Wanda's Picks

Today we will feature Zachary Norris, Esq. Dir., Books Not Bars, a program of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, 344 40th Street, in Oakland, (510) 428-3939. We will speak about Zachery's recent visit to Palestine, and his work around juvenile justice. There is a community meeting tonight at the Intertribal Friendship House, 523 International Blvd., in Oakland, Wed., Feb. 3, 2009, 6:30 p.m. The morning concludes with a conversation with Melody Powers, Director of Marketing with Workplace Campaigns, BABUF and Adrianne N. Gillyard, Leadership Excellence. They will speak about the African American Health Summit, this weekend, Friday-Saturday, Feb. 6-7, 2009. The Summit's theme this year is "Claiming Our Story of Health & Wellness: Our Past, Our Present, Our Future." It is free on 2/7, 9-6. The conference is at the Oakland Marriott City Center and Convention Center, 1001 Broadway St., downtown Oakland. Visit www.babuf.org.

Today we feature Randy Weston, phenomenal musician, composer, historian, humanitarian and scholar; this one hour special is followed by an interview with Soulive producer Nicole Hankton, and Chuck Lounge, with "Farenhyte 5150," which has a concert tomorrow, 1/31 at Club Anton in Oakland's Jack London Square, 428 3rd Street, (510) 924-2044 and www.chucklounge.net. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. If you mention Wanda's Picks, you get the $12 price! We close with a conversation with composer, scholar Anthony Brown and playwright, Philip Kan Gotanda, whose work "Yohen," debuted at the Durham Theatre at UCB, 1/29. It was his first bilingual Japanese/English reading of this play and featured excerpts with actors: David Moore and Ayako Nagamine. Featured music during this segment is from Anthony Brown's Asian American Orchestra's TEN, an album celebrating the band's 10th Anniversary last year. Visit www.anthonybrown.com

Today we will interview singer, songwriter, Rhonda Benin who has a peformance tonight and later this month; talk to Adam Zucker about his latest film at the Jewish Film Festival screening of Greensboro: Closer to the Truth, in conjunction with the San Francisco Black Film Festival, at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts tonight, Jan. 28, 2009, 7:30 p.m., (415) 978-2787, http://www.ybca.org We close this mornings extended show with a conversation with Mahen Bonetti, the founder and Executive Director of African Film Festival, Inc. (AFF), a non-profit arts organization founded in 1990. AFF showcases works of African filmmakers and develops ways to share the vision and culture of African film with American and international audiences. Currently the African Film Festival is at UC Berkeley's Pacific Film Archive through Feb. 22. Visit http://bampfa.berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-1412. Also visit http://www.africanfilmny.org

This morning we will have a tribute to William B. Lawsha "Prince Lasha," September 10, 1929 to December 12, 2008. Prince Lasha was born in 1929 in Fort Worth, Texas and went to school with Ornette Coleman. In1947, the two of them started playing saxophone in a school band (which also produced great musicians like Charles Moffett and King Curtis). They worked with Harold Land and Red Connors before going their separate ways. He lived in New York, Oakland, Germany, Italy, and France where he had the honor, he says, of playing with many great musicians such as Sonny Simmons who worked with Prince for six years; Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins recorded together—in fact he wrote “Music Matador that Eric Dolphy made famous. Wanda’s Picks concludes with an excerpt of Matador (from …A True Story).

When he made his transition last month, Prince was working on releasing a new CD on his label Birdseye Records, called “Baritone Madness.” I hope we’ll see this CD in the near future. It features Woody Shaw, Ron Carter, Odean Pope and Eddie Gale. Prince Lasha Jr. said there’s another release coming out in a few weeks and he’ll tell us about it this morning. Perhaps I can get the producer, Prince Jr., to come on the air to talk about the project.

We will be joined this special 1 1/2 hour tribute by Prince’s friends and family, including Odean Pope, Eddie Gale, Sonny Simmons, Chuck Fishman, Oluyemi Thomas, Destiny Muhammad, Leon Williams, Anthony Foster, and sons: Anthony, William and Prince. Wanda’s Picks concludes with an interview with Kelly Whalen, co-director of Tulia, TX, a film about a small town's search for justice in the midst of blatant police misconduct in an attempt to rid the town of drug trafficking. The ITVS film is premiering at the San Francisco Main Library, 100 Larkin Street, near Civic Center BART. Lanier Pruitt, our beloved friend and colleague died suddenly. His funeral is today, Friday, Jan. 23, 12 Noon, at Cooper Mortuary, 1580 Fruitvale

This morning we'll reflect on the Inauguration of the 44th President of the United States of America, Barack Hussain Obama. Don't forget the Prince Lasha Tribute this Friday, January 23, 8-9:30 AM PST. Listeners are invited to call in with their thoughts to share. Eddie Gale is guest host with Wanda Sabir, this morning.

