{"id":4000,"date":"2025-09-18T21:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T21:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/?p=4000"},"modified":"2026-07-15T22:01:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:01:01","slug":"dee-henry-williams-the-healer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/2025\/09\/18\/dee-henry-williams-the-healer\/","title":{"rendered":"Dee Henry Williams: The Healer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dee Henry Williams, known to Twin Cities radio audiences as the \u201cGrand Deeva,\u201d has spent nearly four decades using music as a bridge across generations and as a balm for the soul. \u201cThe intention is healing and celebration,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to celebrate our healing and then we want to heal as we celebrate.\u201d Henry Williams shared her story and philosophy during a recent edition of The Conversation With Al McFarlane<\/em> on Radio KFAI 90.3 FM, streamed live through the Insight News MN YouTube channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry Williams traced her beginnings to a call for volunteers and a push from her late husband. \u201cHe says, you\u2019ve always wanted to be on radio,\u201d she recalled with a laugh. \u201cI said, really, when did that revelation come to you?\u201d She answered that call, attended orientation at Walker Church, and soon found herself on-air at a small space above Butler Drug at Lake and Bloomington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From those humble beginnings came a co-hosted Saturday morning show with Bonnie V. \u201cThere\u2019s a spot open from 6:00am to 9:00am,\u201d she remembered telling her co-host. When Bonnie worried about losing Friday nights party time, Henry Williams replied, \u201cThat\u2019s not our conversation, darling.\u201d The show, first called Watercolors<\/em>, blended styles but eventually grew into Henry Williams\u2019 own creation: R&B for Healing and Celebration<\/em><\/a>. \u201cTo me watercolors meant a blend,\u201d she explained. \u201cIt\u2019s purple, it\u2019s blue, sometimes it\u2019s red, and most definitely it\u2019s got to be Black.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Raised on the Blues<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry Williams\u2019 musical foundation was laid on a porch in Omaha, Nebraska. \u201cOn a weekly basis my mother and her sister got together on our front porch and played the blues on a record player with that little arm on it,\u201d she said. \u201cI kept Bobby \u2018Blue\u2019 Bland<\/a> going, and B. B. King, Lord have mercy. These were my very first Blues artists that remember.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She rattled off the canon of her life: \u201cBuddy Guy<\/a>, Johnny Taylor, Latimore,\u201d she said, before placing one artist at the top. \u201cKoko Taylor<\/a> number one as far as I\u2019m concerned.\u201d For Henry Williams, the Blues is not to be confused with jazz. \u201cWe call the Blues by many different names, but we never call it jazz,\u201d she said. \u201cJack McDuff told me personally; I don\u2019t play jazz. I play the Blues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ownership and Roots<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discussion turned to B. B. King\u2019s lament that Black audiences were abandoning the bBlues as white crowds filled arenas. Henry Williams pushed back. \u201cI still like the music. I\u2019m still listening,\u201d she said. Instead, she pointed to co-opting in the 1960s. \u201cMaybe it was the Beatles, the Rolling Stones,\u201d she reflected. She recalled King\u2019s own words after his trip to Africa. \u201cHe came back and said, this is Black folks\u2019 music. We created this out of that enslavement period. And that indeed is where gospel also came from, the Blues.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Robert Johnson, Henry Williams dismissed myths of The Devil\u2019s bargain at The Crossroads. \u201cRobert Johnson was a genius. All these other artists leaned on his style,\u201d she said. \u201cPractice, practice, practice, and mor practice\u2026sheer determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Music and Spirit as One<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

McFarlane described the moment when artist and instrument merge, changing the room. Henry Williams nodded. \u201cAre you one with yourself,\u201d she asked. \u201cThe music is the spirit, and the spirit is the music.\u201d She listed Aretha Franklin, Bettye LaVette<\/a>, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, and Prince among those who embodied that wholeness. \u201cBettye can hone in and then bring you in with her. You feel it.\u201d Henry Williams sees her visual art in the same way. \u201cWhen I teach photography, I teach how to see,\u201d she said. \u201cThe sky is not always blue. Go get purple or orange or gold. Look beyond the subject and around it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shango Spirit:  A mixed-media portrait by Dee Henry Williams, created with denim, pearls, and patterned fabric (2010). The work echoes her philosophy of \u201chealing and celebration,\u201d blending everyday materials into a soulful face that reflects resilience and creativity. As she told Al McFarlane, her art\u2014whether on canvas, through photography, or over the airwaves\u2014is about \u201clearning how to see\u201d and transforming ordinary fragments into something whole, spirited, and healing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healing Recipes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry Williams\u2019 credo of healing grew sharper after the death of her husband. \u201cAfter Lin Williams died in 2003, devastation,\u201d she said softly. \u201cI needed to gather myself and maintain equilibrium.\u201d She began to build what she calls \u201chealing recipes.\u201d \u201cRituals. Candles. Mantras. Music always. Reading. Journaling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMeditation is critical. Make space even if it\u2019s five minutes.\u201d Even small gestures matter. \u201cA half smile. You don\u2019t always have to grin or frown. Part your lips, open your eyes, just a little lift,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her sign-off has become both mantra and mission: \u201cCherish The Good Times. Don\u2019t linger in the gray.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Business of the Blues<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Henry Williams calls her crate \u201cMusic from the Black Diaspora.\u201d Every Saturday morning, she opens it for listeners. \u201cThe Blues is my business and business is good,\u201d she said. \u201cBe willing to celebrate yourself. And then do it. That in itself is healing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catch the full interview with Dee Henry Williams on\u00a0The Conversation With Al McFarlane<\/em>, streaming via the\u00a0Insight News MN YouTube channel<\/strong>:\u00a0https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch\/PRL6M4ZeuGs<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dee Henry Williams, known to Twin Cities radio audiences as the \u201cGrand Deeva,\u201d has spent nearly four decades using music as a bridge across generations and as a balm for the soul. \u201cThe intention is healing and celebration,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to celebrate our healing and then we want to heal as we celebrate.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4001,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[2595,2596,32],"class_list":["post-4000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-dee-henry-williams","tag-rb-for-healing-and-celebration","tag-twin-cities","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Insight-News-Website-Images-15.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4000"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4002,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4000\/revisions\/4002"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}