Ronu Spirit

Episode 0: Exploring the Path to Empowerment for African Nations through Conversation

• Ronu Spirit • Season 1 • Episode 1

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In this episode, Hameed introduces his new podcast series, Ronu Spirit, aimed at examining the motivations behind his interest in African geopolitics, history, and the black diaspora. Joined by Dr. Sumaira Farha, a clinical psychologist, they explore the importance of narratives from African and global majority perspectives, discuss the structure of the podcast, and talk about how the podcast will feature conversations with academics and experts. Hameed shares his personal journey and the inspirations behind Ronu Spirit, while emphasizing the need for collective effort in uplifting African nations. The duo also reflects on the broader implications of historical injustices and their vision for impactful change through knowledge dissemination and community engagement.

Host Links
Ronu Spirit: @Ronuspirit on all platforms
Dr Sumaira Farha's Instagram: @thetriculturalpsychologist  



(00:00) Introduction and Purpose of the Live Session 
(00:07) Hameed's Background and Motivations 
(00:35) Meet Sumaira: Clinical Psychologist and Facilitator 
(04:37) Podcast Format and Audience Interaction 
(06:44) Challenges Facing African Nations 
(12:58) The Impact of Colonization and the Need for Change 
(26:07) Vision for the Future and Call to Action 

Hameed:

Hello, everyone. thank you for attending this live. If you're listening after it's been recorded, thank you for taking the time to listen. my name is Hameed the whole point of this, live is to introduce the podcast series that I'll be working on. I will be talking about. Why I'm doing this podcast and I've invited my friend. Yes. You are my friend, Sumaira, my friend and clinical psychologist, Dr. Sumaira Farha, to act as a facilitator and clarity coach, to really help me dig out the motivations behind what it is that I'm doing. Sumaira, introduce yourself so people can know you.

Sumaira:

So obviously I'm a voice. Exactly. Cause the main spotlight is on Hameed and I feel quite privileged to be part of this podcast launch I just wanted to give a few disclaimers that this is live as you've all experienced. so allow some grace, in how it starts,

Hameed:

to be fair, we could say it's African time, because

Sumaira:

African and Indian timing, So the main point was just to allow us some grace in, what is discussed, how it's discussed, and that this is a forever evolving process. we look forward to evolving with you and with your support as Hameed said previously the live is recorded and will be available on all the different platforms.

Hameed:

to be fair before it was recorded In Riverside now it's only recorded in YouTube and that's if YouTube doesn't crash on us. So let's pray YouTube does not crash on us.

Sumaira:

Let's hope this live is available to watch later on. But this is all an experiment, we're trying to do things slightly differently. the main thing here is that we would love for you to interact with us. as much as this conversation spotlights Hameed. We also want to learn a bit more about you, your connection to the platform. How did you find out about Ronu Spirit? Perhaps even ask me a question, maybe depending. I'm Sumaira, a clinical psychologist. I am a Londoner, born and raised, and I'm part of the people of the global majority. the interesting thing about identity, I suppose, is that I am a double minority. being part of the global majority and being a Muslim Indian, but always global in spirit. Hameed and I have a lot of interests that overlap. more specifically, I'm interested in all things, human rights. I currently work in a specialist trauma service in London as a clinical psychologist. my specialist areas include all things identity, acculturation, and trauma. my thesis looked at the role of trauma and acculturation in the psychological well being of Palestinians currently living in the UK. So I won't say more about that, but if you want to know more, let me know. I believe it's the first paper within the discipline of clinical psychology in the UK Yeah, Hameed and I, we're also interested in the impact and the legacy of colonization. We're interested in how we uplift the people of the global majority, particularly those in the African continent. we'll be exploring this more. We've had loads of conversations about this, right, Hameed?

Hameed:

Our

Sumaira:

telephone calls could be podcasts in itself.

Hameed:

Well, you always say that, so let's see if it's true.

Sumaira:

And the aim is to make our narratives the dominant ones in our lives, as well as exploring beyond the Western lens, Hameed and I both grew up here in the UK. we were both born here as well. a lot of the education. all of the systems around us are very Western. So what we're trying to do is look at the lens that we are very familiar with, but also focusing on knowledge outside of this. So especially non neurocentric focused knowledge, as this will tell us a little bit more about ourselves, our history and our legacy, What do you think Hameed?

