Sights and Sounds is your weekly guide the Bay Area arts scene through the eyes and ears of local artists. During shelter-in-place, instead of recommending in-person events, we're offering suggestions for ways to experience art and culture from home. This week, host Jenee Darden speaks with DJ Nina Sol.
The Black Arts Movement Business District is hosting an online arts & culture festival. This year they're celebrating the 55th anniversary of The Black Power Movement and the beginning of The Black Arts Movement. There’s a lot happening including a short film festival, literary readings, yoga and cooking. The festival runs all month long for Black August.
Oakland vocalist and composer Naima Shalhoub is back with another album rich in melody and soul. Siphr is Arabic for zero. The album has themes of liberation and justice. Naima is Lebanese-American. She sings in both English and Arabic. Listen to a full interview with her this afternoon on KALW’s Crosscurrents.
Chicago rapper and poet Noname started this national book club. Members read two books each month by authors of color. There's a club in Oakland. This month they're reading Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination by Toni Morrison and The Vanishing Half By Brit Bennett. Give Noname’s music a listen too.
DJ Nina Sol will be spinning at the virtual party Elements this Saturday August 15th. Learn more on Twitch and Facebook.