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More Bang for His Buck: Social Entrepreneur John Blazek Helped Reset The Reader’s Course
March 10, 2019
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The Reader newspaper is celebrating 25 years with a special anniversary March 2019 issue. This is one of two articles I have in that milestone edition. In commemorating the paper’s quarter century serving the community, we’re noting some behind the scenes figures and events that helped get the paper this far. This piece profiles social entrepreneur John Blazek, an Omaha investor whose capital allowed publisher John Heaston to reacquire the paper and whose money and advice helped Heaston stabilize the operation through the economic downturn and the changing landscape for print media. Another Omaha investor who stepped up at the same time as Blazek to aid The Reader was John Webster, a former broadcast radio owner I profile in the second article. It takes a lot of talents and resources to put out a paper and it’s good to recognize some of the untold stories and unsung heroes who have a hand in making it reality. I didn’t know of Blazek until I got the assignment to interview him. His role was eye-opening to me and I personally appreciate the way he assisted Heaston and bailed out the paper because I have been a Reader contributing writer for 23 of its 25 years. The bulk of my wide-ranging work as a journalist has been with the publication, where I have had something like a thousand or so pieces appear in its pages, including hundreds of cover stories. It’s been an eventful marriage filled with highs, lows, opportunities, adventures and all the usual stuff that attends a relationship that long-standing. I am glad to have some presence in this landmark edition and I look forward to being part of The Reader reaching new milestones over time.
More Bang for His Buck
Social Entrepreneur John Blazek Helped Reset The Reader’s Course
©by Leo Adam Biga
Originally appeared in The Reader (www.thereader.com)
Omaha investor John Blazek likes getting “a two-fer” when putting his money to work.
“I always figured why do something for just one reason when you can do things for more than one reason. It’s what I really enjoy. That’s why I’ve done everything I have in my career,” he said.
“I’m a really big believer that to whom much is given, much is required. You’ve got an obligation to try to help the other guy. That’s what makes life enriching.”
As a social entrepreneur, he’s started, acquired and sold businesses with this two-for-one goal in play. At some critical junctures in its history, even The Reader benefited from his strategy, as Blazek infused capital that allowed the paper to remain a viable alternative voice while netting him a return on investment.
“I like to leverage the things I do so it’s not just about me but also provides service to others.”
The Creighton University graduate is Entrepreneur in Residence at his alma mater, where he teaches entrepreneurship and real estate.
His multi-faceted career has encompassed being a pharmacist, executive, educator, real estate developer, philanthropist and mayoral cabinet member.
He served patients as a Kohll’s and Clarkson Hospital pharmacist. He created jobs as a home (Total HomeCare) and workplace healthcare provider (Wellcom). His Old Market and downtown real estate projects have reactivated old buildings, He, Mark Keffeler and Mike Moylan redeveloped the historic Paxton Hotel. Blazek’s an investor in The Jewell jazz club in Moylan’s Capitol District and a partner in the Prairie Hills residential-commercial real estate development.
Reared in a midtown Omaha working-class family, he learned early about leveraging resources. His World War II veteran father was a Union Pacific machinist. His homemaker mother worked part time as a Walgreens cashier. His immigrant grandparents laid a foundation anchored in high aspirations and strong values.
“I think every generation wants the next generation to better themselves,” he said, “but maintain the same values. I think lots of times as people better themselves, they lose some of those core values, which are what got them there.
“Probably the biggest thing I took from my growing upwas a really good work ethic. There’s plenty of people way smarter than me, but I will outwork anyone.”
This practicing Catholic’s faith is central to his life.
“I served as board president of Skutt Catholic High School and Catholic Charities. My wife and I sent our three daughters to Catholic grade schools, high schools and colleges.”
Blazek champions Omaha and its many opportunities.
“It’s all here. You’ve just got to roll up your sleeves and go after it.”
In the late 1990s, then-Omaha Mayor Hal Daub appointed Blazek to the city planning board. Later, as director of economic development, Blazek led the city’s charge to demolish the old Asarco lead refinery plant, whose decades of contamination resulted in East Omaha being declared a Superfund site. A public bond issue paved the way for construction of the convention center-arena and the creation of the Metropolitan Entertainment & Convention Authority (MECA), which he served on the first board of directors.
“That was a great experience,” Blazek said. “The convention center-arena has been a game-changer for the city in the entertainment and development it’s generated.”
An encounter with Reader publisher John Heaston, who was investigating the Asarco site, forged a bond.
“I thought he did a good job and was a fair journalist,” Blazek said of Heaston. “I gained a lot of respect for him and I enjoyed our relationship.”
By the early 2000s, Heaston, who had been bought out, was looking to buy The Reader back from then-owner Alan Baer. Heaston approached Blazek and another local investor, John Webster, to assist him.
“We put up the capital in order for John to do that,” Blazek said.
The investors also helped Heaston acquire El Perico newspaper.
In The Reader, Blazek saw an opportunity to make a profit and stabilize a struggling media entity.
“I thought the survival of the paper was important to the community. Certain things would not be covered if not for The Reader. It often brings up a social-justice voice that I think is healthy. If it were gone, I do think there would be a void.”
His estimation of Heaston has only grown.
“We all know the pressures on print media but John’s a survivor. He works his tail off. He’s a trencher who hung in there through the tough times. He added a digital imprint. He downsized the paper to a monthly. He changed as the times changed. Yet he’s kept the same journalistic principles in place.”
Blazek’s ownership interest was “more from a board-seat standpoint” offering “business advice and mentorship.” Despite the paper not always reflecting his views, he kept involved.
“John and I certainly didn’t agree on everything. I disagreed with a lot of the positions the paper took. But I never interfered with any editorial content.”
All along, the idea was to let Heaston eventually have the paper again all to himself.
“We negotiated an exit strategy where John acquired our interests back. We sold it back to him on an installment basis. John’s done a great job and we wanted to see him continue to do that. It’s kept the paper going and allowed him to stay on as publisher.”