Hameed:

I think that everything you said sounds Academic and, interesting, but let's let, I guess as we continue with conversation, we're just going to what all the things you said, even though they didn't fully sink into my brain,

Sumaira:

I guess,

Hameed:

because I already know them.

Sumaira:

true. This is established between us.

Hameed:

when we're talking through the points. You would bring them up at relevant times and, we would talk more about it and it just flow naturally. So it's fine.

Sumaira:

Exactly. And obviously we want to learn more about why we have this podcast. should we go into it?

Hameed:

Okay. so getting into it, the format of the podcast will be, me having conversations with experts and guests like academics, authors and historians the, Aim of having this conversation is to get a better understanding of why, the black and African diaspora, at the bottom of the pyramid, this is something that I believe is pretty clear to anyone else that's out there in the world and is, looking at this. Yeah, that is going to be the format of the podcast. However, after every three episodes, I want to be doing stuff like this. I want to be having a live with people online to reflect on the conversations I've had with experts previously. Sumaira, you're going to be there to help clarify some of these ideas for me, and it would also be a way to connect with the people who are watching. tuning into the live, whether that's Instagram or YouTube, they can add comments and everything and we just see what works and what doesn't work. if these lives are something that people are enjoying, we'll keep doing it. If not, we'll stop. Anyways, let's get started. before

Sumaira:

you get into all the why's of the podcast, I think we should learn a little bit about you, Hameed, whatever you feel comfortable sharing. Give us some context, give us your position.

Hameed:

Ooh. Yeah. Who am I? Okay, cool. my name is Hameed. I was born in the UK, but I grew up in Nigeria. So, before, and I came till I was about eight, nine, came back to the UK and then I have just been, living in the UK. Ever since. some would say I grew up more in the UK than in Nigeria, because obviously most of my years has been in the UK, but my formative years, were in Nigeria, I think that, I don't know, would you call that formative years as a psychologist?

Sumaira:

think we're always forming to be fair, but there's lots of research about our brains and its developments into the adult life. It doesn't stop at 18. That's what I would say.

Hameed:

All right, cool. Well, anyways, grew up. formative years were in Nigeria. spent the rest of my time here in the UK. And I guess just being in the UK, experiencing, how black people are perceived, how black Africans in general are perceived in the global sphere. I just realized that we were at the bottom of the way things ran. if I'm being genuinely honest about it, I think about it, I'm like, why is this the case? It's probably because, our countries aren't that powerful. Our nations aren't that powerful. we don't have any levers, any economic power to wield. So when people look down on us, and look at us, like we're not on the same level as them this is what actually led me into looking into geopolitics and history trying to figure out why exactly is it that, African nations so much further behind and struggling. when I looked into history, I learned a lot and that triggered the creation of Ronu spirit as a thing.

Sumaira:

Yeah. No, I'm just thinking in terms of like your content, I shared that I'm a clinical psychologist. You got into geopolitics.

Hameed:

okay, so let me be very clear about something.

Sumaira:

Yeah,

Hameed:

I don't really know much. I know I said that in the last video but I genuinely don't know much. And that's part of the reason why I'm doing this podcast, because I want to learn I understand That there's a lot I don't know. I also understand that when you're learning from experts and you're speaking to people, there's multiple different opinions and I don't mind that I'm willing to take it all in because that's how you form your own opinion by hearing all those different aspects as to why wider problem exists or what we can possibly do to solve it I'm cool with, not knowing a lot and learning. I would hope that by going on this journey, whoever's listening in with the podcast would also want to be going on that journey. So yeah, that's definitely,

Sumaira:

it's definitely to make knowledge more accessible, but also have practical ways, We can support the development of the African nation and the people of the global majority in general I guess what I was thinking was that your academic background is not in history Sociology or politics or anything like this, right?

Hameed:

No.

Sumaira:

No.

Hameed:

it's in tech and engineering

Sumaira:

I think that's really useful.

Hameed:

Because I failed to get us on live.

Sumaira:

It took us

Hameed:

Is that why?

Sumaira:

No, not at all. I just think sometimes people might have an idea that, whilst I'm talking to you, sometimes from my psychology lens, sometimes just from Sumaira curiosity, it's good for them to know that this journey is something that you've done quite independently.

Hameed:

I see.

