A native New Yorker by way of Panama, Jamaica, and Virginia, Tai’s life story is filled with a history of progressive stands. From his mother’s family being among those that contributed to the suit that integrated schools across the United States—Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka to his father’s influential network of academics and thought leaders, his craft was in the making for his entire upbringing—without him necessarily knowing it. #Listenandlearn more!

Where to find Tai?
https://taiallen.com/
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On YouTube
On Soundcloud

Other topics of interest:
About Yonkers, New York
Perspective on Jamaican Migration to Panama
About Colón and Panama City in Panama
About Saint Ann and Saint Elizabeth Jamaica
The Maroons of Jamaica
How Scots became a presence in Jamaica…
Flyght Tyme, the band
About Tai’s connection to Roots Author, Alex Palmer Haley and Palmer Family Ancestry
The Five Cases that lead to Brown v. Board
About recently shuttered community hotspot, The Brooklyn Moon Cafe and Michael Thompson
What was Real Player?
The Last Poets
Amiri Baraka
Yosef Ben-Jochannan “Dr. Ben”
About Leonard Jeffries
Who is Chi Ossé?
Revisit Anna Malaika Tubbs on Glocal Citizens
CBC - Congressional Black Caucus
What’s happening in policy in Utah?
A timeline of policing, law enforcement and resistance in the US

Special Guest: Tai Allen.

A native New Yorker by way of Panama, Jamaica, and Virginia, Tai’s life story is filled with a history of progressive stands. From his mother’s family being among those that contributed to the suit that integrated schools across the United States—Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka to his father’s influential network of academics and thought leaders, his craft was in the making for his entire upbringing—without him necessarily knowing it. #Listenandlearn more!

Where to find Tai?
https://taiallen.com/
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On YouTube
On Soundcloud

Other topics of interest:
About Yonkers, New York
Perspective on Jamaican Migration to Panama
About Colón and Panama City in Panama
About Saint Ann and Saint Elizabeth Jamaica
The Maroons of Jamaica
How Scots became a presence in Jamaica…
Flyght Tyme, the band
About Tai’s connection to Roots Author, Alex Palmer Haley and Palmer Family Ancestry
The Five Cases that lead to Brown v. Board
About recently shuttered community hotspot, The Brooklyn Moon Cafe and Michael Thompson
What was Real Player?
The Last Poets
Amiri Baraka
Yosef Ben-Jochannan “Dr. Ben”
About Leonard Jeffries
Who is Chi Ossé?
Revisit Anna Malaika Tubbs on Glocal Citizens
CBC - Congressional Black Caucus
What’s happening in policy in Utah?
A timeline of policing, law enforcement and resistance in the US

Special Guest: Tai Allen.

We’re picking up more momentum toward African progress sharing the stories of dynamic diasporans making impact in the reparatory justice space. On the eve of Africa Day, I attended the premier screening of Omitted, a short film exploring reparatory justice and the legacies of colonialism by Lavinya Stennett, founder of The Black Curriculum. Raised in the UK with Jamaican roots, she founded The Black Curriculum in 2019 at age 22 shortly after finishing her studies at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) which included a study abroad program in New Zealand. Her learning and experience with indigenous communities in New Zealand joined with her activism as a student at SOAS are the framework for the craft of truthtelling that is at the core of The Black Curriculum.

Believing in the power of education, social impact and youth social entrepreneurship, her work has been recognised globally from Vogue and GQ to the historic Freedom of the City of London Award in 2024. She also has written on social and cultural themes throughout the African diaspora for outlets including the Guardian, Black Ballad, Quartz Africa.

Expanding her entrpreneurship journey, in 2024 Lavinya co-founded the Racial Impact Collective, an initiative supporting social entrepreneurs and seeking equity in the grant making world. The future is brighter with knowing that there is a generation fo social innovators with creative talents like Lavinya committed to justice for marginalized peoples.

