Nervous energy pulsated throughout the lofty corridors of B. Smith’s Restaurant at Union Station, a popular eatery known for its sumptuous southern-style food and most recently, the “B. Discovered” singing competition. Conceptualized by famed restaurateur B. Smith and restaurant general manager Andres Hayes, the face-off provided a weekly platform for 20 singers and one rapper […]
Author Archives: Kristin Gray
AFRO Managing Editor
Posted inNational News
Who Cares about Cote d’Ivoire’s Bloody Conflict? Not Western Media
Democracy teeters on the brink of obscurity in Cote d’Ivoire, a tropical West African nation rife with verdant cacao trees and, in recent months, bloodshed. The conflict brewing there stems from a historically sought-after triumvirate — power, money and respect — which illegitimate president Laurent Gbagbo clamored to maintain before his arrest in the nation’s […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Homecoming Comes Early for Two Famed MICA Alums
The Maryland Institute College of Art’s campus is bustling with individuality and a hodgepodge of students fully immersed in myriad forms of artistic expression. Within minutes, it’s apparent that cliques and social pecking orders have little room at the Bolton Hill neighborhood school, where students with rainbow-colored locks or a face pocked with piercings fail […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Teena Marie Dead at 54
For celebrated singer Teena Marie, rhythm and blues music was more than a fad or foray into the infamous blue-eyed soul regime – it was a way of life. Raised in Oakwood, Calif., a predominately Black enclave, the powerhouse singer became acclimated with the vocal acrobatics and emotion that drives R&B music at an early […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Phylicia Rashad: ‘All Women Are ‘Colored Girls”
She’s etched in our collective memory as the consummate businesswoman – a stunningly beautiful, multilingual lawyer with a Brooklyn Heights brownstone and perfectly coiffed hair to boot. Even more so, Phylicia Rashad has come to embody the ideal on-screen mother, whose tough love endures 18 years after the Cosbys became ‘80s TV nostalgia. Standing last […]
Posted inMovie Reviews
Leading Actresses Look Beyond the Rainbow at Life’s Harshest Realities
For Colored Girls is a fireball of raw, organic rage bundled into 120 minutes worth of film. All at once it’s ugly, beautiful and profoundly abstract, a dizzying triad of perceptions that will either stamp For Colored Girls a box office triumph or a commercial bomb. Critics may question whether mass audiences are ready (or […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Black Music Group Revived in Spirit of Esteemed Baritone
The plight of an African-American musician in 1919 was a far cry from the glamorous journey to superstardom many performers now enjoy. Racism shuttered many doors and limited educational opportunities stunted the careers of performers who’d otherwise make powerful footprints on America’s musical fabric. In 1919 a conglomerate of musical performers and teachers joined forces […]
Posted inMusic Reviews
The Ultimate Go-Go
It was hours before Rare Essence stormed the stage with an army of musicians, but frenzy had already set in at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City, a placid Arlington enclave sprinkled with high rise apartments and trendy eateries. A small assembly of 30-somethings – most exuding D.C. swagger with classic Shooters, We R One […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Hospital Launches Gimmick-Free Wellness Initiative ‘smarthealth’
Helen Phillips’ body once bulged uncomfortably in size 22 pants. The Michigan woman – who went on to vanquish an astonishing 140 pounds on NBC’s “The Biggest Loser” last year – had fallen victim to a destructive cycle of overeating, inactivity and self-pity. Like millions of obese Americans, it seemed Phillips’ fate had been predetermined […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
New Play Explores Black Greek Life Through Eyes of a White ‘Minority’
Howard University is the mecca of Black Greek-lettered life in America. Several fraternities and sororities – some boasting up to 350,000 members worldwide – have roots at the Washington, D.C., school and have spawned a cauldron of African-American luminaries like activist/comedian Bill Cosby, lauded poet Zora Neale Hurston and actress Phylicia Rashad. While these community […]
Posted inBaltimore Community, Baltimore News
Baltimore’s Underground Railroad Sites Unveiled in Free Tour
Baltimore has long been a major part of the nation’s Black history legacy and is home to numerous museums, schools and other institutions honoring the past. But many are unaware of Baltimore County’s participation in the Underground Railroad, a conglomeration of homes, churches and other safe havens enslaved Americans navigated on their journey north. Bare […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Local Artist Expresses the Spirit of Gospel Music with Paint
Gospel music is ingrained in the fabric of American culture and is particularly precious to African Americans, whose ancestors sang songs of heartache and jubilee during slavery. This music became a gift to future generations of Americans and proliferated into jazz, the blues and modern day soul music. At times, the essence of gospel music […]