By Jake Coyle, AP Film Writer A year after Will Smith smacked him on the Academy Awards stage, Chris Rock finally gave his rebuttal in a forceful stand-up special, streamed live on Netflix on March 4, in which the comedian bragged that he “took that hit like Pacquiao.” The 58-year-old comedian on Saturday night performed […]
Category: Arts & Culture
Posted inArts & Culture
Conversations With Debra Lee, Amy Sherald, Deborah Willis and Bisa Butler headline National Museum of African American History and Culture’s Women’s History Month celebrations
By Black PR Wire (Black PR Wire) – In honor of Women’s History Month, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture’s (NMAAHC) March programming features events with prominent Black women in the arts and entertainment industry. To kick off the month, businesswoman and former chairman and CEO of BET Debra Lee discuss the […]
Posted inWashington D.C. News
One-woman show brings brilliance of Pearl Bailey, Moms Mabley and Josephine Baker to spotlight
By Deborah Bailey, Contributing Editor D.C. playwright and director Andy Evans wanted contemporary audiences to get reacquainted with the gifted comedic artistry of D.C. resident and international Black comedian, Jackie Moms Mabley. So he wrote a play about Mabley’s years at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. As Evans conceptualized the play about Mabley, who was […]
Posted inMusic
Wayne Shorter, jazz saxophone pioneer, dies at 89
By The Associated Press Wayne Shorter, an influential jazz innovator whose lyrical, complex jazz compositions and pioneering saxophone playing sounded through more than half a century of American music, has died. He was 89. Shorter died March 2 surrounded by his family in Los Angeles, said Alisse Kingsley, a representative for the multi-Grammy winner. No […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Lyric Baltimore encourages, nurtures dreams of Baltimore students through Dream Big Contest
By Special to the AFRO According to the most recent American Academy for the Arts and Sciences study, the historic decline in arts education over the last decade reflects the persistent inequities endemic to our educational system. Students in high-needs schools and historically underserved populations have been hit the hardest. In Baltimore – a city […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Black artists, athletes and activists come together for 2023 NAACP Image Awards
By AFRO Staff Black excellence was on full display Feb. 25 at the annual NAACP Image Awards, which took place this year in Pasadena, Calif. The show, which was broadcast on Black Entertainment Television (BET), was hosted by legendary entertainer Queen Latifah. She performed a rendition of the 1950’s song“I’m Gonna Live Til’ I Die” […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Another look, a second chance: never settle for love
By Erick Alston Buck, Special to the AFRO Dating is as easy or as difficult as we make it. Depending on how long we’ve been single, our dating goals and even our age, we may very well show up on this new dating scene creating obstacles and challenges for ourselves and blaming our unmet expectations […]
Posted inBooks
Black Resistance: the revolutionary act of Black love
By Alexis Taylor, AFRO Managing Editor, ataylor@afro.com “My eye soon caught her precious face, but, gracious heavens! That glance of agony may God spare me from ever again enduring! My wife, under the influence of her feelings, jumped aside; I seized hold of her hand while my mind felt unutterable things, and my tongue was […]
Posted inCoronavirus
Black Media Story Summit offering $60,000 in funding for projects promoting vaccine equity
MICHIGAN AND NORTH CAROLINA CREATIVES SOUGHT FOR BLACK MEDIA STORY SUMMIT Up to $60,000 in funding to be awarded for media projects promoting vaccination Black Public Media (BPM) is inviting Michigan and North Carolina creatives to join health care professionals and other stakeholders at its upcoming Black Media Story Summit for a day of conversation, […]
Posted inBUSINESS
Keeping the Black dollar in the Black community: five websites and apps that help you support Black businesses
By Megan Sayles, AFRO Business Writer, msayles@afro.com According to a Nielsen report entitled, “The State of the African-American Consumer,” African Americans have a buying power of more than $1 trillion, which is nearly equivalent to the GDP of the 15th largest country in the world. However, dollars circulate just one time in the Black community […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Tyler Perry to donate $2.5M to help older Atlanta homeowners
By The Associated Press Actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry is donating $2.75 million to older homeowners in Atlanta to help ensure they’re able to stay in their homes. A few weeks ago, Perry reached out to Atlanta Mayor Andrew Dickens about providing assistance for those residents on fixed incomes who could lose their homes as […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Solange Knowles makes history as first Black female composer for NYC Ballet
By ReShonda Tate, Word In Black Is there anything Solange Knowles can’t do? The singer-songwriter’s artistic tendrils have reached into the worlds of music, choreography, fashion, film, visual art and more. Now, she has added another skill set to her repertoire: ballet composer. Knowles made history with her musical commission from the New York City […]