The paper fully became Heaston’s again in 2017.
“I think John had a good year last year,” Blazek said, “so mission accomplished as far as I’m concerned.”
As for Blazek, he intends to finish a self-help book he’s writing and to pursue a doctorate in education.
“I’m open to other ventures as long as they support my direction of moving from ambition to meaning.”
Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com.
Categories: Business, Entrepreneurial, John Blazek, John Heaston, John Webster, Journalism, Media, Newspaper, Omaha, The Reader, Writing
Business, Entrepreneur, Investor, John Blazek, John Heaston, John Webster, Media, Newspaper, Omaha, The Reader
Alfred Liggins is the other half of the Urban One success story
March 9, 2019
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Alfred Liggins is the other half of the Urban One success story
©by Leo Adam Biga
Originally appeared in The Omaha Star
Alfred Liggins III
The oft-told entrepreneurial success narrative of Urban One founder and chair Cathy Hughes tends to leave out a crucial part of the story: Her son and company CEO Alfred Liggins III is an equal partner in the journey of this black multimedia and entertainment enterprise.
By now, the tale of this single-mother’s rise from Omaha dreamer to Washington D.C. icon is the stuff of legend. But what gets lost in translation is that her son also came out of Omaha. He was only 7 when he moved with his mom to D.C., but he was here long enough to form fond memories of school (Sacred Heart, Mammoth Park), recreation (Kellom Pool, Fontenelle Park) and spending time with extended family (his maternal grandparents Helen Jones Woods and William Alfred Woods).
For years, he came back annually to visit family. He twice lived with his biological father Alfred Liggins II.
Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t enter or inherit the family business after it was already rolling. He was there from its fledgling start and helped make it a success. He’s since grown it to unimagined heights.
But even he’s is in awe of his mom.
“Yeah, I marvel at her gumption and her fearlessness,” he said. “You have to remember, she’s only 17 years older than I am. The business was founded in 1980. I joined full-time in 1985 when we had the one radio station. so I’ve had a front-row seat on the business journey from almost the beginning.
“She was very open in making me her business partner very early. It’s really a joint journey.”
Along the way, there’s been little time to admire what they’ve done together.
“It wasn’t like we were sitting back watching, going, ‘Oh look at what we did.’ You’re too busy trying to keep doing what you’re doing on the right track and figuring out how to fix the stuff that’s not working and figuring out what the next thing is.”
He doesn’t mind her getting most of the pub.
“Look, my mother has an amazing story from where she came and she’s always been more of a forefront person.
A lot of people tend to think this woman built this company and she made her son the CEO, but they don’t realize how long I’ve been at the company and that it was really a joint effort. They tend to thing it’s a traditional family business.
“But my mother is very good at giving me credit. She did it when we were in Omaha.”
Last May, Omaha feted Hughes at events celebrating her life, including a street naming in her honor..Liggins was content letting his mom have the spotlight.
“I never spend a bunch of time doing press or correcting people because that’s just not who I am. I love our partnership. I’m grateful and happy that people are inspired by her story, our story, and it’s a great story and a great journey. I don’t feel a need to build my own story separate and apart from hers.
“But if I get called for an interview and we start talking about it, I’m happy to lay out what my role was and what our relationship is.”
Son and mother in the early days of Cathy’s radio career
Before coming on full-time at age 20 in 1985, Liggins worked at the station as a sportscaster and weekend talk show host while still a high school teenager.
“I guess it was cool I worked at a radio station, but I didn’t really want to do it. I was kind of required to do it. I didn’t really want to be in the radio business at first. I wanted to be in the record business.”
He went to L.A. to live with his step-father, Dewey Hughes, looking to break into the music biz.
“I ended up unemployed and my mother suggested I come back to D.C., work at the station, go to college at night and get my act together and figure out what to do next, so I did that.”
What was then known as Radio One consisted of a single station. Within a decade, the mother and son grew the company into a nationwide network.
“I always had a talent for sales. I went into the sales department and started to be successful pretty early on,” Liggins said.
He kept doubling his earnings from year to year until, by his early 20s, he was pulling down $150,000.
“I was young making a lot of money. That was the time I realized this would be a great career path if we could grow the business beyond where we were.”
Between his earnings and social life, he dropped out of night school. It was only some years later he applied to the Wharton School of Business executive management master’s program. Despite not being a college graduate, he got in on the strength of managing a $25 million a year company and recommendations from the likes of Rev. Jesse Jackson.
“The idea that I had doubled-back and ended up getting in an Ivy league business school was exciting to me. It kind of felt like I was beating the system in some way. My diploma says the same thing every one else’s diploma says. In the end, I feel like I got my ticket punched. my certification, my bonafides.”
While he took care of business behind the scenes, Cathy Hughes made her presence known on air.
“My mother was doing the morning show and I was a stabilizing force in the sales department. She did some things on the air, like lead the Washington Post boycott, that really started to brand her as the voice of the black community. I was able to sell that to mainstream advertisers. We started to make money. It wasn’t a ton, but we went from losing four-five hundred thousand dollars to making a couple hundred thousand dollars.”_
Cathy Hughes
Reaching a more substantial audience came next.
“We owned one AM radio station and FM radio at that time was really exploding. It was where all the audience was, AM was dying. We set out and put together a plan to expand into FM radio. I identified an FM we could afford, Investors worked with my mother and me to figure out how to finance it. It was like a $7.5 million purchase. I think they needed like 10 different minority focused venture capital entities to put up the funding. And we got our first FM.
“That first year the bank required us to keep it in an adult contemporary format that wasn’t black-targeted because they wanted to have the cash flow. But we didn’t do that very well and we fell out of the ratings book. We were like, ‘Okay can we change the format to something we know?’ So we changed to an urban adult contemporary and it took off like a rocket.”
For the first time, the company recorded serious profits.
