(notablebiographies) Lena Horne is known as one of the most popular African American entertainers of the twentieth century. A woman of great beauty and commanding stage presence, she performed in nightclubs, concert halls, movies, and on radio and television.
Complete Story...
Today is Friday, September 03, 2010 5:00AM
Farewell To Our Elegant Lena Mary Calhoun Horne, 1917 to 2010
May 10, 2010 by BBN Editors,
BBN Remembers Michael Joseph Jackson: August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009
June 26, 2009 by BBN Editors,
. BBN asked our members and supporters for their contribution to our tribute to Michael Joseph Jackson.
Complete Story...
(Video) West Side Story Returns to Broadway….en Español!
April 05, 2009 by BBN Editors,
(Guardian) West Side Story returns to Broadway. The revival “elevates the Puerto Rican Sharks to their rightful place as equals to their deadly white rivals”.
Complete Story...
Our Tribute to Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984
March 30, 2008 by BBN Editors,
April 1st marks the 24th anniversary of the tragic death of lyrical genius and master performer, Marvin Pentz Gaye, Jr. He would have turned 69 years old on April 2nd.
Complete Story...
(VIDEO) Israel 'Cachao' Lopez, of Afro-Cuban Style Mambo, Dies at 89
March 23, 2008 by BBN Editors,
(contactmusic) Israel 'Cachao' Lopez, the Cuban musician credited with inventing the mambo, died on Saturday in Florida at the age of 89.
His spokesman Nelson Albareda said the Grammy-winner passed away surrounded by his family at Coral Gables hospital in Miami having been taken ill in the past week.
Complete Story...
An Unfinished Life and Career: Comedian Rasheed Thurmond Dead at 36.
December 09, 2007 by BBN Editors,
Brooklyn born comedian, Rasheed Thurmond, died at his Queens home on Nov. 27, leaving behind three young daughters, a family and an unfinished career.
Complete Story...
Essence Hires White Fashion Director, Leaves Loyal Readers Asking Why
July 27, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(clutch) Essence announced it’s search for a Fashion Director in March after Agnes Cammock left the post several years before. The print’s latest Fashion Director was celebrity stylist Billie Causieestko, who had a brief stint with the magazine lasting less than a year. No information released on why Causieestko no longer holds the spot. The company has yet to officially announce the new hire. However, media industry site Media Bistro released an article on Monday revealing the pick is Ellianna Placas, formerly of O: The Oprah Magazine and US Weekly. More...
(Audio and Images) National Museum Home To Black Heroes And Foes
July 18, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(npr) There's still nearly five years to go before the National Museum of African American History and Culture opens its doors in Washington D. C.
But to Lonnie Bunch it feels more like five days. As the founding director of the museum, he's crossing the country and the seas to build the collection for the museum.
Yet from time to time, he still finds a few minutes to tell NPR's Guy Raz about his latest discoveries. More...
Broadway Sees Benefits of Building Black Audience
July 02, 2010 by editor2 (View Source)
(NYT)--Broadway shows about black characters often draw black theatergoers, but the producers of “Memphis” and “Fela!” as well as producers of some coming shows are particularly going after African-Americans, given that Broadway’s overall attendance has been on the decline, down 3 percent for the 2009-10 season. Whether black theatergoers become a larger, reliable part of the Broadway audience remains to be seen, as do the range and quality of the shows that are offered to appeal to them.
Yet producers clearly sense a market that has not been tapped out: This fall’s Broadway lineup already includes two new musicals about black men, “Unchain My Heart: The Ray Charles Musical” and “The Scottsboro Boys,” and possibly the new two-character play “The Mountaintop,” about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. More...
Michael Riedel: More Tony baloney. Lame 'Memphis' beats fab 'Fela!'
June 14, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(nyp) When a Broadway musical like "Fela!" — dynamic, inventive, ambitious — loses to a Broadway musical like "Memphis" — infantile, predictable, tedious — you know the Tony Awards no longer have anything re motely to do with "excellence in the theater. "
Last night, the ground-breaking musical about Fela Kuti, the Nigerian song writer and polit ical activist who created Afro-Beat and defied oil com panies and to talitarian govern ments, lost the Tony to a feel-good show about an oppressively cute white disc jockey who likes black people and promotes their music. If the year were 1955, I'd say bravo to "Memphis. " But, 60 years past the civil-rights movement, Broadway and its 700 mummified Tony voters still think a musical about integrating the high-school dance is cutting edge.
What's really going on here is the corruption of the Tony Award, which once upon a time really did stand for American theater at its best. More...
(On Film) Entre Nos - An Immigrant Story
May 14, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) Mariana and her two children, Gabriel, 10, and Andrea, 6, have been abandoned by Mariana’s husband after leaving their native Colombia to join him in Jackson Heights, Queens. Now Mariana — unemployed, not knowing English, kicked out of her apartment and pregnant again — is starting to crack under her mounting misfortunes.
Terrified of the police and reduced to collecting cans from the street, she is largely without anyone to turn to. Hers is an immigrant story, and though “Entre Nos” never says so outright, it is an illegal-immigrant story.
“Entre Nos” is directed and written by Paola Mendoza, a screenwriter and actress (she plays Mariana), and Gloria La Morte, an editor. More...
Were Worth It
May 11, 2010 by winfreylee (View Source)
Were Worth It aka wereworthit. com had there Macy's event this past Wednesday. The event was a smashing success. Watch the video on youtube at www. youtube. More...
The Legendary Lena Mary Calhoun Horne Dies at 92. June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010
May 10, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) Lena Horne, who was the first black performer to be signed to a long-term contract by a major Hollywood studio and who went on to achieve international fame as a singer, died on Sunday night at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. She was 92 and lived in Manhattan. . . . More...
'Fela!' And 'La Cage' Dominate Tony Nods
May 04, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(npr) Two strikingly different musicals, "Fela!" and "La Cage aux Folles," dominated the star-laden 2010 Tony Awards nominations.
"Fela!" — the innovative Afro-beat biography of Nigerian superstar Fela Anikulapo-Kuti — and "La Cage aux Folles" — a revival of the classic Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein musical celebrating family — each received 11 nods on Tuesday as Jeff Daniels and Lea Michele announced the nominees for the 64th annual awards during a news conference.
They were followed by the revival of August Wilson's "Fences," with 10 nominations and the musical "Memphis," with eight. . . More...
Rapper Guru, who rose to fame with hip-hop outfit GangStarr, has died aged 43 after a long battle with cancer.
April 20, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(bbc) The MC, whose real name was Keith Elam, suffered a cardiac arrest in February after surgery to treat the disease and briefly lapsed into a coma.
A statement released by his PR company contained a letter purportedly written by Guru in his final days.
"I have suffered with this illness for over a year," he wrote. "I have exhausted all medical options. "
"I write this with tears in my eyes, not of sorrow but of joy for what a wonderful life I have enjoyed and how many great people I have had the pleasure of meeting. More...
