Wanda's Picks

Today we are joined by: Bill Doggett, scholar, archivist and curator and Andy Kimmel, Remembus; Doggett speaks about his upcoming program, "The Civil War@150 Years: the Negro Spiritual and the Undergraound Railroad," which includes a short film created by Kimmel, at the African American Museum and Library at Oakland, 14th Street @ MLK Jr. Way, Sat., June 16, 2012, 2 PM. Almost 50 years ago, James Baldwin, noted author and activist visited San Francisco's Bayview District to talk to the black youth about what they were experiencing there. From that visit came the film: Take this Hammer, KQED's cinéma vérité record of the visit. Caroline Dijckmeester, Dutch director, stumbles upon this footage and decides to see if she can find some of these young men. She responded with a short film in response which is screening with the original at The Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco, June 19, 2012, 7:30 PM. James Lockett, one of the subjects also joins us to talk about HP then and now. As a part of a series, Wanda's Picks has been profiling choreographers for the 34th Annual SF Ethnic Dance Festival which continues this weekend three, June 16-17 at YBCA. We speak to Rasika Kumar, Abhinaya Dance Company, about the work, "Synergy," a collaboation between her south Asian or Indian dance company and San Jose Taiko. Naomi Diouf, Artistic Director of Diamano Coura West African Dance Company, shares what her company is presenting this year, closing weekend, June 30-July 1. Kimberly Bryant, founder, Black Girls CODE, talks about blacks and the digital divide, even more pronounced when one looks at the absence of women and girls. Sunday afternoon, June 17, as a part of the San Francisco Black Film Festival, June 15-17, 2012, her organization is hosting a free workshop for boys and girls. Visit www.sfbff.org and http://blackgirlscode.org/

Clara “Clarae” McDaniel is a native San Franciscan with a reputation as one of the city’s dynamic female vocalists and fast growing Bay Area theatrical talents. Some of her theatrical works have included plays & musicals such as Pinocchio Jones, Tie That Binds, A Child Called Destiny, The Story of Bessie Smith, and Queenie Pie. Her work with LHT includes Tamborines to Glory, Your Arms Too Short to Box With God, Ain’t Misbehavin, Waiting to be Invited, Hit It!, Black & Blue, Eubie!, The Bluest Eye and Black Nativity. Still a long standing member of the LHT family, she is now returning for a 12th season with the New Joyful Noise.

BenVereen returns to The RRazz Room to with his show "Steppin' Out with Ben Vereen," a high energy tribute to the music of Broadway, along with musical selections made famous by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr.,

audiences can expect to hear classics such as "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries," "Mr. Bojangles" and "Defying Gravity." Well known to theatre audiences for his Tony Award and Drama Desk winning performance in Pippin, Vereen has also appeared on Broadway in Wicked, Chicago, Fosse and Jelly's Last Jam. He is currently celebrating the release of his CD "Steppin' Out Live."  The Rrazz Room at Hotel Nikko

is located at 222 Mason Street, San Francisco, CA 94102

Shows nightly Tuesday to Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4:00 p.m. 800-380-3095 // 415-394-1189 http://www.therrazzroom.com/ http://www.benvereen.com/

For the past 25 years, the second Saturday in June, this year, June 9, has been hailed as a day to remember the ancestors. Tomorrow throughout the African Diaspora in the Americas and beyond, Pan African people lift the names of ancestors who made the journey across the Atlantic and those who died aboard those slave ships. We are joined in the studio by: Sisters Deborah Wright (Charleston, SC), Chadra Pittman Walke (Hampton, Virginia), Afua N'Diaye (Seattle, WA), Kefentse Chike (Detroit, MI), and Dr. ChenziRa Davis Kahina (Virgin Islands);  Brothers Osei Terry Chandler (Charleston, SC) and Azikiwe Chandler (Charleston, SC), Wanda Sabir (Oakland, CA). Dr. ChenziRa Davis Kahina of the Per Ankh community organization is well known on St. Croix  as "Dr. Chen" for her years of tirelessly promoting the spiritual and cultural connections between Caribbean and African people, heritage, exposing youth to traditional art, dance, healing and an alternative spiritual path.  We conclude with conversations with choreographers and leaders of ensembles performing at the 34th Annual Ethnic Jazz Festival: Shabnam (Middle Eastern Belly Dance Fusion), Pedro De Rompe y Raja Cultural Association (Afro-Peruvian), Julia Chigambe from Chinyakare Ensemble (Zimbabwean Traditional). We close with an interview with Vijay Iyer, his latest release: "Accelerando."

