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Tribeca Film Festival 2018: Blackness Is the Muse of Mr. Soul!
It was the blackest, most brilliant and beautiful evening I’ve spent in a long time—which is a pretty high bar, since I work, live and play with brilliant, beautiful black people every day. But Sunday night’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Mr. Soul!, the highly anticipated documentary on storied black variety show Soul!, was both…
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Tribeca Film Festival 2018: Thandie Newton Returns to the Wild, Wild Westworld
Westworld returns to HBO tonight, and having previewed the premiere, I gotta tell you: Brace yourselves, because this season is destined to be even more of a doozy than the last (calm down; that’s the extent of my spoilers for season 2). I say this in slight bewilderment, because despite faithfully watching season 1 (twice),…
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‘Everything You Think Is True’: Yara Shahidi Honors Her Family History With Prince
Many know Yara Shahidi as the adorable and irrepressible Zoey Johnson on Black-ish’s hit spinoff, Grown-ish, but fewer know about her roots as a Minneapolis girl—like myself—and her ties to our most famous fellow native. Shahidi’s father, Afshin Shahidi, was Prince’s longtime personal photographer and videographer, capturing the star in both intimate and iconic moments from…
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Love, Siriano Style: The Risk-Taker Who Rides With Us
True confession: I fell in love with Christian Siriano the moment I first saw one of his designs come down the Project Runway catwalk in season 4, circa 2008. One look at his impeccable craftsmanship and decadent detailing, and I was a goner—and so was the competition, which might have made for a very dull…
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Greek Chic: Ready to Pledge Beyoncé Delta Kappa?
Bey Phi Bey! Last weekend, members of the Beyhive were delighted to discover that they belonged to an actual sorority/frat when Beyoncé staged the best HBCU homecoming ever during weekend 1 of Coachella. And just ahead of her much-anticipated encore during weekend 2, the Queen has opened her own pop-up store full of Greek-themed gear…
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Real Talk From Terry Crews on Misogyny: ‘There’s a Humanity Issue Here’
Actor and comedian Terry Crews, the most visible male member of the #MeToo movement, shared some very real talk at last week’s Women in the World Summit 2018 in New York City. Speaking on toxic masculinity, Crews declared that “masculinity can be a cult.” He went on to stunningly compare misogyny to chattel slavery, pointing…
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This Time, Time Got It Right: Tarana Burke Covers the 100 Most Influential People Issue
We will never not stan for Tarana Burke because of the way she so unapologetically and steadfastly stands for us. Watching her profile rise in recent months is like watching the sun rise on a precious and fertile piece of earth that has been ignored far too long. And since Time magazine was deeply egregious…
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Can We Get This Tracee Ellis Ross TED Talk, Already?
True-confession time: This spring has yet to get me sprung. It’s likely because I’ve based myself in Northern cities, but as of yet, I’ve been uninspired by this season’s offerings—both weatherwise and in the way of a much-needed pick-me-up. The truth is, I’ve been fairly pissed off as of late, and I think I could…
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The Mic Is Open: Poet Dabriel Fulton Is Giving Voice to All
If the mic were open, what would you say? For the many underground poets, singers, rappers and comedians struggling to find spaces to showcase and workshop their talents, poet, performer and community activist Dabriel Fulton has created the Mic Is Open, an inclusive and inspiring forum for those who often go unheard. Says Fulton, via…
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This Invasion of Privacy Manicure Exists, and We Have Questions
Yeah, yeah … we know, we know: Can we go five minutes without focusing on Cardi B? Ask the Russia-based manicurist who decided to go full Invasion of Privacy by reinterpreting the cover of the gold-selling album as 3D nail art, complete with a swiveling head. It was an ambitious undertaking, elaborate and impressively executed,…
