Wanda's Picks

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! 

We begin with a show aired Nov. 26, 2008 featuring Rafael Jesus Gonzalez and Karla Brundage. We speak about Indigenous Rights and being Thankful. 

We close with another show, first aired April 28, 2009. Today's show features: director, Tim Disney and subject, Regina N. Kelly, of the new film, "American Violet," which opens in the San Francisco Bay Area, Friday, May 1, 2009. There is a free screening Tuesday, April 28, 7 p.m. at the Metreon (4th and Mission Streets, San Francisco, 3rd level). Our next guest is Jean Marie Teno, director of the new film, "Sacred Places," which looks at African Cinema and the FESPACO film festival on its 40th anniversary and questions its goals and objectives. The film screens several times at the San Francisco International Film Festival. We close with an extended interview with Ra Un Nefer Amen 1, Hon. D.D., spiritual leader and founder of the Ausar Auset community, and author of the new novel: "Heru: The Resurrection."

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! 

1. We move to an interview with SFBV Assistant Editor Comrade Malik Washington. This weekend beginning this evening at 6 p.m. and continuing tomorrow afternoon in Bay View Hunter's Point will be a Block Party FundRaiser celebrating the diversity and culture that is SFBV, a community vital to the City and County of SF. As the SFBV makes important tactical moves, we thought it would be great to introduce Malik to tells us about this wonderful event and more about himself. 

2. From the Archives: We rebroadcast an interview with Ms. Colia Lafayette Clark (3/18/2015)

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! 

We celebrate Jimmy Cobb, Aṣe, the only surviving member of Miles Davis's band on "Kinda Blue" on its 50th Anniversary. He was on tour with a stop in Oakland at Yoshi's. He made is transition this year, May 24, 2020. He was 91.

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! 

Rebroadcast: Conversation with Slave Rebellion Reenactment Veterans (11/21/2019)

We open with an interview with author, Doris I. Mangrum, whose "A Soiled Identity: From Triumph to Tragedy and Back Again," tells the story of Darnell Cookson, former Marine and former felon as he rejoins society. However, this is not a typical rehabilitation story. Told in the protagonist's voice as if we were seated in his home one evening getting to know one another, we meet Darnell just as he arrives home from prison to new wife, new child and many relationships he has to restore, like that between he and his two older daughters by a prior marriage, and his kid brother who is making a bit too much money fast. Darnell tries to hold his head up when applications are rejected and interviews have no follow-up calls, but it is hard. 

Darnell's reentry is a community venture; each chapter ends with what Mangrum calls, "Choice Moments" where her audience gets to imagine a "what if?" In "Live Your Life," the reader is invited to learn from Darnell's experiences while we also gear up to participate in an "Idea Infusion," which per chapter is a way to make the returning veteran or prisoner feel welcome and supported (171).https://www.facebook.com/LetsSaidiana

 

2. Musicians Damu Sudii Alii and Paul Tillman Smith join us to talk about the music, of course, but also a wonderful music series in two Oakland resturants. The Wednesday & Sunday, Jazz Jams sessions are free and open to professional musicians to sit in on and play. www.chumpchange.com

 

3. "The Village of Peace" (SFJFF 2014) tells the story of the Hebrew Israelites, African Americans who moved from America to establish a home in Israel. Directors and producers join us this morning to close the show: Ben Schuder, Director/Producer and his brother Sam Schuder, Producer. www.villageofpeacemovie.com

1. Living at the intersection of Blackness, womanhood, art, and activism, Nia McAllister is a Bay Area born poet, avid reader, and environmental justice advocate. She is the host and curator of the monthly open mic series at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco, where she is the Visitor Experience Manager. Through her work, Nia is dedicated to creating literary platforms for writers of the African Diaspora to be seen, read, and represented. Nia’s poetry has been featured on Poets of Color Podcast and the Nomadic Press Dial-a-Poet series. In her free time, she can be found performing at Open Mics, writing outdoors, and taking care of her plants.

2. Lenard D. Moore is a poet, fiction writer, essayist, book reviewer, public speaker, photographer, and the author and/or editor or co-editor of several books, including All The Songs We Sing (Blair, 2020), The Geography Of Jazz (Blair, 2020), One Window’s Light (Unicorn Press, 2017), and A Temple Looming (WordTech Editions, 2008). His literary works have appeared in African American Review, Agni, Callaloo, Colorado Review, North American Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Obsidian, Prairie Schooner, and Valley Voices.  He is the founder and executive director of the Carolina African American Writers’ Collective and co-founder of the Washington Street Writers Group.  He is recipient of several awards, including the North Carolina Award for Literature (2014); Haiku Museum of Tokyo Award (2003, 1994, and 1983); and Margaret Walker Creative Writing Award (1997).

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! 

1. Dorsey Nunn, Executive Director, Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.

We close with a rebroadcast (10/29) of the interview with artists and co-founder, re: Bakanal de Afrique Nov. 6-20 (bakanaldeafrique.com).

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! 

1. Bakanal de Afrique Festival Nov. 6-30

https://www.bakanaldeafrique.com/

Music: "Salaam Nubia from Aswan," 

The Nile Project

http://nileproject.org/alsarah/

2. Rebroadcast Wed., Oct. 28, 2020

1. Dr. Iyabeji Cathy Royal and Ohen Nedra T. Williams join us https://www.eventbrite.com/e/council-for-global-ancestral-reverence-presents-ancestral-souls-rising-tickets-124636468031?aff=erelexpmlt

2. Jo Kreiter, Flyaway Productions at the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) in San Francisco, join us to talk about "Meet Us Quickly Digital Exhibit, curated by Rahsaan "New York" Thomas" open presently.

 

3. Sister Sheba Makeda Haven joins us to talk about the Stolen Lives Project (10/22) as well as Activism 101

 

4. We close with a gem, from the Archives, Stanley Nelson (2015)

 

Free Gwendolyn Brooks Conference, 10/28-29: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/23rd-gwendolyn-brooks-black-writers-conference-2020-tickets-122767941217