Black Power Talks

Chairman Omali Yeshitela’s message on the colonial murder of George Floyd and the righteous revolutionary resistance of the African Nation

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.

The People’s War Radio Show, Episode 12 “Fighting colonial violence, from Minneapolis to Atlanta”

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.

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #11, "Reports from the ground: Haiti"

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 People’s War Radio Show, Episode #10: “Reports from the Ground: The Pandemic and George Floyd protests in California and Mexico.”

“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.

The People's War Radio Show, Episode #9: "Reports from the ground: Africans and the pandemic in the Midwest"

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.

The People's War Radio Show, Episode 8 "Reports from the Ground: The Pandemic and Africans in the Northeast U.S."

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.

The People’s War Radio Show, Episode 7 “Expose corporate rip-off & profiting from COVID-19, make Wall Street pay reparations!”

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 People’s War Radio Show, Episode 6 “The politics of medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic”

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.

The People’s War Radio Show, Episode 5 “African economic self-determination in the face of the coronavirus”

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.

The People’s War Radio Show, Episode 4 “Fighting the colonial coronavirus in Africa”

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.