By Nadine Matthews, Special to the AFRO When Dara Renee first moved to Baltimore as a young girl, it was a rough transition. She tells the AFRO, “It was hard at first because I like had this valley girl accent and I’m coming to the depths of Baltimore. They were like, ‘Girl, why do you talk […]
Category: ENTERTAINMENT
Posted inArts & Culture, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, Baltimore Community, Baltimore News, ENTERTAINMENT, NEWS
Wine, Spirits and Soul Coming to Baltimore County
By J. K. Schmid, Special to the AFRO The Wine Spirits and Soul Festival comes to Towson, Maryland July 14. A fundraiser for Baltimore County’s Black youth, the festival funds scholarships that will be awarded during the Baltimore County African American Cultural Festival September 15. The Baltimore County African American Cultural Festival is a 501(c)(3) founded […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music
Queen Latifah Celebrates With Hip-Hop Legends at Essence
By STACEY PLAISANCE and CHEVEL JOHNSON, Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Iconic females in the music industry shined at the Essence Festival, where Queen Latifah used her debut performance to celebrate “Ladies First” and her 30 years in the trenches. Latifah was one of the headliners on the festival’s main stage Saturday and was […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Baltimore News, Books, ENTERTAINMENT, Freddie Gray—Arrest-Death-Police Prosecution, LIFE & STYLE, Living, NEWS
AFRO’s Sean Yoes Pens New Book Chronicling Influential “Race and Politics” Column
By Stephen Janis, Special to the AFRO In his “Race and Politics” column, Sean Yoes, has chronicled many of the difficult challenges and tragedies over the last three years in Baltimore since the death of Freddie Gray and the subsequent uprising in April 2015. He has compiled more than 50 of those commentaries in his new […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, National News, NEWS
MeToo’s Tarana Burke: Laying Groundwork for the Long Haul
By JOCELYN NOVECK, AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Not long ago, Tarana Burke took the podium in a hotel ballroom full of admirers — a scenario that’s become somewhat familiar this past year — and told a favorite childhood tale about the time she was forced to run a three-legged race with a […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music
Ella Mai Makes First Essence Festival Appearance Saturday
By CHEVEL JOHNSON, Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — R&B singer-songwriter Ella Mai’s meteoric rise up the charts and in fans’ hearts brings her to the 2018 Essence Festival in New Orleans. The 23-year-old London-born singer has never attended the festival, which for 24 years has celebrated all aspects of Black culture, but she says […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music
Musical Based on The Temptations Life Thunders at Kennedy Center
By Lenore T. Adkins, Special to the AFRO Next to “Hamilton,” “Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations” is one of the hottest shows at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as tickets are going fast, but the musical hasn’t sold out. After earning rave reviews and breaking records […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music, National News, NEWS, TV and Film
$1.1M Awarded to Preserve African-American Historic Sites
By REBECCA SANTANA, Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Grants totaling $1.1 million will help support important African-American heritage sites including the homes of jazz musician John Coltrane and playwright August Wilson, a Virginia location central to the slave trade and civil rights locations in Birmingham, a preservation group announced Friday. The money from the […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, TV and Film
Actor and Director Damien D. Smith Puts New Spin on Term ‘Traveling For Work’
By Nadine Matthews, Special to the AFRO Actor and director Damien D. Smith is on a roll. His film “Jinn”, about a teenager whose life is turned upside down after her mother simultaneously converts to Islam and goes through an identity crisis, won the Special Jury Award at the most recent South by Southwest Festival (SXSW). […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, Music
Show on Slavery Prompts Artist to Quit Montreal Jazz Fest
By The Associated Press American singer-songwriter Moses Sumney canceled his Tuesday night performance at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, protesting the event’s ties to a show on slavery performed by whites. The black entertainer criticized the festival for supporting “SLAV,” a theatrical production on black slavery that he said constitutes cultural appropriation. Instead of performing […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, TV and Film
Film Review: ‘The First Purge’ is depressingly prescient
By The Associated Press This Fourth of July, we’ve got a chance to celebrate America’s birth in a very American way — watching internecine warfare, spasms of savage violence and a dark government conspiracy pulling the strings. That’s right, it’s time for a new Purge. “The First Purge ,” the fourth film in the franchise, […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, Baltimore Community, Baltimore News, ENTERTAINMENT, NEWS
RAMBLING ROSE
By Rosa Pryor, Special to the AFRO Hello my dear fans and readers. How are you? I am doing well, thank you for asking. Honey Child! Have I got something for you that will keep you happy; just check this out. First of all, I want to wish each one of you a very happy […]