Where to find Lavinya?
https://www.lavinyastennett.co.uk
TheBlackCurriculum.com
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On YouTube

What’s Lavinya reading?
Material World by Ed Conway
Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi

Other topics of interest:
Portland and Saint Thomas, Jamaica
Barbados and the Welcome Stamp Visa - Note: the capital is Bridgetown, not Christ Church
The SOAS Walter Rodney Prize
Dream New Scholarship
Univrsity of Waikato
About the Treaty of Waitangi and the latest on the [protest haka in the New Zealand’s Parliament seen around the globe](linkhttps://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/5/new-zealand-parliament-suspends-maori-mps-who-performed-protest-haka)
About Omitted production partner, Transmission
About Peace First

Special Guest: Lavinya Stennett.

As is our tradition, this month is all about herstories. Kicking it off is fellow Stanford Cardinal and return guest, Stacy Kirk. Stacy has over 15 years of experience helping organizations and entrepreneurs achieve their visions through technology and process optimization. She specializes in strategies that drive sustainable growth and scalability, with a passion for supporting diverse, small businesses. Stacy excels at turning visionary ideas into practical solutions, enabling success for her clients. Her dedication to innovation and inclusion continues to make a lasting impact in the business world. As the founder of QualityWorks, she empowers visionary entrepreneurs to achieve their go-to-market goals through technology, AI, and an iterative release process. Continuing to expand on her tech activism Stacy is increasingly dedicating her craft to social impact and human progress for all. She recently teamed up with another fellow Stanford Alum, Dr. Anndretta Lyle as co-founder of Thrive Culture Box which is all about empowering families and educators to change the ways that we are building knowledge in Black communities.

Where to find Stacy?
@posture
@Quality Works Consulting Group
On LinkedIn
On Instagram

What’s Stacy Reading?
Life Is a Comeback : 299 Inspiring Success Stories of Redemption, Determination, Second Chances, Forgiveness, and the Amazing Force of the Human Spirit by Daron “Dr. Comeback” Fordham

Other topics of interest:
Thrive Culture Box in Black Enterprise
Black Arts Camp
The Bionic Woman Series

Special Guest: Stacy Kirk.

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.

Beach has been in heavy rotation in my mind lately so I decided to recreate the experience of being there through conversations with guests from a favorite beach destination - Jamaica. Our tour guides for this virtual experience are fellow Stanford alum and techpreneur, Stacy Kirk; logistics, supply chain and production systems expert, Andray McKenzie; ceramic sculptor and art therapist, Beverley Watson; intelligence advisor, author, and speaker, Suki Fuller; global lifestyle ambassador, Morris Sinclair; talent development visionary, Natasha Moore; and Black feminist researcher, writer, and curator, Nydia Swaby.

I drew some inspriation from learning that last week, on May 23rd, Jamaica observed May Day or Labour Day while this week, the US observes Memorial Day. In the spirit of meaningful work and service and reflection you’ll hear voices from Glocal Citizens throughout the years.

Where to find our guests?
Stacy Kirk
Andray McKenzie
Beverley Watson
Suki Fuller
Morris Sinclair
Natasha D. Moore
Nydia A. Swaby

Other topics of interest:
May Day in Jamaica
The Origins of Memorial Day

Special Guests: Andray McKenzie, Beverley Watson, Morris Sinclair, Natasha Moore, Nydia Swaby, Stacy Kirk, and Suki Fuller.

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.

This week’s episode comes to us courtesy of a dinner hosted by EP 22/23 guest, Kwame Acheampong. Kwame and my guest, Stephen Newton are longtime colleagues that recently rejoined forces at Aleph Group, Inc., a global digital advertising platform that connects brands with every digitally connected user in Africa where Stephen currently serves as the Managing Director Sub-Sahara Africa. With Jamaican lineage, born and raised in the US Mainland and Virgin Islands, Stephen departed the US in 1998 and currently calls Cape Town, South Africa home. With over 25 years of C-suite experience, Stephen is a seasoned leader and connector in the digital innovation space, especially on the African continent. His expertise spans various sub-sectors of the digital ecosystem, such as connectable devices, affordable data, local and relevant content, promoted content, ubiquitous payment mechanisms, and trusted delivery mechanisms. He has led the launch and commercialization of some of Africa's biggest digital players, such as Google, InMobi, Positivo BGH, and Datafree. He also serves as the Chairman and Co-Founder of The Illuminate Africa Group Ltd, a consultancy that facilitates Africa expansion goals for businesses. He is passionate about empowering African youth and entrepreneurs with digital skills and opportunities.

