By Lenore T. Adkins, Special to the AFRO A two-week festival at the Kennedy Center highlighting Cuba’s vibrant cultural arts scene in music, dance, visual arts, cinema, theater, fashion and other disciplines includes Cuban artists of African descent. “Artes de Cuba: From the Island to the World” will showcase more than 400 Cuban and Cuban-American artists […]
Category: ENTERTAINMENT
Posted inENTERTAINMENT
D.C. Brings the Funk
By Hamzat Sani, Special to the AFRO It’s official: Washington, D.C. keeps it funky. The 5th Annual Funk Parade will take place on May 12 despite concerns that the event would be cancelled. Instead of cancellation, this year’s parade has grown with a full day of events leading to a fuller night of musical showcases spanning […]
Posted inNational News
‘Black Mother’ Explores the Underbelly of Jamaica
By Jannah Johnson, Special to the AFRO Starting May 2nd the Maryland Film Festival will be taking place in Baltimore’s North Station, showcasing over 40 films and 10 short programs. One film that stands out is “Black Mother,” a documentary style film about Jamaica and its underbelly directed by Khalik Allah. Allah was raised in Long […]
Posted inAfro Briefs, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT, National News, NEWS, TV and Film
Wife: Cosby Convicted By ‘Mob Justice, Not Real Justice’
By The Associated Press Bill Cosby’s wife called May 3 for a criminal investigation into the suburban Philadelphia prosecutor behind his sexual assault conviction, saying the case that could put the 80-year-old comedian in prison for the rest of his life was “mob justice, not real justice” and a “tragedy.” Camille Cosby made her first […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
LIVING FOR THE WEEKEND
I wish you flowers sunshine and smiles. I wish you children that grow to make you proud. I wish you pretty things to wear, sweet things to smell. I wish you well. I wish you good friends that always treat you fair. Wanna wish you ribbons to tie around your hair. I wish you truckloads […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ENTERTAINMENT, TV and Film
Actress Paula Newsome Talks About Her Role in HBO Hit Series Barry
By Nadine Matthews, Special to the AFRO The youngest of three girls, actress Paula Newsome has always described her upbringing as “Like the Huxtables.” She admits that it has gotten much harder to characterize her family and childhood years in that way. “Now, that’s kind of a hard thing to bring up. What a bummer,” she […]
Posted inAfro Briefs, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT
Kanye Calls Slavery a ‘Choice,’ World Calls Kanye a Fool
By The Associated Press Before the last one had a chance to simmer down, Kanye West caused another stir, calling American slavery a “choice” in an interview May 1. “When you hear about slavery for 400 years, for 400 years, that sounds like choice,” West said on TMZ Live after questions on his pro-President Donald […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
James Cone, Founder of Black Liberation Theology, Dies at 79
By The Associated Press Theologian James Cone, who as a founder of Black liberation theology linked Christian faith with the struggle against racism and oppression, has died. He was 79. Cone was hospitalized last week and died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center on Saturday, a spokeswoman for Union Theological Seminary said. The cause of […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Is It Time to #MuteRKelly?
By Micha Green, AFRO Washington, D.C. Editor, mgreen@afro.com For over twenty years, Robert Kelly, better known as R. Kelly, has been engrossed in controversy regarding crude behavior, to say the least, with young women- more specifically, teenage girls. The R&B singer, who sang the chart-topping hit, I Believe I Can Fly, has spent almost 30 years in […]
Posted inNational News
Cosby Verdict Met with Conflicting Emotions
By ERRIN HAINES WHACK, AP National Writer It is difficult to overstate the pride, admiration and sense of ownership many Black Americans felt watching Bill Cosby at the height of his career in the 1980s and ’90s. As Dr. Cliff Huxtable, Cosby starred in a top-rated network sitcom about a loving, successful Black couple and their […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Neville Brothers Saxophonist Charles Neville Dead at 79
The Associated Press Orleans-born saxophone player Charles Neville, who once backed up B.B. King and later gained fame with the Neville Brothers band and their rollicking blend of funk, jazz and rhythm and blues, has died. He was 79. His death came April 26, months after he disclosed he was fighting pancreatic cancer. In a […]
Posted inArts & Culture, ENTERTAINMENT, National News, NEWS
Lynching Memorial and Museum in Alabama Draw Crowds, Tears
By BETH J. HARPAZ, AP Travel Editor Tears and expressions of grief met the opening of the nation’s first memorial to the victims of lynching April 26 in Alabama. Hundreds lined up in the rain to get a first look at the memorial and museum in Montgomery. The National Memorial for Peace and Justice commemorates 4,400 […]