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Poet, Author and Professor Elizabeth Alexander Named to Pulitzer Prize Board

By goodblacknews on June 1, 2016

American poet Elizabeth Alexander speaks during an event in the State Dining Room at the White House on April 17, 2015, in Washington, D.C. First lady Michelle Obama hosted the event in celebration of National Poetry Month.
American poet Elizabeth Alexander (photo via Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

article by Stephen A. Crockett Jr. via theroot.com

Acclaimed poet, author and professor Elizabeth Alexander has been elected to the Pulitzer Prize board.

Alexander wrote and delivered her poem “Praise Song for the Day” for President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 and was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for her book of poetry American Sublime and a 2016 Pulitzer finalist for her memoir, The Light of the World, according to the announcement on the Pulitzer website.
Alexander has taught at several schools, including the University of Chicago, New York University and Smith College, and was part of the faculty at Yale University for 15 years; she also served as chair of Yale’s department of African-American studies. Alexander was recently named the Wun Tsun Tam Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University and is the director of creativity and free expression at the Ford Foundation.
As a member of the 19-person board, Alexander will help decide the winners of the Pulitzer Prizes in in journalism, books, drama and music each April. She will serve a three-year term on the Pulitzer Prize board, on which members serve a maximum of nine years.
Learn more about Alexander here.

Ta-Nehisi Coates' 'Black Panther' Is 2016's Best-Selling Comic So Far

By goodblacknews on May 18, 2016

Ta-Nehisi Coates (photo via colorlines.com)

article by Sameer Rao via colorlines.com
Add “Black Panther” to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ list of best-selling titles.
The culture critic and “The Atlantic” journalist’s first foray into comic books was not only the top-selling comic last month, but according to Vulture, it’s the top-selling comic of 2016 so far.
Less than a year after the success of his memoir, “Between the World and Me,” the first issue of Coates’ reboot of the classic Marvel character’s story tops the list with 253,259 orders from North American retailers. While that number doesn’t account for actual sales (or orders from oustide the continent), Vulture notes that it “is the only industry statistic available and it’s generally a good indicator of interest in a comic.” The closest runner-up, the inaugural issue of Marvel’s “Star Wars: Poe Dameron,” received just 175,322 orders.
Source: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ‘Black Panther’ Is 2016’s Best-Selling Comic So Far

Ta-Nehisi Coates' 'Black Panther' Is 2016's Best-Selling Comic So Far

By goodblacknews on May 18, 2016

Ta-Nehisi Coates (photo via colorlines.com)

article by Sameer Rao via colorlines.com
Add “Black Panther” to Ta-Nehisi Coates’ list of best-selling titles.
The culture critic and “The Atlantic” journalist’s first foray into comic books was not only the top-selling comic last month, but according to Vulture, it’s the top-selling comic of 2016 so far.
Less than a year after the success of his memoir, “Between the World and Me,” the first issue of Coates’ reboot of the classic Marvel character’s story tops the list with 253,259 orders from North American retailers. While that number doesn’t account for actual sales (or orders from oustide the continent), Vulture notes that it “is the only industry statistic available and it’s generally a good indicator of interest in a comic.” The closest runner-up, the inaugural issue of Marvel’s “Star Wars: Poe Dameron,” received just 175,322 orders.
Source: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ ‘Black Panther’ Is 2016’s Best-Selling Comic So Far

LeToya Luckett, Danny Glover to Star in Dionne Warwick Movie "Dionne"

By goodblacknews on May 13, 2016
Brunch With Bevy Presented by Belvedere in Honor of Selita Ebanks Charity "Shine On Sierra Leone"
LeToya Luckett  (Photo by Derick Hingle/PictureGroup)

article by Ramin Setoodeh via Variety.com

LeToya Luckett will play Dionne Warwick in “Dionne,” a new biopic about the legendary singer that was announced at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday morning.

