Religion, recovering substance abusers often say, is for people afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for those who’ve already been there. Accordingly, Vin Baker, disgraced Milwaukee Bucks basketball star, courageously redeemed man, qualifies to be as spiritual as they come. God and Starbucks: An NBA Superstar’s Journey Through Addiction and … [Read more...]
Arts & Entertainment:
A space for local and national arts and entertainment stories, with an emphasis on stories pertaining to African and African Americans.
Pan-African graphic novel to get full length animated adaptation
Black Sands, an animated feature film based on the award-winning comic novels of the Black Sands Universe, is on the horizon. The African American-owned comic and children’s book publisher Black Sands Entertainment (BSE) recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring the feature film vision to fruition. Created by military husband and wife duo Manuel and Geiszel Godo, … [Read more...]
REVIEW: ‘All the Women in My Family Sing’
A powerful collection of stories revealing hurt and hope All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World — Essays on Equality, Justice and Freedom (Nothing but The Truth, $16.95) showcases social commentary seldom heard. After all, who listens to females of color outside celebrity Oprah Winfrey or political firebrand Maxine Waters? Edited by Deborah … [Read more...]
Readers are leaders: Buy your children more books
We are our children’s first teachers, and what we teach them makes a difference. According to research by Betty Hart of the University of Kansas and Todd Risley of the University of Alaska, by age three, poor children have an accumulated experience with 30 million fewer words than their wealthier counterparts; a greater percentage of the words that poor children accumulate … [Read more...]
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Mothering Through Pain and Suffering in Silence’
Mothering Through Pain and Suffering in Silence: A Collection of Stories from Survivors (The Haven Publishing), prose and poetry edited by Jasmine Tane't Boudah, is a true find that will benefit readers regardless of gender. That in and of itself makes this impassioned, eloquently articulate anthology a profoundly rewarding breath of fresh air. The advent of spoken word open … [Read more...]
Black Hollywood legend pens new memoir
Jenifer Lewis shares secrets to Hollywood success in new memoir Jenifer Lewis, affectionately nicknamed “Auntie” in Black Hollywood, recently made a special appearance at the Duke Ellington School of Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. where she shared the trials, tribulations and triumphs of her journey to superstardom, while sending a strong message to millennials to … [Read more...]
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Policing the Black Man’
You have to believe it's hard to go wrong with a book enthusiastically endorsed by Toni Morrison, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. or Walter Mosley, never mind all three, and your money's safe betting on a copy of Policing the Black Man (Pantheon Books). Edited by American University Law Professor Angela J. Davis, eleven incisive essays, including her own "The Prosecution of Black … [Read more...]
‘The Journey of Little Charlie,’ rich storytelling for all ages
Christopher Paul Curtis has the rare gift of being to effortlessly render a youngster's reality readily accessible to readers of all ages. He did it beautifully with the multiple award-winning Bud, Not Buddy, about a motherless boy in search of his father. He does it again with The Journey of Little Charlie (Scholastic Press), looking over the shoulder of a teenager consigned … [Read more...]
Black authors take center stage at first annual MN Black Authors Expo
Black authors in Minnesota haven’t always had a platform to come together and showcase their work. Well, this is about to change. Authors Jasmine Boudah and De’Vonna Pittman are hosting the first Minnesota Black Authors Expo. The event will be held on Saturday, November 18 at the Northside Economic Opportunity Network (NEON) on West Broadway in North Minneapolis, starting at 11 … [Read more...]
‘Sights, Sounds, Soul’ offers vivid images of Twin Cities Black history
Sights, Sounds, Soul: The Twin Cities through the Lens of Charles Chamblis (Minnesota Historical Society Press, $25.95) is proof positive that, as the saying goes, anything worth doing is worth doing well, even a coffee table book. Accordingly, this admirably fills the bill, a catalog of richly compelling images chronicling Black Minneapolis and St. Paul circa the 1970s and … [Read more...]