SpeakUP! International Inc.

Ellington Brown

SpeakUP! International Inc. is your go-to podcast for inspiring stories, insightful interviews, and educational content that empowers listeners. Join us as we delve into diverse topics with a focus on uplifting black and brown voices, promoting creativity, and fostering personal and professional growth. 

  1. Black people don’t support each other.

    8 jun

    Black people don’t support each other.

    That’s the exact line a potential funder threw in Roger Dundas’s face when he was trying to launch a new venture. For most, it would be a door slammed in their face. For Roger, it became pure, unadulterated fuel. In this explosive new episode of the SpeakUP! International podcast, we sit down with Toronto-based entrepreneur and ByBlacks co-founder, Roger Dundas, to dismantle this myth and expose the raw reality of building a Black media empire in Canada. Why You Need to Listen to This Episode: The Birth of a Movement: Travel back to the early 2010s, where blatant mainstream bias and the sudden collapse of a vital publication left Black Canadian stories completely erased. Discover how ByBlacks rose from those ashes.Mission vs. Survival: It’s easy to talk about community; it’s brutally hard to fund it. Roger pulls back the curtain on the operational grit, inbound marketing, and bulletproof strategy required to keep a mission-driven business alive.Real Journalism over Celebrity Gossip: Find out why ByBlacks deliberately rejects the cheap highs of celebrity clickbait to invest in long-form journalism that actually reflects lived experiences and tackles real community issues."We didn't need another gossip column. We needed a mirror. And we needed an economic engine for Black-owned businesses." Are you ready to change the narrative? If you care about Black Canadian entrepreneurship, independent media, and concrete, practical ways to build fierce local economies, you cannot afford to miss this conversation. You can reach Roger Dundas using the following link: https://byblacks.com/ Listen now to SpeakUP! International. Don't just listen, watch, subscribe, share, and leave a review. Let’s make sure these stories are too loud for the mainstream to ignore. You can watch the podcast in its entirety by clicking on the following link:   https://youtu.be/_t4-86YwJTA?si=sLLNQsLIwXNhEY6e (YouTube) Enjoy our audio and video collection using the following links: https://www.youtube.com/@speakupinternational (YouTube) https://www.facebook.com/speakupintl (Facebook) Thoughts on the podcast? Send us a text message. Support the show

    1 h 6 min
  2. Dr. Beverly-Jean M. Daniel: We Were Not Built To Break

    18 may

    Dr. Beverly-Jean M. Daniel: We Were Not Built To Break

    One careless “you can’t” can stick to a young person for years, but it can also light a fuse. We’re joined by Dr. Beverly-Jean Daniel, scholar, educator, and advocate whose work spans more than 35 years at the intersection of race, equity, and urban education. She shares what it was like migrating from Trinidad and Tobago at 16 and hearing, for the first time, that her goals were unrealistic, not because of grades, but because of who she was.    The heartbeat of her book, We Were Not Built to Break. Dr. Daniel explains why attacks on Black history and the constant pathologizing of Blackness are not random, and why she teaches Black youth to see themselves as the blueprint and to stand in their greatness. We also talk about how the old advice to “work twice as hard” can fail younger generations, and what it looks like to work smarter by understanding systemic barriers, naming power, and protecting your sense of self.  Dr. Daniel also takes us inside the realities of higher education in Canada as a Black woman professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, where credentials do not erase anti-Black racism or gendered stereotypes. Then we get practical with The Bridge program she founded at Humber College: the wraparound, hub-and-spoke supports that move students from crisis and withdrawal risk to retention, academic confidence, and even the honour roll. We unpack “stop out” versus “drop out,” the danger of OSAP debt with no diploma, and what happens when Black student success disrupts the stories people expect.  If you care about education equity, Black student retention, community mentorship, and real strategies that change outcomes, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave us a review with your biggest takeaway.  You can reach Dr. Daniel by using one of the links below: LinkedIn:   linkedin.com/in/dr-beverly-jean-m-daniel-ph-d-34a26114  Canadian Scholars: https://canadianscholars.ca/product-category/child-and-youth-care/ Thoughts on the podcast? Send us a text message. Support the show

    1 h 6 min
  3. Phoebe Trotman: Never Quit On A Bad Day

    4 may

    Phoebe Trotman: Never Quit On A Bad Day

    A bad day can wreck your plans, but it should not get to make your decisions. We sit down with Phoebe Trotman, multi Hall of Fame soccer player, entrepreneur, author of the Never Quit On A Bad Day book series, and a coach who brings athlete-level clarity to real life.    We dig into what a “champion mindset” actually means. Phoebe explains why obstacles are not a stop sign, how growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone, and why “control the controllables” can save your mental energy when everything feels noisy.   The conversation gets real when we move into hard seasons and grief. Phoebe shares how a simple gratitude practice helped her keep going when life felt gutting, and why community, accountability, and small steps forward matter more than a perfect plan.  To view this podcast click here: https://youtu.be/J-D7Uehn7Uk If you care about resilience, leadership, personal development, and building consistency that lasts, this one is for you. Subscribe to SpeakUP! International, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review with the mantra you are choosing today. Below are other platforms avaiable to connect to Ms. Trotman: Website:  https://neverquitonabadday.com/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/neverquitonabadday YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@NeverQuitonaBadDay Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/neverquitonabadday Thoughts on the podcast? Send us a text message. Support the show

    49 min
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SpeakUP! International Inc. is your go-to podcast for inspiring stories, insightful interviews, and educational content that empowers listeners. Join us as we delve into diverse topics with a focus on uplifting black and brown voices, promoting creativity, and fostering personal and professional growth.