The African-American community collectively mourned when Johnson Publishing announced earlier this year that it would no longer print “JET Magazine”. Black Twitter exploded with grief over popular magazine features like the “Beauty of the Week” and “JET Weddings” when readers every where believed they’d never see their faces printed in the book. But no so fast! In a daring and exciting move forward, the JET Magazine Digital App is available right now for free download (in-app purchases and subscriptions available).
Chicago’s own Keke Palmer graces the cover of the new digital APP announcing her new talk show, “Just Keke,” airing on BET. The trusted pocket-sized mag is better than ever in a downloadable interactive app that features 360 degree views of your “JET Beauty of the Week”, audible playlists of the top songs of the week, and JET weddings lives on in the “Love” section, dedicated to both celebrity and real people love stories. The new interactive mag features long form investigations, celebrity features and interactive fashion features for the stylish person on the go.
Digital Editorial Director Kyra Kyles shares her hope for the future. “I am so very excited about this app launch, as I feel it will allow us to stretch the boundaries of storytelling and offer readers a very dynamic platform that reflects their interests. I’m honored to be part of carrying the JET legacy and trusted brand into the future of media.”
Ebony and JET Magazine have anchored the Black community for decades and their forward movement into the digital space shows the power of Black media in the ever changing digital landscape.
Download it here:https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/jet-digital/id883558819?ls=1&mt=8
article by Leigh Davenport via newsone.com
Good Black News
“Star Trek” actor and “Reading Rainbow” host LeVar Burton has created a supremely successful Kickstarter campaign to make a web version of his award-winning PBS show that’s on track to raise $5 million when it ends.
A little “Reading Rainbow” has gone a very long way.
The Kickstarter campaign to create a web version of the award-winning PBS show has broken a record on the crowd fund-raising site for most individual contributors, Entrepreneur magazine reports.
With just one day to go, the effort, created by the show’s executive producer and host LeVar Burton, has amassed more than 97,000 contributors and nearly $5 million.
“Bring Reading Rainbow Back for Every Child, Everywhere” was created at the end of May. In a matter of hours, the campaign surpassed its initial goal of $1 million.
Soon after, “Family Guy” creator Seth McFarlane pledged to match donations to the literary project up to $1 million, Burton announced June 28.
As the “Reading Rainbow” effort quickly became the fifth-most funded campaign on Kickstarter, in an unprecedented move the four bigger campaigns — including the “Veronica Mars” movie project — have all donated rewards to it.
article by Chiderah Monde via nydailynews.com
ARLINGTON, Va. (NNS) — The United States Navy Vice Admiral Michelle Janine Howard earned promotion to the rank of four-star admiral today during a ceremony at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery. Admiral Howard is now the first female four-star in the 238 year history of the United States Navy.
Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus presided over the ceremony and administered the oath of office. “Michelle Howard’s promotion to the rank of admiral is the result of a brilliant naval career, one I fully expect to continue when she assumes her new role as vice chief of naval operations, but also it is an historic first, an event to be celebrated as she becomes the first female to achieve this position,” said Mabus. “Her accomplishment is a direct example of a Navy that now, more than ever, reflects the nation it serves – a nation where success is not borne of race, gender or religion, but of skill and ability.”
“Michelle’s many trailblazing accomplishments in her 32 years of naval service are evidence of both her fortitude and commitment to excellence and integrity,” said Adm. Jonathan Greenert, Chief of Naval Operations. “I look forward to many great things to come from the Navy’s newest 4-star Admiral!”
Howard, the Deputy CNO for Operations, Plans, and Strategy, will relieve Adm. Mark Ferguson III as the 38th Vice Chief of Naval Operations (VCNO) later this afternoon. Howard is a 1978 graduate of Gateway High School in Aurora, Colo. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982 and from the Army’s Command and General Staff College in 1998, with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences.
The embattled Los Angeles’ Martin Luther King Jr. Hospital is set to reopen in early 2015 according to hospital officials, giving residents in its surrounding community access to much needed care as well as job opportunities. The hospital originally opened in 1972 serving the African American and Latino community with various types of medical services until the year 2007. The “heaven sent” hospital as it is known to many members of the community was shut down due to high patient deaths, unqualified staff, hygiene issues, and medical scandals. The shut down resulted in the loss of hospital jobs and lack of nearby emergency rooms for the community.
According to the MLK Community hospital website, “The hospital is expected to serve 1.2 million residents from all over South Los Angeles including Compton, Inglewood, Watts-Willowbrook and Lynwood.”
Not only will the hospital create jobs for people in the community, but it will also provide more than 10 inpatient and outpatient services including but not limited to Anesthesiology, Cardiology-medical and diagnostic, Emergency medicine, Endocrinology and Gastroenterology. The new hospital will also have 131 beds, a 21-bed emergency department, a critical care unit, and labor and delivery services.
