Shows
ThePromisedLandBaltimore harbor was our path to freedomFrederick Douglass and Isaac Myers rival Frances Scott Key in their importance to American history. I describe Black organized labor during my April 6 tour with SEIU 10212024-04-0110 min
ThePromisedLandDr. Harry Edwards from the John Carlos/Tommie Smith statue at San Jose State UniversityBrandishing his University of Florida championship ring from the men's basketball team, Dr. Harry Edwards presents the moral and intellectual case against the New Black Codes in this special episode of The Promised Land2024-03-0826 min
ThePromisedLandDr. Harry Edwards: Black athletes defending Black StudiesDr. Harry Edwards joins The Promised Land at the statue of John Carlos and Tommie Smith to respond to attacks on the victories he has won for Black Studies and academic excellence as we opened the 48th annual National Council for Black Studies. He describes anxious parents contacting him on where their students won't face persecution for reproductive rights and civil rights and advises athletes to follow in the footsteps of the Olympic Movement for Human Rights. Facing a terminal illness, he notes that he's prepared his final lectures and a history of Black activism in sports. Dr. Edwards...2024-03-0828 minThePromisedLandLet's practice civil obedience on Black American Day March 5March to vote in 15 states -- Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia -- in honor of those who marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma and Crispus Attucks, the first to die for the United States and you can have the same impact as the first African-American voters in the 1860s2024-03-0215 min
ThePromisedLandThe Most Important Speech in African-American historyMy re-enactment of Rev. Henry Highland Garnet's greatest speeches at 15th Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. including Let The Monster Perish (first speech by an African-American in U.S. Capitol); and Let Your Motto Be Resistance, Resistance, Resistance2024-02-1351 min
ThePromisedLandThe voice of 209,145 must be heard by the U.S. Supreme CourtWe must lift up the voices of the 200 heroes who died during the New Orleans massacre to the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears the case from the Colorado Supreme Court invoking Section Three of the 14th Amendment. Our lack of knowledge of the most important provision of the Constitution is giving an opening to undo a century and half of progress. Join our Protecting 14th Amendment four-week sessions Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. Eastern to learn the proud history of our greatest political achievements.2024-02-0816 min
ThePromisedLandTracing the Queen of Pan AfricanismSometimes the most prominent people can be invisible to the communities that spawned them. Amazingly, the superbly documented saga of Marguerite Annie Johnson has been obscured in a community which gave us Black Studies. But she left us a rich pathway to follow as we are Mapping Maya.2024-02-0624 min
ThePromisedLandBirthday or Black History Month? Heck, Let's Celebrate Both TogetherSometimes I forget that February is a big month personally while implementing my career as a Black historian, but I don't have many birthdays left so it's double duty in 2024 and you get to join the joint celebration with the publisher's birthday discount on all our products.2024-02-0523 min
ThePromisedLandIn order to get down with Black history, you have to get in deepBeginning Come to the Water, a seven week session on teaching California Black history with a specific focus on African-Americans and the arts with a Black history sea cruise from Pier 43 1/2 and continuing to explore the world of Sargent Johnson2024-01-1407 min
ThePromisedLandDefending a country that does not defend usThe January Journal of Black Innovation features the 48 Air Force civil engineering battalions; Army regiments and Naval construction battalions which built 1,000 airfields, the Alaska Highway and seaports, a demonstration of how 5 million Black veterans have stepped up since 1770 for a country which rarely steps up for them and their families.2024-01-1012 minThePromisedLandA Jan. 6 lesson on the 14th Amendment from the author of Citizenship for AllThe most important book on the 14th Amendment is Citizenship for All: 150th anniversary of the 14th Amendment which presents the pivotal clause of the U.S. Constitution through the lens of the African-Americans whose civic participation inserted it into the nation's charter. The 14th Amendment will be in a starring role during 2024. We must understand it.2024-01-0624 min
ThePromisedLand46 million Dr. Claudine Gay's facing the same old storyThe capitulation of American higher education to donors and right wing wackos will spread across many arenas.2024-01-0312 min
