1:50CHi everybody, good morning.
1:53AUh, Mr. Paul at the control.
1:55BWhat up?
1:57AExcuse me. And our guest in the spotlight, he’s here early and he’s a regular, Dwayne Akio Wong Omowale.
2:07DGood morning.
2:08AOh, you see how cool and conservative he is? Good morning. Okay, greetings to all our listeners, especially those of you joining us for the first time. 60 minutes of the finest steel pan recordings and talk that inspires, informs, and empowers. It’s hot, hot, hot in Florida, but guess what? We’ve got some cool jams in our outstanding steel pan mix coming up. In the spotlight, as I said, he’s a regular on our show, Dwayne Akio Wong Omowale. Brilliant young man, a Pan-Africanist, author of several books, several books, and soon-to-be second-year law student. Thanks for tuning in. Javelle.
2:55COkay, Morning Into Dancing is our opening selection by Highlight Vibes Combo from the album Steel and Paradise.
5:06DYou still paying vibes, radio show?
5:22BThis is brought to you by Thrifty Specialty Produce and Meats of Palm Bay. Thrifty Specialty Produce and Meats of Palm Bay offers a wide selection of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat for the international palate. Frozen foods, fresh dairy, and hot food at the deli are also available, as well as wholesale and catering services. And yes, we’ve got money transfer services to Haiti, Jamaica, and the Caribbean. Thrifty Specialty Produce of Palm Bay is located at 2135 Palm Bay Road. Call [number removed]. [number removed]. At Thrifty Specialty Produce and Meats, freshness is guaranteed. You are listening to the Steel Pan Vibes. It’s more than music radio show on 1510 AM, WWBC 94.7, 99.9, 100.3. 97.7 FM in Brevard County, plus streaming live online at facebook.com/steelpanvibes and 1510 WWBC available on the app WWBC, the WWBC app for Androids and iPhones. Thanks for joining us for an outstanding steel pan mix.
6:41AOkay, who do we have here? Well, I see all the way, all the way in, all the way in Nigeria. Good morning. Oh, and Ayasha Roden joined us. So does Daniela, Adrian, Waheed. Waheed, we miss you. Waheed is from Couva in Trinidad and Tobago, and that’s the village where my dad was born. So, plus, Waheed is our number one fan. Next to Adrian, next to Daniela. We have lots and lots more. Okay, it’s so good to have you all. Thank you so much for joining us. We trust you had a wonderful Fourth of July holiday with friends and family, but I have something very special for you right now. Qua qua la qua qua. What does that sound like? Qua qua la qua qua. It’s kind of soup. As a soup? Oh, I was thinking more like a duck. Quack quack, you know. Anyway, the vocals in this number is by Anita Bonham. Andy Narell is on steel pan, and it’s from the album Futur vers le Retour, which could be Back to the Future.
7:58ENão venha querer se consolar, que agora não dá mais pena e nunca mais vai dar. Também nunca mandou se levantar, que levantou pra sair perdeu lugar. E agora cadê que não voou amor? Cadê que ela nunca funcionou? Cadê que ela nada resolveu? Quá, quara, quá, quá. Um rio, quaquara quaquá, sou eu. Quaquara quaquá, um rio, quaquara quaquá, sou eu. Anda, sou mais eu. Você já entrou na devota e agora fica na tua que o melhor fica. Porque vai ser fogo me aturar. Quem cai da chuva, sal tem que semear. E agora cadê, cadê você? Cadê? Quero um beijo mais, cadê? Alguém que te veio, quem te veio? Quaquaraquaquá, quem riu? Quaquaraquaquá, foi eu. Quaquaraquaquá, quem riu?
9:43BQuaquaraquaquá, foi eu.
9:46ETodo mundo se admira na mancada que a Teresinha deu. E deu num pirau, eu fico sem nada. A Teresinha, ela não quis levar ferro na virada da maré. Mais que me lançou eu pra ficar dando corriquechás, se não tive colher vou deitar e rolar.
