On this episode, AfroQueer Podcast rebroadcasts an episode of Podcasting Smarter featuring Selly Thiam. Selly is the founder of AfroQueer podcast and AQ Studios.

She is a Senegalese-American journalist who has worked with NPR, the New York Times, and StoryCorps, and is passionate about documenting and sharing the stories and training others on documenting the stories of African LGBTQIA++ people.

Podcasting Smarter is a production of Podbean. For more on audio storytelling you can find all the episodes of Podcasting Smarter on Podbean or wherever you find your podcasts.

AfroQueer is Executive Produced by Selly Thiam and is a production of AQ Studios.

Sound editing by Tevin Sudi . 

Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.

AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and Luminate.

You can follow us on all social media platforms @AfroQueer Podcast and you can listen to all our episodes on our website aqstudis.fm or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Get ready for an exciting new season of AfroQueer! Season 5 is just around the corner, and we're thrilled to invite you to be a part of it. We're on the lookout for compelling, thought-provoking pitches that celebrate the diversity of the queer African experience.

Whether you're a storyteller, a journalist, an artist, or simply an everyday hero with a powerful narrative to share, AfroQueer Podcast wants to amplify your voice. We believe in the power of storytelling to inspire change and promote understanding.

If you have a story to tell or an idea that deserves the spotlight, visit our website at www.aqstudios.fm to submit your pitch. 

Stay connected with us and be the first to catch all the latest updates by following us on all social media platforms. Find us @afroqueerpodcast and join us on this incredible journey as we dive into Season 5. Let's make this season an unforgettable celebration of the vibrant and diverse voices within the queer African community!

AfroQueer is a production of AQ Studios.

Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.

About 20 years ago, Marshall Ngwa moved from Cameroon to the US. He followed his instincts and became one of the country’s hottest drag artists, BeBe Zahara Benet. 

BeBe’s first-ever performance was with Cyndi Lauper and in 2009 he won the first-ever RuPaul’s Drag Race.

His extraordinary journey to that point and beyond has been captured in a documentary called ‘Being BeBe’. It was made by Emily Branham and filmed over 15 years. 

In this episode, AfroQueer host Selly Thiam sits down in conversation with BeBe, to explore his childhood in Cameroon, becoming the first RuPaul’s Drag Race champion, and the film Being BeBe. 

You can watch Being BeBe on Apple and Amazon Prime - broadcast premiere June 21st on Fuse. Also go to the film website beingbebemovie.com/ to find out where else you can watch it wherever you are in the world.

This episode was written and produced by Penny Dale. Sound editing by Tevin Sudi.  AfroQueer is executive produced by me, Selly Thiam.

AfroQueer is a production of AQ Studios.

Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.

AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and The Ford Foundation.

You can follow us on all social media platforms @AfroQueer Podcast and listen to all our episodes on our website,.afroqueerpodcast.com or anywhere you get your podcasts.

In this episode, we’ve collaborated with Logan February and turned their essay into an audio short story. We first heard the Nigerian non-binary poet and songwriter Logan February read this essay during AfroQueer’s online festival in 2020. It's a beautiful, intriguing and very personal piece of writing that explores one of their queer experiences in Nigeria. And explores the experience of being ghosted.

This excerpt is called My Ghost, adapted from their work - THE MANIA OF QUEER DESIRE: IN PRAISE OF FEVER RAY’S PLUNGE - and it’s read by Kenzy Nna-Udosen.

The music in this episode is Fever Ray's album Plunge.

This episode was produced by Penny Dale and Selly Thiam. Written by Penny Dale and narrated by Kenny Nna-Udoosen. Sound editing by Mercy Barno and Tevin Sudi. AfroQueer is executive produced by Selly Thiam and is a production of AQ Studios.

Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.

AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and The Ford Foundation.

In this episode, we feature a feed drop trade with a podcast we really love, S***hole Country, an audio memoir set in Ghana during the 2017 holiday season. It's produced Radiotopia presents, a podcast feed debuting limited-run, artist-owned series from new and original voices.

The narrator Afia, a middle-aged woman living in California, has spent the past few weeks visiting her family in Ghana. She’s wrestling with a major life decision: should she leave America and accept her parents’ offer of a home in Accra? Something big is keeping her from saying yes. And in this episode, she finally shares what it is.

You can listen to S***hole Country episodes in podcast directories or at radiotopiapresents.fm and follow @radiotopia on all social media platforms to discover more shows from their network.

S***hole Country is written, narrated, and sound designed by Afia Kaakyire, and produced by Afia and Mark Pagán. Julie Shapiro and Audrey Mardavich are executive producers. Cover art by Sindiso Nyoni, and the theme song, “Home,” is by Ria Boss.

