Latest news with #BlackCulture
Arab News
23 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Arab News
What We Are Reading Today: ‘Black in Blues'
Imani Perry's 'Black in Blues' is a breathtaking meditation on the color blue, revealing its significance in Black history and culture. This National Book Award winner captivates the heart and soul, leaving readers profoundly moved. After hearing Perry's interview on National Public Radio, I was immediately drawn in, my curiosity ignited. Perry's narrative writing is nothing short of exquisite. She masterfully intertwines her family's history with the broader tapestry of Black identity through the lens of blue. While many authors have explored colors in literature, Perry's exploration feels uniquely resonant, lingering in the mind long after the book is closed. Her writing is lyrical, infused with emotion, and her storytelling is compelling, drawing you into a world rich with experiences and memories. 'Black in Blues' also reveals the powerful correlation between music and the Black experience. This is a work for anyone who seeks to understand the motivations and movements of a vibrant community that has faced adversity yet continues to rise. The book beautifully delves into how color shapes identity, weaving personal narratives with historical context and cultural commentary. Perry's exploration of the color blue becomes a testament to the resilience and creativity of the Black community, illuminating the ongoing struggles for equality and recognition while celebrating the beauty of cultural identity. In a world that often marginalizes these stories, 'Black in Blues' stands as a vital contribution to contemporary discussions on race, art, and history. It's a compelling read that resonates deeply, inviting all of us to reflect on the complexities of the Black experience in America. I cannot recommend it highly enough — this is a book that will stay with you, echoing in your thoughts and heart long after you've turned the last page.
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
25 Years Later, ‘106 & Park' Hosts Revisit Show's Iconic Role In Black Music And Culture
Believe it or not, it's been 25 years since 106 & Park first hit our television screens — a whole quarter-century since that iconic stage, those elevated couches, the Top 10 countdown, and the beginning of its unmatched cultural impact. Not only was the BET staple live, it was also consistent, and it was ours. 106 & Park gave viewers more than entertainment — it gave us visibility and a voice. It celebrated our style and amplified our sound. It captured the heartbeat of a new generation. It wasn't just a show, it was the pulse of Black youth. And we weren't just watching 106 & Park, we were a part of it. For me, it was more than just a show; it was thee spark. Watching AJ and Free — and later Rocsi and Terrence J — interview legends and rising stars every day lit a fire in me to do the same. I used to race home from school to catch every episode because 106 & Park wasn't just a music video countdown; it set the tone for what was cool, what was in, and what was important to know in pop culture. I was so inspired, I even recreated a 106 & Park-style talent show at my high school in 2010, fully stepping into the role of host — embodying their energy, warmth, and deep connection to the show that shaped my love for storytelling in Black music and entertainment. In celebration of the iconic show, Terrence J, Rocsi Diaz, and AJ Calloway (without Free) sat down with VIBE to reflect on what 106 & Park meant and still means to Black culture. When asked to reflect on a moment that stands out from his 5-year tenure (2000-2005), AJ didn't hesitate. 'Getting an opportunity to interview Michael Jackson… that was pretty crazy,' he said, recalling how BET legend Stephen G. Hill rode with him and Free to the 106 set, prepping them the whole way. 'We submitted 100 questions, they approved none.' And yet, AJ managed to slip in the gem: 'What is it like to have the number one record in the world again?' he recalled. A simple, but powerful question to the King of Pop. For Terrence J, it was the unforgettable and heartbreaking moment when Michael Jackson passed away. 'We were on air as it happened,' he said, reflecting on the show's role in not only reporting but connecting with the community during raw, emotional moments. 'We could be celebrating Beyoncé's birthday in the afternoon, breaking in a new artist named Justin Bieber, and then later interviewing Kobe Bryant or an unknown senator named Barack Obama.' Rocsi shared a different angle and reflected on the evolution of the show becoming mainstream. 