Podcasts about Cape Coast

Africa's oceans are vital for economic growth, supporting fisheries, tourism, and coastal livelihoods. But the costs of plastic pollution in our seas are mounting.The World Bank puts the cost of the damage caused by marine plastic pollution at up to US$33,000 per tonne of plastic waste, in West Africa alone. As pollution worsens, researchers say stronger policies, community engagement, and scientific collaboration can protect marine ecosystems in the region.In this episode of Africa Science Focus, reporter Michael Kaloki hears from researchers about the diverse ways to conserve the region's oceans and their ecosystemsDespite existing policies to protect Africa's oceans, implementation remains weak. Juliet Koudonu, a marine biologist at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, says there is lack of enforcement and stresses that policies alone won't drive change without government investment and accountability. For conservation efforts to succeed, policies must align with the needs of coastal communities, says marine social scientist Danai Tembo, a researcher in ocean governance at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. She warns that laws failing to reflect local identities and livelihoods can backfire. Effective conservation requires scientists and local communities to work together. Shehu Akintola, professor of fisheries at the Lagos State University, Nigeria, believes it is important to integrate traditional knowledge with scientific research. The researchers say the continent can protect its marine resources for future generations by enforcing policies, empowering communities, and fostering scientific collaboration.------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This podcast was supported by the Science Granting Councils Initiative which aims to strengthen the institutional capacities of 18 public science funding agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa Science Focus is produced by SciDev.Net and distributed in association with your local radio station. Do you have any comments, questions or feedback about our podcast episodes? Let us know at podcast@scidev.net

Listen to Bishop Isaac Oti-Boateng as he teaches on Training Yourself Spiritually in Love Economy Church, Cape Coast. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. [1 Timothy 4:8 NIV] Be...

Museums in our region: current exhibits and collections.

Insurance rates going up quickly in our region, and we have one of the highest non renewal rates in the country.

This week: New rules to slow down large boats have now been scrapped — whale advocates are upset, but many coastal communities are relieved. Also: the fate of one million gallons of radioactive water could rest with an appeals decision just getting underway. And, Monday's inauguration will have impacts for the Cape Coast and islands.

Amy MacIver who’s in for Sara-Jayne Makwala King speaks to authors Bruce Henderson and Kelly Graham about their new book: ‘Wood, Iron and Steel’. It details 60 shipwrecks that were surveyed as part of a project to map the seafloor off the Western Cape coast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pippa speaks to the authors of Wood, Iron and Steel which examines the many shipwrecks that dot our Western Cape coastline. Bruce Henderson and Kelly Graham are both highly qualified divers and sailors who share a passion for what lies beneath the ocean’s surface.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A dai-dai lokacin da ake ci gaba da shirye-shiyen wasannin sharen fagen samun gurbi a gasar lashe kofin Afrika, Hukumar Kula Ƙwallon kafar Afrika CAF ta ce filayen wasan ƙasar Ghana ba su da ingancin da ya kamata a ce an gudanar da manyan wasanni na kasa da kasa a cikin, matakin da ke kara nuna gazawar ƙasar. Ita dai hukumar CAF ta ce ba komai ya sanyata daukar wannan mataki ba, face yadda ta ce aƙwai rashin wadatatciyar ciyawa da rashin magudanun ruwa da dai sauransu a filin wasa na Baba Yara da ke birnin Kumasi, haka ta ce abin ya ke a sauran filayen wasanni irin na Cape Coast da kuma na Accra.Ku latsa alamar sauti don sauraron cikakken shirin tare da Khamis Saleh......

Lester Kiewit speaks to Sobantu Tilayi, the COO or the SA Maritime Safety Authority, about the havoc caused by the ongoing storm which has caused a ship to run aground, and another to lose more than 40 containers off the Cape coast.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Learn about traveling for Black culture—From Afrobeats in London to “Detty December” in Ghana to Salvador in Brazil.  _____________________________ Subscribe to The Maverick Show's “Monday Minute” Newsletter where I personally send you an email with 3 short items of value (all personal recommendations) to start each week that you can consume in under 60 seconds: www.TheMaverickShow.com/Newsletter _____________________________ Briona joins Matt for a wine night from her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, and the episode kicks off with a discussion on why Baltimore is so amazing. Briona then talks about her study abroad experience in London, discovering Afrobeats, returning to London for her Masters and writing “The London Black Nightlife and Restaurant Guide”. She reflects on the impact of meeting other Black travelers and interviewing them for her short film “Free At Last”. Briona shares her experiences visiting Morocco on her first trip to Africa and going to Ghana in 2019 for “The Year of Return”. She also talks about founding her company Buoyant Travel and leading group trips to Ghana every year for “Detty December.” She explains why visiting the slave castles in Cape Coast is harrowing but necessary, and how travel is a critical part of Black freedom. Finally, Matt and Briona talk about their love for Brazil, caipirinhas, and the Black diaspora culture in Salvador de Bahia. FULL SHOW NOTES WITH LINKS TO EVERYTHING DISCUSSED ARE AVAILABLE HERE.   ____________________________________ Subscribe to The Maverick Show's “Monday Minute” Newsletter and get a super-short email from me to start each week with 3 personal recommendations that you can consume in under 1 minute. See My Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See My Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See My 7 Keys For Building A Location-Independent Business (Even In A Space That Is Not Traditionally Virtual) Watch My Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn  See The Travel Gear I Use And Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The Equipment, Services And Vendors I Use) Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram ENJOYING THE SHOW? Please Leave a Rating and Review. It really helps the show and I read each one personally.  You Can Buy Me a Coffee. Espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)  

Crystal speaks to Carte Blanche producer Liz Fish about her insert on the increase in cases of seals contracting rabies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We talk with Karen Pomeyie, a master's student at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, who studies HIV.

Over 18 acres of rice farm, 5 acres of onion farm and 5 fish ponds have been destroyed by river Ayensu after the contractor who is constructing Kasoa-Winneba Highway blocked the main bridge in the aim of constructing modern one.

5 members of the Gomoa Central NPP Executives were sacked during a Regional Executive Committee meeting at Cape Coast yesterday. The demoted executives are the constituency Chairman, Vice Chairman, Organizer, Research Officer and Treasurer.

Professor George K.T. Oduro, from the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration at the University of Cape Coast has revealed that government should give the mission schools back to their various churches so that they can add good morals which has been left out of schools now a days

Enjoy the crew banter and discuss different stories around the world; - An eye-catching closing ceremony brings to an end the African Games in Ghana on Saturday after an eventful 16 days in Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast. - With the 2023 African Games coming to an end in Accra, Ghana, it was all smiles in the camp of Team Nigeria as the Sports Ministry under John Enoh started payment of allowance and bonuses. - Team Nigeria Boxing will be heading to Thailand in May to compete for honours the Olympics Games Qualifiers. - Carlos Sainz led Charles Leclerc to a Ferrari one-two in the Australian Grand Prix as Max Verstappen's domination of Formula 1 stalled. - Tadej Pogacar completed a dominant overall victory at the Volta a Catalunya by winning the final seventh stage, while Mads Pedersen outsprinted Mathieu van der Poel to triumph at the one-day classic Gent-Wevelgem. - Fidelis Ilechukwu's Rangers International secured a crucial away win in Aba to go top of the log in the ongoing 2023/2024 Nigeria Premier Football League season. - Rangers leapfrogged Lobi Stars to the first position with 47 points, one point behind the Pride of Benue as they went 5 games unbeaten away from home. - Banyana Banyana of South Africa coach Desiree Ellis is urging football supporters to come out in numbers and fill up the Loftus Stadium when they host Nigeria's Super Eagles in the second leg of their final Olympic qualifier. - Super Eagles goal scorer against Ghana Black Stars, Cyriel Dessers has blasted former Nigeria coach, Jose Peseiro as he ended his international exile by netting in the first goal for interim coach Finidi George. - Allen Onyema, the Managing Director and CEO of Airpeace, a prominent Nigerian airline, has stirred the pot in the ongoing debate surrounding the selection of the new coach for the Super Eagles. - João Cancelo has accused Manchester City of being “ungrateful” and claimed “lies were told” about his exit from the club. - Tyson Fury is always making headlines, whether it's for his boxing career or his candid social media posts. This time, the former heavyweight champion sparked excitement by revealing that his family is about to get bigger.

How well did your representatives perform? Music show featuring live performances by underground and upcoming musicians

Jeffrey Blount is the award-winning author of four novels, including Almost Snow White, Hating Heidi Foster, The Emancipation of Evan Walls, and Mr. Jimmy From Around the Way. He is also an Emmy award-winning television director and a 2016 inductee to the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame. During a 34-year career at NBC News, Jeffrey directed a decade of Meet The Press, The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, and major special events. He is the first African American to direct The Today Show. He was a contributor for HuffPost and has been published in The Washington Post, The Grio.com and other publications, commenting on issues of race, social justice, and writing. Interviewer Fati D. Ashley is a Ghanaian-American literary and visual artist who resides in Florida. She holds a Master of Arts in English (Rhetoric and Composition) from the University of North Florida. Her poem “Cape Coast” was performed in Echoes of Us, a series of curated monologues, directed by Tony Award nominee Michele Shay in 2022. She is the Editor-in-Chief for The Banyan Review, a 2023 Best of the Net nominee, and a 2023 Fellow of The Craft Institute, "a non-profit organization dedicated to curating culturally inclusive ecosystems throughout the world of arts and entertainment..." Ashley consults and facilitates workshops for Authors Roundtable of North Florida and teaches creative writing at Jacksonville Arts and Music School.  READ Check out Jeffrey's work from the library: https://jkpl.ent.sirsi.net/client/en_US/default/search/results?qu=%22jeffrey+blount%22&te=  THE LIBRARY RECOMMENDS More books about finding yourself and your community: The Gone Dead, by Chanelle Benz The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois, by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers --- Never miss an event! Sign up for email newsletters at https://bit.ly/JaxLibraryUpdates  Jacksonville Public LibraryWebsite: https://jaxpubliclibrary.org/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/jaxlibrary Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JaxLibrary/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jaxlibrary/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/jaxpubliclibraryfl Contact Us: jplpromotions@coj.net 

