for African independence in Benton Harbor in the face of their subservience to the Whirlpool corporation. Rev. Pinkney is the President and CEO of the Benton Harbor Water Council. He is also leader and founder of the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization as well as a member of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations.
Akinsheli Sayero’ Oshosi is a member of African People's Socialist Party and resides in Battle Creek, Michigan. He also works with the Louisiana United International Working Group and the Black is Back Coalition. From 1969 to 1975, he was a member of the Black Panther Party. He continued his fight in defense of the constitutional rights of Benton Harbor Residents. Sayero’ is a lifelong revolutionary in spirit, deed and thought.
Rev. Pinkey and Sayero speak about the Benton Harbor Water Crisis, the colonial conditions the African community suffer under the Whirlpool Corporation, corrupt politicians and heavy-handed policing. They also propose ways forward.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
'Battle of Algiers' - Gillo Pontecorvo by kndynt2099 - Creative Commons
At the height of the African Revolution of the 1960s, Italian Communist Filmmaker Gilo Pontecorvo released what is possibly his magnum opus, the greatest work of his career, The Battle of Algiers. The Battle of Algiers was shot in the streets of Algiers in a documentary style, dramatizing a key period in the Algerian independence struggle against French colonialism.
The film has much to teach us now, as the struggle against western colonialism and neo-colonialism rages around the world. It explores the role of Islam in anti-colonial resistance throughout Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas, and it shows how an out-gunned people can win against a powerful oppressor.
The Battle of Algiers film was released in September 1966, 55 years ago, and made a crucial mark on the International African Revolution, including the formation of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense which was founded just weeks after the release of the film on October 15, 1966 in Oakland, California. The film brings to life the tactics and strategies that the Algerian people used to win their liberation from French colonial rule. For African viewers, the film displayed examples of anticolonial struggle and African unity.
To discuss this with us today, we have Professor Sohail Daulatzai . Born on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, Sohail is currently a Professor in the Department of Film and Media Studies, the Department of African American Studies, and the Program in Global Middle East Studies at UC Irvine. His research-based practice explores the afterlives of empire and utilizes scholarship, essay, short film, video, and the curatorial.
He has directed short films and videos with Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine and the band Algiers. Sohail has also authored and co-edited a total of five books: Born To Use Mics: Reading Nas’s Illmatic, Return of the Mecca: The Art of Islam and Hip-Hop, With Stones In Our Hands: Writings on Muslims, Racism and Empire, Black Star, Crescent Moon: The Muslim International and Black Freedom Beyond America, and Fifty Years of The Battle of Algiers: Past as Prologue.
Prof. Daulatzai addressed a variety of topics that gave deeper context to the film such as:
- The anticolonial politics that informed the film
- Frantz Fanon's influence on the film and the Third Cinema revolutionary film movement
- National Liberation Front leader Ahmed Ben Bella
- Malcolm X and the Algerian Revolution
- Afro-Asian Solidarity and the Bandung Conference
- Hip-Hop Culture, Islam and anticolonial solidarity
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
There is a growing interest in socialism amongst Black people in the United States. A recent poll by Axios/Momentive found that a growing sector of the US public favors socialism and a decreasing number of people favor capitalism. While the poll found that 41 percent of people in the US favored socialism and 49 percent favored capitalism, a number that has dropped in recent years, the numbers out of the African community have risen profoundly. Sixty percent of Africans in the US favor socialism. That number is up from 53 percent in 2019. These rising numbers reflect a clear political awakening amongst the African community in the US. AS WE SAY IN THE UHURU MOVEMENT, THE ROAD TO SOCIALISM IS PAINTED BLACK!
The rising popularity of socialism amongst African people also represents Imperialism in Crisis. Imperialism is suffering because the colonized peoples who came under imperialist rule are now fighting back and reclaiming our resources. It also represents the leadership of the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement for the past 49 years. In 1972, the African People’s Socialist Party was founded with the expressed goal of reviving and completing the African Revolution of the 1960s. As Chairman Omali Yeshitela notes, the movement had been ideological successful but was militarily defeated through the strategy of US Counterinsurgency. Amongst the counterinsurgency tactics deployed against African people was the assassination and imprisonment of our leaders, the infestation of our community with drugs and guns, and the mass demoralization of African people. The US Counterinsurgency used neocolonialism (white power in black face) and the promotion of Black Capitalist ideologies to mislead and confuse the masses of African people.
The 2021 Convention of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement was entitled It’s 2021, African Workers Unite, Let’s Get it Done. The final panel of this convention was entitled, Completing the Black Revolution. This panel consisted of talks from Akile Anai, director of Agitation and Propaganda for the African People’s Socialist Party, Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, and Chairman Omali Yeshitela, head of the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement. To hear that panel in its entirety, visit the Burning Spear TV Youtube Channel.
In this episode, Chairman Omali Yeshitela is discusses Capitalism Versus Socialism and what is needed to complete the Black Revolution of the 1960s. He outlines the distinguishes democratic socialism from revolutionary socialist thought, identifies the struggle against colonial-capitalism as the true class struggle, and layouts out what needs to be done to complete the Black Revolution.
This episode also features the song, "Uhuru Means Freedom" by Elikya Ngoma featuring Chairman Omali Yeshitela.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode we look at the mass deportations and brutal violence inflicted on African people from Haiti taking place at the colonial border between the US and Mexico. In late September 2021, images of Haitian refugees, being corralled by US border patrol agents mounted on horseback at the border crossing in the southwest Texas city of Del Rio. One image showed a mounted border cop wielding a whip as he attacked African refugees. These photographs sparked immediate comparisons to images from the colonial enslavement of African people.
As many as 15,000 women, children, and men from Haiti were being held captive in barracoons under a bridge in Del Rio, Texas. Over the past few weeks, thousands of people from Haiti have arrived at the US-Mexico border. The Biden administration has been deporting them upon arrival. At least 2,000 migrants have been flown to Haiti and 8,000 others have been forced to return to Mexico.
The events in Del Rio, Texas are not separated from the anticolonial struggle for African Liberation. Haiti was the site of the first workers revolution and the people of Haiti will surely play an essential role in the freedom of Africans and all colonized and oppressed people.
To discuss this with us today, we have Elikya Ngoma.
Elikya is the Haiti Editor for The Burning Spear Newspaper where she provides revolutionary analyses on the struggles in Ayiti. Her family is from Haiti, she speaks Kreyol and maintains a close connection to politics in Haiti. She has done extensive research on Haiti, the Haitian Revolution and other cultural and political events coming out of Haiti and the Caribbean.
Elikya is known as the Revolutionary Musician. Elikya’s recording, “Colonial Virus' ' serves as the Intro and Outro music for our very own People’s War radio show.
In December 2020, Elikya released the album Freedom in The Mix, an African Internationalist album that combined a variety of African musical genres and promoted a way forward for African unity and liberation. In this episode, we feature some selections from that album:
- Lanmou Pou Ayiti (ft. Gessica Généus
- Pa Di m Ayiti Pòv
- Get Up and Do Something (ft. Fannie Lou Hamer)
- Make the Struggle (ft. Ella Baker)
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode we present Part Two of a 2-part series titled “The Truth About Afghanistan - Colonialism: the graveyard of imperialism”. That was the title of a September 7th web broadcast, put on by the African People’s Socialist Party to discuss the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the implications that this defeat has for the liberation struggle of African and other colonized peoples.
That broadcast featured presentations by Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International; Yejide Orunmila, President of the African National Women’s Organization; Tafari Mugeri, Director of Organization for the ASI Africa Region; Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party; and Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee.
In part one we heard presentations delivered by Secretary General Luwezi Kinshasa, Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee and Yejide Orunila, President of the African National Women’s Organization. Today we’ll hear from Director Tafarie Mugerie of the African Socialist International Africa Region and Chairman Omali Yeshitela.
First up was Director Tafarie Mugeri an organizer on the ground in Occupied Azania, commonly known as South Africa. In his address, Director Tafarie began by offering a salute to the people of Afghanistan and notes that the defeat of the US in Afghanistan happened amidst a moment of imperialist crisis.
Tafarie goes on to expand his analysis of the anti-imperialist victory of the Afghan people. He notes that Africans must also not compromise in our pursuit of total liberation and self-government. Tafarie urges people to reject notions of the moral superiority of the Western Imperialist powers. He notes that anticolonial resistance is the only way forward for African people.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela, who delivered the main presentation. Chairman Omali Yeshitela began his presentation by recognizing that it as an anti-colonial philosophy that led to victory. Chairman identified colonialism as the mode of production for this society. It was colonialism that gave birth to capitalism, not the other way around. He went on to recognize Afghanistan’s victory as an indicator of a drastically weakening US hegemony.
He explained that a system whose survival relies on the continued subjugation of the people will not survive the masses of the people rising up and concluded by emphasizing the African socialist international as the vehicle through which the masses of African people will rise up and overturn the system of colonial capitalism.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode we present Part One of a 2-part series titled “The Truth About Afghanistan - Colonialism: the graveyard of imperialism”.
That was the title of a September 7th web broadcast, put on by the African People’s Socialist Party to discuss the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan and the implications that this defeat has for the liberation struggle of African and other colonized peoples.
That broadcast featured presentations by Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International; Yejide Orunmila, President of the African National Women’s Organization; Tafari Mugeri, Director of Organization for the ASI Africa Region; Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party; and Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee.
First is the presentation delivered by Secretary General Luwezi Kinshasa. SG Luwezi was born in the Congo and is currently based in London. He is affectionately known as Mwalimu, which means “teacher” for his extensive knowledge and engaged story-telling about the history of the world’s peoples.
Next up, Penny Hess gave a recap of the CIA’s role in the creation of modern so-called Islamic Fundamentalist forces, under U.S. president Jimmy Carter, to draw in and defeat the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. She critiques the failure of the white peace movement to mount effective opposition to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and credits the African People’s Socialist Party for its consistent stance in active solidarity with the right of colonized peoples to resist colonial war and occupation.
Then we heard from President Yejide Orunmila of the African National Women’s Organization (ANWO). In her talk, President Yejide reaffirms her complete solidarity with Afghan women. President Yejide dispels international propaganda that suggests that the imperialist invasion of Afghanistan was done to liberate Afghan women. She notes that the largest abusers of women’s rights in the region are US allies and that the US remains silent on French government abuses against Muslim women in France as well as the oppressive anti-abortion laws in Texas. President Yejide notes that US intervention stopped the progress of Afghan women and noted the anti-imperialist organization that existed amongst Afghan women before the US instigated war with the Soviet Union. President Yejide views this victory as a victory for Afghan self-determination and the future of Afghan women.
In Part Two we’ll hear from Director Tafarie Mugeri of the African Socialist International Africa Region and Chairman Omali Yeshitela.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Today’s show is entitled “Getting Fit for the Revolution” and incorporates excerpts from a panel by the same name that was presented at the 2021 International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement Convention from September 3 through 5th.
The convention observed the 30th anniversary of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement as well as the 50-plus year of Uhuru Movement mass organization. The panels were designed to confront the crises the African community face and provide an African Internationalist way forward.
African health is one arena the movement has always led on. In 1969, the Junta of Militant Organizations (JOMO), a precursor to the African People’s Socialist Party, founded the JOMO Blood Bank.
From the 1970s to 1990s, the Burning Spear Newspaper ran a regular column entitled Colonialism is Dangerous to Your Health. In 1985, the Uhuru Movement opened the Lil Bobby Hutton African People’s Free Health Clinic.
This all laid the groundwork for the Uhuru Movement’s establishment of the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project and their Emergency Response Program, Project Black Ankh.
"Getting Fit for the Revolution" features
- Kobina Bantushango, with tips on healthy eating and exercise and shares the stories behind the establishment of the All Peoples Tyron Lewis Community Gym and the Uhuru Health Festivals.
- Michael Parker is a certified trainer and member of the All-African People's Development and Empowerment Project who adds to the conversation on healthy eating and exercise
- Michelle Odom speaks on African mental health. She organizes the Aya Resistance Circles and leads the All-African People's Development and Empowerment Project's Mental Health Working Group
- Chairman Omali Yeshitela presents on the relationship between healthy eating and exercise to brain health which are all important for emotional fitness. He calls on revolutionaries to set an example for the masses of African people to maintain a high level of discipline in regards to fitness practices.
- Dr. Aisha Fields, Director of the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project, gave an update on the Covid-19 health and safety protocols prepared by project Black Ankh.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
This episode looks at some history of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement which is celebrating its thirty year anniversary this year, 2021. The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement was founded in 1991 by the African People’s Socialist Party, as a mass organization designed to defend the democratic rights of the black community and to bring African people back into political life after the military defeat our Black Power movement of the 1960s had suffered.
