In this episode of Black Power Talks, we explore “Black Education and the Struggle for Anti-Colonial Free Speech.”  Upon his return to office, United States President Donald J. Trump amplified the attacks against Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.  His administration has renamed institutions for confederate figures and overturned previous diversity initiatives inside government employment.  President Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding from educational institutions with DEI programming.  This is the fourth and most intense wave of attacks against African-led education initiatives in recent years.   As DEI initiatives, Critical Race Theory and Black Studies come under attack, today’s guests agree the solution is to build power in the hands of the African community, to struggle for Black Community Control of Education.  The speakers make the appeal for African students, intellectuals and culture workers to become African working class intellectuals; to actively use their knowledge and intellectual abilities to challenge colonial capitalism.  The martyred Black Studies scholar Walter Rodney defined this as the process of being “grounded” and called such people “guerilla intellectuals.” On this episode, we are joined by: Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the African People’s Socialist Party Betty Davis, Chair of the Black is Back Coalition Education Working Group.  Sister Betty is a veteran of the Ocean Hill Brownsville struggle. Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly Associate Professor of History at Wayne State University, author of Black Scare/Red Scare: Theorizing Capitalist Racism in the United States Dr. Robin Kelley, Professor of History at UCLA author of many books including Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination, Race Rebels and Our History Has Always Been Contraband Dr. Yusef Doucet, poet, english professor co-leader of the JOKO Collective This episode is the outgrowth a June 2024 webinar that was co-sponsored by the Hands Off Uhuru Fightback Coalition and the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations and co-hosted by myself, Dr. Matsemela Odom and Mwezi Odom, Secretary General of the African People’s Socialist Party and Chair of the Hands Off Uhuru Fight Back Coalition. The complete webinar can be found at The Burning Spear TV Youtube Page. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida.

In 1982, the African People’s Socialist Party formed the African National Reparations Organization (ANRO).  ANRO was the first mass organization created to forward the reparations struggle and make reparations a household topic.  ANRO’s reach was wide and even garnered the support of people like Michael Jackson who signed an ANRO certificate demanding reparations. ANRO held twelve successive reparations tribunals.  The most recent reparations tribunal was in 2003. The Party and ANRO succeeded. The reparations struggle moved from being solely a legislative and legal conversation.  The Reparations struggle has been taken up by the masses of African people in the US, and other parts of the African world. Still, amidst these significant advances in the reparations struggle, Reparations activists have been targeted by the United States government for their work.  On July 29, 2022, the Uhuru Movement was attacked by the US government for their reparations work amidst slanderous claims that attribute the movement’s 40-plus years of leadership in the struggle for reparations to quote malign russian influence unquote.  WEB Du Bois, Paul Robeson and others suffered the same accusations.  The same city governments of St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri that have made news in the past years for their support for reparations plans also had their local police forces participate in these attacks.  In today’s episode, we explore current conversations on Reparations amongst African Internationalist educators with excerpts from the panel discussion “Reparations: Examining The Necessity of Reparations and Efforts To Heal A Political Genocide” as part of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists 2023 Annual Meeting.   In this panel discussion, Dr. Matsemela Odom is joined Dr. Tiffany Caesar of San Francisco State University and Dr. Martin Boston of Sacramento State University. Both are previous guest on Black Power Talks. Dr. Boston is the co-editor of the Third World Thematics Special Issue The Movement Resonated Deep in my Soul: New Perspectives and Pathways to International Research of South African Social Movements Past and Present.  Dr. Matsemela and Dr. Caesar are contributors to this special volume.  Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

On this episode of Black Power Talks, we learn about the colonial origins of Santa Claus, also known as Sinter Klaas or St. Nick, the patron saint of shipping. Colonial ideology purports the Christmas holiday to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. In fact, the Christmas holiday season is centered around the obsessive pursuit and aspiration to purchase gxifts, central to this is the Santa Claus Myth. The Santa Claus myth has its origins in Dutch traditions surrounding the characters Sinter Klass and Zwarte Piet, Black Pete in English.  These traditions are celebrated in the Netherlands, also known as Holland, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and throughout the colonial Dutch world with blackface festivals.  Africans have organized organized a serious pushback against these festivals, yet they persist.  To help us understand the colonial-capitalist contradictions of the holiday season and the colonial origins of Santa Claus, we share clips from Chairman Omali Yeshitela.  The first clip is an excerpt from a conversation between Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Peggy Burke of the Global Afrikan Congress, speaking direct from Amsterdam that took place on November 28th, 2004.   The second clip is an excerpt from a presentation given by Chairman Omali 2 weeks later, on December 19th, 2004, to the regular Sunday community meeting at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Kondji Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