Aston University is to help one of the world's largest cassava processers develop a sustainable and faster way to dry its crops. The University has entered a knowledge transfer partnership (KTP) with the Tropical Starch Company, Ghana's leading cassava processing business. According to The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the country is the second biggest consumer of cassava and contributes to almost a quarter of the country's agricultural gross domestic product. More sustainable tech to dry cassava Despite its popularity cassava is difficult to process as it needs to be thoroughly cleaned, mashed, sieved, dried and packaged. Currently the Tropical Starch Company uses industrial uses bin dryers which need electricity or fossil fuels to generate heat and can only dry one crop per production line. They are expensive to run and as it is hard to regulate their temperatures sometimes products are overcooked or discoloured. A KTP is a three-way collaboration between a business, an academic partner and a highly qualified researcher, known as a KTP associate. The UK-wide programme helps businesses to improve their competitiveness and productivity through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills. Aston University is a sector leading KTP provider, with 80% of its completed projects being graded as very good or outstanding by Innovate UK, the national body. The aim of the KTP is to develop an integrated drying device which can operate off-grid, using several different technologies. Aston University will develop an off-grid, solar-powered drying device that is faster, temperature-controllable, uses less energy and can process bigger volumes of raw cassava. Augustine Fiifi Amoah, who is a supervisor at the company said: "We already have the customers demanding it and so we are praying that we will be able to meet demand. "If we could produce 20 tons a day we would be so happy. We have the market, we just need the product!" Although some of these technologies are already developed individually, the way they will be integrated will be new. In particular, data needs to be collected to design and optimise the system which will be completed with computer simulation modelling. This will require expertise in several fields including modular design, desiccant drying techniques (where desiccant materials are used in a piece of industrial equipment to eliminate water) energy systems, post-harvest technology and food engineering. The project is supervised by Dr Ahmed Rezk, senior lecturer in mechanical engineering from Aston University's College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, an expert in thermal systems, whose mainstream research is in sustainable and zero-carbon heating and cooling technologies, in collaboration with Dr Tabbi Wilberforce Awotwe, a lecturer in engineering, who specialises in design optimisation of mechanical systems and energy storage modelling. Dr Rezk said: "The main goal of our research is to find more efficient and green ways of heating and cooling. They are two sides of the same problem, both requiring energy. "If we devise a good heating method through this project it could have implications for cooling methods in other countries as well." Dr Wilberforce Awotwe who is based at Kings College London, has previously conducted research at Aston University. He said "I'm a Ghanaian myself and my vision for this project goes beyond delivering work packages. "If we can get this done we will support many companies in this field, not just one, and address the issue of young people leaving the countryside in search of employment. "The long-term impact on the community is the most important thing." The project will also involve Professor Robert Sarpong Amoah and Dr Fatimah Abubakar Von from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. In addition a KTP associate will be recruited to work at the company's main site in Abura-Dunkwa, Ghana. Once the system has been agreed, the Tropical Starch Company will ...

In the sleepy town of Asebu, a few miles inland from the Atlantic along Ghana's Cape Coast, a serene 5,000 acre rural settlement is rising out of the palm forests and farmland. Pan-African Village is envisioned as an idyllic haven for settlers from the African diaspora. It was established in 2019, after a local chief announced that anyone from the diaspora could have plots for free. Hundreds of people, largely from North America and the Caribbean, have accepted the offer and are in the midst of building large homes. They regard themselves as the first wave of settlers, carving a new life in their ancestral homeland, devoid of racism and repression. But while locals have tentatively welcomed returning diaspora, Ghana is also experiencing some of the worst economic conditions in decades. In Pan-African Village, brewing tensions over ownership and privileged access to the land are threatening to spill over into violence and unravel the promise of this diaspora haven. This week on The Sunday Story, producer Andrew Mambo speaks with Emmanuel Akinwotu, NPR's West Africa Correspondent, about the complicated relationship between the diaspora settlers and the place they see as their ancestral home.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

In this episode of Africa Science Focus, we examine what role telemedicine could play in plugging Africa's healthcare gaps. Our reporter, Royal Uche speaks with Abubakar Ibrahim, founder of telemedicine solution provider Medicliq, who tells us how remote methods of healthcare could be instrumental in solving the continent's health challenges. We also hear from Omolola Salako, public health expert and clinical oncologist at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Nigeria, about how such technology can benefit rural and underserved areas. Meanwhile, Joana Eva Dodoo, lecturer in the department of business programmes at the College of Distance Education, University of Cape Coast, Ghana, shares her findings on the shortfalls of telemedicine in Africa and how to overcome them. Africa Science Focus is produced by SciDev.Net and distributed in association with your local radio station.This piece was produced by SciDev.Net's Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.Do you have any comments, questions or feedback about our podcast episodes? Let us know at podcast@scidev.net

“Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey and  Jamel Gaines of Creative Outlet. In this episode of  “Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey,  join host Joanne Carey as she chats with Special Guest: Jamel Gaines, founder and Director of Creative Outlet.  This year marks a special moment for JGCO's annual program as more than 3,000 New York City Public School students will experience the lessons of Remembering. The Company will travel to Cape Coast and Accra, Ghana giving performances and workshops in Africa. Listen in as we talk about the impact Arts in Education had and continues to have in Jamel's life. The February 15 performance of Remembering is in collaboration with Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, City Council Member Crystal Hudson, and NAACP Brooklyn Chapter, and pays tribute to New York City Board of Education principals and teachers. The February 16 performance is in collaboration with the Delta's Chapter of Brooklyn. The February 17 performance is in collaboration with the Brooklyn Brownstones Organization https://youtu.be/x8JgSjd3S_M?si=HIB-br85c8s4xW0M Tickets are available through the link belowhttps://www.bam.org/dance/2024/remembering Brooklyn Academy of Music on February 15 and 16 at 7:30 PM and February 17th at 2 PM. Jamel Gaines is the Founder and Artistic Director of Creative Outlet.Jamel has dedicated his life to delivering artistic excellence and stirring, soaring performance to audiences everywhere.  With more than 22 years of teaching and choreographing experience, Jamel seeks to inspire, motivate and nurture dancers and artists.  Under his leadership, Creative Outlet has set itself apart as a highly acclaimed performing arts organization with a proven record in training the next generation of professional dancers and artists. Some of Jamel's more recent choreography includes the crowd pleasing presentation live streamed across the internet during Spike Lee's Annual Tribute Concert to Michael Jackson (August 2017) televised choreography and dramatic performance by contestants on So You Think You Can Dance. (2010).  In addition, Mr. Gaines has created and staged over 25 repertory and concert productions.  He has had the distinction of working with such distinguished artists as Jennifer Holiday, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Savion Glover, Malik Yoba, George Fasion, Ornette Coleman, Ossie Davis, Olatunje Babatunde, Max Roach, Cassandra Wilson and Rick James. Founder and Artistic Director, Jamel Gaines has dedicated his life to delivering artistic excellence to artists and audiences. Jamel has appeared on Public Television's American Talent in which he was presented The Teacher Recognition Award, during the Presidential Scholars in the Arts Committee at The Kennedy Center, and has been featured in publications such as Essence Magazine, The New York Times, The Seattle Times and The Daily News.  His work has been staged by the Actors Theater Workshop, The NYC Department of Parks, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, the Paramount Theatre and The Martha Graham School.   Mr. Gaines serves as the director of St. Paul's Eldad Medad Danced Ministry. His work at St. Paul's includes “He Got Up”, the commemoration of the African Holocaust and the acclaimed “Black Nativity” for which he won an Obie Award. Gaines began his dance career in the mid-1990s under the direction of Diane and Adrian Brown, and James Grant and Received his BFA from SUNY Purchase. He credits the development of his unique and nurturing approach to teaching and composing to Kevin Iega Jeff. Follow on Instagram @jamelgainescreativeoutlet  Find out more https://www.creativeoutlet.org/⁠ ⁠⁠⁠Follow Joanne Carey on Instagram @westfieldschoolofdance And follow  “Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey wherever you listen to your podcasts. Tune in. Follow. Like us. And Share. Please leave us review about our podcast  “Dance Talk” ® with Joanne Carey "Where the Dance World Connects, the Conversations Inspire, and Where We Are Keeping Them Real."

The Cape Coast slave castle dungeon was used as a holding place for Africans before they were shipped off to the sea to work in plantations as slaves. It holds significant history in not only Ghana but to the diaspora who return to reclaim their roots. Unfortunately some sisters visited and were twerking on the site. Ondiro Oganga reports on the story --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africandiasporanews/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/africandiasporanews/support

