Black Power Talks

Salute to the late Calypsonian Black Stalin with Trini Trent Part 1

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.

African Internationalists take the Revolutionary discussion of Reparations into the halls of academia

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.

DOJ and FBI place economic sanctions on the African Liberation Movement

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.

Salute to our African Martyrs! Hands Off Uhuru!

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.

Black Power radio fights back against Florida censorship

"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.

FBI attacks Black Power leaders in St. Louis, St. Petersburg

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

Episode #120: The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin surveilled by COINTELPRO for 40 years; the arts are not refuge; African culture workers urged to get involved

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.

Episode #119: Russia releases Griner; Biden called to release Africans still in U.S. penal colonies on marijuana charges

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.
Read more about Robert Rowry's case in the following article penned by Angelika Mueller-Rowry: Death Penalty for a $50 Crack Deal
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.

Episode #118: The Colonial Origins of Santa Claus

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.

Episode #117: Free Our Brothers! Wrongfully convicted Africans fight for justice

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.