Wanda's Picks

The African Showboyzcombine drumming, dance, magic, and adrenaline in spectacular performances that have taken them around the world. The Showboyz’ five Sabbah brothers – Napoleon, Joseph, Isaac, Moses, and JJ – grew up in Binaba, a tiny village in the bush country of northeast Ghana without electricity or schools. When the Showboyz took their show on the road to the rest of Africa, aided in their early years by Babatunde Olatunji, the “father of world music”  their music and messages of peace and unity connected with audiences everywhere. We are joined by Elder brother/father Napoleon with special guest, musician educator Val Serrant. The show opens with an archival interview with Joanna Haigood and visual artist Charles Tapolin who collaborate in Zaccho Dance Company's The Monkey and The Devil (2011). We close the show with a special interview with writer, visual artist and educator, Opal Palmer Adisa and her two daughters: Teju and Shola Adisa Farrar. Teju Adisa Farrar will graduate from Wesleyan Universit

We open with two songs: Odetta singing Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child followed by Fire from Liz Wright's Salt. The first archived interview with Tim Wise re: Dear White America; Sam Pollard speaks about his film Slavery by Another Name. We interject Sweet Honey in the Rock's Motherless Child between the two interviews. When I cannot find the interview (smile) we are able to enjoy music from Meklit Hadero's Abbay Mado from On a Day like Today; Barbara Hunter's Sarah.

Guests: 1. Destiny Muhammad is Recording/ Performing Artist in Singer-Songwriter fashion on Harp. Her genre ‘Celtic to Coltrane’ is cool and eclectic with a feel of Jazz & storytelling to round out the sonic experience.Destiny is expanding her musical ideals with her project(s) S.O.N.G/ Strings of a Nubian Groove Nubian string ensemble,The Destiny Muhammad Project, & The Richard Howell Quintet (RHQ) Destiny is Governor Emeritus and Educational Chair Emeritus of the Recording Academy, San Francisco Chapter, Jazz Heritage Center of San Francisco Jazz Ambassador and an ASCAP Songwriter Awardee.  3. Ben Vereen archival interview from June 2012. 4. We close with director Greg Kappy, whose film, Shooting for Home, screens in the San Francisco Doc Fest Sun., Nov. 18 at the Roxie and Mon., Nov. 19, 9:30 PM at the Roxie.

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the writing, visual and performing arts of African people in the Diaspora. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work filled with raw unfettered passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! Remember to tune in on Wednesdays from 6 AM PST to 7 or 8 AM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 10 AM. We also host special broadcasts from time to time.

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the writing, visual and performing arts of African people in the Diaspora. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work filled with raw unfettered passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! Remember to tune in on Wednesdays from 6 AM PST to 7 or 8 AM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 10 AM. We also host special broadcasts from time to time.

Take 2: Kelly J Richardson, Director | Producer | Cinematographer | Co-Editor of Without a Net, opening at Doc Fest this weekend, Nov. 10 at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco. On the show last week, we decided to extend the conversation today on her project which lives off the screen as well as on (smile). A graduate from Berkeley High School,  Kelly J Richardson is the founder and executive director of Live Wired Productions, based in San Francisco, California. Her passions in performance art and social justice are expressed through her film work. She has directed and produced several short student films and Without A Net is her feature-directing debut. She has received numerous grants and awards from government agencies and private foundations, including a Fulbright scholarship for the production of Without A Net. She holds a B.A. from U.C. Berkeley. Visithttp://www.withoutanetfilm.com/ STORY: Djeferson, Bárbara, Rayana and Platini live in a drug controlled slum of Rio de Janeiro. Their families are strugg