Guest Bios Show Transcript https://youtu.be/eX7GZjdC4DEWhy can't people get over talking about race? Ever heard that line? Or, how about: We live in a post-racial world. We've even had a black president! If racism doesn't exist, then we don't have to deal with it. Yet racism, sadly, is alive and well—not just in our culture, but within the church. On this edition of The Roys Report (TRR), Dr. Lainna Callentine—an educator, pediatrician, and former evangelical faith leader—delivers a powerful talk from our recent Restore Conference. Lainna has walked an incredibly difficult and painful journey as a Black woman in the evangelical church. This is a journey that white evangelicals often don't acknowledge. And it's an experience that Julie Roys, TRR founder and a friend of Lainna's, admits that she once didn't believe or affirm. But, just as Julie's eyes have been opened to abuse and corruption in the church, the past few years have given her a new awareness of racism in the church, as you'll hear in Julie's introduction of Lainna's talk. Lainna's talk, which is rich with history and personal anecdotes, has the power to open the eyes of many others. Please listen with a heart and mind open to what Lainna and the Holy Spirit have to say. Guests Lainna Callentine, M.D., M.Ed. Lainna Callentine, M.D., M.Ed., is a pediatrician, former homeschool mother, master's trained educator, and creator of curriculum program, Sciexperience. Dr. Callentine received her B.A. from Northwestern University and completed her M.D. at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. She has taught all levels from early childhood to postgraduate students. Learn more at sciexperience.com. Show Transcript SPEAKERSJulie Roys, LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. Julie Roys  00:04Why can’t people just get over talking about race? Ever heard that line? Or how about, we live in a post racial world, we even had a black president. Of course, if racism doesn’t exist, then we don’t have to deal with it. But as you’re about to hear racism, sadly is alive and well, not just in our culture, but within the church. Welcome to The Roys Report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I’m Julie Roys. And on this podcast, you’re about to hear a powerful talk from our RESTORE conference by Dr. Lainna CALLENTINE Lainna is a pediatrician and an educator and a former faith leader in the evangelical church. But she’s also a friend of mine who’s walked an incredibly difficult and painful journey as a black woman in the white Evangelical Church. This is a journey that white evangelicals often don’t acknowledge. And as you’ll hear, it’s an experience I once didn’t believe or affirm. But just like I’ve had my eyes opened to abuse and corruption in the church, the past few years have opened my eyes to racism in the church as well. And coming to terms with this reality has been hard because I’ve had to deal with my own ignorance and indifference. And I’ve had to acknowledge my complicity with a sinful system that treats persons of color as less than full bearers of the image of God. But what Lainna did, coming into a predominantly white space and delivering this message was even harder. And I think that’s something I haven’t realized until recently as well. So many of our Black, Hispanic, Asian, and indigenous brothers and sisters have been profoundly wounded and traumatized by white Christians. And they have every reason to expect that when they speak to us, they’ll be minimized, dismissed, and traumatized again. I’m grateful that didn’t happen at RESTORE and I hope like the audience at RESTORE, you’ll open your heart and your mind to receive this important message from Dr. Lainna Callentine on surviving white evangelical racism.   Julie Roys  01:57 But before we hear from Lena, I’d like to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Judson University and Marquardt of Barrington if you’re looking for a top ranked Christian University, providing a caring community and an excellent college experience, Judson University is for you. Judson is located on 90 acres just 40 miles west of Chicago in Elgin, Illinois. The school offers more than 60 majors, great leadership opportunities, and strong financial aid. Plus, you can take classes online as well as in person. Judson University is shaping lives that shaped the world. For more information, just go to JUDSONU.EDU. Also, if you’re looking for a quality new or used car, I highly recommend my friends at Marquardt of Barrington. Marquardt is a Buick GMC dealership where you can expect honesty, integrity, and transparency. That’s because the owners there Dan and Kurt Marquardt are men of integrity. To check them out, just go to BUYACAR123.COM   Julie Roys  03:01 Well, again, you’re about to hear a talk by Dr. Lainna Callentine on surviving and thriving beyond white evangelical racism. I’ve also included in this podcast a portion of my introduction of Lainna at RESTORE, which includes an important apology. For time sake, I’ve had to remove my description of how my eyes were opened to racism in the church, while investigating what happened at Bethlehem Baptist Church, the Church John Piper pastored for three decades. But I encourage you if you want to understand more about the covert nature of racism in the evangelical church, go back and listen to our two-part podcast on what happened at Bethlehem Baptist Church when you’re finished with Lainna’s talk. But now here’s Lainna’s powerful talk at RESTORE 2023 with a short introduction and apology by me.   Julie Roys  03:49 So, three weeks ago, our next guest and I got together at her request, and we talked for about four hours. And she said, Julie, I just don’t know if I can do this talk. And she said this is what normally happens when I come into a predominantly white audience, and I talk about the trauma I’ve experienced as an African American woman in the church. So, I go out there and I bleed,  I bare my soul, and then they look at me with eyes of disbelief., and they just go on their way. And I mostly listened because I really didn’t have a lot to say, and I just needed to hear. And then she reminded me about how we had gotten together because our next guest is a friend of mine. In fact, she was my daughter’s 11th grade biology teacher. And she reminded me of a time we got together in a coffee house, and she shared her, really bared her soul to me, about all the racism that she had experienced. And she said, Julie, I didn’t feel like you believed me either. And the truth is six, seven, however, many years ago, this was I didn’t really believe it. I mean, I believe there was probably some racism in the church. It really wasn’t until I did the investigation on Bethlehem Baptist Church, John Piper’s church, and I got to know these people who had persons of color that had gotten together, had a dinner for the first time where it was just them. And they shared some of their experiences. And out of that, they decided that they wanted to put together a committee and address why is it that we have so few persons of color on our elder board? And then what happened with this committee is that then they spent, I forget how many months, a lot of months working on this, and then they gave their findings. And you know, it’s kind of death in committee. They gave their findings, that was it, nothing happened. Every single member of that committee ended up leaving the church.   Julie Roys  06:22 And so, it kind of opened my eyes to how this is done. And it’s kind of a covert thing. And I had to say to Lainna, you know what? I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I didn’t see that. And I’m sure that hurt you. And that was wrong of me. And I also told her that you guys are different. And when you’ve had enough bad experiences with white people, it’s hard to say this group is different. But I said, one, this group knows about believing victims, about believing survivors, and believing their stories. And we also know that when you get up and you bleed, when you tell your story, we get the cost. It’s like re traumatizing. And if you’re going to do that, and nothing’s going to happen. It’s like it happened again. Right? And so, I know you guys, I believe in you guys, or I wouldn’t have asked my friend to come, who I care about deeply. And It’s my prayer that this will be a healing experience for all of us. But especially for persons of color who have been hurt profoundly in the church. Just to tell you a little bit about Lainna’s credentials. She’s a pediatrician, who completed her MD at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. She’s also a former homeschool mother, Master’s trained educator, a creative curriculum program called SCI Experience. And then she served on a whole bunch of different Christian organizations that we would recognize, although she said to make sure that I say she was the former, or formerly served on the Physician Resource Council at Focus on the Family. But I love Lainna dearly. And I’ll just warn you, she doesn’t mince words. I have no idea what she’s gonna say. Let’s welcome Lainna.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 08:38 Thanks, Julie, for your words, and your apology is very heartfelt. Thank you. One of the things you need to know that I’m just traumatized being in this space speaking to you. Okay? And I know that as we prayed for all of you this morning, how coming into a church space listening to some of the songs that we’re singing, how traumatizing that is to you. And I hold that in my heart and understand that pain. As I’ve walked through evangelical spaces there are many things that have been said to me. These are just a few in the fine collection of lines that have been delivered to me with good intentions. I don’t see color. You are so articulate. You’re playing the race card that I’m doing reverse discrimination and racism. Why can’t people get over talking about race? I don’t even care if you’re black, white, or purple. I’m not sure. Only purple people I’ve seen are dead. But one of my best friends is black. We live in a post racial world. We’ve had a black president, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan. My family did not own slaves, and All Lives Matter. So, these are a few things. These are just a few of the sophomoric, unhelpful, and lacking insight retorts that I’ve received from my white brothers and sisters in Christ when discussing race with them. I’ve questioned myself over and over again, why am I here today? Up to this morning. I really didn’t think I could be here. A few months ago, as Julie said, when she asked me to speak at the RESTORE conference, I have struggled and questioned my need and your need to hear me speak. I have not spoken in front of a large audience since 2019. I swore off speaking in front of white Christian-like audiences, like someone giving up chocolate for Lent. I have been successful up until today to keep that pledge.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 11:08 This is a bit of a public coming out for me. Authentically, being myself, you’re the first people to see this. In the words of Maya Angelou. I no longer are beholding to the white gaze. I must have sat down 1000 times to write some kind of speech for you. I’ve struggled to share intimate parts of me, potentially to an audience and community like those in the past that caused me so much pain. It was then I was a respectable model Negro who provided a limited colorism to their homogeneity, I allowed myself to be squashed and to be strategically unassuming, as I would not convey the angry black woman or intimidate the fragility of the individuals around race. Now, I do not have the motivation or desire to wrap up this in joining into a neat tidy package sprinkled with various Bible verses and then joining hands to sing a rendition of Kumbaya making all feel comfortable with my threatening presence as an educated black woman. I’m going to be completely honest with you; discussing racial trauma in white evangelical spaces to me, as Julie was talking about, is like slitting my wrists for white folks to see me bleed as a bizarre form of curiosity and entertainment, while giving them the power to determine if my blood is red, debate the merits of the tool of my infliction and determine the depth of my wound and the level of pain I may be experiencing. All of this is based on their intellectualized bystander observations and their limited personal experiences. I’m tired of being treated when I talk about race, racism, unfair, unjust practices, and white Christian spaces as not being a credible witness. Being divisive and unloving in some way, my race disqualifies me, because I have a conflicted interest in my blackness, and that only white folks have the power to be the judge in jury in such matters.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 13:37 Julie assured me that this audience would be different. I told Julie, there is a great difference between white folk who have been hurt by the church and by the figures in Christian organizations, than the pain of being black in overwhelming Christian space. There are many nuances. Yes, Julie, they feel pain, isolation, and loss. But here’s the key difference. You see, Julie, you all were part of the family. You and they belonged until you didn’t. Me, however, while I was never part of the family, I was allowed to be in those spaces, tolerated as long as I did not upset the fragile balance or to critique or speak of the lack of people of color, in leadership or in lowly position in that space. I was to be unseen and unheard, and I was allowed to enjoy the delicious morsels that fell from the table where no seat was available for me. I felt a little bit like Charlie Brown ready to kick a football, getting into position to swing my leg, and Lucy quickly going from holding the ball and snatching it away again, and my landing square into my backside. I am so tired of not being believed, watching white folks finding no compelling reason to address the issue, feeling like they will lose something or be subjugated to the evils in demonic treatments that blacks have experienced. As if those like myself want to pay back every horror on white bodies that have been inflicted on us. I’ve watched white folks actively and complicitly be antithetical to the Gospel, denying the Imago Dei in all people. I’m tired of racism being viewed by white folk as a political issue outside the realm of the gospel and being chastised that we are one human race in a story.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 16:04 I hear God whispering, do you love me? A piece of me dies a bit, and my heart hardens repetitively, telling the story even if later a person starts to believe perhaps my story might be slightly credible. I have paid the price over and over. I feel God holding my hand,  will you trust me? I’ll be rejected and dismissed once again God. You are my child and so are they. But they hurt me so much. Look at all that I have lost. I have been hurt and othered all my life in predominantly white spaces. I have lost so much. I do not believe racism will ever go away. It is deeply rooted into the fabric and foundations and the DNA of this country.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 17:04 God can I really love these people? Proximity and the hugging it out doesn’t work. I fought this issue in the world and within my own home. I had no reprieve. I’ve got you, fall back into my arms. I will bear this. God, it’s so hard. But you have sent friends who have done the same who are not the same pigmentation of me. And many of them are here in this audience. They have borne with me the pain and loss that I’ve endured over the last several years. They have shown up with meals, encouragement, and prayer, sat beside me and held my hand on some of the darkest nights. They have listened to my disappointment and even my anger. They have been the hands and feet of Christ. Yes, Lord, I can love them. Because as I look around this room, I see so many of my friends. Although the pain is still there, hope has not been extinguished. I trust you, God, please stay by my side and walk with me and protect me.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 18:30 So, with that, I’m going to tell you a little bit about my story. But I can say something I couldn’t even say 72 hours ago. I love you guys. I have been hurt, but I still have hope. And I want to tell a little bit you know in this time. I’m like, How can I tell a hard story like this in 40 minutes? So, I’m gonna share a little bit about my story. I think parts of it that are  pertinent to this particular audience and my titular brothers and sisters. Unlike most African Americans, I’ve never been in an all-black space. I’ve never been part of a black church. I’ve always lived in white communities. And no, I was not adopted. Okay. So, growing up in white spaces, I also have had and continue to have education, because I just seem not to get enough. Right now, I’m getting a fourth degree from Wheaton College in evangelism and leadership. I decided to go there to see what white people were learning. And I got that done and knew in two weeks what was happening but dang I signed up for a three-year degree. That wasn’t well thought out. In my 30 years of formal education, I’ve only had two black instructors. A total of 12 weeks of those 30 years. I’ve learned to study white people learning to code switch and adapt in order to assimilate and be unassuming. My success depended on knowing how to operate in spaces. Their success I’ve learned culturally in medical school. And there have been times in my life where I was on the brink of wanting to join the Black Panther group and forever being away from white people, not black people, because Lord knows I haven’t been around them. So, I had an amazing mentor by the name of Dr. J. Hirsch, in medical school, he was a traditional Jewish man, amazing man. Had an incredible command of an audience. So, he was a child psychiatrist. And he always did the greeting at UIC, where I went to medical school for the incoming medical first year class. And he had a way that he could capture an audience. And I would be sitting in the audience with over 400 of my colleagues, and make you feel like you were the only one in that auditorium. And I was like, I don’t know what that is, but I want that. And one day he was offering, understanding the family as a patient. Anytime you treat a patient, you’re treating the whole family. And so, I decided I need to go to that class for this mysterious man. And I got into his class, it was just a four-week class. And one day I was walking down the hallway, and I was at that time, engaged to my white husband at the time. So, no one knew about that. We kept it kind of secret  I hung out with many of the black students, he came up to me and asked me if I would allow him to be my mentor. I looked at him like, really? I’m  like, I’m gonna have to think about this. I said, give me some time to think about this, and I walked off. I’m glad to report that I did take him up on his offer. And it was the most amazing time. Actually, my second child is named after Dr. J. Hirsch. He became my academic father; he used his privilege to stand beside me. I didn’t come from a whole line of doctors. I do have a brother that’s a doctor. And that’s something my parents instilled in us. But it wasn’t my background. And there were many times I struggled during medical school where I was close to being kicked out of medical school for academic failure. And he never did my work. I didn’t even know how to write a letter on my behalf. He would make me I would write it, he would edit it, he would make me write it over and over again until I got it right. And at one point, it was so bad that anytime I was called into the dean’s office for academic struggling, he would come with me. Didn’t say a word. I remember one time we were in the elevator, the doors closed, and I was exhausted, I was done. I was like,  I can’t fight anymore. And I remember when the doors close, that man took his fist and slammed it against the elevator door and let out a swear word that they better not eff with me. And at that point, his anger overwhelmed me. He freaked me out, oh, like, Man, this guy’s crazy. He wants it worse than I do. And he stood by my side. And that brought me to the brink of  going to the dark side.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 23:40 I spoke nationally in homeschool conferences all over the country. And I have a publisher that is, just Google my name, you’ll find out who it is. Who I worked with, who has my books. And I thought we believed the same thing. I was walking in any of these really big conservative organizations, even though I wasn’t up front or seen, I believed in the vision and mission. And as I watched the things that my children went through, and I watched my boys who were cute little biracial boys grow up to start looking like men, watching that they suddenly became dangerous. And I watched how I was treated in the world. And about five or six years ago, I said something’s wrong. So, I began to start speaking out about the racism and exclusion of people of color in leadership and the messaging of predominantly national organizations, ones that may have centered on white families using stock photos of black people to colorize their messaging to give the illusion that they were interested in diversity. I think the last thing that brought me back besides my great family from Tov that Julie spoke of, I’m part of that group of our Tov family, was I was bewildered just like you were. And I was like, these people’s orthodoxy do not match their orthopraxy. And I kept talking out, and I found myself at a conference called liberating. And check this. I did not put this on Facebook, liberating evangelism. decentering whiteness, okay. It’s like, what the heck is decentering whiteness? I don’t even know what that means. And so, I went into this conference., and at the time, I was already being kind of, excuse the pun, blacklisted in the evangelical circles. And I went into this conference, and I knew that no one that I associated would ever find themselves there. So, I walked into the hotel conference room, peeked my head in there, and a third of the people were white. I think I gasped out loud. And I stepped back, and I looked at the sign on the door. Yep. Liberating evangelism. decentering whiteness, why are there white people here?   