Category: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — An original member of the pioneering Philadelphia-based soul group The Intruders has died. Robert “Big Sonny” Edwards was 74. The Intruders in 1968 (clockwise from bottom): Sam “Little Sonny” Brown, Phil Terry, Eugene “Bird” Daughtry, and Robert “Big Sonny” Edwards. (Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain) Edwards died Saturday at a Philadelphia hospital after […]

The 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution states: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Director Ava DuVernay’s “13th” is a documentary about mass incarceration and its deep, historical […]

PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan had the crowd partying like it was 1999 all over again at a tribute concert to Prince Thursday night, a show fans and his family hoped would provide closure after his death nearly six months ago. Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan perform during a tribute concert […]

STOCKHOLM (AP) — American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan won the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday, a stunning announcement that for the first time bestowed the prestigious award on a musician for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” Reporters and others gathered at the Swedish Academy’s headquarters in Stockholm’s Old […]

After decades of stick thin Miss Hampton winners, Hampton University student Nyia Fairley became one of the first full figured women to win the pageant. On Sept. 30, the twenty one year old first year pharmacy student was selected by a panel of judges to be the face of the university. Nyia Fairley breaks the […]

As if Netflix and “Luke Cage” creator Cheo Hodari Coker knew that the nation needed a Black superhero, the development of Marvel’s bulletproof “Luke Cage” seems to be both masterful and timely. Netflix series brings the Harlem of Marvel’s Luke Cage to life. (Courtesy photo) Wrongfully convicted of a crime and turned superhuman through prison […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Drake earned a record-breaking 13 American Music Awards nominations on Monday thanks to his latest album, “Views,” shattering Michael’s Jackson’s mark of 11 nominations in a single year from 1984 when the King of Pop had “Thriller.” Drake performs at the 2016 iHeartRadio Music Festival – Day 1 held at T-Mobile […]

INDIO, Calif. (AP) — Mick Jagger told the boomer-heavy crowd at the Desert Trip music festival, which boasts a legendary lineup of septuagenarians, that he wasn’t going to “do a bunch of age jokes.” Then the 73-year-old Rolling Stones front man referred to the three-day event as “the Palm Springs retirement home for genteel English […]

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Beyoncé wrapped up her “Formation World Tour” with onstage assists from Kendrick Lamar, Serena Williams and Jay Z, whom she kissed passionately at the end of their performance before an audience of 80,000, including Hugh Jackman, Tyler Perry and Frank Ocean. IMAGE DISTRIBUTED FOR PARKWOOD ENTERTAINMENT – Beyonce and Jay […]

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (AP) — Viola Davis has made an appearance at the groundbreaking of a new community health center in her impoverished Rhode Island hometown. File-This Sept. 19, 2015, file photo shows Viola Davis arriving at the 4th Annual Woman Making History Brunch at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles. Davis has made […]

African-American superhero Luke Cage made his small-screen debut on September 30, but the new Netflix offering has its roots in another, two-decade-old show. Created by journalist Cheo Hodari Coker, Marvel’s 13-episode “Luke Cage” is an unapologetically Black look into life of a superhero in Harlem. The critically-acclaimed series draws influence from a plethora of sources, […]