David Mills, an Emmy Award-winning television writer who contributed to dramas "The Wire" and "ER," has died at age 48
March 31, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(lat/reuters) David Mills, an Emmy Award-winning television writer who contributed to dramas "The Wire" and "ER," has died at age 48, the HBO cable television network said on Wednesday. Mills died on Tuesday night in New Orleans, said Diego Aldana, a spokesman for HBO, the channel behind "The Wire" and the soon-to-debut series "Treme" that Mills worked on.
Aldana declined to say how Mills died, but the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported the writer suffered a brain aneurysm.
"HBO is deeply saddened by the sudden loss of our dear friend and colleague David Mills," HBO said in a statement.
"He was a gracious and humble man, and will be sorely missed by those who knew and loved him, as well as those who were aware of his immense talent," the network said. More...
Scoring discrepancy changes results of Sprite Step Off. Black Sorority will share prize with White Sorority which came in first place before change.
February 28, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(ajc) Five days after taking first place in the Sprite Step Off finals in Atlanta last weekend, the women of Zeta Tau Alpha's Epsilon Chapter from the University of Arkansas learned they would be sharing the spotlight. On Thursday, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Company, which sponsors the college step dancing competition, announced that because of a scoring discrepancy in the sorority results, the second-place winners, the Tau Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. from Indiana University, would be recognized as co-winners and awarded the same $100,000 prize as Zeta Tau Alpha. (see the video here: http://www. youtube. More...
What Happened to the Black Love Story? (A must read especially for writers, filmmakers)
February 18, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(T. Anderson) High-quality films about black romance are hard to find these days. Several Hollywood insiders offer their theories about why there’s a void on the big screen. . . More...
(NYC) A Quiet End for Boys Choir of Harlem
January 05, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(bbn editors. . . this article was published in Dec 2009). . More...
Designing to an Afro Beat. Africa's visual influence iss touching film, music and fashion
January 03, 2010 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) THE Na’vi, the blue-skinned clan of the planet Pandora in James Cameron’s screen blockbuster “Avatar,” scale treetops and mountains, and even fly, with a loose-limbed elasticity that Tarzan would have envied. At once exotic and familiar to fans of adventure films, the Pandorans wear latticed animal skins and brightly colored beads, and score their faces with chalky tribal markings. Western fascination with African art and design has blown in gusts for over a century, of course, ever since Picasso and Kandinsky filled their canvases with tribal motifs. As recently as the 1970s, Yves Saint Laurent introduced a collection of “African” dresses constructed from raffia, shells and wooden beads.
Now another Afrocentric wind is rising. More...
(NY) Lou Dobbs Leaves CNN. Co-founder of Latino advocacy group Presente.org: anti-illegal immigration views made him a TV lightning rod.
November 12, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(gothamist) Longtime CNN anchor Lou Dobbs resigned last night, telling the audience, "Over the past six months it’s become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffeting this country and affecting all of us, and some leaders in media, politics and business have been urging me to go beyond the role here at CNN and to engage in constructive problem solving as well as to contribute positively to the great understanding of the issues of our day. And to continue to do so in the most honest and direct language possible. " (Visit Presente. org too!). . More...
The Audacity of ‘Precious’. Profile of Director Lee Daniels.
October 30, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nyt mag) At the Cannes International Film Festival in May, in the loud, chaotic bar at the Martinez Hotel, Lee Daniels seemed, as he often does, both ecstatic and nervous. He jumped, he slumped, his mood changing from giddy to anxious. He was the only black man in the crowded bar, a fact that he mentioned and then brushed away. He was dressed unremarkably in a loose, untucked shirt and slouchy khaki pants, but his hair, an electric corona of six-inch fusilli-like spirals, demanded notice. Although Daniels will be 50 this year, he has the bouncy, mercurial energy of a child. More...
CNN Special on Latinos Stokes Debate Over Dobbs. Critics: hypocrisy lies in CNN’s decision to woo Hispanic viewers with prime-time documentary while still giving Mr. Dobbs a nightly forum.
October 25, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) Instead of being simply a draw for Hispanic viewers, CNN’s four-hour documentary, “Latino in America,” turned into a political rallying cry for activist groups who are calling on the cable news channel to fire Lou Dobbs, a veteran anchor with well-known views on immigration. An array of minorities held small protests in New York and other cities on Wednesday, the first night of CNN’s presentation. They are trying to highlight what they say are years of lies about immigration by Mr. Dobbs, who anchors the 7 p. m. More...
Wrestling Star Captain Lou Albano Dies At 76
October 14, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(npr) Professional wrestler and pop culture icon Captain Lou Albano has died in New York. He was 76.
Wrestlers Rescue founder Dawn Marie says Albano died Wednesday of natural causes.
From The Two-Way Blog
Farewell, Captain Lou Albano Oct. 14, 2009
Alongside Hulk Hogan and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Albano helped bring wrestling to national prominence. More...
Regina Kimbrell, "Nappy Roots", files plagiarism lawsuit against Chris Rock for stealing idea for film, "Good Hair."
October 07, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nydn) While Rock was all laughs at his premiere, director Regina Kimbell certainly wasn't smiling when she filed a suit against the funnyman for allegedly ripping off her 2005 documentary, "Nappy Roots. " Kimbell claims that she showed her film - which won the Pan African Film Festival's best documentary award in 2007 - to Rock on the set of his TV series "Everyone Hates Chris" that same year.
The ideas behind both films do seem similar. The synopsis for Kimbell's film on mynappyrootsthemovement. com says the flick "takes an unparalleled look at how black hair is used as a prism through which to look at cultural, societal and political issues in the African-American community over time. More...
Ebony: Up for Sale? The advertising slump hammers the nation's oldest magazine devoted to African-American life.
September 28, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(newsweek) For 50 years, the Ebony Fashion Fair has been a glamorous social event in dozens of U. S. communities. The traveling fashion show has raised $55 million in college scholarships for African-American students. But this year the company behind the show, Johnson Publishing which publishes Ebony, pulled the plug on the event, citing lack of corporate sponsorship due to the recession. More...
Author hopes 'genius grant' will shine on Haiti and bring attention to the wealth of talent struggling to be heard in her impoverished Caribbean homeland.
September 25, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(mherald) Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danticat hopes her "genius grant" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will bring attention to the wealth of talent struggling to be heard in her impoverished Caribbean homeland.
The 40-year-old novelist and short story writer, who has won previous prizes for her depiction of the travails of Haitian migrants, was one of 24 artists, scientists, journalists and others named Tuesday as fellows by the Chicago-based organization. Each receives a $500,000 grant over the next five years. More...
Black Hair, Still Tangled in Politics. New Chris Rock film explores lengths Black women go to for hair (weave, natural, straightening).
September 21, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) SILKY straight hair has long been considered by many black women to be their crowning glory. So what if getting that look meant enduring the itchy burning that’s a hallmark of many chemical straighteners. Or a pricey dependence on “creamy crack,” as relaxers are sometimes jokingly called.
Getting “good hair” often means transforming one’s tightly coiled roots; but it is also more freighted, for many African-American women and some men, than simply a choice about grooming. Straightening hair has been perceived as a way to be more acceptableto certain relatives, as well as to the white establishment. More...