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 26:20 And it was bizarre to me. And because no one in my evangelical circles would have been caught dead there. And so, I was fascinated as I watched the pulpit be shared by people of color of various nationalities. Now, this is the first time I was at a conference that I didn’t see a white male be a keynote speaker. And what I saw from the indigenous to Latinos, and Asians and other people that did it, it had a different flavor. So I was out of my mind, like observing this really weird world. And I asked one of the white individuals, why are you here? And they looked at me like I was asking a trick question. And they’re like, What do you mean? I said, “Did you not read my lips? Let me try this again. Why are you here? And they said, because the Bible says we should love our brother. And I like, seriously? Do you really believe that? Like, yeah, what else would that mean? And it was that adventure that I went into. And as I started sharing my circles, no one in this circle that I was at, had any idea really of Focus on the Family, or any of these organizations I associated in the homeschool world. And I’m like, Don’t you know who they are? I was like, kind of proud., because I was name dropping all those people. They’re like, I don’t know who these people are. And I was like, really? Because they told me they’re the center of Christianity. But you guys say you’re Christians, but you don’t know those people? They're like, nope, no clue. And so, after I would introduce myself, people would look at me at the conference like, and when those ASPCA commercials, you know, with the little dog in the cage shaking, they would look at me like really pathetically like, Oh, bless her heart, look at her. And I didn’t understand it at the time. And so, after one of the meetings, I was sitting on the couch just bewildered because I had not the language to describe what I was experiencing in the white evangelical space. And, lo Behold, this is how God works, a white woman stood and sat beside me. I was in my thoughts. She put her hand on my shoulder, and she goes, I know from which you come. And it’s just like, God, you know, and I was like, Oh, my gosh. And she’s like, Oh, I know all the people you’re talking about. I’m like you do because I was feeling kind of crazy. Like they didn’t really exist. And she goes, Yes, I’m a homeschool mom. I’m from Florida but I live in Philadelphia. And I traveled here because my husband gave me this gift. And I have two little boys, the woman was white, and I vow that I won’t raise them in the stuff that I was raised in. I was like, wow, this is a whole new world. And she goes, Well, where are you staying tonight? I’m like, I don’t know, this hotel is kind of expensive. I’ll find somewhere else to stay. She’s like, why don’t you stay with me? I said seriously, in your hotel room? I’m like It’s been a while since I’ve been in college and stuff. But so, I said, Okay, this is crazy, but I’ll stay in your room.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 29:40 So over two nights, this white woman mentored me. She’s like, and she didn’t chastise me. She’s like, okay, Lainna, you need a little help here. So, get a notepad out. Okay. And she’s like, let me give you names of some podcasts and some authors. She’s giving me black authors and other things, all the stuff that was taboo, and evangelical will start discovering James Cohn. And I started discovering the real Malcolm X and the real Martin Luther King. I started reading all these things. And I’m like, Oh my gosh, I didn’t even know about James Baldwin. Nothing in my education had prepared me for this stuff. And she bandaged my wounds that night and brought me from the brink of hate. So, I share that, in that she was willing to step into space with me and walk with me.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 30:39 And my third story of where my friends have come, the last three years, I have had a new friend group. They don’t know they just laugh when I tell them where I’ve been. And these organizations that I have served, and they’re like, that doesn’t sound like the Lainna we know. Like, I know, I’m kind of a different person now. And the way that they’ve come beside me, and the love that I’ve been shown has been unprecedented. So, I can’t thank my friends enough. One of the things that has been really grounding into me is I had the opportunity to go to Ghana this summer. It was life changing, I will never be the same. I am so grounded now. I went on something called a Sankofa. It’s called and Sankofa is from the language A Twi from Ghana, and it means loosely, go back, and get it. And so the whole idea, and this is me sitting on underneath a Sankofa is the bird is facing forward, its neck is backwards. And as it’s going forward, it has the ability to look back. So, the idea is to retrieve things of value from knowledge of the past, you have to go back to move forward. And living in a country where they’re trying to ban all black history as if it’s alternative American history. I have grown up in a world that has told me my people were nothing; that we were savages until we had the unfortunate issue of slavery. And well, that was kind of a bummer. But now we’ve had the opportunity to be civilized. There is no history that we’ve done anything significant in this country or anything. So, I’ve always felt lost. I felt I couldn’t understand who I was. And so, when I went to Africa, I felt an incredible grounding, and a sense of pride. I couldn’t find it here. But I found it there. I learned about my ancestry, that I’m the descendant of kings and queens, where the European Christianity is not nearly as old as the African Christianity. So, I’m learning all these things I never had an opportunity, and it has been life changing. So, I went to for the first time in my life to be in a place where people look like me. Okay? I get lost in the crowd. I’ve never had that happen to me before. And so, we were able to be entertained by African chiefs. And actually, one of the chiefs reminded me of my father. I’ve never been in a group where I could actually see me, and I saw this man, and he resembles my father. Both my parents died of COVID, a couple of years ago, two weeks apart. And I’m going to tell you a little bit about that in a moment. But to see this man, I just welled up in tears and crying because I could see myself for the first time.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 34:08 So going to Ghana, I’d never seen all these billboards with black folk. Okay? I think I saw one billboard with one white person, but everything from their leaders to their celebration to everything else, I saw me. But the interesting thing in Ghana, there’s no such thing as a black person. And so that kind of understanding that their race is invisible, helped me to understand how white people see their race as being invisible. So, to be able to relish in the joys of being a part of a community where people looked at me, looked like me was incredible.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 34:50 I also had the opportunity to visit the Cape Coast and the Gold Coast. And I went into two castles that housed my ancestors when they were stolen raped and taken from their homes. And these castles are on the Cape Coast, Elmira and a Cape Coast Castle. And these were built in the 1400s. This one, particularly by the Portuguese was a trading post that later became a place for black cargo. So, to walk in these buildings and these castles to try to embody and feel the pain of my ancestors was overwhelming. And as I walked through one of the uncommon things that you wouldn’t imagine belief, do you guys know what that is? This is in the middle of one of the castles. It’s a church. There were churches where white people would come while the suffering and horror happened in the same space. And this was very formative to me. At one point, we were merged with a group of white tourists. And it was interesting to watch the white tourists posture. Believe it or not, our whole group from Wheaton College was black. I don’t know how that happened. But all of us were black that were on the trip. And we were merged with the white group. And as we walked solemnly through the sacred places, we watched our white brothers and sisters act like they were on a field trip. They would push to get in the front to get a better view. As they talked about the carnage that was happening in the space, I remember, we went up to the governors quarters. And they were telling us in the space that the governor’s quarters was, it would house up to nine people. That same space down below, would house over 300 of enslaved Africans in the space, without food, any kind of hygiene. Everything happened in that space. And what did my white brothers and sisters say, as they were in that space? They were looking out the windows and talking about what a beautiful view there was. So, at that point, I was like, I’m done. I can’t be around this. And I was sitting next to one of the cannons that protected the castle, kind of reflecting on it and someone kind of caught that picture of me at the time. This is one of the things on the castle. It reads an everlasting memory of the anguish of our ancestors. May those who died Rest in peace, May those who returned find their roots. May humanity never again perpetrate such injustice against humanity. We the living vow to uphold this. So, my whole talk is supposed to be about surviving and thriving. I know about surviving; I have been in survival mode for some time. I’ve had in the last four years I’ve had a total knee replacement as a former athlete along with many health challenges, I’ve ventured into spiritual wilderness teasing out the Jesus of the Bible, versus the twisted Jesus that had no concern for justice. Those who have been harmed in the church, who were unable to refuse to see the imago Dei and all people. I navigated racial unrest and the silence of my white Christian friends and my former circles, who always had something to say about black bleeding and dying bodies laying the street about their character and had nothing to say about the character of a yellow haired man with a bad comb over sitting in the Oval Office. I lost my 30-year marriage to a white man. I haven’t gone public. My divorce was finalized about six months ago. And had a lot to do with this issue. My family has been shattered. I’m watching the politicization of mass while millions die across the world from COVID. And those last being considered expendable. Watching my dad die over FaceTime, due to COVID and not being able to hold his hand or be present as he drew in his last breath,. No funeral and then there’d have to be my mom who died two weeks later. This is just a few of the things that I’ve had to survive over the last four years. I’ve survived a predominantly white churches where my pain and the pain of others who look like me were ignored so that my brighten brothers and sisters could remain comfortable without self-examination.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 39:49 I understand surviving. Surviving is remaining alive. Some days, that was all I could do. It’s continuing to exist after coming close to dying and being destroyed. surviving is holding up holding on and enduring when very little is left in your tank. I know all of you guys understand that. At times surviving is all that we can do. God carried and continues to carry me and you through this. God brought friends into my life who bandaged my wounds and lifted me up when I had no strength on my own.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 40:28 So, I want to get a little geeky, I want to show you something about healing. So, you know, I’m a doctor, and I kind of like that science thing and stuff. So, I’m going to talk about healing by secondary intention. So, this is like a medical picture. So, bear with me, maybe you can see the analogy here is, there are two ways of healing, there’s called first intention versus second intention. So, when a surgeon goes in to repair something, and they make that clean cut, after they repair it, they bring the edges nicely together and sew things up. That leaves a minimal scar. Okay? I feel like what we’re all going through is healing by second intention. And what that is, is when you have a gaping wound, and let’s say it’s been open for some time, or it gets pulled open several times. After about six to eight hours, for more as close to six, we as physicians can’t sew that wound up because of the concern of infection. So, you let that wound stay open. And with that open wound, you have to care for that wound. A lot of times we have antibiotics, and we’ll pack that antibiotic in that wound that the dressings have to get changed often. And as that wound is going through the healing, it actually heals from the bottom up, okay? From the inside, out. And I see us kind of like that secondary intention, as that wounding first we have to start that healing inside of us as we work it out. And then, of course, the scarring from second intention healing is much greater. There’s much scarring, but it’s been restored in a new way. And I feel that a lot of what we’re going through is similar to that secondary healing.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 42:21 So, we talked about surviving, what about thriving? I started looking through this whole idea, what does it mean to be thriving? Am I thriving? I do feel like I have a little more. The fact that I’m here is a big testimony that I’m starting to feel God’s healing presence, and it’s working. And thriving means growing and developing, having resilience. It means you’re comfortable with yourself, you’re able to take control of your physical, mental, and spiritual health. And there’s an increased optimism for the future. Ah, I think I’m starting to thrive. It’s not that the pain is not there. It’s not even that I believe that this world will ever get better. But I know as we walk and take our wounds, and we heal from them, the power that GOD can do with us through our thriving. So, we have a thriving we have flourishing. Like how is thriving and flourishing different? And Acts 2:42-47, If you read that when it talks about the hospitality, it’s a place of a joyous community, where there’s a festival friends. And there are five domains in flourishing; one, happiness and satisfaction that’s gonna look a little different for each of us. It is having the mental and physical health, having meaning and purpose in your life, and character and virtue. Now I know we’ve had a lot of character training in evangelical spaces. So, this will sound bizarre, but that character in virtue cannot be fully embodied unless you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Okay? And most churches and evangelical spaces talk about God, Jesus, and the Holy Bible, because Lord, we won’t get close to the Holy Spirit because that gets a little radical and out of control. And that doesn’t go in our 20-minute sermon series that we’re trying to do. Okay? So, in order to have good character and virtue it has to be nurtured through the Holy Spirit. And lastly, close relationships, close good social relationships. And finally, how do we get there? Okay. In 2019, as I was swearing off white evangelical spaces like chocolate I feel like God laid four words on my heart about this and it seems to apply to all these hard circumstances and prior speakers have spoke of this. So, the four words, the first one is lament. This is not feeling sorry, this is not God created you white. It’s a beautiful thing. No one’s asking you to be anything else than what you’ve been graded. But understanding that hearing these issues, no one wants pity. It’s a legitimate lament, it’s not a sadness. It’s not an Oh! that’s so sad. A lament is a deep longing in pain and sorrow for something. Unless you can lament, you can’t move forward. So, it is a spotty window that someone has talked about that embodying it.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 45:45 The second word he sent me was liberate. Oh my gosh, this seems out of touch. Because of all that stuff I hear an evangelical word about liberating means once Jesus comes, then we’ll be good. No, this means as soon as you see the problem, you have to liberate that issue. You don’t wait till Jesus comes. I lament, there’s a problem, it needs to be corrected now. I love how we like use time; I was told this at a prominent school, Christian school, you know, Lainna, you’re just trying to rush us too much. We’re just going to need a little more time to change hearts. Like seriously? Wait, your Bible says, When you see something wrong, you correct it. How does racism take time? So, you have to liberate.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 46:37 Third thing is to reclaim because Lord knows, you have to, like clean that space out. And you have to reclaim it for Christ because of the distortion and the evilness that’s been pervaded there, that space has to be reclaimed, or that mess comes back. And lastly, you have to reimagine. This is not a little tweaking of systems, you know, like finding a couple more chocolate chips to put into  your little organization to try to give the issue that you have reformed yourself. This is a whole reimagining. It’s a whole reimagining of systems and purposes of what you’ve done. You can’t tweak something that’s already distorted, tainted and evil. So, wow, I’m doing good, it’s only 49 seconds. Yes. Okay, so I didn’t think I could do this.   LAINNA CALLENTINE M.Ed., M.D. 47:40 So, I just want to leave you I have a little bit of I don’t know if you guys know this book, I didn’t write it. Darn! I wasn’t thinking – I should have brought my own books and should have been holding them up like this. But this is not one  I wrote. But it’s by Kate Bowler and it’s The Lives We Actually Have. And I thought something and it’s 100 blessings for imperfect days. And there was a perfect blessing that I want to leave with you. It’s called for when you’ve been hurt by the church. God saw me walk away. I had to, for what was supposed to have been a refuge, a community of hope and purpose, mutual encouragement, distorted all I understand you to be. Oh God, lead me to the heart of love so I might find the healing I need and protect the reverence I have for you. For you do not consume, but rather feed, you do not destroy but build up. You do not abandon your little ones but insist that they belong in your arms. Enfolded here, I see you now. The God who loves us to the end. For though I walked away, you didn’t. You found me and will lead me. Let’s now find the others. Thank you.   Julie Roys  49:17 Will again that’s Dr.Lainna Callentine speaking at RESTORE 2023 and Lainna, thank you so much for sacrificing yourself on our behalf to bring this message. And as you explained, there is no quick fix to racism. We need to lament deeply. We need to totally reimagine our systems and our purposes. And that’s something we’re committed to doing at The Roys Report. And I don’t know exactly what that entails, but I am confident that the Holy Spirit does. And we are committed to listening to the Spirit and to following the spirit. So please pray for us as we continue to take Lainna’s message to heart. And as we continue to discern how to practically walk out our conviction that every human being is a bearer of God’s image and worthy of equal respect and love. And I hope you’ll do the same. There’s so much to process in what Lainna said. But dealing with racism is not optional. Any more than following Christ command to love each other is optional. So, let’s commit to doing that together. And again, thank you so much for listening and supporting our podcasts and our mission here at The Roys Report. As I’ve noted before, we don’t have any big donors or advertisers, we simply have you, the people who care about abuse and corruption in the church and want to expose it. So, if you’re able, would you please consider giving a gift to support our ministry? And this month when you donate $30 or more, we’ll send you a copy of The Great DeChurching. This is a great resource exploring what’s causing the current exodus out of the church, and what can be done to stop the bleed. To donate and to get the book just go to JULIEROYS.COM/DONATE. Also, just a quick reminder to subscribe to The Roys Report on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts or Spotify. That way you won’t miss any of these episodes. And while you’re at it, I’d really appreciate it if you’d help us spread the word about the podcast by leaving a review. And then please share the podcast on social media so more people can hear about this great content. Again, thanks so much for joining me today. Hope you’re blessed and encouraged.   Read more

