Martha Cinader talks with Davyne Dial, the General Manager of WPVM Radio in Asheville, NC, and Dr. Kim McMillon, from her writing den in Merced, California. Tony Robles reports from the Rise Up! Black History Celebration in Hendersonville NC, where he spoke with dancers Pam Suber and Alyeh Cady. Also, a trailer for the film “Goodie, Outlining an Invisible Man”produced by Omnific Pictures. Poetry about the tyrant King Leopold of Belgium based on King Leopold’s soliloquy by Mark Twain, and story at the end about an ancient African queen named Mella, adapted by permission from Merlin Stone, author of Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood, a Treasury of Goddess and Heroine Lore from around the World.
Some audio doctoring was don on this show by Dan Klink. The feature photograph is by Isabel Cutler. Original music is by Jay Rodriguez Sierra.
Next week we will hear Tony’s interview with Joe Tolaugon in California, author of Mestizo Through My Eyes, and a conversation with DJ Jeannie Hopper of Liquid Sound Lounge in New York City. Please join us then to listen and be heard, and spread the word!
- WPVM Radio
- Dr. Kim McMillon
- Rise Up! Black History Celebration in Hendersonville NC
- a trailer for the film “Goodie, Outlining an Invisible Man”
- Omnific Pictures
- King Leopold of Belgium
- King Leopold’s soliloquy by Mark Twain
- Mella
- Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood, a Treasury of Goddess and Heroine Lore from around the World
- A New Flame For Black Fire, by Ishmael Reed, New York Review of Books
00;00;07;12 - 00;00;19;09 Speaker 1 I would never in my wildest dreams have thought that I would end up in my retirement years running a community station. 00;00;21;25 - 00;00;31;16 Speaker 2 You know, I have not seen you in at least a long time. Yeah. Your voice is still calm and sweet. 00;00;31;22 - 00;00;39;26 Speaker 3 Oh, thank you. And you became a doctor, didn't you? Didn't you get your Ph.D. since I left the Bay Area? 00;00;39;27 - 00;00;42;17 Speaker 2 Yeah, I did. I love to be. 00;00;42;17 - 00;00;45;14 Speaker 3 Your regulator, even if it is a little late. 00;00;46;13 - 00;00;47;25 Speaker 2 Oh, that's all right. 00;00;48;22 - 00;01;14;28 Speaker 4 Okay, so this is listen and be heard, too. We are in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where we we're celebrating Black History Month, Black History Month. Rise up. Gee, I'm sorry. We can't hire and that's why. Is it because you're gone? My name is Cleven Goudeau and my nickname is Jerry Before Black is Beautiful. Before the Black Consciousness Movement. I drew cartoons without ever knowing that cartooning was a profession. 00;01;15;00 - 00;01;24;27 Speaker 1 If you're if you want to do something for the rest of your life, that's really interesting that starting a radio station would be one. One of the things that. 00;01;24;27 - 00;01;25;09 Speaker 5 Would. 00;01;26;07 - 00;01;29;14 Speaker 1 That would be fulfilling and it's such a learning curve. 00;01;29;29 - 00;01;31;07 Speaker 2 What are your poll numbers? 00;01;31;18 - 00;01;35;12 Speaker 1 WP WBBM 137 in Asheville, North Carolina. 00;01;35;22 - 00;01;38;19 Speaker 3 I'm 3.7 in Asheville, North Carolina. 00;01;38;19 - 00;01;44;11 Speaker 1 And we're and we're on the honor and we're global. WP AM FM a largely. 00;01;47;13 - 00;02;23;17 Speaker 3 Welcome to Listen and be heard. My name is Martha Senator and this is the Black History episode along with a little radio history and of course some poetry and even a story about an ancient African queen. We're going to start off with two separate conversations I had with Dave in Darwin, the general manager of WP Radio in Asheville, North Carolina, and Dr. Kim McMillan from her writing in Emerson, California. 00;02;24;11 - 00;02;56;08 Speaker 3 Tony Robles reports from the Rise of Black History celebration in Hendersonville, North Carolina. And we'll hear a short trailer for the film Good Outlining An Invisible Man by Omnivore Pictures, the uplifting music you hear right now. And we'll hear more of is by the multi-talented instrumentalist and composer Jay Rodriguez. Sierra in Brooklyn, New York, as always, please listen. 00;02;56;24 - 00;03;04;17 Speaker 3 And if you want to be heard, then get in touch at listen to be heard dot net and share your words. 00;03;05;28 - 00;03;10;26 Speaker 5 I'm down. 00;03;12;28 - 00;03;43;17 Speaker 1 We are a hundred watt station in Asheville, North Carolina. We are a city that is a high valley surrounded by granite mountains. And because we are a 100 watt station, generally that signal goes about three, three and a half miles. Whereas because of the granite mountain surrounding us, our signal bounces off of that and we are heard in a 20 mile radius around over Asheville and the and the communities around. 00;03;43;26 - 00;04;17;12 Speaker 1 We concentrate on broadcasting the art and culture of Asheville. But that's not all we do. We do bring in programing from Pacifica Network and also public radio exchange so that we fill in what because we have 168 hours a week to fill. We fill in over it. Good music and good music shows over and above our local people who come in and do shows for us and it's all volunteer. 