Africa 500, Wednesday, March 22, 2023: Women Warriors on the Battlefield, featuring Queen Mother Victory Swift

The Wednesday, March 22, 2023 edition of Africa 500 continues its celebration of Pan African Herstory Month as it discusses “Women Warriors on the Battlefield”. Sis. Tomiko and Bro. Ty welcome Special Guest Queen Mother Victory Swift, founder of Our Victorious City (OVC) in Baltimore, Maryland.

Mama Victory, as many on the Baltimore Pan-Afrikan community know her, is a longtime Pan-Afrikan community activist who has contributed numerous programs and practical strategies to help bring together, uplift and sponsor activists and members of the grassroots community in the Baltimore area. Her work has assisted and energized numerous organizations, including the Organization of All Afrikan Unity Black Panther Cadre (OAAU-BPC), Maryland Council of Elders (MCOE) and Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (SRDC), among many others.

For many years, Mama Victory sponsored the Afrikan Heritage Walk-A-Thon from the east end (Great Blacks In Wax Museum) to the west end (Coppin State University) of of North Avenue in Baltimore to raise funds to benefit education efforts for Afrikan-descendant youth.

Our Victorious City (OVC) is named for her son, Victorious Khan Swift, a brilliant, charismatic and extremely popular young community activist, artist and boxer who was taken from his loving family and the Pan-Afrikan community by an act of senseless violence in 2017. A portion of a street near downtown Baltimore City has been named in his honor.

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

Listen to the March 22 show here:

Africa 500, Wednesday, March 15, 2023: Pan-Afrikan Activist Ancestor Winnie Mandela Speaks

The Wednesday, March 15 edition of Africa 500 brings us the words of Pan-Afrikan activist and onetime First Lady of South Africa, Ancestor Winnie Mandela.  She was the wife of Nelson Mandela during his time as a leader of the African National Congress, during his 27-year incarceration at Robben Island under the Apartheid regime of South Africa, and as he served as President of South Africa after his release from prison.

She carved her own niche in the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, wielding power and influence that made her a formidable force against the Apartheid regime as well as a feared opponent of South African collaborators and rivals in the revolutionary movement.

Show hosts Sis. Tomiko and Bro. Ty are bringing us strong Black Women’s voices as they observe and celebrate Pan Afrikan Herstory Month.

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

Listen to the March 15, 2023 show here:

An Ancestor Speaks: Educator Dr. Barbara Sizemore (1927 – 2004), on Africa 500, Wednesday, March 8, 2023

The Wednesday, March 8 edition of Africa 500 features a lecture from one of our prominent Afrikan American educators from the Ancestral Realm, Dr. Barbara Sizemore (1927 – 2004).

The Web page Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Sizemore) had this to say in their article about Ancestor Barbara Sizemore:

In 1973, she became the first African American woman to head the public school system in a major city, when she was elected superintendent of District of Columbia Public Schools. …

Sizemore began her career in Chicago public schools, teaching English and reading in elementary and high schools from 1950 to 1963, and serving as principal of elementary and high schools from 1963 to 1967. In 1969 she was named district superintendent of the Woodlawn Experimental Schools. She was also a member of the adjunct faculty at Northeastern Illinois University from 1965 to 1971.  Sizemore taught at the University of Pittsburgh from 1975 to 1992. It was there that she began her research on low-income African American students and standardized tests, which she continued as dean of the School of Education at DePaul University in 1992.  Sizemore’s first book, a version of her doctoral thesis titled The Ruptured Diamond: The Politics of the Decentralization of the District of Columbia Public Schools, was published in 1981. Her second book, Walking in Circles: The Black Struggle for School Reform was published posthumously in 2008.

From a bio provided by Africa 500:

Pioneering educator and school administrator Barbara Sizemore was born in Chicago, Illinois to Sylvester and Delila Lafoon. Her father died in a car accident when she was eight years old. Her mother remarried and the family moved to Evanston. Growing up in the 1930’s in the Midwest, Sizemore experienced Jim Crow whose laws were adopted and enforced. Although her elementary and middle schools were segregated, she had highly educated African-American teachers and received an excellent education.

In 1944, Sizemore enrolled in Northwestern University and graduated with a degree in classical languages in 1947. She dreamed of being a translator for the United Nations but because there were few professional opportunities for black women at that time, she began teaching in Chicago public schools that led her to her life’s calling.

In 1954, Sizemore earned an M.A. in elementary education from Northwestern. She left teaching in 1963 to become the first black female to be appointed principal of a Chicago school. In 1965, she became principal of Forrestville High School and initiated efforts to turn the school from a haven for gangs into an innovative educational experiment. By 1969, she was named director and district superintendent for the Woodlawn Experimental Schools Project and instructor at Northwestern’s Center for Inner City Studies, an innovative multi-disciplinary, multi-ethnic graduate school program in Chicago’s South Side.

In 1973, Sizemore was elected as superintendent of the District of Columbia Public School System. This was the first time an African-American woman had been chosen to head a public school system in a major U.S. city. During her tenure, Sizemore tackled highly controversial and polarizing issues such as the abolishment of standardized testing whose “Anglo-Saxon bias” she believed put African American students at a disadvantage. Sizemore’s educational views challenged the more traditional views of the school system and she was fired in 1975. Her book, The Ruptured Diamond (1981), chronicles her experiences in Washington.

After leaving Washington, Sizemore taught at the University of Pittsburgh where she conducted research on schools that served low-income African-American children. In 1992, she assumed a professorship at DePaul University in Chicago. As dean of the School of Education, she created her School Achievement Structure (SAS) program. SAS was designed to enable black students to compete successfully on any standardized exam. This was a radical departure from her earlier belief in abandoning the tests. Sizemore now argued that integrating SAS into a school’s curriculum would help low-achieving schools in Chicago become high performers. The program is used in many school districts around the country.