“We’re not done yet, we have a lot to do and we are going to do it,” said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “We are putting in the kind of services that meet the needs and the demands of that population.”
The hospital will take new measures to ensure and decrease hospital scandals, hygiene issues, and unqualified staff by hiring the highest quality staff and using modern day technology. The hospitals mission is to “provide compassionate, collaborate, quality care and improve the health of our community. Our vision is to be a leading model of innovation, collaboration and community health care.”
For more information visit: http://www.mlkcommunityhospital.org
article by Kimberlee Buck via lasentinel.net
Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network has picked up a new reality series coming this fall titled, “Flex and Shanice.”
The show— which features the dynamic family life of “One on One” actor Flex Alexander and his wife, R&B singer Shanice Wilson — aired a test-episode on May 31st and garnered great audience numbers. According to Multichannel News, almost 500,000 people tuned in, which was a 25 percent increase in viewers in the 10PM time-slot compared to last year. The special was the night’s number one program for African-American women between ages 25-54 and 18-49, reported Eurweb.
“Saturday nights on OWN have become the place to be for viewers seeking great family entertainment, and we are pleased to share the newest members of our family with our audience,” said Sheri Salata, OWN co-president. “Flex, Shanice and their big, loud, loving brood are not unlike many families today who have combined resources in order to get through some tough times. Seeing how their love, laughter, and enduring faith in one another makes even the most challenging of days worthwhile is both entertaining and inspiring. We think our viewers are really going to connect with them.”
The reality show will not only focus on family, but will also delve into the financial issues that Flex and Shanice have experienced over the years. Flex sat down with Yahoo Music and said that the series will display some of the ‘ups and downs of the [entertainment] business.’ “You’re making money. You think it’s just going to continue to go on…and then reality hits, and you’re looking like, ‘Wow, there’s nothing in the account,” said Flex.
OWN’s Saturday nights will also include “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” “Six Little McGhees,” “Deion’s Family Playbook,” “Life With La Toya,” “Welcome To Sweetie Pie’s” and “Raising Whitley.”
article by Kacie Whaley via naturallymoi.com
Meshach Taylor, the actor best known for playing the only male character on the popular television show “Designing Women,” died on Saturday at his home outside Los Angeles. He was 67. The cause was colorectal cancer, his agent, Dede Binder, said.
“It is with love and gratitude that we sorrowfully announce that our darling, amazingly brilliant and dynamic, Meshach, the incredible father, husband, son and friend has begun his grand transition,” the family said in a statement.
Mr. Taylor played Anthony Bouvier, an ex-convict who became a partner at a design firm in Atlanta with four women on the CBS sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1993. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1989 for his role on the show.
In a career that spanned more than three decades, he appeared in films and onstage, including his screen debut in the 1978 movie “Damien: Omen II,” roles in the 1987 film “Mannequin” and on the television shows “Dave’s World” and “Buffalo Bill.” He has appeared regularly in television dramas since, including the series “In the Heat of the Night,” “Hannah Montana,” and “All of Us”. He recently appeared in two episodes of the television drama “Criminal Minds.”
In 1998, Mr. Taylor played Lumiere in “Beauty and the Beast” on Broadway. Earlier, he performed at the Goodman Theater in Chicago, where in 1985 he played Jim, the runaway slave, in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”
“The eldest of three children of two former college professors, Taylor, a precocious child, first learned acting technique as a survival skill. ‘The kids called me the Professor, and I got beat up a lot,’ he says. ‘So I dummied up until I got into the 11th grade,'” the profile read.
“Even when he didn’t have any money, he always had style. He was on the cutting edge of men’s colognes, and he was always buying yachting magazines and GQ,” actor Joe Mantegna told the magazine.
He is survived by his wife, Bianca Ferguson, four children and four grandchildren.
article via CNN and nytimes.com
Karyn Parsons, best known for her role as Hillary in the TV show “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” is raising funds for a new animated short about Janet Collins, the first black prima ballerina and soloist to ever perform at NYC’s Metropolitan Opera. In Collins’ journey, she overcame many great obstacles; at the age 15, the young dancer was asked to join the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but only if she performed in whiteface.
After refusing to dance in whiteface, Collins went on to become a renowned Prima Ballerina, winning awards for her performances on Broadway. In 1950, Collins was honored with the Best Dancer of Broadway title, making Collins a pioneer in this industry for paving the way for other black dancers and companies such as Alvin Ailey and the Dance Theater of Harlem.
The short story will be narrated by actor/comedian/producer Chris Rock and presented by Parsons’ founded award-winning organization Sweet Blackberry, whose mission is to educate kids on the achievements of African Americans with inspiring true stories.
So far, the project’s Kickstarter page shows 18 days left to go in the campaign, with over $16,000 already pledged of its $75,000 goal.
