Freedom Train Presents: On the Shoulders of Giants

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On the Shoulders of Giants is dedicated to bringing awareness to the worldwide contributions of the heroes and cultures of the African Diaspora, both of which have given the world hope and freedom. The purpose is to provide an alternative and positive perspective of the history of the African diaspo…

Joseph Ward


    • Aug 7, 2021 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 41 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Freedom Train Presents: On the Shoulders of Giants

    Joseph Ward Interview on the Enigma Sept Hour Podcast

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 7, 2021


    Thank you for Listening Please Share On episode 130, Enigma reunites with Joe Ward about his various media outlets, co-founding Freedom Train Radio and his vision for the future of the network... Also, Enigma discusses the King Redd's performance in Atlanta, Ghostface Killah/Raekwon Verzuz and Samaria Rice/Tamika Mallory Grammy controversy! #BoomBoomBoom #YouGotTimeBaby #FreedomTrainRadio Playlist:Royzy Rothschild x Miss Stylie - Henney In Me and I'm Feeling Fine&nbs [...]

    A Reading Of Arthur Schomburg's The Negro Digs Up His Past

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2021


    Thank you for Listening Please Share ​Click the link below to read The Negro Digs Up His Pasthttps://www.homeworkmarket.com/files/... #OTSOG #Blackhistory #arthurschomburg #historianClick the link to join the OTSOG family and get a free copy of On the Shoulders of Giants Vol: 1 North America https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/s...Cashapp: $joeward84Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ontheshoulders1Visit us at www.ontheshoulders1.com or www.ontheshoulders.orgVisit www.ontheshoul [...]

    Walter Rodney

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2021


    Thank you for Listening Please Share On March 23, 1942, Walter Anthony Rodney was born to parents Edward and Pauline Rodney in Georgetown, Guyana. Rodney's family was considered working class, but he was still able to excel in his academics as a young boy. During high school he continued to excel which led him to graduate at the top of his Queen's College class of 1960; Queen's College was the top male high school in Guyana. Because of his academic excellence, he earned a sch [...]

    Marielle Franco: Afro-Brazilian Activist

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2021


    Thank you for Listening Please Share As a city council member she used her position to help create change in Brazil fighting for black rights, LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights, the rights of Brazil's poor, and many more. She was a force to be reckoned with. Franco served as the chairperson of the Women's Defense Commission and also positioned herself to be able to oversee Rio de Janeiro's federal interventions into their local dealings. She pushed hard to destigmatize LGBTQ+ rel [...]

    How Did Dr. Runoko Rashidi Began As A Historian & Anthropologist?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 19, 2021


    Thank you for Listening Please Share ​Dr. Runoko Rashidi is an anthropologist and historian with a major focus on what he calls the Global African Presence–that is, Africans outside of Africa before and after enslavement. He is the author or editor of twenty-two books, the most recent of which are My Global Journeys in Search of the African Presence, Assata-Garvey and Me: A Global African Journey for Children in 2017, and The Black Image in Antiquity in 2019. His other works in [...]

    The Importance of the Preservation of African American History: Delaitre Hollinger Interview

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 5, 2021


    Thank you for Listening Please Share On today's broadcast I am interviewing Mr. Delaitre Hollinger, Historian and founder of the National Association for the Preservation of African American History & Culture (NAPAAHC). We will be discussing the importance of the preservation of African American history and culture. Mr. Hollinger is a young man who has dedicated himself to learning and preserving African American history. Through his organization NAPAAHC he has been able to suc [...]

    Dr. John Henrick Clarke: African Democracy

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share Make sure you study all of Dr. Clarke's work to fully see his impact on African people globally.Subscribe to our On the Shoulders of Giants YouTube Channel: YouTube.com/ontheshoulders1 Cashapp: $joeward84Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ontheshoulders1Visit us at www.ontheshoulders1.com or www.ontheshoulders.orgVisit www.ontheshoulders1.com to download out African history curriculum appLike us on Facebook: On the Shoulders of GiantsConne [...]

    Sister Rosetta Thorpe: Gospel Legend & Godmother of Rock & Roll

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share On March 20, 1915, Rosetta Nubin was born in Cotton Plant, Arkansas, to parents Willis Atkins and Kate Bell Nubin. Her father Willis was a cotton picker and singer, her mother Kate was a singer, mandolin player and, a COGIC preacher for her traveling ministry. Tharpe began singing and playing the guitar at the age of four and was considered a child prodigy by the age of six. The Tharpe family traveled throughout the South performing for various [...]

