This discussion features Mukasa Dada and Obi Egbuna Jr. We focus on contemporary struggles of youth and student movements, globally. With a focus on the ongoing fight for Black liberation and the need for solidarity across different oppressed groups. 

In order to accurately understand the potentialities of the moment, the development and maintenance of a historical consciousness alongside organizing efforts that challenge imperialism, neo-colonialism, and police brutality through direct action and community engagement are presented for discussion.

the role of historical consciousness + global student movements w/ Mukasa Dada & Obi Egbuna Jr

AfricaNow! June 12, 2024 The Role of Historical Consciousness & Global Student Movements

Topic and Guests: June 16 is the Day of the African Child or Soweto Day.  The day is set aside to commemorate the youth who rose up against apartheid South Africa on June 16, 1976, in Soweto, on the outskirts of Johannesburg.  As such and also highlighting the current student movements—particularly those in solidarity with Palestine—the discussion contextualizes student movements historically and globally.  The conversation with Mukasa Dada and Obi Egbuna Jr. focuses on the ongoing fight for Black liberation and the need for solidarity across different oppressed groups.  In order to accurately understand the potentialities of the moment, the development and maintenance of a historical consciousness alongside organizing efforts that challenge imperialism, neo-colonialism, and police brutality through direct action and community engagement are presented for discussion.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“FREEDOM SOUNDS” BY THE SKATALITES commemorating Caribbean American Heritage Month; break--“UHURU” BY OSIBISA; sign-off--“POWER” BY EARTH, WIND & FIRE; closing song--“EQUAL RIGHTS” BY PETER TOSH commemorating Caribbean American Heritage Month.

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW. Donate online visit pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. 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! Jun. 12, 2024 The Role of Historical Consciousness & Global Student Movements

AfricaNow! Special August 29, 2024 The Political Praxis of Jamil Abdullah al-Amin

Topic and Guest: As WPFW commemorates Black August AfricaNow! goes into archive with this special show on Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (aired August 7, 2024).  The show features a recent conversation with Arun Kundanani, a writer interested in race, Islamophobia, surveillance, political violence, and radicalism.  The conversation explores the political praxis of Jamil al-Amin.  The evolution of H. Rap Brown into Jamil al-Amin provides a rich and vital lens through which we can understand the Black freedom movement in more ways than we can account for.  

Arun Kundanani is the author of What is Antiracism? (published by Verso Books, 2023), The Muslims are Coming! (Verso Books, 2014) and The End of Tolerance (published by Pluto Press, 2007), which was selected as a New Statesman book of the year.  He has written for the Nation, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Vice, and The Intercept to name a few outlets.   Arun Kundanani has been a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and a former editor of the journal Race & Class, the quarterly journal of the Institute of Race Relations in London.  Educated at Cambridge University, he holds a PhD from London Metropolitan University.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“FIGHT THE POWER, PTS. 1 & 2 (INSTRUMENTAL)” BY THE ISLEY BROTHERS; break--“TALKIN’ BOUT A REVOLUTION” BY TRACY CHAPMAN; sign-off--“FREE” BY AIRTO MOREIRA commemorating his birthday on August 5 (August 5, 1941—); closing song--“SKOKIAAN” BY LOUIS ARMSTRONG commemorating his birthday which was on August 4 (August 4, 1901—July 6, 1971).

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW.  Donate online visit pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php and then on Step 1: Contribution scroll down to AfricaNow! to make your donation to the show. 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 Aug. 29, 2024 The Political Praxis of Jamil Abdullah al-Amin

AfricaNow! April 2, 2025 The Rhythms of Black Freedom: Africa and Black Internationalism

Topic and Guest: As we begin Jazz Appreciation Month, the show goes into its archives and features a conversation from 2022 (AfricaNow! March 2, 2022 The Rhythms of Black Freedom: Africa and Black Internationalism) with Professor Tom Porter former member of CORE (the Congress of Racial Equality), SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), former head of the King Center in Atlanta, former Director of Black Studies at Ohio University, former WPFW Program Director and more. The discussion between Professor Tom Porter and AfricaNow!’s Co-Host and Executive Producer James Pope explores the rhythms of movement, the manifestations of the global Black Freedom Struggle, the impact of Black classical music in the struggle, programs of freedom, conceptualization of human rights which were/is directly related to the temporal conditions produced from various forms of colonialism, slavery, Apartheid, Jim Crow, etc., institution building, Black radical thought and Black internationalism.

Professor Porter is the embodiment of the concept organizer-intellectual; a former member of CORE (the Congress of Racial Equality) ... SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) … head of the King Center in Atlanta … former strategist and adviser to Jesse Jackson’s presidential campaign … former Director of Black Studies [Ohio University] … Dean at Antioch Graduate Center in Washington DC ... program director and longtime radio host, jazz critic, sociopolitical theorist [specifically Black radical thought] ... author and organizer. Professor Porter can be firmly placed in the tradition of Black organic intellectuals and political philosophers.

