Wanda's Picks

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.

Host on vacation. Show cancelled due to travel. Enjoy archived shows (smile). 

May 19, 2010

Today we celebrate the life and legacy of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz with musician Steve Wilson, activist and MOVE member Ramona Africa with poet/teacher, Malcolm Shabazz Hoover; filmmaker, writer, educator, Chike Nwoffiah; and professor, historican, Manu Ampim. We feature the music of Soulfege. The event honoring Judi Bari, that Ramona Africa speaks of in her interview is Sunday, May 23, 7 PM at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705 USA. The event is hosted by Revolutionary Ecology Earth First! and Headwaters Coalition and is free though donations are accepted. It is in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the bomb atack on Earth First! activist Judi Bari with speakers, music & film. Sponsored by Earth First and Headwaters coalition. For more info: 510-548-3113.

Leila Baradaran who co-directs The Revolutioanary Nutcracker Sweetie– The Kidz Version, this year, joins Stella Adelman who plays the role of The Mouse King and Mrs. McGreed to talk about the show: Dec. 10-11, 2011, Sat., 2 pm & 6 pm; Sun., 1 pm & 5 pm at Brava Theater, 2781 24th St (@ York). Call: 415-273-4633. Georgia Houston Webb joins us to talk about the encore production of her musical: A Little Piece of God, Saturday December 10 and Sunday, December 11, 2011. Written and directed by Georgia Houston Webb the play features: Oakland gospel music great Daryl Coley, an original song by Branice McKenzie, a long time background singer for both Harry Belafonte and Gregory Hines. A Little Piece of God is a two act play of rhyming poems, sometimes spoken, other times sung. The story is energetically introduced by the character "Life" who gives a hint of the mystery found in our existence. Actors play the parts of human emotions (i.e., Fear, Guilt, and Worry). Eventually, the forces of Friendship, Love and Peace prevail. Laced with dance and comedy, "A Little Piece of God" champions the essential joy of life in the face of the problems of our existence. Music by Ayinde Pendleton Webb is performed by local youth musicians and features Sandra Poindexter.Tickets:$15.00 at the door 24/7 Ticket Hotline: 1-800-838-3006. Beli Sullivan, award-winning storyteller and actor, joins us to talk about AASC's season special on its 10th Anniversary, "Cinderella" at the Buriel Clay Theater through Dec. 18, 2011. She is the Fairy Godmother, one of many stars in a show full of constallations. We close with a prerecorded interview with Dee Rees, director of the lovely film, "Pariah," opening at the end of December in Bay Area theatres. Pariah is a wonderful coming of age story filled with grand performances and stellar cinematography.

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. Periodically, we will rebroadcast shows, what we call, "From the Archives."

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. Periodically, we will rebroadcast shows, what we call, "From the Archives."

As listeners recover from overeating, learn about the true history of Thanksgiving: http://www.danielnpaul.com/TheRealThanksgiving.html We rebroadcast an interview with Haitian-American soprano Jouvanca Jean-Baptiste will perform the roles of Nedda in Pagliacci, Violetta Valery in La traviata, and Marguerite in Faust with Opera San Jose for the 2011-2012 season. Visit http://www.myspace.com/thehaitiandiva She sings Sun., Nov. 27, 3 PM Next is Larry Douglas who has ruled as one of San Francisco's top trumpet/flugelhorn players for more than three decades. We met at the UMOJA CD release party of Dance of the Kalahari (In Memoriam), just a week ago. In addition to leading his own electro-acoustic group, the Larry Douglas Alltet, Douglas has worked with such stellar musicians as Freddie Hubbard, Chuck Berry, Albert Collins, Sun Ra and Rufus and Carla Thomas. As a member of Johnny Otis and His Orchestra, his playing was featured on four albums including the Grammy-nominated Spirit Of The Black Territory Bands. We are joined by one of our favorite guests, L. Peter Callender, artistic director of AASC, to talk about African American Shakes 2011-2012 season and the classic Cinderella opening Dec. 2, 2012. We close with author Luis J Rodriguez who will speak about  It Calls You Back: An Odyssey through Love, Addiction, Revolutions, and Healing. He is in town next week, Dec. 1, 2011, at EastSide Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd., Oakland, 6-8 PM, doors open at 5:30 PM.(510) 533-6629 and Dec. 5, 2011 at the Mission Campus at CCSF, 1125 Valencia Street, San Francisco, (415) 239-3126.