    The Importance of the Preservation of African American History: Featuring Mr. Delaitre Hollinger

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share On today's broadcast I am interviewing Mr. Delaitre Hollinger, Historian and founder of the National Association for the Preservation of African American History & Culture (NAPAAHC). We will be discussing the importance of the preservation of African American history and culture. Mr. Hollinger is a young man who has dedicated himself to learning and preserving African American history. Through his organization NAPAAHC he has been able to suc [...]

    A Breakdown of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "Where Do We Go From Here" speech by Joseph Ward

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share On the Shoulders of GiantsClick the link to get your copy ofOn the Shoulders of Giants Vol 3: South America. http://ontheshoulders1.com/store/Click the link to get your Amazon Kindle version https://www.amazon.com/Shoulders-Gian...Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OTSOGFollow us on Instagram and Twitter @ontheshoulders1Visit us at www.ontheshoulders1.com or www.ontheshoulders.orgVisit www.ontheshoulders1.com to download out African [...]

    JEAN-BAPTISTE POINTE DUSABLE: THE FOUNDER OF CHICAGO

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share In a village named St. Marc on the island of Saint Dominique, which is now Haiti, Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable was born around the year 1745. DuSable’s mother was an African woman who was formally enslaved and his father was a French sailor; because Dusable’s mother was free at the time of his birth he was born free of enslavement. DuSable would eventually travel throughout the world with his father being educated and even spending a few yea [...]

    Kujichagulia Mentality Pt 2 High John The Conqueror featuring Baba Olusegun Williams

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share I bring back Baba Samuel Olusegun for Kujichagulia Mentality Part 2, where we focus on the story of High John The Conqueror, plus much more.#OTSOG #Kujichagulia #oraltradition #blackhistory #babaolusegun #youtube #highjohntheconquerorBaba Olusegun IG: @baba_olusegunEducator, Folklorist, Historian, Musician, and Storyteller.Baba Olusegun Samuel G. Williams grew up in Atlanta. He is a 1968 graduate of Morehouse College, where his father was chair [...]

    Kujichagulia Mentality Pt 1 With Baba Olusegun Williams

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 26, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share Joseph Ward and Baba Olusegun Williams have a discussion about Kujichagulia Mentality and, the importance of African oral traditions.#OTSOG #Kujichagulia #oraltradition #blackhistory #babaolusegun #youtubeBaba Olusegun IG: @baba_olusegunEducator, Folklorist, Historian, Musician and Storyteller.Baba Olusegun Samuel G. Williams grew up in Atlanta. He is a 1968 graduate of Morehouse College, where his father was chair of the Department of Philosoph [...]

    THE RAIN QUEENS OF SOUTH AFRICA

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 19, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share This is a story about women who ruled the Limpopo Province of South Africa, the only matrilineal monarchy in the world; I introduce to you the Modjadjis or Rain Queens of Balobedu. Two stories exist that tell the origins of the Rain Queens, the first is in the 16th century, the Chief of Monomotapa was told his daughter Dzugundini could gain rain making skills if he impregnated her. The second story is that Dzugundini was impregnated by her broth [...]

    Agugust Wilson: The Man Behind The Plays

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share On April 27, 1945, Frederick August Kettel, Jr. was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to parents Frederick August Kettel, Sr. and Daisy Wilson. His father was a German immigrant who worked as a baker, his mother was a black woman from North Carolina who was a domestic worker. August was the fourth of six children who were raised mainly by their mother in the Hill District of Pittsburgh. In the late 1950s, Daisy Wilson remarried a man named David [...]

    The African American Contribution To The Building Of The Ledo Road | Interview With Dr. Gerri Seay

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 3, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share Joseph Ward is interviewing Dr. Gerri Seay about the African American contribution to the building of the Ledo Road. During WWII the Ledo Road was built by 6,000 men, 65% of the men building the road were African American soldiers. The road was 1079 miles long and served as a supply route to China. Join us as Dr, Seay breaks down the history of the Ledo Road, how black soldiers were the driving force behind the building of the road, and how the [...]

