Wanda's Picks

Today on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Economic Opportunities for Black Americans, we speak to director, Noel Calloway, whose film, Life, Love, Soul is a pause in the narrative that is America today. If 1 and 3 children are living in homes without their fathers, then what does that say about our collective sense of family and the role men play in the lives of their children. When we look at men like Martin King and at his family, the sacrifice they made for the nation and world, when their father was absent from home too many times to count, before he was killed. How many important engagements did he miss? How many goodnight kisses were imagined in phone calls home? In Life, Love, Soul Calloway's character, Roosevelt, raised by a single mom, doesn't know his father and perhaps thinks he doesn't need to know him when the two lives collide in catastrophy when his mother and younger sibling are killed and he has to spend his senior year in high school with dad. Don't expect a cliche here. the director's story which plays quite close to home, is anything but what one expects. it is perhaps this unexpected tale that keeps one engaged and then delighted enough to want to see it again. I think I watched it a total of 5-6 times (smile). A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, the native NYer, Calloway's first feature sets a high bar in story and cast with many box office headliners like Terri J Vaughn, Jamie Hector, Chad Coleman and new actors, like Valerie Simpson and lead actor,

Today on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Economic Opportunities for Black Americans, we speak to director, Noel Calloway, whose film, Life, Love, Soul is a pause in the narrative that is America today. If 1 and 3 children are living in homes without their fathers, then what does that say about our collective sense of family and the role men play in the lives of their children. When we look at men like Martin King and at his family, the sacrifice they made for the nation and world, when their father was absent from home too many times to count, before he was killed. How many important engagements did he miss? How many goodnight kisses were imagined in phone calls home? In Life, Love, Soul Calloway's character, Roosevelt, raised by a single mom, doesn't know his father and perhaps thinks he doesn't need to know him when the two lives collide in catastrophy when his mother and younger sibling are killed and he has to spend his senior year in high school with dad. Don't expect a cliche here. the director's story which plays quite close to home, is anything but what one expects. it is perhaps this unexpected tale that keeps one engaged and then delighted enough to want to see it again. I think I watched it a total of 5-6 times (smile). A graduate of Clark Atlanta University, the native NYer, Calloway's first feature sets a high bar in story and cast with many box office headliners like Terri J Vaughn, Jamie Hector, Chad Coleman and new actors, like Valerie Simpson and lead actor,

We open with a conversation with director,Noel Calloway, director of the film, Life, Love, Soul. This debut feature looks at the important role a father is in his child's life and about choices adults make, some irreversible (interview rescheduled). Thomas Simpson, director/founder with Destiny Muhammad, harpist,  will join us to talk about AfroSolo which will celebrate its monumental 20th season with an all star AfroSolo Alumni performance extravaganza.  The event will take place on Monday, August 26th at 7:30 pm at the African American Arts and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street in San Francisco. AfroSolo is dedicated to nurturing, promoting and presenting art and culture of African American sand the larger African Diaspora  through solo performances and the visual and literary arts. Next Damu Sudi Alii , pianist and composer, and Tonye Scott, singer/composer join us to talk about First Edition, which is performing tonight at the 57th Street Gallery at 5701 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, (510) 654-6974 or www.the57thstreetgallery.com We close with a conversation with motivational speaker and author, Will Harris, about the new film, Lee Daniels's The Butler starring Forrest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. Visit http://www.willpowernow.com/ Music from "I Am tonyeSCOTT," and "Umoja: Dance of the Kalahari In Memoriam," selections from Dwight Tribble's Cosmic.