Oprah Talks to Jay-Z. His family, and credos for life and Sundays in Brooklyn
September 21, 2009 by editor (View Source)
Oprah: He is thoughtful and intelligent, a reader and a seeker. And in between telling me how he survived life on the streets, how a scolding from his mother helped him fall in love, and even how he and Beyoncé managed to keep their wedding small and private, he explains why he cares so much about connecting with kids who remind him of him—kids he hopes will point to his photo and say, "I can make it, too. ". . . More...
(VIDEO) Kanye West Storms Stage, Protests Taylor Swift's Victory Over Beyonce At MTV Awards
September 14, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(hupo) Taylor Swift got a surprise when she accepted the award for Best Female Video at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards.
After Swift, looking shocked, beat out Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Beyonce for the honor, she took the stage and accepted the award. As she was thanking MTV, Kanye West ran up on stage, took her microphone, and said Beyonce had been robbed for her "Single Ladies" video.
"Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time!" When Beyonce won Video of the Year, she called Taylor out to the stage to give her interrupted speech instead
Swift, 19, stood silently holding her trophy, cameras cut to Beyonce looking stunned in the crowd, and MTV then cut to break. Taylor Swift got a surprise when she accepted the award for Best Female Video at Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards. More...
BET.COM Exec Calls it Quits. Andreas Hale: Everything that you thought was wrong with BET is true.
September 08, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(andreas hale) As of today (September 8, 2009) I am no longer the Executive Editor of Music at BET. com.
Upon entering the position at BET I said that I needed one year to see what really went on inside the belly of the beast. I needed 365 days to sleep with the enemy and infiltrate the system. One year to see if they REALLY wanted change at BET. More...
Artists, Please Check Your Contracts. Former Rapper, Now Doctor Roxanne Shante, Schools Record Label Time Warner.
August 23, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nydn) Roxanne's revenge was sweet indeed.
Twenty-five years after the first queen of hip-hop was stiffed on her royalty checks, Dr. Roxanne Shante boasts an Ivy League Ph. D. - financed by a forgotten clause in her first record deal. More...
Spike Lee to Celebrate Michael Jackson's Birthday with NYC (Brooklyn) Street Party on August 29th.
August 19, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(wapo/ap) Spike Lee is marking Michael Jackson's birthday with a block party-style celebration - in New York City's Borough of Kings.
The filmmaker's bash for the late King of Pop will be held in Brooklyn on Aug. 29, when Jackson would have turned 51.
DJ Spinna will be spinning all things Michael Jackson.
Lee, a Brooklyn native, and Jackson collaborated on the music video for "They Don't Care About Us. More...
Don Hewitt, TV News Giant Don Hewitt Dies At 86. CBS News Legend And "60 Minutes" Creator's Career Spanned 60 Years
August 19, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(cbs) Don Hewitt, recognized as a father of modern television news and the creator of the medium's most successful broadcast, 60 Minutes, died of pancreatic cancer Wednesday. He was 86 and had homes in Manhattan and Bridgehampton, New York, where was with family at the time of death.
Hewitt was executive producer of CBS News, the title he took when he stepped down from his post as executive producer of 60 Minutes in 2004.
Hewitt's remarkable career in journalism spanned over 60 years, virtually all of it at CBS. As a young producer/director assisting at the birth of television news, it was usually Hewitt behind the scenes directing legendary CBS News reporters like Edward R. More...
Naomi Sims, "Black is Beautiful" Movement Super Model, Dies at 61.
August 04, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(ajc and nyt) (ajc) Naomi Sims, whose 1968 Ladies' Home Journal cover shot was a breakthrough for black fashion models, has died. She was 61.
Sims, said by some to be the first black supermodel, died Saturday of breast cancer in Newark, N. J. , said her brother-in-law Alexander Erwiah, the president of Naomi Sims Beauty Products. More...
E. Lynn Harris Dies at 54. Best-Selling Author Told of Black Gay Life
July 25, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(wapo) E. Lynn Harris, 54, a best-selling novelist who opened a door on a hidden side of African American life, writing about outwardly heterosexual men leading secret gay lives, died July 23 after collapsing at a Beverly Hills hotel during a book tour. The cause of death was not immediately determined, and an autopsy is expected to be performed next week. His taboo-breaking books about black gay life "on the down-low" made Mr. Harris a star literary figure after an inauspicious beginning to his career. More...
CBS Legend Walter Cronkite, "Most Trusted Man in America" Passes Away in New York at 92
July 17, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(CBS) The "most trusted man in America" is gone.
Walter Cronkite, who personified television journalism for more than a generation as anchor and managing editor of the "CBS Evening News," has died Friday night in his New York home following a long illness, surrounded by family. He was 92.
Known for his steady and straightforward delivery, his trim moustache, and his iconic sign-off line -"That’s the way it is" - Cronkite dominated the television news industry during one of the most volatile periods of American history. He broke the news of the Kennedy assassination, reported extensively on Vietnam and Civil Rights and Watergate, and seemed to be the very embodiment of TV journalism. More...
The Times Agrees to Sell WQXR Radio to Univision for $33.5 Million
July 15, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(NYT) The New York Times Company will sell WQXR-FM to WNYC Radio and Univision, the companies announced Tuesday, in a complex deal that preserves WQXR as the only station devoted solely to classical music in New York City, but could alter its character.
WQXR would move to a weaker signal near the high end of the FM band, and would become a listener-supported station, owned by WNYC, the nation’s largest public radio station. The Times Company, which has been trying to shed assets to raise cash and weather a newspaper industry downturn, would receive $45 million, but would sever ties with a station it has owned since 1944.
The long-rumored sale of WQXR, at 96. 3 on the dial, and the real possibility that such a move would spell the death of a major classical music purveyor on the airwaves, was a depressing thought for fans. More...
Minority broadcasters to Treasury Secretary Geithner: We need a bailout, too.
July 15, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nydn) A dozen of the country's largest minority broadcasters warn they'll be "extinct" if they don't get some federal bailout dollars - or at least a helping hand with bank loans.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, dated Sunday, the broadcasters say a credit crunch from "plummeting ad revenue" and other factors has led to an "unprecedented crisis. "
The letter does not address the sticky topic of whether government should provide financial assistance to media, but does warn that a loss of these stations could "roll back decades of work by the federal government to encourage more minority voices. "
The letter asks for either the direct aid provided to the auto and financial services industry, or government pressure on banks to free up money for loans.
Signers of the letter include Pierre Sutton, chairman of Inner City Broadcasting Co. More...
Bob Johnson’s “Urban Television” Sham-Black Leadership’s Shame- Totally Blogable!
July 08, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(waod)Its irritating when the Black Elite Establishment sells the rest of Black America Down river for their own self enrichment, but its exponentially more annoying that they sell the rest of us down river for such a low price, or what I like to call “a two piece and a biscuit. ” If you are going to sell your soul to the Devil, shouldn’t you ask for something more than dinner and promises of rainbows and ponies from Bob Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television? Not content with his latest venture as the producer of “Who’s Your Caddy”, Bob Johnson. . . . More...
Michael Jackson and the Zombieconomy. If the world's biggest pop star only made $12 million a year from his recordings, why would anyone make serious music?
July 05, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(harvardbusiness) Want to know why we have a zombieconomy? Because the beancounters killed the incentives to create real value.
