Ely Wananda

Greetings everyone. I hope you're soaking up the sun rays that we're finally getting 🌞 I've been in science mode recently, learning all about atoms and photons and whatnot so as to teach my boys. I've realised that I spend way too much time on devices, and it's mashing up my health. I'm slowly rectifying this. I've started leaving my phone far away from me. I've started writing down ideas and thoughts. And I've started reading real books (such a radical!).

This has got me thinking about my content. The algorithms are designed to get us binge watching. It's why I always plug other videos of mine during videos. And I often obsess over how long a gap I can leave between videos before you all forget about me and my "engagement" plummets. But I've resolved to really chill on all that stuff. I need to spend less time staring at devices and I don't want to encourage other people to spend more time online! I've said in my last video that one big solution (not the only one) to many mental and physical health problems we face is to get outside, in the daylight, as much as possible. And at night, to get proper darkness and detach from devices.

In the coming weeks, I'd like to return to the science podcasts I was doing last year. I'm piecing together some ideas (on paper!) for a video or videos on the health impacts of daylight and darkness. So look out for that. And I might also review a book I've just got called Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention (pictured). I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, please get outside in the sunshine and fresh air and maybe leave your phone at home while doing so 🌞🙏🏿

1 month ago | [YT] | 43

Ely Wananda

Most of us have been getting poorer for years now. Wages have been lagging behind inflation and house prices have been spiralling which has locked most people (especially youngsters) out of the main source of wealth. In my latest video, I outline some of the data around this. I argue that these tough economic times require us to come together as couples, families and friends so we can give ourselves the best chance to overcome. Check out the Videos tab to view and let me know your thoughts, por favor. Peace, Ely

2 months ago | [YT] | 57

Ely Wananda

The data shows that married parents in the UK are generally wealthier, better educated, healthier, etc than non married parents. One way of interpreting this is to suggest that marriage leads to those outcomes. But in my latest video, I suggest that this is largely because people who marry are more likely to already be wealthy, highly educated, etc. And over time, while the proportion of middle income parents who marry has dropped dramatically, the vast majority of wealthy parents still marry. Check out my latest video where I lay this out in a bit more detail. YouTube might not be notifying subscribers of new videos so hopefully this post will do the job. Click on my channel and go to the videos to find the latest ones ✊🏿

2 months ago | [YT] | 38

Ely Wananda

Just sharing a new post on my Mindful Black Dad site. I’ve neglected this site over the past few months, and in that time I’ve been learning so much about mathematics for younger children. Anyways, this post is about a tool called the rekenrek. It is a bit like abacuses and is a useful tool for getting children to build their foundational mathematical understanding. Check it out here and make sure to search around the site for other resources. Peace out, Ely mindfulblackdad.com/how-to-build-young-childrens-n…

2 months ago | [YT] | 11

Ely Wananda

There's something about representing maths in different ways that I find so interesting and powerful. The number three can be represented as this: 3. I'd argue that we are taught to think that 3 is the "real" essence of "three." But 3 is just a symbol that has been created to *represent* threeness. There are many, many ways to represent (re-present) the concept of threeness, or any other numerical value. You can do it visually with dots (I really love dots!), you can do it audibly with three bags on a drum, etc.

With young children, it's really important to use many different ways of representing mathematical concepts. The research seems to show that children learn maths much more deeply and effectively when they use concrete, pictorial and abstract representations. Concrete = physical objects like blocks and counters, Pictorial = drawings, and Abstract = Digits. It does make things take longer, but the knowledge is deeper as a result. For example, the art of subitising is when a child can recognise a number without counting individual units. Think of a dice pattern for three. A young child should be able to identify that as three without counting. That gives them the foundational understanding of threeness, which they can them carry over into the abstract. When you jump straight to abstract, which is what traditionally happened in maths classes back in my youth, children don't really absorb the mathematical concepts.

