In part 2, we explore some of the criticisms of China in Africa that go beyond the mythical claims of colonization. We look at what this means in the context of the impending cold war between China and America. We also examine ways in which Africans on the continent can navigate these challenges as a means of self-determination towards Pan-Africanism. Mikaela Nhondo Erskog is an educator and researcher who works in Pan Africanism Today, a working-class, movement-driven education and solidarity organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She currently works in the interregional office of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and is part of DongSheng News, an international collective of researchers interested in Chinese politics & society (Subscribe for the "News on China: Africa Weekly" here). She is also on the coordination committee of No Cold War, a peace platform pushing for maximum global cooperation, in a moment where the US governments’ aggressive policies and actions against nations like China, threatens the interests of humanity as a whole. Twitter - @blackmythspod Instagram -blackmythspod Facebook- The Black Myths Podcast Patreon - patreon.com/blackmyths   Black Power Media IG- @black.power.media Twitter @blackpowermedi1 YouTube- https://youtube.com/c/IMIXWHATILIKEBPMhttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7_X-VeroWRvx6b9iD0BOZrvAOieHbb8p   Some sources https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b2Hc9yC00JJ3oqdMZhuWLBUfrZka5PSS0cZuWM6y8IQ/edit?usp=sharing

For part 1, we sit down with Mikaela Nhondo Erskog, a researcher for the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, to discuss the prevalent myth of China colonizing Africa. We discuss neocolonialism, the accusations of colonialism against China, what's actually happening on the ground between China and Africa, and a brief history of China's policy in Africa since China became independent. This episode is a continuation of our discussion about Black myths outside of the border of America. Mikaela Nhondo Erskog is an educator and researcher who works in Pan Africanism Today, a working-class, movement-driven education and solidarity organisation based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She currently works in the interregional office of the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research and is part of DongSheng News, an international collective of researchers interested in Chinese politics & society (Subscribe for the "News on China: Africa Weekly" here). She is also on the coordination committee of No Cold War, a peace platform pushing for maximum global cooperation, in a moment where the US governments’ aggressive policies and actions against nations like China, threatens the interests of humanity as a whole. Twitter - @blackmythspod Instagram -blackmythspod Facebook- The Black Myths Podcast Patreon - patreon.com/blackmyths   Black Power Media IG- @black.power.media Twitter @blackpowermedi1 YouTube- https://youtube.com/c/IMIXWHATILIKEBPMhttps://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7_X-VeroWRvx6b9iD0BOZrvAOieHbb8p

In part 2, we interview the founding editors of Hood Communist (a collective of African revolutionary nationalists using journalism to advance the fight for African Liberation) about how capitalist propaganda distorts our connections to the African diaspora, Practical ways to make those connections, and the significance of joining an organization order to form a collective fight. SN: At the time of the posting of this episode Hood Communist's Twitter account is suspended for an unexplainable reason despite them breaking no rules. We view this as broader censorship of Black anti-imperialists. To support the reactivation of their Twitter account please @Twitter with the hashtag #FreeHoodComminist.  Erica Caines is a poet, writer, and organizer in Baltimore and the DMV. She is an organizing committee member of the anti-war coalition, the Black Alliance For Peace as well as an outreach member of the Black-centered Ujima People’s Progress Party. Caines founded Liberation Through Reading in 2017 as a way to provide Black children with books that represent them and created the extension, a book club entitled Liberation Through Reading BC, to strengthen political education online and in our communities. Onyesonwu Chatoyer is an African woman marooned in the United States, organizing to defeat capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism. She is an organizer with the All-African People's Revolutionary Party and the All-African Women's Revolutionary Union. https://hoodcommunist.org/

Regardless of how one identifies, the facts are clear that the state of Africa has a tremendous impact on our daily lives. The resources stolen from Africa are sold as products in America, the exploitation of Africa funds the system that oppresses us in America, both of the American ghetto and African communities operate as neo-colonies for extraction, and the entire African Diaspora is sold myths of propaganda about each other. We establish these connections by digging into the book "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" by activist-scholar Walter Rodney. This episode is premiering on the day that would have been his 79th birthday. March 23rd, Is also our one-year anniversary as a podcast. Thank you to all of our supporters. Patreon https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