Sumaira:

Yeah, so all of the learning that you've done around geopolitics is because of what you've witnessed growing up and then having to learn that yourself and what you're trying to do, I suppose is also make that easier for other people, because it's not always easy when we're thinking geopolitics, not everybody is going to go out of their way, especially when on a day to day people are just surviving. So that's why I thought that was helpful.

Hameed:

I hear you.

Sumaira:

And I think, my next question would be You say Africa, like we know that the focus is mainly on the African continent. it reminds me of the conversation we had about India's GDP versus Africa's. And I wanted you to that a bit more with others because I. Don't think I ever considered that. So it might be useful for others to know too.

Hameed:

I remember what I said. But I just don't understand, the point we're trying to get at.

Sumaira:

Why it's so important because you talk about Africa as being at the bottom of let's just say the hierarchy in terms of why it's so important specifically to focus on the African nation and what about all the other countries that have been colonized in the past?

Hameed:

I see, African nations.

Sumaira:

Nations, yeah, sorry. Apologies, please do not hate on me for that.

Hameed:

So when I'm actually talking about African nations, I'm talking about all African nations. Yes. But in particular, black African nations and, black people globally are the ones that are the most obvious. if we're looking at a complete bottom of the pyramid, if we're looking at the, how structures work and respect and all this kind of stuff. It's black people are more visible because of our skin tone. if we're looking at black African nations, we don't have any levers to pull. when we talk about economic power, Like Egypt, they're in Africa,

Sumaira:

but

Hameed:

they have leavers to pull, they have the Suez canal, they have, they have quite a big army to have all those different things that they can use to basically do things on the world stage. So if they have to deal with huge countries like, USA, UK, the West, basically, they have leavers to pull with that, but whereas we don't have any of that. when you talk about India, India has huge economic power. They definitely have problems too, but they have a lot going for them. I think the reason I brought that up is because when we were having that conversation, you were comparing the two, you were like, there's also been colonization in India and everything like that. and then that's when I said, India's GDP

Sumaira:

was

Hameed:

actually like 3. something trillion us dollars. if you compare that to Africa's GDP, which I'm going to do right now, Yeah. You see that? That's crazy. according to Google, Africa's GDP was estimated at around 3. 1 trillion in 2023. And India's alone was 3. 4 trillion. So India's GDP alone is higher than the entire continent. Yeah. So I guess that's why I was trying to make that argument that my main focus is really just try to get Africa up and to increase that, increase that power in some way. What can we do to increase that power? that's my quest. I'm trying to figure out how can we become powerful too.

Sumaira:

Yeah, that's really helpful. I don't think people look at it through that lens, so it's good to highlight, what do you feel, isn't allowing Africa to grow? This is a huge question, right?

Hameed:

No, I just said I don't know a lot. What are you asking me? I'm the guy that doesn't know anything. And you're asking me what I think is not allowing Africa to grow. I guess that's the million dollar question. that is why I am doing this Podcast in order to try to find solutions, I think it was Einstein that said that, if he had one hour to save the world, he would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute trying to solve the problem. defining the problem is a big part of looking at potential solutions for the issues that multiple nations are going through on that continent. the answers are pretty obvious. Why we're going through what we're going through is the fact that, around 400 years ago, Europeans and other, countries came and colonized, raped, pillaged, took a whole lot of stuff. they forced people together, created nations that, really has a lot of internal strife in them. And then they set up like export economies so that they could export more stuff because they saw those African nations as colonies. So they created them as export economies in order to export goods to them. And when they left, All those structures that they, all those institutional political structures that they put in place was what was still remaining when they left. It's funny because I was having this conversation with my brother yesterday in the car. And he was saying the exact same thing. He was like, yeah, we get it. We get it. The white people came, they raped us, they pillaged, they set up a crazy system. But so what Are we just going to stay there and remain in this messed up situation where everybody's looking down on us. And I guess. that's how I'm feeling too. I'm like, I don't want us to just stay here and be like, yes, because this has happened to us. I want us to find a way within ourselves to propagate and get better and improve. And, gangsters move in silence, quiet with what we're doing, because obviously as you're trying to propagate, No one from the oppressed ever got their freedom by appealing to the moral sense of the oppressor. by trying to appeal to those in the West to, really help us elevate, it can help, but it can only get so far. If we truly want to revolutionize things, we have to help ourselves, but we can't be too loud about it.