Dwight Trible joins us to talk about his latest project: Cosmic and his concert Sunday, Nov. 4, 2012, 7 PM at Yoshi's in SF. Dwight Trible is a singer who combines the best of vocal virtuosity with musicianship and improvisational skills to the delight of audiences and musicians alike. In addition to performing with his own group, the Dwight Trible Ensemble, Dwight is the vocalist with the Pharaoh Sanders Quartet and is also the vocal director for the Horace Tapscott Pan Afrikan Peoples’ Arkestra. Not a newcomer to the music scene, Dwight has worked with such notables as Oscar Brown Jr., Charles Lloyd, Billy Childs, Kenny Burrell, Kenny Garrett, Steve Turre, Harold Land, Harry Belafonte, Della Reese and Norman Conners, John Beasley, Patrice Rushen, Babatunde Lea, Ernie Watts, Kahlil El Zabar, as well as contemporary soul artist like LA Reid and DJ Rogers. Dwight’s collaborations with Horace Tapscott, Billy Higgins, Kamau Daaood and others have produced some of the finest musical moments in Los Angeles in rece

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL, Director Sam Banning; Fay Dearborn, Assistant Director of the San Francisco Independent Film Festival (also known as SF IndieFest), and the Programming Director of the San Francisco Documentary Film Festival (known as SF DocFest); Kelly J. Richardson, Director, Without a Net: http://www.withoutanetfilm.com/trailer.htmlWe open with an interview with Michele Rosewoman who is performing at the OPC tribute to Oakland Legendary composer and musician, Ed Kelly: opcmusic.org

This is a black arts and culture site. We will be exploring the writing, visual and performing arts of African people in the Diaspora. It is my claim that the artists are the true revolutionaries, their work filled with raw unfettered passion. They are our true heroes. Ashay! Remember to tune in on Wednesdays from 6 AM PST to 7 or 8 AM and on Fridays from 8 AM to 10 AM. We also host special broadcasts from time to time.

Today we speak to maverick media worker and artist, Ava DuVernay whose latest film Middle of Nowhere is hitting US theatres by storm after DuVernay won the 2012 Sundance Best Director Award. The film looks at a woman whose husband is incarcerated after a life together on the outside and how that affects not just the wife but all those connected to her.  The film is opening in San Francisco at Stonestone this weekend. We close with a conversation with Amara Tabour Smith who is bring her Our Daily Bread back to CounterPulse next month, Nov. 15-18, 2012. vAfter a run of 8 sold-out shows and 8 standing ovations in the spring of 2011, CounterPULSE is bringing back the community building, body nourishing, heartwarming performance — Our Daily Bread. A collaboration between Amara Tabour-Smith's Deep Waters Dance Theater, director Ellen Sebastian Chang and visual artist Laura Diamondstone, Our Daily Bread delivers a thoughtful message and a powerful experience. The production is made rich with music by Ajayi Jackson a

The broadcast will feature actress and producer, Michelle Banks and her partner, Richard Graham. They are producing an event which is bringing together deaf and hearing artists in Washington, D.C. for the first time called In-Sight and Sound: Live De(a)f Poetry,  Nov. 11, from 8 PM to 10 Pm at Busboy and Poets in Hyattsville, MD. They have a kickstarter campaign we want to help them raise $3000.00 by Nov. 1 which means we don't have time to think, we just need to give. No amount is too small, because if they do not raise the minimum, which is $3000, they get nothing and this show next month sounds off the chart.  Visit http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1460383050/in-sight-and-sound-live-deaf-poetry?ref=email The $3,000 will help cover production costs and artists' fees. For tickets: insightandsoundpoetry@yahoo.com for tickets which are $15 dollars in advance, $20 at door, and half price for Veterans. The show is on Veterans Day.

