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Keke Palmer Becomes Youngest TV Talk Show Host with BET's "#JUSTKeke" Starting June 30

By goodblacknews on June 10, 2014
The daytime talk show space continues to get crowded (Tyra Banks most recently announced that she’ll be jumping back into that space via ABC), as Keke Palmer and BET are hoping to strike gold with a new talk show targeting so-called millenials – essentially those in her age group – which Palmer will of course host.
Tentatively-titled “#JUSTKeke,” the network has ordered an initial 4-week run, starting on June 30, airing daily, Monday to Friday.  Judge Greg Mathis, apparently looking to expand his empire, will executive produce, while Telepictures is producing. 
The 20-year-old Palmer will become the youngest talk show host in TV history, with “#JUSTKeke,” besting the likes of Ricki Lake, who was 25 when she begun hosting her 1990’s daytime talk show, also aimed at her generation at the time.  Per the press announcement, “#JUSTKeke” will cover a variety of topics important to her target audience, as you’d expect, and will also include celebrity guests, and more. “I like to read quotes that touch on how I am feeling,” Palmer said. “If I am dealing with confusion, I will read quotes about clarity and peace of mind. I started posting these quotes on my Twitter page, and the fans responded so positively! I realized that many of them were dealing with similar issues, and the quotes helped to open up a genuine dialogue between us.”
Palmer boasts around 1.4 million Twitter followers, and I suspect a good number of them will follow her to BET when her talk-show premieres at the end of this month.
She will join “The Wendy Williams Show,” “The Queen Latifah Show,” and new series, “The Real” (hosted by Tamera Mowry-Housley, Tamar Braxton, Loni Love, Adrienne Bailon, and Jeannie Mai,) all in syndication on BET (“Latifah” and “The Real” head to the network this fall). Clearly BET is reinforcing its hold on the black female audience (it’s also rebranding Centric to become a network for black women as well).
You’ll recall that ASPiRE, the new television network from Magic Johnson Enterprises, greenlit its first talk show – “Exhale” – last year, with Angela Burt-Murray, Erin Jackson, Issa Rae, Malinda Williams and Rene Syler all hosting. That talkie is still well and alive.  BET has released a first promo for “#JUSTKeke,” calling it “a new kind of Talk Show”:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3sHzV7dB3M&w=560&h=315]
article by Tambay A. Obenson via ShadowAndAct

Robin Roberts to Receive Walter Cronkite Journalism Award for Excellence from ASU

By goodblacknews on June 8, 2014

Robin Roberts“Good Morning America’’ co-anchor Robin Roberts will receive the 2014 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism from Arizona State University’s Cronkite School.
The university announced that Roberts will receive the award during an Oct. 6 luncheon in Phoenix, reports the AP. Past winners include Bernard Shaw, Tom Brokaw, Diane Sawyer, Jane Pauley, Brian Williams and Helen Thomas.
Cronkite School Dean Christopher Callahan says Roberts has made outstanding contributions to journalism and demonstrated great personal courage.
The Mississippi native, a graduate of Southeastern Louisiana University, faced public battles with breast cancer in 2007 and a bone marrow disorder in 2012. She worked for several radio and television stations and ESPN before being named co-anchor of ABC’s ‘‘Good Morning America’’ in 2005.
article via eurweb.com