ThePromisedLandWe have good reason for ImaniAfrican-Americans know why they have the faith which is the seventh principle of Kwanzaa because Emancipation Day is a witness2024-01-0137 min
ThePromisedLandSargent Johnson's Kuumba soared over racismHis art solved the double consciousness dilemma by leaping over the barriers--a lesson we can all take to heed.2023-12-3114 min
ThePromisedLandNia preserves the vibrancy which has overcome adversityRoy L. Clay Sr. named his autobiography Unstoppable, as the Silicon Valley Engineering Hall of Fame member tells his life story. It is the spirit behind NIA, a determination to rebuild Black communities globally.2023-12-3014 min
ThePromisedLandUjamma Jimmy Castor styleCooperative economics is my lane to drive the goals of the 20th annual Journal of Black Innovation National Black Business Month by going way back2023-12-2913 min
ThePromisedLandUjima is our advantage against dangerWithout fangs, shells, venom or great speed, we humans have to work together, particularly when we African-Americans face the pressures of a society dedicated to our destruction. Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. is an example of Ujima, or collective work and responsibility, overcoming decades of neglect.2023-12-2813 min
ThePromisedLandKujichagulia with our health careSelf-determination starts with our health care. The African Burial Ground National Memorial shows that the secret burial societies were the first organizations among Africans in America so health care has always been our first concern, but until the last decade, we had little input in it. Changing that must be our paramount issue during 2024.2023-12-2720 minThePromisedLand2023 is the most important Kwanzaa everWe must heed and learn the seven virtues before 2024, which will be for all the marbles2023-12-2331 min
ThePromisedLandAccomplishment of the great workDec. 6 is the most important date in African-American history. Learn why as historian John William Templeton explains why he sought out the resolutions of ratification for each state that approved the 13th Amendment in just nine months.2023-12-0617 min
ThePromisedLandQueen Calafia sets the stage for emancipationJohn William Templeton gives the context of the abolitionists who are behind the murals of the Room of the Dons in the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel as he marks the anniversary of the dedication of what was called the greatest work of public art since Michaelangelo2023-12-0524 min
ThePromisedLandSecrets of the Nov. 18 MassacreThe deadliest mass casualty event of the 20th century has continuing implications for today as historian John William Templeton and political scientist Dr. James Lance Taylor previewed their discussion with participants Capt. Yulanda Williams and Dr. Amos C. Brown as they recalled the tragedy of Nov. 18, 1978 which took the lives of 300 mostly Black children, some with throats slit by their own mother.2023-11-211h 00
ThePromisedLandA 73 percent reduction in shootings in BrownsvilleNew York City Mayor Eric Adams returned to his home neighborhood to applaud Brownsville for a 73 percent reduction in shootings and 17 percent reduction in crime and a multi-agency effort will work with Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. and our partners in the Brownsville Hub Cooperative to bring career and entrepreneurship services directly to residents. This is a great payoff for the $1.3 million economic mobility grant we received from Robinhood Foundation.2023-11-1421 min
ThePromisedLandQueen Calafia Day Dec. 4Get your exclusive signed copy of Our Roots Run Deep: the Black Experience in California, Vols. 1-4 in time for the anniversary of the unveiling of the Room of the Dons murals in the Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill in San Francisco. The larger moral is that our value is often hidden right in front of us in places where we wouldn't imagine.2023-11-1016 minThePromisedLandCould John Lynch have foreseen six African-American state house speakersFrom 1872 to 1876, Mississippi and South Carolina had African-American speakers of the state legislature, but never again since. Tuesday's elections meant Virginia's House of Delegates will have a Black speaker in the oldest legislature in the country, along with five other states. Additionally, five of the six largest cities will have Black mayors. How do we prevent a reversal?2023-11-0814 min
ThePromisedLandCan a machine be Black?The premise of artificial intelligence, that everything can be predicted and scripted, is the antithesis of the field independent nature of the cultures of the people of Africa (and most of the rest of the world). The November Journal of Black Innovation discusses the profound risk of giving up our competitive advantage for the latest fad in technology as publisher John William Templeton explains in today's episode of The Promised Land.2023-11-0615 min