This got me thinking about how African/Black cultures are replete with representations of mathematics. Our music of course is rooted in rhythm which is just another word for pattern. The patterns in our hair, clothes, our dance, our song/melodies/harmonies, our architecture and even in our town planning (just search "African fractals"). Patterns galore! And where there is pattern, there is math/s. These patterns and rhythms can be understood mathematically. In fact, the patterns are themselves representations of mathematical concepts. Again, digits are simply one of many ways of representing mathematical concepts. These concepts can also be represented (re-presented) visually, audibly, kinetically, etc.

The National Centre for Excellence in Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM) states the following:

"Seeking and exploring patterns is at the heart of mathematics (Schoenfeld, 1992). Developing an awareness of pattern helps young children to notice and understand mathematical relationships. Clements and Sarama (2007) identify that patterns may provide the foundations of algebraic thinking, since they provide the opportunity for young children to observe and verbalise generalisations." www.ncetm.org.uk/classroom-resources/ey-pattern/

We should be making use of our cultural expressions that are so heavily pattern and rhythm oriented. You can think of mathematics partly as a way of seeing patterns in existence. Anything that builds our ability to find and create patterns also strengthens mathematical sense. So let's use the patterns within our cultural expression as part of our learning. It can be as simple as asking children to tell you how many stripes they can see on a pattern, how many rows of braids they can find in someone's hair, get them to describe repeating patterns and try and predict what will come next, make their own patterns, etc. Its about using what have around to build number sense. And in doing so, we can also dig into the deeper elements of these patterns.

This is just a quick download for now. I have these thoughts simmering all the time but mostly I can't put them into words that will make much sense. In time I'll unpack some of this stuff a bit more. In the meantime, check out this Ted Talk from Roger Antonsen (who died last year a few weeks before I discovered the talk) which inspired me in this whole area: https://youtu.be/ZQElzjCsl9o?si=1b7PF...

2 months ago | [YT] | 8

Ely Wananda

2024 has been a phenomenal year for my channel. I just recently crossed the 14,000 subscriber mark. To put that into context, I started this channel in 2009 and by 31st May 2024 I had about 7,500 subscribers. From June to December 31st 2024 over 7,500 new subscribers came on board. So it took 6 months to do what had taken 168 months (14 years) to do previously (see the spike in the chart on the right-hand side). It means 2024 has been the most productive and successful YouTube year for me ever, by a very, very, very long way.

Up until recently, I used to regret not having made the most of my channel back in the 2010s which I saw as a golden age for YouTube. Things were much easier then (I told myself). It was much easier to build a community, to monetise, etc. I used to look enviously at other channels that I used to be on par with but which had gone into the stratosphere. I was very entitled, frankly. I felt that I *deserved* success and that it wasn't fair I wasn't successful (so I thought). But actually, I was successful, all this time. For example, I have been doing things that literally no-one else has been doing on here. For example, through 2023 and into 2024, I did regular live streams where I read through some weighty, philosophy/history books (check the "Podcasts" section for those). If looked at through the prism of viewer numbers, those videos were flops. I hoped I would gain hundreds of viewers, but the average number of live viewers would be 5 or less (and never more than 20). But we had conversations of real quality and depth. We could really dig into subjects in great detail, looking at them from various angles. I remember a couple of streams where not a single person joined. I actually enjoyed those ones because I could just freely talk and think through ideas. I also started a short podcast called the Panafrican Science Podcast where I shared some of what I've been learning about the importance of light in human health.

All of this prepared me to take the next step in my journey, with these more recent videos that have caught the attention of so many new people. It's been an absolute blessing to have so many of you enjoying my videos and I'm looking forward to continuing in the new year. The type of content I do will continue to evolve and adapt because as I grow and develop as a person, the content must do likewise. But the one thing I promise is that a) I' will always be open-minded and critical thinking and b) I will always focus on how we can make our lives better, higher vibrational, etc - individually and collectively.

I haven't "made it" or anything like that. But I do feel that as far as this content stuff goes, I am flowing much more, in sync with my life's calling/mission. I want to encourage anyone who is working on something and feeling discouraged at the apparent lack of success. Keep going. Keep experimenting, keep refining, keep learning. I firmly believe that in most areas of life, if we play to our strengths and aim to get a little bit better each day, we will see success, even if that success might not look how we wanted it to look.

