African American News

Across Black America
May 17 2012

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
Allied Integrated Marketing recently announced it is launching a new African American marketing division, Allied Moxy. The new division will create innovative campaigns that integrate publicity, promotions, digital and grassroots outreach to speak directly to the full diversity of African American consumers. Spearheading Allied Moxy are industry veterans Kim Walters and Gloria Jones. Walters will oversee national strategy from Los Angeles, while Jones will oversee regional/local strategy from Washington, D.C. Walters brings more than a decade of marketing experience working with entertainment companies such as Codeblack Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and A&E Lifetime Television, as well as consumer brands such as KIA and L.A. Gear and awards programs such as NAACP Image Awards and Soul Train Music Awards. Jones has been with Allied for five years running publicity and promotional campaigns for clients, including Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Relativity Media, and previously worked for WBDC-TV in D.C. and MTV Networks’ Nick @ Nite and TV Land.

 

Representing Los Angeles and Center Theatre Group, Tyler Edwards, a senior at the Orange County High School of the Arts, placed third at the national finals of the fifth annual August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC) at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre in New York City. “I am thrilled . . . I’m so glad that I took it for L.A. the first time we got up . . . that’s what we’re talking about!” said an elated Edwards following the competition. Edwards, an aspiring actor, describes the soaring, lyrical monologues found in the plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson as “very inspirational,” and said prior to the Los Angeles Regional Finals of the August Wilson competition, “I would love to share a bit of that inspiration with any audience, in hopes that they leave with more appreciation than they walked in with.”

 

Georgia
Bounce TV, the nation’s first-ever over-the-air broadcast television network for African Americans, will launch a second new original comedy series, “Uptown Comic,” on June 18, immediately after the series premiere of the just-announced sitcom “Family Time.” “Uptown Comic” is a half-hour series featuring stage and skit performances by some of the hottest up-and-coming comics in the country. The show is currently in production in front of a live studio audience at the longest-running African American comedy club in the U.S.—Uptown Comedy Corner in Atlanta. Actor and comedian Joe Torry (Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam) hosts. “Family Time,” a half hour situation comedy created by Bentley Kyle Evans ( “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Martin,” “Love That Girl”) and produced by Evans and partner Trenten Gumbs is set to launch Monday, June 18, at 8 p.m. The series premiere of “Uptown Comic” will follow and be seen weekly at 8:30 p.m. (All Times Eastern.)

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

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Across Black America
May 10 2012

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
The National Reality TV Awards, launched in the United Kingdom to celebrate the best in the world of reality TV entertainment, recently announced its official launch in the USA. The show will make history as the first ever European-born awards show to launch in the USA, and will be webcast live and also televised for syndicated broadcast to TV partners in more than 22 countries after its launch on August 30. All nominations are submitted by the public by voting for their favorite shows, celebrities or participants. Reportedly, there were more than 550,000 public submissions and 1.5 million votes received in the UK last year. The U.S. awards ceremony promises to be even bigger. More than 475,000 submissions have already been received for the U.S. version of the National Reality TV Awards. The deadline for submissions is May 15, and the official nominees will be announced at a press conference on May 24 in Los Angeles.

District of Columbia
Actress Vivica A. Fox and Demetria McKinney, star of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, will host the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s 15th annual Spirit of Democracy Awards Gala. Presented to individuals and organizations who have demonstrated a consistent commitment to social justice and creating balance in the democratic process, the gala will be held Thursday, May 17, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. Michael Baisden, nationally syndicated radio personality, author, and philanthropist is among the honorees. “This year we are proud to be [the theme] ‘Celebrating Our Brothers.’ The leadership of these men in their respective fields helps to empower underserved communities across the country” said the coalition. “These strong, positive men also set an example of excellence in achievement for young brothers across the country.”