Power consumers in the Cape Coast Metropolis in the Central region are angry with the government and power distribution companies over unannounced persistent power outages which are affecting their businesses

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first recorded enslaved Africans in Virginia, America, in 2019 Ghana launched the ‘Year of Return', an initiative to encourage the African diaspora to invest, settle and visit. After a positive response a 10-year follow-up initiative called ‘Beyond the Return' was launched in 2020 to further promote investment, migration and tourism. As a result there has been an increase in visitor numbers, particularly from the United States with thousands of African-Americans making the trip across the Atlantic. Some have decided to stay. At least 1500 people have since moved to the West African country from the U.S and there are over 5000 African Americans currently living in Ghana. Dr Ashley Milton is one of them. An environmental science and policy expert and entrepreneur, Dr Milton relocated from Washington D.C. to Ghana's capital Accra just as the Year Of Return was being launched. In this documentary Dr Milton travels from Cape Coast to Tema, meeting a variety of African-Americans who now call Ghana home along the way. From a Marine Corps veteran who grew up in Los Angeles to a single mother from Atlanta, through varying stories of assimilation, hope, identity and migration, Ashley highlights the personal experiences of those like herself who have moved to Ghana, whilst reflecting on the significant historical connection between both countries for the BBC World Service.

This week: It's a 2023 wrap-up. We look back at the year's top stories for the region, including: After a whole lot of talk—and a whole lot of money spent—offshore wind turbines are now going up south of Martha's Vineyard. And, we've got a concrete plan for replacing the Cape bridges—just waiting on the money there. And that proposed massive machine gun range remains in limbo.

As a part of the Little Rock Sister Cities Commission, Tre' Day updates Tom on the visit from Cape Coast, Ghana!!!  #ThroughMyTwoBlueSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Fisheries closed season in Ghana, what is it and how does it affect fisherfolk?" In our newest episode, we delve into the important topic of the fisheries closed season in Ghana and its implications for fisherfolk. Today (1st of July), as Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire commence their closed season for artisanal and industrial fisheries, we are thrilled to feature Mr Nana Kweigyah as our guest. Mr Nana Kweigyah is the current National President of the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG), representing canoe and gear owners in Ghana's four coastal regions. With a background as a small-scale fisher and a graduate of the University of Cape Coast, Nana Kweigyah has devoted his life to advocating for the active involvement of fishers, particularly canoe owners, women, and youth, in fisheries governance and management. During our discussion, we explore the reasons behind implementing the fisheries closed season, assess its limitations and impacts, and offer recommendations for alternative approaches. We emphasise the importance of transparency, inclusivity, and ensuring equity and justice in fisheries management to prevent fisherfolk from being further marginalised and vulnerable to criminal networks. Join us as we unravel the complexities of the fisheries closed season in Ghana and its effects on the lives of fisherfolk.