00;04;17;21 - 00;04;18;25 Speaker 2 So it's all. 00;04;19;09 - 00;04;29;22 Speaker 1 Here. And that is a challenge because to find people who are able to do a show, we got to. 00;04;29;22 - 00;04;30;27 Speaker 2 Make the commitment. 00;04;31;06 - 00;05;03;01 Speaker 1 Make that commitment. I have come to realize these are very special people. They are generally people who have established a or created a knowledge base, number one. Number two, deep passion for whatever show their whatever their their show is going to be about. And they have the ability to consistently do that show and these are very rare people to be able to do this. 00;05;03;01 - 00;05;31;16 Speaker 1 And that's why in a small town like Asheville, which is 90,000 people with five stations that are stacked with volunteers, we have maybe 18 local deejays in show host. But the rest of the music shows that we have come from other areas and some other areas. People still specifically do shows for us because they want to do a show for W premium because of our reputation. 00;05;31;16 - 00;05;44;10 Speaker 3 Why? Why would somebody in this day and age want to have a low power station and not just say, you know, do podcasts in 24/7 from a website? 00;05;44;10 - 00;06;13;17 Speaker 1 I think it has to do with connection to the community. I think that that's the that is certainly what makes each station unique is that connection to their community. And so with podcasting, number one, I think it's you know, you could probably connect to the community, but you're not necessarily broadcasting the signal all over all over the city. 00;06;13;25 - 00;06;42;17 Speaker 1 But certainly I think that podcasting is the wave of the future for many people. But how do you distinguish yourself out there in the immense ocean of the podcasting world with getting to the top? Where you actually getting a bunch of listeners, you know, how do you how do you gain that? How do you get that listener numbers up there? 00;06;42;28 - 00;07;14;20 Speaker 1 And I've so so I think you have to have some kind of hook to start emerging from the gazillion podcasters that are out there. And it may be because you're able to market well or you're you're you you get some sort of there's got to be some kind of hook to raise you above all of the other podcasters in the world, all okay. 00;07;14;20 - 00;07;41;04 Speaker 4 So this is listen and heard TV. We were in Hendersonville, North Carolina, where we're celebrating black history, black History Month rise up. With me is Pam Suja, who did a wonderful, wonderful piece. It was a dance piece. Tell us about it. And the monologue and dance piece I did was called Mother the song by Langston Hughes, who was a poet that was in the Harlem Renaissance time. 00;07;41;13 - 00;08;08;29 Speaker 4 And just an inspiring piece. Not very long, but very inspiring because it is a mother encouraging her child. And we all need encouragement from time to time. Well, I know a lot of the black killings that have been happening across this country. Mothers have been really hit hard. So we. NICHOLS You know, the list goes on. Yes. And, you know, just tell us a little bit about, you know, your inspiration. 00;08;08;29 - 00;08;32;10 Speaker 4 I mean, Langston Hughes, you know, he's he's timeless. And, you know, how he's inspired who you are and how you hope people inspire, you know, people that come after his generation, you know, you know, and I was just thinking the whole Harlem Renaissance time was a time of birth and growth during that time. And we still are in that time now. 00;08;32;19 - 00;09;03;12 Speaker 4 Mother to son just color is like a love letter almost to you from a mother to children, not just sons, especially sons. With all that and that happens brutality against sons. But I love it because, you know, as I said, it encourages our children when when you get tired keep going. She kept on as as is this mother and this piece that Langston Hughes did and keep going don't fall. 00;09;03;17 - 00;09;28;13 Speaker 4 It might be dark but get up keep getting up and keep going. And thank you so much. And again, you know those those lines that, you know, way back when you know life as you know Chris despair. We always want for our children we want something better. And you know, not only is that a not only was it a letter from a mother to a son, but from a poem to a country to a world, you know, Anzac Day. 00;09;28;14 - 00;09;37;06 Speaker 4 Exactly. It still resonates with us today. So keep going and thank you so much, Harvey Black history and let's keep it going on, right? 00;09;37;06 - 00;09;40;04 Speaker 5 Yes. Yes. Yeah. 00;09;42;07 - 00;09;45;25 Speaker 6 You have to. 00;09;46;08 - 00;09;51;25 Speaker 5 Be pretty happy to say. Yeah, that. Yeah. 00;09;52;28 - 00;10;22;08 Speaker 2 That's right. And recently one of my plays for ages, which is a a similar musical reincarnation, was done at the theater and downtown was set and people were coming towards me and just really, really happy. And when I was younger, the show was done and Delacorte Playhouse, we paid a large amount of money there and the crew was an all white male crew crew for an Asian man. 00;10;22;12 - 00;10;49;00 Speaker 2 And we were treated less than. And I was really proud of myself because 37 years later, I wrote a letter to Zellerbach events saying what happened to us there? And they were very contrite and they apologized for the past. And I thought it was important because I said we were mostly a crew of color. 