Executive Producer and Host of the arts and cultural radio show Artsy Fartsy Show, Barika Taheer is on a mission to find love and with the odds stacked against her it could be a mission impossible that even Tom Cruise would not attempt to take on. She will travel from New York City with a group of women hoping to find better odds of finding love in San Francisco over the Memorial Day weekend.

Barika Taheer, 34 years old, has had the worse luck finding love. She joined The Dating Ring after finding out that her first boyfriend cheated on her. Edwards says. “I met him through online dating, I have been using online dating for many years and I wanted to try something different.” So the creator of the radio program with a funny titled, Googled Matchmakers NYC and found the start-up dating service, The Dating Ring.

Finding love in New York City is a challenge and finding love, as a black woman is even more of a challenge. Black women have a hard time finding love in any city and statistically have even more challenges being considered for dates online. In the United States, 20 percent of black women are not married by the age of 45. Ms. Edwards identifies with the struggle of being an African-American woman searching for an authentic real relationship. She recalls a play she performed in her first years, in New York City as an actress. In the play, she wakes up after a one night stand and takes off the apropos of what a black woman is. Her character’s lover was only sleeping with her to win a bet to sleep with as many women of different races.

“My New York City dating life has been a lot like that play where men are only interested in dating black women on a superficial level. I cannot tell you how many heartbreaking reality checks I’ve had to have with myself in regards to my dating experience especially the relationships that were interracial.”

Just like the mission of her radio program to make art applicable and open for everyone despite socio-economic, racial and education barriers that prevent people from enjoying all forms of art. Barika is open to finding love but not worrying about what the package looks like. She is looking for someone who is not necessarily in the arts but appreciates art. Above all, the man for her has to have passion for our diverse world.

“I’ve dated men from who come from all over the world, different careers, different cultural perspectives, aliments, heights, weight, hair, no hair – I’ve been pretty open to whatever package love could possible come in. My New York dating experience is either a Greek tragedy or a romantic-comedy in the waiting. I am just waiting for the end.”

In New York City, women out number men; and in San Francisco men outnumber women.

When looking toward the possibility of finding someone to fall in-love with in San Francisco, Barika says, “We’ll see. I cannot wait to find out what is in store for me. I am simply looking for someone who is wonderful. “

If Barika Taheer Edwards achieves the mission impossible and finds love with the odds stacked against her, then the next stage of her career could result in her becoming a female James Bond.
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ABOUT BARIKA TAHEER EDWARDS

Barika Taheer Edwards is one of the youngest African-American producers at Pacifica Radio-WBAI 99.5FM New York City and she is one of the few women African-American producers in her fields of radio and theater. She is an artist to watch.

As an actor, she has studied in Cambridge with the Distinguished Artists of Russia masters of the American Repertory Theatre and Moscow Art Theatre at Harvard University. As a director, she has directed numerous regional plays and under the wings of her theatre company. Upon moving to NYC from the Midwest, she started theatre company, NY Metropolitan Collaborative that strives for intercultural representation and diversity in all aspects of theatre production.

In addition to the Artsy Fartsy Show, Ms. Edwards has produced two radio plays by BBC commissioned radio drama writer, Paul May. She produced the episodic radio drama series, The Aliens that was one of the few American radio series since the Golden Age of Radio. Barika Taheer Edwards produced/hosted Blank in New York; an expose on the various diverse cultures of New York City. Ms. Edwards has vast experience collaborating on stateside projects with International talents and managing large arts projects. She was named in the Empire’s Who’s Who Among Women Professionals in 2006. Ms. Edwards has been working as an actress, producer; director and teaching children to embrace the arts for over 15 years. She will direct, "The Eternal Space" play to mount on the anniversary of the deconstruction of Penn Station (October 2013).

Artsy Fartsy Show
Phone: (347) 9–Artsy-0
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