Black Power Talks

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #30: Video gaming, black representation and capitalist exploitation

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.

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #29: Breonna Taylor, Mike Brown and the role of the grand jury in protecting the police

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.

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #28: Black People's March on the White House, Black Power Matters!

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.

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #27: The shooting of L.A. Sheriffs in Compton - response to legacy of police violence?

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. 

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #26: COVID-19 and the Black Ankh free Telehealth program

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.

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #25: Hip-hop, politics and Black Power

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.”

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #24: Police containment of the black community is genocide

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

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #23: Black athletes stand against police violence

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 People's War Radio Show, Episode #22: Black Power and the struggle against gentrification

"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.

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #21 "Black and Brown Unity - the time is now!"

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.