'Madonna came to the show, Lady Gaga came to the show… we started getting Fallon-type, Kimmel-type guests,' she recalled about her and Terrence's tenure (2006-2012). But she also made sure to credit the true stars: the live audience. 'It was their show. We just were traffic control,' she said. If you ever sat at home screaming during 'Freestyle Friday' or swooning when your favorite artist walked through those shimmering streamers, you know exactly what she means. Sitting across from the very people who first made me fall in love with media felt like a full-circle moment and more like catching up with the big cousins who used to 'babysit' me after school. From launching careers and setting trends that we still see today in current media, the show was pure magic. Or as AJ simply put it: 'Lightning in a bottle.' And that's what made 106 & Park different. 'We magnified us, and anytime we magnify us, it becomes special,' AJ reflected. It was one of the few spaces on broadcast TV that unapologetically centered Black youth, Black music, and Black joy. When AJ and Free were on-air, it was pre-Twitter, pre-Instagram, pre-YouTube — before social media and streaming changed the way we consume media. If you missed an episode, you really missed out on what took place that day. And it's not like you could catch up on clips later — you had to be there (unless you had a DVR). It was 'destination television,' the original algorithm before we even knew what that meant. 'If you didn't watch it, you couldn't talk about it at school, at the water cooler, or even on your way home — you had to see what was going on,' AJ recalled. When reflecting on today's media landscape, he added, 'A lot of television now feels like everyone wants to be as cool as the guest. But I think there's something powerful about just saying, 'I'm a fan.' The people that are watching are fans, so if you're asking questions that the fans want to hear, it's going to resonate more.' Terrence J recalled how 106 & Park was more than a music show — it was where culture, fashion, and technology collided in real time. 'People would talk about Free's outfits, and people would always talk about Rocsi's shoes…what heels she's [wearing]. There was no other live person your age that you could see on a daily basis rocking the new heels or the new clothing,' he said. 'You were seeing fashion … dance troupes flying in from Chicago with the latest moves, crews from the Bay teaching everyone how to Dougie — live on air.' And he's not lying. It all happened right as social media was emerging. MySpace launched in 2003, Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005, and Twitter came around in 2006. According to the hosts, 106 was the first show to break Twitter on a broadcasting show. 'Yeah, the Twitter map on TV,' Terrence and Rocsi beamed while reminiscing. 'All these things [were] exploding at once, and when people say why it couldn't happen the same way now, it's [because it's] like confetti pieces. There's all these different podcasts, there's all these different networks, different YouTube channels, and different ways to consume media … whereas back then, this was the headquarters.' Although Terrence and Rocsi had one more year of tenure than AJ and Free, the pressure of following in the phenomenal duo's footsteps wasn't lost on them. Rocsi admitted, 'It was a lot of pressure,' but shared how Free had her back from day one. 'Free for me was really a big sis. She was like, 'I got you.' She held my hand the entire way.' Rocsi added how Terrence and she came into the show with 'a very unique circumstance,' but thankfully, their chemistry made it easy. 'We always had each other's backs from day one,' she declared. For Terrence, he knew exactly what they were stepping into. 'AJ and Free were this blueprint. They were something that we were inspired by and looked up to, but then [we] were always being compared. I always looked at it as a motivational thing, and AJ and Free were always so gracious,' he expressed. AJ then took a moment to give his forerunners their flowers. 'To see them take it to other levels and other heights… honestly, they've gone way past whatever we did,' he praised Terrence and Rocsi. He also shared a gem that he told Terrence back then: 'Use them, don't let them use you.' Clearly, that piece of wisdom came from someone who'd been through the fire and wanted better for those to follow. The show's production, however, wasn't always polished. The hosts reflected on many of the moments that may have been caught on camera but didn't air. There were lights going out mid-show, fires breaking out backstage, and yes, a few fights during 'Freestyle Friday' (that somehow still leaked online). 