By The Associated Press Oprah Winfrey’s father, Vernon Winfrey, has died at the age of 89. Oprah confirmed in an Instagram post that her father died in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 8. “Yesterday with family surrounding his bedside I had the sacred honor of witnessing the man responsible for my life, take his last breath,” […]
Category: Arts & Culture
Posted inNational News
Denzel Washington and Simone Biles among 17 Medal of Freedom honorees
By Kara Thompson, MDDC Intern On Thursday, July 7, President Biden presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 17 Americans in a formal ceremony at the White House. “We strive for we the people doing what we can to ensure the idea of America,” said Biden. “The call of freedom shines like the sun to […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs receives BET Award for lifetime of achievement
By Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press With a speech about his own inspirational dream for the Black community, Sean “Diddy” Combs channeled the spirit of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. while accepting the BET Awards’ highest honor on June 26. After Combs received his Lifetime Achievement Award, the music mogul said God put […]
Posted inMusic
The Moore Report: Rumor has it: a Black man showed Elvis Presley how to sing
By Ralph E. Moore, Jr., Special to the AFRO Otis Blackwell is one of the most famous songwriters, but most folks never heard of him. Blackwell wrote several bestselling songs for Elvis Presley. And admittedly, I never heard of Blackwell until Stevie Wonder received a Grammy Award for Best Male Vocalist in 1976 and acknowledged Otis Blackwell as a magnificent […]
Posted inCommentary
TBE#26 – Essence Festival: A Birthday Party That Has Grown Into A National Cultural Touchstone
By Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban League “It’s within our DNA as black women, and some of it is within the historical evolution of who we are as black women, where we were trained and groomed to give so much of ourselves. Essence was specifically created to be a platform where we […]
Posted inArts & Culture
6th Annual Cherry Hill Arts & Music Waterfront Festival
By Special to the AFRO Help us Continue to tell OUR Story and join the AFRO family as a member – subscribers are now members! Join here!
Posted inArts & Culture
Black and woman-owned content marketing company uncovers the history of Richmond’s first Black newspaper
By BlackPressUSA Tilt, a Richmond-based, Black and woman-owned full-service content marketing company, has developed its first original documentary film, “Birth of a Planet”, to tell the untold story of Richmond’s first Black newspaper, “The Richmond Planet.” Birth of a Planet premiered on June 10 at the Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF), one of the largest […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
“Loudmouth,” documentary on
“Loudmouth,” documentary on
Al Sharpton, closes out Tribeca
Film Festival
By Jake Coyle, The Associated Press On the eve of Juneteenth, the Tribeca Festival came to a close with the documentary “Loudmouth.” The premiere united Civil right giant Rev. Al Sharpton and legendary director, screenwriter and actor, Spike Lee, on the stage— two towering New York figures who have each been vilified and celebrated for […]
Posted inTV and Film
First preview of ‘Martin: The
First preview of ‘Martin: The
Reunion Special’
By Terry Shropshire, BlackPressUSA The iconic cast for the 90’s smash hit Fox sitcom “Martin” are reconvening for the reunion special that stars Martin Lawrence, Tisha Campbell, Tichina Arnold and Carl Anthony Payne II. “Martin: The Reunion,” which premiered on BET+ on June 1, pressed the pause button on the laughs at the beginning of […]
Posted inSports
Naomi Osaka and LeBron James launch media company
By AFRO Staff LeBron James, earlier this month, broke barriers again when he was named as the only active professional basketball player to become a billionaire. And phenom tennis player Naomi Osaka may well be on her way to joining King James after recently announcing another business venture. Osaka has partnered with the basketball legend […]
Posted inTV and Film
Trinidad-born Mishael Morgan is 1st Black lead winner at Daytime Emmys
By Beth Harris, The Associated Press Mishael Morgan of “The Young and the Restless” won as lead drama actress, becoming the first Black actor to win in a lead category at the Daytime Emmys on Friday night. Morgan was previously nominated in the supporting category. The 35-year-old from Trinidad and Tobago plays Amanda Sinclair on […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Stars use BET Awards stage to criticize Roe v. Wade ruling
by Associated Press Taraji P. Henson, Janelle Monae and Jazmine Sullivan were some of the big stars using the BET Awards stage to strongly criticize the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strip away women’s constitutional protection for abortion. Henson took the stage as the show’s host on Sunday with an uplifting message about “Black excellence” […]