AfricaNow! May 7, 2025 Mineworkers in South Africa--Update of The Stilfontein Story

Topic and Guest: In the spirit of WPFW's mission of being a site of resistance in defense of Truth, Justice and Culture, and as we commemorate International Workers' Day (May 1--May Day or Labor Day) AfricaNow! features Mineworkers in South Africa--Update of The Stilfontein Story with Christopher Rutledge of the Mining Affected Communities United in Action (MACUA) and he is also a member of the Stilfontein Solidarity Committee.  Christopher Rutledge provides an update on the situation of the mineworkers who were in a standoff with the police for months while they were underground operating in an abandoned/closed mine Stilfontein (in North West Province in South Africa).  Earlier this year most of the miners were rescued but unfortunately there were also a number of the miners found dead in the mine.  The discussion also highlights South Africa’s mining history and its adverse effect on communities from colonial rule to apartheid to the current period; the role of corporations; trade unions in the mining industry and more.  Here is my conversation yesterday with activist Christopher Rutledge.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“CONTUSION” BY STEVIE WONDER commemorating his birthday May 13 (May 13, 1950–); closing--“STIMELA (THE COAL TRAIN) (LIVE)” BY HUGH MASEKELA.

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW during our Spring Pledge Drive on May 7 & 14, 2025.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

Photos: Courtesy of the Stilfontein Solidarity Committee.

AfricaNow! May 7, 2025 Mineworkers in South Africa--Update of The Stilfontein Story

AfricaNow! May 21, 2025 Dismantling The Master’s Clock

Topic and Guest: Today AfricaNow! features a discussion on race, colonial time with artist, community activist and lawyer Rasheedah Phillips of Black Quantum Futurism. Among many things, conversation between AfricaNow!’s Executive Producer and Co-Host James Pope and Rasheedah Phillips explores how space and time are intertwined in African peoples worldwide; what tools to use to actualize theories and more.  Rasheedah Phillips is the founder of The AfroFuturist Affair, founding member of Metropolarity Queer Speculative Fiction Collective, co-founder of Black Quantum Futurism, co-creator of the  Community Futures Lab, and creator of the Black Women Temporal Portal, Time Zone Protocols, and Black Time Belt projects.  Rasheedah Phillips’ books include: Dismantling the Master's Clock: On Race, Space, and Time  (2025, AK Press); The Telescoping Effect  (2017, self-published); and Recurrence Plot and Other Time Travel Tales (2014, self-Published).  Rasheedah Phillips currently serves as Director of Housing Futures and Land Justice at PolicyLink.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“BLUES FOR MALCOLM” BY TERENCE BLANCHARD as we commemorate Malcolm X’s 100th birthday on May 19 (May 19, 1925–February 21, 1965); break--“BRIDGE THROUGH TIME” BY LONNIE LISTON SMITH; sign-off--“THE MESSAGE CONTINUES” BY NUBYA GARCIA; closing--“MALCOLM X” BY MIRIAM MAKEBA as we commemorate Malcolm X’s 100th birthday on May 19 (May 19, 1925–February 21, 1965).

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

Photos: book cover of Dismantling the Master's Clock: On Race, Space, and Time (2025, AK Press)


AfricaNow! May 21, 2025 Dismantling The Master’s Clock

AfricaNow! Special May 19, 2025 Malcolm's Influence in Africa, Africa's Influence on Malcolm

Topic and Guests: In the spirit of WPFW's mission of being a site of resistance in defense of Truth, Justice and Culture, and of WPFW’s  day-long event Black Shining Prince: Malcolm X at 100 celebrating Malcolm X’s centennial birthday today, AfricaNow!’s special edition we focus on “Malcolm’s Influence in Africa, Africa’s Influence on Malcolm” with a discussion with the Kenya Organic Intellectuals.  AfricaNow!’s Executive Producer and Co-Host James Pope recently talked to members of the Kenya Organic Intellectuals–Gacheke Gachihi,  Mzalendo Wanjira Wanjiru, Maureen (Mo) Kasuku.