A Benefit for The Fountain Project: Cure the Blues III with Lloyd Gregory and Lena Sunday is Monday, Oct. 29, 2012, 7 PM at Yoshi's in Oakland. This morning we speak to Ms. Sunday and Mr. Gregory as well as Dr. Erlene Chiang who is one of the founders of The Fountain Project, an organization that offers free medical care from both homeopathic, Chinese as well as Western or allopathic modalities ten times a year. The next session is in El Cerrito on Nov. 17. Phone registration is Nov. 16 (510) 524-1057. Visit http://fountainproject.org  For tickets: info@thefountainproject.org or (510) 524-1057. We close with an interview with playwright, Christopher Chen and director, Desdemona Chiang re: Chen's The Hundred Flowers Project which is in previews tonight (pay what you can), opening Monday and continuing Wed.-Sat. at 8 PM Nov. 1-17, 2012 at The Thick House, 1695 18th Street, in San Francisco. Visit www.crowdedfire.org or call (415) 746-9238.  Music: Lloyd Gregory's A Moment in Time; Gentle Warrior and a smidgeon

We'd hoped to catch up with Kendra Kimbrough, whose dance company is celebrating its 15th Anniversary this weekend (smile), but we were not. Winou Wakayo, director, Rehoboth Economic Development for Women and Children or "REDWC," whose organization just had its first graduation of its first cohort of women entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.wredwc.com/about-us The fundraiser this weekend is a way for the director to support the next class, expand the project and pay for the on-going support for the children whom she is supporting financially.  The fundraiser to support these tenacious women is Saturday Oct 27th the Fund Raiser will be at 2525 8th St (at Dwight) in Studio 12 (the "Sawtooth Building") at 6:30pm EDWC will have a fundraiser for low income women and children in Ethiopia. All proceeds will go directly to the women, and their children, whose tenacity and hope in the face of great adversity is tremendous. Ms. Wakeyo is cooking delicious Ethiopian Cuisine for her guests (smile). Unique and beautiful quil

Noche Diaz is a young revolutionary who faces years in jail if convicted on unjust charges. He has been arrested five times since October 2011 and has had 11 charges piled on him in four New York City boroughs, all for observing and protesting the illegitimate actions of the NYPD. Noche was one of the first members of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and helped organize protests that kicked off a citywide struggle against stop-and-frisk. He is well known to the people—and to the NYPD—for being a member of the People’s Neighborhood Patrol of Harlem.  Noche joins us to talk about the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. People are asked to wear black in solidarity and/or a black arm band with the name of a friend or loved one killed by police. Call Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance (212) 335-9000 to protest charges against Noche Diaz and the Queens District Attorney, Richard Brown, starting at 9:00 am. at 718 286 6000.  Tell the DA to drop charges from N

We speak to formerly incarcerated woman prisoners, Samantha Rogers and Deirdre Wilson. Joanna Sokolowski, filmmaker, joins us as well to talk about the 1 year anniversary celebration, Sat., Oct. 20, 2012, of Fired Up! a network of people who have been or are currently behind the walls of San Francisco county jail building community with others who are committed to breaking down the barriers those walls produce. For information visit http://firedupsf.wordpress.com/ At the event Sokolowski will screen Still Time, a short film chronicling the life of the first juvenile given a life sentence in CA, LaKeisha Burton, who will also be present at the event. Incarcerated at the age of 15 and released at 35, LaKeisha must start from scratch to rebuild her life, discovering that although being out of prison can be just as unpredictable as life inside, she can still find her way back home. The event tomorrow is from 6-8 p.m. Doors open at 5:45 p.m. The Clean Lounge is located at 1641 LaSalle Avenue, Bayview Hunters Point

We are broadcasting at 1 PM to accomodate special guests: Biko Eisen-Martin and Bowman Wright as Booth and Lincoln respectively in Suzan-Lori Parks's Topdog/Underdog directed by Timothy Douglas at the Marin Theatre Company which has been extended to October 28. Biko Eisen-Martin (Booth) makes his MTC debut with Topdog/Underdog. Originally from San Francisco, he has appeared in the Bay Area in Fuku Americanus at Intersection for the Arts, Radio Golf at TheatreWorks, 365 Plays/365 Days at Z Space, Patricide Revisited at SF Theatre Fest, Clockwork Orange at Renegade Theatre, All God Chillun Got Wings at the Eugene O’Neill Festival and Basha at Brookside Repertory Theatre. He has also appeared in the film Poetic License. Eisen-Martin is a graduate of the National Theatre Conservatory (MFA) and Brown University (BA/MAT). Bowman Wright (Lincoln) makes his MTC debut in Topdog/Underdog. He was last seen in A Raisin in the Sun at the Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, New York. His other regional credits include A Mids

