Tag: African American Art and Culture Complex

I would like to wish all the fathers a blessed and happy Fathers’ Day 2012. It is a hard time to be a parent of a youngster, not to mention an adolescent or youth. The challenges are great, in direct proportion to the rewards. I’d like to congratulate the young fathers who are stepping up and participating in their children’s lives, especially when society equates parenting with one’s largess or paycheck.

Sobonfu Somé, West African healer, says that when people die and become ancestors, they get smarter and often try to repair any damage they may have made while in this physical form. Ancestors want to be busy making our lives better. She said we can call on them to intercede on our behalf when we are troubled.

When Martin Luther King was killed in Memphis, he was about to join the sanitation workers in their protest for a union and more decent wages. The movement for civil rights was taking hold in the North and America didn’t like it – so off with King’s head.

The resurrection of an artist such as Fela Anikulapo Kuti, whose art and legacy define the words “larger than life,” is a pretty lofty goal for an art show. When it came time to show and prove, though, the opening of “Zombie: The Resurrection of Fela Kuti” on Oct. 7 at the African American Art and Culture Complex (AAACC) went far beyond expectations.

Pacifica radio station KPFA’s (94.1 FM) jazz programmer – or jazz activist, as he sometimes referred to himself – The Doug of Edwards has died, passing over on the early morning of Sunday, Sept. 19, 2010. On Saturday night 11 p.m.-1 p.m. for the past 30 years, he was heard live hosting his jazz show, Ear Tyme.

Set on the banks of the Mississippi during the Civil War, "…and Jesus Moonwalks the Mississippi" is a poetic journey of forgiveness and redemption inspired by the myth of Demeter and Persephone. This thought-provoking play combines traditional storytelling, gospel music and a wicked sense of humor to create a rich, imaginative world that allows trees to preach, rivers to waltz and Jesus to moonwalk. The run has been extended through April 25.