Restitch America changes things up in episode 24 by taking you through Alma's experience visiting to slave castles in Ghana. As he describes his experience learning about the slave trade, we dive deeper into what went on in Ghanian culture during that time period, how the slave trade was started, and make parallels to the modern day. Restitch America's goal in discussing these difficult topics is to help others learn and to live by what Frederick Douglas said, "Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave." By doing so, we can keep generations from being ensnared by physical, mental bondage, or spiritual bondage. Come on this humbling journey with us, and share your thoughts with us. ____________________________________________________________ Connect with Jenny! Instagram: @imJennJohnson Twitter: @imJennJohnson ______________________________________________________________ Connect with Restitch America! Facebook- https://facebook.com/restitchamerica Twitter - https://twitter.com/restitchamerica Instagram - https://instagram.com/restitchamerica TikTok - https://tiktok.com/@restitchamerica Patreon - https://patreon.com/restitchamerica Website - https://anchor.fm/restitch-america --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/restitch-america/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/restitch-america/support

This week, guest host Julie Fishman Rayman, AJC's Senior Director of Policy and Political Affairs, had the honor of connecting with Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House Democratic Caucus, after he led a congressional delegation to Israel and Ghana. As we approach the AJC Global Forum 2023 in Tel Aviv, we have the opportunity to listen to the Democratic leader's insights on the trip, the crucial nature of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and the historical and contemporary significance of Black-Jewish relations. *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  ____ Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Hakeem Jeffries ____ Show Notes: Learn more about AJC Global Forum 2023 in Tel Aviv: AJC.org/GlobalForum Listen: 8 of the Best Jewish Podcasts Right Now From Roots to Harmony: Nefesh Mountain's Fusion of Jewish American Culture and Bluegrass Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, tag us on social media with #PeopleofthePod, and hop onto Apple Podcasts to rate us and write a review, to help more listeners find us. __ Transcript of interview with Hakeem Jeffries:  Manya Brachear Pashman: This week, Julie Fishman Rayman, AJC's Senior Director of Policy and Political Affairs, had the honor of connecting with leader of the House Democratic Caucus, Hakeem Jeffries, after he led a group of lawmakers on a recent trip to Israel. Julie, the mic is yours. Julie Fishman Rayman: Thanks, Manya. It's my pleasure to introduce Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, who represents the very diverse 8th congressional district of New York, in Brooklyn, and also serves as the Democratic Leader. He was unanimously elected to that position in November 2022, and in that capacity he is the highest ranking democrat in the US house. He is also the former chair of the democratic caucus, the whip of the congressional black caucus, and previously co-chaired the  Democratic Policy and Communications committee. Also, a great friend of AJC and the Jewish community. Leader Jeffries, welcome to People of the Pod. Hakeem Jeffries:     Wonderful to be on. Thanks so much for having me. Julie Fishman Rayman: I want to get started by asking you about Jewish American Heritage Month, which as you know, we celebrate in May. Many listeners may not realize that members in congressional leadership cosponsor very few bills – meaning cosign or add their name to endorse them . In this Congress–correct me if I'm wrong–you've cosponsored fewer than a dozen bills and only one resolution–the resolution commemorating Jewish American Heritage Month. Can you speak about this effort and why it was important to you to help lead it? Hakeem Jeffries:   Well, thank you so much. And that is absolutely correct. The tradition has been that members and leadership sponsor very few bills and even fewer resolutions, just because the enormity of the request is large. And you want to make sure that you're being very discerning in terms of what you want to elevate as a priority. And for me, it was incredibly important to make sure that I co sponsored the resolution that commemorated Jewish American Heritage Month for a variety of reasons, including the fact that I'm privileged to represent a district that has one of the largest Jewish communities in the country. In fact, I represent the ninth most African American district in the country, and the 16th most Jewish. And so I represent. As a good friend of mine, Leon Goldenberg, once and I quote, you've got the best of both worlds. It's an honor, though, to represent the reformed Jewish community, the conservative Jewish community, the Orthodox Jewish community, the modern Orthodox Jewish community, the ultra orthodox Jewish community, and more Russian speaking Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union than any other member of Congress in the country. I mean, Hakeem Jeffries, who knew only in America, but that's Brooklyn, that's New York City and the Jewish community has meant so much to the country, which is why we honor and celebrate and elevate Jewish American Heritage month but particularly has meant so much to the district that I'm privileged to represent to Brooklyn and to the great city of New York. Julie Fishman Rayman: The United States has many heritage months that celebrate the various communities that form the mosaic of our country, including Black History Month, Women's History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and more. By celebrating heritage months, we learn about one another, we honor the richness of our diverse nation, and we strengthen the fabric of American society. Some have described JAHM as going on the offensive against rising antisemitism, do you think that's an appropriate description? Amidst rising antisemitism and hate of all forms, does this change how we think about commemorative months?  Hakeem Jeffries:    Yes, it's a great question. I do think AJC's leadership and certainly the leadership of my former colleague, and good friend, Ted Deutsch has been phenomenally important in this area. And your leadership, Julie, of course, and this podcast and communicating information to the American people will continue to be critical. And the fact that the Jewish community is facing a shocking rise in anti semitism and hate crimes is a cause for alarm for all of us. And it does, I think, lead to the important conclusion that we need to rethink how we lean into the celebrations and acknowledgments, such as Jewish American Heritage Month. That is not just simply an opportunity to be able to communicate to the American people about the many accomplishments, the many ways in every field of human endeavor that Jewish Americans have contributed to the growth and development of America as we know it. And that is important, and that is appropriate. And that is a central part of what celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month should be all about.  But it also provides a vehicle to make sure that the appropriate narrative is in the public domain in a compelling way, as a vehicle to push back against the rise in antisemitism and hate crimes. Because it's an all hands on deck approach. And it is going to require using every tool available to us. The rise in sort of hatred and extremism, and divisive, generally should trouble us all throughout America over the last several years, and particularly, the sharp and dramatic rise, particularly given the history of the Jewish community, over 1000s of years of persecutions, and pogroms and pain and suffering, should alarm us all. And it is exactly the reason why thinking about this month as one of the tools that we can use to push back aggressively against the rise and hatred is an important and appropriate approach. Julie Fishman Rayman: In April, during your first congressional delegation trip as Leader, you traveled to Israel. You have been a great supporter, supporting Israel's right to defense and speaking out against anti-Israel sentiment time and time again. What were your biggest takeaways from this mission? What are the major challenges and opportunities for the U.S.-Israel relationship? Hakeem Jeffries:   Well, that was my sixth time traveling to Israel, fifth time as a member of Congress. And the first time that I traveled to Israel, I actually was a freshman member of the New York State Legislature as part of a trip sponsored by the JCRC of New York, a wonderful opportunity. Someone said to me recently, Julie, wait, wait. You've been to Israel six times. I said, Yes. That's more than any other country you've been to in the world. I said, That would be correct. Is it isn't that a lot? I said, No, not at all. First of all, I'm from New York City, where we consider Jerusalem to be the sixth borough. And I'm just trying to catch up to my constituents. Every time I go to Israel, it's a wonderful eye opening experience. This particular trip was meaningful to me in that I was able to actually lead a delegation for the first time in this position and choose where I would go to in the world as part of my first congressional trip on foreign soil, as the House Democratic Leader. And I chose to go to Israel and to Ghana, to incredibly meaningful countries to meet personally, to the people that I represent, and, of course, to the relationship that exists between the United States and Israel. And I wanted to do it so that it was timed to the anniversary of the 75th founding of the State of Israel, because I thought that will be meaningful for the members that agreed to travel with me and certainly meaningful to me to say to the world, that we're going to continue, as we've transitioned leadership in the House of Representatives, to stand behind the special relationship between the United States and Israel. And to make it clear that that's a special relationship that we as House Democrats believe, is anchored in our shared values and our shared strategic interests. And it was incredible because of the timing of we were there, both on the day of remembrance was incredibly moving. And I was able to participate in one of the ceremonies that we're held to acknowledge those who have been lost, both to acts of terror, and in the conflicts that Israel has been made to endure throughout the 75 year history. And then, of course, on the eve of the celebration connected to the 75th anniversary, and we had a very diverse group of members, several prominent Jewish American members of Congress, of course, like Josh Gottheimer and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Dean Phillips, Sarah Jacobs, who was a new and emerging leader, but also the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. Steve Horsford, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Nanette Barragan, the first vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Yvette Clarke, as well as the top Democrat on the foreign affairs committee, Greg Meeks. And so it was a wonderful experience. We had important public policy discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Herzog, with the Speaker of the Knesset, as well as the opposition leader, Lapid, they were open, they were honest, there were candid discussions about the challenges that our two countries face. But it was all anchored in our clear affirmation of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state, and our commitment as House Democrats to continue to lift up and elevate the special relationship between our two countries. Julie Fishman Rayman: So important. How's Israel doing at 75? Hakeem Jeffries:    I think Israel, it's a miracle, as has been described, that we've gotten to 75 years. And it's a testament to the strength, and the resilience and the ability, the heart, the soul, the love the intellect, of the Jewish people, and the people of the State of Israel. And I'm confident that through the challenges that we all face in Israel, the best is yet to come. You had an interesting discussion, because of the judicial reform, issues that are underway. And we've got challenges that we're working through here in the United States of America, certainly, as it relates to the Supreme Court, and what is the right, you know, balance in terms of our three branches of government. And we've got to work through that here. Many of us have been troubled by recent developments coming out of the Supreme Court, and Israel's working through trying to figure out what that right balance is, in terms of the rule of law, and the independence of the judiciary, and how that works together. I think what has been clear to me, in terms of Israel as a robust democracy, that will continue to be a robust democracy is not the challenge is that it's working through to find common ground. And those talks are being led, of course, by President Herzog. But most significantly, the fact that hundreds of 1000s of Israelis have been in the streets, exercising their right, their freedom of expression, their freedom of speech, their freedom of assembly, the right to peaceably gather and petition your government that is at the hallmark of a democratic society. And that's what we've seen, and not a single shot fired, probably nowhere else in the Middle East, would that have occurred other than in Israel, and it's an affirmation of Israel's democratic character. Julie Fishman Rayman: In just a few weeks, AJC will hold our annual Global Forum in Tel Aviv. What is one piece of advice you'd give the 1000 or so people coming from around the world to Israel at this time? Hakeem Jeffries:   Well, I do think that every time I've gone to Israel, what has been a wonderful aspect of the trip was talking to the full range of people in Israeli society, to get the perspectives on the ground in terms of their views related to the challenges that Israel confront, and the opportunities that exists to continue to thrive into the future. And those are particularly relevant conversations to have now that Israel has hit this incredible milestone of 75 years in what still remains one of the toughest, if not the toughest neighborhoods in the world. And one of the reasons why sustained dialogue, sustained opportunity to engage in wonderful that AJC is hosting this forum in the next month, is that the challenges are always unique whenever one arrives in Israel. You know, it could be Hamas, it could be Hezbollah, it could be uncertainty in terms of the Iranian malign activity in Syria. It's always, you know, Iran's efforts to try to secure a nuclear weapon and we're gonna make sure that Iran never becomes nuclear capable in Gaza. There are different moments in time, where particular concern meets a level of urgency, but it's always consistently within the frame of Israel living in a very tough neighborhood, which is what I, you know, we reiterated as House Democrats directly to Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to ensuring Israel maintains its qualitative military edge. My view on this thing has always been, and I grew up in central Brooklyn, came of age in the mid to late 80s, early 90s. I kind of know from tough neighborhoods. That was a tough neighborhood. I grew up in Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, Gaza, chaos in Syria, in Iraq, Iran with nuclear aspirations, dangerous situation in the Sinai. That's a tough neighborhood. And in a tough neighborhood. The one constant, as I've consistently said, is strength. You can achieve peace, you can achieve stability, but you can only achieve it through the lens of strength. And I think, part of the dialogue that we all should continue to have and will be important for AJC to continue to have is, you know, what are the severe threats that Israel currently confronts? And how can we continue to ensure that Israel has the strength to defend itself and to provide a foundation for lasting peace moving forward building upon things like the Abraham accords? Julie Fishman Rayman:  Prior to Israel, you and the members of congress who traveled with you to Israel went to Ghana, one of America's closest allies in West Africa and a nation that still bears the painful scars of the transatlantic slave trade. At AJC's 2019 Global Forum, you became the first member of the congressional Caucus on Black-Jewish Relations, I think less than an hour after it was officially launched. Did your back to back trips to Ghana and then Israel spark any insights as we continue–collectively–to try to bring Blacks and Jews closer together? Especially because Blacks and Jews were really strongly represented in your delegation? Hakeem Jeffries:   Yes, you know, AJC's effort in terms of forming the black Jewish caucus was a wonderful thing, a great foundation. And in many ways, the trip to Ghana and to Israel is in that same tradition. And as you pointed out, Julie, there were a lot of African American members of Congress who on the trip and a lot of Jewish men from the members of Congress who were on the trip who visited both countries. And, you know, we were able to involve Ghana, and in Israel and Ghana, visit the Cape Coast slave castles, which were central to the horrific transatlantic slave trade. And we also were able to visit Yad Vashem and I was able to lay a wreath and make it clear that we would never forget and never again, allow the Horus of what was seen during the Holocaust to occur. And it was important that in addition to, in Ghana, for instance, meeting with President Akufo Addo, to visit the site, for a lot of the activity of the transatlantic slave trade, and, of course, the ties that then connect to the African American community in the United States of America, and to visit the door of no return. But also to make sure that, in the time that we were in Israel, almost every time that I've been there, we've always made it a point to make sure that we visited Yad Vashem, it's always a very powerful, moving experience. And it was the same and to be able to do it together with black members of Congress and Jewish members of Congress, and leaders, who were not black and Jewish, but were on the trip with us, was really a powerful experience, I think, for everyone involved. And I think it's important for us to continue to try to lean in to strengthening the relationships between the black and Jewish community. It's something that because of the district that I represent, has always been central to my time and public service. And I do you know, I am moved by the fact that at least part of the district that I represent, and that told this story during the Democratic caucus celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, but I tried to tell it whenever I get the opportunity that I do represent a district that was once represented in part by a manual seller. And a manual seller was the longest certain Congress person in the history of the country. He served for 50 years, first elected in 1922. And served through 1972.  He was a staunch ally and advocate for the special relationship between the United States and Israel from the very beginning. He was there, I believe, with Truman, when the United States first recognized Israel, and was there to support the special relationship every step of the way throughout the time that he was in Congress. But what also is little known about Manny seller, as he was affectionately known in Brooklyn, is that during the 1960s, he was also the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, which meant that he played an important role, legislatively, and making sure that the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, became the law of the land, to crush Jim Crow, and crushed the effort to oppress the ability of African Americans, particularly in the south to participate fully in our democracy. And then you go to civil rights museums across the country, and whenever there have been exhibits, even here in the Library of Congress, usually always an acknowledgement of the role that Manny Celler played. And I'm proud of the fact that I can represent a district that someone who was such an important link between the black and Jewish community and actually played a meaningful role in helping to advance legislation to change the course of America, in supporting the efforts and leadership of Dr. King and others, is an important thing.  That's a tradition that I look forward to continuing to build upon and at the same time, to be able to represent a district as I mentioned earlier, where I serve more Russian speaking Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union than anyone else. And to know that Dr. King took time out from his days of leading the civil rights movement, to speak to Jewish leaders and rabbinical leaders across the country famously anchored in his guiding principle, that injustice anywhere is a justice everywhere, and it was great injustice, being directed at the Jewish community that was behind the Iron Curtain during the days of the Soviet Union, and to use his voice to speak up on behalf of what he appropriately viewed as his Jewish brothers and sisters who are facing oppression. That example that was set by Dr. King, that example that was set by Congressman Judiciary Committee Chair Manny Celler, who wasn't just focused on strengthening the relationship between the United States and Israel, but also dealt with the injustices directed at African Americans throughout the United States. That's a powerful heritage for us in Congress, or us as leaders, as AJC has promoted, to continue to build upon. Julie Fishman Rayman: Thank you so much, you've provided us with such a sweeping understanding not just of the history-everything from Manny Celler to Dr. King to Yad Vashem. But also a vision for where we can all go collectively. Whether it's in May, during Jewish American Heritage Month, or Black History Month, or every day, trying to honor the legacy of Americans from all facets who lift up our great nation and make it what it is today. Leader Jeffries, thank you for your leadership and thank you for being with us. Hakeem Jeffries:   Thank you so much, what an honor Julie to be on and all the best to you and look forward to continuing to work closely with Ted, with AJC, on behalf of the issues that we all care about, particularly as it relates to the well being of the Jewish community here in the United States of America and throughout the world. Manya Brachear Pashman: If you missed last week's episode, be sure to tune in for my conversation with the Jewish bluegrass duo Nefesh Mountain, featuring not one but two live musical performances, a wonderful way to wrap up our month-long series of shows honoring Jewish American Heritage.  