Sumaira:

That's why we're on a live right now. That's why we're on a live. I'm kidding. It's a very quiet live. True.

Hameed:

this is like a soft launch and not many people know about it. It's all good.

Sumaira:

It just made me think while you were talking there's been a lot of knowledge and literature on the history, like you said, we know what happened, what's next, and you want to be part of that, what's next, what can we do? what inspired you to want to create these conversations and why now specifically?

Hameed:

Well, what inspired me to want to create these conversations? Ronu Spirit was the whole point of me doing this entire, educational, media channel was to try to find my own way of contributing to some sort of development or progress that we could have. And I've always been interested in, trying to figure out solutions showing people an alternative reality and creating a mindset shift, so that we can, collectively make change. We all have to collectively act in order to see positive change on the ground, whether that's on the continent of Africa or in the diaspora. But in order to make that change, there needs to be some sort of mindset shift that we start prioritizing those things, the world is sick. nothing is showing that as clearly as what is happening now with Palestine and the fact that, we are watching the live destruction and genocide happening. and we aren't allowed to fight it. if you wear a shirt saying free Gaza, they ban you from going to the O2 or, this is just, so it's just the frustration, the helplessness of what's happening in Palestine right now. And, when you're at the bottom of the pyramid,

Sumaira:

like

Hameed:

black people are and black Africans are, You are extremely aware of injustice. your sense of justice is very heightened you know what it's like. when you see it happening to someone else, it offends your sense of injustice. for me, I'm thinking, Oh man, we're at the bottom. this thing has happened to the Palestinians, but, it could easily happen to us. it's only a matter of time before if what is happening to the Palestinians was needed to be done to some African nation, it would be done just like that. And nobody can stop it. we would need to be preemptive proactive and isolate, so that we can defend ourselves, hopefully.

Sumaira:

I feel like the global majority in general, we connect to Palestine and the struggles for the freedom of Palestine because our countries were colonized. And usually it's the colonizers that identify with. What is now called Israel,

Hameed:

occupied Palestine,

Sumaira:

I guess my main point was that it's one of the countries that reminds us, like you said, we also have the Rwanda genocide. We also have history in Kong. we have what's happening in Congo right now. We

Hameed:

have Sudan

Sumaira:

and Sudan. So why we all connect to Palestine. I think the reason, I

Hameed:

think the reason why the Palestine thing,

Sumaira:

it represents triggered

Hameed:

I think the reason why the Palestine thing triggered so much is because I'm just like, It's so all the things I read about in the history books about how they were colonizing African nations and African lands, they're doing it right now in front of me and I'm like, wow. it's frustrating and it's annoying because, they said that was back then. That was their ancestors. They're much better now. It's still happening. Yeah, exactly. It's the same thing,

Sumaira:

colonization has not ended whatsoever. And whoever says so, it's probably, on the side of the oppressed. And actually.

Hameed:

What do you mean the side of the oppressor?

Sumaira:

Oppressor, sorry. Thank you, Hameed

Hameed:

That's fine. You're welcome.

Sumaira:

colonization hasn't ended. That was my main point.

Hameed:

Okay.

Sumaira:

But also, even if we think about, and I'm sure you'll go into this with other experts who talk about the history of Africa and what's happening right now, that it hasn't ended there too, right?

Hameed:

There's

Sumaira:

systems in place that perpetuate.

Hameed:

the

Sumaira:

institutions for the colonization

Hameed:

I'm just going to take Nigeria as an example, but the fact that a small few people as leaders can, ring fence a particular resource and benefit from it alone and exclude the country from benefiting from that resource shows that it's that is reminiscence of, when the Europeans basically had put in elites to run things on their behalf and be like, as long as you're good elites, as long as you're good, you can mess your people over. You just enjoy the good life and, give us what we want. All the goods and resources that you have. I feel like that is what's happening today still. we're seeing that today in the way, African leaders behave.

Sumaira:

I'm looking forward to learning more about that in your upcoming podcast.

Hameed:

Yeah,

Sumaira:

Good, good.

Hameed:

Professors from SOAS, from all these different universities.

Sumaira:

Exactly. And it'd be really great if anybody else has any suggestions of particular people that they would like to hear from. Tell us a bit more about, the work before, Dr. Catel and the shift, I suppose

Hameed:

the work before Dr. Catel,

Sumaira:

just that work before this particular podcast launch, you've been doing a lot right beforehand. So in different mediums. And I just think it would be interesting to hear a bit more about that and some of your reflections from, creating that content and why the shift?

