Ukraine Crisis: Why Black America Should Care, the African Immigrant Crisis at the Border, and the role of Africa in the New World Order?

Just as we were starting to see an end to a global pandemic, Russia invades Ukraine and the world goes into crisis mode. The refugee crisis is growing at the Ukraine/Poland border. Beautiful, picturesque Ukrainian cities have now turned into ruins. Russia is threatening to cut oil supplies in Europe. Gas prices are rising past $4.15 per gallon in the United States. In this episode, Alexanderia Haidara, host of Global Take Podcast, talks with a foreign policy expert, Nola Haynes, and former Peace Corp Volunteer to Ukraine, Violet Esipila. They dive deep into the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the black community both in America and abroad.  As NATO, the European Union, and the United States scramble to de-escalate tensions in the region and end the war, what role will Africa play in the new global world order?   The U.S. Congress shored up 1.5 trillion for defense and non-defense discretionary spending and roughly 12 billion to help Ukraine respond to Russia’s invasion, yet critical criminal justice, and civil rights legislation remain in limbo. The outpour of African immigrants fighting to leave Ukraine but were discriminated against at the Polish/Ukraine border struck a nerve with Black America. Join our discussion online with Global Take!

Bio: 

Nola Haynes is an academic, policy writer, and advocate. Nola’s interests center on emerging threats, WMD in space, strategic competition, and intersectionality. Most recently, Nola was named one of the top 50 leaders in national security and foreign affairs by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Diversity in National Security (DINSN). She is the director of the West Coast chapter of Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS) and sits on several boards including, the Women’s Caucus for the International Studies Association communications team (WCIS), Foreign Policy board for American Political Science Association (APSA) and ISA West. She is a member of the Black Professional in International Affairs (BPIA) communications team along with being an alumnus of the WestExec Advisors mentoring program. She has been featured on MSNBC Show with Tiffany Cross and the Grio to name a few.

Violet Esipila is a Disaster Recovery Specialist at U.S. Small Business Administration. She’s responsible for responding to a variety of clients’ inquiries, ranging from routine to complex, and providing detailed information to the public regarding President’s Federal Declared Disaster Programs. She is an Outreach Volunteer Chair for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of NJ and Communications Committee for Black Professionals in International Affairs. She previously served in Peace Corps Ukraine as a Community Development and PEPFAR Response Volunteer. She holds a BA in Sociology from WPUNJ and MPS in Human Resources and Employment Relations from PSU. She speaks Swahili and English.

Podcast Team

Alexanderia Haidara, Host and Podcast Producer

Cheryle Galloway-Podcast Op-Ed Writer

Sidney Walters-Podcast Social Media Coordinator

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