AfroQueer AfroQueer

On this episode, AfroQueer Podcast rebroadcasts an episode of Podcasting Smarter featuring Selly Thiam, the CEO and founder of AQ Studios.

Get ready for an exciting new season of AfroQueer! Season 5 is just around the corner, and we’re thrilled to invite you to be a part of it. If you have a story to tell or an idea that deserves the spotlight, visit our website at www.aqstudios.fm to submit your pitch.

About 20 years ago, Marshall Ngwa moved from Cameroon to the US. He followed his instincts and became one of the country’s hottest drag artists, BeBe Zahara Benet. 
BeBe’s first-ever performance was with Cyndi Lauper and in 2009 he won the first-ever RuPaul’s Drag Race.
His extraordinary journey to that point and beyond has been captured in a documentary called ‘Being BeBe’. It was made by Emily Branham and filmed over 15 years. 
In this episode, AfroQueer host Selly Thiam sits down in conversation with BeBe, to explore his childhood in Cameroon, becoming the first RuPaul’s Drag Race champion, and the film Being BeBe. 
You can watch Being BeBe on Apple and Amazon Prime - broadcast premiere June 21st on Fuse. Also go to the film website beingbebemovie.com/ to find out where else you can watch it wherever you are in the world.
This episode was written and produced by Penny Dale. Sound editing by Tevin Sudi.  AfroQueer is executive produced by me, Selly Thiam.
AfroQueer is a production of AQ Studios.
Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.
AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and The Ford Foundation.
You can follow us on all social media platforms @AfroQueer Podcast and listen to all our episodes on our website,.afroqueerpodcast.com or anywhere you get your podcasts.
 

In this episode, we’ve collaborated with Logan February and turned their essay into an audio short story. We first heard the Nigerian non-binary poet and songwriter Logan February read this essay during AfroQueer’s online festival in 2020. It's a beautiful, intriguing and very personal piece of writing that explores one of their queer experiences in Nigeria. And explores the experience of being ghosted.
This excerpt is called My Ghost, adapted from their work - THE MANIA OF QUEER DESIRE: IN PRAISE OF FEVER RAY’S PLUNGE - and it’s read by Kenzy Nna-Udosen.
The music in this episode is Fever Ray's album Plunge.
This episode was produced by Penny Dale and Selly Thiam. Written by Penny Dale and narrated by Kenny Nna-Udoosen. Sound editing by Mercy Barno and Tevin Sudi. AfroQueer is executive produced by Selly Thiam and is a production of AQ Studios.
Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.
AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and The Ford Foundation.
 

In this episode, we feature a feed drop trade with a podcast we really love, S***hole Country, an audio memoir set in Ghana during the 2017 holiday season. It's produced Radiotopia presents, a podcast feed debuting limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices.
The narrator Afia, a middle-aged woman living in California, has spent the past few weeks visiting her family in Ghana. She’s wrestling with a major life decision: should she leave America and accept her parents’ offer of a home in Accra? Something big is keeping her from saying yes. And in this episode, she finally shares what it is.
You can listen to S***hole Country episodes in podcast directories or at radiotopiapresents.fm and follow @radiotopia on all social media platforms to discover more shows from their network.
S***hole Country is written, narrated, and sound designed by Afia Kaakyire, and produced by Afia and Mark Pagán. Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich are executive producers. Cover art by Sindiso Nyoni, and the theme song, “Home,” is by Ria Boss.
Follow them on Instagram @radiotopia and Twitter @radiotopia 
AfroQueer is a production of AQ Studios, executive produced by Selly Thiam, and produced by Penny Dale. Tevin Sudi and Mercy Barno are our sound editors and Rachel Wamoto is our social media manager.
Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.
AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and The Ford Foundation.
 

In 2019, a young lesbian singer-songwriter from Uganda was struggling financially after breaking up with her partner of 6 years. With a child to support, Shivanah was desperate to make ends meet. And so when a former backup dancer told her that an agent could get her work performing in a club in Dubai, she jumped at the chance. This is truly a story of survival. A warning: in some parts, the details are graphic and troubling.
Thank you to Shivanah for sharing her story and music, Sophie Otiende for the role played by her and everyone at Azadi in helping Shivanah escape the traffickers and reintegrate into society.
Azadi is a survivor-led organization that offers long-term support and capacity development to survivors of human trafficking. To learn more about the Azadi, click here.
 
This episode was produced by Penny Dale and Selly Thiam. Written by Penny Dale. Sound editing by Mercy Barno and Tevin Sudi. Rachel Wamoto is our social media manager.  AfroQueer is executive produced by Selly Thiam and is a production of AQ Studios.
Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.
AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and The Ford Foundation.