On our final episode for our "Black Myths of Black History," we discuss a local Indianapolis myth: Unigov. Unigov was a policy in 1970 that weakened Black political power, consolidated white suburban power, and helped lead to the hyper-segregation and severe weakening of Indianapolis Public Schools. We speak with Dr. Olon Dotson, an associate professor at Ball State University and member of the Indiana Landmarks board of directors, Olan Dotson's primary research interest and focus has been in the resurgence of severely distressed inner-city communities.

We discuss the infamous Willie Lynch Letter - a fictitious speech given to a group of plantation owners by a mythological slave master named Willie Lynch proclaiming his secret methods on how to control the slave population.  We interview Dr. Rasul Mowatt, a professor at Indiana University.  Rasul A. Mowatt is a Professor in the Departments of American Studies & Geography within the College of Arts + Sciences. Main research areas are: the Racial Geographies of Public Space, Violence and the Geographies of Threat, and the Theory of the Leisure Class and the Sociology of Leisure. These are influenced by backgrounds in social justice, cultural studies, leisure behavior, and critical pedagogy. Published work has been on analyzing lynchings as violent forms of leisure.

In part 2 of our series "Black Myths of Black History," we discuss the myths surrounding the concept of the "Talented Tenth" popularized by W.E.B. Du Bois with Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly. We explore its origins, its history, and how it translates to the Black leadership of today.  Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly is the 2020-2021 Visiting Scholar in the Race and Capitalism Project at the University of Chicago. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Africana Studies and Political Science at Carleton College. A scholar of political theory, political economy, and intellectual history, Dr. Burden-Stelly is the co-author, with Dr. Gerald Horne, of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History. Support our patreon: http://patreon.com/BlackMyths

For Black History Month we are partnering with the Center for Black Culture and Literature of the Indianapolis Public Library for a series called "Black Myths of Black History." For this first episode of the series, we speak with a friend of the show Dr. Jared Ball about the accuracy of the movie Malcolm X. We discuss the critical consumption of popular media, The inaccuracies in the film, and what important elements of Malcolm X's life was left out of the film. Through this conversation, we were able to establish the importance Of Malcolm's ever-evolving political philosophy.  Patreon  https://www.patreon.com/blackmyths

In this episode, we philosophically engage the myth of Trickle Down Blackness -- the concept that if a select group of Black people can gain access into elite spaces then the fruits of that access will magically trickle down to the masses of Black people. Joining us to discuss this phenomenon is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò.  Also, we discuss how privilege discourse often centers Black elite priorities, how power creates incentive structures, and how organizing for transformative change sometimes requires moral compromises.  Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò Bio His theoretical work draws liberally from the Black radical tradition, contemporary philosophy of language, contemporary social science, German transcendental philosophy, materialist thought, histories of activism, and activist thinkers.  He is currently writing a book entitled Reconsidering Reparations that considers a novel philosophical argument for reparations and explores links with environmental justice.  He also writes public philosophy, including articles exploring intersections of climate justice and colonialism. He has published the Nation, The New Republic, Al Jazeera, and the Boston review among plenty more.  http://bostonreview.net/race/olufemi-o-taiwo-identity-politics-and-elite-capture https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/essay-taiwo https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/disp/ahead-of-print/article-10.2478-disp-2018-0007/article-10.2478-disp-2018-0007.xml  

In part 2, we speak with the co-chairs (Alexis Tardy And Mat Davis) of the Indiana Racial Justice Alliance on how they as a grassroots organization can organize to decentralize against police power. They discuss their demands: Defund, Community Control, and Ending Cash Bail and Pre-detention. We explore the terrain of their demands by asking conceptual democracy questions all the way down to the procedural issues on being elected to public safety boards. We focus on how to gain this power so Black People can counter the institutions that perpetuate the myth of the perfect victim.   Donate to Reed Familly: $DemetreeWynn