Danny Glover will portray Warwick’s father, Mansel Warwick. Olympia Dukakis will co-star as German songstress and actress Marlene Dietrich, who mentored Warwick. The film will span the early days of Warwick’s career from 1962 to 1968, as she belted out would-be classics like “Alfie” and “I Say a Little Prayer.”
Warwick, 75, said she was pleased that Luckett (an original member of Destiny’s Child) was channeling her on the big screen. “She just kind of morphed,” Warwick said of meeting the actress. “Vocally, she was right. Her look was completely right.”
Shooting is set to begin in October, with Mario Van Peebles in talks to direct. AMBI Pictures and David F. Wooley’s WW Film Company are financing the movie. Producers are Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi, Wooley and Jacker Binder.
Wooley revealed that he’s already spent 10 years getting the story to the big screen. After early scripts stalled, he realized that he needed a book to adapt the movie from, and co-authored “My Life, As I See It: An Autobiography” with Warwick. Then the movie was back on track, with Randall Jahnson (“The Doors”) writing the latest screenplay with Wooley.
In 2013, Warwick made headlines when she declared bankruptcy with $10 million in tax debt. When asked if the project would help with her finances, Warwick declined to comment.

Lupita Nyong’o in Talks to Star with Chadwick Boseman in Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2016

Lupita Nyong'o Black Panther
Lupita Nyong’o (BILLY FARRELL/BFA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK BILLY FARRELL/BFA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK)

article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com
Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o is in talks to play the love interest of Chadwick Boseman’s superhero in Marvel’s “The Black Panther.”
“Creed” helmer Ryan Coogler is on board to direct the film.  Kevin Feige is producing the movie, which stars Boseman as T’Challa, the prince of the African nation of Wakanda, who must take over the mantel after his father’s murder. Marvel unveiled the character in “Captain America: Civil War” before the standalone film hits theaters on Feb. 16, 2018.
Nyong’o most recently lent her voice to “Star Wars: the Force Awakens” as Maz Kanata and “The Jungle Book” as Mother Wolf Raksha. She can be seen next in Disney’s “Queen of Katwe” opposite David Oyelowo and is also attached to star in DreamWorks’ “Intelligent Life.”
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/lupita-nyongo-black-panther-1201772781/

Lupita Nyong’o in Talks to Star with Chadwick Boseman in Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’

By goodblacknews on May 12, 2016

Lupita Nyong'o Black Panther
Lupita Nyong’o (BILLY FARRELL/BFA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK BILLY FARRELL/BFA/REX/SHUTTERSTOCK)

article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com
Academy Award winner Lupita Nyong’o is in talks to play the love interest of Chadwick Boseman’s superhero in Marvel’s “The Black Panther.”
“Creed” helmer Ryan Coogler is on board to direct the film.  Kevin Feige is producing the movie, which stars Boseman as T’Challa, the prince of the African nation of Wakanda, who must take over the mantel after his father’s murder. Marvel unveiled the character in “Captain America: Civil War” before the standalone film hits theaters on Feb. 16, 2018.
Nyong’o most recently lent her voice to “Star Wars: the Force Awakens” as Maz Kanata and “The Jungle Book” as Mother Wolf Raksha. She can be seen next in Disney’s “Queen of Katwe” opposite David Oyelowo and is also attached to star in DreamWorks’ “Intelligent Life.”
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/lupita-nyongo-black-panther-1201772781/

Ta-Nehisi Coates Signs Two-Book Deal at Random House

By goodblacknews on May 6, 2016

article via blackamericaweb.com
NEW YORK (AP) — Ta-Nehisi Coates is a prize-winning nonfiction author, journalist and comic book writer. Now he is taking on fiction.
Random House’s One World imprint announced Thursday that Coates has two more books planned, one nonfiction and the other fiction. The books were acquired by One World publisher Chris Jackson, who edited Coates’ best-selling “Between the World and Me.” The book was a Pulitzer Prize finalist last month and winner of the National Book Award.
The first new book is scheduled to come out next year. No other details were made available.
Coates is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and is working on a new Black Panther comic book series for Marvel. He is also the author of “The Beautiful Struggle,” a memoir about his childhood.

