United States

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

California
Towne Street Theatre’s fifth annual “Ten-Minute Play Festival” will showcase 12 unique plays that provide a glimpse of Black love. Selected from more than 150 nationwide submissions and a diverse group of playwrights who range widely in age, ethnicity, and gender, the plays embody the theme of this year’s festival “The Black Experience: Part 2—Love.” The 10-minute festival features an ensemble cast of 30 actors in plays that explore love in all of its incarnations through race, relationships, family, sexuality and the history of Blacks in America. The festival will open Friday, Feb. 3, and continue through Feb. 19. All performances are at the Stella Adler Theatre, 6773 Hollywood Blvd., (corner of Hollywood and Highland), Los Angeles. Show times are 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and 3 p.m. on Sundays. All seats are $12. Website: www.townestreet.org.
 

District of Columbia
Howard University recently announced the start of the inaugural class for its new online degree—the online Executive MBA program. Students in the program will gain a comprehensive understanding of business, and learn to strategically think and act from the perspective of senior leadership. Drawing upon the legacy of one of America’s top business schools and the nation’s preeminent historically Black college, this distinguished program equips mid-career professionals and emerging leaders with the skills and perspective to lead in global business. Consisting of 42 credit hours, the online Executive MBA program is designed to be completed in about 18 months. The online format is designed to deliver a robust management education that is accessible to professionals who desire to work full-time while completing their degree.

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

California
Television personality Rolonda Watts recently held a star-studded, red-carpet holiday event to benefit “Our Children of the Troops,” an organization that donates clothing and school materials to children whose parents are deployed. Guests brought books and toys to be donated to military children during the holiday season. “I recently asked a soldier who was about to be deployed overseas what we on the home front could do to support their families left behind,” said Watts. “Without hesitation the soldier replied, ‘Be Santa for my children.’ [I gathered] my Hollywood troops to support “Our Children of the Troops,” by joining my friends in donating big sacks of books and toys at my holiday party.” Watts’ event was sponsored by Naya Restaurant & Lounge and her company, Watts Works Productions. Celebrity guests included Loretta Devine, Hill Harper, Judge Joe Brown, and many more.

Indiana
Journalist Cynthia Horner, who has been Hip Hop Weekly’s editor-at-large since the magazine was created in 2006, has been appointed its editor-in-chief. Horner was formerly the editor-in-chief and editorial director of Right On!, the first nationally published magazine for African American celebrities and their teenage fans, and over the course of her career she has interviewed almost every African American superstar entertainer, including Michael Jackson, Prince, Janet Jackson, Queen Latifah, and others. Horner is a recipient of the “Journalist of the Year” award from the International Association of African American Music, and has received countless awards and citations for her contributions to the music industry. “It is an honor to accept this title and position,” said Horner. “I have been involved with Hip Hop Weekly since its inception, and I am looking forward to utilizing my vast knowledge in the areas of entertainment, fashion, beauty and news to enhance the Hip Hop Weekly brand. Hip Hop Weekly is a unique hybrid of music and entertainment with fast-breaking news articles inside. There are many stories to tell and we will effectively continue to do so by putting our own spin on these stories.”

New Jersey
Hip Hop artist Common recently visited the Eagle Academy for Young Men to check with students and teachers and tour the campus with founding principal David C. Banks. The Eagle Academy for Young Men is a network of three all-boys public schools in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. A fourth school will open in Newark, N.J., in 2012. The Eagle educational model is designed to empower inner city young men so they can achieve their promise as students, family members and engaged citizens. Like Eagle Academy, Common is dedicated to empowering youth in underserved communities through his Common Ground Foundation, which works to find and develop tomorrow’s leaders through programs that promote holistic leadership and education. His visit to the Eagle Academy came one day before the release of his new album, “The Dreamer/The Believer.”

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

Alabama
Comedian Roy Wood Jr. has been cast in TBS’ half-hour comedy pilot “Sullivan & Son,” starring comedian Steve Byrne and executive-produced by Vince Vaughn, Peter Billingsley and Cheers alum Rob Long. Wood will play alongside fellow comedians Ahmed Ahmed and Owen Benjamin as one of Steve Sullivan’s (Byrne’s character) best friends. Wood became a household favorite on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, where he placed in the top three finalists. Written by Byrne and Long, “Sullivan & Son” takes place in a popular and legendary neighborhood bar in a working-class neighborhood in Pittsburgh. It centers on Steve Sullivan, the son of the bar’s current owner and the grandson of its founder, who decides he wants to leave his job as a successful corporate attorney in New York and return to the neighborhood to take over Sullivan & Son.

California
The Thurgood Marshall College Fund held its first Awards of Excellence event in Los Angeles recently at the Getty House, the official residence of the Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The event co-hosts were Rolonda Watts and Judge Joe Brown. Presenters included heavyweight boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard. “The Thurgood Marshall College Fund is preparing the next generation of leaders,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., TMCF president and CEO. “Our organization has proudly supported Justice Marshall’s legacy and commitment to education by providing over $100 million in scholarships to deserving students. We are excited to have presented our first Los Angeles event, recognizing the outstanding achievements of our 2011 honorees, as well as our partners, who stand with us in making sure young people have access to quality education.”

District of Columbia
The Links Inc., an international nonprofit service organization of professional women of color, recently hosted its 65th anniversary in Washington, D.C. Nearly 1,200 guests from throughout the United States, the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, representing the 274 Links chapters, attended the weekend celebration, which included a rededication and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the newly renovated state-of-the-art national headquarters. The Marriott Wardman Park was the backdrop for a black-tie reception and gala hosted by actors Tim Reid and Daphne Maxwell Reid and featuring Grammy-award winning singer Will Downing. The evening marked the debut of the organization’s highest honor bestowed upon an organization, The Links Medal, presented to Johnson Publishing Co. Chairman Linda Johnson Rice for making a significant and positive impact in the lives and culture of African Americans and other persons of African ancestry.