00;10;49;05 - 00;10;50;24 Speaker 5 La la la la, la, la. 00;10;52;15 - 00;11;24;14 Speaker 4 This is listening. Be heard. TV We're in Hendersonville, North Carolina. Black History Celebration Rise Up. We're here with Aliyah, who did a wonderful dance piece. Can you give us your first last name and then, you know, a little bit of information about the piece? Yeah. So my name is William Katie. And while the pieces improv, I had a couple parts of it choreographed beforehand just because I don't usually do acoustic, but it's all it's most of it is improv. 00;11;24;14 - 00;11;44;29 Speaker 4 I just kind of let the music move my MSN.com did requested the song that I do, and so I wanted to stay true to the vision she had for this event. You know, the spontaneity was really beautiful. I guess it sounds like, you know. How long have you been dancing? I have been dancing since. Oh, gosh. I was very young when I started. 00;11;45;15 - 00;12;09;01 Speaker 4 I am classically trained in ballet. Okay. But I do praise dance in my church was a crazy dance in my church. But I also do now. I do jazz and I also am being trained in pointe as well now. So, you know, for those of us listeners that aren't familiar with Gray's Dance, maybe if you can maybe talk about that. 00;12;09;09 - 00;12;37;08 Speaker 4 Yeah, so great dancers. It's also for me very spontaneous. All of my praise dance is improv and that is really just letting the Lord move me. And at that point I've learned that it's much better to do it that way than trying to choreograph, because sometimes choreographing dance can feel a little bit artificial. So I think it's always best to do what I feel in the moment, and I usually also pick the song spontaneously. 00;12;37;08 - 00;13;02;15 Speaker 4 It's whatever I feel like the crowd knew, Why are you doing it? You're doing a really good job and thank you so much. It was great talking to you again. Listen, as you heard that mic. Thank you, Amir. And, you know, just keep doing the good work that you doing. Thank you. Thank you so much. My work began to get noticed by the local paper, which was the Oakland Tribune. 00;13;02;15 - 00;13;28;01 Speaker 4 So they wrote to my editor and said, Whoever your cartoonist is, send him to the Oakland Tribune. We have a job for. Well, I go to the Tribune. Gee, I'm sorry we can't hire. And that's why I'm sad, because you're fired. Hi, my name is Colin Goodell and my nickname is Goodie Before Black and Beautiful Before the Black Consciousness Movement, I drew cartoons without ever knowing that cartooning was a profession. 00;13;28;02 - 00;13;45;26 Speaker 4 There were no cards or flags. People could go out and purchased. A black person sent a card to their family or a loved one. Usually it was a white card, but it may say what they wanted to say, but they'd have the color of the face. And my cards were the first positive image card to be produced at that time. 00;13;46;01 - 00;13;57;09 Speaker 4 My cards were extremely popular among the Black Panthers. When was the first time you ever bought a black card? Chances are it was my. 00;13;57;09 - 00;14;17;25 Speaker 1 That's why I did that no museum thing because I got in there and once I got past the original art, you got to figure out how to program the automation and get the people in there and get them trained on how to work with the board. Then I'm going like, Well, how does this happen? How does this radio thing even happen? 00;14;18;00 - 00;14;46;21 Speaker 1 Where did it come from? Whose idea was it? So that's why I did that little museum, because I did that. You know, I started going about, well, when did it first start? And it was start with Morse code. And, you know, Morse code was used to send out the signal that the Titanic was sinking. Well, up until that point, people didn't really have understand the significance of attaching a sound wave to an electromagnetic signal. 00;14;47;14 - 00;15;03;24 Speaker 1 And when that happened and the ships were able to come up, some ships were able to come to the Titanic and save people. That's when people started to realize, wait a minute, this is you know, this is just controlling your communication. Here are. 00;15;04;02 - 00;15;05;17 Speaker 7 Cold. 00;15;05;17 - 00;15;06;17 Speaker 3 Cruel. 00;15;07;16 - 00;16;30;24 Speaker 7 Cash cropping, crucifying, crazed King Leopold slaughtered and enslaved the people of a country he named the Congo Free State. Free to die, despair and decay for Leopold's sake, he paid priests and press to write about his missionaries emissaries, touting the clout of a piece of paper called the Congo Free Charter, signed in 1884 by the USA. For starters, followed by 13 European states meeting in Berlin, vowing to save the lost souls of the Congo from mortal sin and to protect each other's rights, to use, usurp freely and to share the. 00;16;30;24 - 00;16;31;13 Speaker 3 Loot. 00;16;32;20 - 00;16;40;07 Speaker 5 More or less equally. 