It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and host Paul B. wasn’t about to let the lingering tension of a divisive primary election season set the tone. “We have to make a decision,” he told viewers at the top of the show. “It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today. And we’re going to change our mindsets over to something else.” With that, he and co-host Buddy the God steered the morning toward something more nourishing — a conversation about community, culture, and the people quietly doing the work to build something lasting right here in Omaha.
The show didn’t ignore the election entirely. Buddy the God noted that only 339,000 out of more than 1.2 million registered voters in Nebraska showed up for the primary, citing community member Raquel Henderson’s pointed observation: “Where is that same energy when it’s time to organize, educate, mobilize, register, and actually vote?” Viewer Kimber Snipes added a compassionate counterpoint in the chat, writing that conversations with people between the ages of 20 and 35 revealed that many simply don’t know what to do or who the candidates are — and suggesting that deeper civic education, not shame, is the path forward.
But the heart of Friday’s episode belonged to the guest: Dana Murray, founder of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), the youth music academy and performance venue anchoring North 24th Street. A musician who spent eleven years in New York City before returning home, Murray has now spent two decades teaching music in Omaha — and his vision for what NMA can become is nothing short of transformational.
“The arts are the core of who we are as people — definitely as Black people — and the history of North Omaha and really Omaha,” Murray said. “With a lot of the development going on infrastructure-wise, very little is talked about the sort of social, people development, healing, if you will, that has to happen to even take advantage of all the opportunities.”
Paul B. framed Murray’s work through what he called the “secondary matrix” — the idea that music education doesn’t just make musicians, it makes better thinkers. Murray put it plainly: “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical thinking human beings. All these young kids are not going to become musicians by choice. Some will become doctors, lawyers, business owners. Whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.” Viewer Pops resonated with the concept, sharing that his own secondary matrix arrived in junior high algebra — a sudden ability to think outside the box that he connected directly to the discipline of music.
Murray’s ambitions for NMA extend well beyond instrument lessons. The academy already runs programs in live sound engineering, broadcast production, live streaming, and podcasting. Students don’t just hear about these careers — they practice them, including interviewing visiting artists. “It’s not just telling them, ‘Oh, you can be this,'” Murray said. “No — you can be this right now. Once you remove those barriers, sky’s the limit.”
The conversation naturally turned to North 24th Street itself — what Paul B. called “the most important Black corner in Nebraska.” Murray laid out a clear-eyed vision for what a true cultural and arts district requires: housing, services, parking, transportation, destinations like restaurants and lounges, and — perhaps most ambitiously — a hotel. “With a hotel, now you can throw larger attractions, music festivals, and conferences right in the community,” he said.
Murray was candid about what he sees as a missed opportunity in how North Omaha has historically showcased itself. He pointed to South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo celebrations as a model — an event that champions culture while inviting all of Omaha to participate. “One of the things I’ve tried to do was reach out and be a beacon for all of Omaha to come down to North 24th Street,” he said. “People told me that was going to be very hard, but people have no problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to come down North 24th Street to hear jazz music.” Viewer Pops echoed the point with a piece of local history, noting that artists like Fats Domino once stayed in the neighborhood when they came to perform — and that more infrastructure for artists along the corridor “would be a godsend.”
Looking ahead, Murray announced that NMA is launching a capital campaign with a first phase goal of $20 million, with plans for a full NMA campus. He drew an explicit comparison to Omaha Performing Arts — an institution that generates $40 to $50 million in annual revenue for its surrounding area. “We need a vehicle like that for North Omaha, and I see NMA taking up that space,” he said. “Our culture is equity. Our brilliance, our artistic genius is equity. The sooner we understand that and look at it not as ‘oh, that’s a cool little music thing’ but as equity for us to build and monetize for our community, the better we’re going to be.”
“Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.”
— viewer Senator KML
NMA is also actively seeking qualified music instructors. Murray emphasized that technical skill alone isn’t enough — the ability to inspire young people is everything. “Unless you’re able to inspire a young person, they don’t really have the attention span for the X’s and O’s of music,” he said. “The why you’re doing it is everything.” Interested educators can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or his assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org.
The show also made room for a few community celebrations. Paul B. and Buddy the God highlighted Charell Shelton, a North Omaha entrepreneur who recently won a $52,000 prize, and gave a shout-out to Omaha North High School’s nationally recognized engineering program. And in the chat, viewer Aeros 402 shared a personal bright spot: “My only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” On a Love Supreme Friday, it was exactly the kind of news the morning called for.
There’s clearly something growing on North 24th Street — and on your screen every weekday morning. Join Paul B., Buddy the God, and the whole First Sky family next week to keep the conversation going.
