The African community of St. Petersburg, Florida came out in droves on Sunday August 21, 2016 for Burning Spear Media’s event, “Black August: Celebrating African Resistance––From Haiti to Ferguson.”
Our Black August event, held at the Akwaaba Hall, located at 1245 18th Ave S, was a smashing success as we won members of the community to support WBPU Black Power 96.3 FM Radio both financially as well as by signing up to volunteer to help build and operate the radio station to our fullest capacity.
Black Power 96 Radio is a project of the African People’s Education and Defense Fund (APEDF), whose mission is to defend the human and civil rights of the African community and to address the grave disparities in education, health and economic development.
Scheduled to launch this year, Black Power 96.3 FM is the only radio station that is tied to a mission like that.
Organizing for the event
Burning Spear Media and members of the Black Power 96 team worked diligently to plan and organize this successful event.
Comrades Deysun Troo, Aliyinza Bandele, Evan Prescott, Ritchelle Euzebe, Kaya Kumlati, Jacquetta Chance and Themba Tshibanda invested several hours conducting outreach in the black community. They hung posters in over 20 local businesses and passed out over 2,000 flyers.
Our Comrades also organized phone banking where members of the community were called and given invitations to this event.
A theme of resistance
Needless to say, we were expecting a big turnout and the community did not disappoint. Over 60 members from the community sat comfortably inside Akwaaba Hall––which was beautifully decorated with Red, Black and Green balloons.
Comrade Akilé Anai opened up our Black August event with a moving poem which she wrote specially for the occasion. Her intro really set the mood of resistance.
The show was officially under way.
Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the African People’s Socialist Party, our keynote speaker, gave an excellent analysis on the history of African resistance and spoke about the importance of the black community being able to tell our own stories through Black Power 96 Radio.
Attendees also received a presentation which outlined the work which has gone into building the radio station thus far.
This was followed by local talent Evan Prescott as he rocked the audience with an original song and poem. Not only was his performance entertaining, but it also put revolution in the minds of all those in attendance and watching online.
A winning event
Burning Spear Media achieved several of our goals which were outlined prior to this event.
Our biggest goal was to raise $1000 in donations and pledges for Black Power 96 Radio during the Black August celebration.
Our team has an undying faith in the people, not only was our goal of $1000 met, but we nearly doubled the amount with $1800 raised! This was accomplished with the generous contributions from the attendees in the room, as well as the viewers online who watched live from theburningspear.com.
The community really responded to our message. They understood that having our own voice––our own radio station––is a critical form of resistance and part of the struggle to win self-determination.
The success of our Black August event clearly illustrates the power of the black community.
We call on all freedom loving Africans to join our team or donate! Help to build our own black power radio station! Visit Blackpower96.org for more information!
Watch the video below for highlights of “Black August: Celebrating African Resistance––From Haiti to Ferguson.”
Black Power 96 FM, Radio For And By The Black Community!
Uhuru!
