“The Knock” (Ghanaian Couple, Under 1 Minute)

The morning sun was still low when Kojo and Ama walked the red path toward her father’s compound.

Kojo’s palms were steady, but his heartbeat drummed like festival talking drums.

In his hand, he carried the single bottle of schnapps — the symbol every man brings when he comes with intention.

Ama walked beside him, quiet but glowing, her blue cloth catching the light like river water.

At the doorway, Kojo paused.

He looked at Ama’s father — a man carved from wisdom and years — and bowed his head.

“Papa,” he said, voice firm, “I have come to knock. I seek permission to honor your daughter, to build a home with her, and to bring what is required.”

The old man studied him for a long breath.

Then his stern face softened.

“You have knocked well,” he said. “Enter. Let us talk as families.”

Ama exhaled, her fingers brushing Kojo’s.

The door opened — and their future opened with it.

Alicia Lacy - 03-31-2026

Echoes of us, by Alicia Lacy. Today on Echoes of Us, we're stepping into something deeper than tradition. We're stepping into memory, the kind of memory that lives in our blood. in our bones, not in textbooks or his story. 
We're talking about African birthrights, naming ceremonies, and the outdoring Tradition. And how these practices held families together, long before the world tried to tear us apart. Because what we lost wasn't just a ceremony. 
We lost a system of belonging. You see? When a child was born in African societies, it wasn't just a medical event. 
It was cosmology. It was lineage being passed down by name and tradition. It was the ancestors returning through flesh. 
It was the community gaining another heartbeat. Birth was as spiritual as crossing. From the unseen realm into the physical world, and our people treated that crossing. that new arrival with reverence, intention, and protection. 
Among the Akhan, a newborn lived between worlds. For the first seven or eight days, among the Yoruba, a child arrived carrying destiny. And the family's role was to help them fulfill it. 
In Ethiopia. Etrea, and Somalia. and across the Sayil, mothers of babies were surrounded with warmth. Prayer, and ritual shielding. 
Birth was never private. A child belonged to the family. The lineage, heritage and its ancestors. 
And then came the outdoring ceremony. One of the most beautiful cultural technologies we've ever created. The child is brought outdoors for the first time. introduced to the sun or the moon. 
Introduced to the earth, introduced to the community, and finally, introduced to their name. Let's sit with that for one moment. Because in the diaspora, many of us only saw naming through the lens of laws. 
Through scenes, like the one in roots. And yes, that scene was powerful. But it was a drama, dramatization. of rupture. 
It showed what happens when people are forced out of their naming systems. It was not a reflection of the intact cultural architect we once had. African naming traditions were not symbolic. 
They were a part of our fabric. They held a continuity of family cohesion. ancestral accountability. Spiritual protection. 
Identity clarification. Enter family alliances. And the passing down of purpose. 
A name wasn't just a name. It was a prophecy. A responsibility, a declaration of identity. 
A bridge between families and generations. During outdoring, Elders place water and alcohol on the child's tongue to teach truth. from falsehood. They lifted the child to the sky to acknowledge the creator. 
God. They spoke blessings that called forth strength, wisdom, prosperity, and long life. And then they announced the child's name. 
A name tied to the day of birth. The circumstances of birth, or the lineage that came through, like, Yao, Akuvi, Coffee. Kwame. 
These were labels. They were timestamps. They were spiritual coordinates. 
They told the world, when you arrived, and who you belong to, and this wasn't just Ghana. Nor was it just the Yoruba, the Igbo, Somali, or Zulu. You see. 
Families introduced the child to the ancestors through cleansing and blessings. Some traditions and families used henna, cymbals and ancestral invocation. In the Congo, newborns were wrapped in cloth patterned with the families cosmology. 
And Senegal, grills, sang the lineage of the child into existence. Different languages, different rituals. Saying truth. 
A child is a continuation of the people. And that's why this conversation matters, because when those systems were disrupted, we didn't just lose words. We lost the technology of connection. 
We lost the architecture that held our families together. We lost the ceremonies that told us you belong. You are ours. 
You come from somewhere. Here is your great, great grandfather. Your great, great grandmother. 
You are not alone. Your life has meaning before you even speak. But here, there's beauty. 