Sizemore served as Professor Emerita at DePaul University. She earned a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Chicago as well as four honorary doctorate degrees. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, the Urban League, NAACP and Phi Delta Kappa. In the last years of her life, she advised the Chicago public school system and continued to write and speak on educational issues.

Ms. Sizemore died from cancer in June of 2004. She was the mother of six children and had seven grandchildren.
https://www.visionaryproject.org/sizemorebarbara/

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 by clicking below or by visiting the Audio-Visual Media pages of KUUMBAReport (https://kuumbareport.com), KUUMBAEvents (https://kuumbaevents.com) or the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://srdcinternational.org).

Listen to the Wednesday, March 8, 2023 show here:

A Presentation by Former AU Ambassador Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao on Africa 500, Wednesday, March 1, 2023

Africa 500 opens up what many call Women’s History Month, but which they are referring to as Pan African Herstory Month, with a presentation that was made by former African Union Ambassador Her Excellency Dr. Arikana Chihombori-Quao.

Ambassador Quao served as African Union Ambassador to the United States from 2016 through 2019, and made a name for herself with her frequent appearances at events held at the African Union Mission in Washington, DC, panel discussions and other events at colleges, universities and embassies across the United States, online consultations with the African Union, and videos that she produced in which she spoke out about the history of the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 and the continuing impact of European colonialism and neocolonialism.  Some feel that her dismissal as African Union Ambassador in late 2019 was partly motivated by uneasiness about her criticisms of neocolonialism.

Ambassador Quao is currently the Director of the African Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI), largely based in Harare, Zimbabwe.  She is organizing what is being billed as “PAC-8 Part 1”, a planned Pan Afrikan Conference to mark the 30pyear anniversary of the 7th Pan African Congress of 1994.  Part 1 will be held in April, May or June of this year in Zimbabwe, while Part 2 is scheduled for the spring or summer of 2024 in Uganda.

From a bio on Ambassador Quao:

Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of ADDI, Her Excellency Arikana Chihombori Quao MD  is a medical doctor (having practised medicine for over 25 years), founder and owner of medical  clinics, diplomat, public speaker, educator, and entrepreneur. Her recently published book Africa 101: The Wake-Up Call is a best seller on Amazon.

In her role as Permanent Representative to the African Union Mission in Washington DC (2016-2019), Her Excellency Arikana Chihombori Quao MD worked tirelessly towards fulfilling her mandate which was to undertake, develop, and maintain relationships between the African Union and the Executive and Legislative branches of the US Government, the African Diplomatic Corps, the Africans in the Diaspora and the Bretton Woods Institutions. This was specifically in relation to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and advancing the priority areas of Agenda 2063. Her efforts to mobilize the Diaspora as people of African descent and not as citizens of any single African country is unprecedented and exemplifies her ability to unify people around a common goal, speaking with one voice as one Africa and one Continent. 

Before her appointment as AU Ambassador, H. E. Arikana Chihombori Quao MD’s contributions to the cause of Africa earned her many prestigious honors and awards, including two that she cherishes the most: The  Achievement Award, which she received in 1996 from the incumbent President at the time, H.E. the late President Nelson Mandela of the Republic of South Africa in the presence of both President Mandela and President Mugabe of the Republic of Zimbabwe; and the African Woman of Excellence Award, which she received in July 2015 during the AU Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, alongside 15 other prominent African Women including the former President of The Republic of Liberia, Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the former President of The Republic of Malawi, Madam Joyce Banda, Mama Winnie Mandela (Republic of South Africa), Mama Ngina Kenyatta (Republic of Kenya), Mama Asigwe Anyiam (Federal Republic of Nigeria), and Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (Republic of South Africa). 

During her three-year tenure as AU Ambassador to the United States, H.E. Ambassador Arikana Chihombori Quao MD received more than 100 awards and attestations from many organizations, including from the  African Diaspora within the Americas. She received the 2018 Ambassador of the Year Award from Howard  University in Washington D.C., as well as numerous recognitions from Members of Congress, Governors, Mayors, and County Executives from across the United States, the Caribbean, and South America.  

Born and raised in Zimbabwe where she attained her  primary and secondary education, Her Excellency Arikana Chihombori Quao MD left Zimbabwe to study in the United States, where she obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in General Chemistry, a Master’s Degree in Organic Chemistry, and a Doctor of Medicine Degree.  She is married to a Ghanaian husband and is a proud mother of five children and a very happy grandmother of five grandchildren.

The presentation of these recorded remarks by Ambassador Quao will kick off Africa 500’s observance of Pan African Herstory Month.

Listen to the March 1, 2023 show here:

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 the Web sites of HANDRadio, KUUMBAReport (https://kuumbareport.com), KUUMBAEvents (https://kuumbaevents.com) and the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://srdcinternational.org).

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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).

Listen to the February 22, 2023 show here:

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AFRICA 500
Wednesdays @3pm EST.
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https://kweli.tv

