Latest news with #Afrocentric
Hypebeast
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
Temple University Introduces New Course on Kendrick Lamar's Life, Lyrics and Legacy
Summary Temple University is launching a Fall 2025 course titled 'Kendrick Lamarand the Morale of M.A.A.D City,' taught by Africology and African American Studies Assistant Professor Timothy Welbeck. He explains viaInstagram, 'Kendrick Lamar is one of the leading voices of his generation, with a keen ability to articulate various dynamics of Black life and the quest for self-actualization — particularly capturing narratives of marginalization and the resilience to rise above it.' Popular culture icons are increasingly finding their place in academia, as their stories offer powerful frameworks for teaching core concepts and increasing student engagement. This course, in particular, will explore Lamar's life and music through an Afrocentric lens — examining the socioeconomic and cultural conditions of his hometown, Compton, and the impact of urban policy on the themes in his work. Students will dive deep into Dot's lyrical genius, unpacking how his storytelling, sound, and social commentary have evolved over time. The class will also feature guest speakers who have worked closely with Lamar, offering firsthand insight into his creative journey, cultural influence and legacy in music.
IOL News
03-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
KwaZulu-Natal businessman Manzini Zungu collaborates with UJ on creative storytelling projects
KwaZulu-Natal businessman Manzini Zungu partners with University of Johannessburg to promote African storytelling. Image: Supplied A prominent KwaZulu-Natal businessman Manzini Zungu has partnered with University of Johannesburg (UJ) for creative work, particularly storytelling projects. Zungu, a relative of Amazulu Football Club owner, Sandile Zungu, owns several Spar retail shops under his company Spar Pacina Retail in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape, however, he has spread his wings and ventured into the creative industry. He has partnered with UJ, producing storytelling projects for university students. Zungu described his research and collaboration with the university as a landmark in his efforts to nurture African storytelling. He said his collaboration with UJ's Faculty of Humanities aims to unearth and develop young storytellers through creative activism and Afrocentric narratives. Led by Professor Suzy Graham, the project includes literature initiatives based on the uShaka Inkosi Yamakhosi film which Zungu produced in 2021, fostering new creative perspectives among the university students. The film is on Netflix. 'The partnership emphasises creativity as a 21st-century workforce skill, with UJ students engaging in projects that blend storytelling with educational activism,' said Zungu. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad Loading He has published his first book Shaka Inkosi yamaKhosi (Shaka, the king of kings) which is based on extracts of his film. He has also devised several marketing strategies for McDonald's restaurants. Zungu is also a UJ Research Associate and has partnered with the Salvation Army church in Soweto where he serves as musical director of the Soweto Central Chorus. Through his Manzini Zungu Foundation, the businessman also supports cultural preservation through projects like uShaka Inkosi Yamakhosi, ensuring African stories reach global audiences. The foundation was established in 2018. The foundation also supports rural communities especially in remote areas of Mthatha and Ngqeleni in the Eastern Cape. Zungu shot into prominence when he scored a lucrative schools nutrition tender in KwaZulu-Natal in 2023 but later pulled out after a protracted battle with the provincial education department.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Why it feels Black people are less free this Juneteenth
I was a student at Southern University, a historically Black university, when I learned the truth about Juneteenth and its correlation with our freedom. I may have heard of Juneteenth before then, but I couldn't have told you that it fell on June 19 or that it celebrated the day after the Civil War when enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, learned they were free. I learned the truth because of the Afrocentric brothers and sisters on campus who more or less demanded that their schoolmates 'do the knowledge' about our history. Though I grew up less than 300 miles east of Galveston in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Juneteenth was never mentioned in any of my K-12 social studies or history lessons. Those in control of what we learned — governors, state superintendents, district superintendents — seemed indifferent about our knowing that bit of history. We all know about Juneteenth now. In 2021, after years of tireless advocacy by Opal Lee, then a 94-year-old Black retired schoolteacher who had previously walked 1,400 miles from Texas to Washington, D.C., to demand a federal holiday, President Joe Biden signed the bill establishing that federal holiday into law. So why, just four short years after the recognition of a holiday commemorating freedom, does it feel like Black people are less free? A big reason is that President Donald Trump seems to be doing everything he can to eliminate any semblance of diversity, equity and inclusion. He has removed, and seemed to target, Black leaders who occupied prominent positions in government, appointed new leaders who have expressed open hostility around matters of voting rights and civil rights, promised to change the names of military bases back to honor treasonous Confederate figures and, more than once, removed the names of icons of Black history from some government websites because their roles as Black historical figures were being acknowledged. On top of all that comes Trump's specific threat to deprive schools that teach curricula that are diverse in their inclusion of historical figures and events that aren't white-centered of federal funding. This increases the likelihood of Juneteenth's once again becoming a footnote in American classrooms. Because how can a teacher properly explain what Juneteenth is without veering into territory that Trump and his administration would disparage as DEI and 'woke ideology'? At the university level, college administrators and educators across the country have expressed 'extraordinary fear' of losing federal dollars if they don't acquiesce to the Trump