Category Archives: Culture

“The R-Evolution Is Black Love” Features the Blue Nile of Washington, DC, Wednesday, October 30

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:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rcy5hvh2xgy9ma32f8b13/BlueNile.mp4?rlkey=wuajhzle2jjfbtbx514jyeq6z&st=lbremv3o&dl=0

To listen to the audio, click below:

“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 R-Evolution is Black Love”
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“The seed you plant in love, not matter how small, will grow into a mighty tree of refuge” Afeni Shakur

“I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth” Assata Shakur

“The R-evolution Is Black Love” Interviews Baba Nati of Baltimore Bookstore and Institution Everyone’s Place, September 26, 2024

 

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:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fwtruvraq2zjeeuo8k706/Everyone-s-Place.mp4?rlkey=hjneyzxrsl9c30p0cmoynmsno&st=5zjvm51z&dl=0

You can also catch the audio for this and previous shows on our Media Page.

“The Revolution Is Black Love” Pays Tribute to Frankie Beverly

“We broke into our regular programming” for a special tribute to Maze founder and leader Frankie Beverly, said Sis. Tomiko (Baltimore, Maryland), host of The R-evolution Is Black Love (Wednesdays at 3:00 PM Eastern Time, HandRadio, https://handradio.org).

New Ancestor Frankie Beverly transitioned to the Honored Ancestors on September 10 at the age of 77.

Sis. Tomiko included several special guests on her show:

  • Queen Coco from Kasual Konvo, heard on HandRadio
  • DJ Boscoe (North Carolina and New York City), also from Kasual Konvo
  • DJ Reezey (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) aka Rashaun Williams of the Philadelphia Reparations Task Force
  • Bro. Richard Good (Baltimore, Maryland), founder and CEO of HandRadio

Friday, September 20 is White Out Day for Frankie Beverly.  Pop-up block parties for Frankie Beverly are happening on September 20 and later in cities such as Philadelphia, Alabama, New Orleans, etc.

Excerpts of songs by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly were played during the show.

The panel discussed Frankie Beverly’s importance to the Black Community, vibrations from his music that inspired feelings of togetherness and community, and the resultant role of Frankie Beverly as an institution, bringing the “Village Vibe” and “cookout music” that brought the people out to be with each other in a sense of community, demonstrating the power of music to heal and build a people.

The guests spoke of several Philadelphia music artists who embodied the spirit of “raw love” as Philly’s native son Frankie Beverly did, as well as his connection to Philadelphia predecessors, contemporaries and successors such as McFadden & Whitehead, Kindred the Family Soul, Kenny Gamble, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu and other artists with Philly roots.

DJ Boscoe said: “Music can build and music can also destroy.”  Gil Scott-Heron, Public Enemy, Def Jeff and others who brought positive messages in music were often silenced by our enemies.

Queen Coco stated that much of the “old school” music from artists such as Marvin Gaye and Frankie Beverly that embodied love has been largely silenced today; today’s messages, through the lyrics, speak of doing anything for money and self-promotion; there is a harmful effect of those messages on people internally.  Bro. Richard noted that the record executives and labels are funding the promotion of these negative messages, using our young struggling artists who are trying to make a living to spread them.

The guests spoke of the infiltration of our community with negative music that is devoid of love and filled with imagery of killing and the effect it has on our children; some of us refuse to let them take the love out of the music, including DJs who refuse to play negative music in their sets.  Frankie Beverly accepted the assignment from the Most High to spread the message of love to the people.

DJ Reezey pointed out that radio stations are paid by sponsors to play specific songs on the radio and thus control what DJs play on their stations; similarly, artists are required to write and perform certain songs for their albums and the artists allow this because they need the money to provide for themselves and their families. Many of the popular artists do not even control their own names.  Frankie Beverly did not succumb to this control.  He did not cede control of his name or his creativity, and sacrificed material gains and mainstream accolades for this.  Sis. Tomiko noted that we must decide who we want to be, how we want to do what we do and who we want to speak to in these things, unapologetically.

DJ Reezey stated that we need more institutions that favor the Most High and understand who we are as God’s true children.  Our enemies took our birthright, know who we are better than we do and swapped their legacy for ours. “We need to starve the beast.”

DJ Boscoe referenced fasting and purging the disease to help him deal with and ultimately overcome his own health challenges, and how it relates to our need to fast and purge our community of the diseased mindset that has too often infiltrated our institutions, such as our culture as expressed in music.

