⁣Link Up Podcast — Episode 2 | Featuring Baba Kofi and Mama Abena (The Shakirs)

Hosts: Niara Esi Ìjèawelē Ọmọlará Kwento & Bakari Kwadwo Ọbatayé Kwento

* with an Abibitumi 20 year tribute from Ɛna Nkanyezi *

Akɔaba, Woezɔ, Oɔbaake (welcome) Black to the Link Up Podcast, where we connect with Abibifoɔ (Black People) doing Black powerful work across Abibiman (the Black Land) and the diaspora.

In this episode, we Link Up with Baba Kofi and Mama Abena (The Shakir's) — a Blacktacular couple who share their journey from life in the snakkkes to repatriating home to Ghana. Their story moves through family, community, raised consciousness, the Marcus Garvey influence, Nation of Islam experiences, travel across the Black Land, and the deeper process of (the 4 R's) relocating, repatriating, reclaiming Blackness, and recovering from life inside the “snakkkes”.

This is a conversation about more than moving. It is about coming home, building family infrastructure, recovering humanity, and demonstrating over conversation.

Feel free to share your thoughts, and Link Up!

if you like the music featured during the episode, check out https://www.abibitumi.com/kwento-xpr/

O Banga collaborates with Jessie on this groovy bouyon masterpiece, blending the Dominican 🇩🇲 and Hatian 🇭🇹 culture.
Woulé meaning: To roll/whine.

Song: Woulé
Artists: O Banga, Jessie
Written by: O Banga, Jessie
Produced by: O Banga
Label: Red Koat Music Group

Stream song: https://unitedmasters.com/m/woul?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAZnRzaARpnw9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAacQb2mvQYEVcx7GjH4H1G9Av9iUE9P6dHiOidaLKWMzoUX_I15g70UvTsBJIA_aem_ht_17txCZadaeA-3GmqlRw

African storytelling is taking center stage once again — not just as entertainment, but as a powerful tool for identity, history, liberation, and global cultural connection.

On this edition of the Morning Show Conversation Segment, Afia TV spotlights the build-up to the 2026 Abibitumi Abibifahodie Film Festival, an international platform dedicated to celebrating authentic African stories, Black identity, cultural memory, and diaspora connection through film and creative expression.

Joining the conversation is Ọnụọra Abuah, Director of the Abibitumi Film Festival & Conference, as we explore the vision behind one of the most culturally significant African-centered film gatherings bringing together filmmakers, storytellers, scholars, creatives, and audiences from across the continent and the global African diaspora.

Organized by Abibitumi and the Decade of Our Repatriation (DOOR) initiative, the festival is more than a showcase of films — it is a movement rooted in reclaiming African narratives and strengthening connections between Africans on the continent and descendants of Africa across the world.

At a time when global media spaces are increasingly questioning representation, ownership of narratives, and cultural authenticity, the Abibitumi Abibifahodie Film Festival seeks to create a platform where African stories are told by Africans, for Africans, and with the fullness of African identity intact.This conversation examines the growing influence of African cinema, the importance of preserving indigenous stories, and the role film can play in reconnecting communities separated by history, migration, and the transatlantic slave trade.
What kinds of stories are shaping the 2026 edition?How is African cinema evolving beyond stereotypes and survival narratives?And why are festivals like this becoming increasingly important in the global cultural conversation?From heritage and spirituality to resistance, identity, language, migration, and liberation, the festival promises to spotlight films that challenge dominant narratives while celebrating the richness and complexity of African experiences.


As Nollywood, independent African cinema, and diaspora storytelling continue gaining international recognition, platforms like Abibitumi are helping redefine what global African storytelling can look like — bold, rooted, unapologetic, and deeply connected to history.This is more than film.It is memory, identity, culture, and connection projected onto the screen.#abibitumifilmfestival


#africanstorytelling #africancinema #diasporaconnection #abibifahodie #nollywood #afiatv #blackculture #africanfilmfestival #door #panafricanism #filmandculture #creativeafrica #globalafrica #africanidentity

Ukraine's complete lack of sovereignty and independent foreign policy is no longer just Russia's problem, but increasingly a deadly problem for Africa and the entire Global South.

Follow David and The Spearhead: X: https://x.com/DavidHundeyinhtt....ps://x.com/Spearhead https://www.instagram.com/davi....dhundeyin/https://ww out our Publishing Press books and journals here: https://www.midwesternmarx.com/books.html If you enjoyed our video please consider checking our website out : https://www.midwesternmarx.com/Also, if you are interested in helping us fund our project become a Patron : https://www.patreon.com/MidwesternMarxCheck out our online library for FREE books on Socialism, Philosophy, History, and more:https://www.midwesternmarx.com..../online-library.html to our Podcast on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/....3Dv6DvcOuSXQ5LhmA1YC Follow us on Instagram: @midwesternmarxFollow us on Twitter: @MarxMidwestLike us on Facebook: @Midwestern Marx

On 28 December 2016, President John Dramani Mahama addressed a historic citizenship ceremony in Ghana, where members of the Historic Diaspora were granted Ghanaian citizenship.In this speech, President Mahama framed the ceremony as part of Ghana’s long Pan-African legacy, connecting it to Nana Kwame Nkrumah, Nana Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. Du Bois, George Padmore, Martin Luther King Jr., and the broader struggle for Black liberation and return. He described the enslavement trade as “the most evil act ever perpetrated by humans on other humans” and declared that Ghana was helping turn the “Door of No Return” into a door of return.Most importantly, President Mahama stated that restoring citizenship to descendants of those displaced through enslavement was not a favor, but a matter of rightful restoration:“I deserve no thanks or praise, because I’m giving back to you what rightfully belong to you.”This video is especially relevant in the context of the historic Decade of Our Repatriation (2026-2036) and the current Black Agenda petition for fair, transparent, accessible, restorative, and representative reform of Historic Diaspora reparative citizenship, representation, and inclusion in Ghana.Sign and share the petition here:https://www.change.org/ghanacitizenshipThe process must match the promise.Recorded and transcribed by Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé Kambon - 28 December 2016. https://decadeofourrepatriatio....n.com/exclusive-28-d #historicdiaspora #reparativejustice #blackagenda #decadeofourrepatriation #ghana #panafricanism #doorofreturn #citizenship #rightofreturn

In her presentation, “SANKOFA: Going back to fetch your inner voice,” Derise Tolliver Atta challenges viewers to “re-member” who they truly are.

Tolliver Atta is a faculty mentor and tenured associate professor in DePaul University’s School for New Learning. She describes herself as a clinical psychologist by training and a healer by nature. Her life’s mission is to help people “re-member” who they truly are, which she facilitates through her teaching, scholarship and service. Tolliver Atta has written and presented on African-centered education and psychology, spirituality and culture in adult learning, competence-based education, international education and program development, happiness, wellness, and healing from racism and oppression. She has been recognized at the university level for excellence in teaching and her commitment to diversity and social justice. Tolliver Atta also takes adult learners on short-term study abroad programs to West Africa and has directed a bachelor’s degree completion program for adult learners in Nairobi, Kenya. She is also a poet.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx