By MARCELA ISAZA Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah Winfrey praised her late friend and idol, Toni Morrison, hailing the best-selling author’s “confidence and self-assuredness and nobility.” Winfrey and Morrison knew each other for more than 20 years, dating back to when Winfrey was so determined to learn the author’s unlisted phone number that […]
By JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Cyntoia Brown, championed by celebrities as a symbol of unfair sentencing, was released early Wednesday from the Tennessee Prison for Women, where she had been serving a life sentence for killing a man who had picked her up for sex at 16. Kim Kardashian West, Rihanna, […]
By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — When author Angela Flournoy was asked to dress as her favorite literary character for a magazine shoot four years ago, she knew how to look the part: a wide and “severe hat,” a fur stole and the kind of stare that dares you to stare […]
By BARRY WILNER AP Pro Football Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL and Jay-Z’s entertainment and sports representation company are teaming up for events and social activism. The league not only will use Jay-Z’s Roc Nation to consult on its entertainment presentations, including the Super Bowl halftime show, but will work with the rapper […]
By HILLEL ITALIE AP National Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Paule Marshall, an exuberant and sharpened storyteller who in fiction such as “Daughters” and “Brown Girl, Brownstones” drew upon classic and vernacular literature and her mother’s kitchen conversations to narrate the divides between blacks and whites, men and women and modern and traditional cultures, has […]
By MEG KINNARD Associated Press GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Joe Darby, a South Carolina pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, pondered a sensitive question that he knew was on the mind of his congregation. Would black voters be able to reconcile their conservative religious doctrine with voting for a gay candidate for president? […]
When Michael B. Jordan first met with “Moonlight” writer Tarell Alvin McCraney, the two surprisingly discovered through an emotional conversation that both had more in common than they realized. McCraney might jokingly attest, but Jordan said during a recent interview that their lengthy talk years ago about creating a new television project “ended in tears.” […]
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — Four hundred years after American slavery and democratic self-rule were born almost simultaneously in what became the state of Virginia, ceremonies will mark the arrival of enslaved Africans in the mid-Atlantic colony and seek healing from the legacy of bondage that still haunts the nation. Yet the weekend ceremonies in Tidewater […]
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Comedian Dave Chappelle plans to host a special block party and benefit concert in Ohio for those affected by the recent mass shooting. Chappelle will be among national and local entertainers planned for the main stage at the “Gem City Shine” event in Dayton on Sunday. WDTN-TV reports the City of […]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Panthers general manager Marty Hurney is “cautiously optimistic” Cam Newton will be ready for the Sept. 8 regular season opener against the Los Angeles Rams after the quarterback suffered a left mid-foot sprain in a preseason game. Newton injured his foot in Carolina’s 10-3 loss Thursday night at New England on […]