“Five years later the AM and the FM were doing $10 million of revenue and $5 million of profitability. We became a wild success. Then we bought into the Baltimore market – our first market outside of Washington. Then we kept going from there. I felt like we were on this mission to build this business. I felt optimistic and empowered and energetic and vigorous.”
In charge of day to day operations for more than two decades, Liggins has led subsequent strategic moves – from taking the company public in 1998 tp brokering deals that created TV One and Interactive One (now iOne Digital) to entering the casino-gaming industry. He’s also guided the company in divesting itself of low-performing stations and other media segment drags and in acquiring Reach Media, whose national radio personalities lineup includes Tom Joyner, Erica Campbell, DL Hughley and Rev. Al Sharpton.
“We built our company around serving the black community,” he said.
That’s why getting into television was key.
“BET was created in Washington in 1980 – the same year Radio One was formed. We knew BEY founder Robert Johnson. The people who invested in Radio One were also involved in BET. One of our lead investors was actually on the BET board. So we had a front-row seat to see that success.
“It was clear there was only one network targeting black people in the entire country, and that didn’t make any sense. But we were building the radio station and TV remained off our radar for a time.”
But there was no getting around that radio was “a tertiary medium,” Liggins said, “and if you wanted to really grow the platform to serve African-Americans you had to be in the places where they’re at – and they don’t just listen to radio.”
“I’ve always looked at us as in the black people business and not just the media business. BET was wildly successful and there was only one of it, so I always wanted to get into the television business.”
Alfred Liggins III, ©Gettt Images
The opportunity to enter the TV space came, he said, when “Comcast decided they wanted to expand in content and I went in and made a big pitch to them.”
“I said, ‘Look, I know we’ve never done television before, but we know how to market and program to black people. You have the distribution, but we’ll put up all the money.’ Lots of people were wanting to start a cable network, but they wanted Comcast to put up all the money. Eventually, $134 million was raised. Comcast invested $15 million in it. They got a big piece of the company just for giving us the distribution. We invested $74 million and I raised another $30 million from people I had done business with before. That’s how we got started in TV.”
The once monolithic TV industry, he said, “is disintermediating now with cord cutting” and streaming. “We’re trying to figure out how to pay for and deliver more content and what other distribution opportunities or systems there are for us to monetize that content.”
To hedge against media volatility, the company’s diversified into the casino gaming business with partners MGM and a casino resort in DC..
“It’s been a great investment for us,” Liggins said.
Meanwhile, the radio business that’s been the foundation of the company, he said, is “a declining, mature legacy media business that probably will have further consolidation.” He added, “We’ve got to figure out what our role in that is.”
Urban One carries “a lot of debt,” he said, “because we piled up a bunch of debt buying radio stations over the years, and then when the Internet hit all traditional media took a hit – print taking the worst of the brunt.”
“Our debt’s come way down but still not low enough, so were continuing to reduce our leverage. We’ve been buying back stock for 10 years, which is good, because we’ve been buying it back at low prices and paying down debt. Hopefully, we’ll make that transition to the new media ecosystem and have a reasonable level of debt and have increased holdings for the shareholders who decided not to sell.”
Then there’s the new phenomenon of black culture and content being in great demand.
“Everyone wants to be in that space,” Liggins said, “which makes it more completive for us because we’re up against big guys like Viacom, A&E, HBO, Warner. Everybody’s got black content and some of these players have got a lot more money than we do. So we’ve got to be smart and nimble in what we produce and how we finance it.”
He’s arrived at a leadership style that suits him.
“I’m an information-gatherer. I ask a lot of questions of a lot of people and I throw a lot of ideas on the wall. Then I debate them with folks. Even though I ask people a lot of questions I’m not necessarily a manager by consensus all the time. I’l take that info and chart the path. I’m a big believer in hiring people who know more than I do in certain areas and have skill sets I don’t.
“When we were building the radio company I made a point of hiring people who had worked for larger radio companies. People we brought in taught us about research and disciplined programming and sales techniques. So I’m a big believer in importing knowledge. What happens in a family business when it’s the only place you’ve really worked at is that you don’t know what you don’t know. You have to import that knowledge in order to grow the business.”
Alfred Liggins III and Cathy Hughes, ©Getty Images
He nurtures the team he’s cultivated around him.
“I try to be collegial in my style with folks even though like my mother I can be very direct. Some people may say I’m aloof. I would say generally though the people who work with me like working with me. I nurture a positive relationship with those people.
“Sometimes when you have to ask people to do difficult things or you have address negative issues or shortcomings its better if its coming from a place of constructive criticism in a joint goal as opposed to an ego driven place where you’re trying to prove your smarter than that person.”
Ego has no place in his business approach.
“In a corporate environment I could see where infighting could cause managers to want to make sure they get credit for the idea and they look like they’re the smartest person in the room – because they want to get that next promotion. Well, fortunately, being in your own business I don’t have to worry about that. I’m more focused on just getting to the right answer and I don’t care who gets the credit.”
Liggins, a single father of one son, acknowledges he’s given some thought to a third generation in this family legacy business.
“It would be great. My son’s 10. He talks as if he wants to. It’s still early on. He’s got to earn his way into that, too. But i like the idea that he would want to follow in our footsteps. But it’s up to me he’s got a company to even consider taking over by the time he comes of age.
“I’m still trying to navigate our transition in the media business -– reducing our leverage so the company isn’t at risk and so is set it up for the future.”
Whatever happens, Omaha remains home for him and his mother – a reality impressed upon him when they visited last spring.
“It’s like you come full-circle. This is where we both recognize we’re from. We’ve got deep roots there. There’s a track record of successful African-Americans from that community. We’ve always come back.
“To have a street named in her honor is a big deal. You feel like your business career and your life has meant something. It was an amazing experience.”
Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com.