We open with a conversation with director,Noel Calloway, director of the film, Life, Love, Soul. This debut feature looks at the important role a father is in his child's life and about choices adults make, some irreversible (interview rescheduled). Thomas Simpson, director/founder with Destiny Muhammad, harpist,  will join us to talk about AfroSolo which will celebrate its monumental 20th season with an all star AfroSolo Alumni performance extravaganza.  The event will take place on Monday, August 26th at 7:30 pm at the African American Arts and Culture Complex, 762 Fulton Street in San Francisco. AfroSolo is dedicated to nurturing, promoting and presenting art and culture of African American sand the larger African Diaspora  through solo performances and the visual and literary arts. Next Damu Sudi Alii , pianist and composer, and Tonye Scott, singer/composer join us to talk about First Edition, which is performing tonight at the 57th Street Gallery at 5701 Telegraph Avenue in Oakland, (510) 654-6974 or www.the57thstreetgallery.com We close with a conversation with motivational speaker and author, Will Harris, about the new film, Lee Daniels's The Butler starring Forrest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey. Visit http://www.willpowernow.com/ Music from "I Am tonyeSCOTT," and "Umoja: Dance of the Kalahari In Memoriam," selections from Dwight Tribble's Cosmic.

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay!

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the African Diaspora via the writing, performance, both musical and theatrical (film and stage), as well as the visual arts of Africans in the Diaspora and those influenced by these aesthetic forms of expression. I am interested in the political and social ramifications of art on society, specifically movements supported by these artists and their forebearers. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work honest and filled with raw unedited passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay!

First guest: Byb Chanel Bibene, San Francisco, CA Artistic Director and Choreographer for his company Kiandanda Dance Theatre. He was born and raised in the Republic of Congo where his technical and aesthetic sensibility is rooted.  As a survivor of the civil wars that tore apart the Congo in the 1990’s, Bibene is creating a theater piece titled, Taboo and Heroes, that explores the subject of victims of war and the lack of freedom of expression due to irresponsible dictatorial powers and the neo-colonial influences of western powers. The point of this project, combining dance, theater, music and video, is intended to lead people to pay more attention to what is going on in the world because a collective effort can help find solutions and lead to a better life on earth, ecologically, socially, politically and humanly. Guest 2: Muisi-kongo Malonga - Oakland, CA Solo Performance, is a talented dancer, choreographer and instructor deeply rooted in the traditions of Central Africa.  As one of the next generation’s foremost keepers of Congolese cultural arts forms, she has passionately sought to preserve Congolese culture through her leadership of Fua Dia Congo, a 35-year old performing arts organization. Her writing, singing, original compositions and choreography have all converged in the telling of the tale of  Kimpa Vita, a 17th century Kongolese prophet and martyr. “Kimpa Vita!”, Malonga’s first solo work, is described as a chore-opera, where music and movement merge to convey the powerful story of a woman often described as the Kongolese Joan of Arc. Both choreographers are a part of CulturePulse Dancing Diaspora in San Francisco this weekend (Thursday-Sunday) and next, Byb this weekend, and Muisi-kongo next. We close with an interview with one of our favorite guests Jovelyn Richards, who will tell us about her latest Ms. Pat stories.

First guest: Byb Chanel Bibene, San Francisco, CA Artistic Director and Choreographer for his company Kiandanda Dance Theatre. He was born and raised in the Republic of Congo where his technical and aesthetic sensibility is rooted.  As a survivor of the civil wars that tore apart the Congo in the 1990’s, Bibene is creating a theater piece titled, Taboo and Heroes, that explores the subject of victims of war and the lack of freedom of expression due to irresponsible dictatorial powers and the neo-colonial influences of western powers. The point of this project, combining dance, theater, music and video, is intended to lead people to pay more attention to what is going on in the world because a collective effort can help find solutions and lead to a better life on earth, ecologically, socially, politically and humanly. Guest 2: Muisi-kongo Malonga - Oakland, CA Solo Performance, is a talented dancer, choreographer and instructor deeply rooted in the traditions of Central Africa.  As one of the next generation’s foremost keepers of Congolese cultural arts forms, she has passionately sought to preserve Congolese culture through her leadership of Fua Dia Congo, a 35-year old performing arts organization. Her writing, singing, original compositions and choreography have all converged in the telling of the tale of  Kimpa Vita, a 17th century Kongolese prophet and martyr. “Kimpa Vita!”, Malonga’s first solo work, is described as a chore-opera, where music and movement merge to convey the powerful story of a woman often described as the Kongolese Joan of Arc. Both choreographers are a part of CulturePulse Dancing Diaspora in San Francisco this weekend (Thursday-Sunday) and next, Byb this weekend, and Muisi-kongo next. We close with an interview with one of our favorite guests Jovelyn Richards, who will tell us about her latest Ms. Pat stories.

