Wanda's Picks Radio Show, Wed., Feb. 20, 2019

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. Ricki Stevenson, founder of Black Paris Tours, has served as its creative thinker and CEO since its inception in 1998.  She dreamed of life in Paris at three years old, when her mother, a former professional dancer, took her to see Josephine Baker perform in Los Angeles and later, at ten years old when her Mom took her to hear James Baldwin speak on Stanford Campus. Ricki says the idea for Black Paris Tours grew out of traveling the world as a television travel reporter...becoming a person of the WORLD...always looking and finding more Black history outside than at home!! http://www.blackparistour.com/

2. Bryant B. Bolling holds a M.A. degree in African-Centric Musicology and a B.S. degree in Music Education. He joins us along with Mr. Jones, accompanist, and Zakiyyah Capehart Bolling, poet, to talk about TuBeNu Productions' "I Too Sing America – A Musical Journey through Slavery" for Black History Month 2019 at the Altenheim, 1720 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, Feb. 22, 7 p.m.  It is a free event. Mr. Bolling portrays the life of Joshua, a newly emancipated man, who was forced into chattel slavery for more than 30 years. Mr. Bolling incorporates the use of the Negro Spirituals and poetry by Langston Hughes, Claude McKay and Countee Cullen. This narration recounts Joshua’s 
early life in Africa, his journey through the Middle Passage and the time he  lived in Tolbert County, Maryland, as an enslaved person. The presentation ends with Joshua escaping to join the Union Army two years before the end of the Civil War. Over 70 slides of the African-American experience will support Mr. Bolling's presentation.

Dr. Francis

Devin Cunningham, actor

3.  Jacqueline Francis, Ph.D., joins us to talk about "Black Refractions Symposium at MoAD-SF," Sat., Feb. 23, 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM. She is the author of Making Race: Modernism and “Racial Art” in America (2012) and a co-editor of Romare Bearden: American Modernist (2011).  She teaches US art history and researches critical questions about minority identities represented in historical and contemporary visual cultures in the Americas and Europe.  She is Associate Professor and Chair of the Graduate Program in Visual and Critical Studies at the California College of the Arts (San Francisco).  

Thomas Simpson, Actor

4.  Actors, Devin Cunningham and Thomas Simpson join us to talk about Black Eagles at AA Shakes

Devin A. Cunningham is an actor from Oakland, California who studied acting at PCPA- Professional Actor Training  Program. He is excited to be working on his third production with African-American Shakespeare Company. Some of his favorite credits include: Richard III, African-American Shakespeare Company, Cinderella, African-American Shakespeare Company, and The Toilet by Amiri Baraka. 

Thomas Robert Simpson, actor, director, producer, and writer, 
is the founder and artistic director of AfroSolo Arts Festival. 
Since 1991 he has concentrated on presenting Black art and 
culture through solo performances and the visual and literary 
arts.

For the past twenty-four years Simpson has produced the  award-winning  AfroSolo Arts Festival.  He has also  showcased celebrity artists such as award-winning actor Ruby Dee, comedian and political activist Dick Gregory, beloved teacher, poet and social activist June Jordan, sensational black gospel singer Emmit Powell,  along with hundreds of local theatre, dance and visual artist. 

 Mr. Simpson won a coveted Bay Area Jefferson Award for Public Service in 2006. In 2009 he was awarded a Certificate of Honor from the San Francisco Board of Supervisor.  Over the years has received awards from San Francisco AIDS Foundation’s Black Brothers Esteem Program, The Reggie Williams Achievement Award, the Oakland Supper Club to name a few. Since 2006 Mr. Simpson has also used AfroSolo’s Community Engagement program to focus on important issues in the black community, such as: health, justice and education.

Related Event:

The Black History Month Blacks in the Military Exhibition has been extended to February 28, 2019. The Hours are 1:00 PM to 8:00 PM Mondays through Sundays- Veteran’s War Memorial Building- 401 Van Ness Avenue- Veteran’s Gallery- Room 102. Visit http://alwmcsf.org/gallery/2019-black-history 

Show link:  http://tobtr.com/11191923