Wanda's Picks

We speak to Ben Gilbarg, Creative Catalyst, Founder, Big Picture Anthems (2016). Gilbarg was at the helm of New Bedford-based non-profit 3rd EyE Unlimited from 1998-2011. “Taking Back the Power: The New Women’s Rights Anthem,” is debuting at Impact HUB Oakland, Friday, March 8, 7:00pm – 10 pm, 2323 Broadway, 510-858-2323. Iva Brito - spoken word artist who finishes the film, also joins us.

The premiere of “Taking Back the Power” will headline a night filled with artistic inspiration, valuable discussion, and great music. The launch event will feature performances from some of the anthem’s featured artists: Iva Brito, spoken word poet and talented rapper and Dakota Lopes, both traveling from the east coast (New Bedford, MA). There will be a panel discussion with topics including the role of the arts and how it can help enhance the women’s movement. Panelists include creators of the anthem and film, as well as activists on the front line. The event will be mc’ed by Angel Diaz. Doors open at 7 pm, 7:30 pm panel, 9 p.m. film screening followed by a discussion and music by Dj Anghelli.

https://oakland.impacthub.net/things-to-do-in-oakland/

2. Mama Naomi Washington

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. From the Archives Nov. 4, 2011, Rochelle Ferrell. We open with "I can explain" live au theatre antique de Vienne le 12 juillet 2001.

TheatreWorks has selected two dynamic Bay Area actors to play the titular duo: Sister Rosetta & Marie Knight—Michelle E. Jordan and Marissa Rudd. Ms. Jordan, our guest this morning, is a musical icon and 2018 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Sister Rosetta Tharpe in TheatreWorks: Rosetta and Marie (with Marissa Rudd as Marie). Rosetta and Marie is up March 6-31 at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Rd., in Palo Alto.

Jordan, a TheatreWorks veteran, received a Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for her performance in TheatreWorks’ Dreamgirls. She has also been seen at TheatreWorks in It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues, Crowns, Go Down Garvey, Hi-Hat Hattie!, Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery, and Ain’t Misbehavin’. She also performed in Blues in the Night with Maurice Hines and Freda Payne at the Post Street Theatre and Bricktop at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, and serves as the choir director of East Bay Church of Religious Science. For tickets and information visit: theatreworks.org or call (650) 463-1960.

2. We rebroadcast the Special Tribute to Ntozake Shange (Nov. 23, 2018).

1. Ricki Stevenson, founder of Black Paris Tours, has served as its creative thinker and CEO since its inception in 1998.  She dreamed of life in Paris at three years old, when her mother, a former professional dancer, took her to see Josephine Baker perform in Los Angeles and later, at ten years old when her Mom took her to hear James Baldwin speak on Stanford Campus. Ricki says the idea for Black Paris Tours grew out of traveling the world as a television travel reporter...becoming a person of the WORLD...always looking and finding more Black history outside than at home!! http://www.blackparistour.com/

2. Bryant B. Bolling holds a M.A. degree in African-Centric Musicology and a B.S. degree in Music Education. He joins us along with Mr. Jones, accompanist, and Zakiyyah Capehart Bolling, poet, to talk about TuBeNu Productions' "I Too Sing America – A Musical Journey through Slavery" for Black History Month 2019 at the Altenheim, 1720 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, Feb. 22, 7 p.m.  It is a free event. 