11:00AQua qua ra qua qua. We don’t even know what language is it. Is it French? If anybody knows, please let us know. Is it Portuguese? Sounds a little Brazilian there. Sounds good too. Good job, Anita and Andy.
11:19EI think it’s that’s French.
11:22BIt’s French. Certainly the beat is Brazilian, but it’s French.
11:26AWell, that’s just your music is the universal.
11:29BAmen to that. That’s right.
11:32EYep. Que venta aqui eu mesmo, que venta lá eu vou estar. Pro mandingueira mandinga de que mandinga o vento. Que venta aqui eu mesmo, que venta lá eu vou estar. Pro mandingueira mandinga de que mandinga o vento.
12:02AOkay, we’re going. We’ve gone back to the future, Daniela. Thank you so much for joining us, Jennifer. Jennifer looks like a first-time viewer, and Fumilayo is in the house. Sultan, good morning. Wow, we got so many listeners. Thank you so much. We hope you enjoy our selections. Leslie, thank you for joining us. Birthday Party is next, a Len Boogsie Sharpe composition that placed second in Panorama 19 93. If your birthday in July is in July, Birthday Party performed by Phase 2 Pan Groove is just the thing for you, and it’s from the album Pan for the People on the Sanch label.
12:48BCamp Vibes is brought to you by Brown’s Bakery and Restaurant for mouthwatering baked goods, soups, Beverages and meals from patties to rot cake, chicken to goat head soup, juices to coconut water, and West Indian style meals from jerk chicken and oxtails and delicious roti too. All at Brown’s Bakery and Restaurant located at 1155 Malabar Road inside the Interchange Plaza. Call [number removed]. [number removed]. Catering also available. Brown’s Bakery and Restaurant. Taste you can’t resist. More music from our outstanding music mix, please, Maestro.
20:34AOkay, you know what, we might organize a little in-studio dance session one of these days because you can’t just sit and listen to this music. You got to move your feet, right, Valita? Thank you so much for joining us. And Bunny in Canada and Sultan in Ghana, truly international, truly international. The Steel Pan Vibes Radio Okay, and who’s in the background there? That was Trinidad-born, Mexico-based pianist Brian Paris and the Watermelon Boys Steel Band with Caribbean Connection from the album Eat Little and Live Long. Javelle!
21:19C2 from our outstanding steel pan mix coming up back to back. Stay with us.
27:06EOkay.
27:34AThat was Put on a Happy Face. You know, sometimes you just have to put on a happy face regardless of what is going on. And that was, uh, Silver Star Steel Orchestra, a little vintage, maybe it’s from back in the ’60s perhaps, that performance. And, um, it is really from a Broadway play called Bye Bye Birdie. We’re not sure what year that play was, but you gotta put on a happy face sometimes. And before that, we had Tokyo Steel Orchestra performing a Ray Hallman composition called Special Brew, and it’s from the album A Special Brew. We want to say good morning to Tellison and Carol. Thank you so much for joining us. And Michael in the Boston area. from Boston Carnival Village. They’re having some great stuff coming up in August, so if you’re in the New England area and Boston area, you just gotta come out and support all these pan efforts. Keep this pan flag flying high and keep the pan sounds going. Okay, Chevelle, what’s going on?
28:49CComing up in the Steel Pan Vibes Spotlight is Dwayne Dwayne Akio Wong Omowale, no stranger to the microphones of the Steel Pan Vibes radio show. When we come back, Dwayne talks about his recent photo shoot, law school reparations, Togo, and more. But first, let’s listen to PJ Adamson doing a tune called Trini Vibes from the album Sweet Pan.
