Episode #89: Keep the Spear Burning! The Oldest Black Power Newspaper Turns 53 Years Old!

Black Power Talks

On December 22, 2021, The Burning Spear Newspaper turned 53 years old. The Burning Spear Newspaper is the oldest Black Power Newspaper in continuous print. The Burning Spear Newspaper was founded by Chairman Omali Yeshitela, then named Joseph Waller, in 1968, in St. Petersburg, Florida. First established as a newsletter produced on a mimeograph machine, the Burning Spear, or The Spear for short, became a full-spread newspaper in 1969.

Dubbed, the Voice of the International African Revolution, the Burning Spear Newspaper has been the leading organ of political and material support for the oppressed and exploited people of the world such as: Vietnam, Iran, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Occupied Palestine, Zimbabwe, Occupied Azania (South Africa), Cuba, Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Congo, Walter Rodney's Guyana, Maurice Bishop’s Grenada, and everywhere else colonized and oppressed people have struggled for liberation.

The Burning Spear Newspaper has been the base through which an entire African Internationalist media complex was formed. This includes a publishing house, audio and visual communications.

In this episode, we speak with the Editor-In-Chief of the Burning Spear Newspaper, Akile Anai. Akile Anai is also the Director of Agitation and Propaganda for the African People’s Socialist Party. Akile oversees the work of print, audio, and visual media of the Burning Spear Publications and Black Power Media. She also supervises the political education processes of the Uhuru Movement and co-hosts the weekly political study #OmaliTaughtMe. Akile was featured in Ebony magazine as a Millenial of Change.

Black Power Talks is produced by WBPU 96.3 FM "Black Power 96" in St. Petersburg, Florida. It is hosted by Dr. Matsemela Odom and Dexter Mlimwengu, bringing an African Internationalist perspective to the important issues of our world.