Interview EXTRA: Black Secular Personhood & Navigating Interfaith

WWH EXTRA! In this episode the tables turn as longtime host and producer Rogiérs is guest! Join as host Rogiérs is interviewed by journalist, author, artist, scholar and womanist theologian Devin Parrish. He explains how some Black secular humanists are navigating life and personal advocacy during the 21st century. This episode  reverses the roles with a case study analysis of Black Secularity, interfaith values and Black liberatory politics. It’s intersectional! Rogiérs is an international performer and award-winning artist, and host and producer of the Where We’re Headed podcast-which launched in 2022 following the Legacy program (2020). He is currently a social sciences researcher and doctoral student at the University of the Virgin Islands 🇻🇮. Parrish’s current doctoral work examines the embodied Black Church by placing familial matriarchs in conversation with historic matriarchs whose liberation work is rooted in the salvific soil of the Black American South. Recorded Spring of 2026 (and also published on YouTube).  _____ (Ep. 26)     Show Notes     Host: Rogiérs     Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson    Music Licensing: Storyblocks, Fibby Music (ASCAP) Additional Music: Cory Henry @CoryHenry , The 1997 Batch”, J Dilla & Vintage Vibez Music Group _____ Guest Credits Follow Devin👇🏿 online at: Medium  I  Instagram   Additional online coverage about Devin K. Parrish available HERE and HERE, and also HERE.  Follow Rogiérs👇🏿 online at: Official Website 💫 https://www.FibbyMusic.net   YouTube 📺 I Twitter 🐦 I BlueSky 🦋 I Instagram I Bandcamp 🎼I Apple Music 🎼I Tumblr 📝 I Facebook I  Useful References Reimagining Community w/Dr. Sabrina Dent (Legacy Part 1, Part II ) _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Blue Sky 🦋 and Twitter @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast on Patreon and follow us on 🦋 BlueSky and Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities . (c) 2026 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net 

This episode wraps the Abroad Series in multiple parts: a recap of the African diaspora’s religious landscape, a first-person account of dissent by founding member of the Haitian Freethinkers, and a featured interview with Ananda Leeke of the Thriving Mindfully podcast! All season long we have covered the ways religion and dissent function intersectionally throughout the Caribbean, Central and South America, Africa and the United Kingdom. In this finale, we zoom in on critical impacts of dissent on women, LGBTQ individuals, victims of blasphemy, witchcraft, economic hardships and much more. Additionally, Rogiérs shares his own story of his first trip to South Africa 🇿🇦, his connection to Miriam Makeba, Alicia Keys 🎵 and how he subsequently reimagined his own relationship to Africa. Also includes footage of bestselling authors, former pastors, grassroots activists and everyday folk heroes as they reveal the sober truth behind religious extremism abroad. Finally, Ananda shares her model of how mindfulness can foster a healthy relationship with our collective African past and individual stories. *Contains some adult language. _____ (Ep. 25)     Show Notes     Host: Rogiérs     Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson    Music Licensing: Storyblocks, Fibby Music (ASCAP) Additional Music: @Armando_Young (IG), @Moeismusic (IG), Alicia Keys in South Africa “Staying Alive” (Courtesy of VH-1) _____ Guest Credits Thriving Mindfully (Ananda Leeke, Consultant) Thriving Mindfully Podcast / On YouTube  Reggie Beloved (Founder, Haitian Freethinkers) Haitian Freethinkers on YouTube   Book References Makhado Sinthumule Ramabulana (2020). "Church Mafia: Captured by Secret Powers, An Untold African Narrative"   Marlon James, author of “The Disappearers” (2026). PBS Interview. Elle Hardy, Author on “Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity Is Taking Over the World” (2021). Scholarly Citations & Published Articles Condition of Nonbelievers in Africa, US International Commission on Religious Freedom (2021 Report, PDF). Pew Research Center: Religion Remains Stable in the U.S. , With Mixed Signals for Young Adults (2026) Pew Research Center: About Three-In-Ten US Adults are now Religiously Unaffiliated (2021). US Secular Survey: Black & Nonreligious Americans: A Brief from the U.S. Secular Survey (2021). Journalism & Additional References Mubarak Bala, Blasphemy case in Nigeria (2025). Mutabaruka, Jamaican Freethinker: "So Many Grandmothers Died Waiting For Jesus To Return And Him Still Nah Come Back" Sista Souljah debates Dr. Cornell West, “The Issue is Race: A Crisis in Black and White” Donahue (1992). BLM-UK Activist confronts Slavery denier (Courtesy of SkyNews). Documentaries & Podcasts God Loves Uganda (2013 Documentary) feat. David Kato, Activist. Shivanah’s Story, Afro Queer Podcast. “The Dark Side of Juanita Bynum: Greed & Scandals”, YouTube Documentary. Alabaster International Ministry (Ghana) Ghanaian Pastor Rebukes Women from pulpit in Misogynist Rant. Singer Abbey Lincoln reads poem, “Where Are the African Gods?”. The Congo’s Colonial History, Documentary (TRT World). _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Blue Sky 🦋 and Twitter @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast on Patreon and follow us on 🦋 BlueSky and Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the American Humanist Association. (c) 2026 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net   