Georgia
Bob Johnson, founder and chairman of the RLJ Companies and Tracey E. Edmonds, president and COO of Our Stories Films, recently announced plans to produce a new film inspired by the hit reality show “Basketball Wives.” The film will be loosely based on the lives of star and fan favorite Shaunie O’Neal and her friends, and will follow the life of a young woman and her boyfriend as the couple deals with relocation following his NBA draft and the tests and trials that come with being together in professional sports. “We’re proud that we’ve been successful in demonstrating the talent and creativity among our African American actors, writers, and directors,” said Edmonds. “Going much further than the series, the film will have the ability to dig deeper into the personal challenges that couples face while living in the world of professional sports. It promises to be rich and unpredictable in story and will feature empowered characters that will be relatable to a broad audience.”

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

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Across Black America
May 3 2012

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
Mount St. Mary’s College will have Los Angeles Times columnist Sandy Banks as its 2012 commencement speaker at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City on May 7. Banks’ 32-year career at the Los Angeles Times has included stints as a reporter, writer, editor, columnist, editorial writer and director of the newspaper’s internship program. She was on the team awarded a Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Los Angeles riots in 1992. She is best known for her twice-weekly columns, which offer her personal perspective on events and issues in the news. Her work has won national recognition from journalism groups and organizations as varied as the National Council of Jewish Women and the Muslim Women’s League, the Watts Community Health Foundation, the Beverly Hills Rotary Club, the California Teachers’ Association and the Union of Medical Marijuana Patients.
 

*
TDJ Enterprises/TDJ Independents has signed on as executive producer to two new films—the highly anticipated feature “Winnie,” the untold love story of Winnie and Nelson Mandela, starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson and Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard, and “A Million Colours,” the opening film at the 2012 Hollywood Black Film Festival. Following the success of “Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day”—a feature that topped its opening weekend’s box office for indies and outpaced all releases that same period on per-screen average—TDJ Enterprises is now leveraging the growing power of the company’s brand to create a global platform for projects that might not otherwise reach a broad audience.

District of Columbia
On an episode of her “Both Sides Now with Huffington and Matalin” radio program, writer, political commentator Arianna Huffington offered some advice to first lady Michelle Obama that some people may have found offensive. Huffington was quoted as saying, “I’d love [Michelle] to be more [like] Eleanor Roosevelt right now, because the country needs an Eleanor Roosevelt who’s going to go around and at the same time that she’s doing fundraisers in Beverly Hills and Bel-Air … she should go to South Central [Los Angeles], I mean, if I were Michelle Obama right now, I would not go anywhere for a fundraiser without going and seeing the places where there is pain, where there is struggle, where there is homelessness, where there is unemployment.”

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

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Across Black America
Apr 19 2012

 

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

 


Colorado
The Denver Urban Spectrum, an award-winning monthly publication will celebrate its 25th anniversary, with a four-day slate of community events, culminating with a black-tie awards dinner honoring 25 “Timeless Legends”—women who hail from Denver—many who are internationally known. The recipients include Grammy award-winning singer Dianne Reeves, the Little Rock Nine’s Carlotta LaNier, former Denver City Councilwoman and 2008 DNC Chair Elbra Wedgeworth, internationally known choreographer Cleo Parker Robinson, and former Denver first lady Wilma Webb. The gala will be Saturday, April 28, from 6 to 11 p.m., at the Renaissance Hotel, 3801 Quebec St., in Denver. Former Colorado Speaker of the House Terrance Carroll will serve as master of ceremonies and the Honorable Mayor Michael Hancock and first lady Mary Louise Lee are the honorary chairs. Entertainment will be provided by The Julius Show. Sculptor Ed Dwight has been commissioned to design the Timeless Legends awards.


Connecticut
The NAACP released the following statement regarding the passage of legislation in the Connecticut House to repeal the death penalty. “Tonight, Connecticut’s Legislature voted to abolish capital punishment for all the right reasons: the death penalty discriminates against people of color and poor people of all colors, and it is a profound waste of scarce law-enforcement resources,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. “By abolishing the death penalty, Connecticut will have more dollars to hire detectives to solve unsolved homicides and hire counselors to help murder victims’ family members. The death penalty is a stain on the moral fabric of our nation. When Connecticut’s governor signs this bill into law, he will not only move his state forward, he will move our nation forward. We will have just nine states left until we can take the matter to the Supreme Court and abolish [it] completely. That is our hope for eventually abolishing [the death penalty] in states like Georgia and Texas. That is our hope for ensuring there will never be another Troy Davis or Todd Willingham.”

