Friday mornings on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning are always a little warmer than the rest of the week, but this past Friday turned into something extra special. Hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God took one look at the temperature rising in their community Facebook group over Nebraska’s recent primary election results and made a call: it was going to be a Love Supreme Friday.
“There’s a lot of chatter going on on Friends of First Sky Omaha,” Paul B. explained with a laugh. “There’s a lot of back and forth, friends breaking up, all kinds of stuff happening over politics — and that just is like, okay, well, we have to make a decision. It’s going to be Love Supreme Friday today.” And with that, the tone was set for one of the most energizing episodes of the season.
The primary results weren’t ignored entirely. Viewer Sean McCarthy noted in the chat that “the Douglas County Election Commissioner said the average primary voter turnout percentage was around 35% in Douglas County” — a figure that sparked honest reflection from the hosts. Buddy the God didn’t mince words: “None of this really matters if everybody voted. It’s the missing piece. People have to fend for themselves, and the reality is until we do that, we’re going to have to keep building our own ecosystems — and we got to do both.” It’s the kind of straight talk that keeps the 1st Sky audience coming back.
But the heart of the morning belonged to a conversation about possibility, culture, and the stretch of North Omaha pavement that Paul B. has long called “the most important Black corner in Nebraska” — the 24th Street corridor, affectionately known as “the Deuce.” The show’s featured guest was Dana Murray, founder and executive director of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), and what followed was a wide-ranging, soul-stirring dialogue about music, community investment, and what it truly means to build something that lasts.
Murray, a musician and educator who grew up in South Omaha and spent eleven years in New York City before planting roots back in Omaha, has spent two decades teaching music and another several years transforming the former Love’s Jazz space on North 24th Street into a full-fledged youth music academy, performance venue, and broadcast lab. His vision for the corridor is both practical and bold.
“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,” Murray said. “As a district you need destinations: entertainment, restaurants, lounges — things that are going to be your bread-and-butter attractions to draw people into the community. It would be great to have a hotel. With a hotel, now you can throw larger attractions, music festivals, conferences right in the community.”
Murray speaks the language of both the artist and the economist, and that dual fluency is exactly what makes NMA so compelling. He pointed to Omaha Performing Arts — which generates $40 to $50 million in revenue annually for downtown — as a model for what a properly resourced cultural anchor could do for North Omaha. “We need a vehicle like that for North Omaha, and I see NMA taking up that space,” he said. To that end, the academy is launching a capital campaign with a first phase goal of $20 million, with the long-term aim of building a full NMA campus.
But Murray is quick to remind listeners that NMA’s mission runs deeper than bricks and mortar or even musical talent. “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.” Students at NMA don’t just learn instruments — they learn live sound engineering, broadcasting, live streaming, and podcast production. The academy even trains kids to conduct interviews with visiting artists.
Viewer Pops captured the room’s collective feeling perfectly, writing in the chat: “I love this interview. This brother’s vibe is so cool and his intentions are admirable. First Sky loves the kids.” And the community connection ran even deeper — Pops also recalled that “artists like Fats Domino used to stay at your grandfather’s home when he came to town to perform,” adding personal texture to why this corridor means so much to so many.
Murray also pushed back gently on the idea that geography should determine who gets to invest in North Omaha. Though he’s from South Omaha, he’s been embraced — and tested — by the community he now serves. “If you’re Black and you’re in Omaha, especially in the 70s and early 80s, everyone had a shared relationship with North Omaha,” he said. “That was the Mecca for us.” His outreach strategy has been to make NMA and the 24th Street corridor a destination for all of Omaha, not just those who grew up there. “People don’t have any problem coming from wherever they are in Omaha or Iowa to come down North 24th Street to hear jazz music,” he said plainly.
His words on culture as currency were among the most powerful of the morning. “The sooner we understand that our culture is equity, that our brilliance, our artistic genius is equity,” Murray said, “the better off we’re going to be.”
Paul B. wrapped the interview with characteristic warmth and ambition: “I want one of your students to win a Grammy out of nowhere. I want to see it. I really appreciate the kind of work that you guys are doing over there — and what it is that you’re doing really has to do with the kids and art. And that’s a very love supreme thing as far as we’re concerned.”
The show also celebrated other community wins — including Charell Shelton’s Core Science Bio Diagnostics lab and Omaha North High School’s nationally recognized engineering program — and teased upcoming events including NMA Fest and a screening of Boots Riley’s film I Love Boosters at Film Streams. Viewer Kimber Snipes added a note about an upcoming open call for artists for the North Omaha Trail, promising more details soon.
The morning closed the way it began — with love. Viewer Aeros 402 (Mary Sanchez) shared a beautiful personal note: “My only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” It was the perfect punctuation for a Love Supreme Friday.
If you missed it, make sure to catch the next episode of 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning — because if this Friday was any indication, Monday morning is going to be something worth waking up for.
