Seun Kuti & Diallo Kenyatta Advocate for Pan-African Revolution on OkayAfrica’s New Podcast Show, ‘Bird’s Eye View’

“We have to give thanks to Mark Zuckerberg!” Seun Kuti exclaims, his gaze intent on the blunt he’s rolling. The Afrobeat maestro is summarizing the origin story of connecting with Diallo Kenyatta, author and proud pan-Africanist, on the ultra-famous social media platform created by Zuckerberg.

“I think this is one of the unintended consequences of Facebook; he didn’t expect that these two pan-Africans were gonna link up on his platform and form this alliance.”

Kuti and Kenyatta are the hosts of Bird’s Eye View, a new OkayAfrica podcast show that delves into the nuances of the global Black experience, cutting through the social, economic, and political realities of being Black within the context of post-digital era capitalism. It’s a critical fare that doesn’t slip into curmudgeon territory because their arguments are sound and, with Kuti especially, there are ample bouts of humor. To the latter point, episodes start with bits that will crack you up.

Bird’s Eye View is partially named after Kuti’s nickname, Big Bird. The show is a way to advance the artist’s radical perspectives for pro-Black emancipation and advancement across Africa and its diaspora. Kuti, who leads the iconic Egypt 80 band formed by his father Fela Kuti, has released several albums decrying the sociopolitical nefariousness that’s prominent across Africa and urging for a pan-African revolution. The new show gets even more granular.

“The narrative about African people globally is being hijacked by forces that are not about the advancement of us as a people, and I felt like we need a counter-narrative of what dominates African people’s discussion, especially between the continent and the diaspora,” Kuti says. “I feel like we are losing that unified view that Pan-Africanism gave us, and, personally, I felt I wanted to do it, but I knew I couldn’t do it alone because the sharpest mind I know in this field is [Bro.] Diallo.”

Working with Kenyatta is hugely symbolic because Africans on the continent and Black people all over the world have converged under the banner of Pan-Africanism for centuries, as a recognition of shared and similar struggles. There are multiple examples of the overlap, from the series of spiritually-linked protests in 2020, to the fifth pan-African congress held in Manchester in 1945, which brought together delegates from across Africa and the diaspora, and is credited with being foundational to independence struggles on the continent and civil rights movements in the diaspora over the next two-plus decades.

“[The pan-African narrative is] being deliberately deteriorated and deliberately attacked,” Kenyatta says, his words coming through with an impassioned ease. “A lot of people just feel like, ‘Oh, people just aren’t interested in this,’ even though we are saturated by media. Media literacy has not kept up with the pace of media saturation, so mass indoctrination is at an all-time high. It’s also at a time that people think that their independent thinking is also at an all-time high, but critical thinking is [near] non-existent. I do think that this is the war front: We’re not even showing up, let alone losing.”

Bird’s Eye View isn’t just didactic for the sake of it; there’s an urgency that’s embedded in the show, even when the atmosphere is light-hearted. The need for change is situated in relation to the insidiousness encouraged by capitalism, where the dignity of Black people has been affected by slavery, colonialism, and racism, all indelibly tied to the exploitative nature of the economic systems defining our societies.

“I do think that truly revolutionary, pan-African leftist liberatory insights and media are a must,” Kuti says in addition to Kenyatta’s assertion that “two right-wing forces going to war and people are picking between reactionary, pro-capitalist, pro-authoritarian, pro-hierarchy forces, thinking that one is good and one is bad when all we have right now is options between various villains.”

Both hosts see the obscuring of knowledge as an intentional way to keep Black people from demanding and building societies that work for everyone, regardless of financial standing and ambitions. For Kuti, ideal societies mean billionaires create safe working environments, politicians are accountable to citizens, there’s free education and healthcare, accessible transportation, and the commonwealth is used to enrich people’s lives rather than being extracted for the wealth of a few.

The show is in service of the truth, as a way to realign what Africans truly value going forward. “Truth undermines authority,” Kenyatta says. “Nobody’s done a billion dollars' worth of work, so every billionaire is a parasite; but in society, we have to look at them as our leaders, as aspirational, as beautiful and great people. If you are willing to regurgitate that lie, maybe some of that will trickle down to you. If you reject that lie, you become bitter, you’re a hater, and you’re locked outside of luxury.”

Kuti backs up Kenyatta’s point, stating that “the elites control so much in terms of the narrative in the world, they control so many news platforms and social media influencers, so their own narrative of reality is what is constantly regurgitated and rewarded by the system. So it’s not as if people don’t like the truth; we do not see the benefits because the system has convinced them.”

Bird’s Eye View is two straight shooters giving up game, with the aim of making radical change not seem like a total impossibility.

“My highest achievement [would be] a total dismantling of the systems and institutions of global white hegemony and capitalism, and the institution of Pan-Africanism for Africans at home and abroad, where every person has enough resources and support to live a dignified life,” Kenyatta says. “All Diallo said,” Kuti adds, “plus a billion views per episode.”