29:16AOkay, folks. Wow, that was a nice session there. I really, really like that. I felt like dancing, just jumping up. So what? No, you gotta express yourself. You have to have that freedom to express yourself. And when that beast man got on there doing his thing, I just felt like I should jump around and dance. So here we are in the Steel Pan Vibes Spotlight with our very special guest, our good friend and supporter, Dwayne Akio Wong Omowale. In fact, Oluwale -- you see, we have an international audience, so I want you to understand that. Oluwale Amo Amusu. He is in Nigeria and he said that the meaning of Omowale is the child has come home in Yoruba. The child has come home. So we want to welcome our child who has come home, Mr. Dwayne Akiowon Omowale. Good morning, Dwayne.
35:54EYay! Good morning.
35:56DAlways good to be back here.
35:57AIt’s great to have you back. It really, really is. Okay, you know, I really appreciate your willingness to come back. I know you have a busy schedule. To let our listeners know, you know, what’s going on with the things you are interested in, the things you’re doing in the community. But before we get to law school and reparations and Togo and your books and all that good stuff, tell us about this new Look, the photo shoots you’ve been participating in lately. I mean, I see a totally new Dwayne. What is that about?
36:29DUm, that’s what happens when you date a model, I guess.
36:32AOh, okay.
36:34DWe’ve been dating. What she wanted to do was to take me to some photo shoots to do exactly like you said, just present a new, more professional look because she was thinking that I’m in law school now and I have my books, I need to present a more professional image. So that’s what those photo shoots were about. And it was a good experience because you don’t really know how challenging photo shoots are until you actually do it. It’s a lot more challenging than it appears, but it’s a lot more fun as well.
37:01AYes, you look like you were having fun. So folks, you could go to his page, uh, Dwayne Akiyowon Omowale. Is that African Writer or just your name?
37:12DYeah, just my regular page.
37:13AOh, just his name. Go to that page on Facebook and you’ll see that photo shoot. It is impressive, very impressive. So you just completed your first year of law school. What do you think are the biggest adjustments you had to make and the valuable and practical lessons you learned so far?
37:29DThe biggest adjustment is just law school takes a lot more discipline than anything that I’ve had to do before. So that was, um, it was a big adjustment, but I got accustomed to it. And it’s one of those things that after, especially after the first year of law school, and many people have told me this, if you can survive the first year, the next 2 years aren’t as difficult. So I feel very accomplished just to make it through that first year.
37:55AThe discipline in terms of time management or what?
37:59DEverything. Time management, because how the classes are set up, they give you cases that you’re supposed to read before class, so you have to read all of the cases, be prepared before the class, and Even in terms of how you approach studying in law school, it’s very different from typical studying because, as I said, not only are you expected to read and prepare for all the cases, but as a lawyer, they train you to read very carefully. I remember one of my professors, his class was very intense because his expectations were we need to be not only specific, so he didn’t like us to use vague pronouns. He wanted to know exactly who you were referring to when you spoke, but he wanted support for anything that we said. So if we were to answer anything in his class, we’d actually have to go into the textbook, show him exactly which page, which paragraph, and which line, you know, we were getting this information from. So I’ve never, you know, had to do anything that intensive before. So like I said, it takes a lot of discipline to get adjusted to that.
38:59AThat means you’re going to be one of the best lawyers Very good, very good. You know, you mentioned you’d been using some of your legal knowledge, um, you know, that you’ve acquired to assist people in your community. What, what do you mean by that? You want to explain?
39:14DWell, actually how this happened was, um, it was over a phone call. We were actually discussing reparations, which is a topic we’ll discuss a little bit more later on in the interview. But, um, but before, uh, talking about reparations, she, uh, she’d asked me a question. about what is an unlawful search. So I had to answer that question to explain that an unlawful search is essentially when police officers search you without a proper cause to do so, because police officers can’t just stop you and search you for whatever reason. There has to be some kind of reason for them to do it. There’s a whole procedure behind when an officer is allowed to legally search someone. And it was interesting to me because before I was in law school, I never really stopped to think that there is an entire procedure behind how police officers are supposed to conduct themselves that I didn’t know about. And I know a lot of people in the community aren’t aware of it, but it’s very important because if you, if you aren’t aware that you have these rights, an officer could violate these rights without you even knowing that you have rights.