Where to find Stephen?
Aleph’s Digital Ad Expert Portal
On LinkedIn
On Facebook
On X

What’s Stephen reading?
Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life by Jim Kwik
The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business by Erin Meyer

Other topics of interest:
About Kenya’s Joseph Mucheru
About Nikesh Arora
Positivo BGH
LexisNexis
Nordstrom
America Online - AOL
On SDG goal 4.1
What is an Ad Exchange
On DoubleClick

Special Guest: Stephen A. Newton.

In some circles, my guest for this two-part episode could be thought of as a spy by a different name. With roots in Jamaica, and raised between the Middle East, Europe and the United States, Suki Fuller, an intelligence advisor, author, acclaimed international keynote speaker and Fellow of The Council of Competitive Intelligence Fellows is a women that is usually intent on not being watched. She is the Founder of Miribure, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of DC Analytics and Storyteller for Group of Humans. She is a contributing author to A Practical Guide to Competitive Intelligence.

Suki is a fierce supporter of intelligence, ethical tech, #SafetyTech, Security, Privacy and Surveillance. Her eclectic 20-year career within strategic intelligence and technology has taken her from the US Department of Defense to teaching business students in China.

She currently resides in London, where she is an intrinsic part of the tech community as a Board Advisor for Tech London Advocates / Global Tech Advocates, which includes key positions as Co-Lead TLA Women in Tech, and Vice-Chair for GTA Black Women in Tech. Suki was recently named by the Most Influential Woman in UK Tech by Computer Weekly 2023. There’s so much more to this #dynamicdiasporan, I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Where to find Suki?
On LinkedIn
On X
On Instagram

What’s Suki reading?
Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzeneger
Cobalt Red: How the Boll of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara
The Mircostress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems--and What to Do About It by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon
Decentering Whiteness in the Workplace: A Guide for Equity and Inclusion by Janice Gassam Asare
Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup’s Quest to End Privacy as We Know It by Kashmir HIll

What’s Suki watching?
Beckham on Netflix
The Power on Amazon Prime

Other topics of interest:
Balham, London
Surrey, United Kingdom
Some Jamaican Patios to practice
About Rastafarianism
Pismo Beach, California
Royal Air Force Lakenheath, an American Air Force Base in the UK
Penn State’s Behrend College
About Chi Chi’s Restaurant
Mercyhurst University - Intelligence Studies
Agatha Christie’s Poirot
Twitter and SXSW
About Robert Baker
Innit?
IA Safety Bill
The Pod Generation Film

Special Guest: Suki Fuller.

In some circles, my guest for this two-part episode could be thought of as a spy by a different name. With roots in Jamaica, and raised between the Middle East, Europe and the United States, Suki Fuller, an intelligence advisor, author, acclaimed international keynote speaker and Fellow of The Council of Competitive Intelligence Fellows is a women that is usually intent on not being watched. She is the Founder of Miribure, Co-Founder and Senior Vice President of DC Analytics and Storyteller for Group of Humans. She is a contributing author to A Practical Guide to Competitive Intelligence.

Suki is a fierce supporter of intelligence, ethical tech, #SafetyTech, Security, Privacy and Surveillance. Her eclectic 20-year career within strategic intelligence and technology has taken her from the US Department of Defense to teaching business students in China.

