For our first show of 6263 (2023), we look back at the previous year, Sankofa style, to see what we want to fetch from there and pitch into the coming 12 moons.

2022 saw the UK in turmoil having gone through two monarchs, three Prime Ministers, four Chancellors of the Exchequer and six Education Secretaries, not to mention soaring inflation and a cost-of-living crisis, while continuing to pour billions into Ukraine for it ongoing war with Russia even though its Nazi battalions remain in-tact. (1)

That’s them. As Afrikans we have to assess how the period was for us, what aspects of it we can use to our benefit and how we use it in this year.

Last year we bade farewell to community legend Baba Hewie Andrew as well as a plethora creative, cultural artists such as Tabby and Bunny Diamond, Drummie Zeb, Ray Carless and Noel McKoy to name a few. We were outraged by the ‘Child Q’ revelations and the onslaught against Sis. Ngozi Fulani that merely confirmed how endemic racism if to the UK royal family and UK society in general.  In spite of the usual pledges the replacing of the disgraced Cressida Dick at the head of the Metropolitan Police did not stem the tide of killings and brutality at their hands as the cases of Chris Kaba and Caul Grant and family can attest.

So in essence it has been business as usual for them and, alas, perhaps for us as well.  However, whether in crisis mode or not, UK society can proceed under the status quo, while the same for us in real terms represents a further descent into oppression.  The community needs to clear how it deal with the fallout from the issues highlighted above as well as potential threats like “Climate Change Lockdowns.” (2)

Some of these issues were dealt with on Afrika Speaks and can be found on our Mixcloud page (https://www.mixcloud.com/AfrikaSpeaks/).

(1) Nabil Abdulrashid (29/12/22) Double Down News: You won’t see this on the BBC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ0BZxBpZSk; Lara Keay (31/12/22) 2022 in review: Three prime ministers, the death of a monarch and a war in Europe. https://news.sky.com/story/2022-in-review-three-prime-ministers-the-death-of-a-monarch-and-a-war-in-europe-12766654; Claire Mills (12/12/22) Military assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion. https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9477/ Prof Michel Chossudovsky (30/12/22) Ukraine’s “Neo-Nazi Summer Camp”. Military Training for Young Children. https://www.globalresearch.ca/military-training-for-young-children-at-ukraines-neo-nazi-summer-camp-recruitment-of-ukraines-child-soldiers-financed-by-us-nonlethal-military-aid/5472801

(2) Michael Snyder (11/12/22) Climate Change Lockdowns. Yup, They Are Actually Going There… https://www.globalresearch.ca/climate-change-lockdowns/5801863

we ask the question:

6263 (2023): Time for FREEDOM for you & me?

1) What are your abiding memories of 2022?

2) What do hope to see manifest in 2023?

3) What are you most concerned about going into the new year?

4) What will it take to make the transformations we want to see?

Our Special Guest:

Bro. Ldr. Mbandaka: Resident guest who is Spiritual Leader of the Alkebu-Lan Revivalist Movement and an Afrikan-Centred Education Consultant.  Bro. Ldr is a veteran activist of almost 40 years standing, a featured columnist in The Whirlwind newspaper and author of Mosiah Daily Affirmations and Education: An African-Centred Approach To Excellence.