This episode extends the Abroad Series in a live interview with Yvonne Nyahe, the executive director of Humanist Action Ghana-an NGO in Ghana dedicated to ending witchcraft accusations in northern Ghana. We speak of her personal experience and activist knowledge, Ghana's history of missionary work, its Northern Region, colonial history, demographics and much more. In season 2, WWH investigates the real outcomes and lived experiences of Black Diasporic people negotiating religious dissent outside of the United States. These dynamics span accusations of witchcraft, indigenous practices, missionaries, prosperity gospel, authoritarian legislation, Queer/LGBTQ stigma, patriarchy and after-effects of European colonialism. "Bewitched in Ghana" is the penultimate episode of WWH’s season 2. _____  (Ep. 24)     Show Notes     Host: Rogiérs     Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson    Music Licensing: Storyblocks, Fibby Music (ASCAP) Additional Music: The 1997 Batch”, J Dilla & Vintage Vibez Music Group _____ Guest Credits Humanist Action Ghana 🇬🇭 (Yvonne Nyahe, Executive Director) Humanist Action Ghana (on FB)  E: [email protected] Additional African-based Humanist Resources on Dissent, Religion + Activism Humanist Association of Ghana (Kwabena Antwi Boasiako, Director) Esther, The Afro Humanist (aka) The Afro Atheist (Nigeria, UK) The Afro Humanist on Twitter Related Content Resources CNN Travel (Article): "Ghana is being heralded as the next big tourist Destination. Here's Why" 77 Percent Street Debate: “Has the Year of Return changed lives for the better or worse?”  AJ+: “Are Black Americans Gentrifying Africa?” “The Condition of Nonbelievers in Africa.” PDF Report. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (2021).  "Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World" Elle Hardy (2022) Nollywood on the Pulpit: Performance and Magic in Pentecostalism Sarah Peace (2020) _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Blue Sky 🦋 and Twitter @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast on Patreon and follow us on 🦋 BlueSky and Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the American Humanist Association. (c) 2026 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net 

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     Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson    Music Licensing: Storyblocks, Fibby Music (ASCAP) Additional Music:  "Ocean of Love" V. Richardson (ASCAP)/L. Johnson (BMI), Richard Bona - Bassist/Composer, @Robarousal (Pianist, IG), @Naijagospel (Hymn-Choir, IG), "Clarinet Soufleé" - Paquito D'Rivera (Brasilian Rhythms), The 1997 Batch”, J Dilla & Vintage Vibez Music Group Resources & Mentions    Abbot Subbah, Liberian Elder Afro Queer Podcast (Season 4, Ep. 4 "Shivanah's Story") The Condition of Nonbelievers in Africa. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.  "Faith Under Fire" Documentary, BBC - Africa Eye  Ghana's Anti-LGBTQ Bill/African LGBTQ Advocate, Joy News Humanist Action Ghana, Non-Profit Organization (Ghana) Elle Hardy, "Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World" (2022) Harrison Mumia, Atheists in Kenya Liberia 1820-1847: "From Colony to Republic", 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 (2020) Soldiers of Jesus: Armed Pentecostals Target Brazil's Religious Minorities - The Washington Post, (2019) _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Blue Sky 🦋 and Twitter @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast on Patreon and follow us on 🦋 BlueSky and Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the American Humanist Association. (c) 2025 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net 