40:12AI lose the Miranda rights, are you talking about?
40:15DYeah, Miranda rights is part of it, but in terms of searching into the whole procedure, because Miranda comes into play after an officer has arrested you, but just for a search. As I said, an officer can’t just stop you in the middle of the road and just search you without going through a certain procedure. So that short exchange in that phone conversation was very eye-opening to me because since I was in law school, it’s the first time someone has come to me and asked me these questions. And I realized that because I’m in law school, I have more knowledge about these things, but a lot of people not only are they exposed to this information, but most people wouldn’t even know where to go to find legal information. So like I said, it was very eye-opening to me because after my first day of law school, you know, that’s a -- it seemed like a very basic question, but for people who aren’t really exposed to it, there’s information that we’re not aware of.
41:07ASo in other words, you can’t just be stopped and searched.
41:10DYeah, you can’t be stopped and searched. And even search itself has a particular definition. definition, you know, for what actually constitutes a search. So for example, um, let’s say if an officer pats you down, that’s not considered a search. A search would be if an officer actually goes -- like if you have pockets, if an officer goes inside your pockets, then that’s a search.
41:27AWow, there’s a lot to learn.
41:30DYes.
41:30AAnd it’s important.
41:32DYes.
41:32ABecause you have to know your rights, you know. So what would you say our community needs What is your perspective of the need in our communities for competent and trustworthy legal advice? We need to get a lot of that?
41:52DYes, it’s very necessary because, as I said, one of the things that actually inspired me to want to go to law school is an issue I noticed in the community where because many of us aren’t aware of our rights, we’re not aware when they’re being violated. And I’ve seen situations where people people had their rights violated and then they found out after the fact that they had those rights that they didn’t know were being violated. So I think for our community in particular, it’s very important to be able to have access to competent legal information just simply because we face a lot of those challenges in terms of having rights violated and not even being aware that we have certain rights.
42:29ASo you’re heading for your second year in law school. What areas are you looking forward to cover?
42:36DWell, so far with law school, I don’t really have particular areas because I didn’t have -- I didn’t know what to expect going into law school. So for me, it’s been a very rewarding experience in terms of just covering different topics. And certain things that I thought that would be interesting or I would enjoy more before going to law school were a bit surprising to me. For example, like contracts. Contracts seems like it would be a very boring course to take compared to, let’s say, criminal law. But, you know, contracts my first year was actually my favorite course in law school. So going into the second year, I really don’t have any expectations. I’m just, you know, gonna go take, take my classes and see what interests me.
43:17AWonderful. Well, you stay right where you are because we’re gonna take a little break and we’ll come back to talk about more of the good things that you’ve learned that you’re gonna share with our listeners. You’re listening to the Steel Pan Vibes. It’s more than music radio show. We thank you so much for joining us. We try to bring you the best that’s available in and out of our community. We know we have an international audience. We want your support. We want you to support our advertisers as well so that we could continue to keep this show on the air. Asa.
43:54BSteel Pan Vibes, the radio show, is brought to you by Boston Carnival Village and Face Mask. Hello, pan lovers in Boston and New England. Boston Carnival Village Face Mask presents a 2-part award-winning documentary, The Evolution of the Steel Pan and Pan Worldwide, on the history and journey of the steel pan to 6 countries around the globe. Roxbury Community College Media Arts Center in Boston. Children under 12 are free. Face mask ticket holders free. General admission $5. Then join us on the Face Mask Cruise and meet the producers of the documentary. Boarding 9:30 PM, Gate C60, Rose Wharf in Boston. Sailing 10 PM For tickets and more information, call [number removed] or visit us online at bostoncarnivalvillage.com.
