The fact that some of the best political and cultural commentary in the U.S. is coming out of from late-evening comedy shows (e.g. The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, The Amber Ruffin Show) instead of news or current affairs programs is a reality we’ll attempt to unpack another time.
Today, please take seven and a half minutes to watch Amber Ruffin brilliantly (and amusingly) break down in her “How Culture Wars and White Supremacy Go Together Like ‘Green Eggs and Ham'” segment why “culture wars” serve as a smokescreen for many politicians to avoid real issues and create policies to empower the few over the many in our Video of the Week:
Oh, and in case you missed it, John Oliver and his team pretty much hit it out of the park on the history of discrimination towards Black hair and hairstyles in the U.S:
Today being her birthday would have been reason enough to honor the life and career of the one and only Janet Jackson.
But in 2021, it’s also turned out to be once-in-a-lifetime event — the weekend Ms. Jackson has decided to sell over 1,000 personal and professional items viaJulien’s Auctions to fans and collectors alike — and donate a portion of the proceeds to children’s charity Compassion International.
(Sunday, May 16 is the last day to watch and/or bid during the auction. You can do so here.)
As a personal fan who lives in Los Angeles, I was able to go to the public display prior to the auction. Seeing her iconic outfits and costumes along with personal items from her childhood and homes was, in a word, mesmerizing.
If you’ve grown up with her like I and a lot of GenX has, it’s easy to take Janet’s legacy and prowess for granted. But when you look at the history, the music, the videos, her eras across the decades and the impact of them all represented in one place, you fully realize what a uniquely innovative, influential artist she has been, is, and always will be.
With producing partners Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Jackson has crafted some of the most insightful and inspirational — and hey, let’s say it, danceable — issue-oriented songs ever.
Today, we celebrate her contributions to elevating our consciousness and calling for action on topics such as discrimination, poverty, racism, illiteracy, domestic violence, depression, sexism and homophobia with the playlist “The Knowledge” – Janet Jackson Social Justice Music:
“Rhythm Nation” is not only represented on this list by its titular track, but also by “The Knowledge,” “State of the World,” “Livin’ In A World (They Didn’t Make)” and its connective tissue interludes, but also by “The Skin Game,” a track about racial discrimination from that didn’t make the album but was a B-side to its “Come Back To Me” single.
“Like so many Black people, I have my own stories of being profiled — of being stopped, searched and frisked twice in the same month by cops skeptical about a Black woman driving a fancy car. And you have to think, if the cops stop me, how much worse must it be for others?” she wrote. “Yet we go on.”
Janet recently revived “Skin Game” during at her State of the WorldTour, at the 2018 Essence Festival and during her Global Citizens performance in 2018. Check out the kick-ass opening sequence below:
On her 1993 Janet. album, Jackson offered “New Agenda” with Public Enemy’s Chuck D, “This Time” about domestic violence with opera singer Kathleen Battle.
On 1997’s The Velvet Rope, Janet tackled self-esteem and self-worth on “You,” the unhealthy reliance on connections made through the internet on “Empty,” feelings of depression and worthlessness “Special,” homophobia on “Free Xone” and overcoming racial and gender discrimination on the hidden track “Can’t Be Stopped.”
The depth and breadth of this album’s themes are discussed deftly by Ayanna Dozier in her book on The Velvet Rope from the acclaimed 33 1/3 series about music’s most impactful albums.
“Got Til It’s Gone” (seen below) and “Together Again” are also included because visually, this pair of Afrocentric videos were all about self-possession, expression and finding joy in the most difficult of circumstances — in South Africa during apartheid in “Got Til It’s Gone,” and healing oneself through the acknowledgement of the importance of lives of those who passed from AIDS and need to celebrate not stigmatize their lives in “Together Again.”
“What About” mixes the softness of her sweetest love songs with a hard rock edge reminiscent of “Black Cat” as she delivers a tour de force on domestic violence.
Jackson’s performance at the 1998 VH1 Fashion Awards was poignant, powerful and unforgettable:
Rounding out the playlist are the songs “Black Eagle” and “Shoulda Known Better” from her number-one album from 2015, Unbreakable, which acknowledge the work that still needs to be done, how difficult it is to overcome the complex issues of racism and abject poverty and how heart-breaking they are, but why it’s still worth trying.
Though not released as a single or official video, “Shoulda Known Better” was used by a fan to make a video tribute to the victims of the Orlando shooting in 2016, and Janet Jackson shares it as part of her official YouTube channel:
I hope I get to add new songs to this list later this year, if Janet resumes the Black Diamond Tour and releases the Black Diamondalbum, both postponed from 2020 due to the global pandemic.
