BALTIMORE, Md.–They’re back! And, nearly 30 years later, Joyce J. Scott and Kay Lawal-Muhammad, the generously proportioned originators of the Thunder Thigh Revue, are proving that they’ve still got it. The self-proclaimed performing arts “fativists” originally conceived the idea for the Thunder Thigh Revue in 1984 when they decided to flip the script on societal […]
Author Archives: Jannette J. Witmyer
Special to the AFRO
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Whipping Man
While staged, almost in its entirety in one room of what is left of the war-ravaged DeLeon mansion, in Richmond, Va., “The Whipping Man” (now playing at Washington, DC’s Theater J) carries its audience on a journey that navigates the complexities of war, race, religion, freedom, faith, family, love, betrayal and choice. When Caleb DeLeon […]
Posted inD.C. Community, Washington D.C. News
“Growing Up Afro: Snapshots of Black Childhood”
For years, being recognized as an Afro Clean Block was one of the greatest honors that an African American neighborhood could achieve. Neighbors took the competition seriously. They could be seen, early in the morning, scrubbing steps, sweeping sidewalks and lining their blocks with flower-filled planters, hoping to be the next block chosen to fly […]
Posted inNational News
The AFRO is Letting Our Archives Out of the Box
As a result of a partnership between the Afro-American Newspapers Archives and Research Center, Johns Hopkins University’s Sheridan Libraries Center for Educational Resources and the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Africana Studies, members of the general public will now have access to the newspapers’ archival collection, with the click of a mouse. […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Joyce J. Scott’s Art: From ‘Round-the-Way to Around the World
When internationally acclaimed visual and performing artist Joyce J. Scott describes herself as a classic Baltimore ’round-the-way girl from Mount Street, it all sounds very traditional. That is until she begins to unfold the many layers of her life and art. Then, the traditional ’round-the-way girl becomes quite extraordinary. “I am the manifestation of what […]
Posted inBaltimore Community, Baltimore News
Renown Singer to Cultivate ‘Voice’ in Middle Schoolers
For the past 15 years, Lea Gilmore has been sharing her voice with the world as a gospel and blues singer, African-American music authority and civil and human rights lecturer, while balancing the duties of working mom, wife and civic activist. Now, fresh off a tour of concerts and lectures in Siberia, the internationally acclaimed […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Getting the Jump on Bullying
When Howard University Men’s Basketball Coach Kevin Nickelberry talks to youth about bullying, he can tell who is being bullied. Having been bullied throughout most of his public school education in Prince George’s County, he recognizes their reaction to his very personal account of his ordeals. “I can always identify the kids who are being […]
Posted inBaltimore Community, Baltimore News
Kwame Kwei-Armah Gleams with Debut Play Selection
After six months on the job as Center Stage’s artistic director, Kwame Kwei-Armah, is as passionate as ever about his decision to come to Baltimore and his love for the city that he now calls his first artistic home. Factor in the appreciation shown by packed audiences for his debut play selection, Gleam, based on […]
Posted inBaltimore Community, Baltimore News
Community Corner
PIKESVILLE Erlene Wilson Receives Business Award Erlene B. Wilson, founder and president of EWC pr+mktg (dba E. Wilson Communications Inc.) and longtime Pikesville resident, has been recognized as one of the region’s outstanding women/minority business owners in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia and was awarded a Top 100 Minority Business Enterprise […]