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! 

1. Edwin Edebiri the Chief Happiness Officer speaks about International Day of Happiness, 3/18 (prelude) and 3/20 (United Nations Day of Happiness). 

2. Kathleen Dowdey, dir. John Lewis, Get in the Way. See pbs.org

3. Genny Lim, SF Jazz Poet Laureate, joins us to talk about her new work: Don't Shoot: A Requiem in Black, 3/8 & 3/9 at 7:30 p.m. at SAFEhouse, 1 Grove Street (at Market). For tickets: safehousearts.org

1. Genny Lim speaks about: "Don't Shoot: A Requiem in Black" an interdispliary new work opening March 8 & 9 at SafHouse in San Francisco. For info: footloose.com

Ms. Lim is the current San Francisco Jazz Poet Laureate. She is a noted poet performer who’s collaborated with the late Max Roach and bassist, Herbie Lewis. Lim has performed at the SF Jazz Poetry Festival and World Poetry Festivals in Venezuela, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Italy. She is featured in the documentary: The Voice (pbs.org 2002); and was featured in the five-part PBS series, The United States of Poetry, and San Francisco Chinatown.

2. Shola Adisa-Farrar performs at SF Black Cat, Sunday, Mar. 5, two shows.

Rotimi Agbabiaka joins us to talk about his solo show: Type/Caste: A Solo Show about Acting while Black.

2. Tornange Yeghiazarian, director, joins us to talk about Novid Parsi's "Our Mother's Meal" at Playwrights Foundation's 11th Annual Rough Reading Series, 2/27, 7:30 at Standford University & 2/28, 2 p.m., at Custom Made Theatre in San Francisco.

3. Nefertina Abrams join us to talk about theBlack Empowerment Market and Tribute to Queen Mother Makinya at Piedmont Elementary School in Oakland, Sunday, Feb.24, 2-6 p.m.

4. We close with a conversation with Bryant Bolling and Zakkiyah Capehart. They host a Black History program at the Altenheim Ballroom, 2/25, 5 p.m. (510) 531-6394.

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.Tongo Eisen-Martin, San Francisco poet, speaks to us about Public Square: Can We Design Freedom, at YBCA Sat., Feb.18, 3 p.m. 

2. Viera Whye, Producing Artistic Director, Tabia African American Theatre Ensemble, and Cheryl Scales, actress, "Nella," joins us to talk about Gee's Bend, the company's current production

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!

In the first premiere of the America ReFramed season, A New Color: The Art of Being Edythe Boone (February 14, 2017), filmmaker Marlene “Mo” Morris focuses on the life and work of muralist, activist and educator, Edythe Boone—a self-taught artist from East Harlem who empowers the San Francisco community and beyond to engage in community issues through art. After the broadcast premiere, the film can be viewed free online starting Feb. 15 at: http://worldchannel.org/programs/episode/arf-s5-501-new-color-edythe-boone/

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!

John Lewis: Get in the Way on ITVS this evening. 10:30-11:30 ET (pbs.org)

Kathleen Dowdey (Producer/Director). Award-winning filmmaker Dowdey's early work includes A Celtic Trilogy, a documentary exploration of the renaissance of identity in the Celtic nations; Blue Heaven,a narrative feature that exposes the hidden traumas of domestic violence; and Dawn's Early Light, a portrait of newspaper editor Ralph McGill, a segregationist-turned-advocate of tolerance. As a television writer, director and producer, Dowdey's work has been broadcast widely on network and cable television. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

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. Watani Stiner, Troy Williams, Zoe Mallery: CCDA Mass Incarceration Awareness & Action Day, 7-9 p.m. at Redeemer Community Church in San Francisco. 

2. Frankye Kelly-Carruthers performs Sat., Feb. 4, 8-10 p.m. at the Californa Jazz Conservatory, 2087 Addison Street, Berkeley. 

3. Music Director/Performer Meklit Hadero and Choreographer Amy O'Neal about Clas/sick Hip Hop featuring Amy O'Neal's "Opposing Forces" and UnderCover Presents: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.  Clas/sick Hip Hop will be February 16-18 at YBCA.

1. Rhodessa Jones's "The Ressurection of She" (3/28-4/7/2013). 

2. Dr. Carmaletta M. Williams and Dr. John Edgar Tidwell join us to talk about My Dear Boy, Carrie Hughes's Letters to Langston Hughes 1926-1938 http://news.ku.edu/2014/02/24/project-examines-how-letters-langston-hughes-mother-influenced-his-writings

3. We close the show with frequent guest Raissa Simpson, choreographer, master teacher and Artistic Director of PUSH Dance Company's premiere of "Point Shipyard," March 29-30, 2014 at MoAD-SF. She is joined by collaborators and performers: Katie Wong and Adriann Ramirez www.pushdance.org

Music: Dwight Tribble's "I've Known Rivers" (based on Langston Hughes's poem by same title); soundscape from PUSH Dance Company's collaboration with the 3rd Street Youth Center & Clinic.

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. Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, Brava Theatre presents: Robert Ohara in two events

2. Ben Lear, dir. They Call Us Monsters

3. Destiny Muhammad at SFJAZZ celebrating Alice Coltrane's Journey to Satchidananda, 10 years after her ascension. 

4. Jon Else, author, True South: Henry Hampton and Eyes on the Prize, the landmark TV series that reframed the Civil Rights Movement