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Posts published in “Entertainment”

Vogue Spain Declares ‘Black Is Beautiful’ with Cover Model Aya Jones Rocking Cornrows

By goodblacknews on March 9, 2016
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Aya Jones on the cover of Vogue Spain (Vogue España) 
article by Yesha Callahan via theroot.com
It’s not too often that a major fashion magazine declares, “Black is beautiful,” but Vogue Spain (Vogue España) just did for its March issue.
Not only is Ivorian-British model Aya Jones giving all types of #BlackGirlMagic on the cover, but she’s also rocking a simple set of cornrows. The photo editorial was shot in Botswana, with Karim Belghiran styling Jones’ hair, and photos shot by photographer Nico Bustos and styled by Belen Antolín.
To read more, go to: http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2016/03/vogue_spain_declares_black_is_beautiful_with_black_cover_model_rocking_cornrows.html

Q-Tip Named Kennedy Center's 1st Artistic Director of Hip-Hop

By goodblacknews on March 8, 2016

Q-Tip (photo via eurweb.com)
Q-Tip (photo via eurweb.com)

article by Maeve McDermott via usatoday.com
Before last year, Kennedy Center hosting hip hop shows seemed like an unlikely prospect.
But after hosting Kendrick Lamar’s sold-out performance with the National Symphony Orchestra last year, the center’s 2016 season includes its first hip hop culture series, bringing on rapper and producer Q-Tip as their first artistic director of hip hop.
The social justice-oriented rapper is best known as a founding member of the seminal hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, and has worked with many of music’s biggest names, including Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, the Beastie Boys, Janet Jackson, Mary J. Blige and Pharrell Williams.
The Kennedy Center, which celebrates John F. Kennedy’s 100th birthday this year, announced details of six events celebrating different facets of hip hop culture, including a poetry slam, a teach-in and a dance competition. Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and soprano Renee Fleming were also appointed at-large artistic advisers for the 2016-2017 season, according to the AP.
“This new programmatic platform recognizes Hip Hop’s contributions to global culture and its role in promoting values such as courage, freedom, justice, and service,” the center announced in a release.
To read more, go to: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2016/03/08/q-tip-named-kennedy-center-first-hip-hop-director/81485882/

Regina Taylor Cast as Co-Lead in ‘Time After Time’ ABC Pilot

By goodblacknews on March 8, 2016
Regina Taylor 2 ABC
Regina Taylor (images via deadline.com)

article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com

I’ll Fly Away lead actress Regina Taylor is set for a key co-starring role opposite Freddie Stroma, Josh Bowman and Genesis Rodriguez in Kevin Williamson’s ABC pilot Time After Time.
Using the 1979 novel by Karl Alexander and movie as a starting point, Time After Time will chronicle the epic adventures of young H.G. Wells (Stroma).
Taylor will play trusted Wells’ ally Vanessa Anders, the billionaire businesswoman who owns and protects the Time Machine in 2016 New York City. Confident and strong, she has a warm welcoming smile, but make no mistake, she’s also a respected, sometimes feared CEO.
Williamson wrote Time After Time and is executive producing. Marcos Siega is directing. Warner Bros. TV is the studio.
Taylor recently co-starred on the USA limited series Dig and previously was a regular on the CBS military drama The Unit.
To read more, go to: http://deadline.com/2016/03/time-after-time-regina-taylor-cast-abc-pilot-1201716636/

"Shark Tank" on ABC Teams up with Value Partnerships to Seek Entrepreneurs of Color

By goodblacknews on March 7, 2016

“Shark Tank” on ABC (photo via black enterprise.com)