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     Co-Host: Verdell Wright  Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs Interview: Mohmmed Cisse Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson    Music Licensing: Storyblocks  Additional Music:  David “Preach” Balfour (Piano), Ismael (Gaddafi Mosque-Kampala, Uganda/Call to Prayer), The 1997 Batch”, J Dilla & Vintage Vibez Music Group Resources & Mentions    Verdell Wright (TikTok @VeeAyeDubz) TCP, The Clergy Project “Nigeria: Atheist Activist Mubarak Bala sentenced to 24 years in blasphemy case” (Africa News) “The Cost of Being an Atheist” BBC Africa Documentary BBC Kaduna Book Festival 2018-Humanism in Nigeria with Leo Igwe _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Twitter: @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast or follow it Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the American Humanist Association. (c) 2022 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net 

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     Written by: Rogiérs Narration: Rogiérs, Drai Salmon Contributing Writer: Dan Savage for Savage Lovecast Interviewer: Dr. Adria Armbister  Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson    Music Licensing/Episode Musical Credits courtesy of: Storyblocks  Additional Music: "theShedding" (Courtesy of Fibby Music Group, LLC), Stanley and the “12 Sleepless Nights”, “The 1997 Batch”, J Dilla & Vintage Vibez Music Group, “God Great God”, Kurt Karr (Zomba Gospel, LLC) Resources & Mentions    Leonard Ostrander, The Clergy Project “Call Me Kuchu” (Documentary) “We Had the Land, They had the Bible” (Monique White) “Beyond Belief: How Pentecostal Christianity is Taking Over the World” (Elle Hardy) Missionary's harrowing last diary entries before he was killed by Sentinelese tribe (Mirror Magazine) Ama Ata Aidoo, Afrogoats _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Twitter: @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast or follow it Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the American Humanist Association. (c) 2022 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net 

We’re back with a new season as this February marks the first anniversary of the WWH podcast!! 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     Writing & Narration: Rogiérs   Interviewer: Jack Matirko for TST-TV and The Satanic Estate  Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC    Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC    Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson    Music Licensing/Episode Musical Credits courtesy of: Storyblocks  Additional Music: "Again" (Sine Qua Non Mix) & (Seven Davis, Jr. Mix) (Courtesy of Fibby Music Group, LLC)  Resources & Mentions    "We've Got Everything Here: A Modern Nightmare" by Jack Matirko (2023) "Rogiérs Fibby on the demonization of African culture in the West Indies" Only Sky Media, 2021)  Rumble, A PBS Documentary (2019)  Kumina Peoples of Jamaica, Documentary (Source Unknown)  _____________________________    For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Twitter: @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast or follow it Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the American Humanist Association. (c) 2022 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net   

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. More details will be coming soon! In the meantime, more information about WWH's departure from the Black Nonbelievers organization can be found here, here and here. _____ (PSA)    Show Notes    Host: Rogiérs    Writing & Narration: Rogiérs    Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC   Assistant Producer, Research: Drai Salmon   Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC   Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson   Music Licensing/Episode Musical Credits courtesy of: Fibby Music Recordings, Storyblocks  _____________________________   For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:    E: [email protected]   Twitter: @WWHPodcasting   Black Secular Collective: @Black_Secular _____________________________   Additional Content:   Special thanks to the American Humanist Association for their support.   (c) 2023 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net   

