Sidney Poitier, whose portrayal of self-possessed, unapologetic and dignified characters in films such as To Sir With Love, In the Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner established him as Hollywood’s first Black box-office star and Academy Award winner for Best Actor (for Lilies in the Field), has died at 94.
Though born in Miami, FL ,Poitier grew up primarily in the Bahamas. As an adolescent he returned to the U.S., eventually making his way to New York, washing dishes as he struggled to become an actor. He soon landed theatre roles but broke through as an emerging talent primarily in film.
Breakout movie dramas like No Way Out, Blackboard Jungle and The Defiant Ones set the stage for Poitier’s superstardom. In 1959, Poitier returned to New York theater to star in the Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry‘s A Raisin in the Sun and its 1961 film adaptation.
Movies especially beloved starring Poitier were the ones he also directed, such as the action comedies Uptown Saturday Night, Let’s Do It Again, and A Piece of the Action. Poitier also scored a massive hit as director of the classic Richard Pryor 1980 comedy Stir Crazy.
To see Poitier’s extensive filmography, click here. And to see one of the most iconic film moments ever delivered by Poitier, check out the clip from In The Heat of the Night below:
First and foremost, Happy New Year 2022! Congratulations on the perseverance it has taken to make it to another year during such challenging times.
Secondly, we’d like to congratulate the January winners of our “A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day® Calendar for 2022! As a thank you for your readership and support, GBN has selected not one, not two, but five winners for December!
Congratulations to Sheila Collins, Fenesha Hubbard, William Walters, Charlotte White and Carla Brown! We will be contacting you each shortly via email to arrange delivery of your free calendars.
Thank you to everyone who entered the GBN Page-A-Day® calendar giveaway, and we hope our upcoming giveaways in the coming months will inspire you to do so again.
A Year of Good Black News for 2022 is filled with facts, history, bios, quotes, jokes and trivia in easy-to-read entries delivered on the daily, and if you still want to buy it for yourself, your family, children, friends, teachers or loved ones, use code: YAY21 at Workman.comto receive 25% OFF until January 3.
Or, if you prefer, you can also order from the retailers below:
Because interest in the calendar was high but not all who want it can win or by it, GBN is offering it in audio form day by day as Good Black News: The Daily Drop:
Good Black News: The Daily Drop is on Spotify, Apple Podcasts,Amazon Music, Soundcloud, Google Podcasts and rss.com. Or you can subscribe by the rss feedvia any platform you like.
Onward and upward… and thank you for your support!
A Year of Good Black News is filled with facts, history, bios, quotes, jokes and trivia in easy-to-read entries delivered on the daily, and GBN will be announcing one winner a month until January 2022.
To enter for a chance to win, send your name and email address with the subject heading “A Year of Good Black News Giveaway” to goodblacknewsgiveaways@yahoo.com from now until December 31. One entry per email, and we will choose at random one winner per month and announce their names here.
As the calendar’s official drop date is next Tuesday, October 12, that’s when we will announce the first winner.
In case you can’t wait to see if you’re the lucky winner or want to buy copies for gifts to family, friends or loved ones, you can order at Workman.comusing code: GOODBLACKNEWS from now until December 31, you will receive 20% off.
A Year of Good Black News, written by yours truly, is filled with facts, history, bios, quotes, jokes and trivia in easy-to-read entries delivered on the daily.
The calendar’s official drop date is Tuesday, October 12, and if you pre-order at Workman.com using the code: GOODBLACKNEWS from now until December 31, you will receive 20% off.
A Year of Good Black Newsoffers fun Black facts about inventors, entrepreneurs, musicians, comedians, historians, educators, athletes and entertainers, as well as info shared in fun fact categories like “Lemme Break It Down: Black Lexicon,” “We Got Game: Black Trivia,” “Get The Knowledge: Black Museums and Landmarks” and “You Know We Did That, Right?: Black Inventors.”
Here’s a sneak peek inside:
Although I’m biased because I wrote it, the A Year of Good Black News Page-A-Day 2022 calendar is an awesome way to get inspired every day by the good things Black people do (and have done) for centuries, but haven’t always been widely known or shared.
Well, no more! If this site is for you, this calendar is, too!
It’s also a great gift for family members, friends, teachers, kids and loved ones. Did I mention if you use the code: GOODBLACKNEWS at Workman.com, you get 20% off?
Or, if you prefer, you can also order from the retailers below:
Well, Aretha stans, the movie moment we’ve long been waiting for is finally –FINALLY– here. Today, just three days shy of the third anniversary of her passing, the MGM feature film about the one and only Queen of Soul, Respect, hits theaters nationwide.
As Editor-in-Chief of Good Black News (and not-so-undercover Aretha Franklin freak), I was able to attend a press screening of the movie a few weeks ago, as well as interview its writer Tracey Scott Wilson (The Americans) and original score composer Kris Bowers (The United States vs. Billie Holiday, Space Jam: A New Legacy, King Richard).
