‘Another Act’: Naomi Ackie talks about her powerful run in Netflix’s ‘Master of None’ Also, she discusses her Hollywood career and gearing up to play Whitney Houston
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‘Bearing witness: A portrait of Darnella Frazier’ trailer The courageous teen filmed the murder of George Floyd
The Undefeated on ESPN+ will premiere a new Black History Always special on the 29th day of every month that ensures Black history is celebrated always. This month our storytelling continues with a portrait of Darnella Frazier, the courageous teen who changed the world by filming the murder of George Floyd. The show explores Frazier’s life in the South Minneapolis neighborhood where Floyd was killed by police officer Derek Chauvin one year ago. We examine the impact of Frazier’s video in the sports world, on the discourse about race and policing, and on the neighborhood that has now become George Floyd Square. Through voices such as Marcia Howard, Frazier’s English teacher and leader of the George Floyd Square protest movement, we see the journey and struggles Frazier has experienced on her way to becoming a historical figure. Other voices include local educators, activists and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who speaks on how Frazier’s video inspired ...
‘Another Act’: Kim Fields talks her hilarious new Netflix series ‘The Upshaws’ Also, she discusses the importance of her career and representation in Hollywood
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‘Just means justice for all’ Doug Glanville on how America must use the George Floyd murder to recalibrate the scales of justice to give America a new opportunity for equality
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Howard University renames College of Fine Arts after Chadwick Boseman Phylicia Rashad, who taught Boseman while he was a student, starts as dean on July 1
Howard University has renamed its College of Fine Arts after actor Chadwick A. Boseman, the school announced Wednesday. Boseman, who died in August 2020 at age 43 from colon cancer, graduated from Howard in 2000. The return of the College of Fine Arts after more than 20 years was championed by Boseman in his 2018 Howard commencement address at the university. It was there that university President Wayne A.I. Frederick announced the reestablishment of the college. “He was filled with ideas and plans to support the effort in a powerful way,” Frederick said in a statement. “Chadwick’s love for Howard University was sincere, and although he did not live to see those plans through to fruition, it is my honor to ensure his legacy lives on through the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts with the support of his wife, Simone Ledward Boseman, the Boseman family and the Chadwick Boseman Foundation.” Congratulations to all the future students of the ...
Disrespect for the MOVE families is a stain that never goes away in Philadelphia The decadeslong war against the group shows the desecration of children’s bones is no accident
As a journalist, I’ve covered MOVE for more than 40 years. During that time, I’ve witnessed repeated demented decisions by Philadelphia authorities against MOVE with bloody impacts, including those on May 13, 1985. A revelation last month about the mistreatment of remains belonging to two children killed in the horrific 1985 police brutality incident ripped open long-festering emotional and psychic wounds still oozing from that explosive event. Reactions ignited by the April revelation from a whistleblower include rage from the public, regrets from authorities and ruined reputations of people involved in the mistreatment of the remains. However, while those revelations were shocking, they didn’t surprise me. On May 13, 1985, the day after Mother’s Day, I watched Philadelphia police drop a bomb on a row house occupied by MOVE members during an eviction effort. Authorities compounded that abhorrent act with an outrageous decision to deliberately ...
Teachers suffer from ‘racial battle fatigue’ after a year of pandemic and police killings Black teachers were already leaving the profession in high numbers before the nation’s upheaval over racism made their jobs harder
It took Jasmine Lane five years to discover and fulfill her passion for English literature and teaching — but a year and a half to burn out. “I have been navigating majority [or all] white spaces for a very long time. … In a state with 96% of its teaching staff being white, choosing teaching was to be no different,” the 27-year-old high school teacher in Minneapolis wrote in her blog this winter . But the abuse and isolation of this last year were too much, she wrote. It wasn’t worth the tightness in her chest, “knowing I have to get up and stare at a silent screen hoping in vain that someone will talk, wondering which family will criticize me today, which students will yell at me, and whether administration will support my professional judgement.” “So, dear reader,” she wrote, “I quit.” Lane’s story is one of a growing number of anecdotal tales of stress and anxiety emerging from the ranks of Blac...
Life after George Floyd’s death has changed and yet it’s still the same America, and its rich and powerful, didn’t actually care about Black people when they put out statements and donated money
I truly believed things would be different this time. And can you blame me? In the moments following the release of video showing the murder of George Floyd at the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derrick Chauvin, the normal chants of “Black Lives Matter” or “No Justice, No Peace” rang out as always from those who have been fighting for decades. But, for this particular instance of police murder, there were also statements of support for the protests from Facebook and Google and Amazon and even Gushers . Brands as wide-ranging as Airbnb, Sephora and Bank of America announced they’d be donating millions of dollars to organizations that specialize in “social justice” or providing resources for the “Black community.” The Minneapolis City Council vowed to defund its police department. White celebrities placed black squares in their social media accounts for … reasons. For the first time in the history of America, it...