Bishop Wright is in Ghana with 15 pilgrims of the Diocese of Atlanta with their companion diocese, The Diocese of Cape Coast. Over the next two weeks, we will share the space of For People with special guests. In this episode, Melissa has a conversation with Bishop Doug Scharf of The Diocese of Southwest Florida. They discuss how he sees the resurrection, what is emerging in Christianity, and what might be emerging with the faithful in the diocese Bishop Scharf serves. 

3.28.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Seattle Police Reform, Kamala Harris at Black Star Gate, DeShayla Harris Lawsuit, TX State Edu Bills Today, Seatle Washington's Mayor announced the joint filing of a new compliance agreement between the City of Seattle and the United States Department of Justice as the Seattle Police Department prepares to transition into the next phase of sustained reform. We will explain the remaining steps to achieve a total case settlement in Seattle. A Virginia Family of a woman killed by police the same night a police officer shot and killed Donovon Lynch is suing The City of Virginia Beach for $50M. We will speak with family Attorney Justin Fairfax about the federal wrongful death and gross negligence lawsuit filed by the estate of DeShayla Harris. Texas is trying to whitewash history with brand-new education-limiting State senate Bills. We will speak with Texas NAACP Education State Chair about what is being done to protect how history is taught. The descendants of the Muscogee Creek Freedmen get their day in court. Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, the lead attorney and member of Justice for Black Creeks Coalition, will join us to give us an update on the case.  Vice President Kamala Harris takes an emotional tour of Ghana's slave castle. We'll hear what she had to say about the Cape Coast slave castle that was active during the transatlantic slave trade that forcibly removed millions of Africans.  In our Marketplace segment will show you how to get your kids into healthy skincare routines with a grandmother and granddaughter team who created a skincare line for kids. We will speak with the creators of Skye Monroe Skincare about the importance of early skin care. It's Time to Bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

3.28.2023 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Seattle Police Reform, Kamala Harris at Black Star Gate, DeShayla Harris Lawsuit, TX State Edu BillsToday, Seatle Washington's Mayor announced the joint filing of a new compliance agreement between the City of Seattle and the United States Department of Justice as the Seattle Police Department prepares to transition into the next phase of sustained reform. We will explain the remaining steps to achieve a total case settlement in Seattle. A Virginia Family of a woman killed by police the same night a police officer shot and killed Donovon Lynch is suing The City of Virginia Beach for $50M. We will speak with family Attorney Justin Fairfax about the federal wrongful death and gross negligence lawsuit filed by the estate of DeShayla Harris. Texas is trying to whitewash history with brand-new education-limiting State senate Bills. We will speak with Texas NAACP Education State Chair about what is being done to protect how history is taught. The descendants of the Muscogee Creek Freedmen get their day in court. Attorney Damario Solomon-Simmons, the lead attorney and member of Justice for Black Creeks Coalition, will join us to give us an update on the case.  Vice President Kamala Harris takes an emotional tour of Ghana's slave castle. We'll hear what she had to say about the Cape Coast slave castle that was active during the transatlantic slave trade that forcibly removed millions of Africans.  In our Marketplace segment will show you how to get your kids into healthy skincare routines with a grandmother and granddaughter team who created a skincare line for kids. We will speak with the creators of Skye Monroe Skincare about the importance of early skin care. It's Time to Bring the funk on Roland Martin Unfiltered streaming live on the Black Star Network. Let's go. Download the Black Star Network app at http://www.blackstarnetwork.com! We're on iOS, AppleTV, Android, AndroidTV, Roku, FireTV, XBox and SamsungTV. The #BlackStarNetwork is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Good Monday morning from Accra, Ghana, where VP Kamala Harris is kicking off a seven-day diplomatic mission to Africa, aiming to reset relations between the United States and the three countries she's visiting — Ghana, Zambia and Tanzania — as China looks to deepen its foothold on the continent. Playbook is with Harris as she becomes the latest and highest-ranking administration official to travel to Africa as part of President Joe Biden's effort to reengage with the continent economically after decades of relations focused mainly on human rights and humanitarian concerns. Her schedule includes bilateral meetings with the leaders of each of the three nations, a visit to Ghana's Cape Coast slave castle, announcements of new public-private investments, confabs with business and philanthropic leaders and even a trip to a local music studio. Harris must balance myriad diplomatic goals …   - Prove to African nations that the U.S. — like China — is willing to invest hard dollars in their countries as true partners … - While not framing those partnerships as merely part of a global clash of superpowers …  - And also changing how Americans see the continent in order to generate more private investment.

Akosua Awusi is the Founder and Chief Experience Officer at African Conversations and Connections (ACC Tours) — a boutique travel company providing group excursions to sub-Saharan Africa. ACC Tour's mission is to help tell the African story by providing safe, world class and inclusive guided tours of what Akosua likes to call Black Africa. ACC Tour's primary goal is to allow travelers to experience Black Africa below the surface. The company's curated tours are intimate by design — this allows travelers to immerse themselves in Africa's people, history and culture. In this interview, Akosua delves into what is magical about Ghana, its beautiful and welcoming people and why everyone should visit West Africa at least once. Akosua also shares with us her business model for getting more African Americans to visit the motherland, and she excitingly shares with us that ACC Tours have expanded their model into Tanzania. The company will also be expanding into Senegal and Nigeria. She is especially proud that in addition to her staff introducing travelers to the historic sites (e.g. Elmina at Cape Coast, Makola Market in Accra, 233 Night Club, etc.), she and her staff are adept at helping you to solidify your vision of the kind of experience you would like to have while in Ghana. If you want a dance class, yoga sessions, or take a ride in an ATV, ACC Tours can help you with that and many more offerings. We also jokingly talk about the friendly competition of which West African country has the best Jollof! Is is Ghana, Senegal or Nigeria? Akosua, who is a first generation American (her parents immigrated to Maryland from Ghana), received her degree in Finance from Temple University and her MBA from Pennsylvania State University. Akosua is bilingual in both English and Twi, and she has lived in Ghana and Belgium, along with working in other major cities in Africa and Europe.

The two men arrested in connection with the murder of a lady at Mankessim in the Central Region have admitted to the police they murdered her for money rituals. Christopher Ekow Clark Quansah a.k.a. Nana Clark, Tufuhen of Ekumfi Akwakrom and a self-styled pastor, Michael Darko, were yesterday arraigned at a Cape Coast district court on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and murder.

