Welcome to Episode 22, The South Side Shaman, featuring trumpeter, harpist, composer, teacher, community activist, and astronomer Kelan Philip Cohran (1927-2017). Early on, Cohran joined the cosmic discipline of Sun Ra’s Arkestra for two years. Next he worked with Malcolm X and the nation of Islam for a year, before forging his own path. He next co-founded the radical music collective, AACM. And as a major figure in the Chicago Black Arts Movement, Cohran empowered black liberation through his Artistic Heritage Ensemble, beach-side concerts, the founding of the Affro-Arts Theatre, and the traveling Black Music Workshop. Through all of this, Cohran was driven by his own unique spiritual philosophy, rooted in ancient African traditions and astronomy, as well as the cosmic and terrestrial powers of music. Welcome to the African Skies…