There’s something about a Friday morning that invites a little exhale — and on this week’s Love Supreme Friday edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God leaned into that feeling with both arms. From primary election results to a heartfelt conversation about the future of North Omaha, the May 15th episode was exactly the kind of community nourishment the show does best.
Paul B. set the tone early, calling on listeners to make an intentional choice about how they’d carry themselves into the day. “We have to make a decision,” he said. “It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today. And we’re going to change our mindsets over to something else.” The chat room was already warm before the first segment ended — viewer Aeros 402 shared a beautiful piece of personal news: “On a love note, my only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” Hard to top that for a Friday morning opener.
The hosts touched on Nebraska’s midterm primary results, with Buddy the God keeping it direct on civic responsibility: “None of this — a lot of this — doesn’t matter if everybody voted.” The comment section reflected a community wrestling honestly with that reality. Viewer Kimber Snipes offered a nuanced take, writing: “I’ve been having conversations with people between the ages of 20 and 35. What I hear the most is most of them don’t really know what to do and know nothing about the candidates. I don’t think we should be slamming people for not voting when the system is really what has caused this. I think we need to have more education and deep dive discussions.” It’s the kind of comment that turns a broadcast into a real conversation.
But the true centerpiece of the morning was an extended, richly layered conversation with Dana Murray, executive director and founder 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 brings the rare combination of big-city experience and deep local roots — and a vision for the Deuce that is nothing short of transformative.
When asked about his dream for North 24th Street, Murray didn’t hesitate. “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. “Look at old pictures and you see North 24th Street filled with people just walking around, shopping, going to eat breakfast, men in their suits on a Saturday morning — it was a vibe, there was unity, a love and a togetherness.” His blueprint for the corridor was practical as well as poetic: sufficient housing, services, parking, groceries — and destinations that draw people in. “It would be great to have a hotel,” he added, “because then you can throw larger music festivals and conferences right in the community.” Viewer Pops echoed the sentiment from lived memory: “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.”
Murray spoke candidly about missed opportunities to showcase Black culture in Omaha, pointing to South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo as a model of cultural celebration done with an open-door spirit. “One of the things I’ve tried to do was be a beacon for all of Omaha to come down to North 24th Street,” he said. “And people have no problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to come hear jazz music or whatever we present. That taboo about the area and its ability to be an attraction was false — we’ve proven that.”
At the heart of his work is the NMA itself — part youth music academy, part performance venue, part community anchor. Murray drew a direct comparison to Omaha Performing Arts and its economic impact downtown. “That’s what we want to be for North Omaha,” he said. “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical thinking human beings.” The academy’s curriculum goes well beyond scales and sheet music — students learn live sound engineering, broadcasting, live streaming, and interviewing. “So it’s not just telling them ‘you can be this someday,'” Murray said. “No, you can be this right now.” Students are also taught the stories of local legends like Buddy Miles and Victor Lewis, connecting heritage to possibility. “If you give kids context,” he said, “they connect the dots themselves and they start to see how they can be impactful within that ecosystem.”
Looking ahead, Murray described an ambitious capital campaign — with a first phase goal of $20 million — aimed at building a full NMA campus. His framing of the stakes was striking: “What we have to sell in most black communities is our culture. Because if we don’t monetize it — which 99% of the time we don’t — the rest of the country monetizes our culture for us. The sooner we understand that our culture is equity, that our brilliance and artistic genius is equity, the better off we’re going to be.” Music educators interested in joining the NMA team can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org.
Paul B. closed the show by unpacking what he and Buddy call the “secondary matrix” — the idea that every local organization doing good work is quietly building something larger than its stated mission. “Everything that we do has a secondary meaning, a deeper meaning,” Paul B. explained. “On the surface, we’re a couple of talking heads. But what we’re really trying to do is build community, build coalition, build a family of people that we can regularly talk to and come to some conclusions and get to some action.” Buddy grounded it with a both/and philosophy: “We got to do both — build our own ecosystems and continue to do the civic work. In the long run, we do got to figure this out as a nation.”
Viewer Judy Princ may have offered the most quietly powerful message of the whole morning: “If you are sad or angry, go out and help others. Your attitude will change.” On a Love Supreme Friday, it’s hard to argue with that.
If you missed this one, make time to catch the replay — and be sure to join Paul B., Buddy the God, and the whole 1st Sky community bright and early Monday morning. The conversation is always worth showing up for.
