Michael Mabern, founding member, executive producer
Yusuf Lamont, founding member
Darrell M. McNeill, founding member, president of Creative Unity, chief engineer
LaRonda Davis
Julayne Austin
David Billingly
Jeanne Hopper, member emeritus
John "J. Smooth" Randolph, member emeritus
Joan Baker, member emeritus
Steve Marshall, friend of the family
Anthony Sloan, executive producer emeritus

Phone number: (212) 465-3152

Email address: CUCollective@aol.com

For copies of the show: (212) 465-3152

Program description:

Creative Unity was founded at the School of Visual Arts during Black History Month of 1982. We started as an alternative artists collective for people of Third World descent and de facto Black Students Union in response to the largely Eurocentric atmosphere at SVA. While there, we organized exhibits, functions, lectures, performances, films and were ardent defenders in the student government for the interests of students of color. The focus of the group at the time was the visual arts, but with our diverse membership and various disciplines, we soon expanded to multi-media, performance, and the literary arts as well.

In 1985, we organized, produced and performed "I'm Sorry, But It Had To Be Done," a satirical revue which sent up many of the hot-button topics of the day. The performance garnered the attention of one of the staff engineers at WBAI. We were brought in to design and produce the station's program guide, The Folio, but we were also trained in the fine art of radio. A late night slot opened, and, on September 26, 1986 at 1AM, The Creative Unity Collective Show was born. We've since moved to alternating Fridays from midnight to 3AM.

The show is an energetic blend of sonic textures: Comedy, satire, social commentary, drama, readings, poetry, interviews, music and virtually every form of aurally transmittable art, done from a progressive and largely Afrocentric perspective. On any given night, you might hear a poem by Langston Hughes weave into a sketch about the Clinton Administration, which will crossfade into a Nina Simone track, which will set up an interview with Nelson George, which will tie into a Richard Pryor joke, which will trigger a discussion about affirmative action, which will flow into a segment of a speech by Malcolm X, which...well, you get the general idea.

While the show was gradually building audience, we expanded on our performance skills, participating in live radio dramas, staged readings, comedy revues, educational programs and the like. We have performed in community centers, schools and noted venues such as The Comic Strip, Brooklyn Muse, The Knitting Factory, The Public Theater, The Harlem School of the Arts, The Henry Street Settlement, Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and many others.

In 1991, we were invited by Inner City Broadcasting to contribute sketches to Apollo Comedy Hour, a nationally-syndicated comedy/variety show. In addition to being on the writing staff, C.U. members Yusuf Lamont and Michael Mabern were made part of the cast. A.C.H. attracted several major stars to perform on the show (Snoop Dogg, Paul Mooney, J.D. and Da Brat, Notorious B.I.G., Flex, Big Daddy Kane, Mary J. Blige, Chante Moore, Craig Mack, The Fugees) and launched the careers of Lisa Nicole Carson ("Ally McBeal," "E.R.," "Devil In A Blue Dress," and "E.R.") and Paula Jai Parker ("Snoops," "Sprung," "Get On The Bus," "Friday," "Cosmic Slop"). In 1993, the show was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Best Comedy/Variety Series.

Also in 1993, Robert Townsend called us to join the writing staff for Townsend Television. Because of our A.C.H. obligations, we couldn't sign on full -time, but served as consultants and contributed a few sketches (this show was also nominated for an NAACP Image Award that year). Since then, we have participated in several projects, including a pilot for the former Uptown Entertainment TV division, the late night talk show, Last Call, all the while staying with A.C.H. to the end of its run in 1995.

Currently, we're focusing on developing our own projects for television, film, radio and theater, including a regular series of live comedy performances at The Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Moreover, we've expanded the radio show to promote and support the groundswell of talented people throughout the tri-state area: Tracie Morris, Reg E. Gaines, Lenny White, Corey Glover, Muzz Skillings, Goodfellas, Sandra St. Victor, Sekou Sundiata, Don Byron, Roy Ayers, Malcolm Lee, Bonz Malone, Jessica "Care" Moore, Hiram Bullock, The Tea Party Collective, Ralph McDaniels, George Clinton, Farai Chideya, Tavis Smiley, Black Lotus, and many others have been part of the broadcast.