    Bass Reeves: The True Story of The Lone Ranger

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2020


    Thank you for Listening Please Share When we think about the Wild West, the cowboys and the lawman that existed in that era, they are always white heroes. It has been proven that our black figures are left out of history even though they made great contributions to America over the centuries. The Lone Ranger character has its roots in the tale of a man named Bass Reeves who literally was the most feared man in the West. Bass Reeves was born into slavery in 1838 in Crawford County, [...]

    Thomas Sankara

    Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2019


    Thank you for Listening Please Share ​Thomas Sankara was born on December 21, 1949 in Yako, French Upper Volta, French West Africa, which is modern day Burkina Faso. Sankara attended high-school in a city named Bobo-Dioulasso; after he graduated his parents wanted him to become a Roman Catholic Priest. Sankara entered the military in 1966 at the age of 19, at the age of twenty he was shipped to Madagascar for officer training. While in training he witnessed several uprisings agai [...]

    Alexander Pushkin

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 7, 2018


    Thanks for listening.​Alexander Pushkin was born June 6, 1799 in Moscow, Russia to a family of Russian nobility. His great-grandfather on his mother’s side­-Abram Gannibal- was brought from Africa as a slave and rose to become an aristocrat. At the age of fifteen Pushkin published his first poem, and upon graduating from grade school he gained notoriety for his literary talents. His graduating class was the first graduating class of the Imperial Lyceum in Tsarskoe Selo. In 1820 he [...]

    Miriam Makeba aka Mama Africa

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 24, 2018


    Thanks for listening.Miriam “Zenzi” Makeba was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1932 to parents Caswell and Christina Makeba. During the time of her birth the country was facing an economic depression and apartheid. At the age of 18 days Miriam and her mother were imprisoned for illegally brewing beer; her mother was only trying to make sure her children had food to eat. In 1948 South African Prime Minister Daniel Malan made segregation legal, which was oppressive to the South Africans [...]

    The Saramaka People

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 18, 2018


    Thanks for listening.The South American countries of Suriname and French Guiana are home to many groups of people called Maroons who are African people that escaped slavery and created their own societies. The Saramaka People are one of six groups of Maroons who inhabit the two countries, the Ndyuka, Matawari, Paramaka, Aluku, and Kwinti are the other five groups of Maroons; together these six groups of people make up the largest remaining collection of Maroons in the world. The Saramaka are com [...]

    Abram Petrovich Gannibal

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2018


    Thanks for listening.​Abram Petrovich Gannibal was born between 1667 and 1669 in the city of Logon near the Mareb River. It is said the city of Logon was located in Eretria, information also exist that suggests Logon was located in Cameroon. Gannibal is said the have been the son of a Prince before he was kidnapped by enemies of a rival culture and taken to Turkey at the age of eight. He was kidnapped again and taken to Moscow, Russia where he would leave his mark on history. Gannibal was sold [...]

    Ivan Abramovich Gannibal

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2018


    Thanks for listening.Ivan Abramovich Gannibal was born in Karjaküla, Reval Governorate, Russian Empire, which is now present day Estonia. He was the eldest of ten children to parents Abram Gannibal and Christina Regina Siöberg. Abram Gannibal was a well-known Russian nobleman, engineer and military leader. Becoming a part of the Russian military was Ivan’s calling, by the age of nine he had already enrolled into the Naval Artillery School. Upon his graduation he would enter into the Imperial [...]

    King JaJa of Opobo

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 21, 2018


    Your browser does not support the audio element.​JaJa was born in 1821 in Igboland Nigeria, information suggests that his birth name is Mbanaso Okwaraozurumbaa, and at the age of twelve he was sold to the slave trader Chief Allison of the city of Bonny, Nigeria. Jaja’s name was changed from his birth name to Jubo Jubogha by Chief Allison. He would be sold again to Chief Madu, the head of the Poubo Annie Pepple Royal House; because he was an imported slave he was regarded as a lower class sla [...]

    Kamehameha I The Great

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2018


    ​According to Hawaiian legend a great king would unite the Islands, when a comet appears in the sky. 1758 Hailey’s comet was visible from the Hawaiian Islands; shortly after was the birth of Paiea (Kamehameha). He was born to parents Keoua his father and Keku’Iapoiwa his mother; his father was ali’i (Chief) of a region of the Island of Hawai’i. Kamehameha was the great grandson of Keaweikekahiali`iokamoku, the ruler of a large portion of the Island, after his [...]