Categories: Alfred Liggins III, Cathy Hughes
Alfred Liggins, Black Entrepreneur, Black Media, Business, Cathy Hughes, Entrepreneur, Media, Omaha, Radio One, TV One, Urban One
Commemorating Black History Month – Links to North Omaha stories (Part IV of four-part series)
March 4, 2019
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Commemorating Black History Month
Links to North Omaha stories from 1998 through 2018
Articles on social justice, civil rights, race, history, faith, family, community, business, politics. education, art, music, theater, film, culture, et cetera
A weekly four-part series
Final week: Part IV – Soul food and soul sports
https://leoadambiga.com/2019/01/16/the-long-road-to…ear-as-a-bluejay
Charles Hall’s Fair Deal Cafe | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/10/one–peach–of-a-pitcher–peaches…
Categories: African-American, African-American Culture, African-American Empowerment Network, Journalism, North Omaha, Omaha, Omaha Black Sports Legends, Writing
African Ameican Culture, African American, African-American Empowerment Network, Black Lives Matter, North Omaha, North Omaha Stories, Omaha, Omaha Black History
Local Black Filmmakers Showcase: Next up – short films by Jason Fischer on Tuesday, March 5 at 6 p.m.
March 4, 2019
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Local Black Filmmakers Showcase
A February-March 2019 film festival @ College of Saint Mary, 7000 Mercy Road
6 p.m. | Gross Auditorium in Hill Macaluso Hall
Featuring screen gems by Omaha’s own Omowale Akintunde and Jason Fischer
Support the work of these African-American community-based cinema artists
Next up – three short films by Jason Fischer
Screening on Tuesday, March 5:
•The art film “I Do Not Use” pairs searing, symbolic images to poet Frank O’Neal’s incendiary words.
•The documentary “Whitney Young: To Become Great” uses the civil rights leader’s life as a model for kids and adults to investigate what it takes to be great.
•And the award-winning “Out of Framed: Unseen Poverty in the Heartland” documents people living on the margins in Omaha.
Screenings start at 6 p.m.
Followed by Q & A with the filmmaker moderated by Leo Adam Biga.
Tickets and parking are free and all films are open to the public.
For more information, call 402-399-2365.
Still to come – a screening of Omowale Akintunde’s award-winning documentary “An Inaugural Ride to Freedom” about a group of Omahans who traveled by bus to the first Obama inauguration. Plus a bonus documentary on the second Obama inauguration. Followed by Q&A with the filmmaker moderated by Leo Adam Biga. Date and time to be determined. Watch for posts announcing this wrap-up program in the Local Black Filmmakers Showcase.
Local Black Filmmakers Showcase continues tonight with “Wigger”
February 28, 2019
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Local Black Filmmakers Showcase featuring screen gems by Omaha’s own Omowale Akintunde and Jason Fischer
Support the work of these African-American community-based cinema artists
February-March 2019
College of Saint Mary
6 p.m. | Gross Auditorium in Hill Macaluso Hall
The work of award-winning Omaha filmmakers Omowale Akintunde and Jason Fischer highlight this four-day festival at College of Saint Mary.
Next up:
“Wigger” (2010)
From writer-director-producer:
Omowale Akintunde
Screening tonight – Thursday, February 28 @ 6 p.m.
Followed by a Q&A with flmmaker Omowale Akintunde.
Moderated by Omaha fllm author-journalist-blogger Leo Adam Biga.
Shot entirely in North Omaha, “Wigger” explores racism through the prism of a white dude whose strong identification with black culture ensnares and empowers him amidst betrayal and tragedy.”Wigger” is a spellbinding urban drama, which chronicles the life of a young, White, male (Brandon) who totally emulates and immerses himself in African American life and culture. Brandon is an aspiring R&B singer struggling to overcome the confines of a White racist, impoverished family headed by a neo-Nazi father who is absolutely appalled by his son’s total identification with Black culture. Additionally, he is oft times reminded of his position of privilege by virtue of being White in a White, racist society despite his adamant efforts to transcend “Whiteness”, institutionalized racism, and find a place for himself in a world in which he rejects Whiteness but is not always fully embraced by African American culture. Ultimately, this is the story of a young White, inner-city, male caught up in an emotional, psychological, experiential, and racial “Catch 22” determined to be granted acceptance in the life and culture with which he chooses to identify.
The Festival continues on Tuesday, March 5 with three short films by Jason Fischer taking center stage. The art film “I Do Not Use” pairs searing, symbolic images to poet Frank O’Neal’s incendiary words. The documentary “Whitney Young: To Become Great” uses the civil rights leader’s life as a model for kids and adults to investigate what it takes to be great. “Out of Framed: Unseen Poverty in the Heartland”documents people living on the margins in Omaha.
NOTE: The March 5 Jason Fischer program was originally scheduled for February 25 but was postponed due to inclement weather.
The February 26 program featuring Omowale Akintunde’s Emmy-award winning documentary “An Inaugural Ride to Freedom” was also postponed due to weather and will be rescheduled at a date to be determined later.
All films begin at 6 p.m. and will be screened in Gross Auditorium in Hill Macaluso Hall at College of Saint Mary, 7000 Mercy Road.
A Q & A with the filmmaker follows each screening.
Tickets and parking are free and all films are open to the public.
For more information, call 402-399-2365.
Local Black Filmmakers Showcase featuring screen gems by Omaha’s own Omowale Akintunde and Jason Fischer
February 26, 2019
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Local Black Filmmakers Showcase featuring screen gems by Omaha’s own Omowale Akintunde and Jason Fischer
Support the work of these African-American community-based artists
February-March 2019
College of Saint Mary
6 p.m. | Gross Auditorium in Hill Macaluso Hall
The work of award-winning Omaha filmmakers Omowale Akintunde and Jason Fischer highlight this four-day festival at College of Saint Mary.
On Tuesday February 26, Akitnunde’s “An Inaugural Ride to Freedom” charts a trip Nebraskans made to D.C. for Obama’s historic first inauguration. On Wednesday, February 27, it’s the world premiere of Akintunde’s television pilot “It Takes a Village,” which turns black situation comedy on its head. On Thursday, February 28, his impressive dramatic feature debut “Wigger,”shot entirely in North Omaha, explores racism through the prism of a white dude whose strong identification with black culture ensnares and empowers him amidst betrayal and tragedy.
On Tuesday, March 5 three short films by Fischer take center stage. The art film “I Do Not Use” pairs searing, symbolic images to poet Frank O’Neal’s incendiary words. The documentary “Whitney Young: To Become Great” uses the civil rights leader’s life as a model for kids and adults to investigate what it takes to be great. “Out of Framed: Unseen Poverty in the Heartland”documents people living on the margins in Omaha.
Screenings start at 6 p.m. Q &As follow the February 27. February 28 and March 5 showings.
All films begin at 6 p.m. and will be screened in Gross Auditorium at College of Saint Mary, 7000 Mercy Road 68106.
Tickets and parking are free and all films are open to the public.
For more information, call 402-399-2365.
Local Black Filmmakers Showcase
Tuesday, February 26th
“An Inaugural Ride to Freedom”
Wednesday, February 27th
Premier screening:
“It Takes a Village”
Director Q&A with Omowale Akintunde
February 28th
“Wigger”
Director Q&A with Omowale Akintunde
Tuesday, March 5
Short Films (originally scheduled for Feb. 25)
“I Do Not Use”
“Whitney Young To Become Great”
“Out of Frame: Unseen Poverty in the Heartland”
Director Q&A with Jason R. Fischer
Categories: African-American, African-American Culture, Arts-Entertainment-Culture, Cinema, Film, Jason Fischer, Movies, North Omaha, Omaha, Omowale Akintunde
African Ameican Culture, African American, An Inaugural Ride to Freedom, Black Cinema, I Do Not Use, Jason Fischer, Local Black Filmmakers Showcase, North Omaha, Omaha, Omowale Akintunde, Wigger
Commemorating Black History Month – Links to North Omaha stories (Part III of four-part series)
February 26, 2019
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Commemorating Black History Month
Links to North Omaha stories from 1998 to 2019
Articles on social justice, civil rights, race, history, faith, family, community, business, politics. education, art, music, theater, film, culture, et cetera
A weekly four-part series
This week: Part III – History, art, music, theater, film, culture, entertainment, society
https://leoadambiga.com/2018/11/25/cathy-hughes-for…g-the-status-quo
https://leoadambiga.com/2018/12/12/as-screen-vetera…-big-career-move
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/11/berthas-battle/
Burden of Dreams: The Trials of Omaha’s Black Museum | Leo Adam …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/burden-of-dreams-the-trials-of-omaha’s-black– museum/
Great Plains Black History Museum Asks for Public Input on its …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/great-plains-black-history-museum-asks-for- public-input-on-its-latest-evolution/
Long and Winding Saga of the Great Plains Black History Museum …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/long-and-winding-saga-of-the-great-plains-black- history-museum-takes-a-new-turn-2/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/04/30/omahas-sweet-six…master-battalion
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/18/the-tuskegee-airmen/
https://leoadambiga.com/2019/02/09/omahas-jazz-past…ge-at-the-jewell/
https://leoadambiga.com/2018/11/25/funny-yet-seriou…ber-ruffin-story
https://leoadambiga.com/2018/12/08/putting-it-on-th…in-late-night-tv/
https://leoadambiga.com/2018/04/30/north-omaha-rupt…f-playfest-drama/
https://leoadambiga.com/2018/04/24/stage-screen-sta…e-omaha-symphony
http://thereader.com/visual-art/soul_sisters/
Camille Metoyer Moten | Omaha Magazine
http://omahamagazine.com/articles/tag/camille-metoyer-moten/
Camille Metoyer Moten: With a song in her heart | Leo Adam …
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/12/26/camille-metoyer-moten-with-a…
Art imitates life as themes in play cut closely for its stars – The Reader
http://thereader.com/visual-art/art_imitates_life_as_themes_in_play_cut_closely_for_its_stars/
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/02/18/blacks-of-distinction-2/
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/01/blacks-of-distinction-ii/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/05/after-night-of-v…s-venue’s-future/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/11/20/finding-forefath…limpse-of-future/
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/07/09/actor-kelcey-wat…es-of-separation/
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/04/22/john-beasley-living-his-dream/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/06/john-beasley-making-his-stand
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/02/01/john-beasley-act…nt-believability
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/03/john-beasley-and…kshop-and-beyond
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/30/tired-of-being-t…-beasley-theater
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/18/get-your-jitney-on
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/05/29/polishing-gem-be…gem-of-the-ocean
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/14/what-happens-to-…aisin-in-the-sun
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/10/04/michael-beasley-…-steel-magnolias/
Life comes full circle for singer Carol Rogers | Leo Adam …
https://leoadambiga.com/2015/08/28/life-comes-full-circle-for…
Sisters of song: Kathy Tyree connects with Ella Fitzgerald …
http://thereader.com/visual-art/sisters_of_song_kathy_tyree_connects_with_ella_fitzgerald/
Black Women in Music | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/07/11/black-women-in-music
Now Wasn’t That a Time? Helen Jones Woods and the …
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/04/29/17
Kia Corthron | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/category/kia-corthron
Bomb Girl Zedeka Poindexter Draws on Family, Food and …
https://leoadambiga.com/2015/03/11/zedeka-poindexter-draws-on..
