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Yes, Baby, Yes: Remember That Shelved Controversial Black-ish Episode? It's Now Available on Hulu
2020 is unprecedented-ish. Remember back in 2017, a mysterious Black-ish episode titled “Please, Baby, Please” (based on the Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee children’s book of the same name) became wrapped in some controversy because of its reported politically-charged themes? It caused such a ruckus, and I pretty much figured the episode would never…
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'You're Not Actually Anti-Racist': Jurnee Smollett Checks the Hypocrisy of Hollywood Liberalism
Jurnee Smollett is starring in quite a timely upcoming project on HBO—the much-anticipated Lovecraft Country. The series, which is a period piece, is especially relevant since we’re following its protagonists on the “quest to disrupt white supremacy,” which is both intriguing and frustrating. We’re still fighting this damn fight. Still. The series synopsis, via HBO’s…
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Danielle Brooks to Star in Robin Roberts Presents: The Mahalia Jackson Story
Can we get a ‘Hallelujah’ for Danielle Brooks? The Orange Is the New Black star has been cast to portray gospel legend Mahalia Jackson in Lifetime’s Robin Roberts Presents: The Mahalia Jackson Story. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the newly announced role is the first of a four-film deal between Roberts and Lifetime. The acclaimed…
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John Boyega to Star in Steve McQueen Series Portraying a Police Officer Who Wants to Change the Force From Within
John Boyega is workin’…and it looks like his portrayal will be tackling a timely and often controversial topic: police brutality. Back in 2019, Variety broke the news that Boyega would be joining Letitia Wright in an upcoming anthology series from Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave, Widows) entitled Small Axe. At the time, not much…
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Mo-to-the! What's New and Black on Netflix in August 2020
It’s August, which means we’re in the last full month of summer (spoiler alert: it doesn’t really slap during a lockdown), and we have more strong Blackness coming to Netflix. So, we already announced the smorgasbord of the 90s/00s content that will be coming to Netflix. Here’s a reminder that Netflix is serving the goodness…
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Naturally, the Oprah Winfrey Network Wants You to #OWNYourVote, Launches Voting Initiative for Black Women
You’ve probably heard it countless times, but it can’t be said enough: 2020 is an extremely pivotal presidential election year. As such, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) has launched “a bipartisan registration and get-out-the-vote campaign partnering with national and local grassroots and voting rights organizations to provide tools and resources that will empower Black women…
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Trailer Roundup: Does Love in the Time of Corona Feel Like Jazz on a Summer's Day?
This is the last week of July…hell, it’s the last day of July—can you believe it?! Time is a construct, blah blah blah. We are firmly in a place where most of 2020 is behind us…let that marinate. When you’re done allowing the seasoned thoughts to sit, let’s get into these trailers! Residue (Netflix; Release…
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Beyoncé Happened
On July 31—hell, on July 30—Beyoncé Giselle Knowles Carter reminded everyone why she is king. In fact, she reminded everyone why Black Is King. In fact, Bey pretty much owned the last 10 or 11 days of July when she officially dropped the trailer for her visual album Black Is King, in conjunction with Disney’s…
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GLAAD Media Awards 2020: Lil Nas X, the Cast of Pose and Wanuri Kahiu's Rafiki Among Winners
The 31st Annual GLAAD Media Awards went down on Thursday night—because a little lockdown won’t stop no show! Comedians Fortune Feimster and Gina Yashere took over hosting duties for the virtual edition of the annual ceremony honoring “media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues.” As for entertainment during the ceremony,…
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Emmy Nominations Spark Conversations About Latinx Representation and Anti-Blackness
Recently, the Television Academy and ceremony producers announced that the 2020 Emmys will be officially going virtual, a day after announcing the nominees. However, a much more important conversation materialized out of the nomination results, particularly as it relates to race and culture. On Tuesday, John Leguizamo (When They See Us), tweeted a link to…
