Wanda's Picks

Sunday afternoon, July 7, 2013,  I was with journalists at the Zanzibar international Film Festival where the Dhow countries are celebrated and its people united in a shared legacy connected by land and more importantly sea, the Indian Ocean.

We spoke about journalism in the region and specifically new media, such as Internet radio and social networking media like Twitter and Facebook, Linkedin and so on.

The workshop went well, but there was no Internet so I was unable to broadcast live that day as planned. I am uploading the interview with Screen Writer & Director: Jinna Mutune whose film LEO screened yesterday afternoon. Tonight is closing night at ZIFF. Believe it or not, the sun is setting and it is almost 7 p.m. (obviously written that day.)

LEO is a charming and beguiling adult fairy-tale set in Nairobi, a Metropolitan City in Kenya that is a melting pot of East African culture, art, politics and commerce. It is a story about Maasai boy, raised in a low-income home, achieving his dream against all odds.

LEO  is a simple story that captures the essence of a child’s heart still open to all the posssibilities of achieving his dream in “Kenya” Africa.

Executive Producers are: Chris Kirubi, Bernard Wambugu; Julian Kyula, Donald Gichane; Producer: Paul Masinde.

Sunday afternoon, July 7, 2013,  I was with journalists at the Zanzibar international Film Festival where the Dhow countries are celebrated and its people united in a shared legacy connected by land and more importantly sea, the Indian Ocean.

We spoke about journalism in the region and specifically new media, such as Internet radio and social networking media like Twitter and Facebook, Linkedin and so on.

The workshop went well, but there was no Internet so I was unable to broadcast live that day as planned. I am uploading the interview with Screen Writer & Director: Jinna Mutune whose film LEO screened yesterday afternoon. Tonight is closing night at ZIFF. Believe it or not, the sun is setting and it is almost 7 p.m. (obviously written that day.)

LEO is a charming and beguiling adult fairy-tale set in Nairobi, a Metropolitan City in Kenya that is a melting pot of East African culture, art, politics and commerce. It is a story about Maasai boy, raised in a low-income home, achieving his dream against all odds.

LEO  is a simple story that captures the essence of a child’s heart still open to all the posssibilities of achieving his dream in “Kenya” Africa.

Executive Producers are: Chris Kirubi, Bernard Wambugu; Julian Kyula, Donald Gichane; Producer: Paul Masinde.

We open today with a conversation with Marcus Shelby, an award-winning musician and composer, is highly renowned and sought after for his discography, his theatrical and film scoring, and his music for ballet and dance.  His empathy as a human being who understands the impact of social justice for all Americans will propel the writing of original music for Gwah Guy:Crossing the Street.Gwah Guywill musically explore poignant memories from Edward K. Wong aka Baby Jack, Flo Oy Wong’s husband.  Ed Wong lived in Augusta, Georgia at the time of segregation when Chinese Americans were identified as "honorary whites."  The June 7 and 8 performances at ODC Dance Center in San Francisco, will also include memories of Flo Oy Wong's childhood in Oakland California's Chinatown near West Oakland, the historical district where many African Americans resided.  Marcus will compose original music inspired by Flo Oy Wong's literary re-imagining of her husband's Southern childhood experiences and actor Peter Macon will narrate. We are then joined by Jinho Ferreira or The Piper is a rapper, actor, and screenwriter from Oakland, California. In 2009, Piper won the best screenwriter award at the Tribeca Film Festival for his CIA thriller: Walter’s Boys. Piper’s latest effort, and first venture into theater, is entitled Cops & Robbers. It is a revolutionary look into the relationship between Law Enforcement, the media, and the Black community. We close with a conversation with Antoine Hunter,Urban Jazz Dance Company; Colette Ewoi, El Wah Movement Theatre and Julie Mushet, Executive Director of the 35th Anniversary of the Ethnic Dance Festival, June 7-30, 2013, about this year's program.