00;16;40;07 - 00;18;42;15 Speaker 7 But Leopold was a king, wearing a cross around his neck. He believed everyone, everyone should genuflect to his divine right, to rob rape and rule. He took pleasure in playing Yankee, as is personal for the flag of the Congo free state that I say free was a pirate flag. It's fruitful domain king Leopold's private swag. Millions of men women and children named his slaves and by land, fire, starvation and mutilation taught to behave, rubber, ivory, exotica, European American erotica placed as a tax on the backs of the Africans by Leopold and his gang of hooligans, Leopold, the greatest benefactor of art in his time, his castle, a chapel and brothel combined ready to receive gifts 00;18;42;15 - 00;18;48;08 Speaker 7 at any time, and to practice cruelty upon the Queen. 00;18;48;28 - 00;18;54;25 Speaker 6 And her kind. 00;18;54;25 - 00;19;03;27 Speaker 7 Commander of a legion of men, each with a gun, each man accounting for each bullet with one right hand. 00;19;04;10 - 00;19;09;03 Speaker 6 Of the African man or woman. He shot the tax to. 00;19;09;03 - 00;19;29;15 Speaker 7 Be paid whether they were dead or not. And ocean of blood and tears. 20 million Africans in 20 years revolving each and every rubber tire funding. 00;19;29;15 - 00;19;32;25 Speaker 6 The art so admired here. 00;19;33;18 - 00;19;57;26 Speaker 7 And given the chance to kiss the cross when they fell so they wouldn't miss heaven after living in hell. 00;19;57;26 - 00;20;31;20 Speaker 2 I did it. I did it for myself because I realize that I don't want anyone, if any people in the theater who look at your group, who they're working with, if they're all the same race, and if they have to rent out Utah with people of color, make sure that you have people of color who you feel are qualified, of course, in your whole group, because we don't we don't live in a society where there's just one race for all people. 00;20;31;23 - 00;20;57;06 Speaker 2 And diversity should always be a part of that. And it's interesting, Zellerbach said. We're not like that anymore. They said that we're diverse. The thing that hurt me the most is the whole crew of videographers there. This one guy came up to me and said, You're not allowed to do that because we're a union house. And I said, What? 00;20;57;17 - 00;21;22;06 Speaker 2 We paid over 5000 for three days, so we have no record of the show with all these beautiful people who took part in it because one person decided he was going to be a racist that day and he'd been a racist before. But he did more. And so they told me that the whole crew is no longer there, but they're now diverse. 00;21;22;06 - 00;21;31;01 Speaker 2 And if people wanted the tape, they could, even though it's a union house now that too scared. 00;21;31;01 - 00;21;50;23 Speaker 3 To like do you feel like that had an impact at the time that kept you? I mean, obviously, if you were not able to document the performance, that in itself would made it very difficult for you to maybe move on to the next step with that play. Did it impact you in other ways where. 00;21;50;23 - 00;21;51;11 Speaker 2 You said the. 00;21;51;21 - 00;21;53;16 Speaker 3 Thing was a detriment to your. 00;21;53;16 - 00;22;49;12 Speaker 2 Career? The names we heard them call this inside the the insult. That's what was the most painful and and since they're no longer there, it wasn't about shaming anyone or anything. It was about changing attitudes, finding out that if, you know, this happened, even if the low was 37 years ago and we were all in our twenties and so full of the high of being at Zellerbach, as you see, superb is of space and people were shocked that we got it and so the ceiling that we were just on a high and to be called those names and to be not allowed to film what we considered a masterpiece and we felt it was all 00;22;49;12 - 00;23;00;25 Speaker 2 due to race and to have a company apologize for the bad behavior, even if it was 37 years ago. And sure is that there's real change. 00;23;01;17 - 00;23;04;11 Speaker 3 And how how did they do that? How did they apologize? 00;23;04;25 - 00;23;42;11 Speaker 2 They sent the heads of Zellerbach. They sent my letter around to the people there and Zellerbach. And then they wrote me a long letter telling me all the changes that they had made and they were horrified that it actually happened there at the Playhouse. They it was they said it's just horrific. And I felt I felt like maybe it was more important that it happened 37 that I made a statement about it 37 years later, because perhaps it wouldn't have been heard if it was earlier. 00;23;42;11 - 00;24;10;05 Speaker 2 You just never know. And so as a person who went in there, Zellerbach Playhouse in 1987, I felt very comfortable and assured that whoever goes in there now would not experience what I experienced and what my crew experienced. And so that was beautiful as far as I was concerned, and that's what I needed. I think it was a part of my healing process to realize that the world is changing. 00;24;10;05 - 00;24;17;25 Speaker 2 You know, I write about change. 00;24;17;25 - 00;25;04;27 Speaker 1 I, I tend to want to present a lot of good music shows because the world is so scary right now that I want to get the news and the commentary and the kind of shows that deal with current events. I want to get those done in the morning and then have good music the rest of the day because we need the breaks from from what's going on in the world. 