Sam P.K. Collins

Sam P.K. Collins is a grassroots journalist-educator and self-published author of Liberian descent who was born and raised in Washington D.C. His work as a writer, editor, producer, researcher, and filmmaker has been influenced by his childhood and adolescent experiences in the nation’s capital.  

In 2007, Baba Sam graduated from Banneker Academic High School and matriculated to The George Washington University as a Trachtenburg Scholar. As an undergraduate, he took on leadership roles in the Black Student Union and Black Men’s Initiative and launched The ACE Magazine, a multicultural campus publication.

While in graduate school, Baba Sam entered the journalism industry, with stints at NBC Universal and National Public Radio. At American Urban Radio Networks, Baba Sam served as a White House press pool intern during President Barack Obama’s second term. 

The majority of Baba Sam’s journalism experience has been with the Black Press, specifically The Washington Informer, a Black woman-owned publication located in Congress Heights. Since 2012, Baba Sam has served as a reporter, covering various facets of the local, national and global Black African experience. These days, he primarily covers K-12 and college education with stories that highlight the perspective of students, parents and teachers. 

While at The Informer, Baba Sam launched AllEyesOnDC, a grassroots media brand that hosted live news events at We Act Radio in Anacostia and Sankofa Video Books & Cafe on Georgia Avenue. Between 2015 and 2020, AllEyesOnDC served as a platform for authentic Pan-African dialogue featuring well-known community figures.

In 2016, that venture inspired Baba Sam to enter the education realm, where he has since served as an African-centered communications instructor. 

Baba Sam teaches the tenets of narrative, essay, academic and journalistic writing. In doing so, he exposes young people to books, essays and speeches written by historical and contemporary African figures. He also facilitates classroom discussions that allow students to develop their speaking and analytical skills. As they build their vocabulary and learn about figurative language and other literary devices, students under Baba Sam’s tutelage also gain a cultural and historical understanding of their world, which they express in written works that appear on TheWatotoSpeak.com. 

In helping young people find their voice, Baba Sam draws on moments throughout his childhood where, with the encouragement of community elders, he wrote about topics of interest and spoke before audiences. It’s his belief that in a similarly loving environment, young people can find their voice