Regina King has finally arrived. This sentiment may sound silly to those who have been following her career since she starred as the sweet Washington, D.C., kid Brenda Jenkins on NBC’s hit sitcom 227, but the woman who has been earning major roles in television, film and television again has slowly but surely been building a…

Actors Sanaa Lathan and Michael Ealy have been fixtures in Hollywood for nearly two decades. Audiences have watched the two evolve as actors as they’ve moved freely through comedy, drama and romance in both television and film—The Following, About Last Night, Barbershop and Think Like a Man for him, and Boss, The Best Man franchise,…

Straight Outta Compton is a film that brilliantly captures the energy of a group of friends raging against the post-industrial machine in a city on the brink of eruption. Directed by F. Gary Gray, Straight Outta Compton tells the story of N.W.A, one of the most notorious and iconic rap groups in music history, and…

Jada Pinkett Smith has had one heck of a career. The dancer-turned-actress, who got her start on NBC’s A Different World and a slew of roles in 1990s films (Menace to Society, Jason’s Lyric, Set It Off, The Nutty Professor), has risen to A-list status, navigating her way through the precarious maze of Hollywood and the…

HBO’s Bessie is a gem. In a film that was 22 years in the making, Dana “Queen Latifah” Owens delivers a powerhouse performance as Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues (1894-1937). Writer-director Dee Rees (Pariah) continues her game-changing trajectory of making films that are beautifully human and complicated—films that tell stories about the complexity…

The Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal is almost over. A scandal that began in 2008 with reports of unusually high scores on mandatory standardized tests has come to a close with a sentencing hearing that looked more like the theater of the absurd than a meeting to determine sentences for those involved in a cheating…

John Ridley is at the top of his game. The Academy Award-winning screenwriter of 2013’s critically acclaimed film 12 Years a Slave is helming the highly anticipated ABC drama American Crime, which premieres March 5. Featuring an all-star cast including Timothy Hutton, Felicity Huffman, Benito Martinez and Regina King, American Crime explores the complexities of…

Terrence Howard is back on television and loving every minute of it. The man who is as well-known for his tremendous acting ability (The Butler, Ray, Hustle & Flow, The Best Man, Pride) on-screen as he is for his difficult life offscreen is back on the small screen as Lucious Lyon, the patriarch of a…