This morning was quite challenging in a good way. I started at 6 AM with David Hardiman, whose Big Band is in its 34th Anniversary Season being celebrated Monday, Jan. 19, in concert, two shows, 8 & 10 PM at Yoshi's San Francisco, 1330 Fillmore. I wanted to have Melanie Demore on also, but I had technical difficulties so I included her in my regular, 8-10 AM show with Clifford Brown Jr., emcee for the “7th Annual Musical Tribute to Dr. MLK Jr.,” Sunday, January 18, at the Scottish Rite Center, 1547 Lakeside Drive, in Oakland. Visit www.mlktribute.com I opened the program this morning with Marcus Shelby, who is also participating in the MLK Music Tribute Sunday. He will be premiering an excerpt of a new work honoring Martin King. Ms. Faye Carol, featured in Marcus' new work, joined the musician/composer in the studio and then stayed on when Melanie joined us. We had a fun conversation, so much so, I could barely get a word in to welcome Clifford Brown Jr., into the studio. The three then had a great time conversing until Ms. Carol had to sign off. Okay, I am trying to let out my breath...whew! Miko Marks calls in on time for her interview at 9 AM, and so do her fans who share with her their appreciation of her work. It was really cool having the live audience. Things were finally moving along well. Miko was joined by Kev Choice, and the two to them spoke about their work, Miko as a country western singer, and Kev as a rap artist whose work seeks to uplift the community, his listeners. They are both performing on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 8 PM, at the Oaktown Jazz Workshop fundraiser at Yoshi's in Jack London Square in Oakland. Visit yoshis.com Wanda’s Picks closed this morning with a conversation with Hodari B. Davis and Mike Turner. Mike is a student at Encinal High School, and Hodari is director of National Initiatives for Youth Speaks. They were speaking about "Bringing the Noise for MLK Jr.." the annual tribute on MLK Jr. Day at the Herbst Theatre, 7 PM.

Black Arts and Culture. Where art meets politics.

David Hardiman is featured this morning in a conversation prerecorded January 15, Martin King's 80th birthday. Hardiman's Big Band is celebrating its 34th Anniversary in concert, Monday, January 19, 8 & 10 PM at Yoshi's in San Francisco. Visit www.yoshis.com I played music from the band's CD and also selections from Marcus Shelby's "Harriett Tubman" suite and Melanie Demore's rendition of "We Shall Not Be Moved," with Mary Watkins on piano. Both Melanie and Marcus are a part of the 7th Annual MLK Jr. Celebration in Music, Sunday, January 18, 7:30

We will feature artist John Barnes, Jr., one of the artists included in Prospect 1 New Orleans, the US Biennial closing Sunday, January 18, 2009. Barnes new body of work, shown for the first time in this exhibit, is he says, "a testament to survival and resilience." The work which is mixed media, and includes text, consists of wooden sculptures which looked like masks to me, however, to Barnes they are "canoe-home hybrid structures." These beached canoes stand verically, an unlikely position for a sea worthy structure, but then this adds to the absurdity of the sights one still sees almost four years after the Great Flood," or the day the levees broke.

John and I will speak for most of the show. We will close with an update on Oscar Grant III, murdered two weeks ago by a BART policeman, still at large. There is a peace vigil at 4 p.m. January 14, 2009 in front of Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank Ogawa Plaza. People are encouraged to wear white for peace. It is also the color of the ancestors.

The Coalition Against Police Execution (CAPE) will hold the Praying for Peace-Working for Justice March & Rally as the Oakland community continues to demand justice in the senseless murder of Oscar Grant III by Bart Police in the early hours of January 1, 2009.

An estimated 1,000 people will converge upon Oakland's City Hall to demand that those responsible for the murder of Oscar Grant be brought to justice. High profile names expected to attend include E-40, Beeda Weeda, Jennifer Johns, Kev Choice, Zion I and others. The community is also calling for an immediate end to police brutality and terrorism in communities of color across America. Following the rally, demonstrators will peacefully march from City Hall to District Attorney Tom Orlov's office.

December 12, 2008, William B. Lawsha, "Prince Lasha," made his transition. Born in Wellington, Texas on September 10, 1929, to W.B. and Amy Roberson Lawsha, the family moved to Fort Worth, Texas while Prince was young. Music was his passion, his last recording a tribute to Barack Obama, which fans can listen to at http://eddiegale.com/. Prince Lasha composed music and played the woodwinds, alto and baritone saxophones, flute, and clarinet. The last time I saw him was this summer after the San Jose Jazz Festival with Eddie Gale's ensemble at Yoshi's. He had nine children, all residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, Oakland his home for many years, Besides his children, he leaves behind: grandchildren, great-grandchildren, a sister and two brothers, nieces, nephews, and many fans and friends. This special show is an opportunity for all who knew and loved him to share stories and memories of a man who left us all too suddenly, even though his walk on this journey was as steep as it was long. The tribute's new date is Friday, Jan. 23, 8-10 AM. Stay tuned for the line-up.

Taped Thursday, January 8, this show features poet Jahi, who responds to the police shooting and murder of Oscar Grant III January 1, 2009 at the Frutivale BART Station in Oakland. He is joined by Tiyesha Meroe who was at the rally 1/7 and at the BART Hearing 1/8 and shares her perspective on each. The last interview is with Ida McCray and her daughter, Nia Sykes, both prison abolision activists who work with families with children, especially mothers. Ida McCray is founder of Families with a Future and Nia is employed by California Coalition for Women Prisoners, of which Ms. McCray and I are board members. Ms. MaCray works for the San Francisco County Sherriff's Dept. and is an adjunct professor at San Francisco City College. Nia was 2, and the youngest of 5, when her mother was incarcerated, and spent the next ten years visiting her mother behind bars. The two women share their story. Visit http://www.familieswithafuture.com/ and http://womenprisoners.org/ to find out how you can get involved. I am visiting women behind bars today at one of the California Women Prisons in the Central Valley. I'll let you know how it went when I return this evening. Check out my blog: http://wandasabir.blogspot.com