Greetings! Join the Radio GBE tristate community for “Thank You For Your Kindness,” a life celebration for late Radio GBE producer and activist J.D. Livingston on Saturday, June 28 from 1-4 p.m. at the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building, located at 163 W. 125th St. in Harlem. In honor of brother Livingston, the celebration will be done in a GBE live radio format.
Co-hosted by myself and Radio GBE arts and entertainment journalist Vinette Pryce, the life celebration will feature remembrances by the National Action Network’s (NAN) founder, the Rev. Al Sharpton; former Councilman Charles Barron and current Council Member Inez Barron; Cliff Frazier, executive director, New York Martin Luther King Center for Non-Violence; Leonard Jeffries, president of World African Diaspora Union; African spirituality historian James Smalls; Sista Betty Dobson, co-founder of CEMOTAP; Ra Un Nefer Amen, author and founder of the Worldwide Ausar Auset Society; activist the Rev. Herbert Daughtry of the House of the Lord Church; and several others.
Special tribute presentations will be made by state Sen. Bill Perkins and Voza Rivers, executive producer of the New Heritage Theatre and first vice president of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, among others.
Famed trumpeter Joey Morant will open up the life celebration New Orleans style. There will also be performances by the Sheps Hetep Ancestral Music drummers, “First Lady of Flute” Bobbi Humphrey, R&B/jazz diva Alyson Williams (just back from performing at the Maya Angelou memorial) and the Williams sisters. There will also be a performance of “Positive Community Anthem,” written by Byrd and sung by the Rev. Ben Monroe of the NAN Queens chapter for “Anti-Gun Violence Month.” All are invited as we say a final farewell to a true brother, friend and warrior for our community. The celebration will be streamed online by Bernard White’s CPR Metro (@cprmetro.org).
For more information on the “Thank You For Your Kindness” life celebration for the late producer extraordinaire Livingston, please call 212-592-3279 or email igbexp@ gmail.com.
Theater
“After Midnight” celebrates Harlem’s golden age and the timeless songs of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway and Harold Arlen, all woven around the prose of Langston Hughes, and featuring the legendary Patti LaBelle. The music is by select Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars. Brooks Atkinson Theatre, 256 W. Fourth St. For information, call 212-719-4099 or visit brooksatkinsontheatre.com.
“Holler If Ya Hear Me,” directed by Kenny Leon (“Fences,” “A Raisin in the Sun”), is a musical inspired by the late rapper Tupac Shakur’s music and lyrics. It’s now playing at the Palace Theatre. The cast will be led by performance artist, poet and musician Saul Williams. For more information or tickets, call 212-730-8200 or visit palacetheatreonbroadway.com.
“Aladdin,” featuring Tony Award winner James Monroe Igleheart as the uniquely modern Genie, is playing now at the New Amsterdam Theatre, located at 214 W. 42nd St. Visit broadway.com.
“Motown: The Musical,” with book by Berry Gordy Jr., is now playing at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205 W. 46th St., between Eighth Avenue and Broadway. For tickets, visit ticketmaster.com or motownthemusical.com.
“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” a tribute to jazz legend Billie Holiday, features 2014 and multi-Tony Award winner Audra McDonald channeling Holiday’s classic moods and melodies, now through Aug. 10 at Circle in the Square Theater, 1633 Broadway. Call 212-239-6200 or visit ladydayonbroadway.comw for more information.
Music
Smooth Cruises presents celebrated songstress Patti Austin and acclaimed soprano saxophonist Marion Meadows at Pier 40 (Houston Street at West Side Highway) on Thursday, June 26 at 6:30 p.m. Cruises depart promptly at 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Pieces of a Dream is coming July 3. For information, visit marqueeconcerts.com.
B.B. King Blues Club presents songbird Chrisette Michelle on Friday, June 27, and Oleta Adams on Saturday, June 28. Visit bbkingsblues.com for more information.
The New Edition “All Six” tour comes to the Barclays Center in Downtown Brooklyn on Sunday, June 29 at 7 p.m. For more info and tickets, visit wbls.com.
The 43rd annual International African Arts Festival is coming back to Commodore Barry Park (Navy Street between Flushing and Park avenues) on Thursday, July 3 to Saturday, July 6. Performers will include “The Reggae Ambassadors,” Third World and many more! For more information, visit www.iaafestival.org.
Community
With June being Gun Violence Awareness Month, the National Action Network presents a “Post-Convention Gun Violence Forum” at the House of Justice (106 W. 145th St. in Harlem) on Saturday, June 28 at 11 a.m. Come out and let your voice be heard! For further information, contact 212-690-3070.
The New York Chapter of the National Association of Kawaida Organizations (NAKO), in conjunction with the International African Arts Festival, present NAKO’S 25th annual Symposium on Culture, Community and Struggle. Speakers will include eminent scholar Molefi Asante, professor and chair of Temple University and author of “Afrocentricity” and almost 100 other books, plus many more notable guest speakers. It will take place Saturday, July 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at P.S. 287, located at 50 Navy St., between Park and Flushing Avenues in Downtown Brooklyn, directly across from Commodore Barry Park, opposite the International African Arts Festival. For admission fees and further information, call 718-789-3264 or email nakoinfogroup@yahoo.com.
Mayor-elect Ras J. Baraka will take the oath of office as Newark’s seventh chief executive on Tuesday, July 1 at noon.The ceremony will take place at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, located at 1 Center St., Newark, N.J. Former Gov. and New Jersey Sen. Richard J. Codey will administer the oaths of office to Newark’s new administration. The ceremony will take place rain or shine and is open to the public, but seating will be limited.
Hear Imhotep Gary Byrd on 107.5 WBLS-FM daily with “Imhotep’s On-Air Guide to Black Events” and “Express Yourself,” Sunday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., and on WLIB-AM with “The GBE Mind Flight,” Sunday evenings from 9 p.m. to midnight. The full show can be heard on HD radio at WBLS-HD2. IGB is also heard on WBAI-FM 99.5 with Radio GBE: The “Global Black Experience” and “Global Beat Experience,” Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. We are archived online with both shows at www.wbai.org. To contact us for bookings or to reach us about your event, email igbexp@gmail.com, find Imhotep Gary Byrd on Facebook or follow us on Twitter @GBELIFE or call 212-592-3279.