ThePromisedLandGraves says Diaspora businesses a competitive advantageWith other nations competing to do business with Africa, the United States is scrambling to undo the damage to relations created during the Trump administration and create more opportunities for small businesses and workers. We asked Deputy Secretary Don Graves about those plans during a press briefing on the second day of the African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum in South Africa.2023-11-0308 minThePromisedLandEnergy justice needed across the DiasporaThe new middle passage, as Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley described it, must involve a new relationship between oil producing and oil importing nations, based on equality of value chains and respect for the earning power of those who toil in the industry. We connect ACTIF2023 with Justice Week2023-11-0115 minThePromisedLandCan we escape the impact of GuyanaFirst, we have to discern how the largest mass casualty event in American history to that point impacted our sense of progress. Guyana is now reaching out to invite the world.2023-10-3010 minThePromisedLand25th anniversary of Africa Growth and Opportunity ActThe renewal of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act is a reason to be engaged in the political process of shaping mutually beneficial trade with the fastest growing trade bloc in the world to the progress of the African-American economy.2023-10-2812 minThePromisedLandAsk who makes your treats and who makes the $$As Halloween approaches, Chicago announced the opening of the first African-American owned chocolate factory, something which offers new options for African producers to achieve fairness in marketing their products as we approach the AfriCaribbean Trade Forum on Halloween Eve and Halloween where the African Export Import Bank is giving out real economic treats2023-10-2712 minThePromisedLandSpeak now or forever be silencedThe elevation of a radical book banner and opponent of civil rights is the latest consequence of the Louisiana election, but other news shows why Black voters have to be engaged in Mississippi and Virginia next week and nationwide in 2024.2023-10-2515 min
ThePromisedLandDon't judge the book by the unspectacular appearanceAs we've pointed out in the annual State of Black Business reports, the Biden-Harris administration is the first to actually commit dollars and administrative policy towards capitalizing Black communities. I address the cynicism being fueled when we should be as aggressive as the Black voters in the 1860s who achieved three Constitutional amendments2023-10-2318 min
ThePromisedLandSilicon Valley Black Chamber hosts civil rights pioneer John William TempletonMany of my earliest friends when I arrived in San Jose as editor of the San Jose Business Journal turned out in person and online for Reaching the Tech Promised Land at the College of Engineering, San Jose State University on Tuesday, Oct. 172023-10-1954 minThePromisedLandReaching the Tech Promised LandOn the anniversary of the courageous stand of John Carlos and Tommie Smith in honor of Dr. King's prophecy for the Promised Land, we gave a presentation at San Jose State University for the Silicon Valley Black Chamber that called for the creation of ten billion-dollar Black enterprises to make the infrastructure of the 21st century referencing the seminal role of African-American innovators in the key technologies that created Silicon Valley as a direct result of Brown v. Board of Education2023-10-1819 min
ThePromisedLandLouisiana elections may have opened door for insurrectionist SpeakerWhen 700,000 Black voters sat out the Saturday, Oct. 14 Louisiana election, it sent a message that anti-woke partisans were looking for. We had actually gone to sleep in the face of the most serious threat to democracy in 50 years.2023-10-1719 min
ThePromisedLandWake up one weekend and become a U.S. senator by the end of the dayI wrote a book called Jazz Management: the art of planned improvisation based on the management lessons of jazz musicians who can come into a completely unexpected situation with unfamiliar musicians and rise to stardom. It doesn't happen by accident. Sen. Laphonza Butler had no idea she would become a U.S. senator, but her life and schooling at Jackson State prepared her to achieve something that thousands of politicians spend an entire lifetime chasing. She also embodies the seminal role of the Black labor movement in American politics. Ironically, the late Sen. Diane Feinstein credited the black labor...2023-10-0413 min