Since its creation, InPDUM has fought courageously for the African community. The precursor to today’s formation, was founded in Oakland, California in 1985 under the name People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement.
When the organization went U.S.-wide in Chicago in 1991, it was founded under the name the National People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement and then with the establishment of branches throughout Africa and Europe, it became the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement.
The organization’s first President was Akua Njeri, also known as Deborah Johnson, widow of assassinated Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. An important campaign that came out of Chicago was one to free Free Hampton Jr. who had been framed for attempting to carry on the political legacy of his father.
Throughout the years, InPDUM has led many dynamic campaigns in defense of the African working class.
Taking a look back at more than three decades of grassroots organizing, we’ll hear excerpts of historic speeches, conversations, and even rap songs that help us chart the history of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement.
We’ll hear from Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Bakari Olatunji, Kalambayi Andenet, Ntambwe Bhekizitha and the legendary rap group dead prez.
The InPDUM Convention on September 3rd through 5th will be broadcast on the Burning Spear TV channel on YouTube and on InPDUM’s Facebook page. It’s free and open to the public.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode, we’re going to showcase several African poets and talk about the role of poetry and culture in the African anti-colonial struggle.
We know that the spoken word is powerful. If not, colonizers would not have stripped Africans of their names, their language, their traditions and their songs.
The anticolonial writer from Martinique Aime Cesaire wrote extensively on the power of poetry, the spoken word and culture. In the important essay, “Poetry and Knowledge”, Cesaire argued that poetry was an anticolonial tool because it challenged the conventions of colonial society and allowed the oppressed to imagine new worlds.
In the essay, "Poetry is not a luxury," Audre Lorde wrote, “poetry is not a luxury. It is a vital necessity of our existence. It forms the quality of the light within which we predicate our hope and dreams toward survival and change, first made into language, then into idea, then into tangible action. Poetry is the way we can help give name to the nameless so it can be thought.”
There is not a time in the struggle for African liberation that we have not seen the power of spoken word, poetry and music as anticolonial cultural influencers.
Today we will speak with revolutionary culture workers including FoFeet Alkebulan. FoFeet is the Economic Development Coordinator and organizer with the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement in St. Louis. As part of her organizing efforts, FoFeet organizes the Musa Abantu Poetry Nights for the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement.
FoFeet is joined by Valerie VKween Young from St. Louis Missouri, Jheanelle Owens from Jamaica, and Dzidzor from Boston.
We also showcase the poetry of Claude McKay and Gil Scot Heron.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Today on the People’s War Radio Show, we are celebrating the birthday of Marcus Mosiah Garvey. Every week, the People’s War Radio show brings you an African Internationalist perspective of world issues. African Internationalism, the theory of the African Working Class has its origins in the ideology and practices of Marcus Mosiah Garvey.
Marcus Garvey organized one of the most important anticolonial African organizations in history. Garvey’s revolutionary journal, the Negro World, had a weekly circulation of at least 200,000 copies.
Garvey understood the power in Africans reclaiming control of the historical narrative and embraced the African revolutionary tradition.
Marcus Garvey organized the largest African Revolutionary organization in history--the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The UNIA was formed in Jamaica in 1914 following Garvey’s return to the country of his birth. Marcus Garvey brought the UNIA to the United States in 1916.
On this episode of the People’s War Radio show, Dexter and I will discuss the legacy of Marcus Garvey and our place in it. We will share some of the music that has upheld Marcus Garvey, discuss his significance to political organization nowadays, and present excerpts from a speech given by Chairman Omali Yeshitela on the continued significance of Marcus Garvey.
This episode features the following:
- Excerpts from Chairman Omali Yeshitela's speech to the 2020 InPDUM Convention on Garvey entitled "100 Years Later, It's Still Red, Black and Green"
- A conversation between Dexter and Matsemela about the internationalist significance of the Red, Black and Green Flag that linked the African Nation to anticolonial struggles in the Middle East
- A variety of cultural pieces such as:
- Elikya Ngoma's "Liberate the Minds" featuring Marcus Garvey
- Amy Jacques Garvey's "This Flag of Mine" performed by Michelle, Mayasa and Malika Odom
- Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"
- Lauryn Hill's "So Much Things to Say"
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Today’s episode is dedicated to the struggle for the release of African political prisoners, in honor of Black August.
The roots of Black August are in the uprisings and rebellions of African freedom fighters who were imprisoned as a result of their political activity during the height of the Black Power Movement of the 1960s.
Black August was started by incarcerated Africans in California in observance of the death of George Jackson. It’s now honored as a month-long salute to the African liberation struggle, recognizing such historic milestones as the Haitian Revolution, the birth of Marcus Garvey, and the deaths of Jonathan Jackson and George Jackson.
Black August is a month of Remembrance and Resistance, especially dedicated to our African warriors imprisoned for their heroic stance fighting for African liberation.
In this episode, we bring you excerpts from presenters at the 12th Annual Convention of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, held August 7th and 8th 2021.
The theme of this year's Convention was “Deepening the Resistance to Police Terror: Honoring our Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War, Black Community Control of the Police”.
In this program, we hear from:
- Omali Yeshitela, Chairman of the African People's Socialist Party and of the Black is Back Coalition.
- Sekou Odinga, former political prisoner, released in 2014 after spending 33 years in prison. Sekou a was a member of Malcolm X's Organization of Afro-American Unity, a founding member of the New York chapter of the Black Panther Party and a combatant in the Black Liberation Army.
- Jaan Laaman, member of the Ohio 7 who was convicted of “seditious conspiracy,” along with other members of the United Freedom Front. He was released from McCreary federal prison in May 2021, after 37 years in captivity.
For more information on the Black Is Back Coalition, visit blackisbackcoalition.org. To request a free monthly subscription of The Burning Spear newspaper for a prisoner, visit theburningspear.com.
This episode of The People’s War show is dedicated to remembering the life and work of Glen Ford, heroic journalist and African freedom fighter, with commentary by:
- Nia Ford, Glen's daughter
- Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, Founder of the No Fear Coalition and the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition
- New York State Assemblymember Charles Barron
- Efia Nwangaza, manager of WMXP radio in Greenville, South Carolina
- Nellie Bailey of Harlem Fight Back Against War at Home & Abroad
- Zaki Baruti, President General of the Universal African People’s Organization
- Belinda Parker-Brown, CEO of Louisiana United International
- Chairman Omali Yeshitela, African People's Socialist Party
Glen Ford was the son of the famed disc jockey Rudy “The Deuce” Rutherford, the first Black man to host a non-gospel television show in the Deep South – Columbus, Georgia, in 1958.
Glen was reading newswire copy on-the-air at age eleven. His first full-time broadcast news job was at James Brown’s Augusta, Georgia radio station WRDW, in 1970 – where ‘The Godfather of Soul” shortened Glen’s last name to “Ford.”
Comrade Glen worked as a newsperson at four more local stations: in Columbus, Georgia, Atlanta, and Baltimore – where he created his first radio syndication, a half-hour weekly news magazine called “Black World Report” – and Washington, DC.
In 1974, Glen Ford joined the Mutual Black Network of 88 stations, where he served as Capitol Hill, State Department and White House correspondent, and Washington Bureau Chief, while also producing a daily radio commentary.
In 1977, Ford co-launched, produced and hosted “America’s Black Forum” (ABF), the first nationally syndicated Black news interview program on commercial television. ABF made Black broadcast history. For the next four years, the program generated national and international headlines nearly every week.
Never before – and never since – had a Black news entity commanded the weekly attention of the news services (AP, UPI, Reuters, Agence France-Presse – even Tass, the Soviet news agency) and the broadcast networks.
In 1987, Ford launched “Rap It Up,” the first nationally syndicated Hip Hop music show, broadcasted on 65 radio stations. During its six years of operations, “Rap It Up” allowed Ford to play an important role in the maturation of a new African musical genre. He organized three national rap music conventions, and wrote the Hip Hop column for Jack The Rapper’s Black radio trade magazine.
In addition to his broadcast and Internet experience, Glen Ford was a national political columnist for Encore magazine; founded The Black Commentator and Africana Policies magazines; authored The Big Lie: An Analysis of U.S. Media Coverage of the Grenada Invasion; and served as reporter and editor for three newspapers.
Comrade Glen was a founding member of the Washington chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists; executive board member of the National Alliance of Third World Journalists; and media specialist for the National Minority Purchasing Council.
In October, 2006, Ford and the former writing team of the Black Commentator launched BlackAgendaReport.com, a reliable and prolific source of information and analysis from the black left. He also partnered with Nellie Bailey to produce Black Agenda Radio, a weekly news program syndicated across the U.S.
In 2008, Comrade Glen become a co-founder of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations.
He had been an outspoken critic of Barack Obama from the beginning of Obama’s candidacy. He was in communication with the Uhuru Movement after our 2008 protest at Obama’s St. Petersburg, Florida campaign stop where our demand that he address the question “What about the Black Community?” drew national attention to Obama’s silence on black issues.
For 12 years, Comrade Glen delivered dynamic presentations to the annual Black is Back Coalition’s Marches on Washington, conferences and training schools. His thorough research and insightful analysis brought clarity to the political situation faced by Africans and other oppressed peoples in today’s world.
The Covid-19 Delta Variant has caused a new surge in the United States and other parts of the world. The Delta Variant of Covid-19 was first noticed in India in December 2020. It subsequently spread rapidly through India as well as places like South Africa, the United Kingdom and Canada. The first United States cases of the Delta Variant were found in March 2021.
There has been widespread political resistance to Covid-19 vaccines. Some opportunists in the colonial media have intentionally spread misinformation about vaccines even while being vaccinated themselves.
Many Africans have remained rightfully skeptical because of the history of colonial medicine’s experimentation on African people.
About 56 percent of the US population above the age of 12 have been vaccinated but reports suggest that many of the unvaccinated have no plans on getting vaccinated.
Project Black Ankh and the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project has really risen to the occasion and provided the leadership the African Nation has needed over the last 16 months. They have been a steady source of honest information in defense of the African working class.
In this episode, Dr. Aisha Fields discusses the updated Project Black Ankh Covid-19 Protocols and vaccine recommendations. She places the vaccine recommendations into political context, discusses the deliberate misinformation that has been circulated to disarm African people, the role Project Black Ankh's fight against the Ebola Virus played in shaping their Covid-19 Campaign, Covid-19 and neocolonial misleadership in Africa, and the successes and future of Project Black Ankh.
Dr. Aisha Fields is a physicist who became the International Director of the All African People’s Development & Empowerment Project, a non-profit organization founded in 2007.
As the group’s Director, Dr. Aisha is responsible for coordinating African community-led health care, agricultural and educational programs throughout the U.S., on the continent of Africa, and in African communities world-wide.
They’ve built clean water systems, vocational and nursery schools, community farms, maternity centers and a variety of youth and adult educational programs.
They also established the Project Black Ankh to provide African community-based disaster relief, responding to hurricanes in Texas, Ebola in Sierra Leone and now, COVID-19 worldwide.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
From July 9 to July 17 Africans took to the streets of South Africa in protest of the neocolonial government and brutal conditions they live under. As well, the African working class in the neighboring country of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, have also risen up in protest.
The colonial media has tried to explain the uprisings in South Africa as support for the jailed former-president Jacob Zuma. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has echoed the talking points of the former apartheid regime by blaming the unrests on agitation.
Covid-19, unemployment, and other immediate factors have also been pinpointed by some analysts as the cause for the unrest.
Our guests in this episode identify the central contradiction that has defined the global uprising of the African working class over the last year--colonialism; the political and economic exploitation of African people by foreign and alien powers.
Our guests place the uprisings in Southern Africa into the context of the global uprising of African people over the last year. They identify the current uprisings in Southern Africa as part of the struggle to complete the Black Revolution of the 1960s and place the control of African resources into the hands of African people.
Our guests talk about a variety of topic:
- The South Africa Uprising
- The ongoing protests in Eswatini
- The history of settler-colonialism in South Africa
- Neocolonialism and the ANC government
- The culture, education and African Unity from South Africa to the United States; with a focus on the revolutionary use of hip-hop and reggae
- The Bread, Peace and Black Power Campaign
We are joined by three organizers on the ground in South Africa: Tafarie Mugeri, Asa Anpu and Zakhele Mkhondo.
