NEW YORK (AP) — A book of Toni Morrison quotations is coming out in December. “The Measure of Our Lives: A Gathering of Wisdom” will draw from her whole body of work, including celebrated novels such as “Beloved” and “Song of Solomon.” The foreword is by Zadie Smith, adapted from a tribute she wrote soon […]
ATLANTA (AP) — Tyler Perry officially christened his massive new film studio Saturday, beaming as his fellow entertainment industry luminaries descended on Atlanta and strode a red carpet to his sprawling complex for an opening gala. The attendees warmly greeted Perry, a man who had once been homeless and yet now helmed his own studio, […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Marlon James fantasy novel “Black Leopard, Red Wolf,” Laila Lalami’s immigrant tale “The Other Americans” and Jason Reynolds’ neighborhood story “Look Both Ways” are among this year’s finalists for the 70th annual National Book Awards. Nominees announced Tuesday also include Albert Woodfox, the former prison inmate who spent more than 40 […]
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for 2019 in recognition of his efforts to end his country’s two-decade border conflict with Eritrea. The Norwegian Nobel Institute on Friday also praised the “important reforms” that Abiy, Ethiopia’s leader since April 2018, has launched at home. The prize […]
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Music artist and actress Queen Latifah is among the honorees being recognized by Harvard University this year for their contributions to black history and culture. Harvard is set to award the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal to Queen Latifah and six other recipients on Oct. 22, according to the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school’s […]
STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Next stop Tokyo for Simone Biles. With Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps both retired since the last Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the U.S. gymnast will be the face of the games for much of the world. In gymnastics, no one else comes close. Biles won five of the six gold […]
DALLAS (AP) — Atatiana Jefferson was devoted to her family and had moved into her mother’s Fort Worth home earlier this year to help as her mom’s health declined, relatives said. With her mother in the hospital, Jefferson and her 8-year-old nephew were the only two people home early Saturday when a police officer fired […]
BALTIMORE (AP) — Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a sharecropper’s son who rose to become a civil rights champion and the chairman of one of the U.S. House committees leading an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, died Thursday of complications from longstanding health problems. He was 68. Cummings was a formidable orator who advocated […]
BALTIMORE (AP) — He stood up for the poor and the disadvantaged throughout urban America — but Elijah Cummings was principally the strong voice and political advocate for Baltimore, where he was revered as his hometown’s champion. The Democratic congressman lived at the doorstep of some of the city’s worst rioting, including violent 2015 protests […]
NEW YORK (AP) — As Lupita Nyong’o accepted an award from the Harlem School of Arts — and entered the stage to Beyoncé’s anthemic hit “Brown Skin Girl” — the actress mainly had two people to thank for fueling her passion for the arts as a child: her parents. “I was thinking about (the Harlem […]