Echoes of us, by Alicia Lacy. Becoming the African rights of passage into adulthood. Today on Echoes of Us, we move from the moment a child enters the world, to the moment they step into their own power. 
Across the African continent, the transition into adulthood was never left to chance. It was intentional, structured and sacred. It was a journey shaped by community, guided by elders and rooted in the understanding that becoming an adult is not simply about age. 
It's about readiness, responsibility, and their identity. In African societies, rights of passage were the architecture, that shaped character. They were the bridge between childhood and responsibility between innocence and purpose between being cared for and being a caretaker. 
These rights were not symbolic gestures, not at all. They were cultural systems designed to prepare young people. For life. 
They're emotional, spiritual, socially and morally. Purposeful lives. Adulthood began with teaching. 
In most African cultures. In African societies, Adulthood, taught who they were, where they came from, and what their community expected of them. They learned discipline, courage, emotional control. 
And the ethics that held their society together. They learned that freedom and responsibility were inseparable. They learned that their life was not just their own. 
It was tied to the well-being of the entire Community.

“Long before we had language for healing, our ancestors understood the power of smoke. They knew the earth carried medicine, and that fire could lift a prayer higher than any voice alone. When they smudged, it wasn’t superstition — it was strategy. A way to clear the air, cleanse the spirit, and call protection into the room. Every leaf they burned held memory. Every ember carried intention. They smudged to guard the children, to steady the home, to keep wandering spirits from crossing thresholds uninvited. And even now, when the smoke rises, it rises with them — their breath, their wisdom, their covering. Smudging is not just ritual. It is remembrance. It is protection. It is the echo of those who refused to let darkness touch us.” By Alicia C Lacy

Philly, stand up. It took over two decades, but the Black Music Collective just made sure Eve got her flowers and her gold. Recording academy leadership officially corrected the record, handing Eve her Grammy for the legendary verse on, you got me, from the battle circles in North Philly to the Grammy stage. The pit bull in a skirt is officially. 2 time winner. It's not just an award, it's about respecting the contribution, and it's about time. Congratulations to you EVE 💙🫶🏽💙

More in the news, my name is Alicia Lacy. Today, I will be talking about the black recession and the wealth gap. Now, a landmark state of the dream, 2026 report release, released this week, warns of a brewing black recession. So this is something that we really, really need to keep our eye on and stay focused as to what is going on nationally. in our lives. Wealth disparities for every $100 in white family wealth, black families hold just over $5. This lack of financial cushion makes a government shut down an economic earthquake. For black households, rather than a temporary disruption, savings get, on average, black households have only $1,500 in liquid assets to whether a crisis compared to $8100. For White Households. The impact of this shutdown for the DMV area, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The DMV is the epic center of the crisis because it houses the nation's largest black middle class. Built largely on federal employment. Prince George's County, Maryland, home to roughly 70,000 federal workers, recent shutdowns and federal job cuts, including those from the Department of Government efficiency, have forced families in wealthy majority, black hubs like Oxen Hill, and Fort Washington to tap into 401 ks, and consider selling their homes to survive pay lapse. Yes. This is a national crisis for black communities. in the DMV. area. especially. Job losses, black unemployment rose by one. 5% points in the late 2025 due to federal downsizing, the sharpest increase of any demographic. Federal contractors, unlike direct federal employees, 1000s of black owned contracting firms and the DMV, do not receive back pay, leading to projected losses of up to $450 million. Now, as I speak further regarding Black Recession and the wealth gap that is further widening, safety net and government services. The safety net and government services include snap and wick uncertainty. Recent funding lapse left many families with empty EBT cards while some funding was restored 2026 tax law. Changes have added new work requirements that threaten access for 1000000s of black families. Housing and energy and urban centers like DC delays and housing and energy assistance, lahe, put high cost households at immediate risk of eviction and utility shut offs. Local resources, places that you may want to reach out to, and Prince George's County, a 1000000 relief fund was launched via 100 black men of Prince George's County to provide $1000 grants to impact workers. Maryland resources, you can dial 211 for emergency food, cash, or legal assistance through the Maryland Department of Labor. Governor Moore has expanded this program to help terminated federal workers, transition into teaching roles in Maryland schools, which is a good way to try to help a lot of people who have lost jobs. But it is still an uncertain and an uncertainty and very discouraging to hear. Again, that we're going into a setdown this weekend and hopefully they'll be able to get everything back up and running by Monday so that these people can try to. Maintain their homes and their lives and get back to work and be able to take care of the necessities to live a normal life. Um, it's very discouraging, very disheartening, to hear that, again, this area of what some consider to be, our mecca is crumbling, right, before our very eyes. And hopefully these houses will get together and come up with a swift resolution so that this deepening wealth gap can ultimately stop. Uh, my name is Alicia Lacy reporting for IMNX, A IMyriad FM. News brief. Peace.

