The first Tuesday in November represents the official US election day. As polling evolves for higher participation and greater inclusion, most states offer early voting so millions have already cast thier votes. Throughout this year of elections across the globe, the build up to the two where I have a say, the United States and Ghana, has played a critical role in inspiring my most activist self to move the dial in different ways toward manifesting a new world. Coincidentally, this week on the podcast kicks off our Writing as Activism series in coordination with the Pa Gya! Literary Festival in Accra. Recorded live at the eighth installment of the festivaland in the days that followed, starting the panel, Writing as Activism: Ghanaian Voices and Pan-African Perspectives Across Genres, the conversation starts with a distinguished voices covering works of poetry, screenwriting, and nonfiction scholarship with:

Nicole Amarteifio is an acclaimed Ghanaian-American TV/film writer, director, and producer. She successfully launched the hit web series 'An African City’ - dubbed by CNN and the BBC as Africa’s answer to ‘Sex and the City’.

Returning Glocal Citizen, Nydia A. Swaby is a Black feminist artist, researcher and curator. Her practice engages archives, autoethnography, photography, the moving image, and the imagination to explore the gendered, diasporic and affective dimensions of Black being and becoming. In addition to curating artistic programmes, she creates visual narratives, research and performance texts. Nydia's first book, Amy Ashwood Garvey and the Future of Black Feminist Archives, was published by Lawrence Wishart in October 2024 as part of LW's Radical Black Women book series. She is also developing an artist film, Amy and Me in the Archive, which will be screened at the forthcoming Singapore International Photography Festival 2024.

And Poet Laureate of Jamaica, Kwame Dawes, author of numerous books of poetry and other books of fiction, criticism, and essays. His most recent collection is Sturge Town (Peepal Tree Press, UK 2023). Dawes is Professor of Literary Arts at Brown University. He teaches in the Pacific MFA Program and is the Series Editor of the African Poetry Book Series, Director of the African Poetry Book Fund, and Artistic Director of the Calabash International Literary Festival. He is a Chancellor for the Academy of American Poets and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Kwame Dawes is the winner of the prestigious Windham/Campbell Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the 2022 Neustadt International Prize for Literature. In 2022 Dawes was awarded the Order of Distinction Commander class by the Government of Jamaica. He is the Poet Laureate of Jamaica (2024-2027).

Click through to find out more about the Pa Gya! Literary Festival and the Writer’s Project Ghana and watch this and other festival panels at WPGTV.

Where to find Nicole?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On YouTube
On X

Where to find Kwame?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On X
On Facebook

Where to find Nydia?
On Glocal Citizens
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On X

Other topics of interest and the Essential Pan-African Activism reading list coming soon!

*This audio recording has been edited for clarity from the original video recording.

Special Guests: Kwame Dawes, Nicole Amarteifio, and Nydia Swaby.

I’m back in Accra and it’s HOT and HUMID, but thankfully not so dusty--I’ve successfully evaded the Harmattan! A significant contrast to the environs for my guest this week who dials in from her hometown of London, England. Raised between London and Brooklyn with roots in Jamaica, Aruba and Donimica, Marlea Edwards was drawn to the creative arts from theatre to photography, storytelling, mythology and anthropology from an early age. She is an award-winning, multi-disciplinary creative artist and creative consultant with a key focus on visual storytelling and connecting to audiences. She is CEO and founder of Me + You Films, a boutique production company. As a global, independent professional creative director, producer, director, writer, filmmaker, and edit producer, her early career and work includes working on award-winning BBC shows like Top Gear, Strictly Come Dancing and Eastenders 25 Live, to the London 2012 Olympic Games, London and New York Fashion week and Lenny Kravitz’s Strut Tour. Other Brands and Clients include Endemol, BBC, Tom Ford and Tom Ford Beauty, Gucci, DVF, Kohl’s, FarFetch, Lush Cosmetics, Preen and ITN Productions. Her latest project, Garms: Black Culture's Influence on British Fashion, a one-off documentary deep dive into the world of Black British fashion and culture premiers this week on Wednesday, February 21st.
Currently writing and freelancing for award-winning brands and production companies, her own and others, when she’s not working with commercial clients she creates artwork with an African spiritualist theme focused on the female form.

Where to find Marlea?
marleaedwards.com
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Vimeo
On Twitter
On [IMDb](= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4237999/?ref_=nmbio_ov )

What’s Marlea listening to?
André 3000
Cleo Sol
Sampha

What’s Marlea watching?
One Day on Netflix
Champion on Netflix
Dreaming Whilst Black

Other topics of interest:
About Queens Park, London
About Wembley, UK
About Prospect Park, Brooklyn
About Miss Lou, Jamaican poet laureate
the london stage school
Who are Key Workers in the UK?
BET UK’s Cicela Deane
London Fashion Week
About Bianca Saunders
About Martine Rose
About Tolu Coker
About Labrum
About Althea McNish
Liberty London
About Nicholas Daley
Priya Ahluwalia
Cortez Streetwear
Windrush then and now
4 -7 - 8 Breathing

Special Guest: Marlea Edwards.

