On Saturday, March 5 and Sunday, March 6, 2011, Uhuru News and Radio will celebrate five years of independent African political and cultural programming with a two-day online video fundraising telethon.
Dubbed “the online voice of the international African revolution,” Uhuru News and Radio broadcasts news, analysis and cultural programming over the web to a worldwide audience.
A project of the African People’s Socialist Party, the network examines issues of social and economic justice and provides political analysis on local and world events from the perspective of the African working class.
Based in the U.S., Uhuru News and Radio reaches an audience that spans the globe, from the UK to South Africa and from Canada to the Caribbean, with multi-lingual programs in English, French, Spanish and Lingala.
The two days of special programming on March 5 and 6 will feature appearances by African revolutionaries, authors, actors, musicians and historians, along with live updates from the front lines of liberation struggles throughout the world. It will also introduce a live video streaming feature into the broadcasts which have previously been audio only.
Saturday, March 5, Guyanese-born award-winning actor Ron Bobb-Semple will host a special broadcast of Caribbean news and culture, with guests including journalist Felicia Persaud and author Eusi Kwayana.
Bobb-Semple, well known for his performance in the "The Spirit of Marcus Garvey,"
has appeared in numerous film and stage productions including Bingo, a musical directed by the legendary Ossie Davis.
Sunday, March 6, Congo-born Luwezi Kinshasa will facilitate a discussion entitled “Building the International African Revolution”, featuring live reports from the frontlines of African resistance worldwide including from Sierra Leone, Guinea-Conakry and London.
March 6 is celebrated as Independence Day in Ghana, whose first president Kwame Nkrumah was overthrown by a U.S.-backed coup in retaliation for his advocacy of a single unified African government to equitably distribute Africa’s wealth among it’s citizens.
Kinshasa will present a tribute to Nkrumah, an analysis of recent upheavals in Ivory Coast, Tunisia and Egypt, and will conduct a multi-lingual interpretation of the philosophy of African Internationalism in English, French and the African language of Lingala.
Uhuru News Director Nyabinga Dzimbahwe will host a round table discussion on “The State of Independent Black Media” with Professor Jared Ball, Pacifica Radio Network Board member Efia Nwangaza, and Glen Ford, senior editor of Black Agenda Report.
A special feature of Sunday’s telethon broadcast will be a one-hour segment called “Omali Yeshitela in Africa” with video and commentary on the organizing tours of African Socialist International Chairman Yeshitela.
Yeshitela is the leader and founder of the Uhuru Movement, an African liberation organization with roots in the movement of Marcus Garvey. In recent years his long-held vision for a united socialist Africa has begun to take root in the form of community-based programs and grassroots organizing projects on the continent of Africa. He is author of several books and founder of The Burning Spear newspaper.
Penny Hess, Chairwoman of the African People’s Solidarity Committee, will deliver a thought-provoking multi-media presentation on the ongoing dialectical relationship between white wealth and black poverty, focusing on the role of the police, prisons and gentrification as economic stimulus for the white population of the U.S.
Toronto-based music historian Norman Otis Richmond will offer his insightful insider commentary on African culture and the politics of the music industry in a special episode of his popular show “Diasporic Music”.
Mwamba Yeshitela will host a discussion with independent African business owners on the significance and challenges of black community economic development.
Dr. Aisha Fields will shine the spotlight on Nurse Mary Koroma who is currently touring the U.S. to get support for her midwifery work in Sierra Leone, combating the world’s highest rate of infant and maternal mortality.
Diop Olugbala, President of the International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement, will host a program on the causes and objectives of the intensifying anti-government resistance among African youth in the U.S. – from the “flash mobs” of Philadelphia to the wave of police killings throughout the country.
Sunday, March 6 will conclude with two music programs, the first a selection of melodic classics from the Caribbean, and the second hosted by the popular Philadelphia-based hip-hop DJ 360, with appearances by M1 of dead prez and the Dollar Boyz.
The two-day Telethon seeks to raise funds for the development of the Uhuru Radio and TV network. Currently available via the internet as a live stream and “on demand” podcast, as well as simulcast on FM stations within the U.S., the network will begin exchanging programs with a new FM radio station in Sierra Leone next month and plans to expand to the Caribbean and Europe this year.
Uhuru News and Radio is also seeking donations of professional audio recording and computer equipment for its branch studios.
Visit UhuruNews.com for a complete program schedule. From the U.S., call 800-420-5593 to pledge your support, or donate online at UhuruNews.com/donate.