Black August is a month of remembrance and resistance dedicated to our African warriors imprisoned for their heroic stance fighting for African liberation. It's also a month-long salute to the African liberation struggle, recognizing such historic milestones as the Haitian Revolution, the birth of Marcus Garvey, and the deaths of Jonathan Jackson and George Jackson.   The roots of Black August are in the uprisings and rebellions of African freedom fighters who were imprisoned as a result of their political activity during the height of the Black Power Movement of the 1960s. The tradition of recognizing Black August was initiated in the 1970s by incarcerated Africans in California in observance of the death of George Jackson.  Some of our African freedom fighters such as Jalil Muntaqim, Janine Africa, Janet Africa, Mike Africa Sr., Charles Africa and Sundiata Acoli have been released from captivity.  Sundiata and Muntaqim both spent almost 50 years behind bars. Some of our political prisoners were released only when they were critically ill and then died shortly after. Many more remain in prison. Today, we have a guest from behind enemy lines. Comrade Makandal Cinque is a regular contributor to The Burning Spear newspaper, a monthly Black Power journal in its 54th year of publication. We discuss his recent article, "U.S. colonial prisons: the present day sale and trade of Africans.” We talk about the history of African slavery and the practice of forced labor inside U.S. prisons today. Support The Burning Spear newspaper's Mafundi Lake Sponsor-a-Prisoner program at theburningspear.com/donate Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. This episode was hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.  

June is Black Music Month.  On this episode of Black Power Talks, we uplift Miriam Makeba.  Miriam Makeba’s music played an important role in the African Revolution by building bridges across the colonial borders that divide African people.   We discussed the role of Makeba's music and feature three of her songs: "Into Yam", "Pata Pata", and "Malcom X."  We talk about the importance of her appearance in the film Come Back Africa (1959) and the importance of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre in her own political transformation.  Makeba had two uncles killed in the massacre.  As Makeba appeared on the international stage.  We discuss her shifts from the New African Movement and SophiaTown Renaissance to her All-African and anti-colonial position.   On this episode, we are joined by Dr. Martin L. Boston, assistant professor of Pan-AfricanStudies and Ethnic Studies at California State University Sacramento.  Dr. Boston is the author of the doctoral thesis, “Be(Long)ing: New Africanism & South African Cultural Producers Confronting State Repression in an Era of Exile" and other recent articles on culture and the antiapartheid movement. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom, Kondji Mlimwengu and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

On this episode of Black Power Talks, we observe African Martyrs Day.  At the first Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party in September 1981, APSP designated February 21 as “The Day of the African Martyr.”  Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965 by agents of United States repression and counterinsurgency. Amidst the historical importance of the Hands Off Uhuru Hands Off Africa counteroffensive that we have waged, this year’s African Martyrs Day takes on an even deeper significance. We hear excerpts from a webinar organized by the Hands Off Uhuru Hands Off Africa Defense Campaign, “Long Live Our Fallen Warriors - Day of the African Martyr”.  In this episode we hear from:  Akile Anai, Director of Media and Communications for the African People’s Socialist Party  Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International Tafari Mugeri Director of Organization for the ASI Africa Region Jalil Muntaqim, former political prisoner and veteran of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army And Chairman Omali Yeshitela, head of the Uhuru Movement To view the entire webinar, visit The Burning Spear TV Youtube Page or the HandsOff Uhuru Facebook page. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

In this episode, we say NO THANKS TO COLONIALISM. We expose the colonial mythology of Thanksgiving as the ideological support for Manifest Destiny and European/White North American colonial-capitalist domination; namely but not only the project of settler-colonialism.  We speak with two activists and educators about the long history of anticolonial resistance and African and Indigenous solidarity.  We discuss a variety of topics such as the colonial origins of the Thanksgiving holiday, created amidst the genocide of indigenous people, namely the mass lynching of Lakota people by the US military, the struggle for an America without borders, and the continued resistance of indigenous people.  Our guest are Dr. Jimmy Patino and Ron Gochez. Dr. Patino holds a PhD in Chicano History from the University of California San Diego and is a Professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Dr. Patino is the author of the book Raza Si, Migra No! Chicano Movement Struggles for Immigrant Rights in San Diego which chronicles the activism of Chicano movement activist Herman Baca and the Committee on Chicano Rights (CCR).  Ron Gochez is the Undersecretary of Union Del Barrio in Los Angeles, California.  Ron is also a history teacher in South Central Los Angeles.  In 2013, he ran for Los Angeles City Council.  He currently leads work with the Association of Raza Educators and the Committees of Resistance. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