3.  Jacqueline Francis, Ph.D., joins us to talk about "Black Refractions Symposium at MoAD-SF," Sat., Feb. 23, 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM. https://www.moadsf.org/event/engage-black-refractions-symposium/

4.  Actors, Devin Cunningham and Thomas Simpson join us to talk about Leslie Lee's Black Eagles at African American Shakespeare Company at the Marines Memorial Theatre, March 16-31 https://www.african-americanshakes.org/productions/black-eagles/

Related Event: 

The Black History Month Blacks in the Military Exhibition has been extended to February 28, 2019. The Hours are 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM Mondays through Sundays- Veteran’s War Memorial Building- 401 Van Ness Avenue- Veteran’s Gallery- Room 102. Visit http://alwmcsf.org/gallery/2019-black-history

1. Ricki Stevenson, founder of Black Paris Tours, has served as its creative thinker and CEO since its inception in 1998.  She dreamed of life in Paris at three years old, when her mother, a former professional dancer, took her to see Josephine Baker perform in Los Angeles and later, at ten years old when her Mom took her to hear James Baldwin speak on Stanford Campus. Ricki says the idea for Black Paris Tours grew out of traveling the world as a television travel reporter...becoming a person of the WORLD...always looking and finding more Black history outside than at home!! http://www.blackparistour.com/

2. Bryant B. Bolling holds a M.A. degree in African-Centric Musicology and a B.S. degree in Music Education. He joins us along with Mr. Jones, accompanist, and Zakiyyah Capehart Bolling, poet, to talk about TuBeNu Productions' "I Too Sing America – A Musical Journey through Slavery" for Black History Month 2019 at the Altenheim, 1720 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, Feb. 22, 7 p.m.  It is a free event. 

3.  Jacqueline Francis, Ph.D., joins us to talk about "Black Refractions Symposium at MoAD-SF," Sat., Feb. 23, 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM. https://www.moadsf.org/event/engage-black-refractions-symposium/

4.  Actors, Devin Cunningham and Thomas Simpson join us to talk about Leslie Lee's Black Eagles at African American  Shakespeare Company at the Marines Memorial Theatre, March 16-31 https://www.african-americanshakes.org/productions/black-eagles/

Related Event: 

The Black History Month Blacks in the Military Exhibition has been extended to February 28, 2019. The Hours are 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM Mondays through Sundays- Veteran’s War Memorial Building- 401 Van Ness Avenue- Veteran’s Gallery- Room 102. Visit http://alwmcsf.org/gallery/2019-black-history

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. Mark Lomax II, Ph.D. joins us to talk about 400: An Afrikan Epic

2. Ifasina TaMeicka L. Clear is a Spiritual Coach and Elizabeth Jerde, community organizer and Events Coordinator at UUC Berkeley, join us to talk about the Soul Line-Dance Potluck Party, Sat., Feb. 23, 6-7 dinner, 7-10 dance, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Lawson Road, Kensington, uucbsoullinedance.eventbrite.com

3. Watani Stiner is joined by his children, Larry Stiner Jr and LaTanya Stiner to talk about his incarcartion impacts children and their families. They will be in conversation, 2-4 p.m. at Sherith Israel, 2266 California, San Francisco, hosted by CA Prison Focus Newsletter.

Swingin’ At The Savoy is an event to celebrate Lindy Hop & Jazz, the joy of the dance and the music, their heritage and history. It takes place every year in February to follow on in the foot steps of the tradition established by the Northern California Lindy Society (NCLS) with the Frankie Manning weekends.

The event is open to dancers of all ages and promotes Lindy Hop & Jazz dance and music education, open-mindedness, playfulness, and creativity. Its goal is to help build and strengthen the Lindy Hop community.

https://swinginatthesavoy.com/ Feb. 22-24 in Oakland

Norma Miller (Dec. 1919)

If Frankie Manning was the king of Lindy Hop, Norma Miller is no doubt the reigning queen. Her position today is at an elevated throne, her background and career is without comparison. She’s the last of the classic Savoy Lindy Hoppers of the swing era, she’s a dynamite story-teller and lecturer.

Chazz Young

A spectacular dancer with a long and successful stage career, son of Lindy Hop master Frankie Manning, Chazz Young tours worldwide, spreading the gospel of Lindy Hop and Tap.

Chester Whitmore

Chester Whitmore is a man of many talents: tapper extraordinaire, master in karate, renowned drummer, bandleader, arranger, composer, songwriter, choreographer, stuntman.

