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We're so happy to be thinking together with all of you this summer. Please feel free to check out our blog with memories!

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Salifu Memunatu
Muta-Ali Zengbang Ibrahim
Ameyaw Joycelin Emefa
Abubakar Salamatu
Dunee Desmond

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Laila Ali
Monet Debose
Lauren Lattimore
Lisa Adanye
Hayat Shibeshi
Mammie Barry - CPGC Intern

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Mohammed Yussif Gausu - Radio
Mahama Safianu - ICT
Mahama Abdul-Azeez - Titagya
Iddrisu Abdul-Somed - RCG
Abubakar Alimatu  - DCG
Manzah Iddi Suweidu - DCG

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Alhassan Sumaila
Alice Lesnick
Chanelle Wilson
Sabea Evans
Issah Rajaau

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Black, to me, means being part of a wonderful larger community! Study this is a joy for all the pain, struggle, ingenuity, and triumph that us who we are.

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Black to me is not just my color. it is my upbringing, norm, struggle, and privilege to a rich culture! I wouldn't sign up to get even a shade lighter! #BLACK #HABESHA

studying blackness to me is studying the origins -where it all began. it is deepening my knowledge about different Black culture and appreciating it all.

Tikur Sew (Amharic for black person), is Teddy Afro’s tribute to the legacy of Menelik II, the emperor who led Ethiopia during the world-famous Battle of Adwa on March 1, 1896.
regarding the victory we had against Italy at the battle of Adwa

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To me, studying Blackness means engaging with histories, epistemologies, and traditions of continuity, creativity, joy and resistance inherent in the experiences, creation, and memory of Black people.  As a white person, studying Blackness also means actively decentering, challenging, and undermining norms of white supremacy.  And it means using but not staying within academic frameworks. -- Alice 6/5/20

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" Throughout my primary school from age 6 to 11... most of the time they try to tell us to speak only English and not our mother-tongue. And that was too serious... It's only in the 5, 6 hours you spend in school that they try to teach you English language. And unfortunately, too, most of the teachers who taught us were not also good in the English language." --Safianu from Sabea's Thesis
Post by Monet

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To my blackness is beauty and it shows I come from people that are true kings and queens. Being Black is rich like the African soil filled rich nutrients. Being black represents resilience and the ability to overcome a lot of challenges and obstacles. Being Black is an affirmation of where I’m from and where I am going. For this I am Black and proud. ~ Laila

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This week, Zoe shared his music with me. Check out his Youtube and hit that like and subscribe button! Participating in black study to me also means supporting black creatives and amplifying their work!

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To me, black means being original, unique and fabulous and being black means delighting in my uniqueness!

Studying blackness to me is studying originality and studying being content with what God has made.

~Zoe

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Studying blackness feels like:
belonging
triumph
floating with your feet on the ground
-Sabea

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Victoria Santa Cruz- Me gritaron negra/ They yelled at me black (woman)- Poem with english subtitles

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Optimistic by Sounds Of Blackness

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Being black to me is complicated. It is like an onion, there are so many things to study, so much to learn. I know the color of my skin leads to different types of assumptions about where I come from, I have learnt to adapt to each assumption, and in doing that, have learnt so much about people with my skin and their backgrounds.

I have always felt lucky to be black, I have always felt that my skin and hair is just an adaptation effect blessed on me to survive my habitat. Just like a giraffe was given a long neck. It is therefore a new and exciting experience to learn about how others think of my skin and how my people have suffered because of something that was supposed to be a blessing.

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A word cloud of the feelings shared earlier. So happy to be in community!

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Being black to me is not only being natural,  but also being proud of where am coming from, my language, rich culture and history.
Studying blackness means a lot to me, as I'll get to know more about the disguised privileges,his others perceives Blacks and alot

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Music by Residente... sampled here in Tamalelocal Tora music

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Looking back on Common's gripping Tiny Desk performance at the White House in 2016, I recall a couple of prophetic moments. The first was that the rapper confessed his desire for an Emmy Award while fixated on Bob Boilen's trophy on the desk in front of him. Months after that confession, he would win his first Emmy for his performance of the song "Letter To The Free." The second moment was that pianist Robert Glasper and drummer Karriem Riggins, both of whom produced "Letter,"closed the performance by sneaking in a small J Dilla tribute. They locked eyes and laughed as if there was some sort of revelation. As I stood in the White House Library, I remember thinking to myself, ' They should form a group.'

This year, they've officially become an item by the name of August Greene.

"August Greene actually formed before we chose a name, before we even knew it was a band," Common tells NPR. "Karriem, Rob and I go back many years. It was something natural."

For their first offering, the trio recruited the vocal bible herself, Brandy, to revamp 1991's "Optimistic" by Sounds of Blackness. It's most certainly a heavy duty for one person to play the role of a 40-member choir, but if anyone is up for the task, it's Brandy. Her voice has aged like the finest of wines, layering harmonies all over Glasper's signature keys and Riggin's rapid drums. This iteration of "Optimistic" hauls more live instrumentation while staying true to what Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis originally orchestrated. Common's bars serve as the proverbial cherry on top while a choir lends a hand to close the jam out.

Glasper had previously teased that he was back in the studio with Brandy following their work on his 2013 album, Black Radio 2, but this was not what I expected. "Optimistic" will definitely come in handy to recharge our personal batteries in 2018.
August Greene's self-titled debut album will be available March 9 as an Amazon Original.

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Common, Karriem Riggins, Robert Glasper And Brandy Unite On 'Optimistic'

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Looking back on Common's gripping Tiny Desk performance at the White House in 2016, I recall a couple of prophetic moments. The first was that the rapper confessed his desire for an Emmy Award while fixated on Bob Boilen's trophy on the desk in front of him.

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Click the image below to take you to Week 2!