On this episode of Black Power Talks we lift up the memory of late Calypsonian Black Stalin of Trinidad and Tobago.  Black Stalin passed away in December 2022 at the age of 81.  Black Stalin was a five-time winner of the Calypso Monarch competition and was donned Calypso king of the world in 1999.  Still, Black Stalin was not merely a calypso singer, Black Stalin used his music to forward the liberation of African people specifically and all oppressed people generally.  Even after our struggle suffered crippling military defeats, Black Stalin used his music to challenge colonial powers and profess the never-ending struggle for African freedom. This is Part One of a two-part episode with our guest Trini Trent.  Trini Trent is a video blogger and podcaster from, in the Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago.  For the past 11 years he has operated the YouTube channel Trini Trent TV where he has offered important political analysis of music and culture throughout the African world. In this part we discuss the anti-colonial roots of Calypso and the revolutionary period that produced Black Stalin and his cohort of artists and African revolutionaries. Trini Trent can be viewed on this Youtube page @TriniTrentTV.  He can also be followed on most other social media platforms. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

In 1982, the African People’s Socialist Party formed the African National Reparations Organization (ANRO).  ANRO was the first mass organization created to forward the reparations struggle and make reparations a household topic.  ANRO’s reach was wide and even garnered the support of people like Michael Jackson who signed an ANRO certificate demanding reparations. ANRO held twelve successive reparations tribunals.  The most recent reparations tribunal was in 2003. The Party and ANRO succeeded. The reparations struggle moved from being solely a legislative and legal conversation.  The Reparations struggle has been taken up by the masses of African people in the US, and other parts of the African world. Still, amidst these significant advances in the reparations struggle, Reparations activists have been targeted by the United States government for their work.  On July 29, 2022, the Uhuru Movement was attacked by the US government for their reparations work amidst slanderous claims that attribute the movement’s 40-plus years of leadership in the struggle for reparations to quote malign russian influence unquote.  WEB Du Bois, Paul Robeson and others suffered the same accusations.  The same city governments of St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri that have made news in the past years for their support for reparations plans also had their local police forces participate in these attacks.  In today’s episode, we explore current conversations on Reparations amongst African Internationalist educators with excerpts from the panel discussion “Reparations: Examining The Necessity of Reparations and Efforts To Heal A Political Genocide” as part of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists 2023 Annual Meeting.   In this panel discussion, Dr. Matsemela Odom is joined Dr. Tiffany Caesar of San Francisco State University and Dr. Martin Boston of Sacramento State University. Both are previous guest on Black Power Talks. Dr. Boston is the co-editor of the Third World Thematics Special Issue The Movement Resonated Deep in my Soul: New Perspectives and Pathways to International Research of South African Social Movements Past and Present.  Dr. Matsemela and Dr. Caesar are contributors to this special volume.  Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

In this episode, we address current FBI and Department of Justice economic sanctions against African self-determination. As Black History Month 2023 drew to a close, the U.S. government and its partners in the financial sector escalated its campaign against the right of today’s Black Power Movement to freedom of speech and association. The DOJ and FBI have extended their efforts to stop the Uhuru Movement from continuing its 50-year history of work building African self-determination into the economic arena. In early March 2023, Regions Bank notified the Uhuru Movement’s nonprofit African People’s Education and Defense Fund that their “relationship would be terminated”, including for accounts tied to programs of the Black Power Blueprint.   The Uhuru Movement has over 20 years history dealing with Regions. The Black Power Blueprint is an Uhuru Movement project building economic development for the impoverished African working class community of North St. Louis. Thousands of people, including the white community have donated to these programs.  To view the entire webinar, visit The Burning Spear TV Youtube Page or the HandsOff Uhuru Facebook page. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