Let's use MJ's tragic death as a mini case-study. $300 million over, for example, 25 years? That's $12 million a year.
I'm deliberately leaving out ads, endorsements, concerts, etc. , to focus on the the structural problems in one industry: music. More...
Stop Hollywood White-Washing of the upcoming movie The Last Airbender!
July 05, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(racebending) Based on the Asian-influenced animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, the movie has now cast three white actors to play lead, heroic Asian or Inuit characters. The fourth white actor cast as the lead, antagonist role had been hastily recast, thereby effectively contrasting three white heroes - existing in an Asian-based fantasy world - fighting an (overall) evil brown nation. More information here: racebending. com
The production made a choice. That choice sent a clear message:
"American Children of Color: You are not good enough to play the hero, even if that hero shares your ethnicity. More...
Vibe Magazine Shutting Down.
June 30, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(dailyfinance) Vibe magazine, the urban-music magazine founded in 1993 by Quincy Jones, is the latest victim of the media recession. Multiple sources both within and outside the magazine confirmed that it is shutting down.
Reached for comment, chief financial officer Angela Zucconi said, "We will be making a statement by the end of the day. That's all I can say at this point. " She referred further questions to CEO Steve Aaron, who was not immediately available. More...
BET Missed the Mark Last Night w/ Their Michael Jackson Tribute
June 29, 2009 by editor (View Source)
The writer of this commentary captures a widespread sentiment that BET royally messed up last night's "tribute" to Michael Jackson. We recommend reading this article. . . . More...
Michael Jackson rushed to hospital [Updated]
June 25, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(lat) Pop star Michael Jackson was rushed to a hospital this afternoon by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics.
Capt. Steve Ruda said paramedics responded to a call at Jackson's home around 12:26 p. m. He was not breathing when they arrived. More...
Pop&Culture Icon Farrah Fawcett dies at 62.
June 25, 2009 by editor (View Source)
We were ALL glued to 'Charlie's Angels' in the '70's. And many of us appreciate Fawcett's later work in films "Extremities" and "Burning Bed". Rest In Peace, Farrah. . . More...
(BBN Strongly Recommends) Photo Essay: This Is What Love Looks Like.
June 15, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(WAPO) Classie Morant, 104, swore that as long as she had strength, she would care for her bedridden sister, Rozzie Laney, 92. For more than 20 years, she has kept that promise.
. . . More...
Move Over, Miley. In Washington, The Obama Girls Are the Latest Craze.
April 19, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(wapo) The tween girls of the Washington area have transcended differences of race, class and wealth to reach a single, resounding conclusion: They really, really, really, really want to be friends with Malia and Sasha Obama.
They lap up every shred of information about the first daughters, dream about meeting them and strategize ways to make it happen. Minivan rides and dinner table conversations are dominated by questions about the girls: What's their favorite food? What kind of dog did they get? Where can I get a coat like Malia's?
. . . More...
What do you think? "Women’s clash led to 6 carloads of people at brawl. Kids present as two people shot, 11 arrested."
March 25, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(BBN Editors) We are curious about your thoughts on this story? More often than not mainstream media describes suspects, perpetrators by race (Black man robs. . . , Hispanic-Latino man in his 20's beats up. . More...
Teenage Girls Stand by Their Man, Chris Brown: “She probably made him mad for him to react like that.”
March 19, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) In the hallway of Hostos-Lincoln Academy in the Bronx this week, two ninth-grade girls discussed the pop singer Chris Brown, 19, who faces two felony charges for allegedly beating his girlfriend, the pop singer Rihanna, 21. At first, neither girl had believed Mr. Brown, an endearing crooner, could have done such a thing.
“I thought she was lying, or that the tabloids were making it up,” one girl said.
Even after they saw a photo of Rihanna’s bloodied, bruised face, which had raced across the Internet, they still defended Mr. More...
Altovise Davis, widow of Sammy Davis, Jr. dies at 65. Lawsuit against two business partners remains unresolved. She is survived by son, Manny.
March 18, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(BBN Editors) Altovise Davis, widow of legendary Sammy Davis, Jr. died on March 15th, 2009 from a stroke. She was 65. The lawsuit against two business partners remains unresolved. Ms. More...
Latinos planning $10 million museum in Phoenix. Latinos in Maricopa County spend an estimated $118 million on arts and culture annually.
March 13, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(ap/dmn) A dozen Arizona arts groups are planning to begin efforts this month to build a Latino cultural center in Phoenix and have a $10 million facility five years down the road.
The coalition of arts groups, known as the Latin Arts and Culture Consortium Inc. , wants to start by raising $200,000 for the cultural center, which they hope will open later this year. Then they could start on a major museum.
Phoenix was left without a Latino art museum in January, when the 19-year-old Museo Chicano closed after city officials decided not to renew its lease. More...
The Roots: Jimmy Fallon's New House Band
February 27, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(vv) The Roots have agreed to be the house band for the new Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. . . . . More...
Wilbert A. Tatum, Former Amsterdam News Publisher and Icon in Black Publishing Dies at 76.
February 26, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) Wilbert A. Tatum, whose 25-year leadership of The Amsterdam News made his name nearly synonymous with the paper’s, died on Thursday while vacationing with his wife, Susan, in Dubrovnik, Croatia. He was 76.
He died after multiple organ shutdown around 1 a. m. More...
Salsa Band Leader Joe Cuba, dubbed the "Father of Latin Boogaloo" Dies at 78.
February 16, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(usat) Salsa band leader Joe Cuba, dubbed the "Father of Latin Boogaloo" for weaving a fluid, bilingual mix of musical influences, died Sunday in New York City, a member of his group said. He was 78.
The musician, a friend and contemporary of the late salsa giant Tito Puente, died from complications of a persistent bacterial infection at Mount Sinai Medical Center a day after doctors disconnected his life support, said Cheo Feliciano, a longtime friend and singer in the Joe Cuba Sextet. Cuba had fought the infection for several years.
Born Gilberto Calderon in 1931 in New York to a family from Puerto Rico, the band leader and conga player helped change the sound of salsa in the 1960s, Feliciano said. More...
(BBN Must Hear) Dewey Hughes Remembers Shock Jock Petey Greene
February 09, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(NPR, News & Notes) Before Don Imus and Howard Stern, Petey Greene rocked the radio airwaves.
Greene was a legendary shock jock and TV talk show host, but to black residents of Washington, D. C. , he was much more. He was the voice of the African-American community. More...
Whitney Houston makes triumphant comback at a pre-Grammy party.
February 08, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(NEKESA MUMBI MOODY/AP) A stunning-looking and strong-sounding Whitney Houston made a triumphant return to the stage at a pre-Grammy party honoring her mentor, music mogul Clive Davis.
"I've got it, I've got it!" Houston, looking glamorous in a skintight leopard dress, sang early Sunday morning as she belted a line from one of her classic hits, "I'm Every Woman. " But more than a lyric, it summarized to the crowd of A-list superstars and top industry execs that the superstar — whose drug use and erratic behavior had caused a shocking fall from grace just a few years ago — was back in top form.
