DNA on NPR

So in keeping w/ my recent policy of irregularly posting old news (ahem), here's a link to an interview I did a few weeks ago with WBUR's Here & Now. Now having lived in Boston for 50 odd years (give or take a few decades) it was super cool to talk to the folks I used to listen to every day about what on earth I've been up to lately.  In this case we were talking citizen-journalism & the way we roll w/ new-media at The Stream on Al Jazeera. It's definitely a new day in the relationship between those who report the news & those who "are" the news. Check it out & shout outs to all of you who tweeted me about hearing it live! ;)

D.N.A

Streaming Saturdays 7/9/2011

Saturday is here and that means it is time a LIVE edition of The Experience. This week the President took to Twitter for a Town Hall Meeting, talk of The Economy was big in the news along with the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and the wild and wacky world of Airline Security. We'll be talking about all of that and more with some special guests including T-Boz of TLC fame who will talk with us about the importance of Bone Marrow Donation. And as always we need YOU to take part in the discussion.

To add your voice to the mix, give us a shout at 866-677-2496 or on Twitter or Facebook where you can chime in on some of the questions we'll be asking on the air.

It all starts at 12 noon ET (9am PT) - see you then!! 

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Streaming Saturdays 3/26/2011

Hey Hey it's Saturday!! We are on the air LIVE bringing you the news and issues of the world with the flavor and spice of DNA added in. We'll start by acknowledging the one year anniversary of Health Care Reform and of course we'll examine the situation in Japan and some of the rising criticism of President Obama's Libya Strategy including what some are calling a flip-flop of Kerry proportions by none other than Newt Gingrich. We'll tackle some questions on parenting and some interesting stories that popped up this week around immigration.

For more background info you can get the scoop on the stories D has been reading all week over at Reddit.

As always we expect the discussions to be very LIVEly. Be sure to add your voice to the mix, give us a shout at 866-677-2496 or on Twitter or Facebook .

It all starts at 12 noon ET (9am PT) - see you then!! 

Pride of Africa

Photo: AFPWe came.  We played.  We conquered.

Strange words for me to utter in the wake of Ghana's stunning defeat by penalty kick in their World Cup quarter-final match against Uruguay.  I would be lying if I said the taste of this loss was not still bitter on my tongue; my senses dulled by the doused hopes and quelled elation of a match lost a heartbeat from history.  I came home directly after the game to find my cell, SMS & Twitter exploding.  I couldn't answer any of them.  I laid down & slept a fitful sleep of disbelief.

And then I awoke.  My heart is still heavy but I can't escape another tide of emotion rising within me.  My ears still ring with the thunderous shouts, cheers & vuvuzela blasts of the crowd that joined me at a local pub here in LA to watch the match.  Of the seething mass of people in the room I could only see one other person who was clearly Ghanaian, and yet the room erupted with explosions of sonic support every time the Black Stars appeared poised to make history.

As I rose this evening post-pout (almost), it occurred to me that in fact they have.  I have never been in a room full of Americans of every stripe, shouting so loud and so proud for anything African in my life.  The closest I can imagine is at the closing of shows I've played, or at the end of Broadway's brilliant production of "Fela! The Musical."  But this was different.  It was not only the love of African artistry or culture that permeated that room.  It was an altogether new feeling.  A hope, a heaving spirit hewing for the success of Africa herself.  There was not a hint of charity in that room, nor a modicum of pity.  But flowing freely & fiercely was a palpable, pulsating and perhaps unprecedented sense of PRIDE.

If you're from Africa, if you've been to the continent, you know that when we speak of African pride, the measure of what we speak far outweighs the constant dismal portrayals of the continent.  A few years ago I created this video in homage to that sense of African Pride - an ode to we who would never give up on our Sweet Mother:

We who know Africa hold her dear to our hearts, in dogged defiance at her constant dismissal as a lost cause by those who would rather judge than acknowledge the ongoing progress that is happening on the continent.  Indeed in this day, even the mainstream engines of media & opinion are beginning to declare the new day that is dawning there.

Years ago I decided that I would use my artistry in service of the world and that I would seek to tell the other sides of the African story, so that others could feel the sense of wonder, love and commitment I feel to the people of Africa.  Today I felt that love come crashing back over me in waves.  I've said for a long time, that there is profound hope for the future of our Sweet Mother Afrika.  Today, through the courageous play of the Ghanaian national team - the literal embodiment of the Pride of Africa in World Cup 2010 - I felt that hope in the hearts of my fellow Americans.  And for that Black Stars, I thank you.

You came.  You played.  And indeed...you conquered.

Black Stars Forever