The Return: African American Families and Mother Africa, on Africa 500, Wednesday, February 22, 2023

The February 22, 2023 edition of Africa 500 discusses The Return: African American Families and Mother Africa. Show hosts Sis. Tomiko and Bro. Ty welcome special guests Imhotep Simba and Ras Tre Subira.

Imhotep Simba

Imhotep Simba is a proud father, Baltimorean, and HBCU Alumnus, graduating from Coppin State University in the spring of 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies. After graduating, Imhotep led the CBM CARES® National Mentoring Initiative for Concerned Black Men National in southwest Baltimore from 2015-2017 and eventually served as an Urban Youth Development Volunteer in Ecuador with the Peace Corps from 2017-2019.

Imhotep is fluent in Español (Spanish) también (also).

After returning from Peace Corps Service, he worked at DAI, an implementing partner to the United States Agency for International Development, supporting projects in Zambia and Uganda focused on agriculture and economic growth. Imhotep currently works as a Program Officer at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, leading the Juvenile Justice Strategy Group’s Youth Engagement portfolio.

Imhotep and his son Leevi recently returned from a trip to Conakry, Guinea, in November 2022 in hopes of learning more about one of their first ancestors brought to the US, enslaved. That ancestor being sister Sarah (Sal) Minty Barrikee. The assumption is Barrikee is the closest piece of her identity she retained from back home, so we’ll call her Barrikee.

Imhotep O. Simba
Returned Peace Corps Volunteer
Ecuador 2017-2019
Cell Phone: +1 (410) 240-5268
Email: ImhotepSimba@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imhotep-simba-9b709194?trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile

Ras Tre Subira

Ras Tre Subira is an award-winning documentary filmmaker with over 7 years of teaching and producing social justice films in several international locations. Ras Tre is the Co-Founder of African Youth Alchemy (AYA Inc.), a community-based nonprofit organization that develops youth as cultural ambassadors who utilize expeditionary learning, media and arts to educate themselves and their community. Mr. Subira facilitates I AM (Independent Afrikan Minds), a youth leadership program that cultivates youth leadership through community service projects, including an “educultural” study-tour to Ghana, West Africa. In 2009, Ras Tre established the Griot’s Eye program which equips youth with the technical and creative skills to produce dynamic film and photography projects that address issues of immediate relevance in the lives of Baltimore city youth.

An important theme in Ras Tre’s films is the exploration of identity issues among youth of the African Diaspora with a strong emphasis on the intersection between traditional culture and urban arts. He is particularly interested in giving voice to marginalized communities through participative media projects that empower residents to tell their own stories. His work reflects a strong commitment to social justice, youth development, and international development.

With a B.A. in African Diasporan Studies, M.A. in International Development, and MFA in Documentary Film, he has a wealth of experience in using media technology to support community development projects. This includes promoting trade and investment in Liberia with the Ministry of Commerce and producing teacher-training videos in Ethiopia with the Ministry of Education. As an award-winning filmmaker and educator, his documentary films have been featured internationally and domestically on CNN, PBS and local cable channels.

For several years he has traveled back and forth to Ghana, two of those years his children lived with him in Ghana. To the right and below are some photos during their stay showcasing daily life with the Ghanaian peoples. You can contact him through Black Mission Media https://www.facebook.com/blackmissionmedia/

Africa 500 is broadcast every Wednesday at 3:00 PM (Eastern Time, United States) on HANDRadio (https://handradio.org). After the broadcast, the show can be listened to on this post as well as on the Audio-Visual Media Pages of KUUMBAEvents (https://kuumbaevents.com), KUUMBAReport (https://kuumbareport.com) and the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://srdcinternational.org).