The Ancestors’ Call: Marshall “Eddie” Conway

I first met Baba Marshall “Eddie” Conway in 1998. I had become familiarized with his case as a result in my membership in the Organization of All Afrikan Unity-Black Panther Cadre (OAAU-BPC) under the leadership of Baba Ade Oba Tokunbo from 1994. In that organization, much of the mystery of the Panthers was lifted from my up-to-then confused mind, and the plight of America’s Political Prisoners was gradually revealed to me. OAAU-BPC’s main contribution to the issue of Political Prisoners was their direct involvement in the campaign to win the exoneration and freedom of Marshall “Eddie” Conway, a US Army Veteran (as many Panthers were) and a leader in the Baltimore Chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Baba Eddie, as I had come to call him, had exposed the existence of police agents within the Baltimore organization, and had informed Panther leadership in New York and the Bay Area of the degree if infiltration of the Baltimore organization by the Baltimore City Police Red Squad and probably other intelligence operatives. For this, Baba Eddie was targeted. He was arrested at his job at the Main Post Office in Baltimore in April 1970 and accused of murdering a Baltimore City police officer and seriously injuring another. Despite Baba Eddie’s protestation of innocence and a lack of any physical evidence linking him to the case, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. It was in prison, at the Maryland House of Correction in Jessup, Maryland, not-so-affectionately known as “The Cut”, that I met Baba Eddie. I had talked with him over the phone a couple of times, and I was at “The Cut” specifically to meet him and be introduced to the Writers’ Club, a group of inmates who used prose, poetry and other literary pursuits to help them heal their psyches and, for those who could look forward to release one day, prepare them to better cope with the world outside. I was impressed with the calm that Baba Eddie exuded, and I wrote about my encounter with him in the newsletter I was writing at the time (KUUMBAReport), along with an explanation of his case from Nana Njingha, also a member of the Baltimore Chapter, a testimonial by Baba Paul Coates, another member of that Chapter and now founder of Black Classic Press; commentaries by fellow Political Prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal and The MOVE Organization; and a short commentary by Baba Eddie himself. I would begin to sign off on emails, letters and radio shows by wishing everyone “Peace and Power” in large part because of inspiration by Baba Eddie’s example.

KuumbaReport Newsletter Issue 6 June 1998

I would get to see him two more times, I think, before an incident at “The Cut” led to a lockdown and a stop to all visits for a while. Still, the effort to secure his exoneration and release continued. The Marshall Eddie Conway Support Committee had been formed under the guidance of his first wife, Nana Njingha, who continued to tirelessly champion his cause. This was a group of dedicated Pan-Afrikanists and Black Nationalists who were committed to seeing Baba Eddie go free. There was also the Friends of Eddie Conway, an integrated group that included several White “allies” who shared many of the revolutionary beliefs of the Black Panther Party and supported freedom for all Political Prisoners. These groups had a connection with the larger national organization known as Jericho, which advocated for the hundreds of Political Prisoners being held in penitentiaries, prisons and jails in the US, from Mumia Abu-Jamal and MOVE in Philadelphia, to Indigenous First Nations Political Prisoner Leonard Peltier and the American Indian Movement (AIM), to White Political Prisoners such as Thomas Manning and Marilyn Buck, to Panthers imprisoned across the country that included Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Sundiata Acoli, Romaine “Chip” Fitzgerald, Veronza Bowers, Hugo “Yogi” Pinnell, Wopashitwe Mondo Eyen we Langa and Ed Poindexter, to exiles such as Assata Shakur, and of course to Baba Eddie.

The following report, from the group Justice For Eddie Conway, was reprinted in the January-February 2001 issue of KUUMBAReport:

Justice for Marshall Eddie Conway January February 2001

I’m sure there were those of us who believed that Baba Eddie would never be released from prison. The opponents of Political Prisoners, despite the usual lack of conclusive evidence, the use of suspect jailhouse informants, the withheld exculpatory evidence, the manufactured evidence, the contradicted and often blatantly false testimony, the police and judicial misconduct and the denial of competent legal representation to the defendants, were many, were in places of political power, and were adamant that despite all the indications that the trials were unfair at best, that they had their man (and sometimes their woman), that justice had been served (at least to their satisfaction), and that these “criminals” should never see the light of day. Still, after much legal maneuvering and wrangling, Baba Eddie was finally released from prison on parole on March 4, 2014 after 43 years and 10 months of imprisonment.

His release had been prompted by several previous events. A few years earlier, Jack Johnson, who was also convicted in connection to the police officer’s murder, was released from prison on compassionate parole. Another domino dropped when a Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in the case Unger v. State in May 2012, which bolstered the argument that in Baba Eddie’s trial, the jury instructions had violated his Constitutional rights to due process, as reported in an article on the Web site of Truthout (https://truthout.org/articles/political-prisoner-marshall-eddie-conway-released-from-prison-after-44-years/):

Despite Eddie Conway’s insistence on his innocence, it took years for Conway and his attorneys to find a way to overturn his conviction. Finally, in May 2012, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in the case of Unger v. State that a Maryland jury, to comply with due process as stated in the US Constitution, must be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that someone charged with a crime is guilty before that jury can convict the defendant. What made this decision momentous for many people in prison, including Conway, is that it applied retroactively.

Robert Boyle and Phillip G. Dantes, attorneys for Conway, filed a motion on his behalf based on this ruling, arguing that the judge in Conway’s trial had not properly instructed the jury that this “beyond a reasonable doubt” proviso was mandatory for conviction. Based on this motion, they negotiated an agreement whereby Conway would be resentenced to time served and be released from prison. In exchange, Conway and his lawyers agreed not to litigate his case based on the Unger ruling.

Since his release, Baba Eddie lived a relatively quiet life compared to the revolutionary activism of his youth, but he continued to work on behalf of the rights of the people and the truth. He began working at The Real News in Baltimore (https://therealnews.com/), his most prolific work being on regular programs such as “Rattling The Bars”, which he hosted with fellow former Political Prisoner Mansa Musa to “put the voices of the people most harmed by our system of mass incarceration at the center of our reporting on the fight to end it.” In the meantime, he had an opportunity to enjoy those moments life still had for him with his second wife, Dominique, who also worked with him on several programs centered on prisoners and on youth, and with his extended family. 

I had one more chance to visit with Baba Eddie at his office at The Real News in Baltimore, where he showed me around the building, which was still expanding, and asked me about my continuing activist work since I had visited him in The Cut. I hope my answers to him about my activities in the intervening years were satisfactory to him.

