Vocalo's Barber Shop Show

This week, we helped host Richard Steele celebrate his 75th birthday. For the celebration, we were joined by music icons: • Mavis Staples • Gene Chandler Plus, after everything that the City of Chicago has been through this year, we thought we’d do Chicago a favor and suggest a few resolutions for the City. For that discussion, we were joined by: • Ben Joravsky, reporter with the Chicago Reader • Monroe Anderson, veteran journalist and commentator • John W. Fountain, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times And, finally, Stephanie Hart of Brown Sugar Bakery joined us (cake in tow) to talk about building a sweet empire from the ground up. The Barber Shop Show airs Sundays at 9am on Vocalo 91.1FM. You can also stream live at vocalo.org. In addition, the show rebroadcasts on Sundays at 3pm on WBEZ 91.5FM.

In “East Texas Hot Links”, a play by Eugene Lee, seven strong willed neighbors join forces to protect one of their own. The year is 1955, and times are changing in the Jim Crow South. But for all that changes, some things remain the same. We talked about the play, and how some of its themes connect with today’s realities. Host Richard Steele was joined by: • “East Texas Hot Links” director Ron OJ Parson, and • Alfred Wilson, who plays Columbus Frye Then, we revisited a story of learning to heal through the art of Latin drumming. Plus, we heard about an artist learning to push forward towards her dreams. For those stories, we were joined by Vocalo Storrytelling Workshop Alumni: • Brittney Leanne Williams • Gloria Guaderrama

On this week's installment of the Barber Shop Show, we heard host Richard Steele's 2005 conversation with Sam Chatman. Sam is credited as one of the key people who has helped to build the “Chicago Stepper” sound and culture for decades. Then, as a follow-up to a recent program, we heard about a grassroots effort to supply healthy, local food to residents of South Shore. For that conversation, we were joined by: • Fred Carter • Dr. Jifunza Wright • Akin Carter The Barber Shop Show airs Sundays at 9am on Vocalo 91.1FM. You can also stream live at vocalo.org. In addition, the show rebroadcasts on Sundays at 3pm on WBEZ 91.5FM.