Davu Seru

3 Collection Items

• The night Uncle Clarence went out to shoot a white man

  MPR’s Marianne Combs reports on Dead King Mother, a composition created by local composer Davu Seru, who calls piece a "blues for chamber ensemble." The subject matter is a 1968 incident in which Clarence Underwood, a Minneapolis Black man, who upon hearing the news of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, told his wife, "My King is dead." He vowed to kill the first white man he found. Underwood went on to murder John F. Murray, a white man in neighborhood.

  Apr. 4, 20188 minSave
• Poet, performer J. Otis Powell‽ dies at 61

  MPR’s Marianne Combs profiles J. Otis Powell‽, a well-respected local poet, playwright, and performer, who died on August 28th, 2017. Those who knew him say he was an uncompromising artist, a provocateur, and perhaps most importantly, a mentor to generations of other writers and performers.

  Aug. 29, 20174 minSave
• Mother of Masks explores rich Black tradition

  MPR’s David Cazares profiles all-Black jazz group Mother of Masks, a group that blends spoken word, poetry and improvised music in a blues-based fountain of black creative consciousness.

  Nov. 30, 20124 minSave