HOST (Alicia C. Lacy):

Welcome back to Echoes of Us, the space where we tell the truth, hold the line, and help each other rise — no matter what the world is doing around us.

Today’s episode is one I never thought I’d have to record. But here we are, and we’re going to walk through it together.

Across the country, people are waking up to find that the programs they depended on — the grants, the support systems, the DEI offices, the minority‑serving initiatives — have been paused, restructured, or completely shut down.

And for Black entrepreneurs, Black educators, Black founders, and the communities we serve, this moment feels like the rug has been pulled out from under us.

But this episode is not about panic.

It’s about navigation.

It’s about strategy.

It’s about what still exists, what changed, and how to move forward without losing momentum.

So let’s breathe.

Let’s talk.

Let’s get into it.

SEGMENT 1 — WHAT ACTUALLY STOPPED?

Let’s start with clarity — because confusion is the enemy of progress.

Over the past year, several federal agencies have been instructed to end or restructure DEI‑branded programs, race‑targeted grants, and minority‑specific funding streams. This includes:

• DEI offices across federal agencies
• Equity Action Plans
• Race‑specific grant competitions
• Some Minority‑Serving Institution discretionary grants
• Outreach programs that prioritized race as a primary eligibility factor

And for many people, this felt like the floor dropped out.

Because for decades, these programs were the only acknowledgment that certain communities were starting from behind.

But here’s the truth:

The end of DEI branding is not the end of opportunity.

It’s the end of a label, not the end of the need.

And the federal government — even in this new landscape — still funds innovation, still funds small businesses, still funds education, still funds AI, still funds infrastructure, still funds workforce development.

The language changed.

The door didn’t close.

WHICH AGENCIES SHIFTED AND HOW?

Let’s walk through the major agencies and what actually changed — because understanding the landscape is the first step to navigating it.

Department of Education

They ended discretionary funding for several MSI programs — PBIs, HSIs, AANAPISIs, and others.

But the statutory programs remain:

• Pell
• TRIO
• GEAR UP
• Title III and V structures (reframed around capacity, not race)

The shift is from race‑based eligibility to race‑neutral criteria like income, geography, and institutional need.

Small Business Administration (SBA)

The 8(a) program was challenged — not eliminated.

Now, instead of assuming disadvantage based on race, applicants must document individual >disadvantage.

But the following remain strong:

• WOSB / EDWOSB
• HUBZone
• Veteran‑owned programs
• Microloans
• SBA‑backed lending
• Community Navigator networks (reframed)

Department of Commerce / MBDA

MBDA still exists — it’s congressionally authorized.

But it is shifting toward:

• “Socially and economically disadvantaged”
• Sector‑based innovation
• Place‑based development

DoD, DOE, HHS, NSF, NIH, DHS

DEI offices were reduced, but the funding mechanisms — the ones that matter for innovation — remain:

• SBIR
• STTR
• ARPA‑E
• ARPA‑H
• NSF TIP
• NIST AI and cybersecurity programs

These agencies care about innovation, national competitiveness, STEM, AI, security, infrastructure, and education modernization.