We will speak to the directors of Sarabah, Maria Luisa Gambale; and Judy Lieff, dir. Deaf Jam. In Lieff's Deaf Jam, Aneta Brodski seizes the day. She is a deaf teen introduced to American Sign Language (ASL) Poetry, who then boldly enters the spoken word slam scene. In a wondrous twist, Aneta, an Israeli immigrant living in the Queens section of New York City, eventually meets Tahani, a hearing Palestinian slam poet. The two women embark on a collaboration-performance duet - creating a new form of slam poetry that speaks to both the hearing and the Deaf.  Hip Hop in West Africa? A woman DJ? Muslim? Sister Fa? This wonderful film takes its audience on a whirlwind tour as we get trapped in the vortex of Sister Fa's life. We enter the theatre thinking we're here for a concert--the story of the first African woman DJ is pretty hot, then without missing a beat once we pass go,  Sister Fa falls in love, gets married, moves to Germany, has a daugher--we then find out that she is a victim of genital cutting (FGM). Her art becomes a tool for the movement she joins to address and stop this practice which is dangerous and harmful. Fa finds her voice once again in a foreign country as she prepares for a tour to change the world for her child and other children like her. The wonderful footage and deeply personal tale takes one completely by surprise. When one thinks the film is over, she rounds yet another thematic corner: orphaned daughter, absent father, extended family, harmful traditions. "Sarabah," is a daydream, it is the mythical place that Fatou visited as a child when she missed her mother and father and wanted a safe place to retreat.  Sister Fa takes her “Education Without Excision,” which uses her music and persuasive powers to end the practice to her own village of Thionck Essyl in 2010 where she receives a wonderful surprise, so will you. http://www.sisterfa.com/

Kheven Lee LaGrone, curator, I Am America:  Black Genealogy Through the Eye of An Artist, November 5, 2011 through February 2, 2012 at the San Francisco’s Main Public Library’s African American Center. A genealogists/artists reception will take place on Sunday, November 20, 2011 from 1 pm to 2 pm. A program follows from 2 pm to 3 pm in the Latino Hispanic Room.  Participating artists: Alice Beasley (quiltmaker); Inez Brown (mixed media); Karen Oyekanmi (doll maker); Makeda Rashidi (painter); Malik Seneferu (painter); Marion Coleman (quiltmaker); Morrie Turner (cartoonist); Nate Creekmore (cartoonist); Nena St. Louis (sculptor); Nicka Smith (mixed media); Orlonda Uffre (painter); TaSin Sabir (mixed media); Tomye (mixed media) We close with a conversation with members of Umoja:Damu Sudi Alii (piano) and Muhammad Bilal Hanif (alto & soprano saxophones): Dance of the Kalahari: In Memorium Concert.at the 57th Street Gallery, in Oakland, Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, 2-5:30 PM, featuring besides Damu & M.B. Hanif, Larry Douglas (trumpet & flugelhorn), Mali Vincent Williams (bass), Willie G (vocals) and others. The ensemble is honoring the memory of founding members: Kenneth Byrd (flutist) & Kamau Seitu (drums). There will be free food at the event.  Admission is $10.00 per person. Music featured: Umoja: Blessings & Dance of the Kalahari; Rene Marie's Lift Ev'ry Voice.  An archived interview with Lavinia Currier, OKA director, opens the show. She speaks about her latest film, in theatres Oct. 28, 2011. OKA is the story of the Bayaka people in Central West Africa and an ethnomusicologist Larry Whitmore, who falls in love with the people and culture. Visit http://okamovie.com/

We open with an archived interview with Wadada Leo Smith speaking on his project, 10 Freedom Summers which premiered in LA last month.The world premiere of the  trumpeter/composer's civil rights opus features the his Golden Quartet and Southwest Chamber Music. The musicians recorded the project in the days after the premiere for release on Cuneiform in the spring of 2012. The visionary trumpeter and composer delivers his masterwork, a vivid, spiritually charged musical tapestry that celebrates the movement's heroes and the turbulent era's milestones, while also posing philosophical questions about the nature of democracy and equality. Mishy Lesser, Ed.D. Learning Director and the director, Adam Mazo, Coexist, join us to talk about their film project, Coexist, screening at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, Friday, November 18. 8pm. Tickets are $10 at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley. Coexistis a new forty-minute documentary by director Adam Mazo about post-genocide Rwanda where a social experiment in forced reconciliation is currently underway. By featuring victims, perpetrators, and supporters of genocide, as well as social commentators, government officials, and a U.S. scholar of Rwanda, the film lays bare the complexities of forgiveness and reconciliation. Viewers will meet Rwandan victims who choose to forgive and others who do not, and can decide for themselves if perpetrators are sincerely remorseful and whether they believe coexistence is possible for all Rwandans. We close with an interview with Alrick Brown, director, Kinyarwanda. We also feature a short interview with a member of: OCCUPY LA, opening music is by Wadada Leo Smith.