Hameed:

the world before this was creating educational content that is entertaining, about African history, specifically Nigerian history, because I'm Nigerian, obviously.

Sumaira:

Mhm.

Hameed:

And why did I do it? well, because there weren't teaching Nigerian history in Nigeria. when I was learning about geopolitics I felt like I was seeing behind the curtain and how the world really works the powerful Decides what is right and what is wrong. we want to have any kind of voice, we need to become powerful, But before we can be powerful, we need to remember who we are. Reading all of those history books and studying the effect that colonization and the Western world has had on Africa as a whole. I was like, God damn, why doesn't everybody know about, why isn't everybody as enraged as I am? And I figured maybe it's because they don't know about it. So let's start with just getting the word out there. Ronu Spirit started as an educational platform. obviously using animation because that's what I do have an animation company and using storytelling because I love telling stories and that is what I do.

Sumaira:

So

Hameed:

combining those two, putting content out there and I was enjoying that for a bit. but then obviously life got in the way.

Sumaira:

as it does. Yeah,

Hameed:

and that content takes a lot of time to create as well. Because you do all that research, then you have to script an episode. Kadi was on this chat. she helped me with another series after we finished Basic Nigerian History. But you have to script an episode,

Sumaira:

then

Hameed:

you have to add animations to it, then you have to, it's long. yeah. It's a big undertaking for something that you're just doing because of it, because you're passionate about. So I managed to finish the Basic Nigerian History series, I still need to finish the Dahomey one, by the way. it's daunting and so much work, and obviously life and business. maybe I need to relax and take a break from it. And maybe there's another way to create contents in a way that is more streamlined, In a way that isn't stressful.

Sumaira:

Yeah.

Hameed:

eventually settled on a podcast.

Sumaira:

Yeah.

Hameed:

You see, this wasn't supposed to be stressful. But the fact that it took us twenty three minutes to get this thing going.

Sumaira:

Exactly.

Hameed:

Stress.

Sumaira:

I think there's challenges to both. But you have to choose which one you're going to go ahead with. And this is where you're at now. Yeah, so in the why podcast I suppose question. I know that you're trying to build momentum.

Hameed:

Yes.

Sumaira:

That leads to a movement.

Hameed:

I'm trying to create a mindset shift.

Sumaira:

And how do you think you'll, what's your goal? What makes you think a podcast can create a movement or a change? tell us a little bit more about that.

Hameed:

why do I think a podcast can create a movement or a change? Well, because we've seen podcasts do that. Steven Bartlett Diary of a CEO, Joe Rogan. those podcasts are already making changes, having a conversation and hearing differences of opinion understanding someone's story, listening to someone's story, all of these are engaging ways to learn. And people use podcasts for that reason, not only because it's Interesting to hear people's stories

Sumaira:

share

Hameed:

this information, get it around. It's also my personal journey, because like I said, there is a lot that I don't know and There's a lot that I want to learn, which is why I really want to do this thing. So as I'm learning, I'm hoping that the people who are coming with me on this journey are also learning. So obviously they're going to be asking me a lot of questions. and anything, any questions that they want me to ask in the next episode and so on. So I want it to be like a collaborative journey. I want to learn for sure, but I also want to bring people with me that would also want to learn about this.

Sumaira:

I guess I'm thinking about your vision for the future.

Hameed:

I should mention that, another reason why I did a podcast is because seeing the stuff that is happening in the world and realizing, the frustration and the helplessness happening with the whole Palestine thing, Doing this podcast is a way for me to feel like I have some sort of agency, even though as deluded as that might seem, doing this podcast makes me feel like, at least I am, trying to do something to help us before we get to the point where we get screwed over. I'm doing what is in my power. even if I don't succeed and we do end up getting screwed over, like what's happening to Palestine

Sumaira:

and

Hameed:

having you on the podcast is actually quite helpful because you are supposed to be my clarity coach You help me make sense of things when I have ideas in my head and I'm trying to Articulate a particular point. what you do very well is you are able to bring those ideas together and articulate it in a sensible way and also you put a psychological perspective on it sometimes because of your background and expertise.