After 18 episodes we're wrapping our premier season covering Black history, race consciousness, religion, freethought & liberation movements. We hope you have listened, questioned, gained perspective, empathy and enlightenment about the established Legacy of Black Freethinkers, dissenters and non-religious leaders in American Civil Rights and around the globe. Our season I concludes with the final part of our “Conversations” series featuring co-host Verdell Wright and a very special presentation from Black atheist, author, activist, scholar and director, Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson! _____________________________   (Ep. 18)    Show Notes    Host: Rogiérs    Writing & Narration: Rogiérs    Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC   Assistant Producer, Research: Drai Salmon   Opening performed by Rogiérs, Reginald & Alesandra Ndu   Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC   Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson   Music Licensing/Episode Musical Credits courtesy of: Fibby Music Recordings, Storyblocks, Overjoyed Live in Japan (1997) feat. Dennis Montgomery, III, Kevin Terry and Predestined .   Resources & Mentions   "Why I Stopped Pursuing Ordained Ministry", Verdell A. Wright   "Black Millenials and Christian Faith", Verdell A. Wright   Sikivu Hutchinson, Official Website “Atlanta Megachurch pastor Louie Giglio sets off firestorm by calling slavery a 'blessing' to Whites”, The Washington Post (2020), Sarah Pulliam Bailey.  “10 New findings about faith among Black Americans”, Pew Research Center (2021), Besheer Mohamed.  “Study: Black Christians see limits to Multi-Racial Churches”, Christianity Today-Religious News Service (2021), Adele Banks.  “R. Kelly’s trial has begun. The singer faces decades of Sex Abuse charges”, (2021), NPR Morning Edition.   Black Nonreligious Americans: US Secular Survey (2021), American Atheists & Black Nonbelievers.  “Why no prayers for Bishop Long’s accusers?” (2021), CNN, LZ Granderson. _____________________________   For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Twitter: @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast or follow it Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the American Humanist Association. (c) 2022 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net 

On this episode, we talk everything from the Bible, to the Black Church, Islamic persecution around the globe and back! Part II of our CONVERSATIONS series features the WWH co-host: the insightful, sensitive and cool Verdell Wright. It is the continuation of an on-going dialogue stemming from Episode 6 and Episode 10 ("Good God Gone" and "Conversations!" if you missed it). This time we’re deconstructing higher New Testament criticism and what that means in for a demographic where as much as 90% of faithful Christians believe in Biblical literalism. Former Minister and ex-seminarian Verdell Wright and host Rogiérs, a former Minister of Music discuss the intense and subtle dynamics of faith and culture in-practice, and the ways in which inequities, trends and systems impact and impair healthy relationships in the Black Church, with ourselves...and each other. We also ponder what it means to “Accountable” as individuals and institutions of faith.  _____________________________  (Ep. 17)   Show Notes   Host: Rogiérs   Writing & Narration: Rogiérs   Production & Editing: Fibby Music Group, LLC  Assistant Producer, Research: Drai Salmon  Opening performed by Rogiérs, Reginald & Alesandra Ndu  Recorded at: FMG Studios, Washington, DC  Cover Artwork: Emily Wilson  Music Licensing/Episode Musical Credits courtesy of: Fibby Music Recordings, Storyblocks, Tarell “BAM” Lester, Kevin Terry and Predestined   Resources & Mentions  "Why I Stopped Pursuing Ordained Ministry", Verdell A. Wright  "Black Millenials and Christian Faith", Verdell A. Wright  Muhammad Sayed, Ex-Muslims of North America on global "Persecution Tracker" & accepting & denying truth of bruatlities in Islamic Diaspora  "Blacks more likely than others in U.S. to read the Bible regularly, see it as God's word", Pew Research Center (2018)  _____________________________  For Contact, Inquiry, Voicemail & Feedback:  E: [email protected] Twitter: @WWHPodcasting _____________________________ Additional Content: Find the entire LEGACY catalogue of programs online (TBA) Find Black Secular Collective-DC online on Facebook and also on Meetup.  Support WWH Podcast or follow it Twitter! Additional support provided by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities and the American Humanist Association. (c) 2022 Fibby Music Group, LLC www.FibbyMusic.net