administration's demands to tone down any curriculum that, they wrongly assert, places a burden of guilt on white students. And while Ivy League institutions like Harvard University have the endowment backing and wealthy alumni support to better withstand the Trump administration's threats to their budgets, historically Black colleges and universities and the students who attend them are much more vulnerable. It's hard to get in the spirit of Juneteenth in 2025 following last month's news that Trump, days after telling HBCUs that they have nothing to fear from his administration, proposed a federal budget that would cut $64 million from Howard University's budget. Or following the news that the Trump administration ended a $16.3 million grant to Florida A&M's College of Pharmacy in part, the National Institutes of Health claimed in a letter, because it funded 'amorphous equity objectives.' Trump's proposed budget would also slash the federal Pell Grant program, which 40% of undergraduate students and 60% of Black undergraduate students used to pay for college in 2019-20. As for students who attend the 37 United Negro College Fund HBCUs, 73% received Pell Grants. Reducing funding for Pell Grants, then, is a way of making sure that fewer Black people can access the freedom that can accompany higher education. There was a lot of history I wasn't taught and should have been taught during my K-12 years. The horrors of chattel slavery were glossed over, and enslavement was presented as merely a period of unpaid labor that Abraham Lincoln ended. I wasn't taught that Rosa Parks' refusal to move to another seat on a Montgomery bus was not a singular act of defiance but the culmination of years of preparation and advocacy. Nor was I taught that Martin Luther King Jr., who led the bus boycott in that city, modeled it after a successful bus boycott in my hometown, Baton Rouge. I wasn't taught about the radical King who opposed the Vietnam War and, when he was assassinated, was planning a Poor People's Campaign. I wasn't taught about the 1921 Tulsa race riots or the 1985 MOVE bombing in Philadelphia. And I didn't even know who James Baldwin was. But for all the things I didn't learn about Black history, women's history, queer history, I can't say that the president of the United States was actively working for me not to learn them. That's what makes Trump's anti-DEI push such an attack: the intention. When I think about how our ancestors would just have assumed their bondage was still intact had they not learned of their freedom on June 19, 1865, I can't help but think about how the toll of miseducation can be a modern form of captivity for a people deprived of the fullness of their story. And how oppressive it is for the White House to work to ensure that their knowledge of self remains hidden. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
St. Joseph Museums displays local artist's work for Juneteenth
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — A local artist's work is being featured in the St. Joseph Museums as part of the celebration leading up to Juneteenth. A gallery featuring the work of Afrocentric Artist T'Asia Coker can be found in the Black Archives section of the Museum. The 23-year-old law student at Missouri Western State University remembers when she started sketching at the age of 13. I was at my house, and I was so bored I was like, 'Okay, I'm just going to try to draw,' and then I really got in to sketching," Coker said. Then she found what she truly loved. "I liked sketching, but I just really love being able to express myself through color with different skin tones, complexions and backgrounds," Coker said. The inspiration came from the hair salon her mom has owned for nearly 12 years. "I just watched her do the hair of the people in my community and I get a lot of inspiration from them," she said. T'Asia's mother, Kristina Buchanan, owns Karamel Natural Hair Care at 1702 Olive St. in St. Joseph. T'Asia's first color art piece is still hanging inside the shop. "We just always thought that she was amazing," Buchanan said. "Her progression speaks more, I think, to her work ethic, her determination to keep perfecting her craft to always be the best that she can be, and I'm in awe of my daughter." What starts as a concept in T'Asia's head changes as she begins to work on a piece. She enjoys painting women in front of mystical backgrounds. "I'm a fantasy person to my core, so I like seeing art that depicts that," Coker said. The opportunity to showcase her art in the St. Joseph Museums came from a February event where her mother displayed her work. A Black Archives Committee member was in attendance and suggested her art be displayed in the museum. "My mom was buying picture frames and, you know, getting everything labeled," Coker said. "It came together really nice." Coker's work is on display now through Monday, June 30, to highlight Black artists and celebrate Juneteenth. "I've been watching her just do great things anyway, so every painting is my favorite," Buchanan said. "This is the beginning for her. A calendar featuring T'Asia's work will be on sale in September, and it will feature perforated pages so the art can be detached and kept. Copies of the calendar can be purchased at Karamel Natural Hair Care.
TimesLIVE
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
EMBO festival to celebrate Winnie Madikizela-Mandela through music, culture and debate
Soweto is about to come alive with the rhythms of resistance and the power of voice as the City of Johannesburg prepares to host the EMBO Festival, a two-day celebration honouring the legacy of one of South Africa's most iconic freedom fighters — Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. Taking place on June 7 at the Soweto Theatre, this festival is more than just a cultural event: it's a bold reimagining of how history can be remembered, retold and reclaimed. This year's theme places Madikizela-Mandela's Xhosa heritage and fearless activism at the centre of a powerful programme that fuses debate, live music and historical reflection. The event will feature artists such as Medudutsane Basadi, Lungiswa Plaatjies and Mr Vee Sholo . EMBO, meaning 'origin' or 'source,' is a project with a purpose: to move the stories of African heroes from the margins into the heart of public consciousness. Through an Afrocentric lens, the festival aims to unearth histories that have been overshadowed by colonial narratives, presenting them in vibrant and meaningful ways to a new generation.