Sumaira:

yeah, even though you've been clarifying a few things for me today, so thank you. Yeah. Like when I said on the side of the oppressed by accident instead of oppressor, But still it's important for the listeners to know, like we said, you have to have some grace in what we're discussing because there's so much we could say about each point that you're making today. And as you said, it's a soft launch, You're gonna delve into all of these aspects, in your journey. And I will be following along.

Hameed:

Yes. you will.

Sumaira:

I think it's good to focus on the vision for the future What are people thinking?

Hameed:

Are you asking me if there's other people listening?

Sumaira:

I can't really tell from my side, but

Hameed:

let me check.

Sumaira:

Let me check on my

Hameed:

I don't think so. I think, oh, no, it says there are a few people listening in. thank you. he said something though. You said we started a bit late. Whose fault was that?

Sumaira:

not mine.

Hameed:

mine.

Sumaira:

what? This is a collaborative effort. but we did, try to prepare as much as we could, but this just.

Hameed:

Anyways, let's talk about the vision for the future.

Sumaira:

the spotlight is on Hameed.

Hameed:

Yes.

Sumaira:

let's focus on the vision for the future. talk to me, Hameed, vision for the future. you've mentioned a few things already, but if you had to summarize here, make a few points, tell me what you're thinking.

Hameed:

with regards to the vision for the future for the podcast. I'm hoping it becomes a platform for our voices. when I say our voices, I mean, the voices of Africans, and the people of the global majority too. share stories from our perspective have frank, open conversations, and make our stories more dominant than they currently are. so that you can benefit both. Those on the continents and, those in the diaspora and then just empower people. that is definitely my vision for the podcast.

Sumaira:

Can I interject here? I just had a thought we're both post university adults or whatever. And we didn't really have access to knowledge or information like this growing up. I think it's really important. to have that available right now. It just made me reflect that, there's a lot of learning and undoing I had to do throughout my life as someone of the global majority. So what do you

Hameed:

mean by that?

Sumaira:

provide

Hameed:

any examples?

Sumaira:

Yeah, growing up in the West, All you learn or have access to is the knowledge that the West want you to have access to. So the Eurocentric, way of thinking, learning, et cetera. I think most people who have a different heritage, will have some considerations around their identities, which ones are dominant, how they navigate them, everything to do with acculturation. that's happening a lot more now, especially post the black lives matter movement, when everybody started talking about decolonizing everything.

Hameed:

I feel like all of these,

Sumaira:

I was just about to say, although sometimes I feel this is very tokenistic, so I don't really hold the same view as others In relation to decolonizing per se, sometimes it's used interchangeably for diversity and equity.

Hameed:

so what I want to know is, you know how you said you had to unlearn a few things as well.

Sumaira:

Yeah, I guess.

Hameed:

do you have any specific examples?

Sumaira:

Do you know one that just came up now is I remember, so you know at school you get taught about the dark ages or sometime in history where nothing was happening in the west or it wasn't really great in the west but there was a lot.

Hameed:

The time when they had lords and serfs.

Sumaira:

you're testing me right now, but it's the dark ages in the curriculum basically. I remember I was an undergrad student for the first time I was attending this school thing, where I was a teaching assistant and there was a teacher teaching about what was happening around the world. I was just thinking if I was in that classroom growing up, I would have had a different perspective, There was a development of algebra, in the Arab world, they already had the toilet flush system, what was happening in England versus the rest of the world, surgery material, there was a lot happening, but I feel like sometimes what we're taught is not the reality. It's just from a very Eurocentric lens, but I do think you have to do a lot of introspection as well, because, you're going through your own process What you value based on how you've grown up. I don't know if I've answered that question very clearly.

Hameed:

no, you did. You did. But yeah, it's thinking about knowledge.

Sumaira:

it's a bit like in our psychology training as well. We learn a lot about evidence based practice and a lot of that is focused on the West some of the principles and ideas are actually taken from non neurocentric lenses. like, you know, evidence

Hameed:

based practice.

Sumaira:

Yeah.

Hameed:

You've mentioned this before. What does it mean again?

Sumaira:

It's when they research a group of people and then there's outcomes to that research, like A particular therapy and then it's helpful, but we also have to be critical of that because who is actually accessing these research programs is the whole, the acronym weird, But yeah, that was my main point, just that we have to have more of an appreciation of alternative ways of thinking as an adult than I probably did as a teenager, because the Western way is the most dominant. And it's a bit like now I'm sure the way they practice psychology in India is a lot more According to this Western school of thoughts than even the Western schools now, because we're becoming more critical, we're trying to adapt things. there's more access to information now, even through different content creating, through the comedies, we watch like the memes, etc. There's truth to it, and I don't think we had that validation growing up. Yeah. Yeah. Keep going with your vision for the future.

