passing
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Passing Star Ruth Negga to Star as Josephine Baker in Upcoming Limited Series for ABC Signature
The life of legendary jazz entertainer Josephine Baker will be coming to a small screen near us soon, thanks to ABC Signature and LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s The Springhill Company. Deadline reports that Loving star Ruth Negga will portray the artist and activist in a new limited series titled Josephine, and will executive produce…
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The Film Adaptation of Nella Larsen's Passing Secures an Over $15 Million Netflix Deal at Sundance
Sundance strikes again! The largest independent film festival in the United States, gone virtual this year instead of celebrating in its typical environs in Park City, Utah, is ground zero for some of the most anticipated films of the year. This year, one long-anticipated film adaptation proved worth the wait: Nella Larsen’s 1929 novella Passing, adapted…
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'That Ideology of Colorism Affects All of Us': The Root Presents It's Lit! Talks Prose, Passing and the Power of Black Women With Brit Bennett
There’s a reason Black women call each other “sister.” Even if we bear no blood relation or resemblance—and despite our broad variances in color, economic and educational access and life experience—there is an innate knowing between Black women—of what it is to be a Black woman. Writer Brit Bennett has a deep understanding of this…
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Sundance 2021: A List of Black Movies to Watch While You’re in the (Virtual) White Mountains
I’m salty. As The Root’s Staff entertainment writer, one of the most exciting aspects of my job is being able to travel to a lot of cool places. In fact, the Sundance Film Festival typically kicks off the year of traveling shenanigans within my beat. In 2020, I flew to Park City, Utah to cover…
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Legendary Jazz Pianist McCoy Tyner Dead at 81
Another one of the greatest who ever did it has gone on to glory. Legendary jazz pianist McCoy Tyner is dead at age 81. The death of the free-flowing jazz giant, who played piano alongside John Coltrane, Donald Byrd and Art Blakey, was announced by family members via social media on Friday. “It is with…
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B. Smith, Trailblazing Fashion Model and Entrepreneur, Dead at 70, Husband Confirms
B. Smith, the trailblazing fashion model who proved to be more successful as a restaurateur, television personality and branding pioneer, has passed away at age 70. Her husband, Dan Gasby, confirmed her death on the couple’s Facebook page Sunday morning. “It is with great sadness that my daughter Dana and I announce the passing of…
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Zendaya to Produce, Star in Thriller About a Black Woman Passing as White Near the Start of the 20th Century
The buzz around Hollywood is that Spider-Man co-star Zendaya will both produce and star in a thriller based on the real-life story of a black woman at the turn of the 20th century who passed for white so she could attend Vassar College. According to Deadline, Zendaya’s pitch package for A White Lie is the…
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Dr. Phil to Rachel Dolezal: ‘You Perpetrated a Lie’
Maybe Dr. Phil can get Rachel Dolezal to finally admit that she has blatantly lied about being black. But something tells me she’s not about to change her story. During an episode of his show that airs Monday, Dr. Phil confronts Dolezal about the incessant lies she’s been telling over the last several years. He…
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Rachel Dolezal Has Changed Her Name
Rachel Dolezal. Do I even need to remind you who she is? You know, the white Spokane, Wash., NAACP chapter leader who was passing as black, got outed by her lily-white parents and declared herself “transracial”; then said she’s really black, not white; and then went on to score a book deal but is now…
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What About Bob?: My White Friend Who REALLY Wanted To Be Black
When I was in middle school in Frankfurt, Germany, I had a friend named Bob Dobalina. Obviously this isn’t his real name, but a name I’ve made up to protect the identity of said friend….who is not named Bob Dobalina. But we shall call him that. Mr. Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina. Bob would be 36…