Culture Currents

Prince Lasha wrote, performed - as saxophonist, flutist and clarinetist - and recorded his music all over the globe. He passed away Dec. 12.

I love the music of the innovative hip hop group 5 Star Generalz, from Oakland, Cali, because they are funny, creative and push the envelope on what Bay Area hip hop sounds like. They are like a mix between the Luniz, Digital Underground, and Cheech and Chong.

“The Talk” or “How to survive while Black” is given at one point or another to all young Black men. It is filled with different pointers and suggestions on how to handle police encounters when you are walking, driving or just breathing while being an African American. My mother gave my younger brother and me the talk several years ago when we turned 12, and 15 years later I gave it to my “little brother” M, a young man that I am mentoring.

At a recent event that I attended at the African American Art and Culture Complex, I had my first experience with virtual reality. Virtual reality technician Shawn Alston has set up a virtual reality lab, where the participant gets a chance, in the 10-minute presentation, to grow from a seed to a tree.

The SF Bay View is holding a fundraiser! Come and meet the grandson of Malcolm X, Hajj Malcolm Shabazz, on his speaking tour hosted by the Minister of Information JR.

COME WALK WITH ME – south, across the busy intersection of Third and Williams to Carroll. FINALLY, A COMMUNITY DREAM REALIZED! Groundbreaking Ceremony, Saturday morning, March 1, kicked off the long anticipated building of the NEW DR. GEORGE W. DAVIS Senior Center and Housing to be completed by 2015. The sight and sounds of trucks hauling material, tractors, drilling. Sounds of PROGRESS – JOBS! JOBS!

The Internet has opened up a whole new world of bargain shopping in which just about any product or service can be obtained online. There are deals being offered via email and the Internet that often seem too good to be true; and while there are tremendous deals online, there are just as many scams out there that even the most savvy Internet user should be aware of to avoid being ripped off.

Baba Jahahara exalts the names of our new Ancestors, denounces the failures of COP 26, uplifts the ever-closer-reality of Reparations and victories for Freedom.

I have known Umi for a good half a decade and he has been a major supporter of the POCC's Code of Culture all around the country, whether it was assisting now political prisoner Aaron Patterson when he was on the streets with the many campaigns that he was involved in, or whether it is him giving comrades moving through New York a place to lay their heads.

President Obama delivered the eulogy Thursday for our beloved Dr. Dorothy Height. Dr. Height never did receive the mainstream recognition that she more than deserved, so I am proud that my president lifted her legacy for all America and the world to see and honor.

I was recently politickin’ in Atlanta with the radio broadcast legend Tenisio aka Dj 4th Wurld of WRFG, who specializes in playing rap music from the continent of Africa. African rappers from the continent are waiting in the shadows for their shot, and Dj 4th Wurld is working the door, giving only the dopest a seat on his radio show.

MacArthur Fellow Lateefah Simon, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, will deliver the keynote address at the Fifth Anniversary Dinner and Awards Ceremony of the Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI).

The Lower Bottom Playaz, Oakland’s premiere North American African theater company, under the direction of Ayodele Nzinga, in collaboration with OYNX, will present staged readings of “Zara’s Faith,” a play by physician-activist Marc Sapir, on June 6 and 7. “Zara’s Faith,” set in a city that could be Oakland or any inner city in America, unfolds around the police shooting of two unarmed brothers on their way to meet friends.

Actor Dameion Brown, playing the title role in the Marin Shakespeare Company’s production of “Othello,” is getting standing ovations since the production started. Still in previews, Brown has with this role seen a dream come true. Since the MSC production of “Othello” opened Aug. 26 for previews, we learn that Brown is a formerly incarcerated or convicted person (FICP), just released after serving 23 years of a life sentence.

“There would be no New Orleans music without Haiti. It has been one of the most important influences going back 200 years.” – Ben Jeffe, Preservation Hall Jazz Band

“Bit” is a 34-minute short comedy, directed by Morgan Mathews, about a young Black tech entrepreneur, Houston, and his ambition to create a start-up around his trivia game app, “Jambo.” The film, set mostly in downtown Oakland, is on the post-racialism fringes of the ever-growing Silicon Valley.

Stay enlightened with Baba Jahahara Amen-RA Alkebulan-Ma’at sharing new transitions, remembrances, congratulations, celebrations, victories and heads-up new and ongoing actions.

“It’s a night of Black Power to honor the people doing the work right now,” said Allyssa Victory, the night’s master of ceremony.

The night at the Crucible was filled with creativity, fire performances and a bit of raunch.

It's first Friday and the holiday season is in full swing. The usual first Friday haunts are hosting late night events: the Oakland Museum of California on 10th and Oak Street, Joyce Gordon Gallery on 14th Street near Broadway. Sister Souljah is in town.