I would see him in person two more times, at the intersection of North and Pennsylvania Avenues during the 2015 protests against the police murder of Freddie Gray, and later at an event about the community and the police at Ida B’s Table, an eatery and cultural meet spot that was named after legendary civil rights activist Ida B. Wells in The Real News Building that was still under construction when I was there before. I did not have an opportunity to speak at length with Baba Eddie at these events, but he seemed well and at peace with his long, tortuous journey through life as an activist and the personal price he was forced to pay for his commitment.

Over the last few months, I had heard that he was dealing with health issues, problems that he had been confronted by for years from the time of his imprisonment, but the quiet strength and dignity with which he had handled himself, at least outwardly, led me to believe that he would overcome these challenges and come out the other side swinging. It came as a shock to me to hear on Monday, February 13, that Baba Eddie had transitioned to the Honored Ancestors in Long Beach, California. At this point, the real toll of decades of political imprisonment hit home. Baba Eddie was robbed of over four decades of freedom, locked away in the infamous “Cut”, and in the end, this undoubtedly led to health problems that would end his life well before it should have happened.

In the end, our hearts ache that Baba Eddie is no longer with us on the physical plane.  We were gratified that he at least had almost nine years to breathe the free air before his transition.  Several of our Political Prisoners who were finally released had only a few months to enjoy their freedom, and some sadly died in prison.  The community at least had the opportunity to honor Baba Eddie and show our appreciation for his incredible work and sacrifice, allowing him to receive at least some of his flowers while he was still among us.  Baba Eddie leaves behind a number of family, friends, followers, associates and admirers, but he also leaves behind a great legacy of commitment, struggle and love of the people. May we all strive to approach the level of commitment Baba Eddie showed for truth, justice and righteousness.

Below are several links to just a few of the articles, videos and podcasts that have been produced to pay tribute to Baba Eddie:

Marshall “Eddie” Conway (1946-2023): A life committed to the people and revolutionary change, Liberation News, https://www.liberationnews.org/marshall-eddie-conway-1946-2023-a-life-committed-to-the-people-and-revolutionary-change/

Marshall Eddie Conway, former Black Panther imprisoned for 44 years, dies at 76, Radio Havana Cuba, https://www.radiohc.cu/en/noticias/internacionales/313730-marshall-eddie-conway-former-black-panther-imprisoned-for-44-years-dies-at-76

Marshall “Eddie” Conway, Former Black Panther Imprisoned for 44 Years, Dies at 76, DemocracyNow!, https://www.democracynow.org/2023/2/14/headlines/marshall_eddie_conway_former_black_panther_imprisoned_for_44_years_dies_at_76

Tribute to Marshall “Eddie” Conway, Black Power Rewind, https://www.youtube.com/live/RIXRIIdZhq4?feature=share

 

Africa’s “Green Revolution” in the Hair & Beauty Industry on Africa 500, Wednesday, February 15, 2023

The Wednesday, February 15, 2023 edition of Africa 500 features African Women Entrepreneurs who are helping to drive the Continent’s “Green Revolution”. Show hosts Sis. Tomiko and Bro. Ty welcome African Women “agripreneurs” Lindiwe Ntombikazulu Somo, Kudirat “Ayo” Ayomide Tijani and Joyce Apoasaan Jambeidu.

Lindiwe Ntombikazulu Magubane Somo

Lindiwe Ntombikazulu Magubane Somo lives in South Africa. She is the founder and CEO of Ntombi and Rano Trading, which is an umbrella which holds few other companies beneath it. Three Sister’s Poultry deals in farming, poultry and vegetables. She has Diploma in Marketing Management at Stanford College, Advanced Diploma in Agriculture, Certificate in Supply Chain Management with Cape Peninsula University, Certificate with Nosa in Health and Safety Management, Advanced Diploma in Media Studies from an Institute in Ireland.

In the year 2021 she was nominated amongst 1500 applicants around Africa as a leader for the program called Ignite by Guzakuza in Ghana partnered with London Academy in the UK. Lindiwe is also a Woman in Agriculture Award Nominee for the year 2022. Lindz Nature’s Lick manufactures organic skin care products and also deals in clothing.

 

Kudirat Ayomide Tijani aka Ayo

Kudirat Ayomide Tijani aka Ayo lives in Kwara State in Nigeria but was born in Lagos. She graduated in Agricultural Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University Osun state.

After school, she managed an Organic farm to gain experience in the real world. During her stay, she learned the importance of Organic Agriculture and its impact on the world. Organic Agriculture in Nigeria is just gaining ground and to fast-track its growth it’s important to leverage technology in order to make it attractive to the youth. Ayo is an evangelist when it comes to organic Agriculture because of its effect on the well-being of humans. If food is going to be medicine for mankind then it must be healthy.

She is a Social Media Manager & Marketer, and Creative Director of Cityoftayhairhub a hair care brand. City Of Tayhairhub is a hair care brand totally focused on helping Men and Women of the curly & kinky hair type embrace their curl patterns through informational materials and effective organic hair care products thus making them confident through their hair and passing the baton to the incoming generation. Her products can be found at IG @cityoftayhairhub

Joyce Apoasaan Jambeidu

Joyce Apoasaan Jambeidu is Ghanaian from Garu in the Upper East Region. Her dream is to inspire women to make an impact in their chosen fields, to reduce poverty among women through creation of decent jobs.

She has a BA in Integrated Development Studies, an MBA in Project Management and awaiting her thesis Defense for Mphil in Community Health and Development. She is also pursuing a PHD in Project Management with Taxila American University. Joyce currently works as a Governance Lead with USAID RING II, before joining RING II she worked with USAID Advancing Nutrition as an Early Childhood Development Specialist, she has also worked with Lively Minds Project, ActionAid – Global Platforms, USAID SPRING – Ghana and World Vision Ghana.