Gacheke Gachihi is the Coordinator of Mathare Social Justice Centre (MSJC) and a member of the Social Justice Centres Working Group Steering Committee in Nairobi, Kenya. Coordinator of Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network. He is also involved in regional social movements and politics. He researches and writes about police violence, criminalization of the poor, social justice and social struggles, amongst others. His articles and video interviews are published for example by Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE), roape.net, Africa Is a Country (AIAC), Daraja Press, Verso Books, and others.  Mzalendo Wanjira Wanjiru is co-founder of Mathare Social Justice Center and a member of the social justice movement.  Maureen (Mo) Kasuku is a feminist organiser and digital rights advocate based in Kenya. Her work is a dynamic exploration of the crossroads between feminism and technology. With a keen eye on the intricate interplay of gender equality, social justice, and technological advancement in grassroots communities. She is member of Ukombozi Library, Nairobi, Kenya. And Cadre with Revolutionary Socialist League

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: closing--“MALCOLM X” BY INNA DE YARD as we commemorate Malcolm X’s 100th birthday on May 19 (May 19, 1925–February 21, 1965).

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

AfricaNow! Special May 19, 2025 Malcolm's Influence in Africa, Africa's Influence on Malcolm

Nina Miholjčić Ivković reflects on why a decolonial perspective is essential for understanding environmental issues in the South Caucasus.
Read her full analysis here: https://caucasusedition.net/environmental-justice-in-the-south-caucasus-a-decolonial-response-to-neocolonial-exploitation/

Environmental Justice in the South Caucasus: A Decolonial Response to Neocolonial Exploitation

AfricaNow! June 18, 2025 African Liberation Music

Topic and Guest: Forty-nine years ago on June 16, 1976 in Soweto in Johannesburg South Africa youth rose up against the apartheid education system.  Many students were injured and killed by apartheid South Africa police force.  The Soweto Uprising was an important catalyst in galvanizing the world against the brutal apartheid government.  In that context today AfricaNow! goes into its archives with a show that looked at the role of music in African liberation.  The show originally aired on June 16, 2010.  The guest on the show was Kofi Kissi Dompere.  Dr. Kofi Kissi Dompere is a professor emeritus of economics at Howard University and is no stranger to WPFW listeners as he is the longtime Host and Producer of African Rhythms and Extensions from Midnight on Saturday to 2AM Sunday.  He has authored several scientific and scholarly works in economics, philosophy, decision theory, and fuzzy mathematics.  He is the winner of 2006 Cheikh Anta Diop Award for excellence in scholarship.  He has a number of published monographs and has written extensively.  Dr. Kofi Kissi Dompere is a resource person for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and an economic consultant in the areas of cost-benefit analysis, national income accounts, development, and macroeconomics. Professor Dompere is the founder of The Research Institute of Information Decision and Economic Sciences (RIIDES) in which he serves as a distinguished research professor.  

The show includes the first president of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah in January 1961 talking about the killing/assassination of Patrice Lumumba.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“OVERTURE TO SARAFINA!” ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST RECORDING commemorating Soweto Day–June 16; break--“FIRE IN SOWETO” BY SONY OKOSUN; sign-off--“COLONIAL MENTALITY” BY FELA KUTI; closing--“A LUTA CONTINUA” BY MIRIAM MAKEBA.

OTHER MUSIC DURING THE DISCUSSION: “BIRTH OF GHANA” BY LORD KITCHENER; “INDEPENDANCE CHA CHA” BY AFRICAN JAZZ; two versions “NKOSI SIKELEL’ IAFRIKA” BY SOWETO COMMUNITY HALL and FROM CONGO; “REDEMPTION SONG” BY BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS; “WIND OF CHANGE (REDEMPTION SONG PART 2)” BY SONY OKOSUN.

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

Photo: "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" ('Lord Bless Africa')--https://aaregistry.org/story/nkosi-sikelel-iafrika-lord-bless-africa-is-composed/

AfricaNow! Jun. 18, 2025 African Liberation Music

AfricaNow! June 25, 2025 DR Congo-Rwanda Agreement Contextualized

Topic and Guest: Last week on June 20 was World Refugee Day.  Due to the continued external destabilization of the country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has nearly 7 million people have been displaced persons, and since the late 1990s over 6 million have been killed in the country due to conflict.   Recently we have seen the Rwandan-backed armed group M23 control towns in the eastern part of the DRC.  The DRC and Rwanda are scheduled to formally sign a peace agreement in Washington, DC to end the conflict in eastern DRC.  Kambale Musavuli dissects and contextualizes the proposed agreement--history of the conflict; the real nature of the agreement; the missing issue of justice for Congolese people in the agreement; the continued external destabilization by the U.S. and other western countries; the continued neo-colonial role of multinational corporations who are exploiting the DRC’s vast resources; the massive loss of life and more.

