24. The Sixties

The 1960s was a mad time for Black people. It was a mad time for the world, but especially for Black people. The African Independence movement boosted morale but quickly descended into cut-throat strongman politics. Meanwhile, the American Civil Rights movement empowered new voices but failed to eliminate racism. Both ended in violence. George revisits the birth of Uganda through the story of his grandfather - Andrew Frederick Mpanga. The disappointments of this period put into context the birth of Black Power, and the emergence of gang culture among African American youth.

Warning: This episode contains very strong language and language that may offend, as well as adult themes.

Credits:

Written by George the Poet Produced by Benbrick and George the Poet Mixing, recording and editing by Benbrick.

With music from:

Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come The Last Poets - Black Soldier David McCallum - Edge 2Pac - 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted (feat. Snoop Dogg)

All original music is written by Benbrick and recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

We had the following guests:

Nikissi Serumaga

Thank you to:

My team - Sandra, Vidhu, and Birungi; Dylan Haskins and the team at BBC Sounds, BBC Concert Orchestra; the Common Ground team - Anne Whitehead, Darshan Sanghrajka, and Benbrick.

Archive:

The clip of Kabaka Mutesa II used at 09:10 is taken from The BBC World Service show Witness.

The theme used at 10.21 is the New Line Cinema ident.

The clip of my Grandfather Andrew Frederick Mpanga talking with Robert Serumaga used from 11.54 to 15:16 is taken from BBC Africa Abroad.

The clip of Malcolm X used at 16:56 is taken from his interview at Berkeley from 1963.

The clips talking about The Black Panthers used at 18:44, 19:06, 19:17, and 19:22 are taken from the New York Times documentary “Black Panthers Revisited”.

The announcement of Martin Luther King Jr’s death at 19:31 is taken from BBC News.

We used Fred Hampton’s legendary “I am a revolutionary” clip at 20:38.

The clip of Tupac Shakur at 24:25 is taken from the BET Networks video titled “Tupac Shakur: The World Is Hash And I just Don’t Got No Beautiful Stories”.

Soundtrack:

Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come 00:16 - 02:09

Benbrick - Change 03:42 - 04:55

Benbrick - The Sixties 05:42 - 11:29

Benbrick - Libya 11:35 - 16:24

Benbrick - The Sixties 16:53 - 18:04

Benbrick - The Sixties 18:44 - 19:30

The Last Poets - Black Soldier 19:46 - 20:38

David McCallum - Edge 21:33 - 22:51

2Pac - 2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted (feat. Snoop Dogg) 23:17 - 25:55

Sam Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come 26:19 - 27:38

Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is a George the Poet production for BBC Sounds.

Commissioning Executive for BBC: Dylan Haskins