The Wednesday, October 30 edition of “The R-Evolution Is Black Love” features the proprietors of the Blue Nile, a longtime staple of the Georgia Avenue corridor of Washington, DC, located near Howard University in Northwest Washington, DC. Show host Sis. Tomiko interviews Mama Ayo, Bro. Ramon and Bro. Jawad. The video of the interview can be viewed at this link for a limited time:
“The R-Evolution is Black Love” broadcasts Wednesdays @3pm EST on HAND Radio (https://handradio.org). After the broadcast, the audio of the show can be found on this post and on the Media Pages of KUUMBAReport Online (https://kuumbareport.com) and the Web site of the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://srdcinternational.org).
The anticipated day has finally arrived. Sis. Tomiko, host of “The R-evolution Is Black Love”, heard every Wednesday at 3:00 PM ET on Hand Radio (https://handradio.org), traveled to West Baltimore’s Penn-North neighborhood, site of the 2015 Freddie Gray Uprising, to iconic Black bookstore and institution Everyone’s Place to interview its co-founder and co-owner, Baba Nati Kamau-Nataki.
Their lively discussion covered topics from the history of Everyone’s Place to the large and eclectic collection of books available there to the current status of Black-owned bookstores and of writing and research in general, particularly as it impacts the Black Press and the education of Black youth and Elders alike.
For audio of the interview, click below.
For the video of the show, the following link should be active at least for a while:
The Wednesday, August 28 edition of “The R-Evolution Is Black Love” features Baba Coy Dunston, proprietor of Secrets of Nature in Washington, DC. Sis. Tomiko, host of “The R-Evolution Is Black Love”, interviewed him at his location about his introduction to healthy foods and the struggles he has endured to continue to promote healthy choices for the people. The program airs at 3:00 PM Wednesday, August 28. “The R-Evolution Is Black Love” can be heard every Wednesday at 3:00 PM on HANDRadio,https://handradio.org.
Following is a brief profile for the August 28 program:
Understanding the dire need for healthy food options, Coy Dunston, 76, opened up his shop in 1980 with the mission to save lives.
His passion for nutrition started in 1980, as a recent graduate of Antioch Law (now University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law).
“I took a break to go home just to see my mother,” said Dunston, who was born and raised in Louisburg, North Carolina. “She was complaining about itching and had gone to the doctor.”
Days later she was diagnosed with cancer at Duke University Hospital and was released for denying chemotherapy treatments.
“I felt an obligation to do something, I wasn’t going to wait for her to die. I started researching,” Dunston shared. “One day on the drive to D.C., I stopped to fill up my gas in Richmond. There was a guy there distributing an informational pamphlet about reversing disease and how to get well.”
Intrigued, Dunston attended the meeting advertised after seeing the words “Nature’s sunshine” on the paper. He was determined to learn more about the organization’s methods.
“I thought ‘Wow, this has to be a message to me.’ I was flabbergasted; I had not heard of anything they were talking about. I immediately got involved. My mother and I started fasting, taking the herbs and doing the things you are supposed to do,” he said. “She lived for 10 years after that. That’s how I got involved in this business.”
Proven successful in this new lifestyle, Dunston set out on a fast track to educating the masses on healthy options, starting “Yours Naturally” on 16th and K streets NW with the knowledge needed to provide treatments to cure illnesses and ailments. He promoted a strict regimen of “no dairy, no sugar, no meat.”
“But the question was ‘where are you going to get that,’” said Dunston. “This was the 1980s, no one was selling vegetarian food like that back then.”
“I was there about 10 years and around the eighth year I moved around the corner to The Washington Post’s building where I saw an opportunity to open up a kitchen, my first kitchen,” he continued.
The meals created were served lovingly and filled with natural nourishment — a stark difference from Dunston’s diet while being raised as the son of a sharecropper.
After the broadcast, the program can be listened to below and on our Media Page.
The video of Sis. Tomiko’s interview with Baba Dunston should be available for viewing at this link:
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 KUUMBAReportOnline (https://kuumbareport.com), KUUMBAEvents (https://kuumbaevents.com) and the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://srdcinternational.org).
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 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.
The Pan African Global Trade and Investment Conference, which had been announced on this Web site for January 14-16, 2022, has been postponed.
The Conference convener and Executive Director of the Africa-USA Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Mr. Al Washington, has issued the following statement:
An Update from us on COVID-19 Postponement
It is with considerable disappointment that the 10th Pan African Global Trade and Investment Conference has made the difficult decision to postpone our forthcoming conference that was to be held in Atlanta, Ga. January 14-15, 2022 until the Spring 2022.
This decision has been reached to Protect the Public’s Health as Omicron COVID-19 Variant surges in Atlanta and the State of Georgia. According to the CDC, Fulton and DeKalb counties remain areas of high transmission for the COVID-19 virus. In Fulton County alone, the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases has surged to 1430 from the previous seven-day average of 407—the highest rate of change since the beginning of the pandemic.
Our conference website panafricanglobaltradeconference.com is currently available to provide ongoing information about the conference as it is being rescheduled and developed.
The March 10, 2021 edition of Africa400 continues to profile strong Black Women as part of its “Black Woman Is God” Series for Black Women’s History Month. Mama Tomiko and Baba Ty discuss sustainable real estate development and “green” building practices as they welcome visionary developer Jessica Lewis.
Jessica Lewis, founder ofMobu Enterprises, a Black woman-owned real estate development firm in the “green” building industry, is redefining residential and commercial spaces around the world with over 40 years of experience in operations, construction, and development.
Mobu Enterprises is restoring community education, advocating, and improving the environment with sustainable products and self-sustaining shipping container spaces and designs.
Empowered by a team of architects and designers, Mobu Enterprises has created award-winning designs distinct from each client’s unique vision. Building custom residential and commercial structures out of durable shipping containers, the company is pioneering the future of green living with structures that are waterproof, windproof, and fireproof. and able to withstand the demands of today and tomorrow for future generations.
To date, Mobu Enterprises has pioneered many major domestic and international projects, including a co-educational school for the gifted in Ghana and several single-family home communities, and multi-family complexes in Macon, Georgia.