Sis. Tomiko noted that artists create and bring the message, and DJs are the “curators of our musical lives.”

Friday, September 20, White Our Day for Frankie Beverly, is the day to wear white in his honor and pump Frankie Beverly’s music all day and, as DJ Boscoe said, “move the planet out of its orbit.”

Sis. Tomiko closed out the program by noting that Frankie Beverly’s ultimate message may have been to love yourself, start the internal revolution and the larger revolution will occur, and that will be the Golden Time Of Day.

The R-evolution Is Black Love is heard every Wednesday at 3:00 PM Eastern Time (United States) on HandRadio (https://handradio.org).  After broadcast, the show can be listened to below or on our Media Page.

The Ancestors’ Call: Three Mighty Cultural Icons, James Earl Jones, Frankie Beverly, Sergio Mendes

It is not often that the Cultural Community must endure the loss of three icons in the span of six days.  That happened this week, when first Brazilian bossa nova and jazz-funk legend Sergio Mendes passed on to the Ancestors at 83 years of age on September 5 after a bout with long COVID, then it was announced on September 9 that James Earl Jones had transitioned at the age of 93, and finally, R&B legend Frankie Beverly, the founder and leader of Maze, left this mortal plane on September 10 at the age of just 77, shortly after announcing his retirement from performing and embarking on a farewell/thank-you tour.

No amount of praise can adequately convey the impact these giants had on the cultural landscape, particularly in the Afrikan American community.  So we will simply give a brief summary of each, in the hope that this brief tribute will be found to be acceptable by our New Ancestors.

Sergio Mendes, February 11, 1941 – September 5, 2024

I remember listening to classic tracks from Sergio Mendes and Brasil 66 on my father’s old stereo in the 1960s.  Songs like “Fool On The Hill” and perhaps his most famous release, Jorge Ben’s “Mas Que Nada”, lit up the air in our house with their Afro-Brazilian rhythms and melodic vocals.  “Mas Que Nada” would be covered and remixed by numerous Brazilian, Afrikan and World Beat artists, and Mendes himself issued a remix of the track in 2009 in collaboration with the Black Eyed Peas that reimagined the song in both Hip-House and Brazilian-House versions.

Wikipedia may occasionally be criticized because of the collaborative way in which it gathers and presents information, but in certain areas it is useful for providing summaries of important issues, and especially brief biographies of historical, political and cultural icons.  Here is what Wikipedia had to say about Sergio Mendes:

Sérgio Santos Mendes (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈsɛʁʒju ˈsɐ̃tuz ˈmẽdʒis]; 11 February 1941 – 5 September 2024) was a Brazilian musician. His career took off with worldwide hits by his band Brasil ’66. He released 35 albums and was known for playing bossa nova, often mixed with funk. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song in 2012 as a co-writer of “Real in Rio” from the animated film Rio.

Mendes was primarily known in the United States, where his albums were recorded and where most of his touring took place. He was married to Gracinha Leporace, who performed with him from the early 1970s. Mendes collaborated with many artists, including the Black Eyed Peas, with whom he re-recorded in 2006 a version of his 1966 breakthrough hit “Mas que Nada”.

James Earl Jones, January 27, 1931 – September 9, 2024

What Brother didn’t wish he could conjure a voice with the resonant baritone and gravitas of James Earl Jones?  What Sister didn’t feel just a little flutter when he delivered his lines on stage and film?  My first memory of seeing him in person (I only saw him twice as I can recall) was when I was in high school (I think) at a theater production of Othello in Washington, DC.  The second time, my wife and I traveled to New York City in 2008 to catch the Broadway stage production of Tennessee Williams’s “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” which featured an all-Black cast of Mr. Jones, Phylicia Rashad, Giancarlo Esposito, Terence Howard (making his Broadway debut) and Anika Noni Rose.

Here is a brief summary of Mr. Jones’s bio from Wikipedia:

James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor known for his film roles and his work in theater. He was one of the few performers to achieve the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony). He was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985, and was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1992, the Kennedy Center Honor in 2002, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2009, and the Academy Honorary Award in 2011.