Happy New Year to everyone. May 2025 bless you abundantly.

4 months ago | [YT] | 188

Ely Wananda

When I was listening to a bunch of UK Drill a few weeks ago, YouTube suggested a video from  @DeeRiginal  It was like the algorithm was trying to cleanse me! DeeRiginal is part of what some are calling a Grime revival. He calls his sound Fresh Air Music, and his music is exactly that. Check his latest release "Cleo Riddim" that's just dropped. And then check his other stuff. When you do, you'll hear him saying "Boom" a lot in his songs. He's actually saying "BEWM" which stands for Beautiful Energy Wonderful Mind! Spread the world about this brother folks, we need this kind of vibration more than ever.

4 months ago | [YT] | 21

Ely Wananda

Many Blacks folks in the UK and elsewhere have a dysfunctional philosophy of parenting. This philosophy is that parents are just meant to feed, clothe and shelter children. Actually guiding children through life is someone else's responsibility. So things like teaching children about personal finances, physical and mental health, relationships and sex, all that is the responsibility of "society." This helps to explain why many Black parents (not all, but a large proportion) never have deep conversations with their children. It's all superficial. They don't take the time to actually know their children, to learn their character, their strengths, weaknesses, their interests, their ambitions, etc. And thus they can't guide them through life's various twists and turns. As a result, children must learn about life from "society." And "society" is what, exactly? It's the streets, the school playgrounds, social media, p*rnography, etc.

As children progress through the education provided in these spaces, they develop different personas. At home, they come across one way - respectful, studious, etc. But outside of home, they have different personalities, different names, different ways of speaking, etc. For too many of them, this other world is an extremely nihilistic and violent one. The crazy thing is, these youths actually tell us about this other world through music. They're actually bragging about all the madness they are engaging in. Something like drill music is basically propaganda. It's PR for these youths, denigrating their rivals, bragging about successful hits against them, etc. And of course, this music gets widely promoted nationally (and internationally) because apparently Black youths killing each other always makes for great music to dance to.

Parents either don't know this other stuff, or they don't care about it. Either way, a large share of the responsibility for what these youths are doing falls on the parents and other elders/caregivers. And I think that the philosophy of parenting is at the root cause of this failure. So I hope to dig into this a bit more in future videos once I've chewed over it a bit more.

6 months ago | [YT] | 186

Ely Wananda

The Grenfell Inquiry has confirmed that those 72 men, women and children of various backgrounds spent their final hours and minutes of life being choked by thick, lethal smoke because of greed and corruption. I spent several of my earliest childhood years living in a tower block in Hackney. I remember when people would start fires in the rubbish chutes. I remember the thick, acrid, black smoke engulfing the blocks and wafting across the estate until the fire engines came. The grotesque stench would linger for hours and hours long after the flames were out. As I watched the Grenfell tower burning live on TV that hot June evening in 2017, all of that embodied memory came back to me. Listening again to the horrendous experiences of these people is bringing it all back to me again, along with the tears. In the face of these greedy, heartless politicians, corporations and bureaucrats working together to shaft everyone else, we must work together to defend and further our interests.

7 months ago | [YT] | 85

Ely Wananda

Peace everybody. Most of you have only recently discovered my channel, and I'm extremely honoured to have you onboard. I just wanted to point you to my video "back catalogue." Not bragging, but I'm a certified veteran in these YouTube streets! This channel was created in 2009 and currently has hundreds of hours of content. If you're looking for more in-depth content, please browse through the channel sections. In particular, check out the Podcasts section. Throughout all of 2023 and into 2024, I did serious studies on books from various authors including Mama Marimba Ani and Oyeronke Oyewumi. I also created a short series of videos on science/health topics (I'd like to continue those in future as time and resources allow). So if you're looking to get deeper into the underlying factors behind the topics I discuss in my regular videos, please browse away. I'm editing a video which should be ready for upload next week. Also, I want to send a big shout-out to everyone who has bought me a coffee and/or signed up to my Substack. Your support means a huge amount as I continue my "content creator" journey. Peace and blessings, Ely

7 months ago | [YT] | 91