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MUSIC MONDAY: “Ain’t That Good News” – a Sam Cooke Birthday Tribute (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Ain’t That Good News” – a Sam Cooke Birthday Tribute (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on January 24, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Hey, it’s Lori, GBN’s Editor-in-Chief, stepping in with this week’s Music Monday share. As this past Saturday was what would have been Sam Cooke’s 91st birthday, and since Marlon West crafted such a lovely tribute playlist to the “King of Soul” in honor of his 90th last year, I thought it fitting to share it once again in case anyone missed it:

What I’d like to add this time around —  you can read Marlon’s words about Cooke and his indelible contributions to music and the genre of Soul here — is a couple of great podcasts I heard about Cooke’s musical journey in the past year.

The first is the “Don’t Know Much About History” episode of Chris Molanphy‘s Hit Parade podcast, which covers the chart history and influence of Sam Cooke’s singing and songwriting on American popular music:

The second is an in-depth look at “You Send Me” as one of the pivotal songs in the long term development and metamorphosis of the genre called Rock music (which has its roots in jazz, blues, R&B, country and soul) in Andrew Hickey‘s A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs:

There may be even more in depth looks at Cooke and his music in the podcast verse, but these are two that I’ve heard and can assure you are worth your time.

Also worth your time is the 1995 biography You Send Me: The Life and Times of Sam Cooke by Daniel J. Wolff.

The two documentaries available on Amazon Prime, I gotta admit, not as much. Worth it if you want to know more about the parts of Cooke’s life and his untimely death that sometimes overshadow his contributions to music. I’ve watched them both, and the archival footage of Cooke’s performances in Legend makes it the superior choice.

Lastly, as one of the inaugural members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986, it should be no surprise that Cooke’s music has been sampled and covered for decades by artists as diverse as Beyoncé, The Game, Amy Winehouse, Terence Trent D’Arby, Bruce Springsteen and Beenie Man. To check out the entire list, go here: https://www.whosampled.com/Sam-Cooke/

I hope you enjoy all the Sam Cooke options available, and that you, as Marlon says, stay safe, sane and kind!

(paid links)

Spike Lee to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2022 Directors Guild Awards

Spike Lee to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at 2022 Directors Guild Awards

By goodblacknews on January 21, 2022

Academy Award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee will be honored with the lifetime achievement award for his contributions to motion picture direction from the Directors Guild of America (DGA), according to Variety.com. The award is the organization’s top hono\.

“Icon. Trailblazer. Visionary. Spike Lee has changed the face of cinema, and there is no single word that encapsulates his significance to the craft of directing,” said Lesli Linka Glatter, president of the DGA. “From his groundbreaking Do the Right Thing, BlacKkKlansman and everything in between — to his signature ‘double dolly’ shot, Spike is an innovator on so many levels. His bold and passionate storytelling over the past three decades has masterfully entertained, as it held a stark mirror to our society and culture.”

New York University film school alum  Lee began his motion picture directing career by helming the independently produced She’s Gotta Have It, released in 1986, which in 2017 was adapted into a series for Netflix and in n 2019, was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

Some of Lee’s other notable films are School Daze, Mo Better Blues, Malcolm X, Jungle Fever, He Got Game, Clockers, Inside Man, Girl 6, Get on The Bus and his most recent release, Da 5 Bloods on Netflix.

Lee has also directed several award-winning documentaries, including 1997’s 4 Little Girls about the Alabama church bombings in 1963, and 2006’s When the Levees Broke, about Hurricane Katrina and the injustices and devastation it wrought on New Orleans and its Black and low-income communities.

Only 35 directors have been honored with the DGA lifetime achievement award since it started in 1953 (Cecil B. DeMille was the first recipient).

Lee is the first Black director to receive the award which will be given at the DGA’s 74th annual awards ceremony on March 12.

University of Pennsylvania Professor Anita Allen Wins the American Philosophical Association’s Highest Honor

University of Pennsylvania Professor Anita Allen Wins the American Philosophical Association’s Highest Honor

By goodblacknews on January 18, 2022

According to jbhe.com, Professor Anita L. Allen, the Henry R. Silverman Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, has been selected by The American Philosophical Association as the 2021 winner of the Philip L. Quinn Prize, the highest honor the association has to offer in recognition of service to philosophy and philosophers.

“This award means the world to me,” says Professor Allen. “It reflects the unexpected success of my interdisciplinary commitments as a scholar, teacher, and mentor. It was remarkable to have been the first Black woman APA president in 2018-19 and it’s a special achievement, as a Black woman, to be receiving the highest award for service to the discipline.”

To quote jbhe.com:

Professor Allen is an internationally renowned expert on philosophical dimensions of privacy and data protection law, ethics, bioethics, legal philosophy, women’s rights, and diversity in higher education. She was vice provost for faculty at the University of Pennsylvania from 2013-2020.Professor Allen is the author of several books on privacy issues including Unpopular Privacy: What Must We Hide (Oxford University Press, 2011) and Why Privacy Isn’t Everything: Feminist Reflections on Personal Accountability (Rowman & Littlefield, 2003).

