Rightnowish

Last year I drove over 33,000 miles all around Northern California, constantly pursuing a deeper understanding of this region's culture. And then one day, while sitting in traffic, it hit me: you can tell a lot about our culture by simply looking at the freeways. This week, as we celebrate Rightnowish's 200th episode, I give you a glimpse into the things that I think about while I'm bending corners on Northern California's highways and byways.

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Ira Watkins paints Black history while living it.

He's a self-taught visual artist who has been using dazzling colors, expressive images and hidden messages to document Black history for decades. His work has graced the walls of his Bayview neighborhood and has been shown at the Tenderloin Museum. He's also painted a huge mural in his hometown of Waco, Texas, where the city dedicated a day in his honor-- now every January 17 is Ira Watkins Day.

This week we talk about Black history with someone who has seen it firsthand, and used his hands to make sure the stories are passed on.

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As a kid in San Francisco, Tommy Guerrero would stand on his skateboard, sliding down the steep hills of San Francisco slalom style. He'd dodge the dangerous objects in traffic and aim for the lips of the driveways he'd pass, going off them in attempts to catch air.

This skillset allowed him to win contests, have his own signature board, and turn pro before he could legally buy a beer. Instead, that first check from being signed as a professional skater, was spent on a four track recorder and a drum machine so he could make music.

Skating is where Tommy earned his name as a teenager. Now, as an adult, he still skates but it's more of just a kick and push on smooth pavement in the park, with an occasional ollie here and there. It's the investment he made in his music career that is paying dividends.

For over two decades Tommy has been producing Lo-Fi, boom-bap, jazzy, hip-hop, instrumental music where he plays every instrument. His music is cerebral, and his songs have titles that he pulls out of the ether. He's tuned in to the cosmos, as well as the popular trend of listening to vibey sounds. Plus, he's a dad, so it helps that he's tapped into the culture.

Tune in this week as we discuss music, skating, San Francisco culture, and Tommy's philosophies on fatherhood.

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Qing Qi is an artist, talented MC, and an actress who doesn't mince words. Her lyrics are explicit for a reason. She looks at the atrocities that readily happen in this country and all around the world, from bombings to kidnappings, and then she asks what's wrong with saying a few four letter words or euphemisms for genitalia?

Qing Qi also doesn't shy away from the hardships she's navigated while living in the Bay Area. She pours her observations and personal experiences into her lyrics, delivering brash bars over bangin' beats. Last year she also got into acting, playing the role of Ally in the indie film, "Donna and Ally". So this week we talk to Qing Qi about music and movies, as well as the art of using comedy as a stress relief, and why being real with your children is the best form of parenthood-- and she means being really real.

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Equipto (born Ilyich Sato) is a hip-hop cultural cornerstone and well-known activist who reps San Francisco to the fullest.

He's been making music since the 90s, when he came in the game laying down tracks with the underground group, Bored Stiff.  Equipto has rocked shows with the late Mac Dre and was good friends with the late Baba Zumbi of Zion-I. Legendary rapper San Quinn even credits Equipto for teaching him how to properly count rap bars. 

We discuss his various roles of mentor, father, artist and activist who is trying to make sense of all the changes happening to his hometown, while simultaneously developing a new community in a new state.

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"Been through it all but I feel like it was worth it, not a perfect man but I feel like I am worthy," sings musician Rob Woods in a raspy yet uplifting tone that's reflective of the sentiment in his trademark song, "Worthy."

Woods wrote the song in collaboration with Ricky Jassal, who he met while incarcerated in a California state prison. Since his release, Woods has been traveling around this state reminding people that no matter what they've been through, they too are worthy. His work is important, especially here in California where there are large numbers of imprisoned and unhoused people. For many people, even those who aren't living behind bars or sleeping on the streets, times are hard. In the scramble to pay bills and make ends meet, our inherent value as human beings often gets lost. So this week we talk to Rob Woods for a simple but profound reminder that you too are worthy.

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"Turfin' is a way of life for me," says Telice Summerfield, a dancer who has the ability turn a BART platform into a stage where she can glide, tut, bend and bone break on beat. She exchanges energy with onlookers; they get entertained and she gets empowered. The dance is an art. It's also a political act, as she takes up space at will.

Today we discuss how the hyphy movement opened her eyes to the arts as a child, how her experience at UC Berkeley exposed her to inequalities on campus as a young adult, and what dancing on BART has taught her about sociology. Now that Telice is a known name in the dancing world, she also gives us some insight on her plans to take the culture even further.

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From global issues to community conflicts, Boots Riley has had a foot in a number of the major current events of the past year, and he says he's not done yet. So we're kicking off 2024 by talking to someone who has their finger on the pulse of the culture, and a hand in directing the future.

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Marisol Medina-Cadena takes a tour of the American Indian Cultural District. It was founded in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood in 2020 to serve as a home base for the Urban Native community. 

This episode originally aired on July 22, 2022.

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This week on Rightnowish, we talk to librarian Mychal Threets about what it's like to be a social media star and how the public library system is a place for all.

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