It was a Love Supreme Friday on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, and hosts Paul B. and Buddy the God brought the kind of conversation that makes you want to pull up a chair and stay a while. From Nebraska primary election results to the deep roots of Black culture in North Omaha, the morning unfolded the way the best community conversations do — with honesty, warmth, and a whole lot of vision.
The show opened with a brief look back at the recent Nebraska primary, with both hosts noting that civic participation remains a work in progress. Buddy the God kept it plain: “None of this — a lot of this doesn’t matter if everybody voted.” Viewer Kimber Snipes added a thoughtful counterpoint 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.” It was the kind of exchange that reminded everyone in the audience that civic engagement is less a finish line than an ongoing relationship.
Paul B. quickly anchored the morning in something bigger than any single election cycle. He described what he calls the show’s “secondary matrix” — the idea that there’s always a deeper purpose running beneath the surface. “On the surface we’re a couple of talking heads that talk about some news with the community,” he said, “but what we’re really trying to do is build community, build some coalition.” That philosophy set the table perfectly for the morning’s main guest.
Dana Murray, founder of the North Omaha Music Academy (NMA) — formerly known as Love’s Jazz — joined the show for a conversation that was equal parts cultural history lesson and community blueprint. A musician and educator originally from South Omaha, Murray spent eleven years in New York City before returning home to plant something lasting on North 24th Street, the corridor Paul B. has long called “the most important Black corner in Nebraska.”
Murray didn’t shy away from the complicated truth about that stretch of North Omaha. “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. “We’ve been so far removed from that — not even what the rest of Omaha views North 24th Street as. I’m more talking to the people that are there, who are so far removed from what that was, that it is hard to build momentum from within when a lot of the community can’t relate to the power of what was.” Viewer Pops echoed that sentiment from the chat, recalling that “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 candid take on Native Omaha Days, an event beloved by many in the community. While he said he loves its spirit at its core, he sees a missed opportunity. “It’s a reunion, but it’s a failed opportunity to showcase our culture because none of that is trying to invite the rest of Omaha down to partake in what we have to offer,” he said, pointing to South Omaha’s Cinco de Mayo celebration as a model. “It’s a festival that brings them together, but they invite everybody down to be part of that. I wish we did more of that.”
At the heart of the conversation was NMA itself — what it is, what it does, and what it could become. Murray described it as a youth music academy and performance venue, but his vision reaches far beyond music lessons. “We’re not only raising musicians, but more importantly we’re raising more critical thinking human beings,” he said. “Some will become doctors, some will become lawyers, some will become business owners. Whatever they choose to do, they’re going to be better because they were aligned with artistry.” Viewer Senator KML put it simply from the chat: “Thank you, Uncle Dana. You’re changing lives in big ways. We are the students.”
And NMA is just getting started. Murray shared that the organization is planning a capital campaign — with a first phase of $20 million — aimed at building a full NMA campus on the North 24th corridor. He pointed to Omaha Performing Arts as the model: an institution that functions not just as a cultural anchor, but as an economic engine. “If you can have bigger entertainment, if you can bring attractions, people will come. The larger the attractions, the larger the crowds, the more fuel you have to develop an area,” he said. “It’s a very simple equation.”
Murray also made the broader cultural and economic case with conviction. “Every music in America has been built off of our experience — from the hardest rock music to the jazziest jazz music to the poppiest of pop music, you trace it all the way back to the music that was brought over here from Africa,” he said. “The sooner we look at it not as ‘oh, that’s a cool little music thing,’ but as equity for us to build and monetize for our community, the better we’re going to be. We are just plain rich as a people.”
For musicians or educators interested in joining the NMA team, Murray noted that he and his assistant, Andrew Bailey, can be reached at dmurray@northomahamusic.org and abailey@northomahamusic.org. The academy is thoughtful about who it brings in. “Anyone can have the X’s and O’s of teaching,” Murray said, “but 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. The why they’re doing it is everything.”
The morning ended on a note as warm as it began. Viewer Aeros 402 shared a moment of pure joy from the chat: “On a love note, my only daughter gave birth to my second granddaughter. They are both new and good. I feel blessed.” It was a perfectly fitting close for a Love Supreme Friday — a reminder that community is built not just in grand visions and capital campaigns, but in the everyday moments we share with one another.
Buddy the God summed it up as well as anyone could: “We got to do both — we have 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’s the work. And on 1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, that work starts every weekday morning right here at home.
Tune in Monday morning for another conversation worth waking up for — we’ll save you a seat.