Tafarie Mugeri is the Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party Occupied Azania. Chairman Tafarie is also the Director of Organization for Africa. Under Tafarie’s leadership, the African Socialist International has grown throughout various regions of Southern, Western and East Africa.
Asa is the Secretary General for APSP Occupied Azania. Asa is also the director of the Better Life Association, a non-profit organization, dedicated to solving the problems of healthcare, education, and skills development in the townships.
Zakhele is the President of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement in South Africa.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On July 7, Jovenel Moise, the president of Haiti was assassinated at his home in Petion-Ville. His wife, Martine Moise was critically injured in the attack and was transported to the United States for emergency medical care. Moise’s presidency had been marked by mass protests and political crises. Still, his assassination came as a sudden surprise to many.
This news came as a shock to the world and especially to the people of Haiti; even those who had been demanding that he step down from office as well as those of us who recognized him as a puppet of the white power imperialists and ruling class were caught “off-guard” by this news.
People are asking: Who did it and why? Who had access to his house? Who took Martine to the hospital? Likely, the biggest question is who will will succeed Jovenel Moise in running Haiti, who had ruled by decree since October 2019?
The assassination of Jovenel Moise is not an isolated incident. It is instead part of a series of events that reflects the deepening crisis of colonial-capitalism. From Haiti to South Africa to Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland), the African working class has risen up.
On today’s episode of The People’s War show we bring you excerpts from a July 12, 2021 webinar entitled “Haiti: Global Black Revolution”, organized by the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) to address the current situation.
On this episode you will hear excerpts from Elikya Ngoma, Secretary General Luwezi Kinshasa, Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People's Solidarity Committee and Chairman Omali Yeshitela, head of the APSP and Founder of the Uhuru Movement.
Elikya Ngoma's family is from Haiti. She is the Haiti Editor for The Burning Spear Newspaper. She is also the author of our theme song "Colonialvirus".
Luwezi Kinshasa is the Secretary General of the African Socialist International. SG Luwezi was born and raised in the Congo and speaks multiple languages. He is now based in London and works as an educator and organizer in African communities throughout Europe and the continent of Africa. He writes a monthly column in The Burning Spear Newspaper titled “The Kinshasa International”.
Penny Hess is the Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee. Penny describes the legacy of European colonialism and the role of colonial expropriation in building white society. She calls for a self-criticism from white people in the form of reparations. She is the author of Overturning the Culture of Violence.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela is leader and founder of the Uhuru Movement. Over the past five decades, Chairman Omali has initiated campaigns to defend the democratic rights of the African community, to organize and raise up African women, to mobilize opposition to U.S. wars and to popularize the demand for reparations to African people. He’s built the worldwide Uhuru Movement and the African Socialist International with branches in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean and on the continent of Africa.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On May 27, 2021 a mass grave with the remains of 215 children was found at Kamloops Residential School in British Columbia Canada. On June 25th, Chief of the Cowess Nation reported that on June 2 they had embarked on a mission to search for unmarked graves, and found a mass grave of 751 remains in the southeast corner of the Saskatchewan province at the cemetery of the former Marieval Indian Residential School.
These discoveries have rocked Canada and soured this year’s commemoration of Canada Day, celebrated as Canada’s birthday, on July 1st.
The Indian Residential Schools was a network of boarding schools created by the colonial government of Canada for indigenous children and usually operated by Christian church organizations. Similar to the Carlisle Indian School in the United States, residential schools operated in Canada from 1883 to 1996.
In response to the discovery of these mass Residential School graves, a series of fires have been set at churches across Canada.
At the same time, we see a rash of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and a continued struggle of Native people in Canada against the foster care system and the prison system.
To discuss this with us today on The People’s War Radio Show, we have Darren Lathlin-Torpe and Xach Williams.
Darren Lathlin-Torpe is a member of the Cree Nation and lives in Calgary, Alberta. Darren has worked in the oil industry in Canada and the United States. Darren’s family has direct experience with the Indian Residential Schools and he and his family have spoken out against them. Darren is an advocate for the return of Indigenous people to their culture.
Dr. Xach Williams is originally from Seattle WA. Dr. Williams received his PhD in Ethnic Studies from University of California San Diego in 2019 and before that completed a BA in Comparative Ethnic Studies at Washington State University in 2011. Dr. Williams’s dissertation titled Didn’t It Rain? explores the ways that material conditions of anti-black racism, segregation, and exclusion affect the development of the Pacific Northwest from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
The United States Track and Field Olympic Trials were held from June 18 to June 27 in Eugene, Oregon. The US trials are the first step for US athletes to compete in the Summer Olympic Games. This year’s Olympic games are shaping up to be historic on many levels.
African women athletes have taken center stage in these trials, creating a buzz and sparking controversy in both colonial and social media. At the Olympic Trials, sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson and hammer thrower Gwen Berry have made significant political statements in their performances and protests.
Slanderous comments about Richardson’s sexuality and gender have been made. Many critics have disapproved of the record-setting sprinter’s hair, tattoos, and body piercings. Berry, who has been an outspoken critic of anti-African violence, publicly protested the US National Anthem at the Olympic trials. We talk about this today and more.
We place the Summer Olympic Games into the context of colonial capitalism and speak with three track and field athletes about the significance of the sport to the African community. In this episode we discuss:
- Gwen Berry's heroic stance
- Sha'Carri Richardson's impact on track and field
- Covid-19's effect on track and field athletes
- The struggles of African people, particularly African women, in Track and Field
- The greater impact athletes can have on society
All of our guests challenge athletes, amateur and professional, to put their community first and make a difference outside of the arena.
Our first guest is Kundai Bajikikayi. Kundai is the membership coordinator for the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project. She is also a former track and field coach and standout collegiate runner.
Our second guest is James Boomer Harris. Boomer was an all-american athlete for Florida State University and now competes professionally. Boomer has competed for the US team in the past.
Our final guest is Coach Charles "Chuck" Ryan. Coach Ryan works at the University of California Berkeley and was an all-american runner at the University of South Carolina.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On June 17, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act making Juneteenth a national holiday. The establishment of Juneteenth as a federal holiday in the United States marks a particular moment in the African struggle over the power of history and remembrance in the US with international implications. Some people in the mainstream have celebrated this as a historical landmark but many in the African working class masses have met this with a mixture of skepticism and outright rejection. They see it as an empty gesture that avoids the meaningful political struggles waging.
The colonial narration of history suggests that Juneteenth celebrates the bestowing of freedom on Africans in Texas by US Army General Gordon Granger in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865. However, as today's guest notes, Africans were not given freedom, Africans took their freedom!
Juneteenth actually emerged from a long tradition of African holidays created in opposition to colonial-capitalist powers and as a direct antagonism towards the colonial slave holding class and their descendants. There were a host of other celebrations. Africans celebrated the Haitian Revolution and in Virginia and the Carolinas, African flauntingly celebrated Surrender Day. Africans were historically ridiculed, attacked, and jailed for their public festivals. This included the earliest of Juneteenth Festivals.
In this episode we talk to an organizer of the Omowale Kefing Juneteenth Freedom Festival, also known as Juneteenth Not Yet Uhuru, from Houston, Texas, Chiwoniso Luzolo.
Some topics discussed are:
- The 2021 Omowale Kefing Juneteenth Freedom Festival
- The late African hero Omowale Kefing and his mother Gwen Archie
- The meaning of Juneteenth Not Yet Uhuru
- The continued struggle of Africans in Texas for Freedom including the problems of gentrification, food apartheid and Covid-19
- The All African People's Development and Empowerment Project programs: Project Black Ankh and the Marcus Garvey Youth Programs
- Education and history in the hands of Black people
In the spirit of Juneteenth Not Yet Uhuru, we also showcase some great music and a public tribute to Omowale Kefing. This is the first public Juneteenth Not Yet Uhuru without Kefing.
Chiwoniso Luzolo is a member of the African People's Socialist Party and serves as the Information and Education Coordinator and Secretary for the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project. She coordinates the Marcus Garvey Youth Program where she is developing a curriculum for African children and parents. Chiwoniso works with the Gwen Archie Community Garden in the 5th Ward of Houston, Texas, the location of the annual Juneteenth Not Yet Uhuru festivals.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
June is Black Music Month. Black Music Month emerged as a form of resistance to colonial domination of African people, African culture, and the African narrative. It was created in the late 1970s by the famous music producer from Philadelphia, Kenny Gamble and the Black Music Association. The original theme of Black Music Month was to “preserve, protect and perpetuate black music.” However, the narrative of Black Music Month has been depoliticized.
Popular news sources have credited President Jimmy Carter with creating the observance. As well, President Barack Obama rebranded the month, African American Music Appreciation month and noted that amongst other things Black music, allowed Black people in the US to "defend our country's enduring promise of freedom and opportunity for all."
Our guests on this episode, DJ Eddie Maultsby and Norman Jalali Richmond, give a different narrative. They uphold the African music tradition as internationalist, anti-colonial, and a source of Black Power.
Some topics discussed are:
- Black musicians during the Civil Rights and Black Power Movement
- Fela Kuti, Peter Tosh, Aretha Franklin, Max Roach, Abbey Lincoln, Eddie Maultsby and the Florida Spiritualaires, Sam Cooke and other musicians
- The origins of Gospel Music as a form of resistance to colonial slavery
- The guests also connect the significance of music to their own personal stories.
This episode includes some great samples of music such as:
- Bob Marley and the Wailers "Burnin' and Lootin'"
- Max Roach feat. Abbey Lincoln "Freedom Day"
- Sam Cooke "A Change is Gonna Come"
- Fannie Lou Hamer "Walk with Me" and "Amazing Grace"
- Eddie Maultsby and the Florida Spiritualaires "Ain't No Love Like Jesus"
DJ Eddie is known as Florida’s Blind Boy and the World’s Best Blind DJ, DJ Eddie is the Assistant Station Manager at Black Power 96. He is born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida and spent over 35 years playing music for the community in downtown St. Pete. As soon as he heard about Black Power 96 and its mission, he united with Black Power 96. He has been with the station ever since. DJ Eddie’s musical specialty is gospel music.
Norman Jalali Richmond, was born in Louisiana and raised in Los Angeles, California. He moved to Canada in the late-1960s where he became an early leader in the African Liberation Movement in Canada. Jalali has dedicated his life to revolutionary cultural work. He has worked with a host of musicians such as Bob Marley, Abbey Lincoln, Hugh Masekela, and Fela Kuti. Jalali is the host and producer of the “Diasporic Music” show on Black Power 96 FM radio in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“Diasporic Music” provides an all-African mix of music and politics that is quote “made in the West but is not of the West” unquote. “Diasporic Music” Airs: Every Sunday, 2pm to 4pm Eastern Time
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the contradictions of food insecurity in the African Community and other oppressed communities in the United States.
According to the Journal of Nutrition, Food insecurity is understood as “ the limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, or limited or uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.”
Nearly 40 percent of black children in the United States are food insecure, this is almost twice the rate of white children.
A symptom of the larger colonial oppression of African people in the US, food insecurity has serious political and economic effects on the African community.
Food justice organizer, Karen Washington, has suggested the use of another term to understand the intentional unevenly structured access to healthy and affordable food that African people in the US endure, “food apartheid”.
Black, Brown and Indigenous communities are organizing against food insecurity and food apartheid throughout the US by organizing community gardens, farmers markets, urban food cooperatives, and other grassroots solutions to the problems.
In today’s episode of the People’s War Radio Show, we will hear about a new farmers market created in the African community of North Saint Louis, the One Africa! One Nation! farmers market. Our guests talk about:
- The effects of food apartheid and food insecurity on the black community of North St. Louis and throughout the US.
- Covid-19's impact of food insecurity in the African community.
- The Gary Brooks community garden in North St. Louis
- The One Africa! One Nation! Marketplace in North St. Louis and its grand opening on June 5, 2021
- Farmers markets as a counter to big agribusiness
- How other organizers can do these projects in their communities.
To discuss this with us, we have Ticharwa Masimba and Marisa Martinez - organizers of the One Africa! One Nation! Farmer’s Market.
Ticharwa Masimba is the project director of the One Africa! One Nation! Farmer's Market. Ticharwa has also worked with the Black Power Blueprint and the African People's Education and Defense Fund to bring economic development and self-determination to the black community of St. Louis.
Marisa Martinez is the market manager of the One Africa! One Nation! Farmer's Market and has many years of experience in the food service industry.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Reparations is a hot topic in many political topics. Numerous colleges and universities have implemented reparations plans in response to legacy of colonial slavery that funded their institutions and the stolen and enslaved African labor that built their schools.
