Enlighten: Uplift & Inspire

Matt Balitsaris is a musician, record producer, humanitarian and philanthropist. Matt was the band leader and composer of 2 bands my husband played bass for in the 80s and 90s: C’est What?! and Loose Shoes. Matt’s beautiful solo guitar playing can be found on the albums "Evening Fires" & "An Echoed Smile". Matt converted the barn on his Buck’s County, PA property into a magnificent recording studio and founded the successful jazz label, Palmetto Records. In addition to his music career, Matt shares his insights from his first trip to Haiti in 1989, the changes, set backs (including hurricanes, earthquakes and governmental corruption) and palpable progress he has witnessed in Haiti, a country very close to his heart. Over the past 20 years, Matt has dedicated time, energy, resources and certainly his heart and soul to the grass-roots, micro-financing organization FONKOZE, who reaches out to the poorest of poor in Haiti. I had the privilege of watching Matt in action when I joined him and a delegation he led in Haiti the year after the earthquake.

You may have previously heard my conversation with Matt’s wife, Margaret Dulaney, a playwright, spiritual writer and long time inspiration to me. If you haven't already, I encourage you to listen to episode #5 for Margaret's inspiring conversation with me. Music brought my husband and I together with Matt and Margaret 33 years ago, our friendship has been enriched by spiritual exploration, and our connection has been deepened through our shared quest for social justice.

Links:

All Music Resource

C’est What?! Loose Shoes Jeff Berman Palmetto Records

Fonkoze

The Inquirer Featured Article (Philly.com)

Alex Counts' Blog Post

Center for International Policy

YouTube Volt Video

For February’s Black History month, we are featuring 4 amazing African American women: a filmmaker, a humanitarian entrepreneur, a singer-song-writer, and this week’s guest, Carolyn Mitchell - a songwriter, business woman and mentor to new artists,.

Carolyn shares her early experience in the music industry, her revelation that she was more comfortable as a song-writer, rather than a performer. She talks about her choice to build a career in corporate America, which allowed her to keep music as a creative outlet.

In a desire to shake up the old paradigm of music management, Carolyn created a series of questions for artists to help them discover their desires, dreams and visions - all of this helping artists advocate for themselves more proactively.

Carolyn’s integrity and ethics are woven into whatever she does - be it the music industry, her corporate day job, or her devotion to her aging mother.

Enjoy the podcast!

Follow Carolyn on Twitter

Swarthmore Alumni Gospel Choir - "Hallelujah Amen"

Vaneese Thomas - "Sweet Talk" from The Long Journey Home

20 Feet From Stardom

For February's Black History Month we are featuring 4 amazing African-American women. This week's guest is Anna Msowoya Keys, a humanitarian entrepreneur and community organizer. She began her career as an advocate for women and children in African conflict areas, first through Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and then with International Refugee Committee (IRC), that took her to Burundi, Rwanda, Mozambique and Malawi. She witnessed the heart-wrenching turmoil and crisis during the genocide in Rwanda. 

She eventually dated her best friend and colleague at IRC, John Keys, who later became her beloved husband. After Anna and John married, Anna left her African homeland and moved to the United States - something she had not imagined she would ever do. Anna opened the unique shop Chibekeni, in her new community of Nyack, NY, which showcased beautiful handmade works from African artisans. The shop helped Anna bridge her African roots with her new American home. Chibekini allowed Anna to raise funds for her home country Malawi, as the AIDS epidemic wiped out a whole generation of young parents, leaving thousands of children orphaned. Four of Anna’s sisters died of AIDS, compelling Anna and John to take financial responsibility for the education of 10 of her nieces and nephews. Anna shares the story of attending her fourth sister’s funeral, where many children she didn’t know arrived. She discovered that these children were orphans and showed up because they were starving and they knew there would be food at a funeral. That inspired the beginning of Maloto, a non-profit, community based organization that started out feeding a meal to 20 children once a week, and now feeds 350 children a warm, nutritious meal 3 times a week. Maloto has expanded to include after-school programs, an early childhood class, a primary school and an international secondary academy. Having just celebrated its 10 year anniversary, Maloto’s mission is to feed, educate and empower the children and women of Malawi.   

Anna expresses her deep gratitude for the support of her Nyack community, as well as people like the NBC broadcaster Tom Brokaw and his wife Meredith Brokaw, who have served on her board of directors and devoted time, resources and love to support Anna’s vision.

