It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God were determined to set the right tone from the jump. “We have to make a decision,” Paul B. told viewers early in the show. “It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today. And we’re going to change our mindsets over to something else.” That spirit of intentional positivity carried the entire episode — from a candid conversation about civic responsibility to a deeply inspiring interview with one of North Omaha’s most compelling visionaries.
The show opened with a sober look at the aftermath of Nebraska’s midterm primaries, and the numbers were hard to ignore. Paul B. shared a sobering observation from Raquel Henderson of the mayor’s office:
“Only 339,000 out of more than 1.2 million registered voters in Nebraska showed up yesterday. Think about that for a second. And yet everybody has something to say. Awareness without action changes nothing.”
Viewer Mama God echoed that frustration in the chat: “People say they want younger leaders, but are they prepared to donate their vote? Low to average turnout even when Spivey, McKini, Kimra, Wayne, etc. are on the ballot.” And viewer Sean McCarthy added a structural dimension worth considering: “One huge problem is so many of these positions don’t pay a living wage, so only those who can afford to hold those positions run.”
Buddy the God kept the conversation balanced, noting that community-building and civic engagement aren’t an either/or proposition. “We got to do both,” he said. “We got to build our own ecosystems and continue to do the things that we’re about to talk about. But in the long run, we do got to figure this out as far as a nation.” That idea of building ecosystems from the inside out — what Paul B. calls the “secondary matrix” — became a through-line for the whole show. “Everything that we do has a secondary meaning, a deeper meaning,” Paul B. explained. “If you look at what we do right here, First Sky Omaha — on the surface, we’re a couple of talking heads that talk about some news with the community. But what we’re really trying to do is build community, build some coalition.”
The hosts also celebrated a pair of local wins that fit squarely into that ecosystem-building spirit. Core Science Bio Diagnostics was awarded a $52,000 prize, and Omaha North High School’s engineering program received national recognition — reminders that excellence is alive and well in this community.
Then came the conversation that had the chat section buzzing from start to finish. Dana Murray — founder and executive director of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), formerly known as Love’s Jazz — joined the show for a wide-ranging interview about arts, culture, and the future of North 24th Street. A South Omaha native who spent eleven years in New York City before returning home, Murray brings both an outsider’s perspective and a deep personal investment to one of Omaha’s most historically significant corridors.
When asked what North 24th Street — affectionately called “the Deuce” — should be, Murray didn’t mince words. “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. “A lot of the community within can’t relate to the power of what was.” He laid out a practical vision for what a truly self-sustaining cultural district looks like — housing, services, eateries, parking — and then went further. “It would be great to have a hotel — with a hotel, you can throw larger attractions, music festivals, and conferences right in the community.” Viewer Pops brought personal history to that 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 also offered a pointed critique of how the community has historically approached cultural celebration. He expressed admiration for the heart of Native Omaha Days while noting that it falls short as an outward-facing showcase. “Look at South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo — they invite everybody down to be part of that,” he said. “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. 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 hear jazz music.” Paul B. voiced his own long-held conviction about the corridor: “I’ve always called it the most important black corner in Nebraska. We got to serve it. We have to be of service to it.”
At the heart of Murray’s work is a belief that music education does far more than produce musicians. “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical thinking human beings,” he said. “Whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.” NMA goes well beyond instrument lessons — students learn live sound engineering, broadcast production, and even conduct interviews with professional artists visiting Omaha. “It’s not just telling them ‘you can be this’ — no, you can be this right now,” Murray said. The sentiment landed powerfully in the chat, where viewer Senator KML wrote simply: “Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.”
Looking ahead, Murray shared that NMA is preparing to launch a capital campaign with a first-phase goal of $20 million, with the long-term vision of an NMA campus that could serve North Omaha the way Omaha Performing Arts serves downtown. His framing of culture as economic equity was perhaps the most quotable moment of the entire interview: “Our culture is equity. Our brilliance, our artistic genius is equity. Every music in America has been built off of our experience — from the hardest rock music to the jazziest jazz music. The sooner we look at it as equity to build and monetize for our community, the better we’re going to be.”
NMA is currently seeking music instructors who can do more than teach technique. As Murray put it, “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 educators can reach Dana Murray at dmurray@northomahusic.org or assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahusic.org. And mark your calendars — the NMA Fest is coming up as a four-night celebration of everything the academy represents.
The show closed the way it opened — with warmth. Viewer Judy Princ offered the kind of simple wisdom that fits perfectly in a Love Supreme Friday sign-off: “If you are sad or angry, go out and help others. Your attitude will change.” And over in the chat, Pops put a bow on the whole week: “Thanks for another great week of shows. You and the Chat Chimers have made First Sky a true pillar in the community.”
Hard to argue with that. Tune in Monday morning — the conversation is always worth showing up for.