Some cities have begun to draft reparations plans as well. One that has received a lot of attention is the plan in Evanston, Illinois that has made housing grants available to some members of the African community of the Chicago suburb.
This has not come out of nowhere. It is the result of the revolutionary upsurge of the African Working Class.
Today we talk with two organizers, Chimurenga Selembao and Akile Anai, of the Reparations Now! Take Back the Dome! campaign from St. Petersburg, Florida to discuss a truly African Working Class-led campaign for reparations, "just economic compensation," for the devastation that the construction of Tropicana Field and gentrification have caused the black community of St. Petersburg.
Together they discuss:
- The Reparations Now! Take Back the Dome Campaign!
- The history of the Reparations struggle and the leadership of the Uhuru Movement in that struggle.
- The economic, social, and political devastation that the Dome and gentrification, have caused on the African community.
- The 2001 Durban World Conference Against Racism, 9/11 and the impact on the Reparations struggle 20 years ago.
- The 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Massacre and the similar colonial violence against Africans in St. Pete and Florida.
- The proposed solutions to the problem including the creation of a land reparations authority.
Chimurenga Selembao has been in the struggle for reparations to African people, his entire political life. Chimurenga is the National Director of Organization for the African People’s Socialist Party USA. Born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, Chimurenga is a lifelong member of the Uhuru Movement. Chimurenga oversees the work of Uhuru Movement organizations in the United States.
Akilé Anai is editor of The Burning Spear newspaper, a monthly black power journal in continuous publication since the height of the Black Revolution of the Sixties. Four years ago, in 2017, at age 21, and again in 2019, she ran for St Petersburg City Council, the first candidate of any election internationally to run on the platform of reparations.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On this episode of The People's War Radio Show, we discuss the historic roots to what is being referred to as the 2021 Israel-Palestine conflict.
In early May 2021, Palestinians were protesting the continued illegal annexation of Palestinian controlled land by Israeli settlements. The Israeli supreme court was preparing to expel even more Palestinian families from East Jerusalem. This has been part of an increasingly aggressive and illegal Israeli settlement of Palestinian lands since 1967 but is part of more than 100 years of history.
This period is indeed only a recent moment in the Palestinian Arab struggle to keep their land against the onslaught of European settler colonialism.
We discuss the roots of the crisis in Occupied Palestine by reaching back in history and coming forward. In this episode we explore:
- Life in Palestine before British Occupation
- The political economic roots of the colonial project beginning with late-19th century Zionism, the British Mandate, and post-WWII European settlement.
- Nakba, the exile and forced removal of Palestinians between 1948 and 1967
- Israeli settlement in Palestinian land post-1967
- The correlation between European colonization of Africa and European Colonization of the Middle East
- African-Arab solidarity
- Covid-19 and reproductive politics in the Palestine and Israel
To discuss this with, we are joined by two scholar-activists, Bayan Abu-Sneineh and Dr. Maisam Alomar.
Bayan Abu-Sneineh is a doctoral candidate in ethnic studies at the University of California San Diego. Bayan is currently completing her doctoral research project on the intersections between racial and reproductive violence against Palestinian and African people in Israel and Palestine. Bayan’s family is from Hebron, Palestine.
Maisam is an assistant professor in Women and Gender Studies at the University of Colorado. Her research is on the distribution of healthcare as part of the larger context of colonial violence. Maisam received her PhD in Ethnic Studies from the University of California San Diego. Maisam’s family is from TulKarem in the West Bank of Palestine. She also has some family in Ramallah.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On April 4, 2021, incarcerated Africans rebelled at the St. Louis Justice Center, a city jail in downtown St. Louis. They broke the locks on their cells, busted out the windows and proceeded to throw chairs, tables and other furniture from the jail and set several fires in effort to draw attention to the inhumane conditions they have experienced.
This uprising was the most recent in a series of uprisings in local jails and prisons in the St. Louis area in the past years, including a rebellion months earlier in February.
A 2017 rebellion of inmates at the St. Louis Workhouse, a medium security prison on the North Side operated by the city of St. Louis made national news after several inmates were heard crying for help after enduring temperatures as high as 110 degrees with no air conditioning.
St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones, US Congresswoman Cori Bush, and other officials have made news recently with calls to defund the St. Louis police. Jones, Bush, and others have also focused on the St. Louis Workhouse. Jones has slated the Workhouse for closure in 2022.
In this episode of The People's War Radio Show we discuss:
- Living conditions in the St. Louis Workhouse and St. Louis Justice Center
- Covid-19 in St. Louis jails and beyond
- The links between colonial-slavery and mass incarceration today
- The Black Power Blueprint's African Independence Workforce Program as a form of dual and contending power to the colonial prison system
To discuss this with us, we are joined by Abdullah Alexander. Abdullah is a member of the African People’s Socialist Party and the Outreach Coordinator for the Black Power Blueprint.
Black Power Blueprint is a program that has refurbished buildings, built community gardens, and provides economic development for the black community of St Louis. Abdullah spent over 27 years incarcerated and now is working to build the African Independence Workforce Program which includes housing and job training for formerly incarcerated African men and women.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
African mothers continue the fight for the African family against the continuing legacy of colonialism and slavery. We discuss the role of "Child Protective Services" and the foster care system. We envision a world with African self-determination and collective child-rearing.
With special guests:
- Aniya Butler, who is fighting for the return of her six-year-old daughter, taken by the Arizona Department of Child Safety in 2020.
- Adrienne Spellman, whose son John Andre was killed in February 2021 in a transitional housing complex for foster youth funded by Alameda County Social Services.
- Shawntae Mitchum, Black Studies professor and sociologist from Oceanside, California.
- Maria Odom, mother of host Matsemela Odom, who works as an eligibility worker for Los Angeles Public Social Services serving women in need.
- Thomasine Okey, mother of host Muambi Tangu and model for collective family care-taking.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Thirty-four U.S. states are currently seeking to deny the right to free speech and political association by passing new laws. On April 26, 2021, Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed into law an "anti-riot" bill making it a felony to block a highway or destroy colonial statues during protests among other measures designed to quash the growing resistance against police violence.
We talk with Bilal Sunni Ali about the case of Jamil Al Amin (H. Rap Brown), after whom the 1968 "anti-riot act" was named. This law made it a felony to cross state lines "with the intent to incite, promote, encourage, participate in and carry on a riot" and was passed as part of the U.S. government's program to militarily defeat the Black Power movement of the 1960s.
Al Amin was the subject of constant surveillance and harassment since that time and has most recently been incarcerated since 2000. He is now 77, suffers ill health and is being denied proper medical care behind bars.
We also talk with Carolyn Weyni Lake, widow of Mafundi Lake, martyred political prisoner known for his decades of Black Power organizing in Birmingham, Alabama and inside the notorious Atmore-Holman prison. Mafundi died in prison on January 21, 2018.
Hip-Hop artist, DMX, born Earl Simmons, died on April 9, 2021. The beloved rapper sold millions of records, was nominated for three Grammy Awards and was the first musician whose first five albums reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart.
DMX also held several acting credits including his appearances in the 2000 action movie “Romeo Must Die” with Jet Li and Aaliyah; and the 2001 action film “Exit Wounds” with Steven Seagal. He starred with Nas and Method Man in Hype Williams’s 1998 film, “Belly” and was profiled in BET's 2006 reality series “DMX: Soul of a Man.”
We talk with two East Coast black power organizers - Yejide Orunmila, president of the African National Women’s Organization and Dexter Mlimwengu, writer and Information/Education Coordinator for the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement - both long-time DMX fans.
In the midst of Derek Chauvin's trial for the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, police have killed another unarmed black man, Daunte Wright, in Brooklyn Center, just 12 miles from Minneapolis.
Once again, the people take to the streets demanding justice, the media works to criminalize the victim, the lawyers descend on the family to get paid and police departments across the country continue to carry out their mandate to contain the colonized African community and maintain the status quo.
We talk with Jamaal Abegaz from his home in Moorhead, Minnesota.
In 2020, the city of Moorhead presented Jamaal with their Human Rights Award for his work advocating for the human rights of the African community in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd.
Jamaal is now an organizer with the African People's Socialist Party, and was preparing to travel to the Minneapolis area to promote the Uhuru Movement's program for Black Community Control of the Police.
Asa Anpu discusses the environmental, biological and psychological effects of pervasive toxic white suburban trash dumps and mining tailings in the black townships of South Africa.
Anpu is the Director of the Better Living Association, an organization working to improve health, economic and living conditions for African working class people in South Africa.
He recounts a struggle waged by Sharpesville residents for the restoration of electricity and the expulsion of white missionaries at this year's commemoration of the March 21, 1960 Sharpesville Massacre.
He discusses the latest initiative of the Better Living Association, Project Thuthukani, organizing residents of Evaton West, a township on the outskirts of Johannesburg, to remove the garbage dumps, separate recyclable trash and turn the land into community food gardens.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
We talk with Trini Trent and Elikya Ngoma. Trini Trent is a unique creator from Trinidad and Tobago. Through his works and his popular "Trini Trent TV show" on YouTube, he explores popular culture to dissect matters of music, film, race, sexuality and identity. Elikya Ngoma is the Haiti editor for The Burning Spear newspaper. She's also a revolutionary musician who recently released the extended play album, "Freedom In the Mix".
We review various African musical art forms as unifying influences connecting the African experience and African people worldwide, including Calypso music as a manifestation of the West African storytelling tradition.
We also discuss criticisms of homophobic and misogynist lyrics in popular music, as well as the future of African musical genres and their role in providing popular expression of African oppression and resistance.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Listen in to current and former hosts of The People's War radio show for a recap and celebration of the events, topics and guests of the past year, in our 1-year anniversary broadcast.
We talk with two African women playing leading roles in the work of the All African People's Development and Empowerment Project (AAPDEP) about the group's work to organize African health care providers, scientists, agriculturists and other skilled intellectuals to tackle the crisis of COVID and other colonial assaults on the health and well-being of the African community.
AAPDEP organized a nurse midwifery school, conducted Ebola community education and built rainwater harvesting in Sierra Leone. They organized disaster relief and rescue operations during Hurricane Harvey in Houston and have initiated backyard and community gardens throughout the U.S.
Kundai Bajikikayi and Michelle Odom discuss the group's current initiatives that include:
- COVID outreach and public education teaching health and safety protocols in African communities across the U.S. and in Africa.
- Free Telehealth program offering online consultation with doctors and other healthcare professionals.
- "Ask the Doctor" online education broadcasts.
Kundai Bajikikayi is volunteer coordinator for the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project and an organizer with the group's economic development program, "Zenzele Consignment" in Huntsville, Alabama.
Michelle Odom is the Mental Health Programs Coordinator for the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project and producer of their “Ask the Doctor” series. She is a professional counselor and educator.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
66-year-old black political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal has tested positive for COVID-19, is having trouble breathing, has congestive heart disease and cirrhosis of the liver due to delayed hepatitis C treatment.
Mumia joined the Black Panther Party at age 14. By age 16 he was Lieutenant of Information for the Panthers. He served as President of the Philadelphia Black Journalists Association. When the MOVE Family Africa was brutally attacked and their house burned by Philadelphia police under the direction of the notorious mayor Frank Rizzo in 1978, Mumia was MOVE's most vocal defender.
In 1981 Mumia was framed for the murder of a Philadelphia cop. He was initially sentenced to death, reduced to life in prison without parole in response to public pressure. People around the world continue to demand his immediate release.
We talk with Mike Africa, Jr., son of Debbie and Mike Africa, two of the survivors of the 1978 police attack on the MOVE house. Debbie and Mike Sr. were among the 9 MOVE members framed for the murder of the Philadelphia cop who died on the scene of the attack. Debbie was 8 months pregnant at the time and gave birth to Mike Jr. in prison.
The program includes statements in support of Mumia from former San Francisco 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick and MOVE member Pam Africa, as well as a recording of Mumia from prison and Mike Africa Jr.'s 2020 release "Time to Rise".
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On January 27, 2021, Kevin Desir, a 43-year-old black man, died in the custody of the Broward County (Florida) Sheriffs Department - a week after an "altercation" with jail staff had left him in a vegetative state with irreversible brain injury.
Desir had been arrested and charged with possession of marijuana despite the fact that he holds a legal medical marijuana card issued by the state of Florida.
He is survived by a loving family including two young daughters. His brother Mikco said Kevin had "dealt with mental illness for 21-22 years, but he didn’t let that define him. He worked full time. He was an entrepreneur. “
Desir's family has asked Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony to release the a video of the incident that resulted in Desir's death. Tony has so far refused, claiming the video is confidential and exempt under Florida law.