    Madison Washington: The Free Man Who Led A Successful Slave Revolt

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2018


    ​Madison Washington was a man born into slavery in Virginia who managed to escape, but risked his own freedom to help free his beloved Susan. Washington was described as having extraordinary African features, superb leadership qualities and a fierce spirit. He was considered a fugitive for escaping slavery and heading north to Canada, eventually finding work with a farmer named Mr. Dickenson. Even as a small child he would rebel against the inhumane treatment of him and his people [...]

    Coretta Scott King

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 22, 2018


    ​Coretta Scott was born in 1927 in Marion, Alabama to parents Obadiah and Bernice McMurray Scott. Coretta Scott attended Lincoln High School in Marion, a private school where she first began developing her skills as a musician. She learned to read music, play several instruments, and she also learned to sing by taking vocal lessons. Her developing skill set allowed her to become the pianist and choir director for her church by the age of fifteen. Scott graduated as the valedictorian [...]

    Wallace “Wally” Amos, Jr.

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2018


    ​On July 1, 1936, Wallace Amos, Jr. was born in Tallahassee, FL where he would live until the age of twelve. After his parents divorced he moved to Manhattan, New York to live with his aunt Della. While living with his aunt Amos found a love for cookies and baking. His aunt was the first to introduce him to baking chocolate chip cookies, which would change his life forever. His love for baking would lead him to enrolling into the Food Trades Vocational High School. At the high sch [...]

    The Great Hannibal Barca

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 9, 2018


    ​Hannibal Barca was born in 247 BCE as a son of the Empire of Carthage, which encompassed all of North Africa and Southern Spain. Hannibal was the son of the great Carthaginian military leader Hamilcar Barca. Hamilcar lead the Carthaginian army in the First Punic War against Rome. Carthage suffered an embarrassing loss to the Romans which included loss of control the city of Sicily. It is widely stated that as a youth Hannibal’s father instilled within him an unrelenting hatred for Rome. Whe [...]

    Fela Kuti

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 1, 2018


    ​​Olufela Olusegun Oludotun Ransome-Kuti was born October 15, 1938 in Abeokuta, Nigeria to parents Funmilayo and Reverend Israel Oludotun Ransome-Kuti. Fela was blessed with greatness in his genes; his father was a Protestant Preacher and School Principle, his mother was a feminist activist in the anti-colonial movement; she was said to be the inspiration behind Fela’s political activism. In 1958 Fela was sent to Trinity College in London, England to study medicine, but made the deci [...]

    The Mino Warriors of Dahomey

    Play Episode Listen Later May 25, 2018


    ​The Freedom Train Network is celebrating black women for the entire month of May. So we will be celebrating and teaching you about great black women of the African diaspora. This episode we are focusing on the Mino Warriors of Dahomey.The third king of Dahomey, King Houegbadja ruled from 1645 to 1685, and is created with creating the legendary all-woman Fon of Dahomey. The original purpose of this all female regime was to become ‘gbeto’, or elephant hunters for the king. Around the e [...]

    Professor Wangari Muta Maathai

    Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2018


    The Freedom Train Network is celebrating black women for the entire month of May. So we will be celebrating and teaching you about great black women of the African diaspora. This episode we are focusing on Professor Wangari Muta Maathai.​Wangari Muta Maathai was born on April 1st, 1940 in the village of Ihithe in the Nyeri District of Kenya. Around 1943 her family moved to a White-owned farm where her father had found work, she lived there until 1947 when her mother returned to Ihithe so [...]

    Queen Nanny of the Maroons

    Play Episode Listen Later May 12, 2018


    The Freedom Train Network is celebrating black women for the entire month of May. So we will be celebrating and teaching you about great black women of the African diaspora. This episode we are focusing on Queen Nanny of the Maroons. Born c. 1686 in Ghana as a member of the Ashanti tribe, her village was raided during inter-tribal conflict and she was captured and sold as a slave and shipped to Jamaica. Nanny was sold to the Saint Thomas Parish plantation, that particular plantation grew su [...]