45:01AOkay folks, yes, you gotta mark your calendars. That’s Friday, August 23rd at 4 PM and 9:30 PM. 4 PM is the award-winning documentary on and 9:30 is when you gotta board to go on that Face Mask Cruise. So give them a call, [number removed], or visit online bostoncarnivalvillage.com. Yes, we are back in the Steel Pan Vibes Spotlight with our guest Dwayne Akio Wong Omowale. Dwayne is not even 30 years old.
45:43Dyet.
45:43AHe’s quite a few years from there. He’s written maybe 14 books. How many books have you written? Not even one. How many books you written?
45:52D17.
45:52AYou see, 17 books. 17 books. They’re available. Where are they available?
45:58DAmazon.
45:59AAmazon. So go and check the brother out. Go and see what he’s written, how you could be enlightened. And maybe you want to write your own book too. Nothing wrong with that? All right, so we’re back. We’re gonna talk about reparations a little bit. Most recently, reparations been -- has been around for a while. The talk of reparations for people of African descent has been around for a while. It goes and it comes, ebbs and flows, and really nothing much happens. However, recently in the Senate, they talk about it. Then we’ve had new groups form nationally, locally, and internationally to address the subject. Dwayne, give us a little idea of what is going on in this discussion of reparations for African descendants around the globe.
46:50DA lot has been going on, but one of the things that’s happened recently is there’s a bill that was introduced into Congress by Representative Sheila Jackson Lee. There was a congressional hearing on it. And the last report I’ve seen is that that bill has actually been gaining a lot more support in the House. So it’s very encouraging to see this conversation is being raised again nationally, that there is some sort of reparations bill put in place, and that more and more politicians are behind it. And it’s energized people across the country. I know even locally there’s a lot of reparations efforts that are being organized locally.
47:27DAnd I’m actually putting some of my legal knowledge knowledge to even supporting those kind of issues. Because one of the things that I didn’t really -- before I always looked at reparations as purely an economic issue in terms of calculating everything that was taken from people of African descent and finding what we’re owed in that way. But I’m also looking at the legal aspect of it too as well, because reparations is a legal claim. So one of the things that I’m able to do in terms of the local effort is to help people understand the legal language and, you know, what kind of phrases and legal language you should be using to make a reparations claim?
48:00AThat’s interesting. Like you were saying, we think of it in terms of the monetary value, but some also hold the view that reparations should be -- should take the form of education, housing, healthcare, therapy, pensions, building of museums and other institutions. in an effort to compensate for the value of what was lost due to enslavement. What is your view? You want to elaborate on that?
48:31DYeah, I agree it should be all of those things because what happened to African people for the last few centuries is we were impacted in every aspect of our lives. So reparations need to be comprehensive. It needs to cover all of the damages and all of the things that were done to us. I know it’s not -- I haven’t seen as expansive of a view of reparations here in the United States. A lot of people still talk about reparations in terms of just the money. A lot of people, you know, make claims like, give me my check. So it’s not as comprehensive here yet, but I’d like to see it be organized on a level.
49:06DBut I know the Caribbean reparations demands that if you get, you know, listeners get a chance to read it, I would encourage them to read it because it Okay. It actually is very comprehensive. You know, Caribbean governments aren’t just asking for money. They’re asking for better access to technology, education, healthcare. They’re looking for things that’ll improve the general standard of living for all citizens throughout the Caribbean. So they’re not just looking at it in terms of money. And as I said, I think as the reparations discussion within the United States moves forward, we’ll see more of, you know, those discussions in terms of comprehensive reparations for African and not solely reparations in terms of money.
49:43AExcellent, excellent. That’s why we’re glad we have you here and you’re a friend of the show. You could keep us up to date. You could help us understand more clearly what our rights are and what’s happening in the community. All right. Now, um, hmm. You went to an event recently. July Perry. We may not know who July Perry is, years, or what was the Ocoee Massacre of 1920. You want to tell us about that event and maybe give us a little background?