Rapper Common Writes Moving Tribute to Dr. Maya Angelou

By goodblacknews on June 3, 2014

Common and Maya Angelou
The rapper remembers the poet who inspired him to write—and later became his friend. 
Since I was 5 years old I have loved reading good writing. I would read anything that my mother or the teachers I loved gave me. In the 2nd grade I came across an author named Maya Angelou and her poem Still I Rise, this incredible piece of art that I somehow knew came from her soul and touched my soul. A piece of art that I somehow knew would change and improve my life. It was through this writer that I gained the inspiration to be somebody in life and to be heard.
I didn’t know that it would be through hip hop and the gift of rap that I would open myself up and become a writer and MC. Through writing I would get the opportunity to travel and see the world—London, Sydney, Johannesburg, Osaka—and it was writing that brought me one October evening to a charity event in New York where we were blessed to have as our luminary for the night, Dr. Maya Angelou. Having her as our guest was a fluke of Divine Order and a true example of Ask and You shall receive.
What had happened was the poet we booked to perform dropped out last minute so my mother said, “I’m gonna try to get in touch with Dr. Maya Angelou.” I said, “Ma, are you crazy? Maya Angelou? How do you think we’re gonna get one of the greatest beings that ever graced this earth last minute? She doesn’t know who Common is.”
Well, to this day I don’t know if she had ever heard of Common before the call was made but somehow through God’s thread she said she would like to meet with me before she decided if she would do the event. So here I am headed to Harlem to meet her at her apartment, just got my hair cut, heart beating, I walk into her beautiful space that smelled like integrity, art, generosity, love, hope, inspiration, honesty, and home. We would sit for two and a half hours talking about writing, my daughter, San Francisco, and Tupac. And oh yeah, Paul Robeson.
The next night she did her thing at the event and embraced me as a young writer-artist, an important voice in hip hop and even flirted with me. Now that really made me feel special. She and I would go on to build a bond that not only would have us spreading love at events in Harlem, Chicago, and D.C., but I would be blessed to go visit her at her home in Winston-Salem, N.C., and celebrate several birthdays with her where we had great times and I got to know her lovely family. It was always an honor to be in her presence and though she did feel like my mother, my grandma, and my friend. I would always Thank God for being there with her.
Every experience was unique, but every time I saw her I learned something about myself and about life, about humanity, about progress. And I was always reminded how we are true reflections of God, how much Light we do have, how great and dynamic Black Women are and how far Integrity, Self Love and Self Respect can take you. I don’t know if my words—or any words—can truly describe the experience of being in the atmosphere of Dr. Maya Angelou, someone you know is sent from the Creator to Give the World A Voice it has never heard, a brightness it has never witnessed, an energy that is Greatness, Divinity and Awakening all wrapped into one.

We would sit for two and a half hours talking about writing, my daughter, San Francisco, and Tupac. And oh yeah, Paul Robeson.

I awoke on May 28, 2014, ready for a powerful day of filming and to do some great work. I was stepping out of a van when I received the news that Dr. Angelou had made her transition and as I moved I felt like my soul was standing still. I hadn’t digested or processed it as I continued to go about the day. Of course I stopped and said a prayer but it wasn’t until the director of our film, Ava DuVernay, said, “We all know what has happened this morning and This Queen is one of the reasons why we can do this film and we will honor her and carry her with us as we proceed forward.” Right then I was able to let loose and cry and release some of the natural pain of losing someone you love and someone so great. And though I’m still in the process I also recognize that she will never be lost and how much we all have gained by having her touch this earth.
God gave us an Angel and we got to witness that Angel for a beautiful time of life. And though that Angel has returned to her maker, Her Work, Her Spirit, Her Words—aw man, Her Words—Her passion, Her heart, Her Love, Her Greatness, Her Royalty, Her Strength, Her Wisdom, Her Divinity, Her Angel will always be here with us. For my daughter’s daughters, your daughter’s daughters, and forever more. Love you, Dr. Maya Angelou.
Love, Common
article via thedailybeast.com

The World's Most Powerful Black Women According to Forbes Magazine

By goodblacknews on May 30, 2014
photo michelleobama-1.jpgEvery year Forbes Magazine publishes a guide to the most powerful women in the world. The list consists of 100 women from a wide array of fields, and this year 10 Black women are counted among them. It is, of course, reasonable to ask how the magazine measures power. The answer is rather unclear, but it seems to be a mix of financial stature and social influence. Take a look at the full list here.  Here are the women who made the list:
#8 Michelle Obama
She may not carry the hard power of her husband but there’s arguably no one who makes better use of the world stage. The Harvard grad and former corporate attorney (she was Barack Obama’s boss) actively uses her platform as first lady to fight childhood obesity and promote healthier eating and lifestyles. With approval ratings at 66%, she’s more popular than her husband by far (44%) — likely because she spends more time laughing on TV than running the country. In 2013, Obama announced the Academy Award for Best Picture, mock “mom dancing” with Jimmy Fallon (18 million views on YouTube) and launched an initiative aimed at increasing the number of low-income students who go to college. This year she’s been extremely visible globally, taking a trip to China in March, where she met with her Chinese counterpart and fellow Power Woman Peng Liyuan. photo oprah.jpg#14 Oprah Winfrey
Though she turned 60 in January, Winfrey is still going at a furious pace. She’s been a red carpet staple this past year thanks to a host of nominations for her role in acclaimed historical drama “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” She also appears to have reversed the fortunes of her once-struggling network OWN, which finally became cash-flow positive in 2013. The first quarter of 2014 was the networks most-watched to date, with double-digit growth across all demographics and bragging rights as the fastest growing cable network among women between the ages of 25 and 54. OWN’s success looks set to continue this year, with a much-anticipated reality show about troubled starlet Lindsay Lohan making headlines and producer Tyler Perry set to helm a talk show on the channel. Winfrey was FORBES’ highest-earning celebrity of 2013 (her haul: $77 million); the majority of her net worth still stems from 25 years of her profitable daytime TV show, plus earnings from her Harpo production company, which has a hand in the Dr. Phil, Rachael Ray and Dr. Oz shows. She continues to support educational causes and has spent more than $100 million on the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