We talk with Life Malcolm, longtime Tampa community organizer and legal assistant with the Tampa Asilia Law Firm that is representing Desir's family.
We discuss the legacy of police violence against the African community across the state of Florida, the call for "Black Community Control of the Police" and Desir's family's efforts to obtain video recordings of the actions taken by Broward Sheriffs deputies that resulted in Desir's death.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode we talk with African People's Socialist Party Chairman about the recently released movie, Judas and the Black Messiah, putting it in context of the far-reaching U.S. government counterinsurgency program that militarily defeated the Black Power movement of the 1960s.
Judas and the Black Messiah recounts the FBI COINTELPRO (counterintelligence program) responsible for the assassinations of Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton and member Mark Clark.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela is leader of the international struggle for the unification and liberation of Africa and African people. He is the founder of The Burning Spear newspaper and the Uhuru Movement, with branches and programs throughout the U.S., Africa and Europe.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On February 12, 2021, Judas and the Black Messiah, was released in theaters and on HBO. The film recounts the FBI COINTELPRO (counterintelligence program) responsible for the assassinations of Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton and member Mark Clark.
We talk with L.A.-based activist, hip-hop artist, writer and student Honey Blu about the film and the legacy of the counterintelligence programs' war against the Black Power Movement of the 1960s.
Besides Judas and the Black Messiah, we also touch on Regina King’s motion picture One Night In Miami, 41st and Central and the HBO documentary film, Bastard of the Party.
This episode includes musical selections from former Panther leader Elaine Brown and from Honey Blu.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this episode we talk with Dr. Yelena Bailey, author of How the Streets Were Made: Housing Segregation and Black Life in America. The hood, the ghetto, the streets, regardless of what we call it, in her new book, Dr. Bailey argues that the streets are not just a physical geographical space but that they are a “ sociocultural entity that has influenced our understanding of blackness in America for decades.”
Dr. Bailey explains the role of government policies, advertising campaigns, colonial social sciences, and popular culture plays in shaping the confinement of Africans within these urban spaces. A tradition of domestic and settler colonialism that she ties to the death of George Floyd.
She explains the impacts of:
- Creation of the FHA and redlining in undermining black homeownership
- “The Secret of Selling the Negro”, a 1954 marketing film created by Johnson publications the parent company of Ebony magazine
- "Boyz in the Hood", "Snowfall", "The Wire"
She also talks about African resistance and the way African cultural production reflects that resistance. The program includes excerpts from and discussion of music by the Fugees, Nipsey Hussle, Kendrick Lamar and Buddy.
Dr. Bailey was raised in the Minneapolis area and earned her Ph.D. in literature at the University of California, San Diego. She has taught at a number of universities and colleges including Seattle Pacific University.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
In this week's episode we talk with Yejide Orunmila, President of the African National Women's Organization (ANWO) about:
- Black Community Control of Childcare and the building of the Uhuru Kijiji Childcare Collectives in the U.S. and around the world
- Struggles to defend African families and prevent Child Protective Services from taking African children from their homes
- Critiquing "bourgeois feminism" and building African self-determination
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
African people on the continent, in Europe, in the Caribbean and in the U.S. are facing dire conditions of poverty, lack of healthcare during a pandemic, denial of quality education and housing, and suffering violent oppression from the police and military occupation forces.
This episode's guests are African Internationalists - leaders of the African People's Socialist Party -working to unify and liberate African and African people worldwide. They join us to discuss today's common experiences of Africans in the U.S. and Africa, and tomorrow's vision for the end of colonial capitalism.
Chimurenga Selembao was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida, he's is a lifelong member of the Uhuru Movement currently based in St. Louis, Missouri. As the National Director of Organization for the African People’s Socialist Party USA, Chimurenga guides the work of Uhuru Movement organizations in the United States.
Tafarie Mugeri is the African Socialist International's Director of Organization for Africa. He's from Occupied Azania (South Africa) and organizes African workers throughout South, West and East Africa.
Today's episode looks at the campaign for the release of Reverend Errol Victor, framed and imprisoned in retaliation for challenging the system in Louisiana. We talk with:
- Belinda Parker-Brown, founder of Louisiana United International, Inc., and member of the Black is Back Coalition for Peace, Justice and Reparations.
- Dr. Zena D. Crenshaw, Assistant Chief of Operations for Louisiana United International, Inc., legal scholar and human rights activist.
Patrice Lumumba was elected the first Prime Minister of the Congo and took power on June 30, 1960. Within months, Lumumba was forced out of office. On January 17, 1961, Lumumba was assassinated under the leadership of the United States and other imperial powers.
The assassination of Patrice Lumumba reverberated throughout the African world. In the United States, Africans rushed the floor of the United Nations in protest. In Cairo, protestors surrounded the United States embassy and set an embassy car ablaze. In Belgrade, the Belgian embassy was attacked. In London, people took to the streets and marched in protest from Trafalgar Square to the Belgian embassy. Argued by some to be the most significant political assassination of the 20th century, the murder of Patrice Lumumba was a critical lesson in the rise of neocolonialism.
We talk with Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International about the significance of the Patrice Lumumba and the future of the struggle for African liberation in the Congo.
SG Luwezi was born and raised in the Congo and speaks 7 languages. He is now based in London and works as an educator and organizer in African communities throughout Europe and the continent of Africa.
SG Luwezi has come to be known as Mwalimu, meaning "respected teacher" in Swahili. He writes a monthly column in The Burning Spear Newspaper titled “Kinshasa International” and conducts regular livestream broadcasts to the African nation on Facebook in English and in French.
January 1, 2021 marked the 217th anniversary of the Haitian revolution against French colonialism. We talk with Elikya Ngoma, Haiti Editor for The Burning Spear newspaper and musical artist.
Elikya's family is from Haiti, she speaks Kreyòl and maintains a close connection to politics in Haiti. She is also a singer and musician who has just released an album "Freedom in the Mix" featuring freedom songs in various genres and languages.
In this interview we talked with Elikya about:
- The African Revolution in Haiti, the first successful workers' revolution
- Legacy and philosophy of Haitian General Jean Jacques Dessaline
- Highlights of the Haitian anti-slavery constitution and promise
- Ongoing French looting of the Haitian treasury
- Review of the recent Haitian film “Douvan Jou Ka Leve”
- Revolutionary culture and the process of producing "Freedom in the Mix"
In our final episode of 2020, we talk with African People's Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela about:
- African community's fight against the pandemic
- Uprisings against police containment and violence
- Global economic power shifts
- Completing the black revolution of the 1960s
- African political and economic unification and liberation
Chairman Omali Yeshitela is leader and founder of the Uhuru Movement. Over the past five decades, Chairman Omali has initiated campaigns to defend the democratic rights of the African community, to organize and raise up African women, to mobilize opposition to U.S. wars and to popularize the demand for reparations to African people.
He’s built the worldwide Uhuru Movement and the African Socialist International with branches in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean and on the continent of Africa. He's developed the theory of African Internationalism, which can be found in his published works at burningspearmarketplace.com
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
"The truth is that virtually every celebration done in this country and throughout Europe, certainly since the 15th or 16th century, have been celebrations of slavery and genocide.
"Sinterklaas was the patron saint of shipping in Holland. The first African captives to come to America were brought by the Dutch. I would imagine that the 'Good Ship Jesus' that brought us here was probably blessed by Sinterklaas. You could say that we were a gift from Santa to America." - Chairman Omali Yeshitela
Activists worldwide are fighting anti-African traditions and tearing down symbols of colonial slavery.
We talk with two leaders in Take Em Down NOLA, - Angela Kinlaw and A Scribe Called Quess? - about the relationship of traditions and imagery with the material living conditions of oppressed peoples. We discuss the phenomenons of:
- Sinterklass and Zwarte Piet
- "Jim Crow" black face minstrel shows
- Black face and the Zulu Social Club in New Orleans' Mardi Gras parade
- Colonial statues heralding leaders of slavery and genocide
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On December 4th, Grand Master Jay was arrested at his home in Ohio on a federal charge of pointing a rifle towards federally deputized task force officers perched on a rooftop during a rally in Louisville, Kentucky two months earlier.
57-year-old John “Jay” Johnson is leader of the Not F’in Around Coalition (NFAC), an armed black security force formed this summer. Over 500 NFAC members from across the U.S. marched in Louisville for justice for Breonna Taylor. If convicted Grand Master Jay faces 20 years in prison.
We talk with Rakem Balogun, leader of the Dallas-based group Guerilla MainFrame and co-founder of the Huey P. Newton Gun Club.
In 2017 Raken was arrested and imprisoned under an FBI program targeting what they classified as “Black Identity Extremists''. We discuss:
- Attacks on the constitutional rights of African people in the U.S. to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and to keep and bear arms.
- History of the U.S. government's COINTELPRO counterinsurgency program that militarily defeated the black revolutionary movement of the 1960s.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
On December 2nd, 2020, six Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies fired over 50 bullets into a car and hit 20-year-old Dominique Harris 38 times, killing him.
This police killing of another black man took place in a parking lot of a neighborhood store in south St. Petersburg in front of dozens of witnesses. It was filmed and went viral on social media.
On this episode we talk with lifelong St. Petersburg residents Ntambwe Bhekizitha and Akile Anai. Ntambwe is owner of Freedom Cutz Barbershop in south St. Pete and Akile's father. Akile Anai is Editor in Chief of The Burning Spear newspaper and former candidate for City Council in St. Pete.
We talk about:
- Police role in the forced removal for gentrification of St. Pete and African communities throughout the U.S.
- The importance of black working class owned media vs. white colonial media in controlling the narrative of our lives
- The need for political strategy to answer the question "to what end" do we protest the endless police murders of black people?
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
The Moses African Cemetery in Bethesda, Maryland, holds the remains of hundreds of African people dating back to at least the 18th century.
Today the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition is fighting developers and Montgomery County to stop the desecration of the sacred site as bulldozers tear the land to build a self-storage compound.
We talk with Marsha Coleman-Adebayo and her husband Reverend Segun Adebayo about:
- The brutal colonial kidnapping and theft of human and intellectual capital from the world's original universities in Africa to build the tobacco agricultural industry of the U.S.'s mid-Atlantic region.
- The attack on and forced disappearance of a vibrant working class neighborhood of black farmers, quarry workers and small business owners that was initially founded in the years immediately after the end of chattel slavery - reminiscent of Tulsa, OK and Rosewood, FL.
- The work of the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition - comprised of several concerned organizations and individuals - to protect the Moses African cemetery and build a museum on the historic site to tell the story of Africans in America.
Marsha Coleman-Adebayo is the Pulitzer prize-nominated author of No FEAR: A Whistleblowers Triumph over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA, based on her work at the Environmental Protection Agency for almost 20 years, where she sought to stop the endangerment of African miners in Occupied Azania (South Africa).
Reverend Segun Adebayo is pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church, the last remaining institution from the early community of Africans, custodian and protector of the Moses African Cemetery.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Last week, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse was released from jail where he was being held on murder charges after killing 2 people who were protesting the Kenosha, Wisconsin police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed African man.
Rittenhouse’s 2 million dollar bond was raised through a crowdfunding effort that drew popular support from white people around the U.S., including from the CEO of the My Pillow company.
Rittenhouse is associated with and influenced by armed white nationalist groups and individuals who are making a lot of noise around the country these days, threatening and carrying out violence against African, Mexican and Indigenous people and those who stand with us.
These actions are taking place in the context of the polarization between overt white nationalists groups represented and egged on by Trump vs. the growing resistance to state violence led by the African working class with some support from white progressives following the murder of George Floyd.
On this episode of the People’s War radio show we talk about the roots of white nationalist violence - whether from citizens or the state - and how it can be stopped.
Our guest is Penny Hess, author of the book, “Overturning the Culture of Violence” and Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, an organization formed by the African People’s Socialist Party to build political support and reparations from the white community for the African freedom struggle.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
2020 has been a year of African resistance - resistance to police violence, poverty and mass incarceration.
This episode looks at the role that culture plays in the “war of ideas” - how books, movies and music can express the worldview and serve the interests of the oppressor or those of the oppressed.