article by Carolyn M. Brown via blackenterprise.com
Now in its 7th season, ABC’s Shark Tank has empowered entrepreneurs to strike deals worth over $70 million.
Since the beginning, black entrepreneurs have shined. Mr. Tod’s Pie Factory struck a deal with Barbara Corcoran and Daymond John on episode 1 with a near $1M valuation.
In Season 7, entrepreneurs like Sarah Ribner of Piper Wai, and Ben Young and Gregory Coleman of Nexercise, continue to inspire on Friday nights.  Nexercise’s $18.7M valuation is the largest to date on Shark Tank.
Joshua DuBois and Brandon Andrews of Values Partnerships are working to ensure the voices pitching on ABC’s Shark Tank reflect the diversity of audiences watching. With the support of producer Mark Burnett, Values Partnerships – a Washington, D.C., based firm engaging faith-based and diverse communities worldwide – leads a nationwide casting tour focused on bringing more diverse ideas and voices to the show, and supporting entrepreneurship nationwide.
“ABC’s Shark Tank and its producer Mark Burnett are committed to supporting entrepreneurs from every community in the nation. The power of seeing someone who looks like you successfully pitch a business on the show cannot be understated,” says DuBois.
In 2015, Values Partnerships held 11 casting events in 6 cities. Several entrepreneurs, including Sprëtz  and Piper Wai pitched at Values Partnerships events and were selected for Season 7 of Shark Tank. The 2016 tour kicks off this week in Miami (March 4).
Events are planned in other cities, including Austin, Texas; NYC; Washington, D.C; Detroit, Michigan; New Orleans, Louisiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; and San Francisco/Oakland.

Zendaya Joins Marvel and Sony Pictures' ‘Spider-Man’ Reboot

By goodblacknews on March 7, 2016
Zendaya as Cut Throat in Taylor Swift's "Bad Blood" video (photo via YouTube)
Zendaya as Cut Throat in Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” video (photo via YouTube)

article by Justin Kroll via Variety.com
Zendaya has landed a key role in Marvel and Sony’s “Spider-Man” reboot starring Tom Holland, sources confirmed to Variety.
Jon Watts is directing the currently untitled “Spider-Man” film from a script by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal are producing the movie, which focuses on a teenage Peter Parker’s high school days.
Holland is starring as Parker, while Zendaya’s role is still under wraps. Marisa Tomei will play Aunt May.
Zendaya was one of a handful of actresses who had been testing with Holland for the past couple of weeks, but insiders stress that the character is neither Parker’s love interest nor a lead role. She will, however, play a bigger part in future installments.  Plot details are still being heavily guarded.
Holland’s Spider-Man will first make an appearance in the upcoming “Captain American: Civil War” with a standalone pic bowing on July 7, 2017. Production is expected to start this summer.
Zendaya is the star of the Disney Channel series “Shake It Up!” and “K.C. Undercover.” The actress-singer also appeared on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2013 and recently had a guest role on “Black-ish.”
To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2016/film/news/spider-man-reboot-zendaya-1201724216/

Mavis Staples Tells Her Own Story in HBO Documentary "Mavis!"

By goodblacknews on March 6, 2016

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Mavis Staples attends the NY Premiere of HBO’s documentary film ‘MAVIS!’ at Florence Gould Hall on February 24, 2016 in New York City.  (MICHAEL LOCCISANO/GETTY IMAGES FOR HBO)

article by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph. D. via theroot.com
Legendary singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples has been in the business of making music and changing lives for over 60 years. The Chicago-born singer with the signature raspy voice launched her career in 1950 as part of the family gospel group The Staple Singers, comprised of her father (Pops) and three older sisters (Cleotha, Pervis and Yvonne). The “skinny 15-year-old girl with the big voice” was often mistaken for a man or a big woman, surprising fans with her childlike appearance despite her full-bodied voice.
Like many family acts, the Staples honed their craft in the church before taking their show on the road. Having recorded a couple of singles, the Staples Singers hit their stride with the 1957 release of “Uncloudy Day,” on the renowned Vee-Jay Records, which became a mainstream hit. The rest as they say is music history. Staples’ life and times as a singer and activist are chronicled in the HBO documentary Mavis!, directed by Jessica Edwards, who made it her goal to capture the life of a living legend in her words on her terms, having realized that “No one had done the story of her.”
Mavis! chronicles the rise of the Staples Singers and their evolution from gospel to freedom songs to soul music. Staples leads viewers down memory lane recalling the group’s work with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement, her romance with the love of her life (musical giant Bob Dylan) and Staples desire to remain humble despite her staying power and overcoming the precariousness of the music business.
The 76-year-old, who still lives in Chicago, is still touring and picking up awards, having recently won a 2016 Grammy for Best Roots Performance for the song, “See That My Grave is Kept Clean.”  Staples is proud of her win. “It’s a wonderful feeling for an artist of my generation to be honored and recognized,” says Staples. “It’s very inspiring and it makes me feel like my decision not to retire and to keep making new music was the right one,” she adds.
To read more, go to: http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2016/03/mavis_staples_tells_her_own_story_in_mavis.html
Mavis! is currently airing on HBO. Check local listings