Lit Fest Brings Author Carleen Brice Back Home Flush with …
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/07/02/lit-fest-brings-author-carleen…
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/10/26/novel’s-mother-d…it-to-the-screen
Wanda Ewing Exhibit: Bougie is as Bougie Does | Leo Adam …
https://leoadambiga.com/2013/12/08/wanda-ewing-exhibit-bougie-is…
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/06/17/color-me-black-a…ications-of-race/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/22/frederick-browns…ing-on-of-legacy
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/08/28/artist-bernard-s…-revival-worship/
Jana Murrell: Working Towards a New Standard of Beauty …
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/07/04/jana-murrell-working-towards-a…
Gospel Playwright Llana Smith Enjoys Her Big Mama’s Time
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/07/gospel-playwright-llana-smith…
Quiana Smith’s Dream Time Takes Her to Regional, Off …
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/01/23/quiana-smiths-dream-time-2
Jill Scott Interview | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/08/08/interview-with-jill-scott
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/07/05/a-woman-under-the-influence/
Crowns | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/tag/crowns/
Tiffany White-Welchen delivers memorable performance in …
https://leoadambiga.com/2015/10/14/tiffany-white-welchen-delivers…
Enchantress “LadyMac” Gets Down | Leo Adam Biga’s My …
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/21/enchantress-ladymac-gets-down
Preston Love, His Voice Will Not Be Stilled | Leo Adam Biga’s My …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/preston-love-his-voice-will-not-be-stilled/
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/05/05/preston-love-a-t…late-hepcat-king/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/03/mr-saturday-night
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/03/omaha-blues-and-…end-preston-love
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/03/preston-love-192…ed-at-everything
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/01/hard-times-ring-…uthor-laura-love/
https://leoadambiga.com/2013/04/27/laura-love-omaha…r-gal-comes-home/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/12/19/preston-love-jr-…e-man-chautauqua
Cool Cat Billy and the Sportin’ Life | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/07/01/sportin-life/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/18/puttin-on-the-ritz/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/08/28/soon-come-nevill…hing-north-omaha
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/12/27/gabrielle-union-…-from-the-camera
Gabrielle Union having it all between her own series, new …
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/09/29/gabrielle-union-…ary-half-the-sky/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/21/the-gabrielle-union-chronicles
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/21/gabrielle-union-a-star-is-born
Dope actress Yolonda Ross is nothing but versatile – from …
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/10/18/dope-actress-yolonda-ross-is…
Yolonda Ross adds writer-director to actress credits – The …
http://thereader.com/visual-art/yolonda_ross_adds_writer-director_to_actress_credits/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/21/yolonda-ross-takes-it-to-the-limit
https://leoadambiga.com/2015/09/13/tim-christian-ch…film-in-nebraska
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/11/29/vincent-alstons-…nd-love-all-over
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/03/09/master-of-many-m…ms-jason-fischer/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/01/an-inner-city-ex…range-of-stories/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/01/art-from-the-streets/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/07/20/omowale-akintund…new-cinema-voice/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/21/deconstructing-w…ost-racial-world
Categories: African-American, African-American Culture, African-American Empowerment Network, Black Lives Matter, Journalism, North Omaha, Omaha, Writing
African Ameican Culture, African American, African-American Empowerment Network, Black History Month, Black Lives Matter, North Omaha, North Omaha Stories, Omaha, Omaha Black History
Commemorating Black History Month Links to North Omaha stories from 1998 through 2018 (Part II of four-part series)
February 9, 2019
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Commemorating Black History Month
Links to North Omaha stories from 1998 through 2018
Articles on social justice, civil rights, race, history, faith, family, community, business, politics. education, art, music, theater, film, culture, et cetera
A weekly four-part series
This week: Part II – Faith, family, community, business, politics
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/11/16/interfaith-journ…rfaith-walk-work/
Good Shepherds of North Omaha: Ministers and Churches Making a …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/the-shepherds-of-north–omaha–ministers-and- churches-making-a-difference-in-area-of-great-need/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/30/two-blended-hous…houses-unidvided
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/11/14/small-but-mighty…idst-differences
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/16/everyones-welcom…g-bread-together/
https://leoadambiga.com/2014/02/02/upon-this-rock-h…trinity-lutheran/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/05/31/gimme-shelter-sa…en-for-searchers
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/01/09/an-open-invitati…-catholic-church
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/07/15/everything-old-i…-church-in-omaha/
https://leoadambiga.com/2015/03/10/the-sweet-sounds…ts-freedom-choir/
Sacred Heart Freedom Choir | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/tag/sacred-heart-freedom-choir/
Salem’s Voices of Victory Gospel Choir Gets Justified with the Lord …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/salems-voices-of-victory-gospel-choir-gets-justified-with-the-lord/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/07/11/the-myers-legacy…ng-and-community/
A Homecoming Like No Other – The Reader
http://thereader.com/news/a-homecoming-like-no-other/
Native Omaha Days: A Black is Beautiful Celebration, Now, and All …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/native–omaha–days-a-black-is-beautiful- celebration-now-and-all-the-days-gone-by/
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/11/back-in-the-day-…party-all-in-one
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/05/how-one-family-d…-during-the-days/
Bryant-Fisher | Omaha Magazine
http://omahamagazine.com/articles/tag/bryant-fisher/.
A Family Thing – The Reader | Omaha, Nebraska
http://thereader.com/news/a_family_thing/.
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/06/11/big-mama’s-keeps…ve-ins-and-dives/
Big Mama, Bigger Heart | Omaha Magazine
http://omahamagazine.com/articles/big-mama-bigger-heart/
Entrepreneur and craftsman John Hargiss invests in North Omaha …
http://thereader.com/visual-art/entrepreneur_and_craftsman_john_hargiss_invests_in_north_omaha/
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/06/30/creative-to-the-…s-handmade-world/
https://leoadambiga.com/2013/09/27/minne-lusa-house…on-and-community/
https://leoadambiga.com/2013/10/22/a-culinary-horti…ommunity-college/
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/08/28/revival-of-benso…estination-place
A Mentoring We Will Go | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/18/a-mentoring-we-will-go
https://leoadambiga.com/2018/01/08/tech-maven-lasho…past-stereotypes/
https://leoadambiga.com/2017/08/22/omaha-small-busi…rs-entrepreneurs
Omaha Northwest Radial Hwy | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/tag/omaha-northwest-radial-hwy/
Isabel Wilkerson | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/tag/isabel-wilkerson/
The Great Migration comes home – The Reader
http://thereader.com/visual-art/the_great_migration_comes_home/.
