The Cuba Connection: People's Forum NYC & Black Men Build
Phillip Agnew (also known as Umi Selah) has traveled to Cuba on at least two occasions. In 2017, he visited Cuba alongside Ahmad Abuznaid.
Six months ago, the Black Men Build organization partnered with The People’s Forum to provide a formal joint training session in NYC. Phillip Agnew and Ekundayo Igeleke were highlighted speakers who provided recommended actions and strategies in preparation for increasing the Marxist comrades’ revolutionary resistance against the establishment.
The People’s Forum and Black Men Build share a focus on social and political education for racial and economic justice. The two organizations have collaborated in the past, primarily through interviews and training sessions featuring their leadership.
Collaborative events and shared platforms:
In April 2024, Ekundayo, the Director of Political Education & Culture for Black Men Build, interviewed Claudia de la Cruz, a co-founder of The People’s Forum. The conversation was published in wartime issue 3, a publication by Black Men Build. Phillip Agnew (also known as Umi Selah) has traveled to Cuba on at least two occasions. In 2017, he visited Cuba alongside Ahmad Abuznaid, though specific details about the purpose or activities of that trip are limited.
More recently, from April 24 to May 3, over 150 young organizers from the United States traveled to Cuba as part of a brigade organized by the International Peoples’ Assembly (IPA) to learn about the Cuban process and stand in solidarity with the island nation against the “criminal” US blockade. The organizers returned to the US with an even greater commitment to continue building their revolution at home and to fight for the end of the blockade of Cuba.
Ekundayo Igeleke, born to Nigerian and Southern Baptist parents, is an educator, writer, photographer, national strategist, and grassroots organizer with over a decade of experience in radical social justice activism, Black studies, anti-colonial theory and solidarity, grassroots, national, and international organizing, Pan-Africanism, and cultural production. Holding a B.A. in Black Studies and Sociology from the University of Cincinnati, he currently serves as Director of Education and Culture at Black Men Build, founder of Culture Dream Lab, and a PhD candidate in Comparative Studies and Black Studies at The Ohio State University, while also being a member of the Maroon Arts Group and The Party for Socialism and Liberation. His scholarly interests encompass Black intellectual history, revolutionary politics and movements, solidarity economy, and the pivotal role of cultural workers and production in mass organizations and political parties.
Peoples Dispatch spoke to Phil Agnew of Black Men Build, D’Atra “Dee Dee” Jackson of Black Youth Project 100, Kawenaʻulaokalā Kapahua of Academic Labor United, Lillian House of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Anakaren Alcocer of Unión de Vecinos/LA Tenants Union, and Miriam Osman of the Palestinian Youth Movement, about what they have learned from Cuba and why they’re committed to ending the blockade against the island.
Phillip Agnew (now Umi Selah) is a radical community activist, starting his career as a student at Florida A&M University, forming the Dream Defenders organization. He promotes global solidarity, connecting U.S. Black liberation struggles to international issues including Palestine. Currently, he also serves as co-director of Black Men Build, an organization advancing racial, social, and gender justice. In February 2017 Agnew endorsed Keith Ellison stating “That’s why we endorse Representative Keith Ellison for DNC Chair. We believe he can activate the millennial base of the party by working with the movements we have powered,” endorsement signatories included Umi Selah.
Black Men Build Funding Sources
Black Men Build, a nonprofit organization focused on empowering Black men, relies heavily on grassroots and private funding to sustain its operations. The group operates on a membership model, where participants contribute monthly dues of nine dollars, forming a core part of its financial base. Individual donations and sustainers also play a crucial role, helping the organization work toward ambitious fundraising goals, such as its three-million-dollar target for program expansion. As a fiscally sponsored entity under the State Democracy Project, a public charity that supports grassroots initiatives for multi-racial democracy, Black Men Build benefits from administrative backing and access to tax-deductible contributions processed through this sponsor.
The State Democracy Project (SDP) itself draws nearly all of its revenue, amounting to about nineteen point seven million dollars in 2023, from private sources, with major contributions coming from foundations like the Ford Foundation, which has provided over one million dollars in recent years for democracy-building efforts, and the Open Society Foundations. All documented support for BMB, such as the Ford Foundation, NBA Foundation, or PxP Fund, remains private in nature. The NBA Foundation provided a grant to BMB in 2023 to support its community programs, and this is documented as going to “Black Men Build, a project of State Democracy Project.”
Similarly, the PxP Fund has listed BMB as one of its grantees for capacity-building work with Black men. These are private foundation donations aimed at BMB’s initiatives, not general funding for SDP, though SDP handles the administrative side as the sponsoring entity. SDP’s own major funding comes from other private sources like the Ford Foundation and Open Society Foundations, with no evidence of NBA Foundation or PxP Fund contributing broadly to SDP beyond BMB-specific support. Specific mentions in public discussions, such as a social media post from June 2025, highlight Ford Foundation support directed toward Black Men Build’s activities.
This represents another instance of an investigation that the Trump administration should initiate, given the Cuban connection and its revolutionary nature aimed at overthrowing the current democratic system of government, all in an attempt to subvert the general rule of law in America.
Below is a video of Black Men Build Phil Agnew and Ekundayo Igeleke as speakers at the People’s Forum conference. At the end of the including a clip is Phil talking about his the trip to Cuba.
Thanks for your cpntinued work