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! We rebroadcast our show from January 2, 2012. It is an update on US sanctions against Zimbabwe with cultural worker, entrepreneur, Ayotunde Akindele. This interview is followed with a conversation with archivist Bill Doggett whose historic art display at the Bayview Opera House January 2012-13 in honor of the 150 Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. We close with a live converation with Dr. Mark Lomax whose latest work #BlackLivesMatte

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! From the Archives 1. Barry "Shabaka" Henley Mingus-Remixed 2. Africa is More than Ebola Special Live Interview 3. Live interview with L.Peter Callendar (Robert Mugabe) & Leontyne Mbele-Mbong (Grace Mugabe) in Breakfast with Mugabe at Aurora Theatre in Berkeley tonight, Dec. 19 and Sat., Dec. 20, 8 p.m. Visit auroratheatre.org or call (510) 843-4822. Music: Anthony Brown's "Afro-Blue"; Babatunde Lea's "African Tapestry" (Prayer for a C

Today we have an opportunity to speak to playwright, Julie Hébert, and cast members: Susi Damilano and Carl Lumbly. TREE, directed by Jon Tracy, has its Regional Premiere at the San Francisco Playhouse, January 20th to March 7th, opens January 24, 2015. Winner of the Pen Award for Drama and Backstage Garland Award, Tree is the story of three generations divided by race, culture, and time. The play has contemporary resonance, posing questions about family and what it means to “be related.” “I set out to write a play about race and ended up writing a play about family,” said playwright Julie Hébert about Tree. “About the inescapability of family, of being known over time, of recognizing yourself in others, of continuing relationships after betrayal and suffering. We keep each other honest. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes painful – and so it is with this play.” The story explored in Tree unfolds when a southern white woman shows up at the home of an African-American man in Chicago and claims to be his half-s

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!

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!

Guests: Sriram Shamasunder completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in June 2008. As a physician who trained at a public hospital and has provided medical care abroad, Sri is interested in the delivery of comprehensive health care in resource poor settings. In addition to his clinical work training medical students and residents on the medical service at UCSF in San Francisco, he spends much of his time abroad. In 2009, Sri spent five months in rural Burundi and Rwanda with the organization Village Health Works and Partners in Health providing comprehensive primary and HIV care as well as designing innovative clinical programs. Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, he led a group of Harvard surgeons in Western Haiti providing medical and surgical care in the immediate aftermath of the disaster. In 2012, he was a Fulbright-Nehru scholar to India studying innovations of care among tribal health organizations throughout rural India. In the last several years, he has split his

We speak this morning to Latanya d. Tigner who has been with Dimensions since 1986, studying and performing traditional West and South African dance, modern, contemporary, jazz, Haitian, Cuban, and Congolese dance. She has traveled to Cuba, Guinea, Brazil, Jordan, Germany, and throughout the U.S. Latanya was selected as one of three emerging artists for the first annual Black Choreographers Here and Now Festival in 2005. This past summer she participated in Urban Bush Women’s acclaimed Summer Leadership Institute in New Orleans, where she worked with dancers and other social activists to serve the New Orleans community. She also did a residency with Shaka Zulu to study the traditions of mask dance in New Orleans. Latanya is the artistic diector and choreographer for Dimensions‘ youth ensemble, Dimensions Extensions Performing Ensemble (DEPE). She joins us to talk about the 20th Anniversary performance of Rites of Passage, Sunday, Dec. 5, 3 p.m. in Oakland. Visit www.dimensionsdance.org We close with two arc

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! Della Reese Interview Rebroadcast (8 Feb. 2012). Howard Thurman Special Rebroadcast w/Rev. Liza Rankow and Rev. Dr. Dorsey Blake (8 Nov. 2010) Music: Avery Sharpe's "I Am Pleading for My People" from Ain't I a Woman.  

Douglas Stewart, Director of Special Programs at Alameda County Health and Human Resource Education Center, is targeting the African American community to promote the  “getting healthy in our community. He is leading the charge for the Outreach and Education efforts for the new Affordable Health Care Act (Covered CA) and also implementing the new “Downtown TAY” initiative, which is a culturally enriched, comprehensive and creative empowerment program for youth: http://www.hhrec.org/  Tim Jackson is a nationally syndicated cartoonist and illustrator. His social commentary cartoons have appeared on the editorial pages of multiple journals and newspapers. He is currently based in Chicago, Illinois. Multiple First Place winner of the NNPA Award for Editorial Cartoons. Born in Dayton, Ohio, Tim began his formal art education with a Commercial Art program at Sinclair College, relocated to Chicago to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. While still in college, founded the company, Creative License Stu

Today we will give an update on Hurricane Season in Texas, paying special attention to those areas where the devastation hit hardest and what organizations are responding to the disaster. We'll update listeners on any new developments in Albert Woodfox's case, with further reporting Friday, Nov. 14. During the second half of the show, we will also discuss what is going on in the Democratice Republic of the Congo--Patrice Lumumba land, King Leopold country, a place that has not know peace in almost 50 years. Exploited after its first democratically elected Prime Minister, post-colonial rule was killed by the west, turmoil in the area: Rwanda in particular and the country's vast mineral resources has made it a haven for international plunder. We hope to have representatives on our show today who can clarify the issues for us. Next we'll talk about Dafur and Southern Sudan and the continuing massacre there.

