THE UBUNTU PEOPLES Podcast with Oronde Ash

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #83-Rissi Palmer: Detours, Revival & Color Me Country In 2007, country singer Rissi Palmer became the first Black female with a song on the charts in 20 yrs with her hit Country Girl. The fame and notoriety that followed was the culmination of years of hard work and faith. But the country music business didn't know what to do with a Black woman. Rissi felt like her color was a problem to the solved by industry folk who never saw her. A prolonged court battle with her label, having to work retail for minimum wage, moving back home with her family, finding solace at the bottom of a bottle; it's the lyrics country songs are made of for a woman who's now going through revival. After a detour, a spiral, love, marriage, leaving Nashville, two kids and now a new show called Color Me Country on Apple Music Country, Rissi Palmer is where she wanted to be: an important voice in country music. https://rissipalmermusic.com/ TOPICS 01:45... Return to the Grand Ole Opry after 13 yrs, Musical Influences, Summerville 07:10... Not seeing Black folk in country, Being discovered, Life in St. Louis, Nelly and Hip Hop, Team 11 17:00... Saying no to a record deal with Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Shut out from the industry for 7 yrs, Record company drama 24:25... Recording with Brian McKnight, Working with Prince for 3 yrs, Owning your rights, Country Girl, Being  Black problem 38:00... Stardom costs, No Air, Drinking hard, Fling Bankruptcy, Court battle, Earning minimum wage, Sympathy for the working poor 47:00... Bye bye Nashville, New man, Marriage and motherhood, Children's album, The itch to sing again 51:05... New album in 209, The Revival, Losing fans for speaking Black truths, Cookies for white artists, Mickey Guyton 61:10... BIPOC artists, Creating support for and granting new talent, Putting Black back in country 73:20... Julie Williams and the new consciousness, Color Me Country on Apple Music 

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #77--SVGFF 2018: Joel Bristol & Oronde Ash Review The Year in Island Football From the sacking of the former Federation president, to the Nation's League campaign, the Concacaf U20 championship, new young stars and collegians, women's secondary school and football, continuing grassroots efforts and how the new FF admins are handling the transition stewardship of the product on and off the field

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #73-Dr. Mark Anthony Neal: The Epistemology of M.A.N.s Interiority Complex  Dr. Mark Anthony Neal is Chair of the Department of African & African American Studies and the founding director of the Center for Arts, Digital Culture and Entrepreneurship (CADCE) at Duke University where he offers courses on Black Masculinity, Popular Culture, and Digital Humanities. He and I have been in the same rooms at events in Durham the past two years but never had a conversation until this interview. I wanted to find out how Dr. Neal became the M.A.N. he is, what forces shaped his intellect and scholarship --as a youth. I found out that it began on his stoop in the Bronx listening to his mother and the residents on the block talk about everything. It was nurtured by his parents who fed his intellect, and cultivated as an only child learning to be comfortable with himself and his ideas. I found out he and I attended the same high school--Brooklyn Tech--found power and purpose when given time and space to develop our particular Black perspectives, that we hold some of the same fears and hopes for the promise of Blackness to come.  1. M.A.N's home... https://aaas.duke.edu/people/mark-anthony-neal  2. https://www.darnelllmoore.com/  3. http://www.openculture.com/2016/05/ta-nehisi-coates-list-of-13-recommended-books.html

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #69--Martin Terrell: Without a Compass--Steering Blackness Down Every Road (Part 1 of 2) 

Early in 2018 Mr. Martin Terrell published *Without A Compass*, his memoir on growing up and growing into the Black man his is, at age 71, educated, accomplished, willing to artfully express truths in a world of racial, social, political abstractions. We talk about him being on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma that fateful Sunday, 17 yrs old and running; Of returning home to Cincinnati ready to act on Dr. King's example; Being colored vs negro vs Black; Male teachers as father figures; The deeper meaning of a Windsor knot; When daddy is the enemy at home; White girls, marijuana and sex; The drug raid, arrest and doing time in the work house sweeping human feces; Model City, Ohio State and the National Guard shootout on campus. 