Born in Arkabutla, Mississippi, in 1931, he had a stutter since childhood. Jones said that poetry and acting helped him overcome the challenges of his disability. A pre-med major in college, he served in the United States Army during the Korean War before pursuing a career in acting. His deep voice was praised as a “stirring basso profondo that has lent gravel and gravitas” to his projects. Jones made his Broadway debut in the play Sunrise at Campobello (1957). He then gained prominence for acting in numerous productions with Shakespeare in the Park including Othello, Hamlet, Coriolanus, and King Lear. Jones worked steadily in theater, winning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a boxer in The Great White Hope (1968), which he reprised in the 1970 film adaptation, earning him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.

Jones won his second Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as a working class father in August Wilson’s Fences (1987). He was a Tony award nominee for his roles as the husband in Ernest Thompson’s On Golden Pond (2005) about an aging couple, and as a former president in the Gore Vidal play The Best Man (2012). His other Broadway performances included Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008), Driving Miss Daisy (2010–2011), You Can’t Take It with You (2014), and The Gin Game (2015–2016). He received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2017.

Jones made his film debut in Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove (1964). He received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Claudine (1974). Jones gained international fame for his voice role as Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, beginning with the original 1977 film. Jones’s other notable films include The Man (1972), Conan the Barbarian (1982), Matewan (1987), Coming to America (1988), Field of Dreams (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Sneakers (1992), The Sandlot (1993), The Lion King (1994), and Cry, the Beloved Country (1995). On television, Jones received eight Primetime Emmy Awards nominations winning twice for his roles in thriller film Heat Wave (1990) and the crime series Gabriel’s Fire (1991). He also acted in Roots (1977), Jesus of Nazareth (1977), Picket Fences (1994), Homicide: Life on the Street (1997), and Everwood (2004).

Frankie Beverly, December 6, 1946 – September 10, 2024

How many of us didn’t wish we could sing like Frankie Beverly?  How many times have we practically begged the DJ (I should know, I’ve been a DJ for over 40 years) to play “Before I Let Go” by Maze, even after Beyonce had released her cover of the iconic song?  Maze and Frankie Beverly were a fixture from my college years in the late 1970s and early 1980s to the present day.  

Wikipedia said about him in a brief update to their page upon his passing:

Frankie Beverly (born Howard Beverly, December 6, 1946 – September 10, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and producer, known primarily for his recordings with the soul and funk band Maze.[1] Beverly formed Maze, originally called Raw Soul, in his hometown of Philadelphia in 1970. After a relocation to San Francisco and an introduction to Marvin Gaye, Maze went on to release nine Gold albums and create a large and devoted following. Beverly was the band’s writer, producer and lead singer. He was known for his distinctive smooth baritone voice and charismatic stage presence.

The song “Silky Soul”, from the 1989 album of the same name, was dedicated to the great Marvin Gaye, but the lyrics could just as easily apply to the great Frankie Beverly.

There was a man I knew
Who was smooth as smooth can be
His music his smile
And his sweet sweet melody
Do you recall that mentor
And the voice with the velvet touch
I’ll never forget how he moved us all so much

Do you remember
That special one that very special one
I do remember
How much he’s done
I can still here his sweet song

Silky silky soul singer (repeats)

“The R-evolution Is Black Love” Interviews Baba Nati of Everyone’s Place on Hand Radio, Wednesday, September 11, 2024

The Wednesday, September 11 edition of “The R-evolution Is Black Love” features an interview with Baba Nati, proprietor of Everyone’s Place, located on North Avenue in the Penn-North neighborhood of West Baltimore.

Everyone’s Place has been a staple of the Black Cultural Community in Baltimore City for several decades, and Baba Nati or recognized across the city and throughout the state of Maryland as a community treasure.  Show host Sis. Tomiko talks to him about his lifetime of work as an educator and activist in the Baltimore-area Pan Afrikan Community.  

“The R-evolution Is Black Love” can be heard every Wednesday afternoon at 3:00 PM on Hand Radio (https://handradio.org).  After the show airs, the show can be listened to in-demand in Hand Radio’s site as well as an updated version of this post and the Media Pages of KUUMBAReport Online (https://kuumbareport.com) and the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://srdcinternational.org).

The R-evolution Is Black Love
Wednesdays at 3:00 PM, Hand Radio

https://handradio.org
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https://kweli.tv

 

 

Garvey Day 2024 in Various Parts of the Diaspora

This Saturday marks the birthday of The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey (17 August 1887 – 10 June 1940), the founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL).  All around the world, Afrikan People celebrate his birth on this day.  Below we share the announcements of just a few of the commemorations of The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey on this day.