Joyce is the Founder of Wellam’s Shea Investment a shea-based company based in Garu in the Upper East in Ghana. Wellam’s Shea in collaboration with women groups produces quality food grade shea butter and shea-based skin care and hair care products which are sold in Ghana and worldwide. As a Development worker, she had the privilege to work in many rural communities with women groups with the aim to reduce malnutrition among children and women in reproductive age. She is also the Executive Director of Tieltaab Ghana – an NGO operating in the area of Food and Nutrition Security, Early Childhood Development, Gender and Social Inclusion, WASH and Environmental Protection. Tieltaab Ghana operates The Empowered Woman Hub with the aim to ignite and inspire women to make an impact in society through various initiatives.

Wellam’s Shea was formed to economically empower girls, women and entire communities which will contribute to improved nutritional status of children under 5 and women of reproductive age through decent job creation in the shea value chain. Her hair and beauty products can be found at IG @wellamshea and FB Wellam’s Shea

Listen to the February 15, 2023 show here:

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

Tyre Nichols, Police Brutality and the Black Cop

Black cop!! Black cop Black cop Black cop
Stop shootin Black people, we all gonna drop
You don’t even get, paid a whole lot
So take your M-60 and put it ‘pon lock!
Take your four-five and you put it ‘pon lock!

Lookin for your people when you walk down a block
Here in America you have drug spot
They get the Black cop, to watch the drug spot
The Black drug dealer just avoid Black cop
They’re killin each other on a East Coast block
Killin each other on a West Coast block
White police, don’t give a care about dat
Dem want us killin each other over crack
Anyway you put it it’s a Black on BLACK …

Black cop!! Black cop Black cop …

Thirty years, there were no Black cops
You couldn’t even run, drive round the block
Recently police trained Black cop
To stand on the corner, and take gunshot
This type of warfare isn’t new or a shock
It’s Black on Black crime again nonSTOP
Black cop!! Black cop Black cop …

Here’s what the West and the East have in common
Both have Black cops in cars profilin
Hardcore kids in the West got stress
In the East we are chased by the same black beast
The Black cop is the only real obstacle
Black slave turned Black cop is not logical
But very psychological, haven’t you heard?
It’s the BLACK COP killin Black kids in Johannesburg

Whassup Black cop, yo, whassup?!
Your authorization says shoot your nation
You want to uphold the law, what could you do to me?
The same law dissed the whole Black community
You can’t play both sides of the fence
1993 mad kids are gettin tense

Black cop!! Black cop Black cop Black cop
Stop shootin Black people we all gonna drop
You don’t even get, paid a whole lot
Take your four-five and you put it ‘pon lock!
Take your M-60 and put it ‘pon lock!
Take your uzi, put it ‘pon lock!

Black cop Black cop Black cop

— from Boogie Down Productions – “Black Cop”

Many of us were heavily traumatized by the graphic video of five Memphis police officers beating Tyre Nichols to death as he cried out for his mother. After years of recent high profile police killings of Afrikan Americans that started to gain worldwide attention with the killings of Michael Brown, Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin and the resultant Movement for Black Lives, perhaps some of us had become numb to these atrocities. For those of you who became so inured to this that you fell asleep, here is your wake up call. Again.

Police body camera video (the ones that were actually turned on) showed police cursing at Mr. Nichols as they violently snatched him from his car immediately upon making the stop, a clear indication of immediate and unprovoked excessive force. This is what it has come to. The fact that the police were wearing body cameras that would supposedly record their actions apparently meant nothing to them. These police officers clearly seemed to be acting on the assumption of their own impunity and displayed no awareness of the atrocity they were committing or even of the trouble they should be in as a direct result of their actions. Pose for a selfie while you’re at it, fellas.

The limitation of body cameras was shown not only in the fact that they did not prevent this behavior on the part of the Memphis police or the fact that several of the cameras were conveniently turned off during parts of the altercation, but also the fact that the pole-mounted video camera provided key visual evidence the body cameras could not. That camera, mounted high on a lamp post, provided a wide-angle view that clearly showed several officers holding Mr. Nichols, who was already slumped over, barely conscious and not resisting, in an upright position so some of the officers could take turns kicking him and striking him with fists and batons.

According to the video evidence, not one of the five main defendants nor the other police officers who ultimately responded to the scene tried to stop the beating. There was no timely call for medical attention, and the medical personnel who did respond also failed to provide timely care to Mr. Nichols. Many, if not all, of the involved parties have been fired or disciplined, though it is unclear if any charges will be made against them. So much for protect and serve.

Some people were quick to point out that these were Black police officers dispensing this brutal “street justice” upon a Black motorist. This argument is what some analysts would refer to as a “red herring”. Police brutality has always been not so much about the race of the officers as about the race or economic standing of the victim (Black or Brown or poor). While the results from studies of the effect of Black police officers on reducing discretionary stops, harassment of citizens and acts of brutality are mixed, some critics have pointed out that Black police can sometimes be more violent against Black suspects than their White coworkers, perhaps out of overzealousness to “clean up the community” or even an effort to prove that they perceive their color as “Blue” and not “Black”.

Even so, there have been Black police officers who have spoken out against police brutality in their community. Many of them have paid a price for their honesty, forthrightness, honor and activism. Back in the mid to late 1990s, I had the opportunity to meet Dr. DeLacy Davis, then a Sergeant in the East Orange, New Jersey police department and the founder of Black Cops Against Police Brutality, several times as he was attending community meetings in Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore to discuss the issue of police brutality and misconduct. His activism led to harassment, assaults and death threats — from police. He participated in the town hall meetings that were held by the Rev. Walter Fauntroy and Martin Luther King III in the summer and fall of 1999 to bring attention to the issue, as documented in several reports at the time, including KUUMBAReport Newsletter, available here:

Support Your Local Sheriff?: Report on the SCLC’s Hearings on Police Brutality, KUUMBAReport, August-September 1999
https://kuumbareport.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/KuumbaReport-12-August-September-1999-Support-Your-Local-Sherriff-PDF.pdf

Dr. Davis still advocates against police brutality, and his work can be followed through his Web site, https://drdelacydavis.com/.