1. Book... http://www.chapelhillpress.com/product/without-a-compass 

2. Selma movie... http://www.avaduvernay.com/selma 3. UNCF... https://www.uncf.org/

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #68--Thori Staples Bryan: Hope SoloEd--Black Women in US Soccer & The Impact of The WNT 

Thori Staples Bryan earned 64 caps with the US Women's Senior National Team, 1993-2003. She played in the 1995 World Cup, was an All-American, a two time college Player of the Year nominee. She has always been one of the few Black players on any team from rec on up. What impact did that *SoloEd* existence have on her personal development, on success? What does she recall about her WNT days? What does it take to make it that far and be a dominant woman? What does she see now with the young crop of [Black] players, what is her hope for them in US Soccer. Thori talks about the impact of the core 1999 WNT group on soccer and women's sports in general... and about the infamous fight she was involved in vs Trinidad :) 

1. Black Women on US WNT roster Soccerhttps://girlssoccernetwork.com/profiles/6-african-american-women-who-are-changing-the-face-of-womens-soccer/ 

2. More Black Women Playing Soccer But... https://theundefeated.com/features/more-black-women-are-playing-soccer-but-there-is-still-a-long-way-to-go/ 

3. Charmaine Hooper: The Best Women's Baller of All Time https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS3p8Ev7AtU 

4. Thori Bryan Academy http://www.thoribryansocceracademy.com/

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #63--Dr. Bertram Ashe: Black Dread Locked In The Post Soul Aesthetic (Part 1 of 2) 

Dr Bertram Ashe teaches and writes about contemporary American culture, primarily post-Civil Rights Movement African American literature and culture (often referred to as “post-blackness” or the “post-soul aesthetic”), as well as the black vernacular triumvirate of black hair, basketball, and jazz. He authored the book *Twisted: My Dreadlock Chronicles*. In part 1, Dr. Ashe and I discuss the hairstyle, the cultural, stylistic & personal reasons behind it's rise, Black male identity formation and perceptions of and around the hair, the "white gaze" on and off campus. We discuss his area of study--the Post Soul Aesthetic--give a definition and offer why it's worth exploring, no matter your skin color, and what the soul says about where America is headed. We also talk basketball and the wonderful freakiness of the current NBA, why Julius Malema is South Africa's Black Donald Trump and perhaps a post black icon.

Website... https://english.richmond.edu/faculty/bashe/ 

Book... https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/177/ Julius 

Malema... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPPgqaKhg5I&t=110s

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #62--Dasan Ahanu: The Fellowship of The Artist (Part 2 of 2) 

In part 2 of our conversation, I use Dasan's poem "Brown Bottle Daddy" to explore his relationship with his father, his relationship with his craft and the spaces where art converges with his life today. Dasan Ahanu is a public speaker, organizer, workshop facilitator, poet, spoken word performer, educator, songwriter, writer, emcee, and loyal Hip Hop head born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dasan is a member of Black Jedi Zulu, a non-profit community organization that seeks to serve the community while also fostering greater cultural awareness of Hip Hop. He was awarded a 2015-2016 Nasir Jones Fellowship with the Hip Hop Archive at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. Currently Dasan is a visiting professor at UNC Chapel Hill teaching courses on Hip Hop and Black culture.

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #61--Dasan Ahanu: The Fellowship of The Artist (Part 1 of 2) 

Dasan Ahanu is a public speaker, organizer, workshop facilitator, poet, spoken word performer, educator, songwriter, writer, emcee, and loyal Hip Hop head born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina. Dasan is a member of Black Jedi Zulu, a non-profit community organization that seeks to serve the community while also fostering greater cultural awareness of Hip Hop. He was awarded a 2015-2016 Nasir Jones Fellowship with the Hip Hop Archive at Harvard University’s Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. Currently Dasan is a visiting professor at UNC Chapel Hill teaching courses on Hip Hop and Black culture. In this episode, he talks about his year at Harvard, what he learned, making a living from the arts, the poetry scene in NC, young NBA players modeling the fundamentals of a new artistic expression, the state of Hip Hop, what it can be, which artists--Migos, Cardi B, 2 Chainz, Rapsody--are skipping the needle forwards, backwards and what that movement means for the culture. 

Website: www.dasanahanu.com

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #60--Coach Frankie Taal: Football, Roots, Reggae & The Grace of God 

Mr. Frankie Taal is the Head M-Soccer coach at North Carolina Wesleyan College. Last fall, his team won the regular season, the conference championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament. But wins is not how Coach Taal measures success. Listen to him talk about his journey from Banjul, Gambia to Brooklyn, West Virginia, NC, the halls of the UN, the negotiating tables of African politics, his love for reggae music and the game that has defined his life. You'll hear God and beauty in the tale. Respect, fadda. Website: www.ncwc.edu

Ubuntu Radio, Ep #59--Chucky Brown on... The League, The Rockets, The NCAA & Black Panther NBA Champion Chucky Brown talks about the league at the mid-season point, the MVP, who will win the chip in June. As March gets lucrative with Madness, he assesses the NCAA amidst allegations surrounding big time bball programs. We also talk about our reactions to the Black Panther movie.