On this episode of Black Power Talks, we observe African Martyrs Day.  At the first Congress of the African People’s Socialist Party in September 1981, APSP designated February 21 as “The Day of the African Martyr.”  Malcolm X was assassinated on February 21, 1965 by agents of United States repression and counterinsurgency. Amidst the historical importance of the Hands Off Uhuru Hands Off Africa counteroffensive that we have waged, this year’s African Martyrs Day takes on an even deeper significance. We hear excerpts from a webinar organized by the Hands Off Uhuru Hands Off Africa Defense Campaign, “Long Live Our Fallen Warriors - Day of the African Martyr”.  In this episode we hear from:  Akile Anai, Director of Media and Communications for the African People’s Socialist Party  Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International Tafari Mugeri Director of Organization for the ASI Africa Region Jalil Muntaqim, former political prisoner and veteran of the Black Panther Party and Black Liberation Army And Chairman Omali Yeshitela, head of the Uhuru Movement To view the entire webinar, visit The Burning Spear TV Youtube Page or the HandsOff Uhuru Facebook page. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

"We put these people in the same camp of what Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, is doing here with the banning of black history from education. By taking out history; by taking out the actual voice and opinions and the world view of black people from the public eye, they're trying to prevent what is even able to be communicated to our people and to the rest of the world." - Akile Anai This Black History month, independent black community radio came under attack by the Pinellas County Board of Commissioners who voted to revoke $86,801 in funding for Black Power 96.3 FM in St. Petersburg, Florida - home of Black Power Talks. We talk with African People's Socialist Party Director of media and communications Akile Anai. We also hear from: Eddie Maultsby, Black Power 96 Station Manager Janice Kant, African People's Education and Defense Fund Administrator  Jabaar Edmond, host of Tampa Bay Breakfast Club, representing 99 Jams Carifesta Radio Allan Perry, aka Dally Boy, author and cultural worker Black Power Talks is produced at Black Power 96.3 FM, WBPU in St. Petersburg, Florida. This episode was hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele. For more info, visit www.blackpower96.org.

In the early morning hours of Friday, July 29, 2022, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), aided by local police, raided the offices and homes of members of the Uhuru Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida and St. Louis, Missouri, seizing computers, hard drives, phones, office equipment and files. They temporarily detained APSP Chairman Omali Yeshitela, APSP Deputy Chair Ona Zene Yeshitela, APSP Agitprop Director Akile Anai, APSC Chairwoman Penny, and APSC members Kitty, Jesse and Amanda. This episode of Black Power Talks presents first hand accounts of the raids and an analysis of the government's actions. Learn about the history of U.S. government counterinsurgency programs within the U.S. and abroad. Hear statements from social justice organizations, declaring "Hands off Uhuru!". Includes comments from: African People's Socialist Party Chairman Omali Yeshitela African People's Solidarity Committee Chairwoman Penny Hess Union del Barrio leader Benjamin Prado New York City Councilman and former New York State AssemblymanCharles Barron and his wife Inez, former NYC Councilwoman St. Louis Alderman Jesse Todd New York State Senator Jabari Brisport Kofi Taharka, National Chairman of the National Black United Front Viola Plummer, Chairperson of the December 12th Movement  Al-Awda New York Palestinian Right to Return Coalition representative International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild representative

Just months after the FBI's brutal assault against the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement, a report surfaced showing that the FBI surveilled the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin for four decades.  In today's program, we will turn the spotlight on some of the popular African artists who have been surveilled, harassed and targeted by the FBI and other government police agencies over the decades. We discuss the surveillance, harassment, and sabotage of the careers of African culture workers and entertainers such as: Billie Holiday Paul Robeson Miriam Makeba Hugh Masekela Horace Tapscott Nina Simone Aretha Franklin and More We begin by hearing from Yusef Doucette of the JOKO Collective in Los Angeles, California who addressed the Black is Back Coalition’s Black Power Conference on Sunday November 6, 2022 in Washington DC.  Yusef spoke on the long history of US counterinsurgency against African culture workers, a campaign that dates back to the 18th century.  Yusef Doucette is a member of the JOKO Collective, a college professor, and a doctoral candidate.  Prof. Doucette ends by underscoring the importance of the arts to liberation struggles. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