For more information on Sweet Blackberry, click here to see the Kickstarter video and contribute!
article by Vanessa Martinez via Shadow and Act
A watershed moment, a major milestone, recently took place on Broadway, with the orchestras of four major shows led under the batons of distinguished African-American music directors and conductors. This marks the first time in the history of Broadway that this many African-Americans have been in executive roles in major productions running contemporaneously.
The men in front of the orchestra and behind the music are (L to R) Daryl Waters, music supervisor and conductor for “After Midnight,” recalling Duke Ellington’s years at the Cotton Club; Zane Mark, music director and conductor for “Holler If Ya Hear Me,” inspired by the late hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur; Joseph Joubert, music director and conductor for “Motown the Musical,” about Berry Gordy’s famous music label; and Shelton Becton, conductor, pianist and performer in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill,” about the legendary Billie Holliday.
article via amsterdamnews.com
Bobby Womack, the multitalented singer-songwriter-guitarist who left an indelible mark on R&B and soul in the 1960s and ’70s, died Friday at 70, his record label XL Recordings confirmed. He had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 2012.
A gutsy singer and a superlative guitar player, Womack charted nearly 50 hits, the majority of them self-penned, during his career of more than 40 years. His No. 1 R&B entries were “Woman’s Gotta Have It” (1972) and “Lookin’ for a Love” (1974), a remake of a number he recorded with his family act the Valentinos for Sam Cooke’s SAR label.
Womack also notched a top 20 hit with “Across 110th Street,” the title number from the 1973 crime thriller starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Kotto; Quentin Tarantino appropriated the song for use under the opening credits of his 1997 pic “Jackie Brown,” and it was also employed in the 2007 Denzel Washington starrer “American Gangster.”
Born in Cleveland to a musical and religious family, Womack began singing and playing guitar at an early age. He toured the gospel circuit with his brothers. Cooke – also a product of gospel music, and the former lead singer of the Soul Stirrers – took the act under his wing, and recorded for SAR with a new moniker. After scoring a No. 8 hit in 1962 with “Lookin’ for a Love,” the group reached No. 21 in 1964 with “It’s All Over Now,” which the Rolling Stones turned into a top 30 pop hit the same year.
After Cooke was shot and killed in an incident at a Los Angeles motel in 1964, the Valentinos disbanded. Womack married Cooke’s widow Barbara three months after the singer’s death.
Womack initially made an impression as a sideman, playing guitar on crucial sessions at FAME in Muscle Shoals and American Studios in Memphis behind Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett (who also cut several of Womack’s compositions for Atlantic).
He recorded some lesser R&B chart singles for New Orleans’ Minit Records before signing in 1971 with United Artists Records, where he found his greatest commercial success. His hits for the company – which combined his trademark grit with a softer, acoustic-based sound – included “That’s the Way I Feel About Cha’” ((No. 2, 1971), “Harry Hippie” (No. 8, 1972), “Nobody Wants You When You’re Down and Out” (No. 2, 1973), “You’re Welcome, Stop on By” (No. 5, 1974), “Check It Out” (No. 6, 1975) and “Daylight” (No. 5, 1976). He also crafted some outstanding albums for the company, including “Communication” (1971) and “Understanding” (1972).
Womack segued to Beverly Glen Records in the late ’70s; there he recorded the mellow, widely praised album “The Poet” (No. 29 in 1981) and its 1984 successor “The Poet II” (No. 60).
He wrestled with a serious cocaine addiction that scuttled his career in the ’80s. He recorded sporadically thereafter, and published an outrageous autobiography, “I’m a Midnight Mover,” in 2006. His later life was marred by tragedy, including the murder of one of his brothers, the death of two sons, and the jailing of a third.
However, after making an appearance on Gorillaz’s 2010 album “Plastic Beach,” he enjoyed a latter-day renaissance. Gorillaz’s Damon Albarn co-produced the 2012 XL set “The Bravest Man in the Universe,” which served to reinstate Womack’s reputation as one of the top do-everything talents in R&B. He played a show at L.A.’s Wilshire Theatre earlier this year, and had been scheduled to perform several tour dates in Europe this summer.
Womack was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. Watch him perform of one of his best, most well-known songs, “If You Think You’re Lonely Now” below:
article by Christopher Morris via Variety.com
Lupita Nyong’o is stunning — and her new ad for Lancôme proves this yet again. The beauty brand’s first ad featuring their newest spokesperson released this week, and Nyong’o looks radiant with her glowing, chocolate-colored complexion.
The Oscar-winning actress became endorsed by the beauty brand in April — and her first ad highlights Lancôme’s Teint Idole Ultra 24H foundation, a smooth blemish-free product which is “available in 28 shades for all skintones.”
The foundation is being touted as one of the brand’s more diverse products, which provides “endless perfection” for women of almost every complexion.
And with the current Vogue magazine cover girl promoting their product, Lancôme seems to be sending a message of appreciation for diversity and consumers of color.
article by Lilly Workneh via thegrio.com