Fela, the musical is coming to town, Oakland, to be exact, June 4-9.  Today we speak to Melanie Marshall, who is wonderful in her depiction of "Funmilayo," Fela Kuti's mother. Ann Chinn joins us once again to update us on The Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project which is hosting an ancestral remembrance ceremony in Yorktown, VA on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013 8:00-9:30am on the waterfront. During this event the first marker associated with its efforts to mark Middle Passage arrival ports in the US will be unveiled. The organization is formally honoring and remembering more than 31,500 Africans who arrived in the York River District between 1698-1771 and the contributions of their descendants in creating this nation. We also are honoring the approximately 4,000 Africans who perished during these ocean voyages to the York River. Steven Anthony Jones, artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco, joins us to discuss the 1-Voice 1-Play 1-Day 1 Fundraiser for 27 black theatres nationwide & Port Elizabeth, South Africa, June 17. In this year's reading of A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller, Jones is National Artistic Director, and appears in his original role as Private James Wilkie. Visit lht-sf.org We close with a conversation with artist and visionary Mario Chiodo, whose historic monument Remember Them: Champions for Humanity, depicting 25 civil rights activists like Rosa Parks & Cesar Chavez, peacemakers like Martin Luther King Jr. and revolutionaries like Ruby Bridges. Its official unveling is next Friday, May 31, 2013, 3 p.m. at the Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park (19th Street and Rashidah Muhammad). Special guests at the event include the local honorees depicted in the sculpture along with Ambassador Shabazz, Ms. Juliana Roosevelt and Ms. Ruby Bridges. Visit http://oaklandwiki.org/Remember_Them%3A_Champions_For_Humanity_Monument

Fela, the musical is coming to town, Oakland, to be exact, June 4-9.  Today we speak to Melanie Marshall, who is wonderful in her depiction of "Funmilayo," Fela Kuti's mother. Ann Chinn joins us once again to update us on The Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Markers Project which is hosting an ancestral remembrance ceremony in Yorktown, VA on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013 8:00-9:30am on the waterfront. During this event the first marker associated with its efforts to mark Middle Passage arrival ports in the US will be unveiled. The organization is formally honoring and remembering more than 31,500 Africans who arrived in the York River District between 1698-1771 and the contributions of their descendants in creating this nation. We also are honoring the approximately 4,000 Africans who perished during these ocean voyages to the York River. Steven Anthony Jones, artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre in San Francisco, joins us to discuss the 1-Voice 1-Play 1-Day 1 Fundraiser for 27 black theatres nationwide & Port Elizabeth, South Africa, June 17. In this year's reading of A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller, Jones is National Artistic Director, and appears in his original role as Private James Wilkie. Visit lht-sf.org We close with a conversation with artist and visionary Mario Chiodo, whose historic monument Remember Them: Champions for Humanity, depicting 25 civil rights activists like Rosa Parks & Cesar Chavez, peacemakers like Martin Luther King Jr. and revolutionaries like Ruby Bridges. Its official unveling is next Friday, May 31, 2013, 3 p.m. at the Henry J. Kaiser Memorial Park (19th Street and Rashidah Muhammad). Special guests at the event include the local honorees depicted in the sculpture along with Ambassador Shabazz, Ms. Juliana Roosevelt and Ms. Ruby Bridges. Visit http://oaklandwiki.org/Remember_Them%3A_Champions_For_Humanity_Monument