“I had to pretend to be in love with Jasmine while being in love with Cree.”
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Inside the ‘Chitlin Circuit,’ a Jim Crow-Era Safe Space for Black Performers | Atlas Obscura
It’s where legends like Tina Turner and Ray Charles launched their careers.
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‘A legend in her own right’: Carolyn Franklin, Aretha’s forgotten sister | The Guardian
She was a genius songwriter and singer but could never escape her sibling’s shadow – and died at just 43. Family and friends including Martha Reeves and Bettye Lavette celebrate the life of a cruelly overlooked artist — Fraser Morris, The Guardian Some of the most remarkable footage of Aretha Franklin was taken in 1968, as […]
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Here’s What’s New, Black And On Netflix This January 2021 | Essence
Take a look at the movies and TV shows that will hit the streaming service this month. — Kimberly Wilson, Essence A new year, also means a new month of goodness (at least that’s the hope after the year that 2020 gave us!). Especially when it comes to your favorite titles and new film […]
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Roberta Flack, First Take | Pitchfork
Recorded over a period of just 10 hours, the future star’s breakthrough 1969 debut captured her idiosyncratic mix of soul, jazz, and folk and her singular vision as a bandleader. — Elizabeth Nelson, Pitchfork Throughout most of the eventful year of 1968, the soon-to-be-famous Roberta Flack was ensconced in a residency at Mr. Henry’s in Washington, […]
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The Southern Women Who Shaped Aunjanue Ellis| The Bitter Southerner
Actress and activist Aunjanue Ellis spoke with Kelundra Smith about her expansive work in Hollywood, the women who formed and inspire her life and her on-screen characters, and why she calls Mississippi home. — Kelundra Smith, The Bitter Southerner Hippolyta Freeman, a character in Misha Green’s HBO series “Lovecraft Country,” sits with her […]
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Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman are exhilarating in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ | The Washington Post
— Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post In “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Viola Davis occupies the screen with the imperious, implacable command of a prizefighter, which in many ways her title character has been forced to become. With her teeth extravagantly capped, her cheeks lavishly rouged and her eyes ringed with bruiselike shadows, Davis’s Ma […]
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Stream of the Day: 10 Black Films That Should Be Available on Streaming Platforms, but Aren’t | IndieWire
From classics like “Lady Sings the Blues” to the films of Haile Gerima, these films deserve homes on major streaming platforms. Normally, IndieWire’s Stream of the Day feature focuses on movies that you can watch at home. Today, we’re using this space to call out a few that should be available, but aren’t. At one time or another, we […]
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A Novel About Ethiopian Women Who Fought in WWII to Get Film Adaptation | Colorlines
“Harriet” director Kasi Lemmons will write and direct Maaza Mengiste’s novel “The Shadow King” The story of the Ethiopian women soldiers who fought against Mussolini’s 1935 World War II invasion in author Maaza Mengiste’s novel “The Shadow King” will be adapted into a film and helmed by “Harriet” director Kasi Lemmons, Deadline reports. By N. Jamiyla Chisholm, ColorlinesFeatured Image, Director Kasi Lemmons at […]
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WE ARE FAMILIY: The Directors | The New York Times Style Magazine
In 1969, Gordon Parks became the first black director to make a major Hollywood studio film. His career made it possible for the next generation to fight their way into the mainstream — only to face the same opposition Parks had. IN 1968, 20 YEARS after he was hired as Life’s first African-American staff photographer, Gordon […]
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