Where We’re Headed

Africa Tour: Liberia, "Nollywood" & Diaspora Pentecostalism

Today, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s holiday we break hiatus and continue the "Abroad Series" stopping in Brasil and a tour of Africa. We delve into entertainment, the shifting sands of Catholicism to Evangelical Christianity and Pentecostalism, and how they are changing the faces and legacies of colonialism on the continent. Criss-crossing the globe, we begin  with Nollywood (Nigeria), jet to Brasil and return to Africa on a world tour of religion(s), changing culture(s) and bold, modern-day dissent. Continuing our journey of the African Diaspora, Episode 23 showcases the changing tides of religious stories through industry, empire, colonialism and modern-day trends which shape societies and personally impact millions of people, indigenous faiths, minorities and marginalized people.  _____  (Ep. 23)     Show Notes     Host: Rogiérs [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]     Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson [https://theemily1220.com/]    Music Licensing: Storyblocks, Fibby Music (ASCAP) Additional Music:  "Ocean of Love" [https://music.apple.com/us/music-video/ocean-of-love/1691998639] V. Richardson (ASCAP)/L. Johnson (BMI), Richard Bona [https://www.richard-bona.com] - Bassist/Composer, @Robarousal (Pianist, IG), @Naijagospel (Hymn-Choir, IG), "Clarinet Soufleé" - Paquito D'Rivera (Brasilian Rhythms), The 1997 Batch”, J Dilla [http://jdillafoundation.org/] & Vintage Vibez Music Group Resources & Mentions    Abbot Subbah, Liberian Elder Afro Queer Podcast [https://afroqueerpodcast.wordpress.com/2021/11/29/season-four-episode-4/] (Season 4, Ep. 4 "Shivanah's Story") The Condition of Nonbelievers in Africa [https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2021-07/2021%20Factsheet%20-%20Nonbelievers.pdf]. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.  "Faith Under Fire" Documentary, BBC - Africa Eye [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0byxwg0]  Ghana's Anti-LGBTQ Bill/African LGBTQ Advocate, Joy News [http://Myjoyonline.com] Humanist Action Ghana [https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/ghana-year-of-return-tourism-intl/index.html], Non-Profit Organization (Ghana) Elle Hardy, "Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World" [https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Belief-Pentecostal-Christianity-Taking/dp/1787385531](2022) Harrison Mumia, Atheists in Kenya [https://www.atheistsinkenya.org] Liberia 1820-1847: "From Colony to Republic" [https://www.loc.gov/collections/maps-of-liberia-1830-to-1870/articles-and-essays/history-of-liberia/1820-to-1847/], Library of Congress Pastor Walter Magaya, (Zimbabwe) via  Hopewell Chin’ono  Pastor Daniel Mgogo Sarah Peace, Nollywood on the Pulpit: Performance and Magic in Pentecostalism [https://www.amazon.com/Nollywood-Pulpit-Performance-Magic-Pentecostalism/dp/0993175147] (2020) Soldiers of Jesus: Armed Pentecostals Target Brazil's Religious Minorities [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/soldiers-of-jesus-armed-neo-pentecostals-torment-brazils-religious-minorities/2019/12/08/fd74de6e-fff0-11e9-8501-2a7123a38c58_story.html?fbclid=IwAR2xPCh0lccPblR4Nur0Ahq081_qhLPw4JtXJY0TcD0xSCCI8WhB3X04QvU] - The Washington Post, (2019) _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: WWHPodcasting@gmail.com [BNDCPodcast@gmail.com] Blue Sky 🦋 and Twitter @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC [http://www.blacksecularcollective.com/] online on Facebook and also on Meetup [https://www.meetup.com/Black-Nonbelievers-of-D-C/members/].  Support WWH Podcast [http://patreon.com/WWHPodcasting] on Patreon and follow us on 🦋 BlueSky [https://bsky.app/profile/wwhpodcasting.bsky.social] and Twitter [http://www.twitter.com/WWHPodcasting]! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities [https://dcarts.dc.gov/]and the American Humanist Association [http://www.americanhumanist.org/]. (c) 2025 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]

