Wanda's Picks Radio Show: Libations for the Ancestors Tribute

This morning we speak to organizers of the Global Simultaneous Libation for the Ancestors Saturday, June 14, 2014, 9 AM Pacific Time, 12 noon Eastern Time. Osei Terry R. Chandler, native NYer, arts activist, former radio host, father, and social worker with emphasis on rehabilitation, career counseling, community service, and alternative education administration, plus co-founder of the Charleston, SC, Remembrance with Deborah Wright, founded the Charleston Remembrance Committee in 1998 for the purpose of honoring our ancestors who perished DURING the Middle Passage; Helen Phillips or “Salako” is the libation pourer at the Charleston Ritual.  Born and raised in NYC, now residing in SC since 1991. She has been a midwife since 1998. She was initiated to Obatala in 1975. Chadra Pittman Walke, Hampton, Virginia,　Mother, Anthropologist, Writer, Advocate is the Founder & Director of 4 E.V.E.R and The Sankofa Projects and Chairperson of the ALLIANCE. Jerrie Spruce, Hampton, Virginia— Kemetic Priestess Auset AkuRa, Reiki Master, Interfaith Minister, Creatress of Candles and Zenora Botanical Arrangements, and Founding Member of The Sankofa Projects.  Brother Osakumi Jackson, Georgetown, South Carolina. This First Annual Middle Passage Remembrance is sponsored by the Ayida Wedo Drummers Society, Inc. Visit http://maafasfbayarea.com for a listing of the 2014 ceremonies.

Credit: Courtesy of Moores Memorial Library of Christiana

Forty-five years after the Christiana Riot, Samuel Hopkins and Peter Woods
returned to the scene for this photo.

Michael Gene Sullivan, playwright, actor, director, joins us to talk about his new work, fugitive/slave/act, a historical drama based on a true story from the turbulent days before the Civil War. Told in the form of a Greek tragedy, it follows the story of William Parker, the leader of a community of ex-slaves living free, and Edward Gorsuch, the slaveowner pursuing his "property," and who could not accept a world where he was not a master. The free performance is presented by Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and the Museum of the African Diaspora at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, 736 Mission St., San Francisco. Visit http://www.michaelgenesullivan.com/

For more about the story see: http://testaae.greenwood.com/doc_print.aspx?fileID=GR7967&chapterID=GR7967-292&path=books/greenwood and http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-109

Tangela Large (Ruby) and Tyee Tilghman (Cecil), cast from pen/man/ship, Christina Anderson’s World Premiere at The Magic Theatre in San Francisco through June 15, join us to speak about this otherworldly venture (in 1896) aboard a former whaling ship along a reverse Atlantic Trade. 

Regina E. Mason, Oakland native, is the great-great-great granddaughter of pioneering autobiographer William Grimes who wrote the first fugitive slave narrative in America, Life of William Grimes, the Runaway Slave. She is joined by Oakland veteran actor, director, playwright, Michael Lange who portrays Mr. Grimes in The Raw Truth, a stage adaptation of Mrs. Mason’s discovery of her ancestor and his accomplishments. The program is this weekend, Sunday, June 8, 2014, 1:45 p.m. at St. Benedict’s Church, 2245 82^nd Avenue, Oakland. Tickets are a discounted $20 with the mention of Wanda’s Picks Radio (smile).