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Posts tagged as “biography”

'The Black Count' Wins 2013 Pulitzer Prize For Biography; 'Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America' for General Nonfiction

By goodblacknews on April 20, 2013

 Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, aka Alexandre Dumas, aka “Black Devil” by some of the armies he fought against (let’s just say he was good at his job), aka The Black Count, is at the center of the recently published book from acclaimed author Tom Reiss. Its full title is The Black Count: Glory, Revolution, Betrayal, and the Real Count of Monte Cristo.  Dumas’ son, likely the most popular Dumas, also named Alexandre Dumas, was author of literary classics like The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers.  In fact, Dumas, the father of the author, was the inspiration for The Count Of Monte Cristo.
Other 2013 Pulitzer Prize Winners of note include Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King, in the General Nonfiction category.

Idris Elba to Portray Mandela in Upcoming Biopic

By goodblacknews on March 28, 2013
Actor Idris Elba arrives for a State Dinner in honor of British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on March 14, 2012 in Washington, DC. Cameron is on a three day official visit to Washington. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

Actor Idris Elba arrives for a State Dinner in honor of British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on March 14, 2012 in Washington, DC. Cameron is on a three day official visit to Washington. (Photo by Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

“Not in terms of performance,” he clarifies. “But my film’s about his entire life. Anyone wanting to understand who Mandela was should go and watch my film.”  Although the British-born actor is aware that his movie won’t be the first to portray Mandela’s story on the big screen, he does believe that it will capture a more complete portrayal of the South African leader’s experiences.

Whitney Young Documentary On PBS Tells Story Of Unsung Civil Rights Leader

By goodblacknews on February 24, 2013

 Whitney Young Documentary

WASHINGTON — Just before the March on Washington in 1963, President John F. Kennedy summoned six top civil rights leaders to the White House to talk about his fears that civil rights legislation he was moving through Congress might be undermined if the march turned violent.
Whitney Young Jr. cut through the president’s uncertainty with three questions: “President Kennedy, which side are you on? Are you on the side of George Wallace of Alabama? Or are you on the side of justice?”  One of those leaders, John Lewis, later a longtime congressman from Georgia, tells the story of Young’s boldness in “The Powerbroker: Whitney Young’s Fight for Civil Rights,” a documentary airing during Black History Month on the PBS series “Independent Lens” and shown in some community theaters.