Ivory Coast Abroad: Mohamed Cisse & Islam

This week we continue our abroad series-opening with special insights from co-host Verdell Wright on the importance of centering Black narratives of religious freedom and experience. We briefly visit the plight of despised Nigerian atheist/activist Mubarak Bala who in-secret was unjustly sequestered in Nigeria for nearly a year only to be sentenced  to 24 years for the invisible crime of blaspheming Allah by clerics in northern Islamic Nigeria. Finally we center the spotlight in an interview with activist speaker, Mohmmed Cisse -an expat born and raised in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Cisse recounts his upbringing in a cultural milieu heavily controlled by religious affiliations, poor mental heath education, patriarchy and misogyny, and HIV death and stigmatization. However, all is not lost-Cisse discusses his transformative work with The Clergy Project and shares his stories of the bright light of hope for his family and community abroad. _____  (Ep. 22)     Show Notes     Host: Rogiérs [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]     Co-Host: Verdell Wright  Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs Interview: Mohmmed Cisse Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson [https://theemily1220.com/]    Music Licensing: Storyblocks  Additional Music:  David “Preach” Balfour (Piano), Ismael (Gaddafi Mosque-Kampala, Uganda/Call to Prayer [https://youtu.be/2_jK8L6t2W0]), The 1997 Batch”, J Dilla [http://jdillafoundation.org/] & Vintage Vibez Music Group Resources & Mentions    Verdell Wright (TikTok @VeeAyeDubz) TCP, The Clergy Project [https://clergyproject.org/] “Nigeria: Atheist Activist Mubarak Bala sentenced to 24 years in blasphemy case” (Africa News) [https://youtu.be/ig6CpnDlJJk] “The Cost of Being an Atheist” BBC Africa Documentary [https://youtu.be/uoHCqjR-Dts] BBC Kaduna Book Festival 2018-Humanism in Nigeria with Leo Igwe [https://youtu.be/WodDJ0JYFYw] _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: WWHPodcasting@gmail.com [BNDCPodcast@gmail.com] Twitter: @WWHPodcasting [https://twitter.com/WWHPodcasting] _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC [http://www.BlackSecularCollective.com] online on Facebook and also on Meetup [https://www.meetup.com/Black-Nonbelievers-of-D-C/members/].  Support WWH Podcast [http://patreon.com/WWHPodcasting] or follow it Twitter [http://www.twitter.com/WWHPodcasting]! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities [https://dcarts.dc.gov]and the American Humanist Association [http://www.americanhumanist.org/]. (c) 2022 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]

Religion Abroad: The Mission Field

Admittedly one of our more atheist-y episodes, today we offer the second installment of our “Abroad Series”. This show takes a deep-dive, critical look into the phenomenon of missionary work-mostly of the Christian/Evangelical variety. From New York to Brasil, West Africa to Uganda, India to the Caribbean and back, we scrutinize the mission field; its presumptions of good faith and nobility and a religious ideology too easily associated with virtue, cultural diversity and community uplift. Our story is told in three parts: A personal narrative; a trenchant critique on a missionary ripped from the headlines and a culminating, feature interview with Dr. Adria Armbister. She is a distinguished professional in International Development, hails from a denomination well-known for its reputation abroad and both member and ally of the BSC-DC organization. _____  (Ep. 21)     Show Notes     Host: Rogiérs [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]     Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs, Drai Salmon Contributing Writer: Dan Savage for Savage Lovecast Interviewer: Dr. Adria Armbister  Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson [https://theemily1220.com/]    Music Licensing/Episode Musical Credits courtesy of: Storyblocks  Additional Music: "theShedding" [https://rogiers.bandcamp.com/album/theshedding] (Courtesy of Fibby Music Group, LLC), Stanley and the “12 Sleepless Nights” [https://coldwellbankervi.com/2022/12/16/stanley-and-the-ten-sleepless-knights/], “The 1997 Batch”, J Dilla [http://jdillafoundation.org/] & Vintage Vibez Music Group, “God Great God [https://open.spotify.com/track/3lKm5sFLJnUJRzHFnZVEkd]”, Kurt Karr (Zomba Gospel, LLC) Resources & Mentions    Leonard Ostrander, The Clergy Project [https://clergyproject.org/] “Call Me Kuchu” [https://www.cinemapolitica.org/film/call-me-kuchu/] (Documentary) “We Had the Land, They had the Bible” [https://youtu.be/5iLmyWoKHvo] (Monique White) “Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World” [https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Belief-Pentecostal-Christianity-Taking/dp/1787385531] (Elle Hardy) Missionary's harrowing last diary entries before he was killed by Sentinelese tribe [https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/missionarys-harrowing-last-diary-entries-22016100] (Mirror Magazine) Ama Ata Aidoo, Afrogoats [https://www.instagram.com/p/CoKLy0xgdYX/] _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: WWHPodcasting@gmail.com [BNDCPodcast@gmail.com] Twitter: @WWHPodcasting [https://twitter.com/WWHPodcasting] _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC [http://www.BlackSecularCollective.com] online on Facebook and also on Meetup [https://www.meetup.com/Black-Nonbelievers-of-D-C/members/].  Support WWH Podcast [http://patreon.com/WWHPodcasting] or follow it Twitter [http://www.twitter.com/WWHPodcasting]! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities [https://dcarts.dc.gov]and the American Humanist Association [http://www.americanhumanist.org/]. (c) 2022 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]

