Beyond28

In our March episode we are celebrating Women’s Empowerment Month looking at those paving the way for women in social activism and sports in the Bay Area community and beyond. 1:30 First, in our Beyond the Court segment, we’ll hear from Afatasi the Artist, a Bay Area Artist who is using her work to spark social change. 8:40 In our Center Court Segment, we talk with Liz Mills, the head coach of Moroccan men's basketball team, AS Sale. She's the first female head coach of the men's team in Morocco and the Arab world.

Our February episode we explore those who are creating a new legacy of Black history through their work and activism in the Bay Area. 1:29 First, we’ll talk with spoken word poet and America’s Got Talent winner Brandon Leake. 13:46 Later, we’ll talk with Rue Mapp who is the creator of Outdoor Afro, a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating and creating Black connections in nature as well as leadership in nature conservation and policy. So sit back, relax, and get ready for some knowledge. I’m your host Marc Spears from ESPN’s The Undefeated, and this is Beyond 28.

Our January episode looks back at the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the work that still needs to be done to make his dream a reality. As we set our sights towards what 2022 has to hold for us, we want to take the opportunity to talk with those who witnessed the bravery of Dr. King and those who continue to follow in his footsteps. 1:51 First, we’ll talk with Chaplain Earl Smith who went from ministering to incarcerated men in San Quentin to serving the Golden State Warriors and San Francisco 49ers. 20:38 Later, we’ll talk with renowned documentary photographer David Johnson about his early career from working with Ansel Adams, to taking photos of the civil rights movement, to having his work displayed in the Library of Congress.

Our December episode takes a look at athletes and community leaders who are using their platform and resources to support the black community.  As the holiday season approaches it's important for those to help their communities when and where they can. 1:55 We speak with former basketball player and sports commentator Kelenna Azubuike. We’ll hear how he had to adjust to moving to the U.S. from London and how his faith led him to his work in philanthropy and creating The Athlete's Corner.  15:20 We talk with Adrian Williams, Executive Director of The Village Project, and Brother Clint Sockwell, who leads the organization’s annual Kwanzaa program. Their organization provides vital resources to the San Francisco community such as senior programs, summer camps, and food distribution. Most importantly, The Village Project conducts an annual Kwanzaa program led by Brother Clint, where youth learn the tenants of Kwanzaa, the history of the holiday, and why it's important to the black community.

Our November episode explores athletes and political organizers who are energizing the power of the black vote and political liberation. In the 2020 presidential election we witnessed history, as the once red state of Georgia flipped to blue, through the power and determination of Stacey Abrams to get black voters registered and to the polls. And that’s only the beginning of the advancement of black political power. First, in our “Beyond the Court” section (2:30) we speak with co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, Alicia Garza. She talks about how her upbringing led her to political organizing and what she's doing now to promote political power in the black community. Later, in the “Center Court” section (19:48) we talk with Patricia Robinson and Eric Reid about their work with the Know Your Rights Camps, an organization started by Colin Kaepernick to teach Black and Brown youth about their legal rights. And lastly, we hear from Know Your Rights youth ambassadors Aisatou Diallo and Shandra Rodgers (31:37), about their experience through the program.

Our October episode takes a look at athletes who are making their voices heard on and off the court. After the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor during the summer of 2020, many athletes have decided to use their platforms as tools for social change.  (4:10) We first speak with three time NBA Champion for the Warriors, Andre Igoudala. Igoudala talks about following in the path of other athletes like Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown, who used their platforms to fight for equality. He also talks about his memoir The Sixth Man where he details his life growing up in Illinois, joining the Warriors, and the changing role of the athlete in our society. (21:41) We then speak with WNBA stars, Natasha Cloud of the Washington Mystics and Chiney Ogwumike from the Los Angeles Sparks. Both of these women are not only fierce on the court but are driven by their passion to create real social change in their communities.

Our September episode explores the current state of education in the Black community. From the burgeoning student debt crisis to the phony uproar over Critical Race Theory, how we think about ourselves and how this nation assimilates our history into the school system has never been more turbulent. We kick things off in our “Beyond the Court” section (4:50) with Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr and Assistant Coach Mike Brown about education and coaching and the role mentorship played in both their lives. Next we speak with the phenomenally talented broadcast journalist Soledad O’Brien (20:45) discussing how education affects newsroom diversity and how the news is told. Finally, in our “Rewind” section (38:00) we’ll travel back to the heyday of San Francisco’s great Black newspapers to learn how they reflected a vibrant and know missing piece of the Bay Area.

Beyond28 spotlights the movers and shakers in the Bay Area who are leading a business renaissance for the Black community.

(3:30) Kicking things off is Nelson German , chef/owner of hotspots aLaMar and Sobre Mesa who discusses what it takes to open restaurants in today’s pandemic world. Next, we meet-up with

(15:36) Dr. John Carlos whose raised fist at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics is one of the most iconic social justice demonstrations in sports history. He joins Beyond28 to discuss the impact of his protest and the Olympic Committee’s decision to outlaw protest in its games.

(31:02)Finally, in our rewind section you’ll learn about San Francisco’s Black Wall Street and its mission to empower African-American entrepreneurialism and fight back against the toxic legacy of decades of gentrification.

July means summer, it means cookouts and the 4th of July. In this age of the quarantine, both are also symbols of freedom. But with that freedom comes a complicated relationship between the Black community and the supposed freedoms we celebrate.  In this episode of Beyond28 we examine that complicated history and ask what freedom means in 2021.

(6:22) Listen as host Marc Spears welcomes Supervisor Shamann Walton, San Francisco’s first Black President of the City’s Board of Supervisors as he discusses the need for reparations for its Black residents and how the city continues to erase its Black community through gentrification and what he’s doing to reverse that course.

(20:50) Derrick Johnson, President and CEO of the NAACP joins Beyond28 to discuss the fight to preserve African American voting rights currently under threat as a result of legislation created by the GOP in the wake of bogus voter fraud accusations. Plus, Johnson outlines how freedom from student debt would uplift an entire generation of Black students.

(34:38) In our Rewind section, Beyond28 travels back to the hot summer nights of 1969 to look at the legacy of Bobby Seale and the Black Panthers in Oakland. As the city roiled with conflict, the Panthers we’re building out a new modality of activism to help build and protect the whole community.

In honor of Juneteenth and Pride Month, this month's episode of Beyond28 celebrates the legacy of the Bay Area in establishing both of these important national traditions. Host Marc J. Spears of ESPN's The Undefeated is joined by Warriors forward and Bay Area native Juan Toscano-Anderson (5:59) to discuss his Mexican and African-American heritage and his growing embrace of the Juneteenth celebration. Next twin brothers Jarron and Jason Collins (18:50) explore intersectionality in the black community and Jason's decision to come out as only the second openly gay active NBA player. To cap off the episode, Marc revisits the work of Rachel Townsend (37:38), the woman credited with keeping San Francisco's Juneteenth celebration alive.