Friday mornings on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning have a rhythm all their own, and this past week’s episode was no exception. Hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God took one look at the swirl of post-primary political heat bubbling up in their viewer community and made a deliberate choice before the first segment even began.
“There’s a lot of chatter going on on Friends of First Sky Omaha,” Paul B. said with a knowing 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 love supreme it was — though not without a grounded acknowledgment of what’s at stake in civic life. Buddy the God took a moment to cut through the noise around election outcomes and voter frustration, noting that viewer Sean McCarthy had shared that average primary voter turnout in Douglas County hovered around just 35 percent. “None of that really matters if the people don’t vote,” Buddy said. “And as I’ve been listening to conversations and doing reading myself — that’s a pretty valid point that a lot of this doesn’t matter if everybody voted.”
Viewer Kimber Snipes offered a counterpoint from the chat that added some texture to the conversation: “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.” It was the kind of back-and-forth that makes the 1st Sky community feel less like an audience and more like a town square.
From there, the show pivoted to the heart of the morning: a conversation with Dana Murray, executive director and founder of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA), located on the historic North 24th Street corridor. Murray — a musician and educator originally from South Omaha who spent eleven years in New York City before returning home — has quietly been building something remarkable in the neighborhood once known as the cultural Mecca of Black Omaha.
Paul B. framed the interview with what he calls the “secondary matrix” — the idea that every worthwhile community endeavor carries a deeper purpose beneath the surface. “In Dana Murray’s case, he teaches kids music — but on the surface that’s what it is,” Paul B. explained. “The secondary matrix for him is to create critical thinkers.” Murray couldn’t have agreed more.
“We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical thinking human beings,” Murray said. “Not all these young kids are going to become musicians. Some will become doctors, lawyers, business owners. Whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry. That opens up their curiosity, their ability to set a high bar for themselves, to be accountable.”
Murray spoke with quiet conviction about the role of cultural context in education. At NMA, students don’t just learn scales and rhythms — they learn that Buddy Miles, one of rock and funk’s most celebrated drummers, is from Omaha. They learn who Victor Lewis is and why he’s one of the most recorded jazz drummers in history. “If you give kids context, they connect the dots for themselves,” Murray said. “Now you’ve got a critical thinking human.”
His vision for what NMA can become is nothing short of transformative. Murray pointed to Omaha Performing Arts — a downtown institution that generates an estimated $40 to $50 million in economic activity annually — as a model for what North 24th Street deserves. “That’s what we aspire to be for North Omaha,” he said plainly. A $20 million capital campaign is in the works, with an NMA campus as the long-term goal.
When asked about his vision for the corridor itself, Murray was equally expansive. “Really, the area that has the most history and can claim to be a cultural and arts district — for real — is the North 24th Street corridor,” he said. “As a district you need destinations — entertainment, restaurants, lounges, things that are your bread-and-butter attractions. It would be great to have a hotel, because then you can throw larger music festivals and conferences right in the community.”
“What we have to sell in most black communities is our culture. The sooner we understand that our culture is equity — that our brilliance, our artistic genius is equity — the better off we’re going to be, because then it’s going to be respected.”
Paul B., whose own family history is woven into that corridor, echoed the sentiment. “I’ve always called it the most important Black corner in Nebraska — and we got to serve it. We have to be of service to it.” Viewer Pops added a deeply personal footnote 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.”
For educators and musicians who want to be part of what NMA is building, Murray made the invitation open and direct. Interested instructors can reach him at dmurray@northomahamusic.org or his assistant Andrew Bailey at abailey@northomahamusic.org. “The why you’re doing it is everything,” Murray said of what NMA looks for in teachers, “because they don’t need us for the what — they can go to YouTube and see anything we’re trying to teach them.”
The show closed the way Love Supreme Fridays always should — with warmth and gratitude. Viewer Ariel 402 shared a personal joy that stopped the chat in its tracks: “On a love note, my only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” Meanwhile, Buddy the God summed up the morning’s spirit with characteristic ease: “The lanes are running. The lanes are wide open. Just get in where you fit in and make it happen.”
It was, by any measure, exactly the kind of Friday morning Omaha needed. Join Paul B., Buddy the God, and the whole 1st Sky family back on the air Monday — you won’t want to miss what’s next.