ThePromisedLandDoes the world's largest Black country feel independent on its independence day?The U.S. government did not shut down, averting an attempt to shanghai civil rights and investment in our communities through the skill and fortitude of House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Further reason to celebrate is Nigerian Independence Day, but the party started much earlier in the year. 2023-10-0118 min
ThePromisedLandWhat does it mean that Latinx aggregate income is twice African-American aggregate income?Neither group should see themselves as minorities or powerless, notes John William Templeton, author of Capitalizing Our Heritage: State of Black Business, 20th edition, in this episode of The Promised Land. It does represent what can be achieved in relatively short periods with proper policies and civic strategies. There is also a comparison with the approach taken by First Nations, to leverage their sovereignty to economic progress and political clout.2023-09-3017 min
ThePromisedLandWhen I questioned Kissinger in 1976, I could not have foreseen this day in LuandaMost media missed a truly significant event -- the first African-American Defense Secretary completing a three nation trip through Africa in the nation which sent many of its residents into bondage in the United States. But it shows how The Promised Land can occur, with faith and persistence. The trip impacted such cities as Port au Prince, Nairobi and Luanda as we'll discuss in this episode.2023-09-2850 min
ThePromisedLandBuy your luxury import from Nigeria or Uganda: How $190 billion goes much furtherAfrican-American car buyers have new options to spend their $190 billion in auto purchases as automobile manufacturing matures across the African continent. Jamaica has announced plans to acquire vehicles from Nigeria's 25 year old Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing and Uganda's Kiira Motors is making solar buses, keeping the minerals for renewable manufacturing in a value chain on the continent. We also revisit Richard Patterson's Trion Supercars, that we first featured with the launch of Our10Plan in 2014 and discuss the link between auto unions and civil rights.2023-09-2325 min
ThePromisedLandHow U.S. communities can trade directly with Africa and the CaribbeanCentral Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. Executive Director LaShawn Allen Muhammad joined Secretary General Wamkele Mene of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and Deodat Maharaj, Director of the Caribbean Export Development Agency to explore how communities like Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood capture the energy of the West Indian American Day Parade, America's largest live event, for continuous economic development during a side event to the UN General Assembly. At the same time, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo was meeting with Nigerian leaders in New York after his three-day trip to Lagos. The Journal of Black Innovation fostered an example with...2023-09-2218 min
ThePromisedLandDiaspora doing business across all boundariesThe Promised Land looks like the Caribbean Investment Forum and AfriCaribbean Trade Forum, both happening in October, in Georgetown, Guyana and Nassau, Bahamas. Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. Executive Director LaShawn Allen Muhammad joined Secretary-General Wamkele Mene and Caribbean Export Development Agency Director Deodat Maharaj in a UN General Assembly forum on how Black communities get directly engaged with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, the largest trade bloc in the world, and the Caribbean Single Market Economy as Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo fostered ties with businesses and government leaders in Nigeria, where he was born.2023-09-2218 min
ThePromisedLandAfrica can have fair and free elections -- just look at jollof riceGambia, which hasn't been much in the spotlight since Kunta Kinte, was the unexpected winner of the continental competition over who makes the best jollof rice, which gives a shining example of election transparency and international cooperation in a time of chaos. And we preview the Mapping Maya tour spotlighting a noted chef of Pan African cuisine in her own right.2023-09-1910 min
ThePromisedLandThank God Almighty for Saint John Will-I-Am ColtraneThe fall equinox is also the Manifestation Day for St. John Coltrane, who was beatified by the African Orthodox Church. Archbishop Franzo W. King explained why in today's sermon at the St. John Coltrane African Orthodox Church. Meanwhile, Deputy Treasury Secretary Adewale Adeyemo was making a name for himself in his homeland of Nigeria on the first day of his trip and a Civil War soldier got full military honors a century after his passing in Santa Cruz.2023-09-1813 min