Kambale Musavuli is Analyst, at the Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa and is former National Spokesperson for the Friends of the Congo.  He is a human rights advocate and is one of the leading political and cultural Congolese voices.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“NATI KONGO” BY BOUKAN GINEN commemorating Caribbean American Heritage Month; break--“SUN GODDESS (LIVE)” BY EARTH, WIND & FIRE celebrating the Summer Solstice June 20 here in the Northern Hemisphere and commemorating Black Music Month/African American Music Month; sign-off--“SUMMER MADDNESS” BY KOOL & THE GANG commemorating Black Music Month/African American Music Month & beginning of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere; closing--“FREE CONGO” BY GRADUR FEAT. NINHO, JOSMAN, YOUSSOUPHA, KALASH CRIMINEL & DAMSO.

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

Photos by AfricaNow! of protests at Rwanda Embassy in Washington, DC in February and March 2025.

AfricaNow! Jun. 25, 2025 DR Congo-Rwanda Agreement Contextualized

AfricaNow! Special July 2, 2025 Lumumba–Mass Organizing & Pan-Africanism

Topic and Guests: Today AfricaNow! will be a special two hour presentation which is part of the 12 hour special on WPFW today Wednesday July 2 from Noon until midnight From Mississippi to the Congo: 100 Years of Lumumba and Medgar.  While Medgar Evers and Patrice Lumumba were not personally acquainted, their lives and struggles are often commemorated together due to the parallels in their commitment to fighting for the self-determination and liberation of African people.   WPFW and Friends of the Congo celebrate the centennial of this parallel vision with From Mississippi to the Congo: 100 Years of Lumumba and Medgar, Wednesday, July 2, noon until midnight.

In the first hour we feature a conversation I had yesterday reflecting on Lumumba and the power of grassroots organizing yesterday, today & tomorrow with Dr. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja and Kambale Musavuli.  Dr. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, professor in the Department of African, African American and Diaspora Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC. Professor Nzongola is the author of several books and numerous articles such as: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Africa; Nation-Building and State Building in Africa; and Le Mouvement Démocratique au Zaïre, 1956-1996. Dr Nzongola’s book The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People’s History, won the 2004 Best Book Award of the African Politics Conference Group (APCG), an organization of U.S.-based political scientists specializing on Africa. Kambale Musavuli is Analyst, at the Center for Research on the Congo-Kinshasa and is former National Spokesperson for the Friends of the Congo.  He is a human rights advocate and is one of the leading political and cultural Congolese voices.

In the second hour we feature Lumumba’s influence on youth activists beyond the DRC on the African continent with a recent conversation with members of the Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network.  The guests are: Gathanga Ndungu is a community organiser with Mathare Social Justice Centre which is under the Social Justice Centres’ Working Group. He is also part of Revolutionary Social League brigade that organizes political 
education in different political cells in the respective centres in Nairobi. As well as the Organic Intellectuals Network.  Okakah Onyango is a member of the Revolutionary Socialist League, Organic Intellectuals Network and Social Justice Movement. He is a dedicated tech-driven community organizer, blending roles of revolutionary intellectualism and communications strategist.  Gerald Kamau is an ecological justice activist based at Kayole Community Justice Centre as well as Organic Intellectuals Network.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro to first and second hour of special--“INDEPENDANCE CHA CHA” BY GRAND KALLE & AFRICAN JAZZ commemorating Patrice Lumumba’s birthday today July 2 (July 2, 1925-January 17, 1961); break in first hour--“KURIMA” BY CHIWONISO MARAIRE; sign-off in first hour--“KURIMA” BY CHIWONISO MARAIRE; closing for first and second hour--“FREE CONGO” BY GRADUR FEAT. NINHO, JOSMAN, YOUSSOUPHA, KALASH CRIMINEL & DAMSO.

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

Lumumba Official Portrait from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Patrice_Lumumba_official_portrait.jpg


AfricaNow! Special Jul. 2, 2025 Lumumba–Mass Organizing & Pan-Africanism

AfricaNow! July 23, 2025 On Fanon with Kenya Organic Intellectuals Pt. 1

Topic and Guest: At this critical time for the African World and also this year being the year in which commemorate the centenarian birthdays of freedom fighters Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Medgar Evers and Frantz Fanon AfricaNow! will continue to reflect on Pan-Africanism and liberation with a series of programs. Thus earlier a  few months ago there was a reflection on Fanon.  Then as part of WPFW’s special Malcolm X’s 100 birthday commemoration on May 19 and WPFW’s special Patrice Lumumba’s 100 birthday commemoration on July 2 we featured a show with the Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network.  The shows focused on Malcolm X’s and Patrice Lumumba’s impact on Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network’s work.  