This conversation was a collaboration between Africa World Now Project and WSSU's Office of International Programs, a contribution of People of African Descent to global society, justice, freedom.

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“AFRICA” BY THE JOHN COLTRANE QUARTET commemorating Jazz Appreciation Month; break--“THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED” BY GIL SCOTT-HERON (April 1, 1949–May 27, 2011) remembering his birthday; sign-off--“PATIENCE” BY HUGH MASEKELA (April 4, 1939–January 23, 2018) remembering his birthday and commemorating Jazz Appreciation Month; closing--“GOD BLESS THE CHILD” BY BILLIE HOLIDAY (April 7, 1915–July 17, 1959) remembering her birthday and commemorating Jazz Appreciation Month.

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. 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! Apr. 2, 2025 The Rhythms of Black Freedom--Africa and Black Internationalism

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In the early 1960s, young Black college students conducted sit-ins around America to protest the segregation of restaurants. Ella Baker, a Civil Rights activist and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) official, invited some of those young Black activists (including Diane Nash, Marion Barry, John Lewis, and James Bevel) to a meeting at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April of 1960. From that meeting, the group formed the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). It was made up mostly of Black college students, who practiced peaceful, direct action protests. 

Image source: Memories of the Southern Civil Rights Movement 123, Bleakbeauty.com
Photo: Danny Lyon

Freedom Nights

Freedom Nights Introduction & Judy Richardson

AfricaNow! November 26, 2025 Contextualizing COP30 & Remembering Jamil Abdullah al-Amin

Topics and Guests: The first part of AfricaNow! today is a focus on the annual UN Climate Change Conference which took place in Belém, Brazil .  The conference was scheduled from November 10 until November 20, 2025, and it was the 30th annual meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) of the 1992 UN climate agreement (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change [UNFCCC]). The agreement was put into force in 1994—31 years ago this year.  The COP30 conference ended a day later than scheduled.  At the end Global South was able to have in the final agreement triple the funds in adapting its infrastructure to handle the impacts of extreme weather but those funds will not be fully in until 2035.   The final agreement also stated that the phase out of fossil fuels will be voluntary with countries putting in place their own roadmap for that initiative.  Many environmental activists saw this as a setback in the climate change struggle. 

To begin the process of unpacking COP30, the show features a brief conversation with Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance who is based in Nairobi.  Mithika Mwenda contextualizes the recent annual climate change conference COP30–looking at demands of those countries most impacted by climate change, the outcomes of COP30 and more.

AfricaNow! remembers Black freedom fighter Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (formerly H. Rap Brown) who joined the ancestors on November 23 (October 4, 1943–November 23, 2025) Featured is a portion of a show from our archives with writer Arun Kundanani (AfricaNow! August 7, 2024 The Political Praxis of Jamil Abdullah al-Amin https://soundcloud.com/africanowonline/africanow-aug-7-2024-the-political-praxis-of-jamil-abdullah-al-amin).  Arun Kundanani, a writer interested in race, Islamophobia, surveillance, political violence, and radicalism. The conversation explores the political praxis of Jamil al-Amin.  The evolution of H. Rap Brown into Jamil al-Amin provides a rich and vital lens through which we can understand the Black freedom movement in more ways than we can account for.  Arun Kundanani is the author of What is Antiracism? (published by Verso Books, 2023), The Muslims are Coming! (Verso Books, 2014) and The End of Tolerance (published by Pluto Press, 2007), which was selected as a New Statesman book of the year. He has written for the Nation, The Guardian, The Washington Post, Vice, and The Intercept to name a few outlets. Arun Kundanani has been a scholar-in-residence at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and a former editor of the journal Race & Class, the quarterly journal of the Institute of Race Relations in London. Educated at Cambridge University, he holds a PhD from London Metropolitan University. 

MUSIC ON THE SHOW: intro--“WATER NO GET ENEMY” BY FELA KUTI; break--“KURIMA” BY CHIWONISO MARAIRE; sign-off--“ANCESTRAL HOME” BY R. CARLOS NAKAI commemorating Indigenous Peoples Month; closing--“MANY RIVERS TO CROSS” BY JIMMY CLIFF remembering Jimmy Cliff who joined the ancestors on two days ago November 24 (July 30, 1944--November 24, 2025). 

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! Nov. 26, 2025 Contextualizing COP30 & Remembering Jamil Abduallah al-Amin

Africa World Now Project is a multimedia educational project that produces knowledge about the African world through a series of methods that include: radio, podcast, publishing, film festivals, webinars, social media, etc.

Africa World Now Project is, in essence, a multimedia open-access 'classroom' that provides actionable information which explores continuities and discontinuities in the history, culture, and politics of the entire African world.

AWNP does this by engaging in organic discussions with scholars, artists, journalists, activists, organizers and others who are intentionally disruptive in assessing the various issues that exist in the entire African world.

New tracks tagged #SNCC