One Africa Worldview

Burning Spear Media

Burning Spear Media hosts a weekly news podcast that sums up pressing issues and the day's top headlines using the theory of African Internationalism. Discussing a range of topics with dynamic guests, such as Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Deputy Chair Ona Zené Yeshitela and so many more. A podcast that's more than a listening experience, it's a mobilizing discussion and call-to-action. 

  1. 02/27/2025

    While they say cut DEI, we say build Black Community Control of Education

    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.

    59 min
  2. 02/13/2025

    African Internationalism and the Struggle for Reparations...from the halls of academia to the hands of the people

    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.

    53 min
  3. 12/26/2024

    The Colonial Origins of the Santa Clause Myth

    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.

    59 min

About

Burning Spear Media hosts a weekly news podcast that sums up pressing issues and the day's top headlines using the theory of African Internationalism. Discussing a range of topics with dynamic guests, such as Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Deputy Chair Ona Zené Yeshitela and so many more. A podcast that's more than a listening experience, it's a mobilizing discussion and call-to-action.