By AFRO Staff Black girl magic was sprinkled all over TIME magazine’s inaugural Women of the Year list which hit newsstands March 4. “When you speak your truth, things happen,” said Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix, one of the 2022 honorees. The list includes 12 women from a cross-section of backgrounds –activism, entertainment, sports, health […]
Category: ENTERTAINMENT
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Adam Project film review
By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire Film Critic He didn’t come back from the dead. He came from another time and place. 2050. Back to see his younger self in what’s called a “parallel contact.” That’s the foundation for this generic act/adv/com/sci-fi/fan. It starts with a good idea, then works the very primal emotions of […]
Posted inBooks
In Memoriam: Valerie Boyd, Zora Neale Hurston biographer, dies
By Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D, NNPA Newswire Culture and Entertainment Editor Valerie Boyd, world-renowned author of the definitive biography of Zora Neale Hurston, “Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston,” died Feb. 12, 2022, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. A native Atlantan, Valerie Jean Boyd was born on Dec. 11, 1963, to Roger […]
Posted inBaltimore News
For the love of the community, local theatre company hosts BMORE ArtsCentric! in Remington neighborhood
By Special to the AFRO This year, in addition to producing full-scale streamed and mainstage productions and continuing their work with Baltimore’s youth, ArtsCentric will be hosting a brand-new community engagement event, BMORE ArtsCentric! ArtsCentric is a color-conscious organization committed to re-examining traditional roles in the Arts. The group prides itself in advancing original stories […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Singer Traci Braxton of ‘Braxton Family Values’ dies at 50
By Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Singer Traci Braxton, who was featured with her family in the reality television series “Braxton Family Values,” died at age 50 on Saturday. Her sister, Toni, and family said that Braxton died “this morning as the snow was falling.” According to reports, Traci Braxton had been fighting esophageal […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
‘Black Panther’ director mistaken for bank robber in Atlanta
By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press ATLANTA (AP) — Movie director Ryan Coogler was briefly handcuffed by Atlanta police after he was mistaken for a robber when he passed a teller a note while trying to withdraw a large amount of cash from his account, police said. The “Black Panther” director, who is Black, walked into […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj, Kevin Hart on tap for Essence
By AFRO Staff Janet Jackson, Kevin Hart and Nicki Minaj are among the headliners announced March 3 for this summer’s Essence Festival of Culture, which returns to New Orleans after a two-year hiatus brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. Others tapped to entertain June 30 through July 3 include New Edition, The Isley Brothers, Jazmine […]
Posted inTV and Film
Jussie Smollett sentenced to 150 days in jail after claims of hate crime found to be false
By Don Babwin and Kathleen Foody, Today CHICAGO (AP) — A judge sentenced Jussie Smollett to 150 days in jail, branding the Black and gay actor a narcissistic charlatan for staging a hate crime against himself to grab the limelight while the nation struggled with wrenching issues of racial injustice. Smollett responded by defiantly maintaining […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Smithsonian, IF/THEN collaborate to celebrate women in STEM
By Micha Green, AFRO D.C. and Digital Content Editor, mgreen@afro.com With Women’s History Month in full swing, the Smithsonian Institution and Lydia Hill Philanthropies’ IF/THEN collaborated on an exhibit that showcases and celebrates women in STEM. The exhibit, called #IfThenSheCan, includes 120 full sized statues of women in STEM- highlighting these women scientists as true […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Wicked’ welcomes a pioneering good witch, Brittney Johnson
By Mark Kennedy, Associated Press While many people spent Valentine’s Day with the traditional flowers and chocolates, Brittney Johnson was making theater history. The young Broadway veteran was gently lowered onto the Gershwin Theatre stage to become the first Black actor to assume the role of Glinda full-time in “Wicked,” shattering a racial barrier on […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Museum begins honoring Black coachmen from the Jim Crow era
By Ben Finley, Associated Press News The Black men who drove horse-drawn carriages through the streets of Colonial Williamsburg, Va. were simultaneously invisible and omnipresent during the Jim Crow era. Their wooden coaches help conjure up images of the late 18th Century for visitors among the likes of Queen Elizabeth, Sir Winston Churchill and former […]
Posted inARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The Batman review
By Dwight Brown, NNPA News Wire film critic Crime is rampant in Gotham City. Murders. Manslaughter. Blood soaks the streets. Citizens live in terror and the police are stumped. On desperate nights a Batman signal lights up the sky and the caped man jumps into action, but even he can’t stem the tide: “It’s a […]
