Prototype Issue
Wake-Up Call: La Prima Dominique
By Dianne V. Lawrence
(page 1 of 3)Dominique DiPrima is the emotionally generous, inexhaustibly energetic and impressively talented, smart-ass smart interviewer of KJLH-FM’s The Front Page.
On the air at 4:30 a.m., the show draws a surprisingly large radio audience, due in part to her flair for challenging listeners in a way that encourages receptivity to varied and eclectic “topics of interest to the African American community.” DiPrima also contributes news segments for the 6-10 a.m. show Adai With Levi and The Home Team.
The station’s owner, the legendary Stevie Wonder, personally recruited her two years ago to host the show he started in 1992 to give the African American community a voice after the Rodney King eruption.
DiPrima is married to Latino band leader and director Guillermo Cespedes. Her father is the famous black poet and playwright Amiri Baraka and her mother is well-known Italian American poet Diane diPrima. So she has multicultural covered, and it informs her life. A dedicated promoter of dialogue between LA’s ethnic groups, she won an award from the LA Human Relations Commission for her efforts in this arena, particularly around Black-Brown issues. DiPrima’s life encompasses three simultaneous careers.
In her radio and TV segment, she previously spent three years as a co-host of The Steve Harvey Morning Show on LA’s radio powerhouse, KKBT-FM, where she interviewed celebrities, participated in comic skits, provided fuel for Harvey’s humor as well as directed and anchored the news. Earlier she spent nine years as host and producer of her own talk show, Street Science With Dominique DiPrima, on KKBT-FM’s The Beat, tackling issues relevant to Latino and African American 18- to 35-year-olds.
Before coming to LA in the ’90s, she was a TV host and segment producer for the San Francisco NBC television affiliate. She won five Emmy Awards, six Parents Choice Awards, an Ollie and the SAG/AFTRA American Scene Award for positive portrayals of women, the disabled, senior citizens and minorities. People would say this girl’s got heat.
Then there’s her activist life. At The Beat, she also served as the community action director and, working closely with community organizations, she built the department into an unprecedented large activist arm of the radio station. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa recently appointed her commissioner on the Commission on the Status of Women by LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
DiPrima also sits on the board of directors of the Community Coalition in South LA, speaking and participating in countless community events and rallies. And she was director of the acclaimed Summer of Success violence prevention program in Baldwin Village in 2003 and 2004.
In her third gig, she and Guillermo run a film/video production company, YeYe Productions, that specializes in work for independent artists and community organizations.
DiPrima lives in in Leimert Park in a big old house. She has been married seven years and has a 2-year-old son. She won’t divulge her age but she looks younger than her experience would suggest. A powerhouse in a small package is DiPrima—and fun to talk to.
What attracts people and business to you, especially the radio show at 4:30 in the morning? What’s unique? Maybe the way I mix entertainment, smart-ass-ness and progressive politics. Both in the commercial radio stuff and my work as a filmmaker. I also do all of the voices from the PBS Sprout shows for my 2-year-old’s entertainment. I bet that’s fairly unique…but I’m not sure. How many [chief operating officers] can do Kipper the Dog, Barney and Calliou?
That’s a start. What else? I know a lot of stuff that people already know, I just get to express it, so people can go, “Yeah!” and know they are not alone. That is really my job. Progressive black talk radio is a very rare thing in this country and somehow I always end up doing it.
And with my production company I am able to help document what folks know, because they believe I will “get it.” It is really about being able to stand at the crossroads and translate between generations, between ethnicities, genders, etc. I am coming into a vision that my purpose is to build bridges of understanding, unity and even love between divergent groups. That seems to be where God keeps placing me. I want to be, as my father says, “a force for good in the world.”
What’s the skill set you have to accomplish this? I think the gift of gab is the main one. I am able to talk to people from any walk of life with comfort. I actually have a lot of fun doing it. I am able to take complex concepts and issues and distill them into the parlance of popular culture. I love to debate, discuss and elaborate as a process of discovery and entertainment.
I’d say my other gift is strong intuitive ability. You could call it instincts, gut, common sense or something more New Age. It is something I rely on and live by. My dreams, the subtext and the unspoken, inform a lot of what I do.
What about doing the show surprised you? The number of folks that tune in at 4:30 a.m.. It has an intense and loyal following—including nationwide listeners online at www.kjlhradio.com—and that has been a real treat. The other surprise was how motivated listeners are to turn out—whether it be a protest, a screening, a teach-in – they are very active listeners!
"I am a woman. I am black. I am outspoken. I am an artist. I am not afraid. I guess those are all elements with built-in resistance in our society."
What’s most enjoyable? Talking with listeners about what is going on in the news. People are very politically savvy and interested in political and social issues. They just don’t want to be bored or presented things in a stiff East Coast way. So it’s all about framing the issues in a way that is engaging, fun, relevant to them. I am continually amazed at how plugged in Angelenos are to what is going on in Washington, corporate America, etc. I love hearing people’s take on stuff and forming ideas and opinions with them.
Describe yourself. I have an Italian American mother and an African American father. I work in Hollywood circles, but I live in South Los Angeles. I am a straight woman with tons of same-gender-loving friends. I am a working mom, who believes in attached parenting. I am an environmentalist who wouldn’t be caught dead in Birkenstocks.
I also see myself as wife, a mother, a spiritual person, an artist, an activist, a short person, a strong person, someone who loves to laugh, a good friend, an optimist.
Of those, which is your truest nature? Wow. Tough one. My true nature seems to be a Mommy. I just found this out. My son is 2-years-old. Motherhood has given me patience and understanding that I never thought possible. My true nature is also one who walks with the ancestors every day. And my true nature also seems to be one who talks too much smack to be just 5 foot 2 with no letters after her name! But I also blame that on the ancestors. I have a whole lot of rebellious DNA.
Ancestors? Tell more. My most important values come from my African ancestors. They are about honoring God in all things, uplifting the family, both blood family [and] spiritual family, and community and remembering to build rather than destroy. That means honoring the planet, our relatives and our community. It means above all, always paying tribute to all of our ancestors. And it means that the journey requires a constant building and cleansing of one’s own character.
Fall short anywhere? Uhhhh. Of course. I am human. And on top of that I live in LA. I burn too much fuel. I hate to be cold and the hybrid car is not within my budget at this time. I make way too much trash, plastic wrappers, bottles, etc. I get mad about little stuff sometimes, like mean sales clerks or clueless drivers. I could go on and on. But that is what I am working on. Those little things are the building blocks of character. And I am better than I was five years ago or even five months ago.
Also, sometimes I let my head get hot. I wish I was more efficient and less scattered.
What’s the most interesting thing you discovered about LA from doing the show? It is nothing like it portrays itself in movies and TV. It is mostly a non-white city and county. I call it a city of exits. Everyone stays within their freeway exit for the most part. But you really can find anything here—any culture, ethnicity, device or delicacy. It is very international. Contrary to popular belief, we are not all dumb blondes. In fact, most of the dumb blondes are not even dumb blondes.
Do you experience any unusual cultural trends emerging? The intersection of Black and Brown is huge. Of course, it has been widely reported on as far as the conflict, the gang clashes, hate crimes. I see that as the natural clashes of a new group [Latinos] becoming the majority in inner city neighborhoods and competition for scarce resources. But there is a lot more going on. There is collaboration and exchange taking place that is not acknowledged. It has massive potential for cultural and political clout in LA.
Some of that cross-pollination is the spontaneous activity that comes from our living in close quarters and some of it is organized push back against the forces that divide us, whether they be media portrayals, gang activity, or lack of mutual knowledge.
Discussion