Aundrey Jones, Ethnic Studies doctoral candidate at UCSD, and Curtis Howard, early Crips member who was incarcerated for decades in California prisons - both organizers with "All of Us or None" ex-prisoner advocacy organization - discuss the political and psychological impact of:
- Movies - Hollywood's "Blaxploitation" films of the 1970s, American Gangster, L.A. Rebellion films, 3rd Cinema
- Authors - Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Iceberg Slim, Donald Goines, Chester Himes, Walter Mosley
- TV shows - Cops, America’s Most Wanted, First 48, Lockdown, Scared Straight
Curtis Howard is a writer, blogger, public speaker and activist from San Diego, California. One of the earliest members of a local San Diego Crips set, Curtis spent decades in various California prisons including Salinas Valley and Pelican Bay. He is the author of the popular book Cellmates and Cellouts, a collection of stories of life on the streets and behind bars, and the forthcoming book Crips and Politics. Curtis recalls the books found in the prison library that influenced his political development, including on Malcolm X and Assata Shakur.
Aundrey Jones earned received a degree in African-American Studies from UC Riverside and has done extensive research on black cultural expression, policing and mass incarceration. His doctoral project, “A Dream Eclipsed: The Cultural Politics of War and Carcerality in Black Los Angeles” argues that "Los Angeles...signifies not only a geopolitical region enabled through war, but an entity whose total socioeconomic structure has depended on the preservation and reproduction of discourses of war” and makes the case that the Cold War, the War on Poverty, the Vietnam War, the War on Drugs, and the War on Gangs were all wars on Black people.
Philadelphia is credited with sealing a victory for Joseph Biden in the U.S. presidential race and "saving democracy". At the same time, the city is reeling from nightly protests demanding an end to police violence against the African community.
This episode of The People's War radio show looks at the city's legacy of violence against the black community and African people's resistance to that violence - from Harriet Tubman's Underground Railroad to the bombing of MOVE to last month's police killing of Walter Wallace.
We talk with Philadelphia residents:
- Ikemba Bomani Ojore. Professor at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, Ikemba lives in Philadelphia where he was born and raised.
- Jess, community activist, born and raised in Philadelphia.
- Len Demmer, community activist and Philadelphia resident for 12 years.
- Jihaad Lassiter, survivor of Philadelphia police shooting.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
The struggle for Black Power is reaching a critical point in the so-called French West Indies. Massive protests have been growing against the poisoning of the people, land and water of Martinique and Guadeloupe by continuing use of the internationally-banned pesticide, chlordecone, by plantation owners.
Activists are demanding an immediate end to the use of chlordecone and reparations for the severe health impacts on the population and the long-term destruction of the natural resources of the islands. The response of the French government has been violently repressive. We talk with:
- Madly Etile, activist, singer, traditional African dancer and a mother, whose son, Keziah, was brutally beaten, tortured and jailed for his participation in peaceful protests demanding justice for the people of the French West Indies.
- Steve Fola Gadet, assistant professor at the University of the French West Indies, hip hop emcee, writer, and activist. Fola is from Guadeloupe but lives in Martinique. He is the author of Discourse on Neocolonialism, a 2018 revisiting of Aime Cesaire’s magnum opus Discourse on Colonialism.
We also hear directly from Keziah Nussier who is due in court next week for taking a stand against the plantation owners and French authorities.
Keziah's statements and portions of Madly's interview are presented in French and translated to English by Fola.
More information on Keziah's case can be found on Instagram and Facebook.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.
Militant protests against police repression and murder of African people have spread across Nigeria, strategic oil supplier to the western world. Widespread reparations raids on stores and government warehouses along with attacks on police precincts and prisons have rocked the country. Lagos - Nigeria's financial hub whose population is 3 times larger that NYC - has been brought to a standstill, with curfews imposed and schools closed.
We talk with:
- Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International. Born and raised in the Congo, Kinshasa speaks 7 languages. He is currently based in London and works as an educator and organizer in African communities throughout Europe and across the continent of Africa.
- Dr. Olufemi Taiwo, assistant professor of philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington DC. Born in the U.S., his family is from the vicinity of Lagos, Nigeria. He is currently writing a book entitled Reconsidering Reparations, making a new philosophical argument for reparations and exploring links with environmental justice.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU-LP FM in St. Petersburg, Florida. It's hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu.
This November, Sony and Microsoft will be releasing their newest gaming consoles, Playstation 5 and the XBOX Series X. It's estimated that by 2024, Sony and Microsoft will sell over 100 million of these new gaming units.
Africans are overrepresented as gamers but underrepresented as creative workers in the industry. Approximately 7% of whites and 11% of Black young people define themselves as gamers, but Africans are only 3% of the video game industry’s high tech workforce.
We talk with Ushindi Watu, old school gamer from New Jersey, "I've been in arcades and pool halls since pinball", and Iquan X, St. Petersburg college student and avid gamer, about:
- Derogatory representation of African characters in video gaming
- Tech industry dependency and exploitation of precious minerals, like coltan and copper, from Africa
- Challenges faced by young Africans seeking to use their technology knowledge and skills for positive change and creative expression
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU FM in St. Petersburg, FL and hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu.
Following the Kentucky grand jury failure to indict any police for the murder of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, we talk with:
- Jamahl Kersey, of the Kersey Law firm. For over 10 years, Kersey has defended working class people in a range of issues before the court - from criminal cases to the defense of people facing deportation. Kersey is also a community college professor of legal studies.
- Robert White, a St. Louis-based educator, Black Power activist and juror in the "Black People’s Grand Jury" that indicted Darren Wilson for the 2014 murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
This episode includes excerpts from Megan Thee Stallion's Saturday Night Live performance denouncing Kentucky Attorney General Cameron for "selling out" the black community, Cameron's response to the rap artist, Gil Scott Heron's 1972 "No Knock" song and clips from the 2015 Black People's Grand Jury.
The People's War radio show is produced by WBPU FM in St. Petersburg, FL and hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and community activist Muambi Tangu.
In the midst of a continuing pandemic, worldwide uprisings against police containment of the African community and a desperately contested U.S. presidential election, we turn to Chairman Omali Yeshitela for answers and a way forward. Chairman Omali is:
- Leader and founder of the Uhuru Movement over 5 decades, initiated campaigns to defend the democratic rights of the African community, to organize and raise up African women, to mobilize opposition to U.S. wars and to popularize the demand for reparations to African people
- Author of numerous books developing the theory and strategy of African Internationalism
- Winner of the 2019 Oxford Union Africa debate
- Chairman of the African Socialist International with branches throughout the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean and on the continent of Africa
The People's War Radio Show is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM radio in St. Petersburg, Florida and is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and African community organizer Muambi Tangu.
On September 12, 2020, a gunman opened fire on two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputies at the Willowbrook Blue Line Transit Station in Compton California.
The deputies were taken to the nearby St. Francis Medical Center in the neighboring city of Lynwood. Outside of the hospital, protestors gathered, not in support of the officers but in support of the community, chanting, “We hope they die.”
As we record this program, there have been no arrests in the case. Many residents assume that this attack on the police were in response to a series of recent police killings and to the decades of police containment and abuse against the black community of Compton and Los Angeles.
In this episode we talk with two community activists about the existence of gangs operating inside of the L.A. Sheriff's Department, the allegations that the recent killing of a black bicyclist was a gang initiation test and the "no comment" response of the black community to offers of "snitch money" in the case of the shooting of the 2 Sheriff's Deputies.
- Tasha Williamson is a celebrated activist and powerful advocate of justice against white power in police departments. She is co-founder of Hotels Vouchers for all and San Diego Compassion Project. In early 2020, she ran for mayor of San Diego winning over 25,000 votes. Tasha Williamson has fought in courts, on the streets, in city hall, in front of city official’s residence to expose the relationship between the policies of violence and imprisonment against Africans and the corruption within these departments.
- Alfred Durr, a father of 6 children born and raised in Compton, California. A former standout athlete, Alfred has seen the best and the worst of life in Compton, California. Currently, Alfred is the co-host of the podcast CoolTalk where they discuss everything from sports to politics. Alfred is a fierce advocate for the African working class on everything from his opposition to gang profiling to his support for healthy eating and exercise.
As U.S. COVID-19 deaths exceed 200,000, we talk with two African professionals about:
- The state of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the African community along with the state of health and healthcare in general, for African people in the U.S. and around the world.
- What African people can do to guard against infection by the virus and what we can do if we do become infected.
- Strategies for African communities to take charge of our own overall health and well-being.
Dr. Aisha Fields is a physicist who became the International Director of the All African People’s Development & Empowerment Project, a non-profit organization founded in 2007.
As the group’s Director, Dr. Aisha is responsible for coordinating African community-led health care, agricultural and educational programs throughout the U.S., on the continent of Africa, and in African communities world-wide.
They’ve built clean water systems, vocational and nursery schools, community farms, maternity centers and a variety of youth and adult educational programs.
They also established the Project Black Ankh to provide African community-based disaster relief, responding to hurricanes in Texas, Ebola in Sierra Leone and now, COVID-19 worldwide.
Dr. Loretta King is a family nurse practitioner with a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Chatham University.
With more than 30 years of nursing experience, Dr. King has worked in Emergency care, ICU, Dialysis, Women's Health and Primary Care.
She’s a recipient of the 2005 Houston Salute to Nurses award.
Today, Dr. King is a member of the Project Black Ankh Medical Advisory Team and serves as the Project’s lead Medical Provider.
Hip-Hop is a cultural movement that was formed following the defeat of the African Revolution of the 1960s. Its poetics, aesthetics, and politics reflect African life under the US counterinsurgency.
The conditions that define the moment hip-hop arose were: increased privatization, mass unemployment and poverty, increased colonial violence and a decrease in mass mobilization. Hip-Hop shares these conditions with other African art forms such as the blues and calypso, of an earlier period, and reggae music of the 1970s.
Hip-Hop’s enduring character is attributed to its origins in the African working class.
Hip-Hop and rap music has, at times, offered political prescriptions to the African Working Class. More than often, rappers and other cultural workers have reflected the revolutionary upsurge amongst the masses.
Historically, the most remarkable rap group was Dead Prez. As this episode's guests noted, Dead Prez did not just rap about political topics, they had excellent skill and production but were also African Internationalist organizers. This year is the 20th anniversary of Dead Prez’s album Let’s Get Free.
In 2020, rappers and African cultural workers have entered into political debates over police violence and electoral politics. As we see in this episode, their conclusions are not always what we expect but, as our guest Professor Fanon Che Wilkins notes, we should continue to engage rappers and Hip-Hop as an arena of struggle.
In this episode, we do just that.
Hosts Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu talk with:
- Fanon Che Wilkins, PhD, a professor of American Studies at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan. Named after Frantz Fanon and Che Guevara, Wilkins was born into black revolutionary struggle. He co-edited the 2009 anthology of essays, From Toussaint to Tupac: The Black International Since the Age of Revolution and is the author of “A Line of Steel”: The Organization of the Sixth Pan-African Congress and the Struggle for International Black Power, 1969–1974.”
- Anthony Blacksher, sociology professor at San Bernardino Valley College, in San Bernardino, California, with a doctorate in cultural studies from Claremont Graduate University. Known as Ant Black, he is a spoken word artist and a founding member of the spoken word group Collective Purpose and co-hosted “Elevated,” a nationally renowned open-mic that ran for over 10 years in San Diego. Blacksher is the author of the doctoral dissertation, “A Matter of Life and Def: Poetic Knowledge and the Organic Intellectuals in Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry.”
Hosts Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu talk with Diop Olugbala, chair of the "Black Community Control of Police" working group of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations Coalition about:
- Stop and Frisk racial profiling
- Special "anti-gang" laws targeting the black community
- The September 11-13, 2020 online Convention of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement
Last week, the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League were forced to cancel playoff and other games when athletes refused to play, in protest of the actions of the Kenosha, Wisconsin police, shooting an unarmed black man Jacob Blake, seven times in the back.
The political fall-out from the police violence against the African community even hit the world of tennis when Naomi Osaka pulled out of the Western Southern Open.
This week's guest is Jason Jones, sportswriter for the Sacramento Bee for 16 years before joining the ranks of the Athletic, a popular sports journal.
Jason talks with host Dr. Matsemela Odom, childhood friend and rival football player, about the relationship of black professional athletes to the team owners and their growing public stance of opposition to police violence in the black community.
"The African community in St. Louis has a very rich and vibrant history of culture, music, resistance and strong family. That's still a fact in north St. Louis. We contrast that reality to the economic reality where 30% of the population is living on less than $5 a day. Until recently, there have been about 25,000 vacant and abandoned buildings in north St. Louis and much of it looks like a war zone. With the Black Power Blueprint, we want to bring the black community back - with grocery stores, healthy food, vibrant businesses, owned and controlled by the people", says Ticharwa Masimba.
Masimba, along with Uhuru Movement President Kalambayi Andenet - both longtime residents of St. Louis - are this week's guests.