Hameed:

I'm just trying to remember where I left off. So you

Sumaira:

spoke about the platform for our voices to share stories from our perspective.

Hameed:

Yes.

Sumaira:

frank conversations.

Hameed:

Ah, yes. by having these conversations, I'm hoping that everyday people who are listening to the podcast, like myself can start developing ideas as to how they can contribute towards making certain nations more powerful or more great. it is my hope that people can have their own inner dialogue, about their identity and, have some pride, I'm sure everybody already has pride in their identity, but you just learn more about their origins, like their ethnic origins as well. that is the hope. hopefully what I'm doing here, even though this is very humble beginnings. This is the first stage, It is my hope that, maybe three years from now or five years from now, we look back on this first episode and we're like, yo, we really actually done something here. we've created some sort of movements. We are actually making change on the ground. it's becoming a thing. I don't know. We'll see. Only time will tell.

Sumaira:

Yeah, it's good to have aspirations, right? And it's good to share them with others. this is just the beginning. I'm looking forward to reflecting.

Hameed:

I would want to say that, listen, as Black African countries, we don't have many levers to pull. We don't have many strategic things that we can do make the more powerful nations listen to us and being at the bottom of the hierarchy means little to no respect. if we want to change how black people and black Africans are perceived around the world, then African nations do need to become a serious force and that is important and yeah, that's it.

Sumaira:

sounds great

Hameed:

Yes

Sumaira:

So what do we need? What do we need from those engaging? via this live or Watches, hopefully the recording on your platforms generally like how can, you've talked about it being collaborative and how we might be able to do that through maybe having lives to discuss the podcast what else do you think you need from the people engaging?

Hameed:

So yeah, we're going to be going live. the more we do this, the better it gets. and we're also going to, as we're doing episodes and we're dropping it and we're putting it out there, we're just going to be getting people's feedback on that particular episode to understand how they feel about the episode.

Sumaira:

Yeah,

Hameed:

We should do more of that. how can we improve it? what information is relevant to you? What information do they want to know?

Sumaira:

I think it's important to highlight what platforms are you on and where do you need, more of a following? You're on YouTube, right?

Hameed:

I like the YouTube gang. I feel like they're the closest ones to me.

Sumaira:

you also mentioned that.

Hameed:

When YouTube, we are on YouTube, we're on Instagram, we're on Twitter and just recently launched on TikTok. So TikTok is very small. probably need to increase that because I couldn't even do live on TikTok because we don't have up to a thousand followers. So we need to change that.

Sumaira:

Cause I was thinking, if you were to get that following on TikTok too, You can have lives where your audience join in, right? So the people listening here or engaging with your platforms can share a bit about themselves, their experiences or anything in relation to the content. we need the support on TikTok.

Hameed:

realized something actually, on Instagram. If I went live directly on Instagram, people would be able to request to join and jump in. that's something else we should be aware of.

Sumaira:

Support on all platforms are appreciated, right?

Hameed:

Definitely, most definitely. Agreed with you. the main thing needed is more engagement to connect with the people. So that's why I'm doing this live. I'm just going to keep doing lives and then eventually I start connecting with people and eventually people start, asking questions in the chat and we'll start replying. So if you guys actually have any experts that, professors, academics, authors that you think would be great to jump on the podcast and have a conversation with us, Please anybody send us an email, at info@ronuspirit.com or you can just message us on YouTube Instagram or any of the, platforms that we're on.

Sumaira:

Exactly. And also just anybody who's made a pivotal impact, usually that could be professors and experts by experience.

Hameed:

Look at you coming through. I like that.

Sumaira:

Yeah. anybody with lived experience who has something to say, I think it's always good to learn from the people who are on the ground, trying to make a difference and how we might be able to support them. there might be things that we are unaware of. from our previous podcast recordings, I've learned so much about the kind of steps that have been taken in the past, which were really exciting to learn about. it made me think, what else is out there? What else exists? Maybe we just don't know about it and it's happening. maybe there's another Hameed version of this somewhere happening too.