Other efforts to combat police brutality, corruption, racism and abuse include The Marshall Project, https://www.themarshallproject.org/. Other articles pertaining to the Tyre Nichols case, police brutality in general and efforts to stop it are included in the links at the end of this article. One article in particular is the following:

Tyre Nichols’ Death: How Black Officers Alone Can’t Stop Brutal Policing – The Marshall Project
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/01/28/tyre-nichols-memphis-black-police-brutality

And now, we can expect more hand-wringing and excuses over the issue of police brutality. Once again, politicians are going to be concerned about “violence in the streets” in response to this violence in the street. Right wing “conservative” pundits will express concerns about impending new calls to defund the police. And police officers themselves will no doubt be on higher alert for individuals who may choose to vent their rage against law enforcement by targeting police officers themselves for violence. Police brutality and misconduct not only endangers the citizenry. It endangers those police officers who actually do take their responsibility seriously and do their jobs with a degree of honor and integrity. But the failure of police leadership, including the police unions, and the politicians who unconditionally back every misdeed of law enforcement personnel, to rein in police abuse, racism, corruption and violence, endangers all police, including the truly dedicated ones who joined the force to serve their community.

The Legacy and Life of Keona Holley, Baltimore Police Officer Targeted by Violence
https://www.facebook.com/59109969606/posts/pfbid022esH3ZdGkDFgBU8e1ANpgwocXBuPGgNXNM6iQqUDNtctjuSpSFciA5KqPn7RApu5l/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=6aamW6

The usual “suspects” will come forward with the usual arguments in an attempt to explain or even justify police misconduct. Analysts will again pose the question: where did their training go wrong? I have stated on several occasions that police brutality is not a training issue: training imparts a knowledge or a skill; it does not build character or morality. As someone who has 30 years of experience in both employee recruitment & selection and employee training, I have often stated that this is an issue of selecting bad people to be cops and failing to correct bad behavior through progressive discipline before it becomes catastrophic, not an issue of how well these officers were trained.

But then again, maybe it is a training issue. If that is the case and the training of police is the problem, it could be that often police were too well trained: trained in how to plant evidence, trained in how to falsely set the tone for a defense in court (repeatedly yelling “Give me your hands” a total of 71 times in 13 minutes as the video was running, making statements such as “he tried to take my gun” and speculating that “he must be on something” for the body camera video), trained in how to deactivate several of the body cameras at the appropriate time, trained in what to say in court in an effort to escape criminal prosecution (such as “we feared for our lives”, “he was clearly on drugs”, “he was driving recklessly”, “he tried to take my gun”). In short, trained in how to successfully blame the victim.

The police apologists will once again insist that “these are just a few bad apples” and that “99.9 percent of police do their jobs honorably and with respect for citizens.” How is it, then, that people of Afrikan descent seem to so often encounter that 0.1 percent of police who are violent, corrupt and racist? How was Oscar Grant killed while he was handcuffed, face down, on a Bay Area Rapid Transit platform as he was telling his friends to comply with police? How was Philando Castille gunned down in his own car, in front of his lady and their child, for politely informing the officer that he was in legal possession of a firearm according to Minnesota’s gun laws? How do we wind up with cases such as those of Abner Louima (who survived being sodomized in 1997 by four New York police officers in a precinct bathroom), Amadou Diallo (who was shot 19 times and killed February 4, 1999 — 24 years ago practically to the day — by plainclothes police for entering the apartment building where he lived), Breonna Taylor (killed in her sleep in a hail of bullets), Sandra Bland (killed in a jail cell after a bogus traffic stop), Tamir Rice (killed for playing with a toy gun alone in a park), John Crawford III (killed for shopping in the gun aisle at an Ohio Walmart), Elijah McClain (injected with ketamine and killed by officers who accosted him for Walking While Black) — and these are just some of the victims who never posed any threat to police and were not even breaking the law — and so many others? How was Ronald Madison, a 45-year-old developmentally disabled man, shot multiple times in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina by a police unit that then tried to cover up their crime by claiming he was a violent drug dealer who shot at them first? How was Rayshard Brooks shot in the back as he was running from police in an Atlanta, Georgia fast-food drive-thru? How was Walter Scott shot in the back in North Charleston, South Carolina as he was running from a police officer? How did we end up with Eric Garner being strangled with an illegal chokehold on a New York City street by Daniel Pantaleo and over half a dozen other police as he cried “I can’t breathe” and George Floyd’s throat being crushed by Derek Chauvin and three other Minneapolis police as he begged for his life? How did Freddie Gray end up dying from a broken neck for simply running from Baltimore City police when they stared at him? And now, how did five Memphis police get it into their heads to beat Tyre Nichols literally to death? No, these are not just a few bad apples. To paraphrase a 1990 commentary about racist right-wing politicians by Dr. Julianne Malveaux, this is five rotten apples that have not fallen far from a rotting tree.

So, what is the tree’s root?

This is part of the Slave Patrol legacy, that group of vigilantes who were dispatched to apprehend runaway slaves and who, along with the Pinkertons who crushed worker strikes on behalf of their corporate employers, were a major part of the genesis of the modern-day police force.

On a more contemporary level, the current apparent upsurge in police murders of unarmed civilians is a result, in part, of the culture wars that have been stoked for decades (and actually longer than that, but people’s memories are short, and who has time to read history anyway?) by right-wing, law-and-order, police-are-always-right politicians and media pundits who have refused to hear the cries of police brutality victims since before the Black Panther Party started calling attention to these atrocities in the Sixties.