Panama City, Panama

First, in Panama, where local activists and Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (SRDC) Facilitators Ras Bukie and Empress Yesury Nurse, longtime adherents of Garveyism, are holding a commemoration at then statue of Marcus Garvey that they had led the effort to have erected in a public park in the area of Panama City.  The event is scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM Eastern Time (US).  See the flyer below for details, including a Zoom link for those who would like to participate online.  The text of the flyer is in Spanish here, but the link should be easy to follow nonetheless, and English speakers will also be present at the commemoration.

Baltimore, Maryland’s Garvey Day Celebration

Baba Charlie Dugger has held cultural and educational events in the Baltimore, Maryland area for several decades through his organization Camp Harambee (The People), including the annual Marcus Garvey Day celebrations of the birthday of the Pan-Afrikan giant and founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). Now Baba Charlie Dugger is sponsoring the 2024 Garvey Day celebration, in West Baltimore’s Harlem Park, as always.  The commemoration starts at 12:00 Noon and is scheduled to go until 7:00 PM.  See the flyer below doe details.

Harlem, New York

New York is where the historic UNIA Convention was held which had drawn upwards if 25,000 participants (Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association – Black History Month 2024), in an era ling before we had social media and Web sites to inform the populace.  A special commemoration is planned in Harlem.  This year, Harlem is again hosting its Garvey Day celebration.

The R-Evolution Is Black Love features Grandmother Walks On Water, Wednesday, August 14 on HANDRadio

The August 14 edition of The R-Evolution Is Black Love features Special Guest Grandmother Walks On Water, who will talk with show host Sis. Tomiko about their continuing series on Generational Curses.

The R-Evolution is Black Love is heard every Wednesday at 3:00 PM on HANDRadio (https://handradio.org).  Be sure to tune in at 3:00 PM this Wednesday.

If you miss the show, it will be posted on the KUUMBAReport Media Page shortly after the initial broadcast.

The R-Evolution Is Black Love
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KUUMBAReport (https://kuumbareport.com)
Kweli TV (https://kweli.tv)
We Buy Black (https://webuyblack.com)

“The seed you plant in love, not matter how small, will grow into a mighty tree of refuge” — Afeni Shakur

“I believe in the sweat of love and in the fire of truth” — Assata Shakur

 

Several Pan Afrikan Community Events for Baltimore, Frederick and Washington, DC in June

One of the principal goals of the Maryland Pan Afrikan Cooperative Coalition (MPACC) is to facilitate our organizations supporting each other by supporting their events, or at least helping us all avoid conflicts between our events when possible.  Beyond that, the hope is that we will develop greater respect for each other and work together so that our efforts in our community will all be successful.  A large part of that is simply being aware of the events and programs we are all sponsoring in our community.

In service to that specific goal, this post is to announce several upcoming Pan Afrikan community events in the Baltimore Maryland, Frederick Maryland and Washington DC area coming up in June.  The list of events may be updated as we learn about more events that are being held, and we also plan to make a similar announcement about events in the Washington DC-Maryland area coming up in July.  Here’s what I have on the list so far:

  • Saturday, June 15: Maryland Council of Elders and Black Alliance for Peace Town Hall, Douglass Memorial Community Church, 1325 Madison Avenue, Baltimore, MD, 1 PM to 3 PM.
      
    The Black Alliance for Peace Web site (Baltimore Town Hall: Youth Organizing Youth: Rising Up Against Repression — The Black Alliance for Peace) describes the event as follows:

    Youth are heavily impacted by decades of worsened material conditions, which hinder their quality of life. Where young residents attempt to exercise autonomy and help shape a changing society, they are met with disregard for their legitimate concerns. Actions against youth in the city, state and region are some of the most punitive. Reliance on curfews, racist legislation and the constant surveillance of our youth disrupts any collaboration on solutions to the problems all African/ Black youth face in Baltimore. Heightened sensationalized media coverage further compounds the issue.

    Join the citywide alliance for this youth/ student led town hall for discussions on how to support to their efforts to create conditions to forge an alliance of student and youth organizers throughout the state.

    Masks Required. Masks Provided. Food & Refreshments Available. Childcare provided. (doors open at 12:30pm)

  • Saturday, June 15: Camp Harambee The People Fatherhood and Manhood Celebration, Greenmount & 24th Streets, Baltimore, MD, 1 PM to 6 PM

    Baba Charlie Dugger and Camp Harambee The People have organized, supported and run important community events in Baltimore for over 50 years.  A veteran educator, he has consistently sought to bring messages of positivity and self-awareness to youth and Elders alike in the Baltimore area.
     