Directed by Tony Award nominee Liesl Tommy from a screenplay by Emmy Award nominee Wilson and starring Academy Award-winning vocal powerhouse Jennifer Hudson (who also executive produced), Respect is a treasure not only because it is a film about a Black woman made by Black women, but also because it satisfies on every level — visually, musically, and dramatically.
“Liesl wanted this to be a movie about and for and with and celebrating Black women because that’s what Aretha did her entire life,” writer Wilson said. “That was one of her missions in life, to honor Black women and put them front and center.”
The biopic covers a span of approximately 20 years in Franklin’s life, from her youthful choir solo singing in her father’s church to recording and producing Amazing Grace, a live double album of gospel music in the church of early teacher and friend Rev. James Cleveland (warmly and lovingly portrayed by Tituss Burgess).
Jennifer Hudson stars as Aretha Franklin and Forest Whitaker as her father C.L. Franklin in RESPECT (Photo credit: Quantrell D. Colbert)
Performances across the board are top notch – Hudson not only understood the assignment, she embodied it and transcended it by capturing Aretha’s quiet and graceful exterior while navigating how to express the caldron of explosive feeling and creativity within.
Forest Whitaker‘s note-perfect performance as Aretha’s formidable, flawed, savvy and controlling preacher father C.L. Franklin again proves why he is a lauded master of the craft.
As Aretha’s first husband and manager Ted White, Marlon Wayans charms with his nuanced combination of sexiness, intelligence and manipulation that make the dynamic of White and Franklin’s relationship live so well in the gray areas of both real and fatal attraction, especially when it gets violent.
Although they had limited screen time, Audra McDonald has so much gravity and grace as Aretha’s mother Barbara Franklin, she is broken spirit personified and Mary J. Blige pops off the screen as Aretha’s mentor/menace/musical motivator Dinah Washington.
Actor Jennifer Hudson and director Liesl Tommy on the set of RESPECT (Photo credit: Quantrell D. Colbert)
Tommy’s direction is as subtle as it is rich and powerful — the movie doesn’t feel like a movie if you know what I mean — but like an inside look into a lived experience. Franklin remains a mystery in many ways, which I found to be an insightful nod to Aretha’s own choice and agency to fiercely protect and guard her interior life.
Tommy and Wilson take what is known about the relationships and traumas in Franklin’s life and, like Franklin, let their fullest expression explode like dynamite through the music.
The way the music is presented within the storytelling (not to mention Hudson’s astounding vocals), from the expected highs like “Respect” or the emotional, fractured rehearsal of “Precious Memories,” is ambrosia for the ears, heart and soul.
The creation of “Ain’t No Way” in the movie plays as a grand glimpse into Aretha’s musicality and artistry as well as her connection with her sisters Erma and Carolyn (younger sister Carolyn Franklin wrote the song and is teaching it to Aretha in the scene) and this pivotal moment is a stand out.
According to Wilson, not only is that song a favorite of director Tommy, it also pays homage to rarely seen ABC news documentary footage of the same:
“It’s just them in rehearsal, and it’s Carolyn teaching her the song that she wrote. I must have watched that video like 100 times. Just seeing the dynamic between them — Ted White is standing there, the Muscle Shoals guys are standing there — and she’s just teaching her this song,” Wilson said.
“And Carolyn could read music and Aretha couldn’t, so she’s speaking to her not only in a way musically that Aretha can understand but she’s also speaking to her as a sister. And just seeing that I knew it had to be in the movie because it so encapsulates their relationship so well, it captures Carolyn’s brilliance, it captures their sisterly camaraderie and love, and also the dynamic of Ted who’s there who is clearly becoming just an appendage and not the main attraction anymore.”
“Liesl had in mind that the score was going to handle a lot of her trauma in the story and that was going to be the focal point of the score. And the other thing that I started to feel was revealing itself in the story… is how much she’s finding her way back to God and her faith and church and also in a lot of ways this pure connection she had with her mother.”
The score itself, Bowers said, was loosely inspired by the sound of the church, which, as Aretha’s life and career highs and lows unfold, is calling her back to it.
“A lot of the textures are organ sounds… and I just kind of stretched them out and did different things to them to create more of a texture and layers on top of the score.”
“The theme itself not only was meant to feel somewhat like a hymn but her trauma theme is actually her mother’s theme in reverse. A lot of [the score] is trying to find ways to create some sort of throughline to that so it can continue to pull her toward that calling of God and her faith.”
As a bonus, the film’s final moments close with the actual footage of Aretha’s unparalleled Kennedy Center Honors performance of “Natural Woman” from 2015. It’s such an outstanding narrative choice, it brought tears to the eyes of this Aretha devotee.
