Wanda's Picks Radio, Wed., Nov. 9, 2016

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. Cleavon Smith graduated from the US Naval Academy and Mills College. He is the writer of Vs., produced by TheatreFirst in their 2016-17 season. His short plays have been featured in the 2012 PlayGround and the 2015 Ohlone College Playwrights Festivals. He lives in Oakland and teaches in the English department at Berkeley City College."

2. Standing Rock Protest. Tiyesha Meroe, People's Community Medics. To help visit https://medichealercouncil.com/donate/

3. Mark Harris, artist joins us to speak about his recent work and an exhibit opening Friday, Nov. 11, 6-9 at CIIS in San Francisco. His artist talk is Nov. 16, 6 p.m. at CIIS, 1453 Mission Street: 

1. "Freedom isn't Free"
2. "American Exceptionalism - Same as it Ever Was"
3. "Silence = Violence No. 3"
4. "Home Sweet Home"

4. Keith Josef Adkins, playwright, Safe House, at Aurora Theater in Berkeley

Set in Kentucky in 1843, Safe House examines the lives of one free family of color and the tensions that arise between two brothers with conflicting aspirations. While one brother dreams of opening his own business, the other risks everything in an effort to help fugitive slaves escape on the Underground Railroad. Based on true events in the lives of his ancestors, Adkins tells a gripping story of love, freedom and survival against impossible odds.