It was a Friday worth celebrating — and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God made sure of it. From the first moments of this week’s edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, the tone was set with intention. “We have to make a decision,” Paul B. told viewers. “It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today. And we’re going to change our mindsets over to something else.” After a week dominated by Nebraska’s midterm primary and the civic frustration that followed, the show leaned hard into community, creativity, and the kind of forward-thinking conversation that makes Friday mornings in Omaha feel a little more like home.
That’s not to say the hard truths were avoided. Voter turnout — or the lack of it — hung in the air early in the broadcast. Viewer Sean McCarthy noted in the chat that “the Douglas County Election Commissioner said the average primary voter turnout percentage was around 35% in Douglas County,” a figure that prompted a candid response from Buddy the God. “None of this really matters if everybody voted,” he said. “It’s a pretty valid point that a lot of this doesn’t matter if everybody voted.” The conversation acknowledged the frustration without wallowing in it — and then pivoted toward the people actually doing the building.
That pivot led straight to Dana Murray, founder and director of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), located on North 24th Street. A South Omaha native who spent eleven years in New York City before returning home, Murray carries the energy of someone who has seen the world and chose to invest that vision right here. The interview was one of those conversations that makes you feel like you’re sitting at the table.
Murray’s vision for the North 24th Street corridor — what the hosts lovingly call “the Deuce” — is sweeping, but grounded. “Really, the area that has the most history and the one that can claim ‘we are a cultural and arts district’ for real is the North 24th Street corridor,” he said. He outlined what it takes for any district to truly thrive: housing, services, parking, eateries — and destinations. “With a hotel, now you can throw larger attractions, music festivals, and conferences right in the community.” It’s the kind of infrastructure thinking that treats culture not as decoration, but as economic engine.
Paul B. has long held a deep reverence for that stretch of North Omaha. “I’ve always called it the most important Black corner in Nebraska,” he said. “We got to be of service to it.” Viewer Pops echoed that sentiment from personal history: “Artists like Fats Domino used to stay at your grandfather’s home when he came to town to perform. So yes, more infrastructure for the artist around the Deuce corridor would be a godsend.”
But Murray was quick to address one of the more persistent and complicated questions about his work — why a South Omaha native has planted his flag on the North Side. His answer was disarming in its honesty. “If you’re Black and you’re in Omaha, especially in the ’70s and early ’80s, everyone had a shared relationship with North Omaha. That was the Mecca for us.” He went further, offering a critique that came from love rather than judgment: “One of the things that holds us back is this false sense of security with pride as it pertains to North Omaha. At every opportunity, we fail at taking advantage of showcasing our culture.” His solution has been to make NMA a beacon — open to all of Omaha. “People don’t have any problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to come down to North 24th Street to hear jazz music. That taboo about the area and its ability to be an attraction was false. We’ve proven that.”
At its core, NMA is a youth music academy, a performance space, and — as Murray described it — something with the potential to become for North Omaha what Omaha Performing Arts is for downtown. “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical-thinking human beings,” he said. “Some will become doctors, some lawyers, some business owners. Whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.” The academy also offers electives in live sound, broadcasting, and live streaming, giving students a broadcast lab where they conduct real interviews with real artists. “It’s not just teaching them ‘you can be this someday.’ No — you can be this right now.”
Paul B. connected Murray’s philosophy to what he called the “secondary matrix” — the deeper layer beneath every meaningful endeavor. “Everything that we do has a secondary meaning, a deeper meaning,” he explained. “In Dana Murray’s case, he teaches kids music — but the secondary matrix is to create critical thinkers.” Viewer Pops recognized it immediately: “I experienced my secondary matrix in junior high when I took algebra. I noticed that I was suddenly able to think outside the box on several different levels. Music the same.”
The path ahead for NMA is ambitious. Murray announced the launch of a capital campaign — with a first phase goal of $20 million — aimed at building a full NMA campus. “Money is not our issue really in North Omaha,” he said plainly. “It’s transformative ideas that are going to allow us to be not only sustainable but gainfully active.” His call to action was equally direct: the academy is seeking music instructors who can do more than teach technique. “The ‘why’ they’re doing it is everything. The instructors we bring in have to have in their arsenal the ability to inspire another human being.” Interested educators can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahmusic.org or assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahmusic.org.
The show also celebrated community bright spots — a new diagnostic lab opening in North Omaha, a Heart Ministry Center grocery store serving the community, and an upcoming Film Streams screening of Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters. And in a moment of pure, grounded joy, viewer Aeros 402 shared the best kind of news: “My only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” It was exactly the kind of moment Love Supreme Friday was made for.
Paul B. closed the week with a line from his grandmother that seemed to say everything: “Dance is the shortcut to happiness.” After an episode full of big ideas, honest conversation, and a whole lot of heart, it’s hard to argue with that.
Tune in Monday morning for another edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning — because in this community, the conversation is always worth showing up for.