In this episode, we talk with Angelika Mueller-Rowry about her husband, Robert Rowry, an African man who died chained, inhumanely chained to a prison bed in 2014.  This story is extremely relevant in conversation with contemporary discussions about mass imprisonment in the US. On Thursday December 8, 2022, the Women’s National Basketball Association superstar Brittney Griner was released from a Russian penal colony where she had been held for a period of time following her conviction on drug charges. Upon her release, President Biden spoke of the intolerable prison conditions in Russia.  Yet, the cases we chronicle in this episode shows the intolerable and inhumane conditions in the US.  In Mississippi, the African man Allen Russell received life in prison for 1.5 ounces of marijuana; a conviction the Mississippi Supreme Court has upheld.  Robert Rowry was imprisoned for only a few grams of marijuana and eventually died in prison over $50 of crack cocaine.  In the United Sates, drug sentences commonly become death penalties for African people. Our guest is Angelika Mueller-Rowry a resident of North St. Louis, Missouri, the wife of Robert Rowry, a working class African man.  Robert was a mechanic and a blues musician.  In this episode, Angelika chronicles: The life of Robert Rowry in North St. Louis The shifting conditions in his community of North St. Louis following the US counterinsurgency war and the imposition of a drug economy on African communities; The inhumane conditions that Robert experienced and the circumstances around his death; Her struggle for justice for Robert and all other incarcerated people. We will also hear excerpts of two of Robert's blues recordings, James Brown's "It's a Man's World" and Albert King's "I'll Play the Blues for You." In his early years, Robert toured with Albert King. To support justice for Robert Rowry and people like him, visit missouricure.org. Read more about Robert Rowry's case in the following article penned by Angelika Mueller-Rowry: Death Penalty for a $50 Crack Deal Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Solyana Bekele, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

On this episode of Black Power Talks, we learn about the colonial origins of Santa Claus, also known as Sinter Klaas or St. Nick, the patron saint of shipping. Colonial ideology purports the Christmas holiday to be a celebration of the birth of Jesus. In fact, the Christmas holiday season is centered around the obsessive pursuit and aspiration to purchase gifts, central to this is the Santa Claus Myth. The Santa Claus myth has its origins in Dutch traditions surrounding the characters Sinter Klass and Zwarte Piet, Black Pete in English.  These traditions are celebrated in the Netherlands, also known as Holland, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and throughout the colonial Dutch world with blackface festivals.  Africans have organized organized a serious pushback against these festivals, yet they persist.  To help us understand the colonial-capitalist contradictions of the holiday season and the colonial origins of Santa Claus, we share clips from Chairman Omali Yeshitela.  The first clip is an excerpt from a conversation between Chairman Omali Yeshitela and Peggy Burke of the Global Afrikan Congress, speaking direct from Amsterdam that took place on November 28th, 2004.   The second clip is an excerpt from a presentation given by Chairman Omali 2 weeks later, on December 19th, 2004, to the regular Sunday community meeting at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

Today on Black Power Talks we examine the case of two wrongfully convicted African men and the organized pushback they are waging against the system that stole almost thirty years total from them.  The US prison system plays a significant role in the colonial mode of production.  Chairman Omali Yeshitela notes that “Massive prison building projects were established all over the U.S. as white communities vied and fought for prisons to be able to provide colonizer nation white workers well-paying jobs at the expense of tens of millions of colonized African people stuffed into these concentration camps.” In the United States, Africans are more likely to be incarcerated for the same crimes that whites might never see jail time for. The United States Sentencing Commission found that African men will get about 20 percent more time than white men when they are convicted for the same crime.  In states like Nevada, Black people make up 8 percent of the state and one-third of the people in prison.  White people make up 54 percent of the state, are 83 percent of the people arrested but are only 44 percent of the people sent to prison.  This reveals the colonial nature of US prisons, whether they work a job or not, the incarceration of African bodies alone produces wealth for the system. The very similar cases of our guests, two wrongfully convicted African men, evinces the measures through which the colonial state will go to maintain the status quo.  Their stories also show the commitment of the formerly incarcerated to clear their names and to fight for their brothers and sisters who are still locked behind bars. Our first guest is LeRoy Jones.  In 2007, LeRoy Jones was arrested and later falsely convicted for a robbery he did not commit with not even any material evidence linking him to the crime he was accused of in the state of Nevada.  Leroy was released from prison in October 2022.  Leroy's story was recently chronicled in the The Burning Spear newspaper.       Our second guest is Omar Gent. In 2008, Omar was arrested in Colorado for a robbery he did not commit.  The police broke all sorts of evidentiary procedures and the state ignored important judicial processes that could have acquitted Omar.  Omar was also released in October 2022.  Omar leads the "Free Our Brothers" Campaign.  You can find more about his campaign at freeourbrothers.com     Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