Acclaimed Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to be Awarded Honorary Doctorate by John Hopkins University

By goodblacknews on May 3, 2016

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Negozi Adichie (photo via venturesafrica.com)

article by Hadassah Egbedi via venturesafrica.com
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of widely-acclaimed novels “Americanah” and “Half of a Yellow Sun”, , has recently been named as one the distinguished achievers to be awarded honorary degrees, this year, by the Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, United States. The honorary degrees will be conferred at the university’s commencement ceremony on the 18th of May, 2016.
Adichie will be awarded alongside seven other recognized individuals, visionaries who have made a mark in various fields. They include groundbreaking filmmaker Spike Lee, the founding director of the Bill and Melinda Gates Institute for Population and Reproductive Health, Laurie Zabin, Nobel Prize winner, Richard Axel, amongst others.
Ronald J. Daniels, President of the Johns Hopkins University, describes the group as people who have challenged the status quo and changed the world for the better. They have made a lasting impact on the arts, public health, the law, neuroscience and the resilience of communities here in Baltimore and across the globe.”
This is a very well deserved honor for Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. As one of the world’s leading feminists and an insightful cultural critic, she has become quite influential on the global stage over the years, continually gaining recognition. The author who earned a Master’s degree from Johns Hopkins’ Writing Seminars in 2003, is no stranger to awards and has amassed quite a number already. Her novel, Americanah, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 2013. In 2008, she won a MacArthur Foundation genius grant.
To read more, go to: http://venturesafrica.com/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-will-be-awarded-an-honorary-doctorate-by-johns-hopkins-university/

Oprah Winfrey to Executive Produce and Star in "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" for HBO Films

By goodblacknews on May 2, 2016
Oprah Winfrey (i) and Henrietta Lacks (r)
Oprah Winfrey (i) and Henrietta Lacks (r)

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)

According to Variety.com, Oprah Winfrey will star in the adaptation of “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” for HBOFilms. Winfrey’s Harpo Films optioned Rebecca Skloot‘s 2010 best-seller years ago, and it with her commitment to star as well as executive produce, it will finally be produced this summer.  Skloot will serve as a co-executive producer. George C. Wolfe, who adapted the memoir, will also direct.
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” tells the true story of Henrietta Lacks, an African-American woman whose cells (HeLa cells) were used to create the first immortal human cell line, which helped scientists make unprecedented medical breakthroughs, including Jonas Salk’s development of the polio vaccine.
Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks, played by Winfrey, the film chronicles her search to learn about the mother she never knew and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks’ cancerous cells in 1951 changed countless lives and the face of medicine forever.
Henrietta Lacks’ sons  Zakariyya Rahman and David Lacks, Jr. and granddaughter Jeri Lacksare will serve as consultants on the HBO project.

Black Girls Do Ballet to Publish "The Ballerina's Little Black Book" on June 6

By goodblacknews on April 13, 2016

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article via clutchmagonline.com
In 2013, TaKiyah Wallace started Brown Girls Do Ballet as a photography project aimed at highlighting women of color in the dance world. As a mom of a tiny dancer and a fan of the art form herself, Wallace was aware of the lack of coverage dancers of color received.
Three years later Wallace runs a popular Instagram account with more than 80,000 followers that features brown ballerinas, and her organization supports young dancers by not only giving them a platform to shine, but also providing scholarships to help young girls continue their studies. Now, Brown Girls Do Ballet is releasing a book.
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Titled The Ballerina’s Little Black Book, the new project by former dancer and Brown Girls Do Ballet co-founder Brittani Marie features interviews with dancers like Misty Copeland, Aesha Ash, and Alicia Graf Mack as well as gorgeous pictures of dancers of color.