'The one time,' Rocsi sighed when recalling how she once had to break up a fight. 'I was like, 'I don't want to do this no more.'' Real ones remember the chaos, but also the energy and magic that took place. 'BET and 106 & Park created this iconic culture. A brand. A legacy. And to sit here 25 years later, trading stories and realizing how many lives were impacted, it's surreal,' Terrence J summed up. 'I turned on Good Morning America, and there's Rocsi, interviewing guests. What started as this little engine that could, as AJ said, grew into something that launched careers, inspired movements, and gave voice to a generation.' Shouting out another pillar in Black culture, he continued, 'To sit down with VIBE and reflect on all of this, there's just a deep sense of pride. We weren't the kids doing morning weather, and we couldn't rap either, but 106 gave us a lane to still be part of the culture in a real way.' And as for what Gen Z will miss out on with the nostalgic show's revamp? Rocsi said it best. 'Rushing home from school and knowing that you had to get your homework done before six o'clock,' she said. 'To turn on the TV, to see your favorite artists, because you knew that they were going to be there that day.' Rocsi even recalled Michelle Obama telling her once, ''The girls [Malia and Sasha] had to finish their homework before they watched 106.'' That's the kind of impact it had. No matter how you identified in your Blackness, 106 created a digital and physical hub for us and by us. Although Marie 'Free' Wright couldn't be present for this chat, she and the rest of the beloved 106 & Park family will be showing up live at the 2025 BET Awards (June 9) not only to celebrate 106 but also 25 years since the award show's inception. The day of celebration is set to include Mr. 106 & Park himself — Bow Wow — Amerie, B2K, Jim Jones, Mya, T.I., and many more. Additionally, during the BET Experience weekend, fans will get the chance to step onto a recreated 106 & Park set — really reliving the nostalgic era. Watch the entire interview with AJ Calloway, Rocsi Diaz and Terrence J above. More from BET To Revamp '106 & Park' Ahead Of The Show's 25-Year Anniversary Barack Obama Sends Heartfelt Message To Joe Biden Following Cancer Diagnosis Michelle Obama Opens Up About "Nightmare" Of Keeping Daughters' Partying Photos Out Of Tabloids Best of 10 Rap Albums Snubbed Of The Grammys' Album Of The Year Award 21 Black Entertainers Who Are Almost EGOT Winners 11 Black-Owned Games To Play At The Next Function Or Kick Back
Washington Post
3 days ago
- Politics
- Washington Post
Funding for Smithsonian's Anacostia, Latino museums cut in proposed Trump budget
The Trump administration is proposing to eliminate separate funding for the Smithsonian's long-planned National Museum of the American Latino on the National Mall, as well as the Anacostia Community Museum, a venerated D.C. staple that celebrates Black culture and history. A broad spectrum of opponents, including members of the Republican-led Congressional Hispanic Conference, expressed alarm over the proposed cuts, which coincide with a White House effort to exert greater control over the management and programming at some of the country's most prestigious cultural institutions.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Tapping into the sixth sense of resilience: Resilient Magazine to celebrate sixth year
SAVANAH, Ga. (WSAV) — A magazine produced right here in Savannah is celebrating their sixth year. Resilient Magazine works to highlight the resilience of women, entrepreneurs from all walks of life and the roles Black women play in the prevalence and relevance of culture. 'Throughout each issue, you will find stories of women who are RESILIENT in their walk, their thoughts, and their actions,' the magazine said. They've been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Network, Tv One and Apple TV. Founder Teia Acker-Moore will join WSAV News 3 on Monday at 11 a.m. To purchase this month's addition or get a monthly subscription, click or tap here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Kwesi Owusu obituary