Although the film passes quickly through Aretha’s Columbia records output and ends well before her transition to her Clive Davis and Arista years, it’s an impressive exploration of, to paraphrase Wilson, “the woman with the greatest voice in the world finding her own voice.”
According to Variety.com, a collaboration between Lionsgate Television, The New York Times, and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films will create a docuseries for streaming platform Hulu based on The 1619 Project from New York Times Magazine’s and Nikole Hannah-Jones‘ journalistic examination of slavery and racism in the U.S. from 1619 to current times.
Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winner Shoshana Guy will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Kathleen Lingo, editorial director for film and TV at The New York Times, will also executive produce along with Caitlin Roper, The Times’ executive producer for scripted film and TV.
Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams will produce and oversee the series with producing partner and co-executive producer Geoff Martz and also direct the first episode.
The series falls under a distribution agreement between Lionsgate and Disney General Entertainment Content’s BIPOC Creator Initiative led by Tara Duncan.
The 1619 Project connected the centrality of slavery in U.S. history with an account of the racism that endures in so many aspects of American life today. It was launched in August 2019 on the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in the English colonies that would become the United States. It examines the legacy of slavery in America and how it shaped nearly all aspects of society, from music and law to education and the arts, and including the principles of our democracy itself.
“The 1619 Project is an essential reframing of American history,” Williams said. “Our most cherished ideals and achievements cannot be understood without acknowledging both systemic racism and the contributions of Black Americans. And this isn’t just about the past—Black people are still fighting against both the legacy of this racism and its current incarnation. I am thrilled and grateful for the opportunity to work with The New York Times, Lionsgate Television, Harpo Films and Hulu to translate the incredibly important The 1619 Project into a documentary series.”
It’s always nice to have an excuse to celebrate the Queen of Soul and her music. Although this week in particular it’s been a somewhat fraught proposition, as the National Geographic Channel began airing its Genius: Aretha series starring Cynthia Erivo on Sunday, to which some of Franklin’s immediate family publicly objected.
But if, like me, you’re inclined to want to celebrate Aretha on what would have been her 79th birthday and can’t wait for the MGM feature Respect starring Jennifer Hudson (which, so far, the family does approve of) to come out, you can always rewatch the glorious Amazing Grace concert film released in 2019, or go right to the source and listen to all Aretha all day.
For my 2020 celebration, I compiled a collection of her original works in a Spotify playlist called “Rock Steady”: Songs Aretha Franklin Wrote, in honor of her ability to compose incredible music and lyrics that have stood the test of time, a talent which is often overshadowed by Aretha’s unparalleled singing mastery.
This year, I chose to celebrate Aretha Franklin’s lifelong love of all musical styles and her unmatched ability to turn any song from any genre from any time by anybody into her own unique moment. Below is the compilation playlist “How I Got Over”: Aretha Franklin’s Cover Songs:
In it, you’ll find the songs you already know were recorded by others that Aretha made her own signature songs (“Respect,” “Spanish Harlem,” “Until You Come Back to Me”), along with songs where her version became as famous as the original, if not more (“You’re All I Need To Get By,” “I Say A Little Prayer,” “Wholy Holy,” “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” “Don’t Play That Song,” “Son of A Preacher Man”).
Also included are songs you may not know she covered (many were deep cuts on LPs or only recently released) but as soon as you hear Aretha’s version you won’t be able to forget it (“At Last,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “A Song For You,” “What a Fool Believes,” “I Want to Be With You,” “My Kind of Town (Detroit Is)”).
Aretha also dips into her Detroit roots with her covers of Motown classics like “My Guy,” “Tracks of My Tears” and “You Keep Me Hangin’ On,” as well as her love of her British Invasion contemporaries with covers of The Beatles‘ “Eleanor Rigby,” “Let It Be” and “The Long and Winding Road” and The Rolling Stones‘ “Satisfaction” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”
Franklin effortlessly shows off her jazz chops on “Moody’s Mood,” “Skylark,” “How Glad I Am” and “Crazy He Calls Me” and her devastating blues acumen and feeling with “Today I Sing The Blues,” “The Thrill is Gone,”“Night Time Is The Right Time” and “Why I Sing The Blues.”
“Over The Rainbow,” “Somewhere” and “I Dreamed A Dream” let us all know a career on Broadway or movie musicals, should she have wanted it, would have been Aretha’s for the taking, and her takes on traditional gospel classics like “How I Got Over,” “What a Friend We Have In Jesus,” “Oh Happy Day” (with Mavis Staples), and, of course, “Amazing Grace” make it simple for anyone needing proof of God to listen and say, “Oh, okay. THAT.”
For those who love holiday fare, Aretha’s got that covered too, with undeniable versions of “Winter Wonderland,” “Silent Night” and “The Christmas Song.”
