Wanda's Picks Radio Show

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. Dr. Lynne Morrow joins us to talk about James Weldon Johnson whose song or poem, Lift Ev'ry Voice is the Black National Anthem and is perhaps to become this year, the National Hymn. 

2. Audio from a Zoom interview with DeNeen Brown, awardwinning writer for the Washington Post. Her research and series of articles are the basis for "Rise Again: Tulsa and the Red Summer, directed by Dawn Porter. The film premieres on National Geographic Friday, June 18, 9 PM ET/PT and available to stream on Hulu the same day. Visit https://films.nationalgeographic.com/riseagain

3. We close with a conversation with two Tupac Shakur (June 16, 1971-Sept.13, 1996) scholars: Dr. Dawn Elissa Fisher & Dr. Dionne Bennett (9/11/20).

Music: Billy Harper's Knowledge of Self featuring Amiri Baraka; Tupac's Keep Ya Head Up; Committed's Lift Ev'ry Voice.