Goodwin’s Spencer Street Barber Shop – Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside …
Free Radical Ernie Chambers – The Reader
http://www.thereader.com/post/free_radical_ernie_chambers
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/03/15/deadeye-marcus-m…t-shooter-at-100/
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/01/15/north-omaha-cham…s-the-good-fight
North’s Star: Gene Haynes builds legacy as education leader with …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/norths-star-gene-haynes-builds-legacy-as-education-leader-with-omaha-public-schools-and-north-high-school…
Brenda Council: A public servant’s life | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside …
https://leoadambiga.com/…/brenda-council-a-public-servants-life/
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/17/carole-woods-har…ess-and-politics/
Radio One Queen Cathy Hughes Rules By Keeping It Real …
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/04/29/radio-one-queen-cathy-hughes…
Miss Leola Says Goodbye | Leo Adam Biga’s My Inside Stories
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/01/miss-leola-says-goodbye/.
https://leoadambiga.com/2011/09/02/leola-keeps-the-…-side-music-shop/
Aisha Okudi’s story of inspiration and transformation …
http://thereader.com/news/aisha_okudis_story_of_inspiration_and_transformation/
Alesia Lester: A Conversation in the Gossip Salon | Leo …
https://leoadambiga.com/2016/03/09/alesia-lester-a-conversation-in…
http://omahamagazine.com/articles/tag/viv-ewing/
https://leoadambiga.com/2015/02/11/sex-talk-comes-w…rri-nared-brooks/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/08/29/strong-smart-and…-girls-inc-story/
https://leoadambiga.com/2015/10/13/omaha-couple-exp…ica-in-many-ways
Parenting the Second Time Around Holds Challenges and …
https://leoadambiga.com/2012/11/25/parenting-the-second-time…
Pamela Jo Berry brings art fest to North Omaha – The Reader
http://thereader.com/visual-art/pamela_jo_berry_brings_art_fest_to_north_omaha/
https://leoadambiga.com/2010/06/06/its-a-hoops-cult…asketball-league/
Tunette Powell | Omaha Magazine
http://omahamagazine.com/articles/tag/tunette-powell/
Finding Her Voice: Tunette Powell Comes Out of the Dark …
https://leoadambiga.com/2013/01/24/finding-her-voice-tunette..
Shonna Dorsey | Omaha Magazine
http://omahamagazine.com/articles/tag/shonna-dorsey/
Finding Normal: Schalisha Walker’s journey finding normal …
https://leoadambiga.com/2014/07/18/finding-normal-schalisha-walker..
Categories: African-American, African-American Culture, African-American Empowerment Network, Black Lives Matter, North Omaha, Omaha, Writing
African American, African-American Culture, African-American Empowerment Network, Black History Month, Black Lives Matter, North Omaha, North Omaha Stories, Omaha
Omaha’s jazz past and present merge at The Jewell
February 9, 2019
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Omaha’s jazz past and present merge at The Jewell
©by Leo Adam Biga
Appearing in the February 2019 edition of The Reader (www.thereader.com)
Brian McKenna, a drummer and former Sony Music Studios executive, pays homage to North Omaha’s rich jazz history at his new downtown club, The Jewell, in the Capitol District.
The fine dining-live music establishment’s February 6-7 grand opening features Grammy Award-winner David Sanborn and his Jazz Quintet.
McKenna’s appreciation for North O’s legacy music scene is evident throughout the swank space. Oversized reproductions of archival photos picture icons who played the Dreamland Ballroom. The black and white images add warmth to an already intimate room distinguished by a contoured stage backdrop meant to represent a jewel’s kaleidoscopic patterns. The club takes its name from Jimmy Jewell Jr., who booked the killer acts that made the Dreamland on North 24th Street a venue of some renown in jazz circles.
Dreamland operated on an upper floor of the Jewell Building, which today is home to nonprofit agencies, and back in the day housed a street level barber shop and pool hall. Leave it to a transplant from New York to put the Dreamland, which closed in 1965, front and center again. McKenna, an Eastman School of Music graduate, first learned about the venue in school. He was intrigued how it was a Midwest circuit stop for touring legends Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Lionel Hampton and many more.
Now the Jewell carries forward the Dreamland’s heritage.
“To revitalize it a little bit is kind of cool. That’s why I called it The Jewell – to bring that back and to do right by North Omaha,” said McKenna, who’s located his club in the Capitol District to take advantage of folks staying in downtown’s 3,000 hotel rooms. Besides, North Omaha already has Love’s Jazz & Art Center.
Still, he said, “This is not going to happen without North Omaha’s blessing. I have 11 investors from different pockets of the city, including North Omaha. I’m taking ads out in the Omaha Star. I’m trying to really embrace this authentic storyline, so that we can work together to make sure this is a community celebration.”
He wants The Jewell to be a platform for sharing this undertold narrative about North O’s live music culture.
“Along the way I’ve been telling this story and a lot of people don’t know this story. To keep it genuine, we’ve got to really spell it out.”
When McKenna and his Fremont, Nebraska native wife moved to Omaha in 2015 to raise their daughter, he researched Jimmy Jewell Jr., the Dreamland, other historic local music hives and the many noted musicians who resided or visited here. Once the Jewell idea crystalized, he sounded out North O leaders (Mike Maroney, Al Goodwin) and players (Curly Martin) for their knowledge and approval in creating a venue that’s both tribute to the past and showcase for established and emerging talent.
Having left Sony in 2008 to form his own music management company, McKenna Group Productions, which he now operates out of Omaha and New York, and fueled by his fascination with the history here, he found a project to challenge himself.
Brian McKenna at The Jewell
“I figured out something that wasn’t here at the level I thought it should be and that was a proper sit-down fine dining music venue,” he said. “But I knew it wasn’t going to work unless we really found the thread – and that was North Omaha.