She currently resides in London, where she is an intrinsic part of the tech community as a Board Advisor for Tech London Advocates / Global Tech Advocates, which includes key positions as Co-Lead TLA Women in Tech, and Vice-Chair for GTA Black Women in Tech. Suki was recently named by the Most Influential Woman in UK Tech by Computer Weekly 2023. There’s so much more to this #dynamicdiasporan, I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Where to find Suki?
On LinkedIn
On X
On Instagram

What’s Suki reading?
Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzeneger
Cobalt Red: How the Boll of the Congo Powers Our Lives by Siddharth Kara
The Mircostress Effect: How Little Things Pile Up and Create Big Problems--and What to Do About It by Rob Cross and Karen Dillon
Decentering Whiteness in the Workplace: A Guide for Equity and Inclusion by Janice Gassam Asare
Your Face Belongs to Us: A Secretive Startup’s Quest to End Privacy as We Know It by Kashmir HIll

What’s Suki watching?
Beckham on Netflix
The Power on Amazon Prime

Other topics of interest:
Balham, London
Surrey, United Kingdom
Some Jamaican Patios to practice
About Rastafarianism
Pismo Beach, California
Royal Air Force Lakenheath, an American Air Force Base in the UK
Penn State’s Behrend College
About Chi Chi’s Restaurant
Mercyhurst University - Intelligence Studies
Agatha Christie’s Poirot
Twitter and SXSW
About Robert Baker
Innit?
IA Safety Bill
The Pod Generation Film

Special Guest: Suki Fuller.

This week on the podcast, rather than one last guest rounding out our March 2023 herstories series, I went into our archives with a specific goal of putting together a salon of sorts about craft. I think of craft as how vocation, location, persistence and passion fulfill us. According to Merriam-Webster, it is skill in planning, making, or executing.

I always ask this question because I feel it allows my guest to share more than what they do on a day-to-day basis for economic returns i.e. work, and gets closer to the heart of who they are and how they go about manifesting a new world. So, this week we’re re-visiting with:

• Jamaican-American, Nydia Swaby a Black feminist researcher, writer, and curator based in London about Archives, Art and Freedom Dreams;

• Filipino-Jamaican-American, Zee Clarke an author, mindfulness practitioner and racial healing professional about Healing in Breathing;

• Ghanaian-Afro-German, Ekua Yankah a thought leader in international development on being a Polyglot, Professor, Policy Advisor and Art Patron;

• Ghanaian-Brit, Esther Armah an author, journalist and entrepreneur on storytelling for structural change;

• Nigerian, Sarah Adeyinka a humanitarian researcher and author on Humanitarian CoCreating; and

• and Detroit Native, Dereca Blackmon an inclusion innovator, speaker and spiritual activist about Uncommon Conversations.

Be sure to check out full episodes using the links above, there’s a wealth of valuable, craft-inspired insights from each of these audacious women!

Special Guests: Dereca Blackmon, Ekua Yankah, Esther Armah, Nydia Swaby, Sarah Adeyinka, and Zhalisa "Zee" Clarke.

This week I have the first of a “spirited” two-part conversation with the authors of Black Mixcellence--Cuban-Jamaican-American writer, Tamika Hall and another fellow countryman, Ghanaian mixologist, Colin Asare-Appiah. First up is Tamika who is is a mom, freelance writer & content strategy manager. She has created editorial content and marketing strategies for The Vitamin Shoppe, Mass Appeal, The Examiner, Mommynoire/MadameNoire, stupidDOPE.com, ICONIX, and Yellowbrick.co. She’s written branded content for a variety of brands including Bacardi, Maker’s Mark, PepsiCo, Anheusur-Busch, and Viniq. in addition to her commercial portfolio, she co-created the curriculum for the Hospitality and Tourism Industry Essentials online course with NYU’s Jonathan Tisch Center of Hospitality and was the winner of the 2021 Budweiser Hashtag Sports Award for Black Storytelling honoring her work on the pilot program for The Sneaker Essentials K-12 initiative.

I had a wonderful time getting to know more about Tamika and her explorations of black culture plus some of her inspirations. I look forward to sharing more insights on the global impact of the spirit industry on cultures across diasporas in Part 2 with Colin.