Though PBS'sIndependent Lens aired Brad Lichtenstein's film As Goes Janesville last week, ITVS is hosting a free screening/discussion at the San Francisco Main Library tomorrow, Tues., Oct. 16, 5:30-6:30 PM. Join us this morning in conversation with director and filmmaker to talk about  "Janesville, Wisconsin: Paul Ryan's hometown." President of 371 Productions, a Milwaukee-based independent production company that makes documentaries, commercial work, technology projects and community engagement campaigns, the director has produced for FRONTLINE and Bill Moyers and the PBS series Local News. With New York based Lumiere Productions, he produced With God on Our Side: The History of the Religious Right; André's Lives, a portrait of the "Jewish Schindler"; The Discovery Channel's Safe, about domestic violence; PBS's Caught in the Crossfire, about three Arab New Yorkers after 9/11and the BBC/Court TV co-production of Ghosts of Attica, for which he was awarded a duPont. He made the ITVS film Almost Home, a PBS Ind

Deborah Vaughn, Latanya Tigner of Dimensions Dance Theatre, and choreographer, Herve Makaya, special guest choreographer, speak about Down the Congo Line II, Sat., Oct. 13, 2012, 8 p.m. at the Malonga Casquelourd Center for the Arts in Oakland, (510) 465-3363. Feasts of Words artists and programers, Anna Pulley (artist) & Lex Leifheist (host); Muisi-kongo Malonga joins us to talk about Congo Week; we close with feminist critic and writer, Silvia Federici who is in town this weekend in San Francisco.

Today we feature interviews with two artists: Billy Woodberry, director, Bless Their Little Hearts; The Pocketbook, both screening as a part of LA Rebellion at UC Berkeley Pacific Film Archivein Berkeley tonight at 7 PM. Visit bampfa.edu for tickets and information about the series which continues through Oct. 31. The director is flying up from Los Angeles and will be at the screenings. Billy Woodberry is an independent filmmaker who graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles Film/Television Department with an MFA in production. He has appeared in several films by Charles Burnett, Thom Anderson and James Benning. His works have screened at the Camera Austria Symposium, Harvard Film Archive, Human Rights Watch Film Festival and Museum of Modern Art. He has taught in the Art School and the Film/Video School at CalArts since 1989 and has been a member of the Board of the Film Forum, Los Angeles since 1998. Our first interview is with Navarasa Founder and Artistic Director: Dr. Aparna Sindhoor. Nava

We open the show with a conversation with Khary L. Moye, Michael Lange, Gift Harris, all cast from "A Soldier's Play," Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize for Drama (1982). (Fuller also founded the founder of the Afro-American Arts Theatre in Philadelphia, 1967). Directed by Abbie Rhone, the play, which opened Sept. 28 continues Friday-Sat., 8 PM, Sun. 3 PM in San Francisco at the Southside Theatre, Bldg. For tickets and information call: (510) 213-0401. We then shift to an archival interview with director, Robin Fryday, who speaks in Feb. 22, this year about "Barber of Birmingham," nominated for a Grammy. We close with an interview with Professor Manu Ampim about The Save Nubia Project. The classical African civilizations of ancient Kush and Nubia are in jeopardy of being permanently flooded by a series of dams along the Nile River in northern and central Sudan. Time is limited for Prof. Manu Ampim and his research team to document the remaining archaeological evidence before the flooding begins. The mission wil