Category Archives: Education

“The REvolution Is Black Love” Talks to the Leadership of Washington, DC’s Industrial Bank

“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 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
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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.

African Liberation Day 2023 in Baltimore: A Picture Essay

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:

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).
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AFRICA500
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Africa 500 Looks at the State of the African American Family, Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Be sure to tune in to Africa 500 on HANDRadio (https://handradio.org) as show hosts Sis. Tomiko and Bro. Ty follow up on the recently shared lectures from Pan-Afrikan Ancestors Dr. John Henrik Clarke and Rev. Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango.

This week, they look at the state of the African American Family with guest Bro. Brandon Walker of the Ujima Peoples Progress Party (UPP).

Listen to the show on our Media Page, or by clicking below:

Africa 500 is broadcast every Wednesday at 3:00 PM (Eastern Time, United States). After each broadcast, the show will be uploaded on the HANDRadio site (https://handradio.org) as well as the Web sites of KUUMBAReport (https://kuumbareport.com), KUUMBAEvents (https://kuumbaevents.com) and the Sixth Region Diaspora Caucus (https://srdcinternational.org).

Starting on February 1, Africa 500 will launch a series of discussions in recognition of Pan-African Heritage Month (or, as some refer to it, “Black History Month”) by welcoming Sis. DeShuna Spencer, founder and CEO of KweliTV, and Stephen Selaise Asuo, founder of the Young Africa Media Center and coordinator of the Black History Festival.

AFRICA 500
Wednesdays, 3 PM ET (US)
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The Words of Rev. Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango on Africa 500, Wednesday, January 11, 2023

The January 11, 2023 edition of Africa 500 will feature the words of the Rev. Dr. Ishakamusa Barsashango.

Rev. Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango

Rev. Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango, affectionately known as “Baba”, began his journey to Nsamando, the land of the Ancestors on January 14, 2004. He apparently succumbed to a heart attack during his morning walk. The dynamic minister, author, historian, educator and motivational speaker was born April 27, 1938 in Philadelphia, PA.

Dr. Barashango received his Bachelor of Arts degree in religion from Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. He studied for his Master’s degree at Northeastern Seminary in Takoma Park, Maryland. The New Afrikan University Network System of Washington, D.C. saluted him with an honorary Doctor of Philosophy Degree in 1979. Rev. Barashango founded the Temple of the Black Messiah, School of History and Religion and co-founded Fourth Dynasty Publishing Company of Silver Spring. He also taught history and religion at several colleges and universities.

As well as releasing a series of audio lecture compact disks, Dr Barashango was the author of several books including: Afrikan People And European Holidays: A Mental Genocide Book One; Afrikan People And European Holidays: A Mental Genocide Book Two; God, the Bible and the Black Man’s Destiny; Afrikan Woman: The Original Guardian Angel; and Afrikan Genesis: Amazing Stories of Man’s Beginnings. Dr Barashango was completely dedicated to the physical, mental, and spiritual liberation of New Afrikan people – he dedicated his life to this cause!

Dr. Barashango also was the brother-in-law of longtime Political Prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, being wedded to Jamal’s sister Lydia since 1996: (https://web.archive.org/web/20181012052003/http://archive.prisonradio.org/10-9-11LydiaBarashangoPresente.html).

Oath To The Ancestors by Ishakamusa Barashango
Oaths in the bible

The Reverend Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango gave us the Oath To The Ancestors. One thing about the oath most people may not recognize is it is bible based. There are many instances of this.

the covenant he swore with an oath to our ancestor Abraham.
— Luke 1:73

Thus I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, the one you have today. “Amen, LORD,” I answered.
— Jeremiah 11:5

You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.
— Micah 7:20

Remember the LORD your God. He is the one who gives you power to be successful, in order to fulfill the covenant he confirmed to your ancestors with an oath.
— Deuteronomy 8:18 NLT

Based on those and other instances, African Christians need to know this oath is completely in line with their beliefs. As Dr. Barashango himself said,

“now you know I use the Bible as a revolutionary textbook because I am a African nationalist freedom fighter and I come in the tradition of the theology of black liberation founded by such great masters of that genre as the Right Reverend Nat Turner, the Right Reverend Gabriel Prosser, Henry Highland Garnett and a host of many others only one possible way I can approach this book or any other book and that has a freedom fighter for the liberation of our people and because it was originally our book before was tampered with we can define it in any manner and interpret it in any manner that we desire to and we always define it in the context of African historical reality.”
— Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango: Solving the Mystery of 666 (https://youtu.be/jT4VK4f4uwU)

The Oath To The Ancestors by Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango

Oh Ancestors!!!

Blacker than a thousand midnights.
African ancestors!!!
It is to you, we your children, give respect and honor.
O Ancestors!
We call upon You and welcome you in this place.
Afrikan Ancestors!
Let your presence fill this place.
O Ancestors!
Who have been purposely excluded from the history books, so that the world would not know of your greatness.
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave civilization to the world…
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave the arts to the world…
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave music to the world…
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave the sciences to the world…
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave mathematics to the world…
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave medicine to the world…
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave literature to the world…
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave philosophy to the world…
Our Afrikan Ancestors! Who gave God consciousness to the world…
O Ancestors!
We thank you for devoting your life to make a future for us, your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.
Now stand with us, strengthen us, guide us, teach us, and protect us from the snare of our enemies!
Rise up, O Afrikan Ancestors, and let our enemies be scattered
And give us the wisdom and the boldness to deal with our oppressors and those who would hinder the liberation and empowerment of our people.
Rise up, O Afrikan Ancestors, and live in us.
We will not fail to honor you!
We will not fail to respect you!
We will not fail to hear you!
And we will Not betray you!
Àṣẹ
Àṣẹ

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Africa 500 airs every Wednesday at 3:00 PM (Eastern Time, United States) on HANDRadio (https://handradio.org). Listen to the Wednesday, January 11 show here: