It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God made sure the energy matched the occasion. After weeks of heavy political coverage surrounding local primary elections, Paul B. set the tone from the jump: “We’ve been talking a lot of politics for a while and it’s time to change our mindsets over to something else — love supreme, creativity, living alive with one another.” And live they did — for a full hour of conversation that managed to be both inspiring and deeply grounded in the realities facing North Omaha.
The show opened with a nod to the previous week’s primary results. Viewer Sean McCarthy dropped a sobering stat into the chat: Douglas County’s average primary voter turnout came in around 35%. Buddy the God didn’t let that slide quietly. “None of this really matters if everybody voted. That’s a pretty valid point — a lot of this doesn’t matter if everybody voted.” It was a brief but pointed reminder that civic engagement is the foundation everything else gets built on — and that the work of community-building and political participation aren’t either/or propositions. “We got to do both — build our own ecosystems and continue doing the political work. We got to do both in the now,” Buddy added.
The show also gave a shoutout to Charell Shelton’s new North Omaha diagnostic lab, one of several community business highlights that reflect the kind of grassroots economic momentum the hosts love to spotlight. Viewer Judy Princ offered her own quiet wisdom to the chat mid-show: “If you are sad or angry, go out and help others. Your attitude will change.” It was the kind of comment that fits perfectly into the Love Supreme Friday spirit.
But the centerpiece of the morning — the conversation that had the chat moving and hearts full — was a wide-ranging sit-down with Dana Murray, executive director and founder of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), located right on the corner of 24th and Lake Street. Murray, a South Omaha native who spent eleven years in New York City before coming home, has built NMA into something that is equal parts music school, performance venue, broadcast lab, and community anchor.
Paul B. set the stage beautifully before Murray even said a word, introducing what he called the “secondary matrix” — the idea that every meaningful endeavor carries a deeper purpose beneath the obvious one. “Everything that we do has a secondary meaning, a deeper meaning. In Dana Murray’s case, he teaches kids music — but the secondary matrix is to create critical thinkers.” Murray, for his part, lived up to every bit of that framing.
On the question of what North 24th Street — “the deuce,” as the hosts affectionately call it — could and should become, Murray was both visionary and unflinching. “Really, the area that has the most history and the one that can claim to be a cultural and arts district for real is the North 24th Street corridor,” he said. “We’ve been so far removed from that — not just what the rest of Omaha views North 24th as, but the people within the community are so far removed from what it was that it’s hard to build momentum from within.” He laid out a clear blueprint: housing, groceries, parking, restaurants, entertainment venues, and — his boldest ask — a hotel. “With a hotel, you can throw larger attractions, music festivals, and conferences right in the community.”
Paul B. 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 echoed that sentiment from the chat: “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 was equally passionate about the academy’s mission to combat brain drain and keep Omaha’s homegrown talent rooted. He drew a striking comparison to Omaha Performing Arts, which generates $40 to $50 million in annual revenue for the downtown corridor, and made the case plainly: “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical-thinking human beings.” NMA’s curriculum reflects that — beyond instruments, students learn live sound engineering, podcasting, broadcasting, and live-streaming. “It’s not just telling them, ‘Oh, you can be this someday.’ No — you can be this right now,” Murray said. “Once you remove those barriers, the sky is the limit.”
One of the most moving moments of the interview came when Murray described how NMA teaches students about legends like Buddy Miles and Victor Lewis — both Omaha natives — not as footnotes, but as living context. “If you give kids context, they connect the dots for themselves and start to see the wins and losses — not only in black history, but in the rest of the country. Then they can see how they can be impactful within that ecosystem. Now you’ve got a critical-thinking human being.”
Looking ahead, Murray revealed that NMA is preparing to launch a capital campaign — Phase 1 at $20 million — with the goal of building a full NMA campus. “What we have to sell in most black communities is our culture. Our artistic genius is equity. The sooner we understand that, the sooner people will come out and support live music, get their young people involved, and understand this is the core of who we are.”
The chat said it all. Viewer Senator KML typed simply: “Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.” And viewer Aeros 402 brought a beautiful personal note to round out the Love Supreme energy: “On a love note, my only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.”
It was the kind of morning that reminds you why local media still matters — one community, one conversation at a time. Tune in Monday morning for another edition of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and bring a neighbor with you.
