Category: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

NEW YORK (AP) — When children’s author-illustrator Don Tate works on a book about slavery, he keeps in mind that a smile must be more than just a smile. This book cover image released by Scholastic shows, “A Birthday Cake for George Washington,” by Ramin Ganeshram with illustrations by Vanessa Brantley-Newtown. (Scholastic via AP) “A […]

In this March 2, 2014, file photo, Will Smith, left, and Jada Pinkett Smith arrive at the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Smith said Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016, he will not attend the Academy Awards next month, joining his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and others in protest against two straight years of […]

In this Jan. 12, 2016 file photo, actress Lupita Nyong’o poses at the Marie Claire Image Maker Awards in Los Angeles. Following a second straight year of all-white acting Oscar nominees, Nyong’o said Tuesday, Jan. 19, on Instagram she was joining in “calling for change in expanding the stories that are told and recognition of […]

New York Times film critic O.A. Scott described director Quentin Tarantino’s latest film ‘The Hateful Eight,’ as having an “impulse to imagine how the fantasy world of film genres might intersect with the cruelty of real-world history and offer a kind of belated symbolic redress.”  Full of violence and racial tension, ‘The Hateful Eight’ had […]

Sylver Logan Sharp will be performing at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club on Jan. 21. (Courtesy Photo) On Jan. 21, the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club, will serve as the venue to portray the talents of one of Washington, DC’s unsung super-talents — Sylver Logan Sharp. Though Sharp may not be a […]

Comedian Chris Rock speaks during an event celebrating the life and legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Riverside Church in New York, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016. The event, organizers said, was meant not only to celebrate King’s legacy but also to provide a discussion on how to continue his message or […]

NEW YORK /PRNewswire/ — The Dream Network (Dream TV, www.thedream-network.com), a new African-American television network, has signed a deal with WPHR-TV33 in Detroit, Michigan to launch on Comcast channel 91, and their digital sub-channel  33.4. Dream TV is also currently broadcasting to the Florence/Decatur, AL area on WBCG 39.4/WXFL 10, and will have their debut […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me” and Lauren Groff’s “Fates and Furies” are finalists for the National Book Critics Circle prize. Paris, France. September 14, 2015. Ta-Nehisi Coates is seen at Cercle Kadrance in Paris, on Monday, September 14, 2015 in Paris, France. Antoine Doyen/AP Images for John D. & […]

April Reign Oscar nominations were announced Jan. 14 and, for the second year in a row, no Black actors were nominated for any of the 20 slots in the four acting categories. In a year that saw Will Smith star in “Concussion,” Idris Elba in “Beasts of No Nation” and Michael B. Jordan in “Creed,” […]

(L) Jada Pinkett Smith arrives at the 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 10, 2016. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP); (R) Spike Lee attends the premiere of ‘Chi-Raq’ in New York on Dec. 1, 2015. (Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) NEW YORK (AP) — Calls for a boycott of the Academy Awards are growing over the Oscars’ second straight year […]

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Actor Cuba Gooding, Jr., who portrays O.J. Simpson in FX’s 10-part miniseries on the 1995 murder trial, said he didn’t want to meet the former football star as part of his research for taking on the role. Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. participates in “The People v. O.J. Simpson” panel at the […]

Attorney Monique Pressley Attorney Monique Pressley is quickly becoming a household name for the manner in which she is defending actor-comedian Bill Cosby in the legal courts and in the court of public opinion. In fact, she is even being compared to the now-iconic television character, played by Kerry Washington, who can “handle” even the […]