    4 Women of Virtue: Queen Nefertiti, Sojourner Truth, Carlota Lukumi, Marie-Joseph Angélique

    Play Episode Listen Later May 4, 2018


    (function(jQuery) {function init() { window.wSlideshow && window.wSlideshow.render({elementID:"766919278557730685",nav:"thumbnails",navLocation:"bottom",captionLocation:"bottom",transition:"fade",autoplay:"0",speed:"7",aspectRatio:"auto",showControls:"true",randomStart:"false",images:[{"url":"9/5/3/3/9533449/1_4.jpg","width":"225","height":"225"},{"url":"9/5/3/3/9533449/2.gif","width":"187","height":"236"},{"url":"9/5/3/3/9533449/3_1.jpg","width":"93","height":"208"},{"url":"9/5/3/3/9533449/4_1. [...]

    Tariq Ibn Ziyad

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2018


    ​In April of 711 AD, Tariq led his army to what is now known as Gibraltar. The name “Rock of Gibraltar” derived from the Arabic name Jabal al Tariq; meaning rock of Tariq. The Straights of Gibraltar were also named after Tariq, the Moore who conquered Spain. Tariq’s army consisted of 12,000 soldiers and they met the Army of Roderick containing 100,000 soldiers at the Battle of Guadelete. Before battle Tariq gathered his troops and delivered one of history’s most motivating and so [...]

    John Horse: Black Seminole Indian Leader Against Slavery

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 21, 2018


    ​The legend John Horse was born near Micanopy, Florida during the time of the War of 1812, his mother was an African woman who was a slave of his father, who was a Seminole Indian slave trader named Charley Cavallo. John Horse and his mother were the property of Cavallo but lived in one of the Oconee Seminole settlements populated by black people along the Suwannee River. In 1817 during the First Seminole War, John Horse’s settlements along with others were raided by American forces led by t [...]

    Granville T. Woods

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 14, 2018


    ​On April 23, 1856 Granville Woods was born in Columbus, Ohio to parents Cyrus Woods and Martha Brown. His family experienced poverty so Woods only attended school until the age of ten, he then began working to help his family survive. He worked in a machine shop where he would learn mechanics; information also suggests that he worked as a railroad engineer, engineer on a British ship, railroad worker and blacksmith. Woods became interested in electrical engineering and began learning as much [...]

    Queen Anacaona

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2018


    In 1474, Queen Anacaona was born in Yaguana, which is now modern day Leogane, Haiti. Yaguana was the capital of Xaragua, a heavily populated kingdom which was also very prosperous. Anacaona means “Golden Flower” in the native Taino language; she was the younger sister of the king of the Xaraguas’, Behechio. In 1494 Christopher Columbus visited the Xaragua kingdom for trade and was met by Anacaona and the king. Anacaona was seen as an equal negotiator with the king. She and her brother were [...]

    Fannie Lou Hamer

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2018


    ​Fannie Lou Hamer was born on October 6th, 1917 in Montgomery County, Mississippi. The daughter of sharecroppers; her attention went to helping her family earn money to survive at the age of six. At the age of twelve she dropped out of school to work full-time with her family. In 1944 Miss. Hamer would marry Mr. Perry “Pap” Hamer, and the couple worked as sharecroppers on a cotton plantation in Ruleville, Mississippi. They never had children because Miss. Hamer was having surgery to r [...]

    Moms Mabley: Comedy Legend

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2018


    ​Lauretta Mary Aiken was born in Brevard, North Carolina in 1894, she was one of twelve children born to James Aiken and Mary Smith. Her father was an entrepreneur and a volunteer fireman who subsequently died in an accident involving an exploding firetruck. In the year 1910 her mother was hit by a truck and killed on Christmas Day. More tragedy stuck the young life of Mabley, by the age of fifteen she was raped twice and each time became pregnant from her attacker. She was forced to giv [...]

    Dr. Patricia Bath

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 15, 2018


    Born on November 4th, 1942 in Harlem, New York to Rupert and Gladys Bath, Patricia’s path to greatness was piqued when her mother brought her a chemistry set as a young girl. From early on, Mrs. Bath was a hard worker and chose greatness. At the age of 16, she was picked as one of the few students to attend a cancer research workshop sponsored by the National Science Foundation. She impressed the program head so much that he included her findings in a scientific paper presented to th [...]

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