Links:

www.maloto.org

Kwithu CBO

Mzuzu International Academy

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

International Rescue Committee (IRC)

NBC Today Show Feature: Maloto's Kwithu Kitchen in Malawi

NYTimes Magazine “Portraits of Reconciliation: Rwanda 20 Years Later”

For February's Black History Month we are featuring 4 amazing African-American women. This week's guest is Melissa McMillan, a singer/songwriter, who knew since she was a child exactly what she wanted to do: be a singer. Her clear desire to pursue music led her from high school bands to study jazz vocals with Rosana Eckert at University of North Texas (UNT), where she was encouraged to match her natural talent with her musicianship. UNT is where I met Melissa, she was a classmate of my daughter Julia, and they performed their senior recital together (Melissa on vocals, Julia on bass).

 Melissa describes her experience of moving from Texas to NYC, her work with Warby-Parker, singing with wedding bands and writing her original music. She completed her first CD a couple of years ago and is in the process of releasing her second one. Melissa has co-written songs with Brian Donohoe (“On your Own”) as well as Ross Pederson (“Glow”). She has performed at Sofar Sounds Concerts, numerous clubs throughout NYC, toured the US, sang the national anthem at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn and most recently performed at the Grammys at Madison Square Garden in NYC as a member of the resistance revival choir, backing up Kesha.

 Melissa was born in England (her mother is British, her father American), spent her early childhood in Albuquerque, NM, before moving to Texas for high school. She shares her experience of being bi-racial and how that ignited her involvement in social justice causes like Black Lives Matter and women’s rights. Upcoming shows: 2/13/18, Sofar Sounds Secret Show, NYC
Midtown location, Galentine's Day, click here for tickets

 2/26/18 at Three's Brewing, Brooklyn, 8pm   Find Melissa online at: melissamcmillanmusic.com Facebook Instagram Twitter

Links: EP: Melissa McMillan “I Will Follow”

#resistance revival choir

Brian Donohoe Progger Ross Pederson David Cook Snarky Puppy

UNT Senior Recital  featuring Melissa McMillan and Julia Adamy

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neal Hurston

For February's Black History Month we are featuring 4 amazing African-American women. This week's guest is Tracey Anarella, an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She shares her journey starting as an undergraduate at Cornell University, with the intention of going to medical school. Instead, she became a pharmaceutical researcher, then took time off to raise her children and received her MBA while going through a divorce. Tracey recently created a whole new career, embracing the world of filmmaking. She delights in her relationship with musician/composer Peter Fish, her true soul mate, who has inspired Tracey to jump into the mindset of loving what you do for a living! Tracey and Peter creatively collaborate on her films, traveling extensively for film shoots & festivals as Tracey is bubbling with ideas for new movies. Keep an eye out for a conversation with Peter Fish on a future podcast.


www.traceyanarella.com

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Instagram

Films: The topics of Tracey’s movies include black on black prejudice, a subway musician, inner city inspirations,  a renowned musician and the crippling impact of illiteracy. (Click on the film's title to watch a trailer)

Not Black Enough, an 83 minute film about class warfare in the African-American community, takes a sometimes humorous, always personal, brutally honest and insightful look into a seldom-explored phenomenon – the ostracizing of blacks by other blacks for being ‘Not Black Enough’. The film features, singer/actress Vanessa Williams, PBS Anchor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Rapper and Fox Network TV Show, “Empire” cast member Petey Pablo and Grammy Award winner Florence LaRue along with a host of other non-public figures. Available on Amazon Prime

Jesse and the the Fountain of Youth

Brooklyn United

Livingston Taylor: Life is Good, a feature length documentary (81 minutes), portrays noted singer-songwriter, professor and philosopher Livingston Taylor as the unique one-off that he is – one part Mark Twain, one part raconteur, one part icon beloved educator, and one part music icon – and icon who is a large part of America’s first family of music. We witness as he gives back to the music that nurtured him through his songwriting, performance and teachings at the world renownBerklee College of Music. Indeed, Livingston is a man whose life is a testament to the concept that “Life Is Good” – An airplane-flying, motorbike-riding, singing-piano-playing-man, dead set on enriching the world he inhabits. The film also stars such notables as Carly Simon, Ian Anderson, Kate Taylor and Ben Taylor. “Livingston Taylor – Life Is Good” will be available for screening and distribution, September, 2017

Dominquez vs. Dominquez