Continuing AfricaNow!’s series with the Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network, today we present part one on our discussion on Frantz Fanon’s (whose birthday is July 20) influence on its activist work.  In part one of the conversation we feature Nicholas Mwangi a member of  the Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network and is part of the Ukombozi Library.  The discussion explores the continuities in movements in Kenya–from the struggle against colonial rule to speaking truth to power in post-independence Kenya.  The conversation unpacks the effects of neocolonialism today in Kenya and the continent; and the unresolved issue of land forcibly taken away from indigenous communities during colonial rule.   The discussion also looks at using Fanon complete theory in practice in movements today.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“COLONIAL MENTALITY” BY FELA KUTI; break--“CONUNDRUM” BY KASIVA MUTUA; sign-off--“YOU’VE GOT HAVE FREEDOM” BY PHAROAH SANDERS; closing--“THANK YOU JAH” BY RITA MARLEY commemorating her birthday July 25 (July 25, 1946–).

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

Photos of books by Frantz Fanon.

AfricaNow! Jul. 23, 2025 On Fanon with Kenya Organic Intellectuals Pt. 1

AfricaNow! August 6, 2025 On Fanon with Kenya Organic Intellectuals Pt. 2

Topic and Guests: As we commemorate Black August and centering with WPFW’s Summer Pledge theme, and keeping in mind this critical time for the African World and also this year being the year in which commemorate the centenarian birthdays of freedom fighters Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Medgar Evers and Frantz Fanon AfricaNow! Continues our series reflecting on Pan-Africanism and liberation.  A  few months ago there was a reflection on Fanon.  Then as part of WPFW’s special Malcolm X’s 100 birthday commemoration on May 19 and WPFW’s special Patrice Lumumba’s 100 birthday commemoration on July 2 we featured a show with the Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network.  The shows focused on Malcolm X’s and Patrice Lumumba’s impact on Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network’s work.

Continuing AfricaNow!’s series with the Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network, today we present part two of our discussion on Frantz Fanon’s influence on its activist work.  In part two of the conversation we feature Waringa Wahome is an organizer, political theorist, lawyer, member of Mathare Social Justice Center, the Communist Party of Kenya as well as the Kenyan Organic Intellectuals Network.  Also in the conversation is Nicholas Mwangi a member of  the Kenya Organic Intellectuals Network and is part of the Ukombozi Library.  The discussion explores the continuities in movements in Kenya–from the struggle against colonial rule to speaking truth to power in post-independence Kenya.  The conversation unpacks the effects of neocolonialism today in Kenya and the continent; and the unresolved issue of land forcibly taken away from indigenous communities during colonial rule.   The discussion also looks at using Fanon complete theory in practice in movements today.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“SKOKIAAN” BY LOUIS ARMSTRONG commemorating his birthday which was on August 4 (August 4, 1901—July 6, 1971); closing--“AFRICAN PEOPLE” BY CHRISTINE KAMAU.

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW during our Summer Pledge Drive August 3 to August 16, 2025.  Donate online: visit https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. You can also text to donate by simply texting WPFWFM (not case sensitive) to 801801 and then follow the instructions. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.  

Originally broadcast on WPFW 89.3FM, Washington, DC. Tune into AfricaNow! live on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or visit www.wpfwfm.org on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 2:00PM (U.S. Eastern).

Photos: Sudanese Dr. Dimah Mahmoud with signs at Embassy of Sudan by and Drawing of Statement on Sidewalk in front of Embassy of Sudan by Dimah Mahmoud in front Sudan Embassy in Washington, DC in June 2023 photo by AfricaNow!'s Mwiza Munthali.
#KeepEyesOnSudan photo on the U.S. National Mall April 15, 2025 by Kate Hixon.
Speak Up Silence Kills, Save Sudan Banner April 15, 2024 photo by Advocacy Network for Africa (AdNA).
Woman in Central Darfur IDP Camp by Ayin.

AfricaNow! Aug. 6, 2025 On Fanon with Kenya Organic Intellectuals Pt. 2

For the first time ever Turning Earth was broadcast live from the DDR studio. This month I was joined by David from Slí Eile to discuss their upcoming Day of Resistance in the Sperrin Mountains, to support to people there who have been fighting off an international mining company.

We were joined as well by Conor McCabe, to bring a broader analysis to the discussion and help us understand the nature of the colonial and neocolonial exploitation of Ireland by foreign capital.

https://www.instagram.com/sli_eile/

https://www.facebook.com/p/Greencastle-Peoples-Office-100063579042613/

DDR E.020 Day of Resistance in The Sperrins with Sli Eile and Conor McCabe

Dublin-based podcast documenting grassroots activism in Ireland

New tracks tagged #Neocolonialism