Christianity Abroad: 🎼 The ”Devil’s Music” & Indigenous Sounds

We’re back with a new season as this February marks the first anniversary of the WWH podcast [https://twitter.com/WWHPodcasting]!! To celebrate, we’re launching Season 2 with our Abroad series. In this first episode our first stop is to the Caribbean: the USVI 🇻🇮, Jamaica 🇯🇲 - and ultimately hitting the US mainland (after a stopover in Brasil 🇧🇷). We’re highlighting Black (and Indigenous) music as "dissent" and sharing this insightful interview with Ro by Jack Matirko from the TST-TV show and #ONPBreakpoint.    Jack and Ro talk about the demonization of African culture in the West Indies as a cultural product and dynamic in religious practices on a landscape long shaped by Christian missionaries both Catholic and Protestant in colonial settlements where Black and indigenous people were forced to give labor. We also briefly the demonizing of Black musical forms throughout key periods of American music history and how they differ from Caribbean musical landscapes, from past to present.    _____  (Ep. 20)     Show Notes     Host: Rogiérs [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]     Writing & Narration: Rogiérs   Interviewer: Jack Matirko [https://twitter.com/LEDFlashing] for TST-TV and The Satanic Estate [https://twitter.com/SatanicEstate]  Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson [https://theemily1220.com/]    Music Licensing/Episode Musical Credits courtesy of: Storyblocks  Additional Music: "Again" (Sine Qua Non Mix) [http://www.teecardaci.com/blog/celebrating-100k-soundcloud-plays-with-free-track-giveaway] & (Seven Davis, Jr. Mix) [https://rogiers.bandcamp.com/track/again-feat-seven-davis-jr] (Courtesy of Fibby Music Group, LLC)  Resources & Mentions    "We've Got Everything Here: A Modern Nightmare" [https://amzn.to/3K4FGLo] by Jack Matirko (2023) "Rogiérs Fibby on the demonization of African culture in the West Indies" [https://onlysky.media/jmatirko/fibby-on-demonization-of-african-culture/] Only Sky Media, 2021)  Rumble [https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/rumble/], A PBS Documentary (2019)  Kumina Peoples of Jamaica [https://youtu.be/V961tzJtnHw], Documentary (Source Unknown)  _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: WWHPodcasting@gmail.com [BNDCPodcast@gmail.com] Twitter: @WWHPodcasting [https://twitter.com/WWHPodcasting] _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC [http://www.BlackSecularCollective.com] online on Facebook and also on Meetup [https://www.meetup.com/Black-Nonbelievers-of-D-C/members/].  Support WWH Podcast [http://patreon.com/WWHPodcasting] or follow it Twitter [http://www.twitter.com/WWHPodcasting]! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities [https://dcarts.dc.gov]and the American Humanist Association [http://www.americanhumanist.org/]. (c) 2022 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]

Where We’re Headed in 2023! (PSA)

In keeping with our show title, we owe it to the listeners to comment on where we're really headed...and it's in a new direction! The new year has brought about some changes behind the scenes. Going forward this podcast will be an independent production-produced by the Fibby Music Group, LLC and both promoting and endorsing the newly formed Black Secular Collective.  To find more information on the Black Secular Collective, please visit and follow our Twitter page [https://twitter.com/black_secular]. More details will be coming soon! In the meantime, more information about WWH's departure from the Black Nonbelievers organization can be found here [https://theshedding.tumblr.com/post/706754063559262208/the-power-of-black-dissent], here [https://religionnews.com/2023/02/01/american-atheists-board-members-exit-dogged-by-misconduct-allegations/] and here [https://onlysky.media/mburns/black-nonbelievers-president-tries-to-dodge-allegations-using-ties-to-well-known-atheists/]. _____ (PSA)    Show Notes    Host: Rogiérs [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]    Writing & Narration: Rogiérs    Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]   Assistant Producer, Research: Drai Salmon   Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC   Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson [https://theemily1220.com/]   Music Licensing/Episode Musical Credits courtesy of: Fibby Music Recordings, Storyblocks  _____________________________   For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:    E: BNDCPodcast@gmail.com [BNDCPodcast@gmail.com]   Twitter: @WWHPodcasting [https://twitter.com/WWHPodcasting]   Black Secular Collective: @Black_Secular [https://twitter.com/black_secular] _____________________________   Additional Content:   Special thanks to the American Humanist Association [http://www.americanhumanist.org/] for their support.   (c) 2023 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net [http://www.fibbymusic.net/]