FEATURE: Director, Producer and Emmy Award-Winning Actress Regina King Has So Many Stories to Tell

By goodblacknews on March 6, 2016
Regina King (Credit: Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York Times)

article by Wesley Morris via nytimes.com

LOS ANGELES — Regina King’s house has a cozy seat at the foot of a hill in a section of the Los Feliz neighborhood here. The house isn’t far from the street but fosters an aura of secluded serenity anyway: A grapefruit tree guards the property. Off the rear patio is a small room with a vintage Pac-Man console and a signed LP of Prince’s “Controversy” on the wall.
On a sunny January morning, Ms. King sat in the kitchen calmly as the finishing touches were being done on her hair and makeup. She was hours from a trip to the Critics’ Choice Awards. Getting dressed would happen later. In the meantime, she wore a black one-piece unitard that unzipped in the front.
It’s easy to imagine this scene playing out regularly in her kitchen. After 30 years in the business, starting as a teenage actor on the NBC sitcom “227” and continuing with a series of notable but supporting film roles, Ms. King has made her mix of hard candor and intense warmth an asset for dramatic television. In 2015, five years after she published a short but action-packed plaint in The Huffington Post criticizing the lack of inclusion at the 2010 Emmys, she won her first Emmy for her work as Aliyah Shadeed, the Muslim-American sister of a murder suspect on John’s Ridley’s ABC anthology series, “American Crime.”

Blair Underwood to Star in ABC Drama Pilot

By goodblacknews on March 6, 2016

Blair Underwood (Photo by MattBaron/BEI/BEI/Shutterstock)
Blair Underwood (Photo by MattBaron/BEI/BEI/Shutterstock)

article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
Blair Underwood is set as the male lead in ABC’s untitled Meaghan Oppenheimer drama pilot, executive produced by Reese Witherspoon. Written by Oppenheimer, the project follows the personal and professional life of Gemma, a ruthless divorce attorney in Dallas, which begins to unravel when her emotionally damaged, love-addicted sister resurfaces, triggering self-destructive tendencies and exposing long-hidden family secrets.
Underwood will play James, Gemma’s boss and sometime-lover. Gemma’s law professor and mentor for years, who instilled in her a sense of cutthroat ambition, he is the one person unafraid to belittle her.
Underwood’s last turn starring in a television series was on NBC’s quickly-canceled remake of “Ironside.”  His availability put Underwood in high demand this pilot season with multiple offers.  He most recently worked with ABC and ABC Studios on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where he had a recurring role. Underwood will next be seen in a guest stint on CBS’ The Good Wife.
To read more, go to: http://deadline.com/2016/03/blair-underwood-cast-abc-drama-pilot-reese-witherspoon-1201714769/

New Collection of Kendrick Lamar Music Appears Online

By goodblacknews on March 5, 2016

10 Web Series That Showcase the Brilliance and Ingenuity Of Black Women

By goodblacknews on March 5, 2016

Comic-Con International 2012 - Day 4
(Source: Chelsea Lauren / Getty)

article by Veronica Hilbring via hellobeautiful.com
Since its inception, YouTube has been a place for content creators to launch new projects. Black women have taken advantage of that platform by launching ambitious music, short films and sitcom projects. From tackling the corporate America to a new age Sex & The City, Black women are creating the best content on the web. Check out our favorite women of YouTube and their amazing shows.
Reagan Gomez-Preston – “Surviving” 
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udKoXDSpSko&w=560&h=315]
Reagan Gomez-Preston isn’t an actress waiting on her next role, she’s been creating her own lane by crowd funding her own web series.
Written and directed by Gomez, “Surviving” follows Shayla, a doctor as her hospital is overrun with a mysterious virus. Shayla doesn’t believe the virus is more than the flu but she it isn’t until after she comes face to face with the virus’ effects that she realizes that the world may be on the brink of a catastrophe. If you’re a fan of “The Walking Dead,” you’re going to love “Surviving.”
Kim Williams – “Unwritten Rules”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbZjKDwy8vE&w=560&h=315]

If you’ve ever been the only Black woman at your job, then you’ll definitely relate to Racey.
Based on the book, “Unwritten Rules: The Diary of a Nigger, Negro, Colored, Black, African American Woman” by creator Kim Williams, this show gives you a hilarious look at life in corporate America. From dealing with her racist boss to meddling coworkers, “Unwritten Rules” is the perfect anecdote after a long day at work.