This is also police paranoia and police gang mentality, bolstered by the “Thin Blue Line” and an “us versus them” mentality among too many cops, and further fueled by the unspoken but often-demonstrated attitude that police not only enforce the law, they are above it as well. That mentality was only encouraged and amplified by the glorification of Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) and Police Paramilitary Units (PPUs), so-called “elite” units who were provided with military-grade weaponry, provided with simulated urban-warfare training centers (like the one in Atlanta that has been the target of guerilla-style protests by environmentalists and critics of increased police power) and granted broad authority to enforce order, often however they saw fit. This is where units like Memphis’s SCORPION (“Street Crimes Operation to Restore Peace In Our Neighborhoods”), the Baltimore Gun Trace Task Force and Red Squad, and so many other “elite” police units derived much of their authority and discretion, which they exploited to empower them to commit acts of violence such as this.

How will this latest act of police brutality impact “The Talk” that so many of us have felt the need to have with our children, especially our young men? How will this impact the recommended strategy of compliance and non-resistance with police who may abuse and kill you anyway? What impact will this have on building a more revolutionary Pan-Afrikanist agenda within the Black community, particularly in those cities and neighborhoods where police already had a strained relationship with the people?

And how much harder will it make the jobs of those who actually do become police officers out of what some might regard as a naive commitment to do good for their community?

These questions are often difficult to answer, but one thing is certain.

As long as we continue to react to these atrocities instead of proactively organizing the activists of our community, our oppressors and enemies will continue to tolerate, cover up, ignore, encourage, defend, approve, plan and personally commit these heinous acts. Our continued dis-organization and collective in-action expresses, in an activist context, what Dr. King described on a personal level: “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.” (from Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence, April 4, 1967) We must begin to truly organize as a people, and it must start with our activists, organizers and self-described leaders. And it must start now. No more egos, no more “you must follow me”, no more ideological rigidity and arrogance. Start talking to each other and planning together or get used to seeing more and more of atrocities like this.

Some links to related articles about Black victims of police brutality

Black Atlantans Terrorized by Memphis Police Speak Out: “They’d Beat Your Ass”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/black-atlantans-terrorized-by-memphis-pd-chief-s-old-unit-speak-out-they-d-beat-your-ass/ar-AA175ksR

Full List of 229 Black People Killed by Police Since George Floyd’s Murder
https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-229-black-people-killed-police-since-george-floyds-murder-1594477

Know Their Names: Al Jazeera
https://interactive.aljazeera.com/aje/2020/know-their-names/index.html

Tyre Nichols Beating Raises Scrutiny on Elite Police Units
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/tyre-nichols-beating-raises-scrutiny-on-elite-police-units/ar-AA16XQaJ?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=8d91eadaadc24dae8c23667120850a31

Opinion: The Deplorable Reason Memphis Police Stopped Tyre Nichols
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/opinion-the-deplorable-reason-memphis-police-stopped-tyre-nichols/ar-AA16XWCI?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=370ab24232f544188e6432e5900eea0a

MSN: Memphis cops reportedly gave Tyre Nichols 71 commands in 13 minutes: ‘So far out of the norm’
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/memphis-cops-reportedly-gave-tyre-nichols-71-commands-in-13-minutes-so-far-out-of-the-norm/ar-AA16WxLb?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=8d91eadaadc24dae8c23667120850a31

MSN: Double amputee, 36, shot dead after attempting to run away from cops
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/double-amputee-36-shot-dead-after-attempting-to-run-away-from-cops/ss-AA16XqQX?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=8d91eadaadc24dae8c23667120850a31#image=2

MSN: Memphis police seen beating another Black man and forcing his face to the ground, while detaining him [VIDEO]
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/memphis-police-seen-beating-another-black-man-and-forcing-his-face-to-the-ground-while-detaining-him-video/ar-AA16Zsou?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=10ed80a77022425aa171e7694cfed8ce

Nichols Death Proves Elite Police Units Are A Disaster: Real Clear Policy
https://www.realclearpolicy.com/2023/01/30/tyre_nichols_death_proves_elite_police_units_are_a_disaster_878531.html

“Elite” Police Units Face More Scrutiny as Memphis SCORPION Unit Disbanded over Tyre Nichols Death: DemocracyNow!
https://www.democracynow.org/2023/1/31/radley_balko_warrior_cops_elite_units

Do ‘elite’ police teams like Memphis’ SCORPION unit do more harm than good?: On Point
https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/02/01/specialized-police-units-tyre-nichols

Opinion: Tyre Nichols’s Death Proves Yet Again That ‘Elite’ Police Units Are a Disaster – The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/opinion/tyre-nichols-police-scorpion.html

Memphis SCORPION Unit Deactivated
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/tyre-nichols-live-updates-scorpion-unit-permanently-deactivated/ar-AA16O2sg?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=0c5f1ce054814fbbae9d20cbe5265857

Memphis man says he was assaulted by same Scorpion officers charged with Tyre Nichols’ death
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/memphis-man-says-was-assaulted-scorpion-officers-charged-tyre-nichols-rcna68860

What Tyre Nichols’ Death Reminds Us About Black Suffering: Medicine’s racist history bleeds into today’s medical practices, by Mengyi “Zed” Zha, MD February 2, 2023
https://www.medpagetoday.com/popmedicine/popmedicine/102934?xid=nl_popmed_2023-02-03&eun=g1701093d0r&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PopMedicine_020323&utm_term=NL_Gen_Int_PopMedicine_Active

The Legacy and Life of Keona Holley, Baltimore Police Officer Targeted by Violence
https://www.facebook.com/59109969606/posts/pfbid022esH3ZdGkDFgBU8e1ANpgwocXBuPGgNXNM6iQqUDNtctjuSpSFciA5KqPn7RApu5l/?sfnsn=mo&mibextid=6aamW6