Guests: JC Montgomery was part of the original Broadway production of The Scottsboro Boys. He also appeared on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie, The Little Mermaid, The Color Purple, Thou Shalt Not, Swing!, Parade, Smokey Joe’s Cafe and The Boys from Syracuse. Waights Taylor Jr., born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, lives in Santa Rosa, California. His latest book, Our Southern Home: Scottsboro to Montgomery to Birmingham—The Transformation of the South in the Twentieth century, was published in October 2011. The Scottsboro Boys opens at ACT-SF June 21-July 15, 2012. Visit www.act-sf.org Nicole Klaymoon and guest collaborator, Sean San Jose, join us to talk about Klaymoon’s Embodiment Project's latest installment of urban dance theater, House of Matter, this weekend at Dance Mission, 24th Street & Mission, Fri.-Sun., June 8-10, 2012. Through Klaymoon’s signature use of street and modern dance, poetry, personal narrative and live music, House of Matter examines the houses in which we belong – both the families that we are born into and those that we choose, the body that we inhabit and the planet that we reside. Visit dancemission.com We close with a prerecorded interview with director, Jeff Warrick, who speaks about his film Programming the Nation (opened in SF Oct. 2011). Music: Ruthie Foster's Truth.

CK Ladzekpo (Co-Artistic Director of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival), Emiko Susilo (Director of Gamelan Sekar Jaya), Nestor Ruiz (Artistic Director of El Tunante) and Kristina Ramsey (Dancer with Las Que Son Son) open the show's first hour. Our next guest is Arisa White, whose debut collection, Hurrah’s Nest, is this year’s winner of the San Francisco Book Festival Award for poetry. We close with  devorah major, former San Francisco Poet Laureate, who will speak about Incantations by the Bahia a free poetry reading tonight, June 1, 2012, 7:30 p.m., at the Luggage Gallery, 1007 Market Street, in San Francisco  featuring a stellar lineup of poets who will speak about the 1970s, a time of burgeoning voices from silenced communities of color: African American, Latino, Indigenous, Asian/Pacific Islanders. Featured music: Rene Marie's "Just My Imagination," Sweet Honey in the Rock, Umoja Our "Problem to Solve" & "Yesterday's Lettuce," Wunmi "Oya-O."

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! Today we feature artists from the 9th Annual Berkeley World Music Festival, Saturday, June 2, 2012. Gianna Ranuzzi joins us to talk about the festival she founded along with artists: Juliana Graffagna, Fely Tchaco, and Maria Muldaur. Visit http://www.berkeleyworldmusic.org/  We close with an exclusive from Baton Rouge, with Robert King, A3, who will update us on the court hearings with Albert Woodfox, a member of Angola 3. Today is also King's 70th birthday. What a great gift--freedom for his conrade. Herman Wallace the third member to go. Visit angola3.org

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.

Rebroadcast of Monday, May 21, 2012 show with Raissa Simpson, Artistic Director, PUSH who speaks about her upcoming show in Union Square San Francisco, Friday-Monday, May 25-28, 2012. Bitter Melon is latest collaborations between artistic director Raissa Simpson with Ben Wood and his partner David Mark. Co-commissioned by San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Union Square Live, and San Francisco Recreations & Parks. Visit http://pushdance.org/events.php Sheila Head of Head Design Beauty shop in Oakland is a nominee for the Pillar Award for the Oakland Indie Awards, May 31, 2012 at the Kaiser Center, 5:30-8:30 PM www.oaklandindieawards.com We rebroadcast interviews with director, Robin Fryday, who speaks about Barber of Birmingham, the story of James Armstrong, a foot soldier for the Civil Rights Movement on the election of the first black President, Barack Obama. Music: "Free at Last, " a selection from Chinyakare,and another selection courtesy of Ebony Iman Dallas. Both are announced on the air.

Special Broadcast with Raissa Simpson, Artistic Director, PUSH who speaks about her upcoming show in Union Square San Francisco, Friday-Monday, May 25-28, 2012. Bitter Melon is latest collaborations between artistic director Raissa Simpson with Ben Wood and his partner David Mark. Co-commissioned by San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Foundation, Union Square Live, and San Francisco Recreations & Parks. Visit http://pushdance.org/events.php Sheila Head of Head Design Beauty shop in Oakland is a nominee for the Pillar Award for the Oakland Indie Awards, May 31, 2012 at the Kaiser Center, 5:30-8:30 PM.  http://www.oaklandunwrapped.org/indies/nominees12.html We rebroadcast interviews with director, Robin Fryday, who speaks about Barber of Birmingham, the story of James Armstrong, a foot soldier for the Civil Rights Movement on the election of the first black President, Barack Obama.  The film was nominated for an Academy Award this year. We also rebroadcast an interview with curator for the National African American Museum in Washington D.C. on the occasion of its grounding breaking in February 2012. Music: "Free at Last, " a selection from Chinyakare,and another selection courtesy of Ebony Iman Dallas. Both are announced on the air.

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.