They discuss the progress of the Black Power Blueprint in revitalizing north St. Louis with the creation of a community center, outdoor event space, community garden, basketball court and workforce housing.
Andenet reflects on the unifying impact of the 50-foot high red, black and green flag that flies over the community garden. "St. Louis has been named the murder capital. The horizontal violence is a real issue. This flag has been the way we have able to say 'cease fire and save the bullets for the real war'. We are engaged in getting the gang leaders to sign a peace treaty and say the red, black and green flag trumps all flags."
Masimba and Andenet explain role of the planned 1000-acre National Geospatial-Intelligence (spy) Agency in the gentrification of north St. Louis and the role of the St. Louis Land Reutilization Agency and Alderman John Collins-Muhammad in supporting white developers and blocking black community property acquisition.
Black and Latino people make up nearly 80 percent of the people in prison. Black and Latino people earn, on average, 60 percent the median income earned by whites. The COVID-19 rates for Africans, Latinos and Indigenous people in the US are three to four times those of whites.
Black and Brown people live together, work together, go to school together. But those sites have also been places of conflict stoked by the colonial contradictions of poverty, prison, and police brutality.
As the 50th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium approaches, we discuss the way forward with:
- Harry Simon, lifelong educator, media producer and Central Committee member of Union del Barrio, dedicated to "promoting and defending the human rights and class interests of la raza within the current borders of the U.S.
- Marco Amaral, graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, educator for children with special needs in the San Diego South Bay and a member of the South Bay Union School District Board of Trustees.
This episode is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu. The weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the struggle against colonial violence, from COVID-19 to police occupation.
More than 1.5 million African people are locked up in prison or jail in the U.S., victims of a colonial system where they are the targets of profiling, discriminatory prosecutions and unfair sentencing.
A number of them are political prisoners who have spent most of their adult lives behind bars after serving as heroes in the Black Power movement of the 1960s.
Today, African prisoners face an additional threat - COVID-19. Demands are growing for the immediate release of prisoners across the U.S.
In this episode we talk with:
- Ralph Poynter, founder of the Teachers Freedom Party Caucus of the United Federation of Teachers, New York City. He is a co-founder of the New Abolitionist Movement and served as chair of the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee in which he fought for the release of political prisoner and his late wife Lynne Stewart, a lawyer who defended African and Arab activists and was incarcerated during the last years of her life, as part of the U.S. counterinsurgency program.
- Belinda Parker- Brown, founder of Louisiana United International, Inc., member of the Black is Back Coalition for Peace, Justice and Reparations, and through her affiliation with The Jericho Movement, works to free African political prisoners deemed to be prisoners of war.
- Dr. Zena D. Crenshaw, Assistant Chief of Operations for Louisiana United International, Inc., legal scholar and human rights activist.
Dr. Matsemela Odom talks with Jalali, also known as Norman Otis Richmond about:
- COVID-19 and colonial violence against Africans in Canada
- History of the African liberation movement and the struggle for African unity in Canada
- Revolutionary international African culture
Jalali was born in Louisiana and raised in Los Angeles, California. He moved to Canada in the late-1960s where he became an early leader in the African Liberation Movement in Canada.
He's dedicated his life to revolutionary cultural work. An accomplished musician himself and a musical historian, he has worked with a host of musicians such as Bob Marley, Abbey Lincoln, Hugh Masekela, and Fela Kuti.
Jalali is the host and producer of the “Diasporic Music” show on Black Power 96 FM radio in St. Petersburg, Florida, which airs Sundays, 2pm to 4pm Eastern Time and can be heard on the Black Power 96 mobile app.
He is a prolific writer on African politics and culture, widely published including in the Pambazuka News, the San Francisco Bay View, the Black Agenda Report, CounterPunch and The Burning Spear newspaper, where he has a regular column.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools across the United States abruptly closed in March. Some school districts implemented distance learning plans, and others did not. African children without regular access to computers and the internet have been further alienated.
In the haste to reopen and jumpstart the economy, public school districts have reopened despite the fact that one out of three children tested for COVID-19 in places like Florida have received positive test results.
In the schools, we have seen African children arrested for bringing play money. We have seen the natural hairstyles and head wraps of African girls and boys criminalized, and African girls brutalized by campus police.
Africans are resisting colonial education. Homeschooling is on the rise, but African families that received cash aid from the government are not eligible for homeschooling. If they remove their children from the colonial education system, their children can be kidnapped by Child Protective Services.
Single parents with jobs as well as African households where two parents work and barely survive, cannot afford homeschooling.
What is the solution? The solution is Black Community Control of Schools. We talk with:
- Chimurenga Selembao, leader in the development of the Marcus Garvey Academy, a proposed charter school in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also ran for Pinellas County School Board on a platform of Black Community Control of Schools.
- Maisha Kudumu, director of Uhuru Shule Virtual Freedom School, an initiative created by the Uhuru Movement in San Diego to assist African families following the shutdown of local schools in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Uhuru Shule also teaches self-determination to African parents and children. Maisha is a mother of two children. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English literature and a Master’s degree in Counseling. As a young activist, Maisha participated in the Center for Parent Involvement in Education, a grassroots initiative created by her parents--also lifelong education activists, to promote self-determination of African parents and children as the key to educational success.
This episode is hosted by Tiana Afrika. The weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the struggle against colonial violence, from COVID-19 to police occupation.
Brazil occupies nearly half of the South American continent and is home to approximately 214 million people, over half of whom are African.
With 83,000 deaths from COVID-19, Brazil is rapidly catching up with the U.S. where 145,000 have died. Africans in Brazil face extreme poverty, lack of health care and rampant violence and murder at the hands of police and the Brazilian military.
We talk with:
- Thalma de Freitas, Grammy-nominated musician, songwriter and actress, who was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thalma performs a wide variety of African music such as hip hop, samba, jazz, and traditional African music in Brazil, representing African independence in culture and politics.
- Abner Sotenos. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Abner is currently a doctoral student in history at the University of California San Diego. His recent public talk delivered at the University of California Los Angeles chronicled the history of colonial violence against African women in Brazil, including the recent assassination of Marielle Franco.
The Amazon fire stick video screen opens with slogans about “Black Lives Matter” and “Amazon stands in solidarity with the black community”.
Netflix has put together a black movies series. Nascar made a public showing of support for their one black driver and removed the Confederate flag.
UberEats is offering free delivery from black businesses. Twitter CEO has declared Juneteenth a corporate holiday.
Walmart says they’ll stop locking the cabinets displaying black hair care products. LEGO has suspended marketing for police-themed sets.
Corporations posture and pretend support for the black community, but they take billions in government bailout while African workers suffer death and poverty heightened during the coronavirus pandemic.
We talk with:
- Akile Anai, Editor of The Burning Spear newspaper and Director of the African People's Socialist Party's Department of Agitation and Propaganda. In 2017 and in 2019 Akile ran for City Council in St. Petersburg on a platform of reparations and was profiled by Ebony Magazine as a “Millennial of Change”.
- Halley Murray, artist, graduate of Montserrat College of Art and coordinator of Uhuru Planet Reparations Apparel. As a member of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, the white reparations component of the Uhuru Movement, Halley has led protests at corporate offices and CEO homes, demanding reparations to the African community.
This episode is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu. The weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the struggle against colonial violence, from COVID-19 to police occupation.
Guests on this week's program are both from St. Louis, MO:
- Jabreia Taylor, law student at the Saint Louis University School of Law and President of the Law School’s Street Law Chapter
- Kalambayi Andenet, President of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement
We discuss:
- The police occupation of the black community and other colonial conditions facing African people such as COVID-19 pandemic, gentrification and poverty
- "Black Community of the Police" vs. "Defund the police"
- Efforts to end "Qualified Immunity" protecting police from liability in brutality suits
This episode is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu. The weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the struggle against colonial violence, from COVID-19 to police occupation.
We talk with Yejide Orunmila, President of the African National Women’s Organization (ANWO) about:
- How to stop violence against African women - colonial (police) and horizontal (within the community)
- Efforts to stop the forced removal of African children from their families
- Support for African women in prison
- ANWO’s July 11-12 online international organizing conference
The program concludes with the words of the late Afeni Shakur, co-defendant in the NYC trial against the Panther 21 in 1969 and mother of the rapper, Tupac.
This episode is hosted by Tiana Afrika and Muambi Tangu. The weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the struggle against colonial violence, from COVID-19 to police occupation.
The People's War Radio Show returns to New York City to talk with:
New York City Councilwoman Inez Barron representing the 42nd District in Brooklyn. Born and raised in Brooklyn, a graduate of Hunter College and the Bank Street College of Education, she worked in primary and secondary education for 36 years, serving as an elementary school teacher, a principal and a school board member.
New York State Assemblyman Charles Barron. Born in Queens, he joined the Harlem branch of the Black Panther Party at age 18, distributing newspapers and protesting for the release of the Panther 21. He joined the National Black United Front in 1979, is today a member of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, advocates for Black Community Control and has effectively put a stop to gentrification in his District.
On this program, they discuss:
- Countering attempts to hijack the movement to ending police occupation of the African community
- Black community health and economic survival during the coronavirus pandemic
- The struggles for reparations and quality education
Hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the struggle against colonial violence, from COVID-19 to police occupation.
On Monday, May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African man, was murdered by Minneapolis police who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, suffocating him. In the days and weeks that followed, militant uprisings took place in thousands of cities around the world, including the torching and destruction of police vehicles and buildings as well other government buildings and businesses.
On Friday, May 29, 2020, 3 days into the protests that have rocked the foundation of the colonialist capitalist world, African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela broadcast this message, the original video version of which can be found on the Burning Spear TV channel on YouTube.
The full transcript of this message can also be found on The Burning Spear newspaper online.
Chairman Omali makes several key points:
- "What we are looking at in Minneapolis is the existential crisis of a system that came into existence through the genocide of the indigenous people who were called "Indians," the indigenous people of this land, and the captivity and colonial enslavement of African people."
- "When the people go into that Target and the various other colonial corporations that exist in this country and around the world, they are expressing reparations in a very serious kind of way."
- "We fight colonialism, not racism. We are so opposed to this notion of racism because fighting against racism doesn't take you to power, It doesn't change anything about your lives. It just makes you a servant to white power. It makes you someone who spends your time trying to win appreciation by those who colonize us."
- "All of our communities around this country and the world are encircled by steel, by armed forces who are there for the purpose of maintaining this social system - that’s what the police is! They are not there to help us. They are there in order to maintain this relationship that African people who are colonized have with white power, with colonial capitalism."
- "We are Africans. We have to fight for our freedom against this colonial domination which means among the other things that we have to achieve is self-government. We can’t have any freedom as long as somebody else controls our ability to feed, clothe and house ourselves."
For more information on the African People’s Socialist Party, visit apspuhuru.org.
Protests opposing police violence against the black community continue unabated in hundreds of U.S. cities and across the globe, even as coronavirus cases spike in many areas.
More killings of African people by police and white vigilantes are exposed almost daily. Calls for defunding the police and promises of reform are discussed in today’s show. What is the role of the police in black communities, historically and today?
This week the People’s War radio show talks with:
- Ms. Stephanie Gasca, Minneapolis activist and former City Council candidate and Metropolitan State University political science student.
- Dr. Jimmy Patino. Professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota.
- Kobina Bantushango, Southern regional organizer with the African People’s Socialist Party.
Hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Muambi Tangu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the struggle against colonial violence, from COVID-19 to police occupation.
A month ago, Haiti’s number of COVID-19 infections barely registered on the global radar screen. But a leading medical group warns that that has now changed alarmingly. At the end of April, Haiti had reported only 81 new coronavirus cases and eight deaths. Those COVID-19 figures have since spiked to more than 3,000 cases and 50 deaths.
The international medical nonprofit Doctors Without Borders says that due to a lack of testing, the count is likely much higher. Haiti’s growing crisis is reflected across so-called Latin America and the Caribbean – which scientists say is the global hotspot for COVID-19’s second wave.
Today’s guest Elikya Ngoma was born on August 11, 1991 to a family of Africans from Haiti. There, Elikya witnessed many of the contradictions that Africans face around the world, especially those who come from Haiti. Elikya Ngoma is the Haiti Editor of The Burning Spear newspaper.
“The death rate from COVID-19 in Tijuana is 7 times the death rate in neighboring San Diego. These 2 cities are about the same size in population, but San Diego has over 30 hospitals while Tijuana has 3. San Diego has 900 respirators. Tijuana has 10. Tijuana was created as San Diego’s Cuba - for tourism, gambling, sexual tourism,” - Dr. Matsemela Odom.