photo beyonce.jpg#17 Beyoncé Knowles
Beyonce is a woman who’s had no shortage of big years, but 2013 was one for the record books. The 32-year-old superstar capped off a banner year that included singing for the president, performing at the Super Bowl, and headlining the most profitable tour of the year by shocking the world with a surprise “visual album” in December. The album is iTunes’ fastest-selling album ever, moving 828,773 units in the first three days. She wrapped up the “Mrs. Carter” world tour in the spring, and will hit the road again this summer — this time joined by Mr. Carter, husband Jay Z. The duo topped Forbes list of the highest-earning celebrity couples last year, with Beyonce out-earning the hip-hop mogul by $11 million. The singer is also embracing her role as an icon of women’s empowerment, declaring that “gender equality is a myth” in an essay for The Shriver Report, throwing her weight behind Sheryl Sandberg’s campaign to “Ban Bossy,” and sampling author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk, “We should all be feminists,” on her new album. photo ursulaburns.jpg#22 Ursula Burns Chair-CEO, Xerox
The world is headed into a paperless future. And yet in her five years as CEO, Ursula Burns has managed to make Xerox–once only known for its carbon copies–a viable and profitable company. This past year, Burns helped Xerox generate adjusted earnings per share of $1.09, up from $1.02 in 2012, and post $21.4 billion in full-year revenue. She recently told shareholders that she would continue to sharpen the company’s technology-driven, services-led portfolio. Services represents 57% of the company’s total revenue and is expected to grow to two-thirds by 2017. Burns is a Xerox lifer, beginning her career in 1980 as a summer intern. photo joycebanda.jpg#40 Joyce Banda President, Malawi
Malawi’s first female president (and second on the African continent) narrowly won a second term this May after originally assuming office in 2012. However, she ordered that the results of the May elections be nullified and the elections be held in 90 days due to electoral irregularities; spectators say it is a desperate attempt to stay in power. Her time so far has been marred by financial scandals, arrests and prosecutions in her own government. But Banda’s most brazen decisions have been for austerity’s sake. She sold off a $15 million presidential jet, cut her own salary by 30 percent and dismissed her cabinet in the midst of corruption allegations. Her bookkeeping measures have helped lift monetary suspensions from Western donors to Malawi and restore cash injections from the IMF.
photo ngozi.jpg#44 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala Minister of Finance, Nigeria
Nigerian economist Okonjo-Iweala didn’t let her failed 2012 bid to become president of the World Bank slow her down. In 2011, she received her second appointment as finance minister of Nigeria. Since then, the country’s GDP has displayed robust growth — 6.87% growth between 2012 and 2013 — especially given the relatively sluggish global recovery. Okonjo-Iweala was key to developing the reform programs that helped stabilize Nigeria’s economy and improve governmental transparency. She has now turned her attention to Nigeria’s 14% unemployment rate. The Harvard- and M.I.T.-trained Okonjo-Iweala spent 21 years as a development economist at the World Bank.
photo ertharin.jpg#45 Ertharin Cousin Executive Director, World Food Programme, United Nations
Cousin has fed 177 million people since taking the helm of world’s largest hunger-fighting organization two years ago. Under Cousin’s leadership WFP increased donations from individuals by 17% last year bringing in $4.3 billion in contributions from 30,000 donors. The funding growth will allow Cousins’ 13,500 strong staff to work in 83 countries this year while focusing on fighting hunger brought on by drought and civil war is Syria, as well as by violent conflicts in South Sudan and the Central African Republic. WFP has airdropped food to support 335,000 people in South Sudan who would otherwise be unreachable because of flooding and security concerns. In 2014 she will launch FoodSECuRE, a program to tackle climate-change-related food insecurity. Looking ahead, Cousin is also focused on transitioning parts of the organization from food aid to food assistance in an attempt to shift from handouts to self-sustenance.
photo ellen.jpg#70 Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf President, Liberia
Liberia recently marked ten years of peace and eight years of leadership by Africa’s first female head of state. Johnson-Sirleaf, a Nobel laureate and former World Bank officer, has become an icon since her days fighting against dictators and corruption in Liberia. Today she is ramping up efforts to bring foreign investment to her impoverished nation ($700 GDP per capita and an estimated 64% of its population live below poverty line). The president says her No. 1 priority is infrastructure but is dogged by accusations of corruption, nepotism and failing the nation’s poor.
photo helene.jpg#78 Helene Gayle President-CEO, CARE
When Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November 2013 CARE was on the ground within days providing food, shelter and supplies. Within three months the anti-poverty organization had raised $20 million toward assisting the storm ravaged nation and within six months had helped 300,000 people. Under Gayle’s leadership CARE total program activities budget is $529 million (from 2012) and will complete over 900 projects in 87 countries this year.
photo folorunsho.jpg#96 Folorunsho Alakija
Folorunsho Alakija’s winding path to becoming one of the richest woman in Africa began in London, where she pursued secretarial studies and fashion design as a young woman. After returning to Nigeria to work as an executive secretary, she founded her own tailoring company, Supreme Stitches. With clients such as former first lady Maryam Babandiga, her company quickly rose to prominence among Nigeria’s high society. Her closeness with Babandiga proved even more valuable when the Ministry of Energy approved her oil prospecting license in 1993, granting her a lucrative block in Nigeria’s coastal waters. Famfa Oil, which she controls, now holds a 60% stake in the oil field. It pumps about 200,000 barrels a day. In 2008, she founded The Rose of Sharon Foundation, which works to help widows and orphans. And in 2013, she was appointed the vice chair of Nigeria’s National Heritage Council and Endowment for the Arts.
article via forharriet.com

