Entertainment

One Saturday night 35 years ago at Taker’s Cafe in Maplewood Mall in Germantown two men began to play music for an eclectic crowd, one pounding an old upright piano and the other delivering soulful vocals via a beat-up microphone and tiny amplifier. Within a few songs they had people up and dancing. That was…

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By Kharisma McIlwaine Disney’s newest animation film Zootopia tells the story of the clever and resilient bunny named Judy Hopps.  Byron Howard the creative mind behind Tangled and Bolt, and Rich Moore who gifted us with Wreck it Ralph directed the film. The attention to detail and the nuances found in each character are extraordinary….

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Jamie Foxx  (Photo: Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences) By Ronda Racha Penrice Urban News Service There’s nothing new about #OscarsSoWhite. Once upon a time, Hollywood’s diversity battle stretched as far as The White House. For the second year in a row, there are no people of color nominated…

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By Tambay A. Obenson Shadow and Act While addressing the press after the screening of his new movie Miles Ahead at the Berlin Film Festival, actor/director  Don Cheadle told the audience that he wanted to make a film about jazz legend Miles Davis that was as “explosive” as his music, but without a White co-star,…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Author Harper Lee smiles during a ceremony in 2007, honoring the four new members of the Alabama Academy of Honor at the Capitol in Montgomery, Ala. Each spring, volunteers join together annually to perform a stage version of Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” on the courthouse lawn in Monroeville, Ala. Lee died on…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Channing Dungey Shadow and Act Ben Sherwood, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks and president, Disney|ABC Television Group, announced last week that Channing Dungey has been named president, ABC Entertainment, succeeding Paul Lee. Dungey, who was instrumental in the development and success of such hits as “Scandal,” “Criminal Minds,” “How to Get Away with Murder,”…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Ray Charles (Photo: Eric Koch / Nationaal Archief Fotocollectie Anefo)   associated press WASHINGTON — Usher, Demi Lovato, Yolanda Adams and The Band Perry were the contemporary artists heading to the White House to celebrate the late Ray Charles. The White House says Leon Bridges, Andra Day, Anthony Hamilton, Brittany Howard, Sam Moore…

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ABOVE PHOTO: Gil Robertson (insert) Interview with Kam Williams Gil L. Robertson IV is one of America’s foremost authorities on African-American pop culture. As a journalist, author, lecturer and media consultant, he is responsible for literary works and intellectual properties that provide platforms for social change and personal growth. Robertson is the editor of the…

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To the Left: The Anti Beyoncé Protest That Wasn’t By Monica Peters (SUN exclusive) There is no denying pop singer Beyoncé’s influence, whether you are a fan of her music or not. We’ve all heard by now about the anti-Beyoncé protest at the NFL Headquarters in New York City that instead transformed into a rally…

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ABOVE PHOTO:  Panthers on parade at Free Huey rally in Defermery Park (named by the Panther Bobby Hutton Park) in West Oakland.  (Credit: Stephen Shames) “Excellent. What is clear from this sober yet electrifying film is that the power of the Panthers was rooted in their insistence – radical then, radical still – that black…

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