Where to find Tamika?
Buy Black Mixcellence!
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook

What’s Tamika reading?
Will by Will Smith
The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz
Sometimes I Trip on How Happy we Could Be by Nichole Perkins
Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis
All About Love by Bell Hooks

What's Tamika watching?
Sex and the City
New York Undercover
Works by Spike Lee

What’s Tamika listening to?
Deep Purple
Teddy Pendergrass
Prince

Other topics of interest:
Sylvia’s Soul Food Restaurant
Women’s Day Magazine
Nkiru Books
Black Wall Street
Tom Bullock

Special Guest: Tamika Hall.

I thoroughly enjoyed this insightful conversation with Stacy, from a serious discussion about the business of techpreneurship on a global scale to tips for successful start-up and a lots of laughs long the way,
I'm sure you too will learn something new (with a smile)!

Where to find Stacy?
@ Posture
@ Quality Works Consulting Group
On LinkedIn
On Twitter
On Instagram

What's Stacy reading?
The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
Born A Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
I Can't Make This Up: life Lessons by Kevin Hart

What's Stacy listening to?
Revisionist History Podcast

Other topics of interest:
About Radio Shack
About Windsor Hills, California
Jamaica's Technology Innovation Centre
"..we tallawah"
About the Dot-Com Bubble

Special Guest: Stacy Kirk.

Where to find Zee?
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
On YouTube
On TikTok
Pre-order Black People Breathe!

What's Zee listening to?
Balanced Black Girl Podcast

What's Zee reading?
About Octavia Raheem
Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Maree Brown

Other topics of interest:
DC Youth Orchestra
On Ayurvedic Medicine
Swan Yoga Retreat - Goa
Trap Yoga
BICOP
The Principles of Pleasure
Episode 118 with Nydia Swaby

Special Guest: Zhalisa "Zee" Clarke.

Natasha has worked in global roles throughout her career and has extensive experience working with senior executives to develop their workforce with a global agenda in mind. Her experience is anchored in aligning talent development with organizational profitability objectives and as a thought leader, trusted advisor, consultant, and mentor to clients and peers which has prepared her perfectly for her current role and the next phase of growing both personally and professionally. We'll hear about this and much more in this multi-continental journey with Natasha.

Where to find Natasha?
On Linkedin
On Instagram
On Twitter
On Facebook

What's Natasha reading?
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less Paperback
by Greg McKeown
The Seat of the Soul by Gary Zukav
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz
Books by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Zenzele: A Letter for My Daughter by J. Nozipo Maraire
God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life's Little Detours by Regina Brett

Other topics of interest:
What is a Matrix Project?
Borough Market London
Out and about in Manly 9 with a Barefoot Coffee
Take a drive around Washington Gardens, Kingston
Charlestina Beach Resort and Ko-sa Beach near Elmina, Ghana
NourishLAB Smoothy's

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

Special Guest: Natasha Moore.

In her creative approach to knowledge production, she uses archives, ethnography, photography, film, and the imagination to curate programs and visual narratives, write essays and performance pieces exploring the gendered and diasporic dimensions of Black being and becoming. She also creates ancestral altars using family pictures and memorabilia, found photographs and archival images, West African textiles and wood carvings, crystals, fossils, stones, shells, and other curios. These practices converge in her forthcoming monograph, Amy Ashwood Garvey and the Future of Back Feminist Archives (Lawrence Wishart, Summer 2022) and Caird Research Fellowship at The National Maritime Museum, ‘Curating Archives of Affect: Black Feminist Pasts, Presents, and Futures’ (December 2021 - September 2020), and my ongoing visual series, ‘Becoming with Archive: Blackness, Gender, Diaspora’ (2010 - Present).

Alongside her practice-based research, Nydia work as the Curator of Learning at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, where she collaborates with academics, curators, artists, and writers to develop a multi-disciplinary, practice-based research and learning program. She is also a member of Feminist Review’s Editorial Collective and the Curator of Programmes, and co-edited a recent issue on queer, feminist, diasporic, and decolonial archives.