Or even if she records an entirely new project, I have no doubt that in some form, Ms. Jackson’s outspoken caring and compassion for the world will come through once again.
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has created a special exhibit honoring the late Kobe Bryant, a 2020 Hall of Fame inductee, that has been co-designed and approved by his wife and widow, Vanessa Bryant.
According to the Hall of Fame’s President and CEO, John Doleva, the Bryant exhibit is predicted to become the “most talked about” exhibit inside the Springfield, Massachusetts landmark.
“The family had time to think about what they wanted to do,” Doleva said [as reported by espn.com] during Friday’s news conference for each of the 2020 inductees. “[It’s] about Kobe’s accomplishments but also about what Kobe was after he left the Lakers, after he left basketball.”
The Kobe Bryant exhibit at the Hall of Fame, designed by Vanessa Bryant.
Vanessa Bryant and her oldest daughter, Natalia, accepted Bryant’s Hall of Fame blazer on his behalf and joined the other 2020 inductees at Friday night’s Hall of Fame awards tipoff celebration and awards gala.
NBA Legend Michael Jordan, at the request of Vanessa Bryant, will introduce Kobe Bryant into the Hall this Sunday. Other members of the star-studded 2020 class that will be inducted include Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.
As any regular (or even new) follower of Good Black News may have noticed, we really love music here. Its creators, its history, its present and its future. And days like today – the 71st birthday of musical legend, genius and icon Stevie Wonder – are some of the most exciting, because we get to think of new ways to share about an artist who has given so much to the culture and community.
Last year, in honor of Stevie’s 70th, GBN published a month of differently-themed Stevie playlists, (links to all below). But for the generations who didn’t grow up on Stevie Wonder — particularly the 10-and-under set — where to start? How about right here, with our curated, kid-friendly playlist “Stevie For The Sweeties”:
I remember exactly when I took my children’s musical education and exposure into my own hands — April 21, 2016 — the day Prince passed. My kids didn’t understand why Mommy was so upset and was playing Prince music all the time — in the car, in the house, on the TV, for weeks — because they didn’t know who he was or why his music was important.
It was a wake-up call for me to make a conscious effort to introduce them to the musical greats. Since they were 8 and 6 at the time, I started putting together kid-friendly playlists on iTunes (the very first I called “Prince for My Patooties”) that they could listen to on their own, with friends, or at school during breaks, without any worries about playing any songs that could be objectionable for language or subject matter, and sequenced in a way to keep their interest.
“Stevie For The Sweeties” starts with “Fun Day,” moves into “Sir Duke” (which has been a magic tonic to my sons ears since he was a toddler, and where Stevie himself does some hat tipping to generational forebears by name checking Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and of course, “Sir”Duke Ellington), “I Wish” (which I remember me, my sister Lesa and my cousins David and Darryl singing to as little kids while we played “Three Flies Up” in my Auntie Brenda’s front yard), and “Fingertips Pts. 1& 2”, where Stevie himself was barely double digits in age.
Those great songs and so many more classics to enjoy with the younger set like “Do I Do” (featuring trumpet-great Dizzy Gillespie on an effervescent solo), “I Love Every Little Thing About You,” “Isn’t She Lovely” (which Stevie wrote about his first-born daughter Iesha), “Bird of Beauty” and “You Are The Sunshine of My Life” are part of “Stevie For The Sweeties.”
I hope you enjoy with the sunshines and lovelies in your life, and thank you, thank you, thank you, Stevie Wonder, for your incredible music and life. We love you. Happy Birthday!
[Photos: Jay Z / Tina Turner via wikipedia.commons.org]
Among the six inductees who’ll be formally inducted as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of are rock and R&B legend Tina Turner, and hip hop artist and impresario Jay Z. This will be Turner’s second induction — she was voted in in 1991 as part of the Ike & Tina Turner duo.
Additionally, LL Cool J, who has been nominated six times since 2010, is being honored with a “Musical Excellence Award.”
Joining LL Cool J in getting that Musical Excellence honor is solo star and “fifth Beatle” Billy Preston, and jazz/soul visionary Gil Scott-Heron is being recognized with an Early Influence Award along with early 20th century blues musician Charley Patton.
Finally, the Ahmet Ertegun Award, usually given to record industry executives or other non-performing figures, goes to Clarence Avant this year, the trailblazer who was subject of the 2019 Netflix documentary The Black Godfather.