1.Black Choreographers Festival Here and Now at 15. Today we speak to co-founder Laura Elaine Ellis, Executive Director of the African & African American Performing Arts Coalition (AAAPAC) and to presenting choreographer: 

Dazaun Soleyn, artistic director of dazaun.dance, graduated from the University of South Florida with a BFA in Modern Dance Performance and Choreography. Soleyn is currently a freelance artist and an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco. For BCF 2019, Soleyn will show a work titled love me naked, which he describes as "a declaration of love of self through an exploration of vulnerability."

2.Kali Tambree is a PhD student in the department of sociology at UCLA. She received her BA in Sociology and Africana Studies from Vassar College in 2017. She reads and writes the Black Atlantic. Kali is a prison abolitionist and seeks to provide opportunities for inside education. She is from Baltimore.

[email protected]

3. V-Day 2019: Archival Interview rebroadcast with Gina Breedlove, 1 Billion Rising 6/22/2012

V-Day 2019 Vagina Monologues https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vday-east-bay-the-vagina-monologues-2019-tickets-53896983328

1. Jo Kreiter, Flyaway Productions, Laura Elaine Ellis, Executive Director of the African & African American Performing Arts Coalition (AAAPAC), Catalina "Caty" Palacios and Tanea Lunsford Lynx who are both members of Essie Justice to talk about The Wait Room, a site specific dance honoring women with incarcerated loved ones, April 19-20, April 24-25, April 26-27 at 1125 Market Street, a vacant lot opposite UN Plaza at Civic Center.

2. Howard Thurman Special with Rev. Liza Rankow & Rev. Dr. Dorsey Blake, Nov. 8, 2010. Upcoming programs at OneLife 2/17 & 3/7, both at East Bay Church of Religious Science, 4130 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, California 94609.

Don't forget to watch: Backs Against the Wall: The Howard Thurman Story, dir. Martin Doblmeier, (http://journeyfilms.com/batw/) on Public Television's WORLD Channel this afternoon/evening, 3 p.m. & 6 p.m. PT, Feb. 8. There are also local screenings on Feb. 9 and Feb. 12.

1. Martin Doblmeier joins us to talk about his latest film, Backs Against the Wall:The Howard Thurman Story, airing nationally on PBS World Channel, Fri., Feb. 8, 9 PM PT. Since 1984 he has produced and directed more than 30 films focused on religion, faith and spirituality. Martin combines a lifelong interest in religion with a passion for storytelling. His films explore how belief can lead individuals to extraordinary acts, how spirituality creates and sustains communities and how faith is lived in extraordinary ways. Visit http://journeyfilms.com/media/

2. Lisa Riley, One Degree of Separation Events and Travel, joins us to talk about Women of Color Entrpreneur Conference, at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose, March 16, 10 am-4 pm. Visit https://www.odostravel.com/events/entrepreneur-conference/

3. Shola Adisa-Farrar, a  Jamaican American Artist currently based in Paris, France is back for a three day residency, Feb. 14-16, the Black Cat in San Francisco for a three day residency. Her music is Jazz with Caribbean flavors and a touch of Afrobeat. Her debut album Lost Myself (Hot Casa Records, 2016) has been playing on international radio stations since 2016 and last Fall Spike Lee, personally selected one of her songs to be featured in his Netflix show, "She's Gotta Have It" season 1. Shola has served as an American Music Ambassador to 5 African countries and has headlined concerts in over 10 countries on 4 continents, including US, Russia and France

4. Mr. Bertram Clark, Collector, historian and Vietnam Veteran, feat. African American soldiers from The Revolutionary War to WWII in an exhibit opening Saturday, Feb. 9th 2-5pm @ the SF War Memorial Veteran Building | Veteran Gallery RM 102. For more info visit: http://alwmcsf.org/gallery/2019-black-history