00;25;10;01 - 00;25;14;28 Speaker 3 You're a poet and a writer and editor. Yes. 00;25;16;11 - 00;25;55;17 Speaker 2 I edited the anthology Black Fire this time. It was a write up at the end of January or maybe early February in the New York, the New York Review Book Review and Ishmael Reed wrote it. And the last of the article, they talked about the work that I do and the support I receive. And was that gratifying? It was very gratifying because it was on a like an international level and it was hopefully to spread more information on the black arts movement. 00;25;55;17 - 00;26;39;21 Speaker 2 And also the idea that African-American women are making strides in this world, which sometimes doesn't always see them. You know, there's a feeling in this that this African-American women, I think that women in general sometimes have a feeling of not being seen or heard or heard is like when people you know, even though I like Don Lemon when he recently said that a politician was not in her prime, and I thought, you know, why are we judged with how like that what? 00;26;39;27 - 00;27;04;27 Speaker 2 Even though this is not a politician, I would ever vote for is still a woman, you know? Right. Right. And and so hopefully society is learning that we really have to see the people are just in the moment for what they bring to the table rather than how they look or what their race is or gender or comparison or. 00;27;04;27 - 00;27;12;00 Speaker 2 Yeah. And compare them to other people. Well, she's okay. But this person, we've got to see that person right in front of you. 00;27;12;04 - 00;27;14;20 Speaker 3 Where they are at that moment in time. 00;27;14;29 - 00;27;15;24 Speaker 2 And how. 00;27;15;24 - 00;27;22;18 Speaker 3 They got there and what their struggle is. Because everybody has a struggle. 00;27;22;18 - 00;27;22;29 Speaker 2 Right. 00;27;22;29 - 00;27;25;17 Speaker 3 And people we think aren't struggling. 00;27;26;00 - 00;27;56;26 Speaker 2 And. Yes, and that same woman who, you know, racism in you know, in America afterwards was to me and for culture to go back to your own country. Well, yeah, I is this woman was born in the United States. There's so many levels where we as people need to understand the importance of kindness and the importance of seeing people. 00;27;57;05 - 00;28;36;26 Speaker 2 And one of the things I write about is seeing past the pictures, the past, the the assumptions of what you think this person, person, and then going to the essence of who they are as far as they're willing to show through conversations, through the learning about each other, through just taking a moment and listening. And and honestly, when we were all younger and you had your your all these wonderful arts programs, I listen and be heard. 00;28;37;12 - 00;28;59;23 Speaker 2 One of the things I loved about you is that you offered that you offered a platform for people to just be heard. I thought that was one of the most beautiful things about you, that willingness, you know, to support others. 00;29;01;03 - 00;29;38;02 Speaker 3 Well, thank you, Kim. That's the whole purpose of reinventing. Listen and be heard once again down here in the South after my divorce and just taking stock of, you know, who I was, who I am. Yes, maybe what type of legacy I might leave and listening and being heard. It sounds simple, but simple things sometimes or basic things. 00;29;38;10 - 00;29;38;21 Speaker 3 Right. 00;29;39;19 - 00;29;40;17 Speaker 2 Exactly. 00;29;41;24 - 00;30;02;11 Speaker 3 We need we need to learn how to do that in order to help each other through, you know, what you're describing. Like what are some of the pictures we see and assumptions we make about women and black women in particular who. 00;30;02;20 - 00;30;28;26 Speaker 2 You know, the idea that we're oversexed, you know, I think we've been sexualized. I think that we have not always been seen. And I also think that there are assumptions about what is Black Lives Matter. 00;30;28;26 - 00;30;31;00 Speaker 5 But I'm never I know. 00;30;31;05 - 00;31;04;00 Speaker 3 You've been listening to Dave and I talk about running community radio station WP AM in Asheville, North Carolina. You also heard Dr. Kim McMillan talking about her experiences as a playwright, poet and writer Toni Robles spoke with Pam Suber and Alicia Cady, dancers at the Rise of Black History event at Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina. 00;31;04;25 - 00;31;32;06 Speaker 3 You also heard a film trailer provided by Omnivore Pictures about the prolific artist Cudi, who was also my mentor. When we both lived in Vallejo, California. I was publishing Listen to Be Heard Arts Weekly at the time, and he provided the wisdom of his vast experience in publishing and advertising. He was also the nicest man you ever wanted to meet. 00;31;33;16 - 00;32;07;10 Speaker 3 You also heard King Leopold from my C.D. Living It, which I wrote after reading King Leopold Soliloquy by Mark Twain. That piece was so controversial at the time that he wrote it that his wife would not allow him to publish it during his lifetime because of the financial troubles they were experiencing. It was published posthumously, and although no one ever told you to read it in school, you probably should anyway. 