We open today with a conversation with Marcus Shelby, an award-winning musician and composer, is highly renowned and sought after for his discography, his theatrical and film scoring, and his music for ballet and dance.  His empathy as a human being who understands the impact of social justice for all Americans will propel the writing of original music for Gwah Guy:Crossing the Street.Gwah Guywill musically explore poignant memories from Edward K. Wong aka Baby Jack, Flo Oy Wong’s husband.  Ed Wong lived in Augusta, Georgia at the time of segregation when Chinese Americans were identified as "honorary whites."  The June 7 and 8 performances at ODC Dance Center in San Francisco, will also include memories of Flo Oy Wong's childhood in Oakland California's Chinatown near West Oakland, the historical district where many African Americans resided.  Marcus will compose original music inspired by Flo Oy Wong's literary re-imagining of her husband's Southern childhood experiences and actor Peter Macon will narrate. We are then joined by Jinho Ferreira or The Piper is a rapper, actor, and screenwriter from Oakland, California. In 2009, Piper won the best screenwriter award at the Tribeca Film Festival for his CIA thriller: Walter’s Boys. Piper’s latest effort, and first venture into theater, is entitled Cops & Robbers. It is a revolutionary look into the relationship between Law Enforcement, the media, and the Black community. We close with a conversation with Antoine Hunter,Urban Jazz Dance Company; Colette Ewoi, El Wah Movement Theatre and Julie Mushet, Executive Director of the 35th Anniversary of the Ethnic Dance Festival, June 7-30, 2013, about this year's program.

We open with an interview with Bay Area playwright and activist, Regina Evans. Ms. Evans speaks to us about her one woman show at DivaFest in San Francisco June 1, 8 p.m. and later in the year the full production is a part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. 

Bio: Regina Y. Evans is a Poet, Playwright and Social Justice Performer. She volunteers as a Modern Day Abolitionist in the fight against Sex Trafficking.  Ms. Evans is a published Writer, and the Author of the poetry books Nonnie and The Butterfly, Unlatched Mosaic, and Nothing Cool About Ten. She is the writer of Echo: A Poetic Journey into Justice, a stage play bringing awareness to the issue of trafficking. Echo has played to sold out performances in Berkeley and San Francisco, Ca. The play caught the notice of President Barack Obama who confirmed his support of the effort through a personal White House phone call in 2011.   http://www.divafest.info/  June 1, 2013, 8 p.m.; Fringe Festival Sept. 6-21, 2013 http://www.sffringe.org/wordpress/52-2/

SF Green Festival which opens in San Francisco with San Francisco Bay Area director, Nancy Kelly's wonderful film, Rebels with a Cause, about the San Francisco Bay Area Green Movement veterans who are central to the preservation of open spaces especially the coastal areas, beginning with the Point Reyes National Seashore, and more recently the Golden Gate Recreation Area. 

We close the show with a rebroadcast of artist Mario Chiodo speaking about the completion of Remember Them: Champions for Humanity, which is having its opening reception Friday, May 31, 3 p.m. at the Henry J.Kaiser Memorial Park (19th & Rashidah Muhammad Streets) in Oakland.  Music: Victoria Theodore; Meklit Hadero; Regina Carter; Vjay Iyer

We open with an interview with Bay Area playwright and activist, Regina Evans. Ms. Evans speaks to us about her one woman show at DivaFest in San Francisco June 1, 8 p.m. and later in the year the full production is a part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. 

Bio: Regina Y. Evans is a Poet, Playwright and Social Justice Performer. She volunteers as a Modern Day Abolitionist in the fight against Sex Trafficking.  Ms. Evans is a published Writer, and the Author of the poetry books Nonnie and The Butterfly, Unlatched Mosaic, and Nothing Cool About Ten. She is the writer of Echo: A Poetic Journey into Justice, a stage play bringing awareness to the issue of trafficking. Echo has played to sold out performances in Berkeley and San Francisco, Ca. The play caught the notice of President Barack Obama who confirmed his support of the effort through a personal White House phone call in 2011.   http://www.divafest.info/  June 1, 2013, 8 p.m.; Fringe Festival Sept. 6-21, 2013 http://www.sffringe.org/wordpress/52-2/

SF Green Festival which opens in San Francisco with San Francisco Bay Area director, Nancy Kelly's wonderful film, Rebels with a Cause, about the San Francisco Bay Area Green Movement veterans who are central to the preservation of open spaces especially the coastal areas, beginning with the Point Reyes National Seashore, and more recently the Golden Gate Recreation Area. 

We close the show with a rebroadcast of artist Mario Chiodo speaking about the completion of Remember Them: Champions for Humanity, which is having its opening reception Friday, May 31, 3 p.m. at the Henry J.Kaiser Memorial Park (19th & Rashidah Muhammad Streets) in Oakland.  Music: Victoria Theodore; Meklit Hadero; Regina Carter; Vjay Iyer

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

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the writing, visual and performing arts of African people in the Diaspora. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work filled with raw unfettered passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! Remember to tune in on Wednesdays from 6 AM PST to 7 or 8 AM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 10 AM. We also host special broadcasts from time to time.

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the writing, visual and performing arts of African people in the Diaspora. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work filled with raw unfettered passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! Remember to tune in on Wednesdays from 6 AM PST to 7 or 8 AM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 10 AM. We also host special broadcasts from time to time.