There’s something about a Friday morning that calls for intention — and on this week’s Love Supreme Friday edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God made sure to set the tone early. “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… it’s an effort because it’s real easy to let your emotions take over when there’s so much to be emotional about.” With that, the show shifted into something genuinely nourishing — a conversation about community, culture, and what it really takes to rebuild one of Omaha’s most storied neighborhoods.
But first, the hosts didn’t shy away from the week’s civic reality. Nebraska’s primary numbers were sobering: only 339,000 of more than 1.2 million registered voters showed up. Buddy the God put it plainly: “Everybody has something to say. Everybody’s angry. Everybody’s debating policies and leadership decisions online. Where is that same energy when it’s time to organize, educate, mobilize, register, and actually vote?” Viewer Kimber Snipes added important texture to that conversation from the chat: “I’ve been having conversations with people between the ages of 20 and 35. What I hear the most is that most of them don’t really know what to do and know nothing about the candidates. I think we need to have more education and deep dive discussions.” It was a fair point, and the hosts honored it — Buddy acknowledging that the work has to happen on both fronts simultaneously. “We got to do both in the now,” he said. “We have to build our own ecosystems and continue to do the things that we’re about to talk about.”
And what they were about to talk about was worth every minute. The guest this Friday was Dana Murray, executive director and founder of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), located right on North 24th Street. A South Omaha native who spent eleven years making music in New York City before returning home, Murray carries the kind of quiet authority that comes from someone who has seen the world and chosen to invest in his own backyard.
Paul B., who has long referred to North 24th Street as “the most important Black corner in Nebraska,” set the stage for a conversation that ranged from urban planning to youth inspiration to economic vision. Murray’s picture of what the corridor — known affectionately as “the Deuce” — could become was vivid and concrete. “There are metrics for the success of any district,” he said. “Enough housing, places of service, parking, laundromats, eateries, gas stations — all the things any area needs to be self-sustained. And then you have to have destinations.” He even floated the idea of a hotel on the corridor, noting that with one, “now you can throw larger attractions, music festivals, conferences right in the community.”
Viewer Pops connected that vision to living history, noting in the chat that “artists like Fats Domino used to stay at your grandfather’s home when he came to town to perform. So yes, more infrastructure for artists around the Deuce corridor would be a godsend.” It was a reminder that the bones of a cultural district are already there — they just need tending.
Murray was equally candid about the internal work required. “One of the things that holds us back is this false sense of security with pride as it pertains to North Omaha,” he said, speaking with the kind of directness that only someone who loves a place can manage. He pointed to Native Omaha Days as a prime example of a missed opportunity — not because of its spirit, but because it hasn’t yet fully opened its arms to all of Omaha. His own approach at NMA has been different: “I’ve tried to reach out and be a beacon for all of Omaha to come down to North 24th Street. People told me that was going to be very hard — and people don’t have any problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to come hear jazz music.” Viewer Mark Manor confirmed it from the chat: “When I go there it is the same people at shows at Waiting Room, Slow Down, and the Jewel. So people are coming from all around town and getting down at NMA, which I find impressive as well.”
The conversation about NMA’s mission may have been the most expansive of the morning. Murray drew a striking parallel to Omaha Performing Arts — an institution that generates $40 to $50 million in annual revenue for downtown. “That’s what we’re trying to build for North Omaha,” he said. And the youth in NMA’s programs aren’t just learning scales and chord progressions. “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical thinking human beings. Whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.”
Murray also spoke to the challenge every educator faces right now: reaching young people who live in a world of YouTube, Instagram, and ChatGPT. “We are in crisis with education,” he said, “not just young black kids, young kids in general — because we are losing the ability to inspire them.” His solution isn’t to fight the current but to swim with it. “We have to figure out how to inspire them within the world they live in. We are the students.” It was a line that resonated deeply — so much so that viewer Senator KML echoed it back: “Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.”
NMA is also actively growing and looking for the right music educators to join their team. Murray was clear that technical knowledge alone isn’t enough. “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.” Interested instructors can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org. A capital campaign — with a first phase goal of $20 million — is on the horizon, with the long-term vision of a full NMA campus serving as a cultural and economic engine for the entire North Omaha community. “Our culture is equity,” Murray said. “Our brilliance, our artistic genius is equity. The sooner we understand that, the better off we’re going to be.”
Paul B. closed the morning by unpacking what he calls the “secondary matrix” — the deeper mission humming beneath the surface of the show. “On the surface, we’re a couple of talking heads that talk about some news with the community,” he said. “But what we’re really trying to do is build community, build some coalition, be able to speak to and build a family of people that we can regularly talk to and come to some conclusions about some things so we can get to some action.” Viewer Pops offered the perfect send-off: “Thanks for another great week of shows. You and the Chat Chimers have made First Sky a true pillar in the community.”
And on a personal note that warmed the whole chat room, viewer Aeros 402 (Mary Sanchez) shared that her only daughter had just given birth to her second granddaughter. “They are both doing well,” she wrote. “I feel blessed.” On a Love Supreme Friday, that’s exactly the kind of news that belongs at the table.
Tune in Monday morning for another conversation worth waking up for — right here on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning.
