Black Excellence
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More Than Music: Diddy’s Revolt Summit Touches Down in Los Angeles
After conquering the Billboard charts with Bad Boy Entertainment, the beverage industry with Ciroc, fashion with Sean John, and both film and television with Revolt Films and Revolt TV, the man who once warned us he “can’t stop, won’t stop” has introduced his latest contribution to the culture: the Revolt Summit. Priding itself as the…
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Playing Politics: Tyler Perry Studios to Host Next Democratic Debate
Tyler Perry is playing for keeps. Not only did the former chitlin circuit czar-turned-millionaire movie mogul make the good old white boy Hollywood system gag with the star-studded opening of his very own historic (and gargantuan) Atlanta-based studio, he’s about to make a splash within the political arena. Tyler Perry Studios will host the Nov.…
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Harvard to Honor Queen Latifah With W.E.B. Du Bois Medal for Her Contributions to the Culture
In 1895, W.E.B. Du Bois became the first black student to earn a doctorate from Harvard. Over a century later, Queen Latifah is being honored by the prestigious institution with an award bearing his name. On Oct. 22, the New Jersey-bred multihyphenate will receive the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal for her contributions to the culture.…
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The Water Dancer: Ta-Nehisi Coates Joined Oprah in Conversation at the Apollo—and We Were There
It was an amazingly candid conversation, punctuated with lots of laughter, black-ass intonations, and responses from the crowd. “I love a talking back audience,” Oprah said, as she and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates presented a salon of sorts at the venerable Apollo Theater last week. The packed audience (which included this writer) was privy to a…
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In Yo’ Face Like a Can of Mace: Kehinde Wiley Unveils Black Male Monument in Times Square
Finally, something we can look up to—literally. A powerful image of a black man has been immortalized as a monument—in New York City’s Times Square, of all places. Acclaimed artist Kehinde Wiley unveiled his biggest work to date on Friday night, a massive bronze statue of a young black man in urban regalia sitting astride…
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Black Genius, Recognized: Meet the 2019 Class of Black MacArthur Fellows
Saidiya Hartman was sitting in a bar in Durban, South Africa when she got the news: she had just been awarded a $625,000 MacArthur Fellowship. Accompanied by one of her best friends, Hartman—a literary scholar and cultural historian—was in town to help plan a meeting for a black studies mobile academy. “I was in disbelief…
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Flawless: Beyoncé Finally Gets the Wax Figure She Deserves—and Miss Tina Approves!
Madame Tussauds hasn’t always been on the mark when it comes to paying tribute to perhaps the most famous figure in music. When a figure of Beyoncé was unveiled in 2017, immediate backlash forced the famed wax emporium to “adjust” the poorly rendered likeness before ultimately opting to remove it altogether. It was just that…
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Google Celebrates Late, Great Blues Legend B.B. King on 94th Birthday
Never ever forget the great ones who came before you. We give props to the folks at Google for keeping some of our historical events and figures at the forefront through its remarkable Google Doodle initiative, which dates back to 1998 and aims to “enliven the Google homepage and bring smiles to the faces of…
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The Liberator Unearths the Forgotten Triumphs and Chronicles of Early Black Los Angeles
For 14 years, Jefferson Lewis Edmonds helmed one of the first black newspapers in Los Angeles. Introduced in 1900, the Liberator touted the importance of black ownership, challenged political candidates to prioritize the needs of their black constituency and implored other black aspirants to defy the status quo. With limited options for early black Angelenos…
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Toni Morrison's Hometown to Recognize Her Birthday as 'Toni Morrison Day'
Toni Morrison’s hometown of Lorain, Ohio, passed a resolution this week declaring her birthday, Feb. 18, as Toni Morrison Day. As the Morning Journal reports, the Lorain City Council passed the resolution on Tuesday honoring the author, who passed away in August. “Her books told powerful stories of black lives in America, from the time of…