As a proud Bay Area native, I am especially pleased to have Miranda Wilson highlighted in today’s post for the Celebration of Black Excellence Series.
When I first connected with Miranda, I immediately felt a welcoming and warmth from her. While sharing the details of what this photoshoot would entail, we also exchanged stories about our own personal upbringing here in the Bay Area, which included a special love and appreciation for Bay Area radio.
As a native of Oakland, Miranda’s life and career are overflowing with an obvious and beautiful zest for life, rich in experiences which, to me, testify greatly to the truth that stories of the human experience are always worth slowing down to listen to and learn from.
With over 30 years in San Francisco Bay Area Radio, her experience includes work at local Bay Area station, KBLX, as well as prior work with heritage stations KSOL and KDIA and 18 years as Midday Host at KKSF 103.7.
She is a two-time winner of the Golden Gate Chapter of American Women in Radio and Television Award as Best Midday Host and is active in the market and nationally as a Voiceover Actress. HGTV, Wells Fargo Bank, Land Rover, and Intel are just some of the companies that have called upon her skills in helping to represent their products/services.
Giving back is to her community remains a consistent priority for Miranda. She is an active volunteer Writer Coach for Oakland schools through the Community Alliance for Learning/Writer Coach Connection. Miranda has also served as a dedicated board member of the East Oakland Youth Development Center, Progressive Transition(s), a non- profit organization that provides counseling for victims of domestic violence and human trafficking and was a volunteer at Solid Foundation Mandela House Oakland, a substance abuse program for pregnant and parenting women.
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What are you most proud of in your life and why?
“My career- 33 years in the media/entertainment industry. My path has had plenty of zigs and zags. Although my deep desire was to be an actress in the theatre, the path that lead me to radio has been an exciting journey that has thoroughly enriched my life.”
What is something most people might now know about you?
“Most people know that I sing-Gospel, R & B and Jazz but what most don't know that I studied voice from my teen years into my 30's and I am a classically trained singer.”
Can you tell me about someone who has had a huge influence on your life?
“The woman who gave me life, my mother, Mrs. Bettie Cheeks Austin.”
What lessons did that person teach you?
“She was a woman of great faith and she taught me (and all six of her children) to have faith in God, to be resilient, to celebrate the joys in life, nothing beats a failure but a try and to make every stumbling block your stepping stone. She also believed that within every person lies a special gift and that that gift would always make room for you in life!”
What is the best advice you've ever received?
“In radio, I had a Program Director who told me to "Be yourself!"
Who/what inspires you and why?
“I'm often inspired by the quiet places. where there are tall cathedral Redwood trees, the sound of a stream, birds singing and the whispering of the wind.
The Redwoods because they cause you to look up when you're down. The sound of water flowing in a stream because it represents movement like time passing. We can watch our problems flow right on by... The birds know their job they sing because that's what they were born to do...And the whispering of the wind- is like the presence of God. We don't know where it comes from or where it goes but we experience its presence when it's there. All of that reminds me to just be still.”
If you could meet anyone in history, who would it be and why?
“I've met a lot of famous and infamous people in my lifetime but in history, Harriet Tubman is the one I'd like to meet. She was considered less than a human being because she was a slave. Yet this seemingly ordinary woman was inspired to do the extraordinary. She used her unassuming presence, and over a ten-year span made 19 trips to the South to free over 300 slaves through the Underground Railroad and lived a long life as a free woman in her own home.”
