2nd annual African Nation Family Reunion Block Party

BY ALLEN A. BUCHANAN, Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG –Black Power 96 FM hosted their second annual African Nation Family Reunion Block Party on a wet July 4 to celebrate and unify south St. Petersburg’s African American community.

Station manager Diakiesse Lungiasani described the event as an “alternative for Africans in south St. Petersburg to focus on issues significant to them as they still struggle to define their purpose in America.”

Founder of the Uhuru Movement, Chairman Omali Yeshitela commented that as Africans were chained and brought to America “there is no specific point or place during the middle passage that they magically become African American.”

His speech to a standing-room-only crowd punctuated the necessity of African people to holistically support their communities and their businesses while critically monitoring and correcting the education of African children in American.

Communities United for Reparations and Economic Development (CURED) organizers Akile Anai and Jesse Nevel closed out the celebration by letting everyone know that their fight for “reparations and economic development” will continue.

About Black Power 96 FM

This commercial-free community radio station was established to serve the interests of St. Petersburg’s black community, not the far away big corporate interests of commercial radio. It provides free training in professional broadcasting and access to the radio airwaves for our local talent, organizations and businesses. Regular on-air giveaways of concert tickets and grocery cards are providing much-appreciated resources to south St. Pete.

To reach Allen Buchanan, email abuchanan@theweeklychallenger.com