This week the People’s War radio show talks with:
- Dr. Matsemela Odom, Black Studies educator at the University of San Diego and other schools including UC San Diego, San Diego City College and San Diego Mesa College. Odom has published numerous articles on the history of black people throughout southern California, analyzing the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, police brutality, segregation, the crack cocaine epidemic, hip-hop music, white hate groups and black resistance rebellions.
- Muambi Tangu, former student organizer at San Diego State University and current Membership Coordinator for the International People’s Democatic Uhuru Movement. Tangu has been organizing for African self-determination and Black Power in San Diego for nearly two decades.
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for community self-determination.
This week the People’s War radio show goes live to Chicago to talk with Kamm Howard, Co-Chair of the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America and head of the Reparations Working Group for the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations.
We discuss:
- The Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd and the struggle for Black Community Control of the police.
- The impact of the pandemic on the African community in Chicago from the loss of businesses, eviction and homelessness, poverty and police violations of black democratic rights.
- Scientific research into the impact of slavery and ongoing colonial oppression on the DNA and genetic health of African people.
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for community self-determination.
New York City has been the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.
African communities in New York City - already hard hit by homelessness, gentrification, police brutality and murder, joblessness, hunger - are bearing the brunt of COVID-19 deaths.
On May 18, the New York Times wrote, “Neighborhoods with high concentrations of black and Latino people, as well as low-income residents, suffered the highest death rates, while some wealthier areas — primarily in Manhattan — saw almost no deaths.”
This week the People’s War radio show goes live to New York City to talk with two long term black community activists. Malik Shakur and Oronde Shakur are both organizers with the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement.
They discuss “essential workers”, “masking while black” and the roots of the high rates of death among African people in the current pandemic.
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for community self-determination.
As the COVID-19 virus wreaks havoc on African, Mexican, and Indigenous communities, the U.S. government is bailing out the Wall Street banks with trillions of dollars.
The COVID-19 so-called ‘relief’ stimulus package, signed into law by U.S. president Donald J. Trump, allocated a whopping $425 billion for corporations. That $425 billion is going to the Federal Reserve, whose banks will have the authority to lend it out at a multiple of 10 times, essentially creating money out of thin air. This means the real size of the bailout going to the banks and corporations will be upwards of $4 trillion.
Minutes away from the towering buildings on Wall Street, refrigerated trucks are parked on the side of a Queens hospital to handle the influx of dead bodies; most are African.
This week we talk with Jesse Nevel, Chair of the Uhuru Solidarity Movement, an organization of white people in solidarity with Black Power under the leadership of the African People’s Socialist Party.
Nevel is a former St. Petersburg, Florida mayoral candidate who ran on a platform of “Unity Through Reparations”. Today he leads a campaign to “Make Wall Street pay reparations”.
In this program Nevel reviews the role of Wall Street banks and insurance companies in the slave trade during the founding of America and exposes their ongoing profiteering from African suffering today.
He details the profit-making of Amazon and others during the coronavirus pandemic through the CARES Act and exploitation of African and other oppressed workers. He discusses an upcoming car protest targeting the offices of J.P. Morgan and the home of it’s CEO Jaime Dimon.
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for community self-reliance and self-help.
The vastly disproportionate death rate of African people in the U.S. from COVID-19 is attributed to so-called “pre-existing health conditions”. These conditions are imposed on the African community because we can’t afford the profit-driven healthcare, have limited access to healthy food, and are forced to live in poor, high density housing, among other symptoms of a population dominated by an hostile U.S. government.
The U.S. has been condemned throughout the world for its inability to respond effectively or humanely to the pandemic. While the U.S. currently has more than one quarter of the world’s COVID-19 deaths, the government has done very little to provide meaningful resources to the vast majority of people.
Other countries like China, Venezuela and Cuba have led the way in responding to the coronavirus. They’ve identified potential cures, implemented rapid stay-at-home policies, provided free rent (along with already-free healthcare) and have dispatched doctors throughout the world to treat infected populations.
The U.S. has responded by cutting off funding to the European-based, World Health Organization for its praise of China’s response to the global pandemic. The U.S. has also responded to Cuba by continuing strict sanctions intended to starve the socialist-run island into submitting to a capitalist-dominated economy, and has even blocked the flow of personal protective equipment to the island.
This week we talk with Lisa Davis, member of the People’s Organization for Progress, vice-chair of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations (BIBC) and chair of the BIBC’s Healthcare Working Group. She was co-signer to a recent letter to the FDA head demanding expedited approval of a Cuban-developed COVID-19 drug treatment, Interferon Alpha 2B. Based in New Jersey, she is an outspoken critic of the lack of hospitals and denial of healthcare in the black community. She is a researcher and advocate of nutritional and traditional African approaches to health and well-being.
“I believe that the reason black people have such horrible statistics when it comes to being able to survive COVID-19 in these hospitals is because we are in the hospitals of a system that was set up by the colonizers. Just as the police can look at us and say “they look like a criminal” and kill us, the medical profession has the same ability to do that”, says Davis.
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for African community self-determination.
Even before Covid-19, Africans in the U.S. had an unemployment rate at least twice the national rate, while the median net worth of white families was 10 times greater than that of African families.
Those who are working make up a disproportionate number of “essential” workers, risking their lives to generate greater profits for corporations that pay them meager wages and do not even provide personal protective equipment.
Small African-owned businesses are struggling to access emergency grant funds that are mostly going to giant politically-connected companies.
The current crisis poses the question “how can the African community build n economic infrastructure to meet the people’s needs and ensure the health and safety of the African working class?”
This week we talk with economic development leaders and business owners:
- Ona Zene Yeshitela, President of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund
- Kundai Bajikikayi, Assistant Manager of Zenzele Consignment
- Tiffany Murphy, Coordinator of the One Africa, One Nation Marketplace
- Bakari Olatunji, Vice-Chair of Uhuru Foods and Pies
- Chia Cotansuca, Promotions Coordinator for Uhuru Furniture and Collectibles
- Akili Achebe, Co-owner of Threads by Denise
- Racquel Barnes, Owner of Fit2You
- Janet Taylor, Owner of Totally Organized
- Christine Sharay Freeman, Owner of Vibing by Nature
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for African community self-determination.
This week we turn our attention to Africa and efforts being made there to prevent widespread deaths from COVID-19.
On April 17th, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa released a report predicting that “Anywhere between 300,000 and 3.3 million African people could lose their lives as a direct result of COVID-19."
The People’s War radio show talks with Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International, and Tafarie Mugeri, Chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party-South Africa.
Luwezi Kinshasa is originally from Congo and speaks 7 languages. He is now based in London and works as an educator and organizer in African communities throughout Europe and the continent of Africa.
He discusses the continuing struggle for African people to control and benefit from the vast resources of Africa and the impact of neo-colonialism on the ability of African workers to overcome poverty, starvation and illness.
He also addresses the relationship of China to Africa and the treatment of African people by China and Chinese people both inside of China and inside of Africa.
Tafarie Mugeri was born and raised in South Africa, called Occupied Azania by African patriots. He is currently working throughout the townships bringing health education and organization to African people there.
Mugeri criticizes the ANC government’s response to the pandemic, “They are more concerned about controlling African workers than controlling the coronavirus”. He reports on recent police activity in the townships, the impact of lockdowns on access to food, and responds to statements made this week by South Africa’s President Ramaphosa.
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the weekly People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for community self-determination.
Reverend Edward Pinkney is featured on this third episode of WBPU FM’s new weekly radio program covering the coronavirus pandemic from the perspective of the African working class worldwide.
Rev. Pinkney is a longtime leader of the Black Autonomy Network Community Organization, working for economic and social justice in Benton Harbor, MI, a 90% African city located between Detroit and Chicago.
Rev. Pinkney has a history of fighting parasitic capitalism in defense of the human and civil rights of the working class people in cities throughout Michigan, taking on the water shutoffs and emergency manager laws that eliminate democracy and turn public assets like water over to the corporations.
He is a strong and active advocate for the release of prisoners serving unjust or inordinately long sentences.
On this show Rev. Pinkney discussed the health emergency facing prisoners across the U.S., drawing on his personal experience and personal connections inside the prison system.
He discusses the impact of the coronavirus on the African populations of Detroit, Flint and throughout the state of Michigan.
He also shares his views on the impact of corporate take-overs and gentrification of long-time African cities like Detroit and calls for the development of African-owned and controlled businesses and neighborhoods.
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for community self-reliance and self-help.
African People’s Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela is the guest on this second episode of WBPU FM’s new weekly radio program covering the coronavirus pandemic from the perspective of the African working class worldwide.
Over the past five decades, Chairman Omali has initiated campaigns to defend the democratic rights of the African community, to organize and raise up African women, to mobilize opposition to U.S. wars and to popularize the demand for reparations to African people.
He’s built the worldwide Uhuru Movement and the African Socialist International with branches in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean and on the continent of Africa.
In this episode of the People’s War Radio Show, Chairman Omali explains the roots of the alarming rates of African deaths from COVID-19, exposes the corporate agenda for profiting from the virus and describes the work of Project Black Ankh in providing African-controlled emergency relief services.
Hosted by Ticharwa Masimba and Matop Nyungu, the People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for community self-reliance and self-help.
WBPU FM radio, “Black Power 96.3 FM” has launched a weekly radio program to cover the coronavirus pandemic from the perspective of the African working class worldwide.
The People’s War Radio Show features guests covering all aspects of the current crisis - providing health and medical tips and resources, economic survival information, analysis of the political and international impact, how to prepare for the future and organize for community self-reliance and self-help.
This first episode features guest Dr. Aisha Fields who discusses the anticipated impact of the coronavirus on the African community, dispels the myth that black people are immune and offers practical tips for protection against infection and building one’s immune system.
Dr. Fields is a physicist who has dedicated her skills for the development and empowerment of African people. She is the International Director of the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project (AAPDEP), a non-profit organization whose mission is to “collectivize the vast skills of Africans around the world in order to establish community based development projects that improve the quality of life for African people everywhere while promoting self-reliance and self-determination as key to genuine, sustainable development.”
AAPDEP has organized renewable energy, water purification, farming, healthcare and ecological sanitation projects in West and Southern Africa, and community gardens in Washington, D.C.; Houston, Texas and Huntsville, Alabama. AAPDEP’s “Project Black Ankh,” a worldwide African emergency response organization, is currently mobilizing volunteers to conduct health education and community support efforts to combat COVID-19. Project Black Ankh was initiated during the Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone and was employed to assist Africans trapped in flood waters in Houston during Hurricane Harvey where emergency aid was denied to the black community.
Opening remarks by Chairman Omali Yeshitela to the 10th annual conference of the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, held November 3, 2019 in Washington, D.C.
The Black is Back Coalition (BIBC) is an activist organization that organized for self determination for African people with working groups on healthcare, police brutality and political prisoners.
It emerged during the first term of U.S. president Barack Obama in an effort to give voice to black community demands and interest.
The Coalition has held Electoral Schools in various cities to train community members to field candidates who can advance a "National Black Political Agenda for Self-Determination."
Today the demand for reparations is being debated on the streets of the U.S., in the media, in Congress and by U.S. presidential candidates. How did reparations become a household word? The demand for reparations to African people goes back to the days of slavery and has long been advocated by historians and activists. In 1982 the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) organized and conducted a World Tribunal on Reparations for Black People. Since then, the APSP and the Uhuru (Freedom) Movement have held 11 more Tribunals in cities across the country gathering evidence and testimony to support the Reparations claim. They have taken to the streets in protest marches demanding reparations. They have built non-profit businesses and political campaigns winning voluntary reparations contributed from individual white community members.
Burning Spear Media has just re-released this 30-minute radio documentary that was produced on the 1982 Reparations Tribunal, shortly after it was held in NYC. It features excerpts from statements by the People's Advocate Chairman Omali Yeshitela, and moving testimony from Afeni Shakur, member of the NYC Panther 21 and mother of the rapper Tupac; Leonard Jeffries, a former professor of Black Studies at the City College of New York; Mafundi Lake, former political prisoner held in Alabama’s notorious Atmore-Holman prison; Job Mashariki, Black Veterans for Social Justice; Akil Al-Jundi, prisoner advocate and survivor of the 1971 Attica massacre; Professor Del Hunter, Medgar Evars College and Ebun Adelona, black community health care advocate
For more information and additional material on the reparations issue, contact Burning Spear Media at 727-824-5700 or visit theburningspear.com.