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #58--Brian Kurian: The Indian Hustler's Anthem 

Brian Kurian has been a hustler, doing whatever it took to make the good life happen. Labeled a distracting, unmotivated student in school, dismissed by his South Indian, immigrant father who expected more from his first born, Brian has taken the long, hard road to self discovery and contentment. Today, he shares the essence of that journey and where he plans to hustle to next. Brian's Blog: www.medium.com/@brian.kurian

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #57--Chucky Brown--Gun Control, Stoneman Douglas HS Shooting, Protecting My Own

Spoke to Mr. Chucky Brown a week or so after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas HS in Florida. A retired NBA champion with two teenage daughters, Chucky owns a gun, as a teenager, he learned to shoot from his uncles in South Carolina. He has something to add about gun control and what it really says about America in 2018.

Event: https://www.marchforourlives.com/

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep #56 --Joel Bristol (Part 4 of 4)--You Don't Have To Go Buy a Dog 

The final installment, Part 4 of my talk with Joel Bristol (listen to Eps #53-56), starts off defining a persistent lacking, a hole in the minds of many. We discuss benign racism, the inability of folks to step outside their dulled senses to honestly judge themselves. We speak on racial awareness as an involuntary, uncomfortable learning opportunity more people need to take on, of Black folks' historical legacy as leaders of the global underclass. Of our drive towards the spiritual, the esoteric, the space beyond, when this world continually wrongs us.  There's also a de facto disclaimer the last 12 mins, Joel summing up these 4 hrs of audio, because, well, we thought we had to, to soften the blow, just so some can listen and hear the human melody. Enjoy.

Ubuntu Peoples Podcast, Ep # 55-- Joel Bristol: The Good Negro, The White In Laws, The Ugly Truths We Must Discuss 

Part 3 of my conversation with Joel Bristol about his life as a biracial man in America, white mother, white GF, white in-laws, white-looking son, still having a strong, Black conscious. If you haven't already listen to episodes 53 and 54. The first 10 mins of this episode talks about the need for better police training. Joel was a criminal justice major in college. We then go into existence with his white in-laws, the need to develop a relationship, steps to take and what that says about the American discourse on race. We talk about race, responsibility, both Black and white and what this looks like on the int'l stage. There will be a Part 4, Ep #56 to sum up our convo. 

Ubuntu Radio, Ep# 46-- Chucky Brown: NBA Baller Life In & Out The Bubble (Part 2 of 2) Mr. Chucky Brown spent 13+ years in the NBA as a player and coach. In Part 2, he talks about the transition to pro ball, the business of the game, paying attention to the details, lessons from NC State coach Jim Valcano, never giving up, getting cheated in the NCAA Tournament vs Georgetown, what he's looking forward to this NBA season, who reps his style of play in the league today, teaching his daughter "the game" and more.

Ubuntu Radio, Ep #45-- Chucky Brown: NBA Baller Life In & Out The Bubble --Part 1 of 2 Mr. Chucky Brown spent 13+ years in the NBA as a player and coach. From Harlem USA to small town North Carolina and onto the world, in Part 1, he shares his perspective on NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, why it must continue, why the top Black athletes have an obligation to keep speaking their conscience, the goodness of social media to spread progressive ideas, his experiences in the NBA bubble and why he MUST speak his mind today.

Ubuntu Radio, Ep #38 --Meaghan Foley--Criminal Minded (Part 1 of 2) From small town Connecticutt to training top performers on the world stage, D-I soccer player, LA Galaxy intern, raising younger siblings at 14, brain hacks, life skills, the process[ing] life, using PERCEPTUAL AGILITY to get what you define as success. Meaghan has a master’s degree in sport performance psychology, and has master certifications in neurolinguistic programming (NLP) and mental and emotional release therapy (MER). She specializes in resilience, performance & mindset, strength & conditioning, imagery interventions and brain hacks... Meaghan is an authentic, charismatic presenter and teacher with over 12 years of coaching and training experience. Her clients include executives and professionals from renowned organizations including Google, EXOS, Pierce Atwood, and the US Military. She also works with elite professional athletes from all over the US. www.opthrive.com

Ubuntu Radio, Ep #9 --Denden (Part 2 of 3):  The Girl Who Left 

This episode talks about leaving for Georgia, developing as a woman, the jealousies associated with that, finishing high school, leaving for NYC, leaving for Miami, getting into acting and improv. Born in Eritrea, Africa, emigrated to the US and raised initially in Connecticut. The struggles of an immigrant father and a young daughter embracing American freedom. Abuse, neglect, violence, running away from home, moving out and emancipating yourself, only to be taken advantage of by the new folks. Teenager running away from home to Georgia, changing your name, all while in high school. Getting kicked out of school, moving back home. Realizing, thru struggle, who you are and what you want to do with your time. Rolling with life, with God and purpose in mind. A story for every woman to hear.