NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Barack Obama, already a million-selling author, is also a prize-winning author. PEN America announced Wednesday that Obama will receive its second annual Voice of Influence Award in recognition of how his writings “have traversed political, social, and ideological bounds and framed a self-reflective humanism that has marked his influence […]
NEW YORK (AP) — John Boyega is only 28, but being a professional actor of 10 years and a veteran of three “Star Wars” films has given him insight into what it’s like for a young performer breaking into Hollywood. “I always tell young actors who are getting into it, they’ve got their first franchise […]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Natalie Desselle Reid, who starred alongside Halle Berry in the 1997 film “B.A.P.S.” and on the sitcom “Eve,” has died. She was 53. Reid’s death on Monday was confirmed by Je’Caryous Johnson, the CEO of Je’Caryous Entertainment, which was planning a stage adaption of “B.A.P.S.” A rep for the actor’s family […]
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The historic home of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers is now a national monument, the U.S. interior secretary and members of Mississippi’s congressional delegation announced Thursday. The designation for the Medgar and Myrlie Evers Home was required by a law President Donald Trump signed in March 2019. The Interior Department […]
A Questlove-directed documentary about the other major music event of the summer of 1969 and documentaries about the creators of Sesame Street and the coronavirus pandemic in China are among the 72 feature films debuting at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Organizers on Tuesday unveiled a robust and diverse slate for the festival, which will […]
President-elect Joe Biden says he had chosen North Carolina regulator Michael S. Regan as his nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as his pick for interior secretary. Biden said Thursday that the selections round out what he said would be an experienced climate team ready from their first […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Like many of those involved in the making of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” it’s not easy for Viola Davis to summarize what playwright August Wilson has meant to her except to answer, “Everything.” Davis’ first stage role was in Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.” She made her Broadway debut in […]
DETROIT (AP) — As a barrier-breaking year draws to a close, there’s one undeniable fact: the strength of Black political power. Black voters were a critical part of the coalition that clinched President-elect Joe Biden’s White House bid. The nation will swear in its first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent as […]
NEW YORK (AP) — Eric Jerome Dickey, the bestselling novelist who blended crime, romance and eroticism in “Sister, Sister,” “Waking With Enemies” and dozens of other stories about contemporary Black life, has died at age 59. Dickey’s publicist at Penguin Random House, Emily Canders, told The Associated Press that the author died of cancer Sunday […]
ATLANTA (AP) — Stacey Abrams spent years crisscrossing Georgia, working to convince Democratic leaders, donors and prospective candidates that a vast, untapped well of potential voters could upend Republican domination in the state. There was no national media spotlight or constant praise from national political players to ease the slog. That’s over now. After […]