As late as 2014, at age 72, Aretha Franklin was still showing the world what she could do to a song she deigned to sing.
Franklin released an entire album of covers entitled Aretha Franklin Sings The Great Diva Classics, where she famously took on “Rolling In The Deep” by Adele, Alicia Keys‘ “No One” and created must-listen mash-up versions of Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman/Respect” where Aretha blends those two classics together, and Gloria Gaynor‘s “I Will Survive,” which she mixes with Destiny’s Child‘s “Survivor.”
All the songs mentioned and more are on the 85-track playlist above. There are even more enticing covers in the Aretha Franklin catalogue worth exploring, but at five and a half hours, I definitely feel this playlist is a great place to start.
Sly Stone turned 78 years old on the 15th of this month. I thought it was a good time to spotlight him and The Family Stone with a playlist.
His work has had a potent effect on the course of modern music. Sly and The Family Stone served a dazzling fusion of psychedelic rock, soul, gospel, jazz, and Latin flavors.
The trailblazing classic “Dance To the Music” has the distinction of being chosen for the Grammy Hall Of Fame, the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s “500 Songs That Shaped Rock,” and Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.”
This collection gathers many of his hits including “Everyday People,” “Thank You (Falletinme Be Mice Elf Again)” and “Family Affair,” “Stand!,” “Hot Fun in the Summertime,” “Runnin’ Away,” “If You Want Me To Stay,” “Time For Livin’,” and more.
From Miles Davis and Herbie Hancock to the halls of Motown and George Clinton’s P-Funk, from Michael Jackson and Curtis Mayfield, down the line to Bob Marley, the Isley Brothers, Prince, Public Enemy, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Eyed Peas, Beastie Boys, The Roots,OutKast and on and on, Sly’s influence can be felt throughout popular music.
This is another one that comes with Rumpshaker Warning. Have a great week.
With today’s Good Black News Spotify playlist, we salute a true ally of the Black musical community, the late Christine Marie Brockert a/k/a the one and only Teena Marie, on what would have been her 65th birthday.
Teena Marie is a singularly unique presence in music – a white female artist who, over the course of an entire successful career, always felt most at home in Black music.
In fact, when Motown Records released her first album Wild and Peaceful in 1979, the cover consisted simply of a photo of clouds over an ocean – completely avoiding showing her racial identity so as not to bias listeners towards her soulful singing. (Interestingly, this was the reverse of a trick they had previously employed in the early ’60s, using random graphics instead of artist photos on album covers for Mary Wells and The Marvelettes down South to avoid showing Black faces.)
Along with Rick James‘ production, just focusing on Marie’s voice and not her image worked – by the time Black listeners learned Teena Marie was white, she had already won them over with her songs and commitment to Black music, and classic soul fans embraced her fully.
Growing up in the late ’70s, I first remember Teena Marie for her uptempo funk/dance hits – “Square Biz,” “I Need Your Lovin’, “and my personal fave, “Behind the Groove.”
But over time, I realized that Teena’s truest connection to R&B was in her ballads – dramatic, long, lushly orchestrated, poetic, sensuous. She wrote and sang many bedroom classics over the course of a 30+ years, before her untimely death at the young age of 54 back in 2010.
Today’s playlist is entitled “Fire & Desire: Teena Marie’s 40 Best Ballads”. This playlist consists of hits and album tracks from across her career. “Deju Vu,” “Casanova Brown,” “Portuguese Love,” “If I Were a Bell,” “Out on a Limb,” “Aladdin’s Lamp” “Dear Lover,” “Irons in the Fire” – we’ve got them all here, along with her Rick James duets.
But we’ve also got stripped-down ballads like ‘The Greatest Love of All Time.” Released on the collection First Class Love: Rare Teena Marie, this acoustic ballad was one of the demo tracks Teena created prior to her first Motown album – and it’s clear to see that her talent was fully formed even then.
And we’ve got tracks you may not have heard from her end-of-career resurgence with the albums La Dona, Congo Square, Sapphire, and posthumous effort, Beautiful.
We hope you’ll check out our one-woman Quiet Storm session, and, in the process remember a true groundbreaker, musical innovator, and truly unique singer – a woman like no other – Lady T.
Columnist and former NBA All-Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar will be executive producing Fight the Power: The Protests That Changed America with Deborah Morales for the A+E Networks History Channel, according to deadline.com.
The one-hour documentary will examine the effect key protests have had over time on the evolution of America to explore the question: Does the arc of the moral universe bend toward justice when pressure is applied?
This collaboration is the second between the NBA legend and the History Channel, having previously paired up on 2020’s one-hour documentary Black Patriots: Heroes of the Revolution.
Fight the Power is produced by Six West Media with Abdul-Jabbar and Morales exec producing via Iconomy Multi-Media & Entertainment.
“The history of protest in America is also the history of social progress,” Abdul-Jabbar said.