The author and film-maker Kwesi Owusu, who has died aged 70, wrote several notable books on Black culture in Britain, and was a founder member of the influential performance group African Dawn, which emerged from the vibrant creative scene of the Africa Centre in Covent Garden, London, in the 1980s. During that time, he also co-produced and directed the groundbreaking film Ama: An African Journey of Discovery for Channel 4, which was recently restored and included in the BFI's 2023 African Odyssey season. After returning to his native Ghana, Owusu became an advocate for the Ghanaian and African people, both through his leadership of the African branch of Jubilee 2000, a global initiative calling for debt cancellation for the world's poorest countries, and his media production agency Creative Storm, whose documentaries on subjects such as maternal health and access to water have sparked real change. Owusu first arrived in the UK in the 1970s, and, as a nascent poet, contributed verse to African Dawn, whose performances of music, poetry and traditional drama drew from the Ghanaian, Zimbabwean, Grenadian, Senegalese and Uruguayan heritage of its members, including Vico Mensah, Nii Noi Nortey and Merle Collins. The group released four albums. Owusu was also involved in the Africa Centre's production of The Trial of Dedan Kimathi (1984), set at the end of British rule in Kenya, and written by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o and Micere Githae Mugo. The Booker-winning author Ben Okri was another member of Owusu's circle. 'We were all part of this movement, magical realism, which was in literature, film and poetry,' Owusu told the BFI in 2023. 'We were trying to create a fusion of artforms and find holistic ways of telling stories to reveal all the unseen nuances of our culture and fuse them with reality as we knew it. These days they'd call it Afrofuturism.' During this time, Owusu participated in a workshop funded by Channel 4, Cinema Action. The television channel went on to fund his first feature, Ama (1991), co-produced and directed with Nii Kwate Owoo, with whom Owusu had made the documentary Ouaga: African Cinema Now (1986). A story of ancestral mysticism set in modern-day London, Ama starred Georgina Ackerman as the eponymous protagonist, a young girl who receives a prophecy in the form of a computer floppy disk, and has to persuade the elders of her Ghanian family to listen to her, a 12-year-old child. 'I wanted to tell a unique African story,' Owusu said. 'We also had to find a way to say that African culture is contemporary, irrespective of how old it was … The idea that our culture has to be frozen in time is something I was keen to transcend. Culture is living and evolving.' Born in Takoradi, in what was then the Gold Coast, now Ghana, he was the son of Edwina (nee Gwira) and Joseph Owusu. He boarded at Adisadel college, an Anglican school in Cape Coast, Ghana, then, having moved to the UK, studied political science at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1983. His first book, The Struggle for Black Arts in Britain (1986), explored the barriers in establishing an authentic Black arts tradition in the UK in the face of the limitations of western elite culture. Storms of the Heart: An Anthology of Black Arts and Culture (1988), edited by Owusu, contains a thoughtful essay by Okri on Othello. In the same year came Behind the Masquerade: The Story of Notting Hill Carnival, co-written with Jason Ross. Owusu later edited Black British Culture and Society: A Text Reader (2000), which brought together key writings on and by the Black community in Britain. Following the release of Ama, Owusu was part of a consortium, Black Triangle, supported by the Voice and Choice FM, that bought the Electric cinema in Notting Hill in the early 90s and, as its new manager, along with Paul Bucknor, relaunched it as a film venue dedicated to Black audiences. He was on the board of Artrage, an intercultural arts magazine (1982-95), was an associate of the African Studies Centre at the University of Cambridge, and taught at universities including Sussex, Soas University of London, and Goldsmiths' College, now Goldsmiths, University of London. Owusu launched Creative Storm in Accra in 2003. He was co-director of the Environmental Film Festival of Accra, and co-producer of the High Vibes music festival in 2009. In 2018 he was appointed director of the school of creative arts at the African University College of Communications in Accra, and in 2022 he launched the African Dawn podcast, 'dedicated to telling untold stories from Africa'. He is survived by his children, James, Kwame, Ama and Madison, and his siblings, Priscilla and Charles. Kwesi Kwarteng Owusu, film-maker, author and entrepreneur, born 24 October 1954; died 22 March 2025