Follow them on Instagram @radiotopia and Twitter @radiotopia 

AfroQueer is a production of AQ Studios, executive produced by Selly Thiam, and produced by Penny Dale. Tevin Sudi and Mercy Barno are our sound editors and Rachel Wamoto is our social media manager.

Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.

AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and The Ford Foundation.

In 2019, a young lesbian singer-songwriter from Uganda was struggling financially after breaking up with her partner of 6 years. With a child to support, Shivanah was desperate to make ends meet. And so when a former backup dancer told her that an agent could get her work performing in a club in Dubai, she jumped at the chance. This is truly a story of survival. A warning: in some parts, the details are graphic and troubling.

Thank you to Shivanah for sharing her story and music, Sophie Otiende for the role played by her and everyone at Azadi in helping Shivanah escape the traffickers and reintegrate into society.

Azadi is a survivor-led organization that offers long-term support and capacity development to survivors of human trafficking. To learn more about the Azadi, click here.

This episode was produced by Penny Dale and Selly Thiam. Written by Penny Dale. Sound editing by Mercy Barno and Tevin Sudi. Rachel Wamoto is our social media manager.  AfroQueer is executive produced by Selly Thiam and is a production of AQ Studios.

Our theme song is Pawa by Maia and the big sky.

AfroQueer is supported by The Wellspring Philanthropic fund and The Ford Foundation.

Over the past few years, African films - documentaries, features, and animations - have started to attract international attention and are being celebrated by audiences abroad. But at home they are causing a stir in a different way - and they are running into trouble with film classification and censorship boards. Many LGBTQ films have been banned. This episode goes behind the scenes of groundbreaking films made in two of Africa’s biggest film-making countries - Nigeria and Kenya.

This episode was written and produced by Penny Dale, with input from Maeve Frances and Aida Holly-Nambi.

Selly Thiam is our executive producer, Rachel Wamoto our social media manager, and Tevin Sudi our audio editor.

AfroQueer Podcast is produced by AQ Studios and Edited on Hindenburg Systems. 

Engage with us :

Instagram: www.instagram.com/afroqueerpodcast/

2021 has been a really rough year for Ghana’s LGBTQI people. Police raided and shut down a queer community center in Accra; 21 people attending a paralegal workshop in the city of Ho were arrested and locked up for 21 days before the case was dropped; and eight MPs have come up with draft legislation that, if adopted, makes it a crime just to be queer or a queer ally. But the LGBT community are fighting back - with a #KilltheBill campaign

Edem Robby, a Ghanaian filmmaker, reports on what’s been happening and why - and, in a rare interview, she sits down with some of the so-called Ho 21 to hear the horrifying story of their arrests.

This episode was reported by Edem Robby. Produced and written by Penny Dale. Our Story Editor is Kerry Donahue.

AfroQueer is executive Produced by Selly Thiam

Rachel Wamoto is our social media manager, Tevin Sudi, and Mercy Barno are our audio editors.

Listen to Human being (Just like you) by Wanlov The Kubolor here.

Optionally, listen to the episode on these streaming sites :

Soundcloud:soundcloud.com/afroqueerpodcast/tracks

Engage with us :

Instagram: www.instagram.com/afroqueerpodcast/

In 2008, after moving to the port city of Kisumu in western Kenya, Paula Abuor decided to open up her house to other LGBTQ people. Meeting in bars and parks was just too risky - and, as one of Kenya’s LGBTQ ‘elders’, she really wanted young Kenyans setting out on their queer journeys to have a safe space where they could be themselves, embraced by love when their families and friends wouldn’t accept them. That’s how Annette Atieno found herself there - when she was outed by a relative and her mum sent her away from the family home in Nairobi to Kisumu.  Annette takes us on a poignant journey to meet Paula and other people from that era. In doing so, we delve into an important chapter in Kenya’s LGBTQ history - and Annette reflects on the role Paula and her Kisumu house played in her own queer journey.

We are proud to have partnered on this episode with Africa Writes 2021 festival. Africa Writes is the Royal African Society’s literature festival. Each festival showcases established and emerging talent from the African continent and its diaspora in what is now the UK’s biggest celebration of contemporary African writing taking place over an exciting weekend at the British Library. The festival features book launches, readings, author appearances, panel discussions, youth and children’s workshops, and other activities. Learn more on www.africawrites.org

AfroQueer Podcast is produced by AQ Studios and Edited on Hindenburg Systems.

This episode was reported by Annette Atieno and Tevin Sudi. Produced by Penny Dale with assistance from Annette Atieno. Written by Penny Dale. Our Story Editor is Kerry Donahue.  

AfroQueer is executive Produced by Selly Thiam

Rachel Wamoto is our social media manager and Tevin Sudi is our audio editor.

Engage with us on-

Listen to AfroQueer Podcast here: