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CNN: Steve Nash Admits to Benefiting from White Privilege

“And in an unprecedented display of anti-racism, Steve Nash turned down the Brooklyn Nets head coaching position because he didn’t want to be seen as owing his hiring to the color of his skin.

“At what was supposed to be the press conference announcing his new job, Nash said, ‘No. There’s literally a dozen Black candidates out there who have more coaching experience than me. I’m rich already. I’m turning down this job, and I’m going to come up through the ranks, and EARN the job like everybody else.”

Nah. Fake news.

OF COURSE, HE TOOK THE JOB!! ARE YOU CRAZY??

THAT’S WHAT WHITE PRIVILEGE IS FOR! DUH??

CNN: Steve Nash admits to benefiting from White privilege, saying he skipped the line to get head coaching job

Michigan State Fair Superstar Revue – 2014 State Fair Superstar Alison Albrecht

For the past six years I’ve been a mentor and producer with the Michigan State Fair Superstar Contest with The Michigan State Fair, LLC. This year the Fair is virtual, and we decided to record a Michigan State Fair Superstar Revue to check in with our past winners to see how the contest affected their careers and lives, and to see what they’ve been up to lately.

In 2014 we launched our Pepsi Michigan State Fair Superstar Competition. 14 year-old Alison Albrecht was our first Michigan State Fair Superstar winner.

She won a prize package valued at $20,000 including studio time at Pearl Sound Studios in Canon, music business coaching with Jill Jack of Dream Big Incorporated, songwriting coaching with Nadir Omowale of EkoBase Media, music publicity and media coaching from Nancy Schoenheide Phares of Rock Steady Wayfinder Coaching, and booking consulting with Cal Stone and Whitney McClellan-Stone of 2 Stones Events – your source for live music.

Her 2015 debut EP, produced by Grammy-winning producer Chuck Alkazian and Nadir Omowale, earned her a Detroit Music Awards People’s Choice Award nomination and was named the Number One Local EP Release of the year by host John Bommarito of Ann Arbor’s 107.1 FM.

In this interview with Nadir and Jill she debuts her latest single, and talks about her adventures at the University of Michigan.

SUPERSTAR REVUE – ALISON ALBRECHT

In 2014 we launched our Pepsi Michigan State Fair Superstar Competition. Alison Albrecht was our Michigan State Fair Presented by Ram Trucks Pepsi Superstar winner. Her 2015 debut EP, produced by Grammy-winning producer Chuck Alkazian, earned her a Detroit Music Award People’s Choice Award nomination and was named the Number One Local EP Release of the year by host John Bommarito of Ann Arbor’s 107.1 FM.With a soulful voice and brilliantly insightful lyrics, singer-songwriter Alison Albrecht is blazing new trails in music. Her unique blend of pop and soul, plus a touch of folk, offers a wide audience appeal that lives not too far from the sound of Sara Barilles or Sheryl Crow. Special thank you to Media Network of Waterford/WTV10 for the editing in all of our Superstar Revue videos! Let's give it up for Alison Albrecht!

Posted by The Michigan State Fair, LLC on Friday, September 4, 2020

 

Michigan State Fair Superstar Revue – Mentor Interview

For the past six years I’ve been a mentor and producer with the Michigan State Fair Superstar Contest with The Michigan State Fair, LLC. This year the Fair is virtual, and we decided to record a Michigan State Fair Superstar Revue to check in with our past winners to see how the contest affected their careers and lives, and to see what they’ve been up to lately.

The Superstar Competition is a fan favorite at the Michigan State Fair Presented by Ram Trucks. Check out our Michigan State Fair Pepsi Superstar Mentor Revue!

Tune in as our mentors talk about the process and history of the Michigan State Fair Superstar Competition in this informative video below!

Special thank you to Media Network of Waterford/WTV10 for the editing all of our Superstar videos!

Simone and Nadir: Life, Love and Music

Simone White is simply one of my favorite human beings on the planet. As we explain in this mini-series (it’s too long to call it an interview), he and I met on tour in the early 1990s and have been fast friends ever since. Even though we’ve always lived across the country or across the world from each other, we have carried on a 30 year musical conversation. Here we have a LONG verbal conversation about our journeys together and apart.

He’s far too humble to talk about himself, so I’ll give his resume… he’s a producer, multi-instrumentalist, teacher and drummer who has supplied the backbeat for Michael Franti and Spearhead, Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy, Afro-Mystik, George Clinton, Mark Eitzel, Sakia and more. Since moving to Australia Simone does a lot of remote session work for people like Carl McIntosh of Loose Ends, 05Ric, and a guy named Nadir Omowale. Here we talk about my life and his life in a way that only two old friends can speak. We had fun… and we hope you enjoy it…

Bonus Drinking Game: Take a shot every time Nadir says, “you know”.

The Next Room: Forward Ever, Backward Never Interview with Nadir Omowale

Jane Asher is a natural connector, who got her start in media through Michigan radio in 1980. She soon traveled west and has worked at legendary radio stations such as KTYD Santa Barbara, KGB, KSON and K-BEST 95 in San Diego. She also received the prestigious Marconi Award for her work on 98.1 KIFM. Her natural curiosity led her to expand her business by including marketing and social media. When anyone asks her what she does for a living she responds; “I connect inspired people with one another, especially those with a desire to help others.”

Jane invited her friend Nadir Omowale on the show to talk about the release of his new single “Run” a song about stamina and perseverance. Lyrically the protagonist is running for his life, but metaphorically, “Run” is in many ways, a symbolic story of daily struggle for every Black person on the planet. From the slave catcher’s hounds, from the Klansman’s noose, from oppression, from discrimination, from the police, we’re constantly running. And failure isn’t an option. “If I let them catch me, I’m as good as dead.”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

Ideas Adrift Song Premier: Nadir Omowale – “Run”

As I’ve said before, if you want to know what’s happening in and around Detroit music, you really need to follow journalist, Jeff Milo. He’s that Everywhere-All-The-Time kind of cat who seems to know about every new band and every great show. And it isn’t hard to follow him. He writes for the Detroit Free Press and the Metro Times, he’s on he radio on WDET’s Culture Shift, he has a really interesting podcast at the Detroit Library, AND he has his own blog called Ideas Adrift.

Here’s what Jeff had to say about Nadir’s single, “Run”:

Channeling the visceral energies of Gaye’s “Inner City Blues” and the Isley Brother’s “Fight the Power,” but transfusing the impassioned (and even flat out angered) mixture of ire and empathy, of fatigue and ferocity, of resolve in the face of fear—Omowale has produced a powerful anthem for our current moment—drawing upon unhealed trauma and tragedy from more than two decades into the past.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

SoulTracks.com First Listen: Nadir Stirs Our Emotions with “Run”

SoulTracks.com is the leading online resource dedicated to classic and modern Soul Music.  From its inception in 2003, SoulTracks has been designed to provide useful information and updates on the greatest Classic Soul artists and to introduce readers to the next generation of Soul Music singers. Currently the most popular soul music website in America, SoulTracks includes artist biographies, music news and reviews, and First Listens to some of the newest music available.

SoulTracks Senior Writer Howard Dukes penned a piece about “Run” on the date of its release:

A racially based travesty inspired guitarist and funkmaster Nadir to pen “Run.” The song addresses Black America’s 500-year trek to outpace white supremacy while also honoring African American perseverance.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY MICHIGAN RADIO – STATESIDE

Like many artists and activists right now, artist and producer Nadir Omowale has been reflecting on and reacting to the protests against police brutality happening in Michigan and across the country. It inspired Omowale to finally release a song he’s been working on for years. It’s dropping on Juneteenth, a day that celebrates the end of slavery in America. He’s been working on the song since 1998. It’s called “Run.”
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE 15 MINUTE INTERVIEW

Omowale started writing the song more than twenty years ago after hearing about the brutal murder of James Byrd Jr. by white supremacists in Texas. But he says he sat on it, waiting for the right time to release the track.

“The same things keep happening, and I would just keep refining the song.” Omowale said. “And so finally the case of Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick, Georgia came up where he was being chased, and we watched on video tapes as he’s shot with a shotgun after being chased while jogging through his own neighborhood.”

The song opens with the lyrics “Can’t stop / How far can I run.” It evokes imagery of a Black man running, and the perspective switches back and forth from someone running from the cops during the current moment to an enslaved Black American making a run for freedom. The track’s drums set a distinctive pace, a choice that Omowale says was intentional.

“If you’re running long distances, you have to be able to keep up a good, steady, solid, quick pace. And this is a long distance run, it’s not a sprint, so you can’t go too fast, but if you go too slow you get caught,” Omowale explained. “The drums make it come alive and feel even more urgent and make it feel like somebody’s chasing you.”

Omowale lives in Ferndale, a majority white city just outside of Detroit. He has twin seven-year-olds, a boy and a girl. Like most kids their age, the twins don’t fully grasp yet what it means to be Black in this country.

“There will probably be an instance in their lives where race becomes a bigger issue, and then we’ll have to explain to them what’s going on.” Omowale said. “They already notice it, they already talk about the fact that there are more “beige” kids than “brown” kids in their school.”

As Omowale watches the protests against police brutality happening across the country, he says he’s hopeful that things will change this time.

“We really need to understand what this idea of defunding the police is about,” he said. “It’s about reallocating resources so that it makes more sense, and so that the police are a community asset, like they are to the residents of Ferndale.”

You can find more of Nadir Omowale’s work at his website or on Bandcamp, which will donate 100% of its sales to the NAACP this Friday.

This post was written by Stateside production assistant Olive Scott.

The Story Behind the Song – “Run”

“Run” is a digital single released Juneteenth (June 19, 2020) – CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

“I believe Mr. [Ahmaud] Arbery was being pursued, and he ran till he couldn’t run anymore, and it was turn his back to a man with a shotgun or fight with his bare hands against the man with the shotgun. He chose to fight,” he said. “I believe Mr. Arbery’s decision was to just try to get away, and when he felt like he could not escape he chose to fight.”

Originally, I got the story wrong.

James Byrd Jr. What really happened was this: On June 7, 1998, 49 year-old James Byrd, Jr. of Jasper, Texas saw Shawn Berry, a 23 year-old man he knew from around town. Berry’s buddies John King, and Lawerence Brewer were riding with Berry in his pickup truck, and though it would be a tight fit, they offered Mr. Byrd a ride home.

The cab of the truck would have been a bit uncomfortable as King and Brewer squeezed James into the seat in between them. That discomfort might have turned to absolute terror if James happened to look down and notice King’s tattoos, one of which said “Aryan Pride”, along with assorted Nazi symbols, and one that depicted a Black man hanging from a tree.

James Byrd never made it home. The three white men drove him to a remote county road outside town, beat him within an inch of his life, spray painted the Black man’s face, urinated and defecated on him, chained him to the back of the pickup truck, and hit the gas. They drove three miles, dragging James behind the truck, before they stopped to untie him. They dumped his decapitated corpse beside a cemetery, and then went for barbecue.

But I misunderstood the story when I first heard it. In reality, Brewer, King and Berry had lynched James Byrd, Jr. after beating him, by chaining his ankles to the back of that pick up truck. The coroner believes Mr. Byrd was conscious for half the journey, his body being ripped to shreds until his right arm and head were severed. His brain and skull were found intact in one of 81 different locations where his body parts were located along that county road.

For some reason, for a long time I thought James Byrd was on his feet and that they had tied his hands. In my mind he was upright, fastened by his wrists, not his ankles. Then as they started the truck and pulled away, he would have to keep up.  With that in mind, I imagined myself behind that truck, wrists bound as the vehicle begins to move and gradually speed up. The first thought that came to mind was a question. “How far can I run?”

_________

“Run” is one of the most difficult songs I have ever written.

Actually, the first version came very quickly. It was penned within one week of James Byrd’s lynching, and I performed it solo acoustic at an iconic Nashville open mic night called The Spot a few days later. But something wasn’t quite right. It was too specific. It placed the protagonist into those chains behind a similar truck in the hot sun and forced him to run. I wanted the song to be more universal. I wanted it to speak about determination and the need to keep moving no matter what. It also had to speak to the very specific struggle that we face as African people every single day all over the world.

So I put it on the shelf, and every few months I would pull it out, dust it off, rework the lyrics, rework the music… I’ve recorded several versions, and have rewritten the verses a dozen or more times. But no matter how many times another project came and went without “Run” in the track listing, I comforted myself in knowing that, unfortunately, the subject matter wasn’t going to get old anytime soon. I would sculpt and craft, and throw up my hands and start over and over and over again for 22 years.

Should I be embarrassed to admit that this four minute song took so long to see the light of day? No. I am far more frustrated that we are no closer to solving the problems presented in the lyric than I am how long it took me to get the version we would release on Juneteenth 2020.

Ahmaud ArberyWhen I heard about the February 23, 2020 shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery, in Brunswick, Georgia, I knew it was time. The 25 year-old was jogging in his own neighborhood when Travis McMichaels and his father, Gregory, a former police officer, pursued Ahmaud in their pickup truck. A third man, William “Roddie” Bryan, filmed the chase on his cellphone and hit Ahmaud with his truck as Arbery tried to run away.

The McMichaels had already tried to head off Arbery once when Bryan joined the pursuit, the GBI agent [Richard Dial] said. Bryan tried to block in Arbery as Travis McMichael drove around the block with his father in the bed of the truck, he said.

Bryan “made several statements about trying to block him in and using his vehicle to try to stop him,” Dial said. “His statement was that Mr. Arbery kept jumping out of the way and moving around the bumper and actually running down into the ditch in an attempt to avoid his truck.”

At one point, Arbery was heading out of the Satilla Shores neighborhood where the defendants live, but the McMichaels forced him to turn back into the neighborhood and run past Bryan, the agent said. That is when he struck Arbery, Dial said, and Arbery kept running with the McMichaels in pursuit. Bryan turned around, and that is when the widely disseminated video of Arbery’s killing begins, he said.

This was a man who started his day running for his health, and ended up running for his life. But when he could run no more, he turned to face his attackers. He decided, “If I’m going to die today, I will go down swinging.”

“I believe Mr. [Ahmaud] Arbery was being pursued, and he ran till he couldn’t run anymore, and it was turn his back to a man with a shotgun or fight with his bare hands against the man with the shotgun. He chose to fight,” he said. “I believe Mr. Arbery’s decision was to just try to get away, and when he felt like he could not escape he chose to fight.”

“Run” is a song about stamina and perseverance. Lyrically it’s about someone running for their lives. Metaphorically, this is the symbolic story of every Black person on the planet. It feels like a never ending cycle. From the slave catcher’s hounds, from the Klansman’s noose, from oppression, from discrimination, from the police, we’re constantly running. Failure isn’t an option. “If I let them catch me, I’m as good as dead.”

We’re exhausted. “I’ve been running now for centuries.” But we can’t stop. We can’t quit. We won’t stop. We won’t quit.

The only question is how far. How far can I run? Can I save myself? Can I save my woman and my children? Can I save my community? Can I run back to the Motherland and help my people over there? I don’t know how far we can go, but I know that we can’t stop. We can’t stop running. We can’t stop fighting. Forward Ever! Backward Never!

Run - Afrofunk by Nadir Omowale, Artwork by Jabarr Harper

Run
By Jonah Nadir Omowale
©2020 Nadir Omowale LLC (BMI)

Can’t stop
How far can I run?
How far can I?
How far can I run?
Can’t stop
How far can I run?
How far can I?
How far can I run?

I’m on the run and, Lord, they’re gaining on me.
The hounds are just a breath away.
But I’m in this race. Can’t slow my pace. Not one degree.
Cause if they catch me they will throw me back in chains.

Even if I stumble, gotta get back up and start to move again.
Forward ever. Backward never.
Run through hell or run to heaven
I have got to keep on fighting until the end.
Lord, have mercy!

Can’t stop
I’ve got to keep on moving
How far can I run?
How far can I?
How far can I run?
Can’t stop
I’ve got to keep on pushing
How far can I run?
How far can I?
How far can I run?

I’ve been running now for centuries
There’s a fire in my legs
But the flame that’s burning deep inside consumes me
If I let them catch me, I’m as good dead.

Even if I stumble, gotta get back up and start to run again
I’m weary and I’m tired, but Lord, I’m still alive
And I know my change is coming round the bend
Lord have mercy

Can’t stop
I’ve got to keep on moving
How far can I run?
How far can I?
How far can I run?
Can’t stop
I’ve got to keep on pushing
How far can I run?
How far can I?
How far can I run?

Can I run back to the Congo?
Tell Lumumba it’s not too late.
Tell my brothers in Zimbabwe I’ll be there.
I think I can run this race forever
If I can only catch my
If I can only catch my breath.

Can’t stop
I’ve got to keep on moving
How far can I run?
How far can I?
How far can I run?
Can’t stop
I’ve got to keep on pushing, keep fighting…
How far can I run?
How far can I?
How far can I Run?

Song Credits:

Simone White: drums
Nadir Omowale: guitar, bass, Beat Thang, percussion, programming, and vocals

Produced, Recorded and Mixed by J. Nadir Omowale at EkoBase Media, Ferndale, Michigan
Drums Recorded by Simone White at Sim-1 Music, Sydney, Australia
http://www.sim-1music.com/
Mastered by Doctor Mix

Video Credits:

Dancer: The Simone Winter Experience (@SimoneWinterExperience)
Singer: Nadir
Video directed and edited by Jabarr Harper
Original Artwork by Jabarr Harper
https://www.jabarrharper.com/

 

“Good To Your Earhole” and “Rock and Roll Victim” featuring Nadir Omowale with the 2018 Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue

This was another amazing performance with the Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue. The theme in 2018 was Detroit Rocks, and I chose two classic songs from two seminal Detroit Black rock bands. “Good To Your Earhole” by Funkadelic is a staple of my live sets. It’s the ultimate party starter. “Rock ‘n’ Roll Victim” by Death was a song I had never performed before, but it was an important tribute to one of the world’s first proto punk bands.

Don Was Detroit All-Star Revue 2018
“Good to Your Earhole” and “Rock ‘N’ Roll Victim” by Nadir Omowale
The 2018 Revue theme was Detroit Rocks!

Nadir – vocals
Don Was – bass
Luis Resto – keyboards
Brian “Rosco” White – guitar
Wayne Gerard – guitar
Ron Pangborn – drums
Ron Otis – drums
David McMurray – sax
Rayse Biggs – trumpet
Sweetpea Atkinson – background vocals
Sir Harry Bowens – background vocals
Donald Ray Mitchell – background vocals

Recorded live @ the 11th Annual DON WAS DETROIT ALL-STAR REVUE at the 26th CONCERT OF COLORS, July 14th, 2018, Meijer Stage, Orchestra Hall, Max Fisher Music Center, Detroit, MI

Detroit All-Star Revue Curator – Don Was
Co-Host – Ann Delisi
Executive Producer – Ismael Ahmed
Production manager, front-of-house engineer, recording engineer – Chris Tayler
Stage Manager – Dave Shelley
Mixed by Jeremy Matthew Siegel
Director of Photography – Kevin Leeser
Camera Operators – Eric Steel, Rob Green,
Wrangler – Jon Asher
Video directed and edited by Gemma Corfield

© Nadir Omowale