ThePromisedLandHow do you find a cheeseburger in Lagos or KingstonDeputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo returns to his homeland on Sept. 18 for a major economic speech at Lagos Business School, so how does one find a cheeseburger to mark National Cheeseburger Day. No worries, Black Money Worldwide and BlackRestaurant.NET have 100 options to get a Black-owned restaurant to meet your taste needs.2023-09-1617 min
ThePromisedLandYou must remember this--Casablanca is more than just a movieBefore the earthquake brought unprecedented devastation to Morocco and even before Humphrey Bogart, Casablanca is an important city on the Mediterranean Sea and the capital of Morocco, just as Washington, D.C. is the nation's capital. But the 712,000 District residents are waiting for an electoral earthquake that would make it a state, something that is important to every African-American.2023-09-1413 min
ThePromisedLandWater, water everywhere, but not through the faucetToday's episode of the Promised Land visits Oakland to discuss the 14th Amendment, and poses the question of how Capetown, South Africa and Jackson, MS can be so close to water, but not actually have the drinking water their residents need. John William Templeton is author of Citizenship for All: 150th anniversary of the 14th Amendment.2023-09-1316 min
ThePromisedLandWhere is the governor, the mayor and all the NFL quarterbacks Black men?Govs. Seyi Makinde of Oyo State in Nigeria and Wes Moore in Maryland, USA have both created excitement for bringing a new goal oriented focus to public leadership from their time in private industry. Speaking of private industry, Lamar Jackson became a one man conglomerate by negotiating his own $250 million contract, celebrated by the entire quarterback room. Baltimore and Ibadan also share a deep history of academic and research leadership through their universities. I also reflect on why the Google anti-trust suit is so pivotal for African-Americans.2023-09-1110 min
ThePromisedLandGaining a name and royal lineage by searching one's rootsLike Maya Angelou, Jeannette Fisher-Koaudio, Esq. was curious about Africa although she grew up in San Francisco. But as soon as the opportunity presented itself, she opened up a whole continent of adventure and learned who she really is. She's chair of the San Francisco-Abidjan Sister Cities Committee and gives some of the mechanics of connecting across the oceans.2023-09-0916 min
ThePromisedLandGrits ain't groceries, eggs ain't poultry and Cleopatra was...The casting of a Black actress as Cleopatra caused something of a stir as we examine two important sources of culture, Alexandria, Egypt and Philadelphia, PA, but there is no doubt about the impact of Francis Johnson, known as the father of American music. If you didn't know that, then you should be subscribing to The Promised Land2023-09-0917 min
ThePromisedLandWhat do Kano, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles have in commonFour metropoli with a long history, but which one goes back 1,200 years? We discuss how motion pictures shape our concept of place and time in this episode of The Promised Land and the implications of using such streaming services as Kweli.tv or the Africa Channel. Our Roots Run Deep: the Black Experience in California, Vol. 2 has a list of every African-American who appeared in motion pictures prior to 1970 in order to correct the myth of absense.2023-09-0821 min
ThePromisedLandHow Cairo and Los Angeles transformed Maya AngelouToday's episode of The Promised Land lifts up Debron and Voncher Walker in Warm Springs, GA who have purchased the Eleanor Roosevelt School and gained a $700,000 grant from the National Park Service to begin restoration of the only brick Rosenwald School of the thousands built between 1912 and 1936. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote a personal check to finish the campaign for the school, near his vacation retreat. It's an example of how to protect and preserve history like the marker in North Beach by Maya Angelou that says "without courage, we can not practice any of the other virtues with...2023-09-0727 min
ThePromisedLandRumble in the Rain Forest: Megacity for the Planet's LungsWhat do Chicago and Kinshasa have in common? The fate of humanity is tied up in making those cities work. John William Templeton discusses the ways those urban areas contribute to reaching the Promised Land in today's podcast, which also points out the threats to the 14th Amendment, the foundation of global democracy. Subscribe to The PROMISED LAND https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=K37XZFZDBRMN82023-09-0615 min