Remembering Officer Keona Holley: Baltimore officer ambushed, shot in patrol car a year ago December 16, 2022, CBS Baltimore
https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/remembering-officer-keona-holley-baltimore-officer-ambushed-shot-in-patrol-car-a-year-ago/

Why Diversity Hasn’t changed Policing – Christian Science Monitor
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2023/0203/Why-diversity-hasn-t-changed-policing

How common are killings by police? How often are officers prosecuted?
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2023/0202/How-common-are-killings-by-police-How-often-are-officers-prosecuted?icid=mkt:web:exitd-related

Tyre Nichols’ Death: How Black Officers Alone Can’t Stop Brutal Policing – The Marshall Project
https://www.themarshallproject.org/2023/01/28/tyre-nichols-memphis-black-police-brutality

Africa 500, Wednesday, February 8, 2023: African Woman Trailblazer Florence Torson-Hart

The February 8, 2023 edition of Africa 500 spotlights African women trailblazers in business.  Show hosts Sis. Tomiko and Bro. Ty welcome African business woman Florence Torson-Hart.

Florence Torson-Hart
President, US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce
Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch

Florence Torson-Hart is the current President of the US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce headquartered in Philadelphia PA. The Chamber is dedicated to the facilitation and promotion of trade & investment, economic growth, increasing business opportunities and advocacy on behalf of its membership in both countries.

She also leads a Wealth Management Team at Merrill Lynch and is a Certified Financial Planner. Prior to joining Merrill Lynch, Florence was the CEO and Founder of a successful multi-media company. She has extensive experience in Advertising, Public Relations, Marketing, Publishing and TV Content Programming. She is a graduate of Drexel University with a Dual MBA concentration in Financial Management and Accounting and holds a BA in Publishing with a Marketing and Editing specialization.

Florence is a member of several charitable organizations and has a passion for fitness. Originally from Ghana, West Africa, Florence currently lives in Philadelphia, PA with her family.

https://www.facebook.com/US.GhanaChamber
https://usghchamevents.com/

Listen to the February 28, 2023 show here:

—
AFRICA500
Wednesdays @3pm EST.
https://handradio.org/
https://kuumbareport.com/
https://webuyblack.com
https://kweli.tv
https://blackhistoryfestivals.com/

DeShuna Spencer (KweliTV) and Stephen Selaise Asuo (YALI TV) on Africa 500, Wednesday, February 1, 2023

The February 1, 2023 edition of Africa 500 features guests DeShuna Spencer of KweliTV and Stephen Selaise Asuo of Young Africa Media Center and YALI TV.

DeShuna Spencer is a social impact executive who is the founder & CEO of KweliTV, a global streaming service that curates the largest library of indie Black films & docs from across the globe.

As a former journalist & radio host, DeShuna’s work focuses on the intersection of media images and implicit bias. She speaks frequently on media representation, diversity in the streaming & the OTT space, social entrepreneurship, the effects of Black trauma content, challenges & opportunities in the media landscape, starting a media tech venture, women in media & tech, and her journey as a Black founder.

For years, Spencer had dreamed of building a service that told Black stories, with a focus on independent films and documentaries. But as a former journalist and magazine editor, she had no connections in Hollywood, no tech programming knowledge, and practically no budget. Getting the service off the ground and keeping it afloat has been a constant challenge.

But after launching KweliTV in 2016, Spencer’s work is finally starting to pay off. While the service still operates on a small scale, with 47,000 registered users who have access to 600 pieces of content, she recently raised $100,000 from New Media Ventures, plus another $100,000 and counting through the crowdfunded investment site Republic. The actor and comedian Lil Rel Howery also began curating comedy programming for the service in 2020, and in January, Apple picked KweliTV as one of five apps to showcase from Black app developers.

Being a niche streaming player is never easy, and the list of failed ventures is long. But as major streaming services become more expensive, bloated, and cumbersome to navigate, it may create an opportunity for smaller companies with a more specific point of view–KweliTV among them.

“We’re really about changing the Black narrative, and that means everyone—no matter what they look like—we want them to experience the Black experience from our perspective,” Spencer says.

https://www.deshuna.com
https://www.kweli.tv

Stephen Selaise Asuo is a Mediapreneur and Communications Consultant. He has over 10+ years’ work experience in community engagements and advocacy working with NGOs and CSOs across Ghana. He has focused his work on issues of communication, education and access to information.

Currently he is the founder/CEO of Young Africa Media Center and general manager of YALI TV, a fast-growing online television channel dedicated to tell the stories and impacts of YALI Alumni and young leaders across Africa. He leads over a 100 YALI TV Correspondents and associates across Africa, and the channel has covered major events on the continent in English, Portuguese and French. He is also the coordinator of the Black History Festivals which began in 2022. The 2023 Black History Festival will take place in Columbus Ohio.

As he continues to develop content best in value-based leadership, Stephen aspires to be a renowned Media Entrepreneur and Development Communication Consultant in Ghana. Steven hopes to transform the socioeconomic fortunes of the continent through a renewed media vision for Africa through leadership, storytelling and peer partnerships.

https://www.youngafricamediacenter.com
https://blackhistoryfestivals.com

Listen to the February 1, 2023 show here:

Africa 500 broadcasts 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 HANDRadio’s Web site, in an update of this post and on the Audio-Visual Media Pages of KUUMBAReport (https://kuumbareport.com), KUUMBAEvents (https://kuumbaevents.com) and the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://srdcinternational.org).
—
AFRICA500
Wednesdays @3pm EST.
https://handradio.org
https://kuumbareport.com
https://webuyblack.com
https://kweli.tv