In 2017, Brigitte lead the full production of her personal story in a documentary film called, My Stolen Childhood. The BBC Our World commissioned 25 minutes edit which has been seen by millions of people globally. In November 2019, the BBC named her one of the most inspiring women in the world.

She is a story strategist and cultural translator, who helps international media agencies and development organizations step away from narratives of victimhood and unequal power dynamics to tell stories that connect to the human heart.

I'm delighted to share this inspiring guest and her story of ascent, overcoming a traumatic childhood to emerge in her womanhood as a masterful narrative storyteller.

Where to find Brigitte?
On LinkedIn
On Twitter
On Instagram
On YouTube

What's Brigitte watching?
Awon Boys on Netflix
The Creative Brain

What's Brigitte reading?
Healing the Soul of a Woman: How to Overcome Your Emotional Wounds by Joyce Meter
Crazy Faith: It's Only Crazy Until It Happens by Michael Todd
Woman Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears and Revolutionize Your Life by Sarah Jakes Roberts

Other topics of interest:
What is the Trokosi System?
Imposter Syndrome
Check out Emmanuel Etim's episodes of the podcast and Refined Creative

*When you click and purchase books using the link(s) above, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!

Special Guest: Brigitte Perenyi.

I catch up with Will while he is in our shared home country, Ghana where he has been for the better part of the last year on new uncle duty and in research mode for his next project. He is in the post-production process of his second short film “ELEMENT” while also preparing his first feature film experience, co-writing alongside Jérémy Comte, the Oscar-nominated director. As you'll hear in Part 2, Will is now represented by LA based production studio Florence for commercials and music videos which has given him the opportunity to work with artist such as H.E.R and Billy Eilish.

Where to find Will?
www.wniava.com
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Vimeo
On YouTube
On Twitter
On Facebook

What's will listening to?
Classic Reggae
AmaPiano
Dave

What's will watching?
Memories of a Murder
In the Mood for Love
Uncut Gems
Good Time

Other topics of interest:
NAFTI Ghana
Concordia University - Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema
Black Magic Equipment
Red Digital Equipment
Ghanaian Footballers Jordan Ayew and André Ayew
Fauve Short Film
Solitary Dancer
Barry Jenkins
Jordan Peele
About Amapiano
Afrofuturism

Special Guest: Will Niava.

We're welcoming August with a doubleheader featuring Will Niava, an award winning Ivorian-Ghanaian film director based but not bound to Montréal, Canada. After his education in film production at the Concordia University in Quebec, Will directed a number of projects around the world--namely, four episodes of MTV Shuga, a fiction series in the Ivory Coast as well as “Violence Of The Lambs”, a music video released on NOWNESS from which he made his first short film “ZOO.” ZOO was selected at over 60 international film festivals of which 15 are Oscar qualifying. The film has since racked up over 10 awards. After its Vimeo Staff Picks release, ZOO is now available on the prestigious Criterion Collection.

I catch up with Will while he is in our shared home country, Ghana where he has been for the better part of the last year on new uncle duty and in research mode for his next project. He is in the post-production process of his second short film “ELEMENT” while also preparing his first feature film experience, co-writing alongside Jérémy Comte, the Oscar-nominated director. As you'll hear in Part 2, Will is now represented by Los Angeles based production studio Florence. for commercials and music videos which has given him the opportunity to work with artist such as H.E.R and Billy Eilish.

Where to find Will?
[www.wniava.com](www.wniava.com)
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Vimeo
On YouTube
On Twitter
On Facebook

What's will listening to?
Classic Reggae
AmaPiano
Dave

What's will watching?
Memories of a Murder
In the Mood for Love
Uncut Gems
Good Time

Other topics of interest:
NAFTI Ghana
Concordia University - Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema [
Black Magic Equipment
Red Digital Equipment
Ghanaian Footballers Jordan Ayew and André Ayew
Fauve Short Film
Solitary Dancer
Barry Jenkins
Jordan Peele
About Amapiano
Afrofuturism

Special Guest: Will Niava.

My guest for the next two episodes is Emmanuel Etim, founder of Refined Creative. Emmanuel is a Nigerian-American that now calls Accra home base of operations offering production and training services with the goal of raising awareness of international development and innovations through visual storytelling.

In Part 1 of our discussion Emmanuel tells us about his early exposure to non-fiction story-telling through six degrees of separation from Michael Moore and how he came to call Accra home, for now.

Links of Interest
Find out more about Emmanuel and the Refined Creative vision here.
and
On Linkedin
On Instagram

What's Emmanuel watching?
Longmire on Netflix

Special Guest: Emmanuel Etim.