It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God made a deliberate choice to start the day on an uplifting note — even as heavier topics lingered in the background. With the Nebraska primary results still fresh, the duo acknowledged the weight of the moment before consciously steering the show toward community, culture, and the kind of stories that remind us why Omaha is worth fighting for.
“We have to make a decision,” Paul B. told viewers early in the broadcast. “It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today. And we’re going to change our mindsets over to something else — because it’s real easy to let your emotions take over when there’s so much to be emotional about.”
Still, the election conversation couldn’t be entirely set aside. Buddy the God cut to the heart of the matter with characteristic directness: “None of this — a lot of this — doesn’t matter if everybody voted. It’s the missing piece.” Paul B. echoed that sentiment, citing a striking figure shared by Raquel Henderson from the mayor’s office: only 339,320 out of more than 1.2 million registered Nebraska voters showed up. “Posting on Facebook is not enough,” Paul B. said plainly. “Awareness without action changes nothing.” Viewer Kimber Snipes added a thoughtful wrinkle to the conversation from the chat: “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.”
Before long, the show pivoted to the kind of community wins that make a Friday morning feel like a celebration. The hosts shined a spotlight on Charell Shelton, whose diagnostic lab recently received a $52,000 prize, and on Omaha North High School’s engineering program, which earned national recognition. Omaha is producing excellence — and 1st Sky made sure the city knew it.
The heart of Friday’s episode, though, belonged to Dana Murray — founder and executive director of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), located on North 24th Street. A South Omaha native who spent eleven years honing his craft in New York City before returning home, Murray carries both the swagger of a seasoned musician and the steady conviction of someone who knows exactly why he came back. The conversation he had with Paul B. and Buddy ranged from urban development to youth empowerment to the untapped economic power of Black culture — and it was one of those interviews that leaves you thinking long after the stream ends.
Murray was direct about his vision for the North 24th Street corridor. “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. “And we’ve been so far removed from that.” He described what a truly self-sustaining district would need: housing, eateries, parking, transportation, entertainment destinations — and, yes, a hotel. “With a hotel, now you can throw larger attractions, music festivals, conferences right in the community,” he said. “I hear a lot of talk about revitalizing the area, but unless those metrics are there, it doesn’t matter.” Paul B., who has long championed the corridor, agreed wholeheartedly: “I’ve always called it the most important Black corner in Nebraska — and we have to be of service to it.” Viewer Pops chimed in from the chat with a personal memory to underscore the point: “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 has already put his convictions to the test. When he first opened what was then known as Love’s Jazz, skeptics warned him that drawing people to North 24th Street would be an uphill battle. He pushed back with results. “People don’t have any problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to come down and hear jazz music,” he said with quiet confidence. “That taboo about the area and its ability to be an attraction was false. We’ve proven that.”
NMA is not simply a place where kids learn to play instruments. Murray frames the academy’s mission in terms Paul B. described as the “secondary matrix” — the deeper purpose beneath the surface activity. “We’re not only raising musicians,” Murray explained, “we’re raising more critical-thinking human beings.” Students learn the history behind the music, not just the notes. They learn who Buddy Miles was, what Victor Lewis — one of the most recorded jazz drummers in history — meant to the world. “If you give kids context, they connect the dots for themselves,” Murray said. “Now you’ve got a critical-thinking human. That’s ultimately what we’re trying to do.”
Beyond instruments, the academy offers electives in live sound engineering, broadcasting, podcasting, and live streaming production. “We have a broadcast lab where we do podcasts and interviews, and we get the kids doing interviews of some of the artists that come in,” Murray said. “So it’s not just telling them, ‘Oh, you can be this.’ No — you can be this right now.” Viewer Senator KML summed up the gratitude felt by many in the chat: “Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.”
The ambition doesn’t stop there. Murray is planning a capital campaign — phase one set at $20 million — with a long-term vision of an NMA campus that could serve North Omaha the way the Omaha Performing Arts complex serves downtown, as both a cultural beacon and an economic engine generating tens of millions of dollars annually. “What we have to sell in most Black communities is our culture,” he said. “The sooner we understand that our culture is equity — that our brilliance and our artistic genius is equity — the better off we’re going to be.” NMA is also actively seeking qualified music educators. Interested instructors can reach Murray at dmurray@northomahahusic.org or assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahahusic.org.
The show closed on a note as warm as it opened. Viewer Aeros 402 shared a piece of personal joy that felt perfectly in tune with the day’s spirit: “On a love note, my only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” It was that kind of Friday — the kind where community, culture, and new life all show up in the same room together.
If you missed it, make sure you’re tuned in for next week’s edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning — because if this episode is any indication, the best conversations in Omaha are happening right here.