Professor Allen holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Michigan. She is also a graduate of Harvard Law School.

Read more: https://www.jbhe.com/2021/12/anita-allen-wins-the-apas-highest-honor-for-service-to-philosophy/

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MUSIC MONDAY: MLK DAY – The Ultimate Civil Rights Soundtrack (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: MLK DAY – The Ultimate Civil Rights Soundtrack (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on January 17, 2022

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Hello on this MLK Day Monday! Hope this missive finds you all well. I put together this collection of tracks to celebrate this day. I’ve included songs that speak directly to the struggle for Civil Rights.

Some of these tracks were favorite songs of Dr. King’s and other leaders of the movement. While other tracks both classic and new are inspired by their efforts and sacrifice.

I have also included a few excerpts for the great man’s speeches as well. Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke, Gil Scott-Heron, and Nina Simone are all present. Though so are Common, Steel Pulse, Killer Mike, and others that came in their wake.

Hope you enjoy the collection of soul, jazz, gospel, reggae, and hip-hop track to celebrate the King Holiday.

As always, stay safe sane, and kind. “See” ya soon!

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
“A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022 is Now 35% Off and… a Daily Podcast! (LISTEN)

“A Year of Good Black News” Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022 is Now 35% Off and… a Daily Podcast! (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on January 12, 2022
by Lori Lakin Hutcherson, Good Black News Editor-in-Chief

Thank you to everyone who so far has purchased, gifted and supported GBN’s A Year of Good Black News, the Page-A-Day Calendar for 2022 we’ve done  with Workman Publishing. Your appreciation has made it more than worth it.

Even though 2022 has officially started, if you or someone you know is still looking to get A Year of Good Black News, it is now available for 35% off at workman.com with Code: CAL35 until January 31st!

It’s also still available at Amazon, Bookshop, Barnes & Noble and other online retailers.

I’m also excited to share that we’ve broadened the calendar’s accessibility recently by launching Good Black News: The Daily Drop.

Good Black News: The Daily Drop is a podcast based on the calendar that offers an audio version of each entry that is posted daily, in addition to one new bonus episode every weekend (Saturdays and Sundays of the physical calendar share an entry). Check out the trailer here:

Our latest bonus episode:

And today’s episode:

Good Black News: The Daily Drop is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts and rss.com. Or you can subscribe by the rss feed via any platform you like.

Enjoy!

(paid links)

R.I.P. Jazz and R&B Artist, Musician and Producer James Mtume, 76

R.I.P. Jazz and R&B Artist, Musician and Producer James Mtume, 76

By goodblacknews on January 11, 2022

James Mtume, recording artist, musician and one of the most innovative producers of R&B in the 1970s and 1980s, passed away on January 9. He was 76.

Philadelphia native Mtume is perhaps best known for his 1983 hit single “Juicy Fruit” which became even more well known when sampled in 1994 in Notorious B.I.G.’s signature hip hop single “Juicy.”

Mtume began his professional career playing percussion with Miles Davis’ electric band in the 1970s. Multi-instrumentalist Mtume brought his jazz chops to R&B when he later wrote and produced songs for Roberta Flack, Donny Hathaway, Stephanie Mills and others.

To quote from Los Angeles Times:

Described in the artist’s words as “sophistifunk,” Mtume’s sleek yet finely detailed music layered lush, jazz-inspired chord arrangements over uncluttered post-disco grooves that could make slow jams feel like club tracks and make club tracks feel like slow jams.

“Juicy Fruit,” with a stuttering drum-machine beat and a risqué lyric suggesting the pleasures of oral sex, spent eight weeks atop Billboard’s R&B chart (and led, Mtume said, to a legal inquiry from the Wrigley gum company).

Mtume’s survivors include his wife, Kamili; his brother, Jeffrey Forman; two sons, four daughters and six grandchildren.

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2022-01-10/james-mtume-juicy-notorious-big-dies?_amp=true

https://www.npr.org/2022/01/10/1071812297/percussionist-james-mtume-the-beat-behind-juicy-and-later-miles-davis-dies-at-76

MUSIC MONDAY: “Vibes” – a Chill Room Music Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Vibes” – a Chill Room Music Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on January 10, 2022

by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)

Hey, it’s Lori, GBN’s Editor-in-Chief, stepping in with this week’s Music Monday share. It’s a list I created for myself at the beginning of 2021 called “VIBES: Cuts for the ‘Chill’ Room” to help me keep it together after almost a full year of lockdown.

The vaccines were being rolled out, and the pandemic’s end seemed to be in sight. We all just had to chill a little bit longer.

Whelp. Here we are again, another year gone and still struggling with this beast of a global health challenge. So it seems appropriate to turn to my “chill music” playlist once again, and to share it this time, as we collectively grapple with the latest surge:

When I say “chill music,” I’m talking about the kinds of songs you’d hear in the “chill room” of a rave. Back in the 1990s when raves were at their zenith, they were often held in spaces with multiple floors or rooms.

