WPFW

06/19/2026

06/17/2026

Music is the very cement that has not just held the black community together but holds black selves together in a fundamental sense. — Cornel West.

On Saturday, June 20, from midnight until midnight, WPFW presents Black…Music…Matters celebrating the genius of the music - a foundational pillar of global culture and a profound vehicle for both struggle and triumph, lauded for its ceaseless evolution and its ability to act as a mirror for cultural and political history and movement.

We have secured a $10,000 challenge grant in honor of the importance of Black music, and are asking that you help us meet the challenge during the program!

Black…Music…Matters! Saturday, June 20 midnight to midnight on WPFW, building a better world one soulful track at a time!

Donate by clicking the "DONATE NOW" button at wpfwfm.org.

06/17/2026

Listen to AfricaNow! June 17, 1:00PM (U.S. Eastern) on WPFW 89.3 FM in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area or at www.wpfwfm.org featuring--A River of Prophecy: Constructing a Sacred History of African Americans with Nubia Kai Pt.2. The conversation with Dr. Nubia Kai from last week continues in which she challenges conventional Western historical perspectives by exploring traditional African historiographical methods and their deep connections to genealogy. Dr. Nubia Kai is a former assistant professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Howard University. Professor Kai is also a poet, novelist, and playwright.

Support AfricaNow! and your community station WPFW at https://pledge.wpfwfm.org/index.php. Or on our CashApp, which is $WPFWFM write it is for AfricaNow! and include your email address. Thank you.

06/17/2026

Today 5-8am EST on the Morning Brew’s Beyond Borders, Katea Stitt pays homage to the hippest king, Abdullah Ibrahim, and the student freedom fighters of the Soweto Uprising 50 years later!

06/16/2026

What incredible lessons can we learn from the children? History has no shortage of them, and today--the International Day of the African Child--is always a great reminder of that. On this day in 1976, thousands of students took to the streets of Soweto, a township just outside of Johannesburg, in protest of the colonial government's latest imposition into the lives of the students. This time, the apartheid government had mandates that Afrikaans (the colonial language) be the official language taught to Black students in South Africa.

Justifiably outraged at this legislation, students left the schools, and took to the streets in peaceful nonviolent protest. They sang and chanted as they marched. And you know the rest of the story.

The students were quickly met with gunfire from colonial police forces. One of the most haunting images from this day is of 12-year old Hector Pieterson, laying dead in the arms of a peer, while his sister shouts mournfully for help. Hector was one of hundreds killed that day.

But the students did not desist. They continued to march and demonstrate for days, braving confrontations with the police, and honoring their fallen comrades by remembering why they took to the streets in the first place. They were joined by teachers, parents, and more. And less than 20 years after this flashpoint took place--after so many decades of oppressive colonization--the apartheid regime in South Africa finally came to an end.

We had so much to learn from the children. What have you learned from them?

06/15/2026

Why did Diddy even have to ask "Why?" to that?

But on a serious note, what do you think? From The Isley Brothers to Biggie Smalls himself, this melody is behind some of the most iconic memories in pop music history, and it started with the soulful sounds of early 1980's RnB.

Which song do you prefer? Did you know about this relationship between the two?

If y'all like this, we'll expand on the series that dives into the jazzful origins of some of the most popular songs of the modern era. It's so easy to take jazz for granted. People think, "I don't listen to jazz, therefore I don't listen to jazz," but real ones know that like in these tracks, just because you don't seek out jazz, doesn't mean you don't hear it and its influence ALL THE TIME, across every major popular music genre to this day.

If you want more of this, let us know. And put someone on game, today.

06/12/2026