Wanda's Picks Radio Show, Nov. 25, 2020

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 begin with a show aired Nov. 26, 2008 featuring Rafael Jesus Gonzalez and Karla Brundage. We 
speak about Indigenous Rights and being Thankful.
 

We close with another show, first aired April 28, 2009. Today's show features: director, Tim Disney and subject, Regina N. Kelly, of the new film, "American Violet," which opens in the San Francisco Bay Area, Friday, May 1, 2009. There is a free screening Tuesday, April 28, 7 p.m. at the Metreon (4th and Mission Streets, San Francisco, 3rd level).

Our next guest is Jean Marie Teno, director of the new film, "Sacred Places," which looks at African Cinema and the FESPACO film festival on its 40th anniversary and questions its goals and objectives. The film screens several times at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

We close with an extended interview with Hon. Dr. Ra Un Nefer Amen 1, D.D., spiritual leader and founder of the Ausar Auset community, and author of the new novel: "Heru: The Resurrection."

Centennial Year

 Amos Tutuola, author of My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, would have been 100 this year, June 20. Born in Abeokuta, Nigeria, his work translates the experience of Africans in the Diapora through kidnap and enslavement resonates strongly today as the country speaks openly about presistence trauma as more and more sites are marked and the political and economic legacy attached to Black bodies is ennumerated. Governor Gavin Nusome signed bill to develop a team to investigate slavery's legacy in California and how the state could address the impact of ensalvement on its resident descendents. This with the push for the federal govenrment to enact the HR40 bill would make the work of N'COBRA finally a reality.  The timing is perfect given the recent Pan African Federalist Conference which is looking at organizing discussion across the regions here in North America, insluding Canada, as other regions host similar meetings to discuss and develop plans to shape this new nation, United African States by 2030. 

With Kamala Harris in such a powerful position, Bay Area born and raised, the potential for institutional change is perhaps more imminent than with predessessors. Who would have imagined first a Black man as president and then his vice president selecting a Black woman as his running mate. Pretty amzing. Pretty encouraging. The Howard University graduate is a woman with swag as she carries her African and South Asian ancestors legacies proudly. She was raised as a Black woman. It was an intentional choice her mother made. 

When I think about this year, also the centennial year for  Mrs.Henrietta Lacks, born August 1, 1920, the women best known for her immortal cells called HeLa. Take without permission from her body. When she died at 30 from uterine cancer, the cells extracted stayed alive and kept growing to the point that HeLa cells are everywhere. They dominate the research and have led to numerous cures for many diseases. John Hopkins sould rename a wing for her and the next postage stamp should bear her image and name. 

Lastly, I want to remember, Ms. Beah Richards, born July 12, 1920 in Vicksburg, Virginia, she had to leave town so would get killed, she was that outspoken. Racism was something she could not overlook or live with so her mom sent her to California after a time at Dillard University was unsatisfactory. She wasn't happy with the classicim there.  Her classic poem,