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 […]
Category: ENTERTAINMENT
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 […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, National News, NEWS, TV and Film
Oprah-Backed ‘Rape of Recy Taylor’ Recounts Black Woman’s Ordeal
By LYNN ELBER, AP Television Writer When Oprah Winfrey saluted unheralded #MeToo crusaders at the Golden Globes last January, she chose a rape victim from 1940s Alabama to drive home her point. “Recy Taylor, a name I know, and I think you should know, too,” Winfrey said, sketching the outlines of the African-American woman’s assault by […]
Posted inArts & Culture, D.C. Community, ENTERTAINMENT, LIFE & STYLE, Living, NEWS, Washington D.C. News
Vintage Wishes Creates Vintage Queens, an all Female Cypher in DC
By Charise Wallace, Special to the AFRO The rap industry may be dominated by males, but females continue to write their own history, which is why DMV based producer Ramone Messam is launching Vintage Wishes, a royal hip-hop gala that includes a fashion show and an all-female cypher, Vintage Queens. Messam originally introduced high school […]
Posted inArts & Culture, Baltimore Community, Baltimore News, ENTERTAINMENT, NEWS
Following Death of Pioneering Founder of Flair Studio, Willia Montague Carries On Legacy
By Lisa Snowden-McCray, Special to the AFRO When Willia Bland decided to start a school to teach Baltimore girls etiquette and self-esteem back in 1968, she was 43 and the nation was in turmoil. “She started her business after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, and she started it because she wanted to empower young girls […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ENTERTAINMENT, LIFE & STYLE, Living
Natalie Gillard Uses Her DIY Talents to Promote Inclusion
By Nadine Matthews, Special to the AFRO When most people think of DIY they think of furniture or household accessories, but Natalie Gillard, a passionate DIYer who routinely creates her own clothing and household items, took DIY to the next level when she created a board game. Not only did she create the board game but […]