The four other main inductees this year are the Go-Go’s, Todd Rundgren, Carole King and Foo Fighters.
The 36th annual ceremony is set for October 30 at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, a return to a live event with performances. Due to the pandemic, last year’s class was inducted virtually in pre-recorded segments that aired on HBO.
SiriusXM subscribers will be able to hear a live simulcast with edited version to be aired later on HBO and HBO Max.
Happy Monday, you all. This week’s offering is a soulful collection of cover tunes and original versions of songs that went on to become hits for other folks.
The Pointer Sisters‘ version of Bruce Springsteen’s “Fire” and Whitney Houston’s take on Dolly Parton‘s “I Will Always Love You” are examples of covers that are as famous as the originals.
There’s Otis Redding’s live version of “Respect” where he explains how “This girl, she just took this song” to an amused audience. I’ve included Prince’s demos for “Manic Monday” and “Glamorous Life”, each went on to become hits for the Bangles and Sheila E., respectively.
Good Black News wants to take a moment on this day to honor and remember the women who gave us life, who nurtured and raised us, and also offered us solace, counsel, wisdom, humility and humor.
We are excited to acknowledge that because of progress with vaccinations in the U.S., many of us can be with our mothers or mother figures this year when we could not in 2020.
For those of us who still aren’t able to be with our mothers or mother figures in person, we are with you in voice, online and always – in spirit!
And to all the mothers out there – be they Aunties, Grandmothers, Cousins or Friends – thank you for all you do!
The U.S. Department of Justice, lead by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, has indicted four former Minneapolis police officers in connection with the killing of George Floyd. The charges allege the officers violated Floyd’s constitutional rights, according to court documents filed in federal court in Minnesota.
According to cnn.com, the indictment says Derek Chauvin — who was convicted on second-degree murder charges in Floyd’s death — deprived Floyd of the right to be free from “unreasonable seizure, which includes the right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer.”
Former officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng were also charged in connection with their failure to intervene in Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, per the indictment. Chauvin, Thao, Kueng and the fourth officer, Thomas Lane, all face a charge for failing to give Floyd medical aid.
Such federal charges are rare, notes npr.org, because it is difficult to meet the high legal bar they require. Prosecutors are charged with proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin acted “willfully” to deprive Floyd of his civil rights and used force that was “constitutionally unreasonable.”
Additionally, Chauvin faces a separate federal indictment related to a 2017 incident where he allegedly used a neck restraint “without legal justification” on a 14-year-old and beat the teenager in the head with a flashlight.
San FranciscoMayorLondon N. Breedannounced yesterday the awarding of $3.75 million to serve San Francisco’s Black and African American small business community.
This investment by the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (HRC) is part of the Dream Keeper Initiative, which is reinvesting $120 million from law enforcement into San Francisco’s African American community.
In June 2020, following the killing of George Floyd, Mayor Breed and Supervisor Shamann Walton announced a plan to prioritize the redirection of resources from law enforcement to support the African-American community. Following that plan, HRC led an extensive and collaborative process with the community to identify and prioritize funding needs and developed a report to guide the reinvestment.
The community engagement process included more than 60 community meetings, listening sessions, coalition convenings, and surveys with over 700 respondents. As part of the budget process, Mayor Breed redirected $120 million from law enforcement for investments in the African American community for Fiscal Years 2020-21 and 2021-22.
This funding is aimed at mitigating the economic hardships facing San Francisco’s African American community and will support rebuilding of the community’s economic power in San Francisco.
[Photo: Fred Hampton (l), U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (r) via revolt.tv]
U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democrat from Illinois and an Illinois Black Panther Party co-founder, yesterday introduced a bill to Congress to force the declassification of FBI files related to the death of Party Chairman Fred Hampton.
Additionally, Rush sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in which he requested “that you release unclassified and un-redacted versions of any files or papers in the possession of the U.S. Department of Justice or the FBI pertaining to this assassination.”
Hampton and Mark Clark were assassinated on Dec. 4, 1969 in Chicago by federal agents, and renewed public attention to this event comes on the heels of the 2020 release of the Academy Award-winning filmJudas and the Black Messiah, for which Daniel Kaluuya won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Hampton.
According to thegrio.com, Rush, who was first elected to Congress in 1992, said it was important that “the American people know about the odious and inhumane legacy of J. Edgar Hoover’sCOINTELPRO operation and its assault on our nation’s civil liberties.”
Rush’s bill would require the FBI to release all files related to now-disbanded counterintelligence programs, including those related to the Black Panther Party and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The bill also calls for the removal of Hoover’s name from FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.