A “chill room” gave partygoers an option to briefly escape the pounding “thumpa thumpa” and the steamy sweat generated on the main dance floor. The music played in there was on the low-key side, but still kept the vibe and pulse of the night going.

Chill room music allowed you to cool down, chillax, maybe even have a conversation with friends or fellow club lovers before going back into the space where the pounding sounds practically replaced the pounding of your own heartbeats.

This playlist features artists from those days such as Soul II Soul, Sade, Jamiroquai, Dimitri in Paris, Blue Six, Supreme Beings of Leisure, Air, Massive Attack and Mr. Fingers, plus artists like Roy Ayers whose earlier 1970s cuts (e.g. “Everybody Loves The Sunshine”) inspired much “chill room”-style music to come.

Contemporary artists Solange, Lucky Daye, Chloe X Halle, Moon Boots, Yasmin Lacey, Drake, Trackademiks, Mr. Day, Esperanza Spalding, Janelle Monae, The Internet, H.E.R., Amber Mark and Thundercat are also represented in this mix.

I personally listen to this one whenever I need to grab a moment of mellow, yet still be focused. I find it a great list to write to, pay bills… to let it be my steady, toned down pulse as I relax, refresh and reset before re-entering the “main floor.”

I hope you can enjoy… and chill.

Ahmaud Arbery’s Three Murderers Sentenced to Life in Prison

Ahmaud Arbery’s Three Murderers Sentenced to Life in Prison

By goodblacknews on January 8, 2022

Judge Timothy R. Walmsley sentenced father and son Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael and their neighbor William “Roddie” Bryan Jr. to life in prison for their felony murder of Ahmaud Arbery near Brunswick, GA in February 2020.

Bryan will be eligible for parole in 30 years; the McMichaels have no possibility for parole. As he sentenced the murderers, Judge Walmsley had the courtroom sit in silence for one minute to have everyone present get a feel for at least a fraction of the five minutes Arbery was chased and terrorized by his now-convicted killers.

(l to r) Travis McMichael, William “Roddie” Bryan, Jr. and Gregory McMichael

“When I thought about this, I thought from a lot of different angles,” Walmsley said, “and I kept coming back to the terror that must have been in the mind of the young man running through Satilla Shores.”

These thoughts were likely never far from Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones,  his father Marcus Arbery, or the rest of his family.

To quote nbcnews.com:

Arbery’s parents and sister, who spoke before the sentences were handed down, asked the judge to show no lenience.

“The man who killed my son has sat in this courtroom every single day next to his father. I’ll never get that chance to sit next to my son ever again. Not at a general table. Not at a holiday. And not at a wedding,” Arbery’s father, Marcus Arbery, said before the sentence was announced.

“His killers should spend the rest of their lives thinking about what they did and what they took from us and they should do it behind bars because me and my family have to do it for the rest of their life.”

Attorneys for all three of Arbery’s murderers have said they intend to appeal the convictions.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/three-men-convicted-murdering-ahmaud-arbery-sentenced-life-prison-rcna10901

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/us/judge-timothy-walmsley-minute-of-silence-arbery/index.html

R.I.P. Sidney Poitier, 94, Legendary Actor, Director, Author and Ambassador

R.I.P. Sidney Poitier, 94, Legendary Actor, Director, Author and Ambassador

By goodblacknews on January 7, 2022

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:

In April 1997, Poitier was appointed ambassador from the Bahamas to Japan, a position he held for a decade, until 2007.He was also the author of his highly-regarded 2000 autobiography, The Measure of a Man, 2009’s Life Beyond Measure: Letters to my Great-Granddaughter and his 2013 fiction foray Montaro Caine: A Novel.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/07/movies/sidney-poitier-dead.html

https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/07/entertainment/sidney-poitier-death/index.html

(paid links)

MUSIC MONDAY: “I’m Still Here” – Tracks to Bolster The Heart and Soul (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “I’m Still Here” – Tracks to Bolster The Heart and Soul (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on January 3, 2022

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy first Monday of 2022! Hope this young year has been treating you well so far.

Well, this collection is definitely a group effort. Last week I asked the readers of Good Black News and other friends and family to offer songs that have helped sustain them during these mercurial Covid times. Folks did not disappoint.

I have assembled a playlist of old and new music of many genres to enjoy during this fourth wave of The Vid.

I’M STILL HERE takes its title from a track by the immortal Sharon Jones. It was created for the documentary, Miss Sharon Jones!, about her tenacious battle with cancer. This collection contains songs offered by stalwart GBN music contributor, Jeff Meier, our Editor-in-Chief, Lori Lakin Hutcherson, and many readers and pals from all over.

Eighty-one year old Jazz legend Pharaoh Sanders is in the house with a record released during 2021. There are songs by folks like the emerging artist Yola too.

There are tracks considered by most as enduring classics, and others that will be well worth putting in the effort to “get to know.” Do enjoy more than 9 hours of music to fill your heart and soul. I hope this short missive finds you all safe and well.

Thanks for pitching in and enjoy. And as always, stay safe, sane, and kind. See ya soon.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)