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People Magazine’s ‘Most Beautiful’ Issue: Kerry Washington, Gabrielle Union, Halle Berry and Kelly Rowland Featured

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2013
Halle Berry, Gabrielle Union, Kelly Rowland, and Kerry Washington
Halle Berry, Gabrielle Union, Kelly Rowland, and Kerry Washington are featured in the 2013 People magazine ‘Most Beautiful’ issue. (Photos: Getty Images)

People magazine released details on its annual “Most Beautiful” issue, which featured Beyonce on the cover last year. This year, the ever-esteemed title goes to actress and mother of two, Gwyneth Paltrow.
The issue also features such beauties as Kerry Washington, Kelly Rowland, Halle Berry and Gabrielle Union. Halle, Kerry and Kelly win the distinction of being on the list of the 10 most beautiful people in the world according to People magazine, in the eighth, second and seventh spot respectively.  It’s Kelly Rowland’s first time appearing in the issue, and Halle Berry once napped the top spot with a cover. 
Read the rest of this story on Clutch Magazine.

Harold Washington’s Historic Mayoral Inauguration Celebrated in Chicago 30 Years Later

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2013
Harold Washington, mayor of the city of Chicago, on 12/14/86 in Chicago, Il. (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)

Harold Washington, mayor of the city of Chicago, on 12/14/86 in Chicago, Il. (Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage)

CHICAGO – As Chicagoans marked the 30thanniversary of its first African-American mayor, Harold Washington’s, inauguration on April 29, the effects of his rule and the movement that put him in office could still be felt across the country, although rarely celebrated or vaguely remembered on the façades of buildings in the city.
The son of a lawyer and Chicago precinct captain, Washington was essentially born into local politics. But even operating in a political climate harshly adverse to him, he had a strong commitment to fairness and affecting change for the good of all Chicagoans, from the inside out.
Before becoming mayor, Washington served in the Illinois legislature as a congressman and senator. After he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 1977, a group of community organizers who were upset with the rule of then-mayor Jane Byrne asked him to run in 1983. He did so under two conditions: that the group registered 50,000 African-Americans to vote and raised $250,000 for his campaign.
All ethnic groups involved
“It was the first thing Chicago had ever seen like that before. You had all ethnic groups involved,” said Josie Childs, who worked within Washington’s campaign, administration and now leads a local campaign commemorating Washington’s legacy.
The grassroots effort registered more than 100,000 black voters and raised about half a million dollars for Washington’s campaign, “so it almost put Harold in a position that he couldn’t say no,” said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was part of both of Washington’s campaigns for mayor.

Born On This Day in 1917: American Musical Legend Ella Fitzgerald

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2013

Ella FitzgeraldElla Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917 – June 15, 1996), also known as the “First Lady of Song”, “Queen of Jazz”, and “Lady Ella”, was an American jazz vocalist with a vocal range spanning three octaves (D♭3 to D♭6). She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing and intonation, and a “horn-like” improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing.
Fitzgerald was a notable interpreter of the Great American Songbook. Over the course of her 59-year recording career, she sold 40 million copies of her 70-plus albums, won 13 Grammy Awards and was awarded the National Medal of Arts by Ronald Reagan and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by George H. W. Bush.
ella_fitzgeralds_96th_birthday-1212009-hpAs Google honors Ella with her own Google Doodle today (pictured left), learn more about her life and music on Wikipedia.org.  Also, it is truly worth watching all seven minutes and thirty-nine seconds of the video below as Al Jarreau and Nancy Wilson honor Ella with a spectacular version of one of her biggest hits, “A Tisket, A Tasket” at the 1988 NAACP Image Awards.  Then, after 71 year-old Fitzgerald receives her award, she sings a dynamic, swinging, commanding version of “You Are The Sunshine of My Life” that is not to be missed:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AYin310AaI&w=420&h=315]
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

SékouWrites Launches BumperCandy.com, Automotive Website For Women

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2013
SekouWrites (photo by Brittney M. Walker)

Author, journalist, former Uptown Magazine editor and founder of SimplyRides.com, SékouWrites, has expanded his automotive-lifestyle business with the launch of BumperCandy.com, a multicultural women’s-interest website featuring beautiful cars and the lifestyle that comes with owning them. BumperCandy.com joins SimplyRides.com under the banner of Sékou’s newly created Dubbnet Networks, an assortment of automotive lifestyle websites tailored to audiences with unique interests.