ThePromisedLand60 cities to drive the Black economic futureCapitalizing Our Heritage: State of Black Business, 20th edition, unveils the 60 Cities initiative. The Promised Land will describe those cities with more than one million population each day for the next 60 days and also highlight American cities such as New York City where the West Indian American Day Parade was the largest live event in nation this past weekend. We also spotlight the executive director LaShawn Allen Muhammad of Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. for winning a cash prize of $20,000 for being one of the Just Brooklyn Award winners from the Brooklyn Community Foundation and Joe Tsai, owner of...2023-09-0519 minThePromisedLandThe answer is five millionOn Black American Day, John William Templeton describes the significance of the death of Crispus Attucks in 1770 as the first American to die for the country.2023-09-0437 minThePromisedLandThe most important African-American speech in historyJohn William Templeton, a fourth generation Presbyterian Ruling Elder, reenacts the most important speech in African-American history, Let the Monster Perish by Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, the first African-American to address Congress at 15th Street Presbyterian Church where Garnet pastored during the Civil War.2023-09-0451 minThePromisedLandDeliverance ArchitectureJan. 22 sermon at Third Baptist Church about Deliverance Architecture through the three African-American churches started in 1852 as outposts for the Underground Railroad2023-09-0431 minThePromisedLandMarcus Garvey Day from the John Carlos/Tommie Smith statue at SJSuThe Journal of Black Innovation National Black Business Month chooses Marcus Garvey's birthday, Aug. 17, each year to acknowledge the power of Black unity.2023-09-0417 minThePromisedLand209,145 voices who spoke on behalf of our freedom with their courageWe issue the pledge of allegiance to the heroes of July 30 from the African-American Civil War Memorial where the names of 209,145 U.S. Troops of African Descent are an eloquent statement on the centrality of Black veterans to the creation, preservation and future of the United States of America. Five million African-Americans have fought for this nation, which made a covenant in the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment to them and their descendants.2023-09-0414 minThePromisedLandAugust 1 31 Ways 31 DaysHow we tackle learned helplessness and arrive at the promised land in three years.2023-09-0444 minThePromisedLandLive from Thurgood Marshall CenterDefending the 14th Amendment from the Heritage Room of the Thurgood Marshall Center where lawyers gathered in a building designed by Tuskegee architect Sidney Pittman to carry out the strategy to win Brown v. Board of Education2023-09-041h 59ThePromisedLand$200 billion more than Saudi ArabiaUnveiling 60 cities initiative during first day of #BuildingBlack at Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs and introducing developer Ericka Keller who broke ground on Glenmore Manor for Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corp. on a lot which had been vacant since 19672023-09-0421 minThePromisedLandIn the footsteps of Booker T. Washington and George Washington CarverThe second day of the #BuildingBlack symposium at Tuskegee University Robert R. Taylor School of Architecture and Construction Science, the first HBCU architecture program, and a tour of the campus built by bricks hand made by students2023-09-0455 minThePromisedLandCapitalizing Our Heritage May 15From Howard University, announce the findings of the 20th annual State of Black Business along with Dr. M'zee Fula Ngenge, chair of the African Diamond Council2023-09-041h 30ThePromisedLandThe pledge of allegiance to the heroes of July 30, 1866The New Orleans massacre of July 30, 1866 is the event which precipitated the 14th Amendment.2023-09-0414 minThePromisedLandMaster historian John William Templeton explains 14th AmendmentWith KPOO's Larry Chew on In Real Time explaining the significance of the 14th Amendment2023-09-0459 minThePromisedLandJohn William Templeton describes Promised Land on Wharton Business DailyWe descibe the threat and the opportunity to reach the promised land by America's 250th anniversary in this interview with Dan Loney of Wharton Business Daily2023-09-0410 minThePromisedLandWhy Dr. King gave his life for labor, Part 2We tell the link between the Montgomery bus boycott and the labor movement in this extended episode previewing our tour on Labor Day2023-09-0420 minThePromisedLandWhy Dr. King gave his life for laborFrom the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Waterfall in Yerba Buena Gardens, John William Templeton incorporates little known history from his documentary The King Behind King, Bridges, Chavez and Mandela and his book Citizenship for All: 150th anniversary of the 14th Amendment as well as the California African-American Freedom Trail He previews the 10 a.m. tour from the waterfall on Labor Day that shows the relationship between the labor movement and Dr. King's role while noting that he gave his life to support a labor strike in Memphis in 1968.2023-09-0411 min