“We’re going to hopefully carry that torch and really expose what used to be and try to bring some people back and then deliver that to future generations. The next generations need to know that this was a great scene, a beautiful scene. There’s a huge story there.”
McKenna marvels at what Jimmy Jewell Jr. did.
“He was able to get the biggest names. I mean, c’mon, man. It’s not easy to convince managers and agents,
but he was selling out the venue from 1930 all the way to 1965. Kudos to Jimmy Jewell Jr. for doing that.”
McKenna’s collecting stories. How on an extended Omaha stay, Nat King Cole wrote the hit “Straighten Up and Fly Right” – “i’ve got some artists that will be doing tributes to Nat King Cole” – and how artists arrived by bus and stayed in private black homes or black boardinghouses, lionized by adoring neighbors. After gigs, star musicians jammed with local players.
Meanwhile, hometown musicians honed their chops here before going off to solo, sidemen, studio session careers. Victor Lewis, Arno Lucas, Carol Rogers, Calvin Keys, Lois McMorris, the late Buddy Miles and others broke out. Those who left (Wali Ali) or returned (Curly Martin) now have a new place to gig at.
McKenna digs how Count Basie hired Preston Love Sr. at the Dreamland to tour with his orchestra and how Anna Mae Winburn headlined there and later lead the International Sweethearts of Rhythm all-female swing band that McKenna studied in college.
“We need to talk about this,” McKenna said. “We’re going to really be celebrating the historical sense but also bringing the new players, too, like Esperanza Spalding and Christian McBride. Every time I go back East and talk to them about North Omaha, they’re like, ‘Oh yeah – there was a scene there.’ We’ve got to put the spotlight on that. That’s what I want to do. On our social media we’re posting a lot of that historical stuff. We’ve got to educate folks that we had this here.”
He’s also insisting artists make pilgrimages to the Jewell Building, whose display of photos from the Dreamland’s heyday, said McKenna, “gives me chills.”
David Sanborn is eager to learn.
“I’m sorry to say I’m unaware of the history of jazz in Omaha. It’ll certainly be new to me and an interesting experience,” Sanborn said.
McKenna’s taking steps to immerse visiting artists in the community by contractually requiring they do outreach through master classes or workshops. “I have relationships with UNO, the Holland Center and Love’s for this educational component.”
His support of the local music community extends to reserving Wednesdays for area performers.
Programming-wise, the club’s “not going to be a hundred percent jazz,” he said, adding, “There are singer-songwriters coming through.”
The Jewell’s about good quality music, whatever the genre. Just no hard rock.
“It’s good to be diverse like that. Good music is good music.”
Further rooting the club to this place is Assistant General Manager Monique Alexander, a North Omaha native with a legacy connection to Duke Ellington as a distant cousin.
McKenna, who rose through the Sony ranks as a researcher, librarian and eventually vice president of audio operations and marketing. is applying his expertise to the entire endeavor.
“I felt I should do something that taps into that experience. Managing artists is great but you’ve got to do something in the community, too.”
He’s modeled The Jewell after Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York. Dakota in Minneapolis and Jazz St. Louis.
His industry contacts with agents, managers and talent bookers should aid in attracting top tier artists.
“We will get Wynton Marsalis out here, I guarantee you that. But the timing’s got to be right.”
He’s confident the club’s high standards of decor, house instruments (a Steinway piano, a custom Gretsch drum kit, a killer base) and acoustics (a floating ceiling to isolate vibrations from above), combined with its historical focus, will attract name talents.
“They will do whatever it takes to perform at great venues.”
McKenna’s left nothing to chance.
“It needs to be nurtured and developed. It’s not going to be rushed. It’s gotta be done right. To put this together has not been an easy thing. It’s been very detailed oriented. Every single move I’m making means something.”
The cozy, 150-seat venue boasts great sight-lines, with patrons only a few feet from the stage.
“When you’re that close it’s a different thing,” he said. “That’s the treat – to be that close to these types of artists. They’ll talk to you in a different way than they will performing in a big house. That’s what I love about this club – it’s a whole different vibe.”
He’s leveraging The Jewell’s sustainability on business travelers-tourists as well as locals looking for a signature night out. The club, at 1030 Capitol Avenue, is accessible from the Marriott and The Capitol Plaza.
It has its own dedicated chefs (Jon Seymour and Mark Budler) food and beverage director (Brent Hockenberry), hosts and servers in putting out its New Orleans-influenced menu.
McKenna expects to draw diverse audiences.
“People of all different cultures and walks of life will congregate similar to what happened at the Dreamland Ballroom. People will come to eat, drink and hear great music.”
The club worked out the kinks during a soft opening that launched January 17. Sanborn will help officially usher in The Jewell at a ribbon-cutting. He and his quintet will play 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. shows both nights. Sanborn’s trademark alto saxophone will blend with acoustic bass, drums, piano and trombone in performing works from his personal repertoire and from the late jazz composer-instrumentalist, Michael Brecker.
For tickets and upcoming featured artists, visit https://jewellomaha.com.
Read more of Leo Adam Biga’s work at leoadambiga.com.
Categories: Brian Mckenna, Dreamland Ballroom, Entertainment, Jazz, Music, North Omaha, Omaha, The Jewell, Writing
Brian Mckenna, David Sanborn, Dreamland Ballroom, Jazz, Jazz Club, Music, Music Club, North Omaha, Omaha, The Jewell
A Year’s Worth of Writing for Omaha Magazine by Leo Adam Biga
January 31, 2019
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A Year’s Worth of Writing for Omaha Magazine
by Leo Adam Biga
http://omahamagazine.com/articles/author/leo-adam-biga/
(November-December 2017 through November-December 2018)
Categories: Journalism, Journalist, Leo Adam Biga, Omaha, Omaha Magazine, Writing
Articles, Journalism, Journalist, Leo Adam Biga, Omaha, Omaha Magazine, Stories, Writing
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Leo Adam Biga's My Inside Stories 