"We all crossed our fingers that her beautiful story would end (happily)," said Jamie Foxx, who stood at the front of the stage and took video of Houston like he was just another fan in the crowd. "This is a new begining. More...
Erykah Badu and Jay Electronica Twitter As Their Baby Arrives in Home Birth.
February 02, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(eonline) Add Erykah Badu to the growing list of Twitter junkies worth following. If she'll send tweets through labor, who knows what she'll write next?
Yep, you read that right. The songstress, along with her boyfriend, rapper Jay Electronica, used the microblogging network to share childbirth with the world.
Using a midwife, Badu gave birth to a baby girl, her first child with Electronica, Sunday at her Brooklyn home.
"Morning, I'm in labor," she wrote in the morning using her screen name, FatBellyBella. More...
Contractors sue Tyler Perry for unpaid work. Contractor: “Tyler’s an all right guy, but he’s the most miserable guy I ever met. He don’t trust nobody. Everybody wants something from him.”
January 24, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(ajc)
Tyler Perry remembers the Friday nights when his father, a construction subcontractor, came home broke, stiffed by his bosses for the week’s pay.
“That’s an awful feeling,” Perry, the Atlanta-based movie producer and director, said. “I wouldn’t pass that on or wish that on anybody. ”
Perry tells the story in the fading sunlight of a cold afternoon outside his new house, a 30,000-square-foot palace atop a hill overlooking the Chattahoochee River. It is the filmmaker’s way of rebutting an alternative narrative that emerges from documents filed in Fulton County courts — the claims by several construction firms that Perry gave them the same kind of treatment his father received. More...
10-Year-Old Damon Weaver (youngest reporter) Receives Innaugural Press Credentials. Go Damon!
January 12, 2009 by editor (View Source)
(wrcb) The hardest working 10-year-old in the news business just learned that its all paying off.
The Presidential Inaugural Committee has been following Florida fifth-grader Damon Weaver's quest to cover the inauguration as a correspondent.
Weaver, a student at West Palm Beach's Canal Point Elementary School was denied press credentials for the inauguration ceremony, so the Presidential Inaugural Committee decided to step in, offering him credentials to the inaugural welcoming event, the parade and a children's concert that will be aired on live television.
Presidential Inaugural Committee spokesperson Melanie Roussell says Damon will be the only student reporter receiving inaugural credentials.
In a statement Roussell said:
"Damon is a shining example of engaging young people in the government process early and we look forward to seeing him as a roving reporter during the inaugural ceremonies. More...
Spokesman decries report claiming Michael Jackson's is seriously ill. "Mr. Jackson is in fine health."
December 22, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(freep) A spokesman is denying a claim by Michael Jackson’s biographer that the pop superstar is seriously ill from a genetic disease rendering him nearly blind in one eye and barely able to speak.
According to a report in British newspaper the Sun, Ian Halperin says Jackson has lost 95% of his vision in his left eye and needs a lung transplant that he might be too weak to withstand.
Jackson has alpha-1 anti-trypsin deficiency, the report said. The disease attacks healthy lung tissue, according to the Alpha 1 Association’s Web site, www. alpha1. More...
NAACP Report Find TV Networks Lagging in Diversity. "The effect on the country could be profound."
December 18, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(AP/SFGATE) Nearly a decade after the NAACP condemned a "virtual whiteout" in broadcast TV, the civil rights group said major networks have stalled in their efforts to further ethnic diversity on-screen and off. Television shows of the future could be even less inclusive because of a failure to cultivate young minority stars and to bring minorities into decision-making positions, NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said.
The effect on the country could be profound, Jealous said.
"This is America: So goes TV, so goes reality. We don't think it's any accident that before we had a black president in reality, we had a black president on TV," he said, referring to the chief executive portrayed by Dennis Haysbert on Fox's "24. More...
Citing budget cuts, NPR Announces cancellation of 'News & Notes', a program covering the African American perspective.
December 10, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(hupo) NPR Interim President & CEO Dennis Haarsager announced plans to reduce 7% of its workforce and cancel two shows, "News & Notes" and "Day to Day" in a memo to staff Wednesday afternoon. The memo outlines NPR's financial difficulties and explains the rationale for eliminating 64 employees and canceling the two shows: Today, we are announcing the cancellation of News & Notes and Day to Day, and significant budget reductions across the organization. These cuts include the elimination of 64 filled and 21 unfilled positions, many of which are associated with the two cancelled programs.
Positions have also been eliminated across NPR, including reporting, editorial, and production staffs; station services; digital media; research; communications; and administrative support. Overall, this is a 7% reduction in NPR's current workforce. More...
`Sugarhill Gang' Sues Over Royalties, Stage Names.
November 16, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(bberg) Members of the iconic hip-hop group Sugarhill Gang, whose 1979 song ``Rapper's Delight'' sold 10 million copies, sued their longtime producer over claims she held back royalty payments and stole the artists' stage names.
``Wonder Mike'' Michael Wright and ``Master Gee'' Guy O'Brien claim in a lawsuit filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court that singer-turned-producer Sylvia Robinson -- who brought the rappers together almost three decades ago -- and her son, Joseph Robinson, failed to pay royalties on the group's original contract and lied on federal trademark applications to take legal ownership of the band's name and the artists' stage names.
``Despite the huge success of plaintiffs' compositions, which have generated millions of dollars in profits -- and which defendants continue to sell, license to third parties and promote -- defendants have failed to pay plaintiffs royalties,'' Wright and O'Brien allege in the complaint.
The lawsuit is a ``total sham,'' Joseph Robinson, who goes by Joey, said today in a phone interview. He said his mother is entitled to the ``Sugarhill Gang'' name because she formed the group and bought the rights to the artists' nicknames. More...
Family of Dr. M.L. King, Jr. is demanding share of proceeds from sudden wave of T-shirts, posters and other merchandise depicting the civil rights leader alongside Barack Obama.
November 14, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ajc) Zealous guardians of his words and his likeness, the family of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. is demanding a share of the proceeds from the sudden wave of T-shirts, posters and other merchandise depicting the civil rights leader alongside Barack Obama.
Isaac Newton Farris Jr. , King’s nephew and head of the nonprofit King Center in Atlanta, said the estate is entitled to hundreds of thousands of dollars in licensing fees — maybe even millions. More...
Obama Gives Ebony Magazine First Post-Election Interview.
November 14, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(washtrib) So which magazine was the first to get a sit down interview and photo shoot with President-elect Barack Obama?
Ebony Magazine, which was visited by the president-elect at its Chicago offices in the Michigan Ave. headquarters building of its parent, Johnson Publishing Co.
That Obama would give his first magazine and photo session to Ebony seems fitting. The magazine was a pioneer in publishing in much the way Obama's a trailblazer in politics.
Evolved from Negro Digest, which was founded in 1942 by John Johnson, Ebony for decades was one of the few periodicals African-Americans could turn to for images and stories about black strivers and movers and shakers rarely ever seen in the mainstream media. More...
Damon Dash: From record & fashion big shot to has-been mogul
November 14, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(nydn) It's not easy being Damon Dash, has-been hip-hop mogul.
The co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records and Rocawear - who in 2005 sold his share in the clothing empire to Jay-Z for $20 million - is under assault in Manhattan Supreme Court from lawyers, lenders and landlords fed up with not getting paid.