In this episode, we say NO THANKS TO COLONIALISM. We expose the colonial mythology of Thanksgiving as the ideological support for Manifest Destiny and European/White North American colonial-capitalist domination; namely but not only the project of settler-colonialism.  We speak with two activists and educators about the long history of anticolonial resistance and African and Indigenous solidarity.  We discuss a variety of topics such as the colonial origins of the Thanksgiving holiday, created amidst the genocide of indigenous people, namely the mass lynching of Lakota people by the US military, the struggle for an America without borders, and the continued resistance of indigenous people.  Our guest are Dr. Jimmy Patino and Ron Gochez. Dr. Patino holds a PhD in Chicano History from the University of California San Diego and is a Professor of Chicano and Latino Studies at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Dr. Patino is the author of the book Raza Si, Migra No! Chicano Movement Struggles for Immigrant Rights in San Diego which chronicles the activism of Chicano movement activist Herman Baca and the Committee on Chicano Rights (CCR).  Ron Gochez is the Undersecretary of Union Del Barrio in Los Angeles, California.  Ron is also a history teacher in South Central Los Angeles.  In 2013, he ran for Los Angeles City Council.  He currently leads work with the Association of Raza Educators and the Committees of Resistance. Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.

On Monday, October 24, 2022, the United States’ “Justice Department” held a press conference to accuse China of breaking U.S. laws in its efforts to challenge U.S. power on the world stage.  They charged several Chinese nationals with spying on behalf of Beijing and seeking to disrupt a U.S. government investigation into the Chinese technology company, Huawei.  In New Jersey, the FBI charged two Chinese nationals with conspiring to act as illegal agents on behalf of China by using a “purported academic center in that country to seek sensitive information from U.S. academic institutions,” end quote, thus criminalizing working relationships between universities in the U.S. and China. These indictments come on the heels of FBI raids targeting African and Puerto Rican organizers in the U.S., who are accused of acting as illegal foreign agents on behalf of Russia and of Cuba. This episode presents excerpts from a Sunday, October 31st panel discussion with African and Indigenous activists, representing liberation Movements in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Haiti and the continent of Africa, responding to this current wave of aggression by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation targeting anti-colonial struggles. Hear from: Benjamin Prado, UnderSecretary General of Union del Barrio Dahoud Andre, organizer with Komokoda, the Committee to Mobilize Against Dictatorship in Haiti Ana Lopez with the Frente Independentista Boricua Luwezi Kinshasa, Secretary General of the African Socialist International  Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the African People’s Socialist Party

In this episode of Black Power Talks we uplift the legacy of the martyred revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara, the president of Burkina Faso. Sankara was killed 35 years ago on October 15, 1987, at the age of 37. His assassins were tried and convicted in 2022.   Sankara gave Burkina Faso its name, which means "land of the upright or incorruptible people."  Sankara’s program challenged French colonialism and neocolonial policies in Africa with policies focused on preventing famine with agrarian self-sufficiency and land reform, prioritizing education with a nationwide literacy campaign and promoting public health. Sankara built schools, health centers, water reservoirs, and railways. He combatted desertification, redistributed land, eliminated poll taxes and rent. He created policies that overturned the oppression of women and elevated the role of women in the Burkinabe government and military.  Sankara is loved by the African working class, affectionately known as the African Che Guevarra although his reach is even further than that.  Sankara’s legacy has fueled a generation of anticolonial activity on the continent and throughout the African world. We talk with Cinque Brath, the co-founder and president of the Elombe Brath Foundation, about the work of his father to build African anti colonial resistance. As a young man, Elombe was a member of the African National Pioneers Movement led by Carlos Cooks, and understudy of Marcus Garvey.  Elombe co-founded the African Jazz Art Society and Studios, a significant front that re-claimed Jazz as an African art, and co-founded the Patrice Lumumba Coalition which organized a cultural boycott against apartheid in the 1980s and 1990s. This episode of Black Power Talks is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom. The show is produced by Black Power 96.3 FM radio in St. Petersburg, Florida. www.blackpower96.org.