Tracy Porter, USF Trustee, joins us to talk aboutthe 5th annual Pathways to Building Your Future at USF. 60-80 under-resourced youth (7th and 12th Graders) from Mt. Diablo Unified School District in Concord will be welcomed to USF on Nov. 8 where they will be motivated by powerful black men like himself to see higher education as a place where they can get the tools rise above obstacles. The former NFL veteran is now CEO of Premiere Solutions, a firm connecting businesses with transportation services.USF President Fr. Paul Fitzgerald, S.J., will be on hand in the morning to officially welcome the young men to campus. Victor Fields joins us to talk about The Lou Rawls Project, a fresh and contemporary approach to the tribute collection. Recorded in Minneapolis, London, Nashville and the Bay Area, the project features a collection of timeless standards such as “The Girl From Ipanema,” “Natural Man,” and “(I'd Rather Drink) Muddy Water” alongside signature staples.  Muisi-kongo Malonga, choreographer and dancer

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!

Curators, LULU MATUTE & FALLON YOUNGjoin us to speak about Not One More, an altar in the Visions at Twight: Dia de los Muertos 2014 at SOMarts through Nov. 8 in San Francisco. Not One More is dedicated to victims of police brutality and state sanctioned violence. After moving to the Bay Area from Chicago, Lulu began advocating for education equity in California Community Colleges to improve college completion and transfer rates amongst students of color. As a member of the Alive and Free program in San Francisco, Lulu works to combat the disease of violence by addressing anger, fear and pain on the individual level as well as in communities. She joined the #BlackLivesMatters ride to Ferguson and #FergusonOctober to protest for justice with the people of Ferguson. Fallon Young coordinates outreach efforts and serves as the social media voice of SOMArts Cultural Center in her role as Director of Communications & Community Engagement. Visit http://www.somarts.org/ or call 415-863-1414. MICHAEL SMITH, fou

We speak to UNIVERSES co-founders, Steven Sapp and Mildred Ruiz-Sapp about the Berkeley Rep premiere of Party People Oct. 17-Nov. 23.  Steven Sapp: BARD College, BA ’89 - Theater. Playwright/Actor.Playwriting/Acting credits include: PARTY PEOPLE (Directed/Developed by Liesl Tommy); AMERIVILLE (Directed/Developed by Chay Yew); The Denver Project (Director Dee Covington); One Shot in Lotus Position (Director Bonnie Metzger); BLUE SUITE (Directed/Developed by Chay Yew); SLANGUAGE (Directed/Developed by Jo Bonney); Director- RHYTHMICITY (Director/Actor); THE RIDE (P/A/D) Directing credits include: THE ARCHITECTURE OF LOSS (Assistant Director to Chay Yew); Will Powers’ THE SEVEN (Director-The Univ. of Iowa); Alfred Jarry's UBU:Enchained (Director-Teatre Polski, Poland). Mildred Ruiz-Sapp: Playwright/Actor/Vocalist. BARD College, BA ’92 (Literature/Language). Publications: UNIVERSES-THE BIG BANG (2015 release- TCG Books); SLANGUAGE in The Fire This Time (TCG Books); BLUE SUITE in The Goodman Theatre's Festival La

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!

On Friday evening, March 21, 2014, Alejandro “Alex” Nieto, 28 years old, was shot at over fourteen times and killed by the San Francisco Police Department, on Bernal Hill Park, without justification. We speak to Adriana Camarena, attorney, writer, and resident of the Mission District of San Francisco since 2008, about the altar Alex's mother and others created to honor him as a part of the 15th Annual Dia de los Muertos at Somarts in San Francisco. It is up through Nov. 8. There is a special event in Bernal Heights today, Oct. 21, on the seven month anniversary of Alex's killing: http://justice4alexnieto.org/alex-story/  Listen in for the details. Since arriving in the Mission, Adriana began collecting tales of borders, line-crossings, and overlapping identities told by residents to provide a layered picture of this traditionally working class immigrant neighborhood in California. Two of her published Mission essays are “The Geography of the Unseen” in Rebecca Solnit, INFINITE CITY: A San Francisco Atlas, U

SF Open Studios exhibition and events, https://www.artspan.org, call 415-861-9838, or email info@artspan.org Mark Harris -- Collage, photography and printmaking Mark Hosts his SF Open Studios on two weekends -- Oct. 18 and 19 as well as on Oct. 25 and 26 Mark Harris makes exceptional use of color in his paintings. He has a keen eye and the ability to create strong, beautiful, contemporary images. Mark has exhibited at the Triton Museum of Art in Santa Clara, CA, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art in Novato, CA, and  the California Modern Gallery in San Francisco, CA, just to name a few.  The University of Chile purchased a painting for the school of Agriculture and became the first institutional collector of Harris’ work. Ron Moultrie Saunders -- Photography Ron Moultrie Saunders creates photograms:  photographs that are made without the use of a camera.  This 19th Century process has an immediacy, rawness and truth that is not found in images created with a camera.  Ron layers natural and man-made element