In order for No. 1-seeded Serena Williams to take home her fifth U.S. Open title, she had to beat No. 2-seeded Victoria Azarenka and, it seemed, another opponent. As ESPN reports, Azarenka wasn’t giving Williams problems as much the weather at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens. After one miss, Williams declared, “I can’t…

When Linda Dorcena Forry won her bid for state senator of the First Suffolk District in Boston in May, her victory signified change to come. Not only is she black, but she is the first woman to hold the seat. Those two factors alone showed outsiders that Boston, long associated with racism toward blacks and…

Shellie Zimmerman, the wife of George Zimmerman, has filed for divorce, according to ABC News.  The petition says the couple, married in 2007, “separated on Aug. 13, 2013 and are not presently cohabiting as husband and wife. The marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.” They have no children. Shellie Zimmerman, 26, has asked for…

New York City can’t get enough of Dante de Blasio, and it’s not just the striking Afro that sits atop his head like a crown. The 16-year-old son of New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio continues to impress with his poise and maturity. Though that hair does make for quite the cutting figure…

It looks as if Tyler Perry is going to get another opportunity to show his range as an actor. Director David Fincher has cast Perry in his next film, Gone Girl, which, according to Deadline, starts filming this fall. Perry will star opposite Ben Affleck and Neil Patrick Harris. Fincher has set Tyler Perry to play Tanner…

Kenny Leon is arguably Broadway’s great black hope. The theater director has garnered a reputation for bringing black stories center stage, directing Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and works by August Wilson, including Gem of the Ocean and Fences. For Leon’s next act, the director will tell a different story about black America,…

This past Saturday, Kanye West entertained the friends and family of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the wedding of Nazarbayev’s grandson. But according to the Wall Street Journal, the Human Rights Foundation, an international human rights group, says that an artist as charitable as West should have declined the money and the offer.  “Kanye West is…

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, drummer for the hip-hop band The Roots, which tours around the world and is the house band on NBC’s Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, is easily recognizable. He’s a large guy — wide and of above-average height. Then, of course, there’s his trademark Afro, which sprouts like an antenna from the back…

In the aftermath of the tragic killing of 1-year-old Antiq Hennis of Brooklyn, N.Y., last weekend, a wave of support has come from city officials and activists in their pursuit of justice. A moment of silence was observed at the West Indian Day Parade, and the New York City Police Department has offered a $12,000…

On-screen, Terrence Howard’s career seems to be going just fine. He’s one of the stars of the hit movie Lee Daniels’ The Butler. But offscreen, the actor’s personal life has been in a tailspin, according to New York’s Daily News. Oscar-nominated actor Terrence Howard allegedly threatened suicide and murder with an X-Acto blade, threw his…