“Ironically, my childhood career goal was to be a car designer,” says Sékou about his new-found path. “Later, when I was the Managing Editor of Uptown Magazine, I edited the car section to reach an audience of folks who are interested in cars but aren’t very interested in what’s under the hood. Once I started writing the car section myself, several women told me that they liked the way I covered automotive and I realized there was a niche for readers who care about the aesthetics and lifestyle associated with automobiles but don’t like to get bogged down by car jargon.”

Ed Gordon Media Announces National Syndication of ‘Conversations With Ed Gordon’

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2013

ed gordon

NEW YORK, NY – Ed Gordon Media announced today the syndication of “Conversations with Ed Gordon,” a quarterly, one-hour special with award-winning journalist and renowned interviewer, Ed Gordon, serving as host and executive producer. The specials will be aired nationally, including on all ten NBC owned and operated affiliates. The first special begins airing April 28, 2013.  Airdates, times and markets can be found on www.edgordon.net/conversations.htm.

Gordon, known for in-depth and exclusive interviews, will do it again with a stellar line-up of guests for the first special. Comedian Kevin Hart, one of today’s hottest entertainers, talks with Gordon on location in Los Angeles about his record-breaking concert tour and hit television show. Hart also confronts recent criticism surrounding a controversial “color” joke.
kevin hart & ed gordonKevin Hart on why he doesn’t address media/social network criticism:
“They want to make something out of nothing.  So if you give ammunition, which is a reply, an excuse or a constant apology, you’re setting yourself up for more comments.”
On wanting to be on the list of the greatest comedians of all-time:
“As long as my name is in there, I don’t care if it’s dead last, as long as I am in there. That means people understood my work ethic and understood that I love to do what I am doing now…making people laugh and that’s it.”

Canadian Group to Honor Morgan Freeman for Fighting Racism

By goodblacknews on April 25, 2013

Actor Morgan Freeman accepts the Cinema Icon Award at the CinemaCon awards ceremony at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, on April 18, 2013 in Las Vegas
Morgan Freeman will receive a special award in Canada next month for his efforts to combat racism.
The veteran actor, currently starring opposite Tom Cruise in “Oblivion,” will be given the Key of Knowledge Award in Toronto by Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
During the event, to be held May 6, Freeman will take part in a question-and-answer session moderated by Canadian filmmaker Paul Saltzman, who worked with the actor on “Prom Night” in Mississippi, a 2009 documentary about the first ever racially integrated prom in Charleston.
Proceeds from ticket sales will go towards establishing the Morgan Freeman Scholarship Fund for international students at the university, according to Canada’s National Post.
article via eurweb.com

Sequel Already Planned for Ice Cube/Kevin Hart Film ‘Ride Along’

By goodblacknews on April 24, 2013

 

Ice-Cube-Kevin-Hart-Ride-Along-Set
A sequel is already in the works for the upcoming Ice Cube/Kevin Hart comedy “Ride Along,” which isn’t due in theaters until January.
As previously reported, the Tim Story-directed Universal project stars Cube as a tough cop who takes his sister’s future security guard husband (Kevin Hart) on a 24-hour ride-along which the cop hopes will scare the guy out of marrying his sister.
Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, who were among several scribes who worked on the original, are in preliminary discussions about scripting a sequel that could be put into production months after the first film opens, according to Deadline.com.
Of course, if the film bombs at the box office, it could stop the sequel in its tracks, but according to Deadline, Universal sees it as a high concept comedy made with solid elements at a price, ingredients ripe for sequels.
article via eurweb.com

Soledad O’Brien Named Harvard Distinguished Visiting Fellow

By goodblacknews on April 24, 2013

soledad o brien
Soledad O’Brien is going back to her alma mater.  The former anchor of CNN’s now-cancelled morning show “Starting Point” was named a distinguished visiting fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, reports the Huffington Post.
Harvard said O’Brien would spend the 2013-2014 year delving into topics related to public education in America.
“On Appian Way, in the heart of the Ed School campus, a banner reads, ‘Education Is a Civil Right.’ I believe this passionately and look forward to ensuring that right is a reality by working with the students, faculty, and staff at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the rest of the Harvard University community,” O’Brien said. “This appointment is both honor and opportunity.”
O’Brien left CNN’s earlier this year, after network president Jeff Zucker announced his plans for a new program with co-hosts Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan. Although O’Brien left her daily hosting gig, she said she would continue to work with the network by producing documentaries independently with her own production company.
article via eurweb.com

Sean Combs and Terry Crews Cast in 'Draft Day'

By goodblacknews on April 24, 2013

Lauryn Hill Escapes Jail Sentence

By goodblacknews on April 24, 2013