The fall has been a dizzying one for Dash, who has gone from owning Keds, a vodka company and 1,300 pairs of shoes to dodging bills and accusing a former accountant of ripping him off for millions of dollars.
"I've worked with musicians, artists and entertainers that in the eyes of the media are very wealthy," said lawyer Jason Gabbard, who represented a fashion firm that settled a suit against Dash and his wife over $148,505 in unpaid fees. "But to borrow a phrase from my Kentucky homeland, they haven't got a pot to p--- in - they're broke. More...
Iconic Figure, Rudy Ray Moore (AKA Dolemite) dies at 81. Comedian and Filmmaker Influenced Rap and Hip-Hop
October 21, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(lat) Rudy Ray Moore, the self-proclaimed "Godfather of Rap" who influenced generations of rappers and comedians with his rhyming style, braggadocio and profanity-laced routines, has died. He was 81. Moore, whose low-budget films were panned by critics in the 1970s but became cult classics decades later, died Sunday night in Akron, Ohio, of complications from diabetes, his brother Gerald told the Associated Press.
Though he was little known to mainstream audiences, Moore had a significant effect on comedians and hip-hop artists.
"People think of black comedy and think of Eddie Murphy," rap artist Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew told the Miami Herald in 1997. More...
Chicago Mourns Bernie Mac, Hometown Guy Made Good
August 10, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ct) It's a celebration of family and pride, of education and success, but some attending Chicago's Bud Billiken parade said they were left feeling numb in the wake of Bernie Mac's death.
"I knew he was sick, but someone that young, you just don't expect the worst," said Chicagoan Patrick Dennan, 48, as he watched a stream of brightly decorated floats cruise down historic Martin Luther King Drive on Saturday afternoon. "His comedy was based on real life, and I think that's what really brought him a lot of respect. He kept things real and he didn't seem to let success go to his head. "
Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough on Oct. More...
Isaac Hayes, Legendary Contributor to Music History Dies at 65.
August 10, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(AFP) — American funk-soul legend and Academy Award-award winning musician Isaac Hayes was found dead Sunday at his home in Memphis, Tennessee, officials said. He was 65.
The talented singer, songwriter and composer, who won the Oscar in 1972 for best original song for the theme from "Shaft," was found unresponsive at his house by family members, Shelby county sheriff's spokesman Steve Shular told AFP.
Hayes was discovered at about 1:00 pm (1800 GMT) collapsed on the floor of a bedroom in his home next to a treadmill that was still running, he said.
"We don't believe there was any foul play," Shular said. More...
L'Oréal Denies Lightening Beyoncé's Skin for New Ads.
August 08, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(nymag)Beyoncé's new L'Oréal ads are out in the September magazines and — surprise! — she doesn't look quite herself. It looks like a heavy-handed Photoshopper went to town on the photos and possibly lightened her skin tone. But L'Oréal denies it:
"We highly value our relationship with Ms. Knowles. It is categorically untrue that L'Oreal Paris altered Ms. More...
Study: Evidence of liberal-bias bias. Think tank finds that ABC, NBC and CBS were tougher on Barack Obama than on John McCain in recent weeks.
July 28, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(lat) Haters of the mainstream media reheated a bit of conventional wisdom last week.
Barack Obama, they said, was getting a free ride from those insufferable liberals.
Such pronouncements, sorry to say, tend to be wrong since they describe a monolithic media that no longer exists. Information today cascades from countless outlets and channels, from the Huffington Post to Politico. com to CBS News and beyond. More...
Who Said Black Models Don't Sell Magazines?... ?All-Black? Italian Vogue White Hot at the Newsstand. Sell-outs, frenzied search for copies cause Cond? to reprint ?black issue.?
July 22, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(folio) When Italian Vogue announced that its July issue would feature all black models, it caused a relatively major stir in the fashion world. Now that the issue has arrived in the U. S. , it seems to be causing a major publishing stir, too.
Historically, the conventional wisdom?and circulation and newsstand wisdom?in consumer publishing has been that putting an African American (model or celebrity) on the cover of a fashion magazine means that it ?just won?t sell? well. More...
TV Newser/Fox News Confirm Jesse Jackson Said: “Barack...he's talking down to black people...telling n—s how to behave.”
July 16, 2008 by editor (View Source)
The bad, embarrassing news does not seem to end for Reverend Jesse Jackson. An on-line news outlet reports receiving a “tip” that Jesse did use the term “nigger” in his on-mic chatter before going live at a July 6th Fox News appearance.
According to the online outlet TV Newser, a “tip” came in along with the transcript, and Fox News confirmed the tip. Here is what TV Newser reports Jesse saying: “Barack. . More...
(PHOTO) 10 magazine covers that shook the world.
July 15, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(lat) The Los Angeles Times list 10 controversial magazine covers that shook the world. . . . . More...
General Motors and Procter & Gamble Pull Ads from BET's "Rap City" and "106 & Park" programs.
July 09, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(chicagodefender) Media watchdogs are declaring it a victory. Black Entertainment Television hasn't said much, and advertisers are mum. What is clear, though, is that at least two top advertisers–-automaking giant General Motors and consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble–-have pulled ads from BET's Rap City and 106 & Park programs.
Rap City features music videos and artist interviews, and 106 & Park is a top 10 music video countdown. They air at 4 and 5 p. More...
TV One to cover Democratic convention -- but not Republican. (BBN recommends reading the comments at the end of the linked story)
July 09, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(thrfeed) Given Barack Obama's historic run for the Oval Office, African American-themed cable network TV One plans to break from its usual entertainment programming to provide extensive coverage of the Democratic National Convention in August. Sen. Barack Obama running for president is a huge deal for TV One as it is for the African American community," said Johnathan Rodgers, president and CEO of TV One, a channel in about 40 million homes. "African Americans have fallen in love with his candidacy, his family … we will be covering the democratic convention all the time. "
But John McCain shouldn’t expect the same treatment. More...
"Don Imus once again brings race to airwaves." Do you care?
June 23, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ap)Don Imus has once again injected race into his radio show. During an on-air conversation Monday about the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones, Imus asked, "What color is he?"
Told by sports announcer Warner Wolf that Jones is "African-American," Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know. "
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton issued a statement calling the exchange disturbing "because it plays into stereotypes. " He says his National Action Network was still deciding how to respond. More...
After 38 Years, ‘Soul Train’ Gets New Owner
June 17, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(nyt) People who think of “Soul Train” as an artifact from 1970s television may be surprised to learn that the 38-year-old song-and-dance show was never canceled. Although no new episodes are produced, it lives on in reruns that showcase the taste-making music, hairstyles and fashions of decades past.
Now a production company, MadVision Entertainment, has bought the “Soul Train” franchise from its founder, Don Cornelius, and plans to breathe new life into it. The plan is to open up the show’s archives for older consumers as well as to create a new version of the program for younger ones.
“The series has never been shown on DVD, and it’s not been utilized on video-on-demand or mobile or Internet platforms,” Peter Griffith, a co-founder of MadVision, said. More...
BBN Congratulates…“In the Heights,” a Broadway play of Dominican life in NYC for winning four Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
June 17, 2008 by editor (View Source)
Nominated in 13 categories, “In the Heights,” a Broadway play of Dominican life in NYC wins four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. View source for more information. Bravo!
. . . More...
New from the Bizarre...DJ Wendy Williams' husband accused of plotting Hot 97 rival's murder
June 12, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(nydn) Shock jock Wendy Williams' husband plotted to kill a Hot 97 rival deejay for bad-mouthing his wife on the air, an explosive federal lawsuit charges.
Kevin Hunter, who is married to Williams, sought out a male WBLS employee for help in finding a hit man to rub out Hot97 personality Tarsha Jones, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday.
Hunter "was apparently angry over some comments that Miss Jones made about his wife on the air," the lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court claims.
Williams' lawyer did not return calls for comment.
The blistering allegations are included in a federal sexual-harassment lawsuit filed by Nicole Spence, a 29-year-old talent booker for "The Wendy Williams Experience" on WBLS. More...
Dominican Life on Broadway..."In the Heights" leads Tony Awards! Congratulations!
May 14, 2008 by editor (View Source)
A new Broadway production providing a snapshot about Latino families in New York's Dominican enclave Washington Heights topped the Tony Award nominations with 13, including two for Puerto Rican Lin-Manuel Miranda, the musical's 28-year old composer and star. "In the Heights" has gotten very good reviews for its cast, dancing and for its tale of hope and self-discovery. The show is rap, hip-hop and salsa flavored. The winners will be announced at the 62nd annual Tony awards ceremony on June 15 at Radio City Music Hall, which will be hosted by Whoopi Goldberg. The musical began last year off-Broadway before moving to the big time. More...
'Switch to Español.' In LA at 11 p.m. each night, the best newscasts in the market appear on two Spanish-language channels.
May 11, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(wapo) LOS ANGELES Amid all the national debate over immigration, at least one firm consensus has emerged: Newcomers to the United States should learn English because it remains the lingua franca of our civic life. All three remaining presidential contenders say that the ability to speak English should be a requirement of U. S. citizenship. And last year, the immigrant governor of California told a convention of Latino journalists that immigrants should watch only English-language TV so they can understand the language and news of their home state. More...
ABC News To Open Mini-Bureaus At College Campuses. But No HBCU's on list. Why aren't Hampton U., Howard U. on list?
May 11, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(tvnewser) ABC News will open several mini-bureaus in September 2008 in an effort to expand their news-gathering resources while training future journalists.
The "ABC News On Campus" program will open bureaus within the journalism departments at several top American universities allowing students to participate directly in ABC News programming. Campuses participating in the program include Syracuse University, the University of Florida and Arizona State University. ABC News on Campus will be unlike one of the education initiatives in which NBC News is involved: the partnership with the New York Film Academy in that students will work as staffers in each of the bureaus, contributing story ideas and using equipment provided by ABC.
ABC News President David Westin said this morning in an internal email, "This is a great opportunity for these students to learn about the news industry and for us at ABC News to help nurture these bright young journalists. More...
"What Ever Happened to Freaknik?" Black College Annual Event Ended in 1999 After 16 Year Run.
April 14, 2008 by editor (View Source)
BBN's very own Sharon Toomer was quoted in this update article on the annual Spring Break event Freaknik which ended in 1999 after a 16 year run. (By Ernie Suggs, AJC)…. . It was a heck of a run. From 1983 until 1999, Freaknik — the college picnic that morphed into a sprawling street party — tormented, titillated and drove Atlanta to the brink. More...
Latina Winner of Miss California USA Pageant Sues After Officials Yanked Her Crown. Racial Bias Claimed.
April 11, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ap/msn)A Hispanic woman who won the Miss California USA contest only to have her crown yanked days later sued the pageant Thursday for half a million dollars, alleging rigging and racial bias.
The pageant director rejected the claims, saying winners during his tenure have been some of the pageant's most racially diverse ever.
Christina Silva, 24, was crowned Miss California USA on Nov. 25. Three days later, the pageant's executive director, Keith Lewis, told her "there has been a mistake and you are not the winner," according to the lawsuit filed in Superior Court. More...
Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost, Hip-Hop-Breakdance Pioneer Dies in NYC
April 04, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(ap) Wayne "Frosty Freeze" Frost, a hip-hop pioneer whose acrobatic performance with the legendary Rock Steady Crew in the 1983 movie "Flashdance" helped set off a worldwide breakdancing craze, has died. He was 44.
Frost died Thursday at Mount Sinai Medical Center after a long illness, said Jorge "Fabel" Pabon, a senior vice president of the crew where Frost and other so-called b-boys (for beat or break boys) made their name performing complicated and daring dance routines.
"He was one of most charismatic b-boys that ever lived," said Benson Lee, director of the new documentary film "Planet B-Boy. "
Breakdancing emerged from the Bronx and Harlem in the early 1970s, part of the hip-hop culture that also included graffiti, MCing or rapping, and disc jockeys scratching and mixing vinyl records on turntables. More...
August Wilson's "Fences" to Get Broadway Revival
March 22, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(btn) "Fences," the first play in August Wilson's 10-play cycle, will be revived in the fall in a Broadway production to be directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks ("Topdog/Underdog"). Carole Shorenstein Hays, the San Francisco-based producer who presented the original production of"Fences" is behind the revival.
Set in the 1950s, "Fences" tells the story of Troy Maxon, once a famous baseball player in the Negro Leagues and now a proud garbage collector, father and husband. When his youngest son is offered a football scholarship, Troy must reconcile his anger at past racial inequities with wanting the best for his family's future. James Earl Jones won a Best Actor Tony as Troy in the original production, which also starred Mary Alice, Courtney B. More...
Lawsuit Claims Oprah Winfrey Producers Lifted Idea for "Big Give" Reality Show. Boston Woman Claims She Pitched Idea to Producers in 2005.
March 22, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(nydn) Oprah Winfrey is giving away millions on her new hit, "Oprah's Big Give. " But the talk queen refuses to share a dime with a Boston mom who claims she gave Winfrey the idea for the show.
Darlene Tracy, a mother of four with no experience in TV producing, claims that, way back in February 2005, she hatched the concept for a reality show called "The Philanthropist," in which contestants are challenged to help the needy.
Tracy claims she sent her pitch to Ellen Rakieten, executive producer of Winfrey's talk show, and that Rakieten and another producer, Jennifer Thornton, wrote back to ask for more details.
Tracy contends she shipped off a fine-tuned business proposal on March 1, 2005. More...
LA TIMES WRITER DEFENDS TUPAC ARTICLE: Chuck Philips says he has two more articles on the subject coming soon.
March 21, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(eurweb) Los Angeles Times writer Chuck Philips, whose article last weekend suggested that Sean "Diddy" Combs and the Notorious B. I. G. had prior knowledge of the 1994 shooting of Tupac Shakur, stands firmly behind his allegations despite a statement from Diddy claiming the report is untrue.
During a live chat Tuesday (March 18) on LATimes. More...
‘The Thin White Line.’ Fashion Week in NEW YORK CITY Leaves Out Models of Color.
February 10, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(nydn special) The fashion shows in Bryant Park were a glorious explosion of color - unless you were looking at the models.
A campaign to promote diversity on the runways during New York's Fashion Week appears to have failed miserably.
In one of the globe's most multicultural cities, the talent in the tents last week was as white as a Vera Wang wedding gown.
A survey by the Daily News revealed that out of 1,584 model slots, 94 went to black mannequins - a paltry 6%.
Latinas accounted for only 17 slots, about 1%, and Asians for 95, or 6%. More...
"Black Pharaohs of Egypt. National Geographic Magazine: Racism Suppressed the Role of Black Pharaohs in History.
January 21, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(nationalgeographic) For 75 years Nubian kings ruled over ancient Egypt, reunifying the country and building an empire. Until recently, theirs was a chapter of history lost in the shadows. (BBN Strongly Recommends this article). . . More...
Catholics Rethink Quinceañera Craze. Ritual Provides Chance for Lessons on Faith, Family, Sex
January 13, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(wapo) On the day she is to become a woman, Monica Reyes sits in front of the church for Mass. Her white dress -- sewn in her mother's Mexican home town -- spills over her chair like an oversized lampshade.
The priest urges her to live as a daughter of God. Her parents give her a gold ring shaped like the number 15. Near the end of the service, Monica lays a bouquet of roses before a statue of the Virgin Mary. More...
In Support of Opera Singer Marian Anderson, Eleanor Roosevelt Resigned from "The Daughters of the American Revolution"
January 13, 2008 by editor (View Source)
(BBN Recommends). . . (FDR Library). . More...
Thomas Morgan Dead at 56. Journalism loses a friend, mentor and advocate.
December 27, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(nabj) The National Association of Black Journalists mourns the passing of its eighth national president Thomas Morgan III.
Morgan, who served as NABJ’s leader from 1989 until 1991, died Monday in Southampton, Mass. while visiting family for the holidays. He was 56.
Friends say that Morgan, a Brooklyn resident, suffered a heart attack on Sunday night. More...
Time Magazine’s 2007 ‘Person of the Year’: Russian President, Vladimir Putin. A few Black and Brown people made the “People Who Mattered” list, but we were absent on the Runners-Up List.
December 19, 2007 by editor (View Source)
Time Magazine announced its ‘Person of the Year, ’ Russian President, Vladimir Putin. Criteria for Time’s Person of the Year: “TIME's Person of the Year is not and never has been an honor. It is not an endorsement. It is not a popularity contest. At its best, it is a clear-eyed recognition of the world as it is and of the most powerful individuals and forces shaping that world—for better or for worse. More...
Music Legend, Ike Turner, Dead at 76
December 12, 2007 by editor (View Source)
Ike Turner, music legend and former husband of Tina Turner, died on Wednesday at his home in San Diego, CA. He was 76. . . . More...
Evel Knievel, iconic American daredevil, dies at 69. Days before his death a lawsuit is settled with Kanye West over trademark infringement.
December 03, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(lat) Evel Knievel, the flamboyant motorcycle stuntman whose thrilling triumphs and spectacular failures enshrined him as America's consummate daredevil, died Friday in Clearwater, Fla. He was 69.
Knievel, who survived at least 38 broken bones, multiple concussions and countless abrasions acquired in daring jumps that ended in unplanned crashes, had been in failing health for years, including suffering from diabetes and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, an incurable condition that scarred his lungs.
Longtime friend and promoter Billy Rundle told the Associated Press on Friday that Knievel had difficulty breathing at his Clearwater condominium and died before an ambulance could get him to a hospital.
"It's been coming for years, but you just don't expect it," said Rundle. More...
Brian Palmer: "Writers Strike, But Hollywood Holds on to Shopworn Stereotypes"
November 12, 2007 by editor (View Source)
Writer/Blogger Brian Palmer shares his take on the writers strike and why he can't get worked up over it. "People and principle are important, but I see this strike as an opportunity to examine the mass-entertainment engine at the center of our culture and the mediocre and often shoddy merchandise it spits out, particularly as far as people of color are concerned.
From where I sit, people of color are still marginal or marginalized in both the TV and motion picture mainstream. I’m not talking only about numbers of colored faces on the screen - a Shrekicized America Ferrera or a Vanessa Williams on Ugly Betty, a Blair Underwood on Dirty Sexy Money. I’m talking substance. More...
Kanye West's Mother Dies
November 11, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(AP) Donda West, mother of Kanye West and former chairwoman of Chicago State University's English department, has died, a spokesman for the rapper said. She was 58.
Donda West died Saturday night in Los Angeles, said the spokesman, who asked for anonymity because not all family members had been notified.
"The family respectfully asks for privacy during this time of grief," the spokesman said.
A cause of death has not been released. More...
National Civil Rights Museum criticized for its governing board being too white, too closely tied to big business to watch over such an important piece of Black history
November 04, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(AP) The National Civil Rights Museum, built around the motel where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, is drawing criticism that its governing board is too white and too closely tied to big business to watch over such an important piece of black history.
“The board should more nearly approximate the soldiers of the civil rights movement that it celebrates, and they were overwhelmingly African-American,” said D’Army Bailey, a black Tennessee judge who played a major role in the museum’s founding but resigned from the board in 1991 when it refused to make him chairman.
The museum opened 16 years ago at the old Lorraine Motel and is run by a foundation under a lease from the state. More...
Halle sorry for Jewish TV Remark. Berry: "Oh God, have I just ruined my career?"
October 24, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(bbc) Actress Halle Berry has apologised for making a joke about the appearance of Jewish people which she conceded could have been "offensive".
She said during US chat show Tonight with Jay Leno that a distorted photo of herself with a huge nose made her look like her "Jewish cousin".
"I so didn't mean to offend anybody," the star told the New York Post.
Pressed by BBC News on the subject on Wednesday, she replied: "I already said everything I need to say on that. "
After the Oscar-winning star made the comment during the chatshow recording, host Leno said: "I'm glad you said it. More...
Burns film's just 1 example of bad times for Latinos
September 17, 2007 by editor (View Source)
These are not the best of times for Latinos. It's not only Alberto Gonzales, dropout rates and rampant racism against Hispanics.
It is also that not even the Latino soldiers who died for this country - their country - during World War II are recognized and given their place in the history of the nation without a fight.
It could not have been easy for famous documentarian Ken Burns to create "The War," his new seven-part epic about World War II, while completely ignoring the contributions of about half a million Latinos. Give him credit, though; somehow he managed to do it. More...
"A Ken Burns Guilt Trip at PBS?" Just in time for Hispanic Heritage Month PBS to broadcast Latino projects.
September 10, 2007 by editor (View Source)
(AP/MyM) Call it a guilt trip or a cultural awakening, but some Latino filmmakers feel that the controversy over Ken Burns' upcoming World War II documentary has unexpectedly opened doors for their work at PBS.
The maker of Brown Is the New Green: George Lopez and the American Dream, which airs Sept. 12, said he believed PBS was anxious to air his film before Burns' because "they had egg on their face. "
The Lopez film is one of five Latino projects that PBS is airing in the weeks before the start of Burns' The War on Sept. 23. More...
