Washington, D.C.’s National Gallery of Art plans to celebrate Black History Month with a calendar full of festivities, lectures and podcasts paying homage to black history and the legacy of black art. Lectures discussing the role of blackness in art — featuring important figures in the art community such as the museum’s curator, Ruth Fine,…

Washington, D.C.-based black baking siblings Winnette and Timothy McIntosh will compete for cupcake supremacy on the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars, airing Sunday night after the Super Bowl. The McIntoshes opened the Sweet Lobby, a boutique bakery located in D.C.’s Eastern Market neighborhood, after both earned chemical engineering degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Infusing…

The legendary Apollo Theater is opening its doors for free this weekend in honor of Black History Month. From Friday, Feb. 3, to Sunday, Feb. 5, visitors will have unparalleled access to the historic Harlem theater, including presentations on the theater’s history, Apollo memorabilia exhibits and a host of performances by previous winners of Apollo’s…

Bridging the gap between LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) and civil rights organizations was the overarching motif as NAACP President and CEO Ben Jealous helped kick off the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change, the 24th National Conference on LGBT Equality, in Baltimore Thursday night. “Unfortunately, the national media tends to exaggerate…

1970s hit maker Roberta Flack is back with a new album after spending more than a decade off the radar. But don’t expect new R&B-pop tracks from the classic soul artist on Let It Be Roberta. Flack takes a creative approach to her latest album, covering 12 signature classic by the Beatles, including “Hey Jude”…

Funnyman Wyatt Cenac is taking on a new role this January, hosting the latest season of public TV channel World’s AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange. Each AfroPoP episode showcases an independent film centered around the intriguing tales of the Diaspora and African culture. AfroPoP’s upcoming films range from a documentary on the pioneering 1980s alternative-rock…

Eatonville, Fla.’s annual Zora Festival, in honor of the prolific black novelist and Harlem Renaissance writer Zora Neale Hurston, is in full gear, celebrating 23 years of arts and entertainment enrichment in one of the nation’s historically black communities. The annual festival hosts a bevy of art and literary talks, gallery showcases and other exhibitions.…

Sci-fi and fantasy movie fanatics, rejoice. The latest installment in the series of Underworld films, entitled Underworld: Awakening, recently hit theaters amid buzz after the vampire-thriller series’ three-year hiatus. Actor Michael Ealy, popularly known for his roles in the movie Barbershop and the new USA TV series Common Law, plays a driven detective out to…

Director George Lucas and actors Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding Jr. come together to pay homage to the heroic actions of the Tuskegee Airmen in the new film Red Tails, which opens on Friday.  Lucas’ Red Tails takes the stories of the Airmen from textbooks to the big screen. After the project was rejected by…

The New York Times’ arts and leisure correspondent, Jodi Kantor, delves into the lives of America’s first family in her newest book, The Obamas. Kantor began covering the Obama family during the start of Barack Obama’s bid for the White House in 2007. Kantor pours her insight into a compelling book, which is teeming with…