The conversation continues: TeaRon (@tearonworld) seeks for better understanding of his recent visit to Ghana in hopes of trying to understand why things are the way they are. He is joined again by Ofori Ankah Kofi "OAK" (@oak_360) as they deep dive into what it will take to better the connections with African-Americans and Ghanaians throughout the African Diaspora.Learn More About our Guest:KR8tors - Artist | Mentoring: @kr8torsInstagram: @oak_360TikTok: @oak_360YouTube: Ofori Ankah KofiTwitter: @oak_360www.SalesVidz.comUbiquitous Blacks InstagramUbiquitous Blacks Facebook

TeaRon (@tearonworld) returns from his first visit to Ghana and the continent of Africa to sit down with Ofori Ankah Kofi "OAK" (@oak_360), a digital creative based in Ghana who has vision of connecting with others in the African Diaspora in a tangible way. The two discuss the importance of understanding and connecting culturally, the proper ways to invest in countries like Ghana in a new digital age, as well as the importance of appreciating and valuing our Black brothers and sisters in the diaspora. Learn More About our Guest:KR8tors - Artist | Mentoring: @kr8torsInstagram: @oak_360TikTok: @oak_360YouTube: Ofori Ankah KofiTwitter: @oak_360www.SalesVidz.com

Ebo Taylor gehört neben Fela Kuti zu den wichtigsten Figuren der modernen afrikanischen Musik. Er den Highlife popularisiert und ist seit sechs Jahrzehnten in der Musikszene von Ghana aktiv. Der Musiker hat in seiner Karriere vieles erlebt und gesehen. 1936 kam er in Cape Coast zur Welt, und erlebte als Teenager, wie Ghana unabhängig von den britischen Kolonialherren wurde. In den 60ern spielte er in der Musikszene von Accra eine wichtige Rolle – auf der Bühne und hinter den Kulissen als Musikproduzent und Bandleader. 2010 hat Ebo Taylor ein großes Comeback gefeiert. Seither prägt er das weltweite Highlife- und Afrobeat-Revival. In seinem Soundtrack spricht Ebo Taylor über seine Studienzeit in London, seine Freundschaft mit Fela Kuti und über seinen zweiten Frühling mit über 70 Jahren. Von Adrian Nowak.

Psalm 97.10 NLT 'You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.' One of the signs that we truly love God is that we start to hate evil. That kind of burning hatred is critically important, because the many great evils in the world will never come to an end unless people start hating them. The evil transatlantic slave trade only stopped when people started to identify its horror and start hating it. I once visited the ancient fort at Cape Coast in Ghana, where slaves were held before being ferried to the slave ships. For me, the most horrific discovery was that the dungeons in which the slaves were brutally held was underneath the chapel. As the slave traders worshipped God, they must have heard the cries of the slaves. For centuries, people lived with the slave trade as an acceptable, if regrettable, part of life. It was only when people started to hate it and fight against it that the tide turned. Eventually, albeit far too slowly, the slave trade was dismantled. There is plenty in our own world which deserves our hatred. We need to hate poverty, which occurs in every part of the world. Poverty distorts and cheapens life. It places enormous pressure on relationships and health and often leads to depression and violence. There is nothing good that can be said about poverty, but we live with it with surprising ease. We live in one of the wealthiest countries in the world but, incredibly, we all live close to poverty. This psalm suggests to me that, as we love God more and more, he wants our hatred of poverty to increase, because then we will start taking initiative to help to eradicate it. It's so easy to respond to poverty by blaming others. The government is a popular target and, often, so are people living in poverty themselves. But this is a cheap way of trying to evade our responsibilities. The fact is, the government cannot do everything and although some people may well bear a degree of responsibility for their poverty, we have also played our part in keeping them poor. This is one more illustration of the fact that true worship of the living God must lead us to action. Question: How much do you hate poverty in your own community and what are you doing as a result of your hatred? Prayer: Loving Father, help me to love you so much that I will start hating evil in the same way as you do. Amen

An anointed teaching by God's Servant Emmanuel Twum-Antwi.

New projections for sea level rise are causing councils and residents across New Zealand to re-think their future. Interest in the SeaRise website has been so high that it crashed on Monday after being flooded with visitors wanting to know if their local area could be at risk. Cape Coast coastal erosion group Walking on Water spokesperson Keith Newman spoke to Corin Dann.

Uber and Bolt have revolutionised the way we commute and travel across Accra and Ghana. However, it comes with it's fair share of problems! We discuss everything from ordering taxis and Ubers for days and night outs and pot hole nightmares, to shipping your own car out to Ghana and failing MOT!For today's show visit: https://thesoundofaccra.com/ubermadnessFollow us on Social Media and watch on YouTube: https://linktr.ee/thesoundofaccrapodIce Cream and Ting: Premium Ice Cream Exotic small-batch ice cream, inspired by the rich flavours of The African and Carribbean ContinentSupport the show

Since their 2017 Christmas Launch, Bolt (formerly Taxify) has come a long way in a short time to become Ghana's leading Ride- Hailing / Ride sharing app service, and have supposedly knocked off Uber and friends off the top spot! Bolt is not only available in Accra, but has also expanded to Koforidua, Cape Coast, Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi. This shows that slick technology and a clever growth marketing strategy can work for any business going against a giant. Uber setup a base in Ghana quite some time ago and even had pop-up promotional stands in some of the shopping malls in Ghana. Despite this, it seems that the Ghanaian public has grown to love Bolt more, and as a result, Uber has had to push their prices down in an attempt to reclaim some of that all important market share.Is taxi haggling in Ghana finally over?  Use promo code "ADRIAND16" to get a discount off your first ride!If you have an opinion you want to share, please get in touch with us on social media, on Linkedin or instagram or email on info@thesoundofaccra.comSupport the show (https://www.paypal.me/gofundad)

Mary Spio is a deep space engineer, tech innovator and entrepreneur. She is the CEO and founder of CEEK Virtual Reality. Spio was raised in Ghana. She had her secondary school education at Holy Child High School in Cape Coast. At the age of 16 years she moved to stay in Syracuse, New York in US. She attended Syracuse University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering in 1998. She later pursued a master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Georgia Institute of Technology. Spio served in the U.S. Air force for 6 years as a wideband and satellite communications technician. After her service in the air force she moved to work with a at a satellite communications firm and had the opportunity of designing and launching satellites into deep space on a NASA project. She subsequently become the head of satellite communication systems for The Boeing Corporation. In 2015, Spio founded the CEEK Virtual Reality platform, which currently runs as a streaming service for virtual events which enables live events and helps content creators to reach their fans and users through virtual means including virtual reality headsets, gaming consoles, mobile phones, tablets, desktops, laptops and Smart TVs. The CEEK VR platform was expanded into the The CEEK VR App and the CEEK website. Spio is also a writer and is the author of It's Not Rocket Science: 7 Game-Changing Traits for Uncommon Success, a self-help book published in 2015, and A Song for Carmine, a love-romance novel. She has also contributed to Chicken Soup for the Soul in the past.

In this episode, we will learn more about the Ghana Health System - its differences and similarities for comparison as well as insights with Dr. Elom Hillary Otchi.Elom Hillary Otchi is the the Technical Director of the Africa Institute of Healthcare Quality, Safety, and Accreditation (AfiHQSA). He is an expert in quality, a Certified Health Surveyor (CHS), and Fellow of the International Society for Quality in Healthcare (FISQua). In Ghana he has held various roles including support for the National Patient Safety Policy. Dr. Otchi holds a PhD from the University of Ghana, School of Public Health; a Masters Degree in Public Health (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology); Masters Degree  Organizational Development (University of Cape Coast) and a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.http://www.afihqsa.com/Home/About 

In this episode we talk with Zach! Zach served in the Ghana Cape Coast Mission. We talked about his missionary experience, coming home early due to the pandemic, companionships, and his advice for missionaries. He also talks about what got him out on a mission and how that reason changed over the course of his mission. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/called-to-serve01/support

Visit https://www.thesoundofaccra.com/james for the show notes and moreJames is a Ghanaian born in the UK (South London to be exact), where he lived all my life apart from five years. Four years in Keele University with Adrian and one in Ghana. He went to school in Cape Coast in a school named Mfantsipim which boasts an alumni of Kofi Annan, Kofi Busia, Arthur Wharton, William Ofori-Atta, Tsatsu Tsikata, J.E Casely-Hayford, Majid Michel and Obour!He is enthused by politics (UK and Ghanaian), business and development in Ghana and a huge interest in helping other Ghanaians make the move back home. He is the founder of a group called the Ghana Collective that aims to help with this.In this episode, we cover:What the Future of Ghana may look like across different areasIf James would raise his kids and put them through School in Ghana like he didInteresting developments and topics surrounding GhanaKEY LINKS AND RESOURCESWest Hills MallWhat I learned about Street Hawkers in Ghana – Adrian DanielsNatural Ghana Girl building HousesNew Ghana Airport at PramPram – In planningWoodin FashionChocolate by Kweku BediakoAliko Dangote – Africa's richest manDream Desserts GhanaHoliday HelperrThe ‘Amazons' of Africa you've probably never heard of – Adrian Daniels Visit https://www.thesoundofaccra.com/james for the show notes and moreConnect with The Sound of Accra PodcastCheck out our new YouTube ChannelTweet #thesoundofaccrapodcast, tag us on Instagram @thesoundofaccra and mention us on Linkedin Support the show (https://www.paypal.me/gofundad)

Visit https://www.thesoundofaccra.com/james for the show notes and moreJames is a Ghanaian born in the UK (South London to be exact), where he lived all my life apart from five years. Four years in Keele University with Adrian and one in Ghana. He went to school in Cape Coast in a school named Mfantsipim which boasts an alumni of Kofi Annan, Kofi Busia, Arthur Wharton, William Ofori-Atta, Tsatsu Tsikata, J.E Casely-Hayford, Majid Michel and Obour!He is enthused by politics (UK and Ghanaian), business and development in Ghana and a huge interest in helping other Ghanaians make the move back home. He is the founder of a group called the Ghana Collective that aims to help with this.In this episode, we cover:James experience of life and School in GhanaWhy James resonates so much with Ghana and is passionate about his country and its developmentKey figures and ideas worth considering surrounding GhanaKEY LINKS AND RESOURCESAdisadel collegeMfantsipim SchoolMorning star schoolHoly child Ghana School James dads cousin was Mugabe's first wifeGhana Elections Nzima language Different types of TwiFree Podcast CourseGhana Collective*BOOK - The Big eat the Small, The Fast Eat the SlowErnest Aryeetey - James UncleEkwow Spio-Garbah - James UncleAndrew Egyapa Mercer- James UncleJames Mercer (Diplomat) - James GrandadNana Assiama Guahyia Ababio, the Edubiasehene – James Maternal Grandfather* We may earn a small kickback at no cost to you if you follow through on the link to purchase the book on AmazonVisit https://www.thesoundofaccra.com/james for the show notes and moreConnect with The Sound of Accra PodcastCheck out our new YouTube ChannelTweet #thesoundofaccrapodcast, tag us on Instagram @thesoundofaccra and mention us on Linkedin Support the show (https://www.paypal.me/gofundad)