 
 

LeVar Burton Helps Raise $1Million on Kickstarter for "Reading Rainbow" Reboot

By goodblacknews on May 29, 2014

ReadingRainbowLevarBurtonLS_article_story_large
LeVar Burton, host of the children’s educational program Reading Rainbow, started a Kickstarter campaign yesterday with colleagues to create an interactive online version of the reading program for kids everywhere and to help schools in need.  The goal of $1 million was reached in just 11 hours.  (See video of Burton’s reaction below.”
Burton hosted the show since its beginning on PBS in 1983 until it went off the air in 2009 and recently helped launch the Reading Rainbow application for tablets.  The Kickstarter campaign says they would like to be on the internet, not just in an app, so the program is accessible to more children.
With the first $1 million, Reading Rainbow could be placed in over 1,500 classrooms for free.  New extended goals will be released for donations past their original goal, said CEO and writer/director of Reading Rainbow Mark Wolfe in an update.
The 35 day campaign still has 34 days left.  As of Thursday morning, the Kickstarter campaign had raised over $1.7 million with over 37,900 backers who had donated.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-XHuNcSMLc&w=560&h=315]
article by Carrie Healey via thegrio.com

Dean Baquet Becomes NY Times’ First African American Executive Editor

By goodblacknews on May 15, 2014

 

dean-baquet-300x208Dean Baquet, managing editor of the New York Times and former top editor at the Los Angeles Times, was named Executive Editor on Wednesday after Jill Abramson stepped down from the New York newspaper’s top editorial job.  Baquet, 57, becomes the first African American in the job.

“It is an honor to be asked to lead the only newsroom in the country that is actually better than it was a  generation ago,” he said in a New York Times account of the development, “one that approaches the world with wonder and ambition every day.”

Baquet’s ascension was big news for black journalists, whose ranks have been buffeted by newspaper staff contractions and indifference to diversity concerns.

“He has reached a height many can only dream about,” messaged Don Hudson, the executive editor of the Decatur (Ala.) Daily who tracks the number of black top editors for the National Association of Black Journalists. “He’s an inspiration to all of us editor types out here in the trenches. I know I’m proud of him.”

Hudson added, “It’s a good day. God is good. First a president and now the top journalist.”

Get the rest of this story at Journal-isms.