Please read on and explore the topics of interest below for a thoughtfully curated account of the many individuals discussed in the episode.

Where to find Nydia?
www.nydiaswaby.com
On LinkedIn

What's Nydia reading?
The Sex Lives of African Women by Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah
Dear Science and Other Stories by Katherine McKittrick

What's Nydia watching?
Master
Daughters of the Dust

Other topics of interest:
Amy Ashwood Garvey
Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)
Pan African Movement
Garveyism
Jamaica Kincaid
On Code Switching
Double Consciousness
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Ifeanyi Awachie
Imani Perry
Lorraine Hansberry
Barby Asante
S. Pearl Sharp
Akosua Adoma Owusu
Rita Gayle
Joan Morgan
Brittney Cooper
The Politics of Pleasure

Special Guest: Nydia Swaby.

This week I meet with another artist with Caribbean roots. Beverley Watson is a ceramic sculptor, art therapist and licensed educator specializing in children with special needs. Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, Beverley has been based in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn for more than 30 years. She attended the Jamaica School of Art and Brooklyn's Pratt Institute where she studied ceramic sculpture as an undergraduate and also received her Masters of Professional Studies in Special Education and Art Therapy. Between the mid-1990s and 2007, Beverley co-founded Zakiya Art, a gallery that exhibited other Black artists' works in her Bedford-Stuyvesant home.

This spring, Nefer Atum Lotus Blossom: rebirth & regeneration, her first solo exhibition opened at Brooklyn's Artshack community ceramics studio. In Nefer Atum Lotus Blossom Beverley exhibits work that continues where she left clay thirty years ago, inspired by the spirits of oceans, Africa and self-love. During that time Beverley was moving through life's challenges, breakthroughs, and gratitude, and bringing forth her inner Lotus, the reflection of her inner beauty. I'm excited to share this emerging treasure with you!

Where to find Beverley?
@Artshack Brooklyn
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook

What's Beverley reading?
Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch

Other topics of interest:
Queen Afua
About Lotus Flowers
About Astral Projection
Abraham Hicks

Special Guest: Beverley Watson.

Prior to joining Medicanja, Andray established himself as an expert in supply chain and demand planning systems in a large scale manufacturing environments particular in the food and beverage industry. In his 20-year career in the FMCG sector he worked in Supply Chain, Sales, Innovations, Trade Intelligence, Distribution and several game changing projects. Guinness, Diageo, Heineken and Red Stripe are among the global organizations that benefitted from his experience. Andray has received numerous awards for break through performances, forecast accuracy, innovations, brand value creation and supply management. In his experience in consultancy and advisory capacities, Andray worked with companies such as Vasttips, the Transport Authorities of Jamaica, Celebrations Brands Limited, Biotech R&D Institute Limited, EG Wellness Brands Limited.

Where to find Andray and Medicanja?
www.medicanjajamaica.com
info@medicanjajamaica.com
On LinkedIn
On Facebook

Who is Andray listening to?
Buju Banton
About Dance Hall

What's Andray reading?
Macolm Gladwell
Jim Collins

Other topics of interest:
Portugal was the first country in the world to decriminalize all drugs
Dunn's River Falls
Frome Sugar Factory
Blue Ocean Strategy
Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO)

Special Guest: Andray McKenzie.

I'm so uplifted by all the women that joined me for conversations this month and I want to share good news for one of my stellar past guests. Congratulation to Somi Kakoma for winning the award for Outstanding Jazz Album at the 2021 NAACP Image Awards!! If you haven't gotten your copy of her album Holy Room here's one more reason to get your copy now!

Where to find Claudine?
www.claudinemoore.com
On LinkedIn
On Twitter
On Facebook
On Instagram

What's Claudine reading?
Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success by Napoleon Hill

Other topics of interest:
Blues and Soul Magazine
PRvoke Media
The Tony Elumelu Foundation
Gro Intelligence
Air Protein
First Cheque

Special Guest: Claudine Moore.