  • Saturday, June 15: Suns Of Reawakening 7th Annual Juneteenth Freedomfest, Mullinix Park, Frederick, MD, 12 PM to 7 PM

    We became aware of the Suns of Reawakening and their Juneteenth event at the recent African Liberation Day commemoration in West Baltimore this past May 25.  Western Maryland has an important Afrikan and Afrikan-Descendant community that has, in many circles, gone unnoticed.  We hope that this event will make more of us aware of this community of Black Maryland and help us all to expand our knowledge and build a more cohesive and organized Pan Afrikan community.
     
  • Saturday, June 29: Street Law Soldiers Unity Festival, Fort Lincoln Park, 3201 Fort Lincoln Drive Gazebo #2, Washington, DC, 12 PM to 7 PM

    General T’Shaka Sankofa of the Street Law Soldiers, Washington DC (Facebook) sponsors regular Unity Festivals in the Washington, DC area.  Street Law Soldiers has chapters in Washington DC, and elsewhere across the US.

If you have an event scheduled for June that is not on this list, and you would like it to go out to our emailing list, feel free to send us the pertinent information, along with a flyer and contact information, and we will see about putting it together with other events in a future post as well as in the next group email we send out.  If we are to truly start building unity in our community, it starts with us recognizing the positive events we all are sponsoring, producing and promoting, helping make the people aware of these events and programs, and supporting them when we can.  Of course, when several events are happening at the same time, we can’t attend them all, but at least this way we can all be informed about what our various organizations and activists are doing for the sake of the people.

April 13, 2024: Baba Imhotep Fatiu on Pan Africanism and its Implications for the 21st Century at Temple of New African Thought (Baltimore)

Baba Imhotep Fatiu, Founder of the Pan African Liberation Movement (PLM), will give this lecture to address issues of race, class, culture and identity from 6 pm – 9 pm at the Temple of New Afrikan Thought, 5525 Harford Road in East Baltimore.

PLM has been at the forefront of Pan Afrikan organizations in Baltimore, educating our community on Pan Afrikanism, Black manhood and Black womanhood.  PLM has sponsored such important programs as the African Awareness Critical Thinking Study Class, the Urban Youth Initiative Project, the Watoto Developmemt Center, the Ipet Isut Bookstore & Cultural Center and the Kimoyo Shule Africana.  PLM also sponsored Kwanzaa events for several years in the Baltimore area, as well as the annual Pan Afrikan Day of Solidarity for several years, the current Race First Rally in West Baltimore and the annual Royal African Gala.  For more information on PLM, visit their Web site at https://www.plm95.org.

Maryland Council of Elders Announces African Liberation Day in Baltimore, May 25, 2024

The Maryland Council of Elders (MCOE) has sponsored African Liberation Day at Lafayette Square Park in West Baltimore for the last 6 years, having worked with Baba Charlie Dugger since 2018.  Every year, African Liberation Day has grown in scope and popularity, now reaching our people in Washington DC, Philadelphia PA, New York NY, and cities further north, south and west.

This year’s theme is “Same struggle: Smash Settler-Colonialism in Occupied Palestine, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania”.  This year’s gathering is dedicated to the Centenary (100 years) of Ancestor and Freedom Fighter Amilcar Cabral.

There will be vendors, music, children’s activities, health screenings, and updates on the local, national and international struggle for freedom.

For those who are coming from Washington, DC and are looking for transportation to the gathering, check out the flyer “Need A Ride to African Liberation Day?” which is attached to this email.

The gathering will be preceded by an International Webinar on May 24 at 12 noon.  Check out the attached African Liberation Day flyer for more details, or contact the Maryland Council of Elders at marylandcouncilofeldersbmore@gmail.com, or phone (202) 528-6884.

Also, the Maryland Council of Elders is conducting training for those who wish to become members of MCOE.  The training session will be held on Saturday, April 20, 2024 at Douglas Memorial Community Church, 1325 Madison Avenue in Baltimore at 10:45 am, to be followed by a Town Hall Meeting at 1:00 pm.  I’ve attached a flyer for the training to this email as well.  Again, for more information contact the Maryland Council of Elders at marylandcouncilofeldersbmore@gmail.com, or phone (202) 528-6884.