Black Power Talks
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.
Episodes
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
Episode #110: Covid-19, Pop Culture and the Anticolonial Turn in Africana Studies
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
Thursday Sep 15, 2022
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.
Friday Sep 09, 2022
Friday Sep 09, 2022
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.
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Episode #108: The Revolutionary Power of Black Poetry
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
Thursday Sep 01, 2022
In this episode, we 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.
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Black August and slavery inside U.S. prisons
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
Thursday Aug 25, 2022
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.
Thursday Aug 18, 2022
Thursday Aug 18, 2022
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.
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
FBI raids Black Power leaders in St. Louis, St. Petersburg
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
Thursday Aug 11, 2022
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
Thursday Jun 30, 2022
Thursday Jun 30, 2022
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.
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Episode #103: A Roundtable Discussion of Haile Gerima’s Bush Mama (1979)
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
Thursday Jun 16, 2022
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.
Wednesday May 25, 2022
Wednesday May 25, 2022
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.
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Episode #101: Malcolm X and Anti-colonial Struggle: The Importance of May 19
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
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.