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

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Across Black America
Apr 12 2012

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.


California
Morgan State University emerged victorious among 48 teams and claimed its first national championship title at the 23rd annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge. The annual academic tournament brought 250 top students from the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) together in the Los Angeles area for a two-day competition and the opportunity to win as much as $50,000 in grants for their school. In a culmination of a year-long program, Morgan State took home the title and beat second-place finisher Oakwood University.

Jacquelyn Dupont-Walker was recently honored as “Woman of the Year” at the Capitol by The California Legislative Women’s Caucus for her significant contributions to her neighborhood. Assemblymember Holly Mitchell nominated her for the 47th District. Dupont-Walker is the founding president of Ward Economic Development Corp. and for 25 years has led it in developing more than 280 units of affordable housing and a major shopping mall. Assemblyman Mike Davis honored the women of the 48th District at California African American Museum. Michele Turner, executive director of the USC Black Alumni Association; Charmaine Jefferson, executive director of the California African American Museum; Carolyn Fowler, managing partner of Deltek Global Solutions LLC, and Betty Yee of the State Board of Equalization were among those honored.


District of Columbia
The slaying of Trayvon Martin and other innocent teens was foremost on the hearts and minds of nearly 400 Black women from across the country who assembled recently in the District for the Black Women’s Roundtable inaugural National Women of Power Summit, “Amplifying the Voices of Women and Girls in 2012 and Beyond.” To help amplify the voices of the physicians, lawyers, homemakers, labor workers and other attendees, the summit was broadcast live on the Internet. A kickoff prayer breakfast and civic engagement training featured Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Hale, founder and senior pastor, Ray of Hope Christian Church in Decatur, Ga., who articulated the need for women to come together as our sister’s keepers.

 

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

More>>>

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
Allied Integrated Marketing recently announced it is launching a new African American marketing division, Allied Moxy. The new division will create innovative campaigns that integrate publicity, promotions, digital and grassroots outreach to speak directly to the full diversity of African American consumers. Spearheading Allied Moxy are industry veterans Kim Walters and Gloria Jones. Walters will oversee national strategy from Los Angeles, while Jones will oversee regional/local strategy from Washington, D.C. Walters brings more than a decade of marketing experience working with entertainment companies such as Codeblack Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and A&E Lifetime Television, as well as consumer brands such as KIA and L.A. Gear and awards programs such as NAACP Image Awards and Soul Train Music Awards. Jones has been with Allied for five years running publicity and promotional campaigns for clients, including Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Relativity Media, and previously worked for WBDC-TV in D.C. and MTV Networks’ Nick @ Nite and TV Land.

 

Representing Los Angeles and Center Theatre Group, Tyler Edwards, a senior at the Orange County High School of the Arts, placed third at the national finals of the fifth annual August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC) at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre in New York City. “I am thrilled . . . I’m so glad that I took it for L.A. the first time we got up . . . that’s what we’re talking about!” said an elated Edwards following the competition. Edwards, an aspiring actor, describes the soaring, lyrical monologues found in the plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson as “very inspirational,” and said prior to the Los Angeles Regional Finals of the August Wilson competition, “I would love to share a bit of that inspiration with any audience, in hopes that they leave with more appreciation than they walked in with.”

 

Georgia
Bounce TV, the nation’s first-ever over-the-air broadcast television network for African Americans, will launch a second new original comedy series, “Uptown Comic,” on June 18, immediately after the series premiere of the just-announced sitcom “Family Time.” “Uptown Comic” is a half-hour series featuring stage and skit performances by some of the hottest up-and-coming comics in the country. The show is currently in production in front of a live studio audience at the longest-running African American comedy club in the U.S.—Uptown Comedy Corner in Atlanta. Actor and comedian Joe Torry (Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam) hosts. “Family Time,” a half hour situation comedy created by Bentley Kyle Evans ( “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Martin,” “Love That Girl”) and produced by Evans and partner Trenten Gumbs is set to launch Monday, June 18, at 8 p.m. The series premiere of “Uptown Comic” will follow and be seen weekly at 8:30 p.m. (All Times Eastern.)

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