Issa Rae’s Color Creative Initiative Supports Minority Writers

By goodblacknews on May 1, 2014

IssaRaeIt might seem like she has the Midas touch, but Issa Rae knows it’s not always that easy to make magic happen and become a success, so she’s making sure to help others who are following in her path.
“I get irritated when others are in a position where they can help others and they don’t pay it forward,” Issa told Sister 2 Sister. “I think that’s the most important part.”
The The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl creator is putting actions behind those words with Color Creative, an initiative that gives “great writers of color a platform and an audience.”
First, the brainchild of Jahmela Biggs, is one of the projects Issa is supporting. It’s a Webseries about falling in love.
“I really, really liked it. It has ‘90s sensibilities in the way that I enjoyed Love Jones so much and it reminded me a lot of it,” the Exhale co-host said.  The third episode of the Web series premieres Wednesday on Issa’s YouTube channel.
In addition to creating and supporting Webseries and co-hosting Exhale on Aspire, Issa said she’s also working on a book, a collection of essays. As if that’s not enough, she’s still in the process of producing a series for HBO.
It may seem like Issa mapped an uncharted road to success intentionally, by launching the Awkward Black Girl series years ago, but she said her rise to the top was sort of unexpected.
“I wish it was part of my master plan. I wish I was that smart,” she said. “I’m just taking it in stride. I was very surprised at how fast it did take off. You just don’t expect that magnitude. I never expected to have all these opportunities continue and that’s what I’m most appreciative for,” she said, thanking her fans.
“I have a ridiculously supportive viewership and fan base. They’re so dedicated to our success and I love that,” she said.
article by Tracy Scott via s2smagazine.com

Centric Sets Pact with Queen Latifah, Orders Season 4 of ‘Single Ladies’

By goodblacknews on April 11, 2014

Queen Latifah
The Queen Latifah-produced scripted series Single Ladies has found new life on Centric, BET’s sibling cable channel.  Centric has ordered a fourth season of the romantic comedy series, created and executive produced by Stacy A. Littlejohn, which previously aired on VH1, as part of a larger content development pact with Latifah’s Flavor Unit Entertainment. Centric will also carry repeats of Latifah’s daytime syndicated talk show.
“We are thrilled to be working once again with Flavor Unit Entertainment and Queen Latifah. She does it all and we are happy to have her join us as a creative force as we continue to grow Centric into a premiere destination for African American women,” said BET Networks chairman-CEO Debra Lee.
The Single Ladies pickup was the centerpiece of Centric’s portion of BET Networks’ upfront presentation announcement in Los Angeles Tuesday.  Flavor Unit, run by Latifah and partner Shakim Compere, is already in business with BET as the producer of the scripted comedy “Let’s Stay Together.”
article by Cynthia Littleton via Variety.com
 

FXX Orders New Comedy Series Starring Tracy Morgan

By goodblacknews on April 7, 2014

Tracy Morgan30 Rock veteran Tracy Morgan is returning to primetime in a new comedy for FXX.  According to Deadline.com, the network has given a straight-to-series order to the project from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia creators Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton and Sunny writer Luvh Rakhe.
This is a brand new concept unrelated to Death Pact, the comedy pilot FX recently produced, from writers Rob Long and Tad Safran, which starred Morgan as a formerly lazy, pot-dealing assistant high school coach who returns to his hometown as a decorated war hero.
McElhenney, Day and Howerton approached Morgan about working with tem in January, with the discussions leading to the new series, reports Deadline. While there had been no formal pass on Death Pact, some cast members already have booked new gigs.
article via eurweb.com

Toni Braxton to Star as Darlene Love in OWN Biopic

By goodblacknews on April 4, 2014

Toni Braxton
According to Variety.com, Toni Braxton will star as singer Darlene Love in OWN’s biopic of the famed pop vocalist.  My Name is Love: The Darlene Love Story is slated for a December premiere, and the telefilm revolves around Love’s long career in the music industry, starting out as the key voice behind Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound hits from the 1960s. OWN’s first scripted movie was brought to the network by Morgan Neville, the documentarian who was behind last year’s Academy Award-winning feature, Twenty Feet from Stardom, about Love and other well-known backup singers.
OWN has also announced it’s set Octavia Spencer to star in a miniseries revolving around a journalist investigating the notorious mass murder and cover-up in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921. Tulsa comes from drama veteran (and Oklahoma native) Nancy Miller (TNT’s Saving Grace).
Additionally, OWN has ordered 20 more episodes of Tyler Perry’s hit primetime soap The Haves and the Have Nots, bringing it to 56 episodes to air through 2015. A new Perry drama series, Single Mom’s Club, is set for a fall debut with a 20-episode order.
Justin Timberlake is lined up as the first guest on the new season of Oprah Winfrey’s interview series Oprah’s Master Class, to premiere May 11.  Another programming tentpole planned for next year is the seven-part documentary series Belief, examining the origins of faith “through the eyes of believers.”