By Aria Brent, AFRO Staff Three words to describe Baltimore theater group “Funktopia” are intentional, unapologetic and charismatic! With a heavy focus on honoring those who have come before them, Funktopia is continuing to uphold this tradition with their latest production “The Dark Tower.” Based on A’Lelia Walker and the salons she held at her […]
Category: Entertainment
Posted inNational News
Fox News defamation trial set to begin April 17
By AFRO Staff Fox News is set to begin defending its propagation of lies fostered by former President Donald Trump and his allies after his loss in the 2020 presidential election, as jurors are expected to be seated and opening statements offered April 17 in the defamation case brought against the media giant by a […]
Posted inBaltimore News
AFRO announces star-studded Baltimore AFRO High Tea
By Ciara Franklin, Abel Communications, for the AFRO The AFRO will host the annual Baltimore AFRO High Tea on April 22, honoring “Maryland’s Leading Ladies.” This year’s event features Maryland’s most prominent women in leadership, including First Lady Dawn Moore, Lt. Governor Aruna Miller, Comptroller Brooke Lierman, and Speaker of the House of Delegates, Adrienne […]
Posted inPrince George's County News
Bowie State University’s Performing Arts Center theatre named for Dionne Warwick
By Deborah Bailey, Contributing Editor Bowie State University’s Performing Arts Center (PAC) now bears the name of internationally renowned singer, Dionne Warwick. In a ceremony this past week, the PAC theatre was formally renamed the Dionne Warwick Performing Arts Theatre. Hundreds gathered in attendance to celebrate with Warwick and the campus, including Gospel Singer, BeBe […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
MLB videogame, The Show 23, breaks barrier with Negro League players
By Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — MLB The Show has broken a video game barrier: For the first time, the franchise will insert some of the greatest Negro League players — from Satchel Paige to Jackie Robinson — into the 2023 edition of the game as playable characters. Video gamers […]
Posted inBaltimore News
East Baltimore Black Wax Museum gets $2 million in federal funding
By Tashi McQueen, AFRO Political Writer, tmcqueen@afro.com The National Great Blacks in Wax Museum received a $2 million federal investment, which was presented by U.S. lawmakers Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) to museum co-founder and President Joanne Martin on March 31. “These funds represent the ability […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Lauryn Hill, Megan Thee Stallion to headline ESSENCE Festival’s celebration of hip hop
By AFRO Staff The 2023 edition of the ESSENCE Festival of Culture will celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop and its global impact with two headlining female MCs that represent the past and present of the art form. Back in New Orleans for its 29th year, the four-day festival kicks off June 29 and will […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
Ford’s Theatre debuts dynamic stage play,“Shout SisterShout!: The Untold Story of Rock and Roll Trailblazer Rosetta Tharpe”
By Deborah Bailey, Contributing Editor The East Coast debut of playwright Cheryl West’s “Shout Sister Shout!: The Untold Story of Rock and Roll Trailblazer Rosetta Tharpe, is the poignant and jubilant theatrical journey of a Black woman emerging from the deep, Jim Crow South of the early and mid-20th century to a world-wide stage– all the while […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
“Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures” exhibit opens March 24
By Michelle Richardson, Special to the AFRO Have you ever wanted to see George Clinton’s wig up close or experience the power of the Black Panther suit worn by Chadwick Boseman? The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s newest exhibit makes that possible with “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures,” opening March 24. […]
Posted inTV and Film
Ruby Duncan: the woman who gambled for welfare rights in Las Vegas and won
By Ralph E. Moore Jr., Special to the AFRO Maryland Public Television (MPT) is celebrating Women’s History Month and a very special woman, Ruby Duncan, tonight. The documentary “Storming Caesars Palace,” will air on MPT at 10 p.m. Eastern Time. The documentary chronicles a little-noticed welfare rights battle in which Duncan led a group of […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Well Read Sistas: meet the woman promoting Black women authors and Black stories year-round
By Nadira Jamerson, Word in Black It’s been 73 years since Zora Neale Hurston’s essay “What White Publishers Won’t Print,” ran in the Negro Digest. As Hurston explained back in 1950, even though publishing houses “are in business to make money,” they don’t publish “romantic stories” about Black people “because they feel that they know […]
Posted inMusic
Posthumous album set from ‘Gangsta’s Paradise’ rapper Coolio
By Mark Kennedy, AP Entertainment Writer The estate of rapper Coolio plans to release a studio album that the Grammy-winning hitmaker had been working on in the days before he died later this year. “Long Live Coolio” will be the first posthumous album release from the “Gangsta’s Paradise” star and the first single, “TAG ‘You […]