50:17DYeah, so, um, the event itself was just an unveiling of a marker in commemoration of July Perry because what happened in, um, Ocoee, there was a very horrible racial massacre there in 1920 in which Perry was one of many of the Black people that were killed. And since that occurred, there’s been a lot of silence around the event. So what this unveiling ceremony that I went to was, was just an attempt to present the history and to start, you know, to open up the conversation about the past injustices that have been inflicted on the Black population in Central Florida. Now, July Perry himself, he was actually, he was a successful businessman, he was a landowner, and to me that’s very significant because when we think about the history of lynching in this country, there’s always a tendency to just look at African people as being victims and not to look at what these people were doing before they were victimized.
51:10DSo July Perry, as I said, was a very successful businessman, and then the massacre happened, and not only was he killed, but that land that he owned, his family lost control of that land, and the Black population of Ocoee was driven out. So to me, when we talk about reparations, one of the things I think we should take into consideration is perhaps returning some of that land that Black people in the Ocoee and other parts of the country lost as a result of those massacres. So as I said, to me that aspect of Perry’s life was significant, the fact that he was a very successful, thriving businessman before he was killed.
51:46DBut the other part that I thought was very touching when I went to the ceremony is Perry was actually captured and killed in the process of trying to defend his family from the attacking mob. And even though he didn’t escape, his wife and his children were able to escape. So at the ceremony, one of his descendants actually gave a speech. So for me, that was very touching in the sense that Perry essentially sacrificed his life for his family to be free, and his descendants are still here today. So the way I look at that aspect of our history is we really have to respect the struggle that our ancestors went through so that we can Absolutely.
52:24AAbsolutely. Well, we only have 1 minute left. Talk to us about Togo. You know, you’ve been involved in that struggle, and you have links with organizations there.
52:34DYeah. So what’s been happening in Togo is -- Togo is actually the oldest military dictatorship right now in Africa. The regime has been there for over 50 years. So I’m seeing some things happening in Togo that’s been very encouraging to me. For example, government recently passed presidential term limits, which Togo hadn’t had since 2002. So presidents now can only serve 2 terms rather than being in power for life. And Togo’s got elections, presidential elections coming up next year. So hopefully the elections lead to even more political changes in Togo.
53:07AAbsolutely. And your last question before you go, what new have you discovered about the steel pan?
53:14DSo it’s not a new discovery, it’s actually something that I knew and I had forgotten. I don’t know if you saw Disney’s remaking The Little Mermaid and they have a Black actress playing the lead. And what I forgot was the steel pan was actually used in some of the music in the original Little Mermaid. So the discussions I’ve been having with people, now that a Black actress is going to be playing the lead character, what I think would be really great for Disney to do is to make a more Caribbean-themed Little Mermaid. Little Mermaid movie. So include more steel pan, include more reggae, and you’ll have a more diverse cast. I think it’d be interesting because we don’t really see Caribbean culture represented in Hollywood like that. So that’s something that I would like to see Disney do.
53:54AOh, I think that would be great. That would be great. Definitely, definitely reflect the people around you. I think that would be appreciated in a positive way because you don’t want it to look too caricaturish. You know, you wanted to be respectful and, uh, give the people the honor that it’s you. As usual, Dwayne Akio Wong Omowale, it’s always a pleasure having you. It’s always enlightening, inspiring, empowering, and interesting and informative. All those things in 20 minutes. You’re good, you’re good.
54:27DThank you.
54:27AAnd I like the GQ look. I like the GQ look. Thank you so much. We see you soon.
54:34COkay.
54:34AOkay, so what’s the last word? The last word comes from Robert Nesta Marley. Listen carefully. One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. Taking us home is another outstanding steel orchestra doing a Lord Kitchener composition arranged by Dr. Jit Samaroo. Renegade Steel Orchestra and Bee’s Melody from the album The Golden Era on the Sanch label. Until next time, let your brilliance shine. Stay strong, stay focused, be encouraged. Have a safe, enjoyable weekend. May God bless you all.