00;32;08;09 - 00;32;28;00 Speaker 3 And now we will hear a little more from both Davin and Kim. And then the story of an ancient African queen named Mela, which is the origin of the python as a medical symbol of God. 00;32;30;16 - 00;33;06;11 Speaker 2 I, I wrote my first home back when I was, I think, nine years old. It won a poetry contest. I'm your first reading. Yeah. Poetry contest for the school? That's right. I was very thrilled and shocked. The name of the poem was a Fly Goes By. This poem is called The Mask. I just wrote it one day. You know, you have this feeling and it goes, I take it off. 00;33;06;29 - 00;33;41;17 Speaker 2 Only when it is safe. When I'm alone in bed. Lovers drawn, eyes closed. Shadows surrounding me, begging to be seen behind closed eyes, seeking to understand this world is out of focus. Pictures, colors, flash, red lines against black. I see realms that are that are only in my dreams. I search. I wish for greater love, a better life. 00;33;42;08 - 00;34;36;14 Speaker 2 The feeling that I am safe. I am nurture. I am home. This world in my dreams. Covered in other people's dreams. And other people's nightmares and others fears. Where am I in these dreams? Where am I in this world? I remember waking to this life awareness that I was in a body, realizing I was by myself and I was black and I was female and disconnected from my home, from my family, living on this earth, questioning why I was here, what I needed to do to get home, to be loved, to be cherished, to human, to see earth as home, to forget that I am only a visitor to no longer home, for hope, for 00;34;36;21 - 00;34;50;15 Speaker 2 home. Over and over again I will repeat until I can believe the words I am not a visitor. This is home. 00;34;51;28 - 00;35;01;25 Speaker 1 When all else fails, the internet in your power radio is still there and it's broadcasting a free signal. 00;35;02;06 - 00;35;03;06 Speaker 3 You don't have to pay. 00;35;03;15 - 00;35;29;15 Speaker 1 You don't have to pay. Right. And and and we're required by the federal government to put out emergency alerts of anything that's happening. When we had the flood two years ago, two and a half years ago, it was August. Our emergency alert system in a matter of 5 hours went out, went off 12 times, warning about flash floods that were happening. 00;35;29;15 - 00;36;08;24 Speaker 1 And sure enough, it wiped out anything that was close to the river over there down below Rodman and above Canton. So it was serious. It has been a eight year learning curve. It has been challenging. It has been upsetting at times. Whenever I was in, especially in the beginning of it, and I didn't understand that radio attracts the best people and the worst people. 00;36;09;01 - 00;36;09;09 Speaker 4 In the. 00;36;09;09 - 00;36;10;15 Speaker 2 World. 00;36;10;15 - 00;36;29;07 Speaker 1 And so and so I went through the learning curve of dealing with the worst people. But aside from having to deal with the worst people, it has been a very rewarding experience and a fun experience and I thoroughly enjoy it. 00;36;30;26 - 00;37;10;00 Speaker 7 Nestled inside deep, deep green, under bright, bright sun, there were a people living all together in the homes made of reeds from the riverbank and fibers cleverly woven in. It was a tribe, a nation of people with everyone represented. Big, small, smart, generous, greedy, talented, happy, sad and intellectual. They were the Butera Bar borrowers. They worshiped the divinity of the moon, but were R&B and lived, died and left ancestors who eat, breathe, laugh and love. 00;37;10;00 - 00;37;44;13 Speaker 7 Today, in a place on the map called Zimbabwe. The honorable king of these proud, peace loving people, father of one daughter and many sons, was lying inside his hut. Too weak to walk out the door and take a look around. His devout and devoted daughter was in despair to see him looking so ready to die. Her name was Miller and she loved her father with every curve of her heart. 00;37;44;13 - 00;38;06;16 Speaker 7 Beautiful fruits of the land, prayers of the heart, sweet notes of pipes and whistles, big drums, little drums and talking drums had been offered on behalf of their respected leader. Every wise healer who had the knowledge of Mother Earth in her hands, the plants of the forest in her mind, the language of bom harambee on her tongue had been consulted. 00;38;07;22 - 00;38;37;22 Speaker 7 Miller couldn't enjoy life. Her father was always on her mind. She walked into the jungle one night carrying old age and her young, strong and proud heart. She looked up at a shimmering crescent moon and called upon the merciful and enchanting bow marama, who always watches and waits for when she is needed. Suddenly, leaves started trembling in a radiant reflection, and Miller heard a thought in her brain that wouldn't go away. 00;38;39;04 - 00;38;58;16 Speaker 7 You must go to the bi thorn healer whose heart started ticking faster. Her lungs started a new rhythm. She turned and squirmed and couldn't sleep, just thinking of the dreaded python healer. Her brothers had been there and, tried to tell everyone about it, but couldn't, on account of their teeth chattering so much from fright, they couldn't say anything anyone could understand. 00;38;59;29 - 00;39;25;02 Speaker 7 When the sun came up, she hadn't slept for half a second still before the first babe cried for milk. She filled her little elephant eyed pouch with nuts and headed for the foot of the mountain through deepest jungle. Ferns tickling her ears, rivers testing her strength, climbing over rocks, sleeping in strange groves and looking the big animals in the bushes in the eye. 00;39;25;20 - 00;40;00;07 Speaker 7 She went from around me, showed for different aspects of her face a mellow war, scars from the journey on the soles of her feet. But she thought only of her father clinging to life. Then she saw it carved smack dab into the solid rock entrance of a deep, dark cave, a serpent spiral. The sign of the python healer, the thinnest crescent moon dimly lit the night sky well before she couldn't sleep. 00;40;00;18 - 00;40;21;29 Speaker 7 Now she could hardly breathe from fear. Only a double dose of love made moved her to face the giant python healer in the darkness of his own case. She took a deep breath for courage, another one for a little more, and a third one to chase and make little sound from between her lips and hear it echo inside the cave. 00;40;23;23 - 00;40;47;06 Speaker 7 I have been sent to you by Pomo Rompuy. I humbly beseech or mercy and beg you to cure my Father whose major malady has left us lost and deep in sorrow. Little birds all woke up and were waiting to see what would happen. The next second lasted longer than the four days it had taken to reach that fateful spot. 00;40;48;10 - 00;40;59;05 Speaker 7 Suddenly, in the darkness, she saw a pair of slit eyes and heard a voice that straightened her hair and set her heart to fluttering like a hummingbird. 00;41;00;11 - 00;41;05;18 Speaker 6 Your bravest brother is. I have already. 00;41;05;18 - 00;41;15;03 Speaker 5 Seen my great ass Sam's head in terror. Aren't you afraid I might, too. 00;41;15;25 - 00;41;50;24 Speaker 7 And leave your beautiful bones lying around my cave here. My bones are rattling in their sockets, trying to run away. But I've got this powerful beating in my heart called love, making me stay great and respect to Python healer. I am sent by Birmingham. You answered my earnest prayers. You, in your greatness, can do what no one else can for men who no one talks bad about and is too young to die yourself. 00;41;52;02 - 00;42;04;06 Speaker 2 Simple. Oh, this is a small part and mighty panacea of me. Would you be. 00;42;04;06 - 00;42;05;04 Speaker 7 Willing to turn. 00;42;05;04 - 00;42;07;20 Speaker 5 Your back and allow me to. 00;42;09;11 - 00;42;21;13 Speaker 7 Slide right up to Mother? Had no time to waste wondering what was on his mind. She turned without a word and peered into the darkness of the watchful. 00;42;21;13 - 00;42;26;03 Speaker 6 And waiting jungle. Yeah. I love. 00;42;26;17 - 00;42;28;03 Speaker 5 More powerful. 00;42;28;03 - 00;42;31;10 Speaker 7 Than your fear of me. 00;42;31;16 - 00;42;35;10 Speaker 5 Would you allow me to wrap myself. 00;42;35;18 - 00;42;39;03 Speaker 6 Around you as I. 00;42;39;03 - 00;42;40;07 Speaker 5 Would if I were going. 00;42;40;07 - 00;42;45;21 Speaker 7 To each. I did. 00;42;48;01 - 00;43;13;16 Speaker 7 All the little animals she had greeted along the way started calling to Mela, chipping, whistling and snorting warnings that she was in a no win situation. She stood still as a pillar of stone while by Thornhill rode his giant body around her little frame. Together they looked like an alien beast with long legs and a pretty face for birds on the other end, eating more than 10,000 delicious dinners in his life. 00;43;13;28 - 00;43;51;11 Speaker 7 But Melas stood straight and started walking back to her father. She had to dip deep down into a place in her soul she didn't even know existed. To find the strength. When she pulled the dipper out. She found a song. Mela started singing and walking the birds spread the word. And soon all the animals turned out to sing in the chorus of an Improvizational Full Moon concert, where the wild night sounds had everyone back in their heads feeling a little jumpy, wondering what was going on out there, who would lead them and where was Mela? 00;43;52;06 - 00;44;13;28 Speaker 7 Meanwhile, Melas brothers were having a private hang up in the woods over who would wear his father's shoes. When the beast with the long legs and the pretty face appeared. Well, the brothers ran for their arrows and spears and went to stop the beast who was heading for their father's hut. But then the bees started talking and the people listened. 00;44;15;08 - 00;44;34;29 Speaker 7 It's a little old, me Mela, inside the mighty python healer. Whatever you do, don't hang us up now. I've just barely made it to bring my father what he needs the most. Well, you could have heard a nut fall off a tree as far away as the mountain. Old eyes, middle aged eyes and babies followed Mela and Python healer into the hot. 00;44;36;27 - 00;45;09;25 Speaker 7 Soon they smelled a strange and soothing perfume in the air, and they heard a song so old they had forgotten it, even in their subconscious minds. Well, Mela did every little thing Python healer instructed her to do, but still her hair curled back up when her father popped up, strolled to his door and took a look around. He was grateful for such a simple pleasure after many moons of misery and offered exquisite gifts, delicious foods and exciting rhythms in thanks. 00;45;11;02 - 00;45;37;23 Speaker 7 But Python healer had done what he had come to do and didn't have anything more to say. Not even one word. The time to go was now and Mela knew it. So while everyone feasted, Mela slithered away, allowed Python healer to wrap himself around her and carried him back to his damn dark cave. Well, the all time python healer was hitching his ride. 00;45;38;02 - 00;45;57;22 Speaker 7 He didn't say one word to Mela, not one little sound even. But now he invited her into his case. And who? The little bird started telling her that just because she trusted him once didn't mean she should trust him twice. After all, the snake is a snake and a hungry one needs to eat. But Sarah was like an old friend. 00;45;57;22 - 00;46;11;03 Speaker 7 Now to Mela, the kind you ignore. Sometimes when he starts telling you the same old story you heard many times before. She took three steps to the darkness and saw glowing. 00;46;13;05 - 00;46;31;17 Speaker 7 She was sure she would see skeletons laying around the floor and she wasn't sure she wanted to see them. But she opened her eyes and saw parts of gold and silver baskets of ebony and ivory jewels cut to perfection in intricate tapestries, woven with silken threads. Mellow was. 00;46;31;17 - 00;46;32;19 Speaker 5 Amazed. 00;46;33;21 - 00;47;05;18 Speaker 7 But her. We really got turned around when Python healer told her to take what she wanted because her courage and love should surely be rewarded. Mela thought it was Python healer who should be rewarded, but she didn't want to disagree. She obviously couldn't offer him anything he didn't already have. So finally, she asked Python healer to pick a gift for her and without even hesitating for a second, he laid on her a golden crescent moon hanging on a golden chain. 00;47;06;26 - 00;47;34;21 Speaker 7 Well, now, Melanie, for sure, the python healer was her friend. The symbol match, the one she always wore and had touched to call upon the merciful boma rhumba. Her brothers were jealous right away to see her walk so tall and proud. Greed came in through the front door of their hearts and spoke right to their minds. Soon they got to thinking that if Python healer happened to disappear, they could take his treasures. 00;47;35;07 - 00;47;56;22 Speaker 7 Next, they got to talking about it. Mama heard them whispering and couldn't believe what her ears were telling her. They wanted to knock off the healer who would return their father to them. She ran to the sign of the spiral to warn her friend and apologize for being part of the same treacherous family. And she waited for the python healer to speak. 00;47;57;20 - 00;47;58;28 Speaker 3 But it didn't go. 00;48;00;14 - 00;48;28;19 Speaker 7 When the brothers arrived, they were greeted by a few loud explosions, puffs of weird smelling colored smoke and a hologram of the monster of their nightmares. They ran all the way home and tried to join everyone for dinner like nothing had happened. But Mela had grown strong, carrying Python healer and got there before they did. Now, in those days, if you couldn't live by the law, then you had to make it in the jungle for the rest of your life. 00;48;29;07 - 00;49;06;26 Speaker 7 And that's what happened to Melo's brothers. Melo's father lived to see Miller's kids have kids. And when he finally passed on peacefully, the people unanimously appointed Miller as their queen. Queen Miller led the Proud Boro Bar, rousing with wisdom and courage for many, many moons. When she needed two heads instead of one. She consulted her wise friend. So it was Queen Miller who arranged for the exquisite ebony likeness of Python either to be made and stand in the center of the village as a reminder to everyone. 00;49;06;26 - 00;49;17;21 Speaker 7 One Python healer, the one who knows the magic of the crescent moon of Boma Ramey, and cares for those who live with courage. 00;49;18;20 - 00;49;58;19 Speaker 6 Honesty and love by. 00;50;01;24 - 00;50;30;25 Speaker 3 I adapted the story of Mela by permission from Merlin Stone, author of Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood, A Treasury of Goddess and Heroine. More from around the world. You can look me up. Martha Senator on your favorite music service and you will find the story. And my city living it, among other steps. Thank you to Tony Robles for his reports. 00;50;31;11 - 00;50;59;17 Speaker 3 Dan Clink for his audio work and Che Rodriguez Sierra for the music. You can find the videos of Tony's interviews and some beautiful photographs of the event in Hendersonville by Isobel Cutler at Listen to be Heard Dot Net where you can also find the movie trailer about Clavin Gordo, who we fondly called Goody. The trailer is Buy Only Take Pictures. 00;51;00;02 - 00;51;30;17 Speaker 3 Thank you, T.J. Walker, for that. Thanks to Damien Dyer, general manager of W PBM in Asheville, North Carolina, and Dr. Kim McMillan in Ms.. Said California, for giving generously of your time to talk with me via Zoom. You can also go to listen to be heard now to submit your stories poetry videos and let your voice be heard for your community. 00;51;31;08 - 00;52;49;18 Speaker 3 You will find links to many of the references in this podcast as well. Next week we will hear Tony's interview with Joe to Logan in California, author of Mestizo Through My Eyes. Jenny Harper of Liquid Sound Lounge in New York. And more. Please join us then to listen and be heard. 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