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New York Times
4 days ago
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
My Mrs. Roper–Inspired Dress Is All I Ever Want to Wear
Long before Mrs. Roper became the poster child for the long, colorful caftan on Three's Company , there was my grandmother — all 4 feet 11 inches of her — clad throughout my childhood in psychedelic muumuus of her own making. She favored paisley prints, West African fabrics popularized by the Black Panther Party, and neon mod florals featuring a shade of fuchsia not found in nature. All this to say that I come by my love for the entire category of flowy, vibrant, loose-fitting dresses honestly, possibly even genetically. But the one I return to again and again — which also happens to be the very first thing I put into a gift guide when I started at Wirecutter — is the Silkandmore Cotton Caftan. I truly don't remember how I discovered the unremarkable and slightly hectic Etsy shop that is Sikandmore, but I suspect I was — surprise! — looking around for affordable caftans to use as swim coverups. I do, however, remember my first one. It was a navy blue striped number, over a decade ago, that first got me hooked on the gossamer lightness and beautiful simplicity of this particular caftan. The shop offers a bunch of different styles of caftan-like dresses: Some have empire waists and buttons, others are made of jersey knit, and there are also halter maxi dresses, nighties, robes, and maternity items. But I am loyal to the simple rectangle of lightweight Indian cotton folded lengthwise, sewn down the sides, and featuring a reinforced V-neck and a simple drawstring waist. That's it. This caftan comes in one size (when laid flat, it measures about 36 inches across, with 11-inch arm openings, and it fits my size-12 body well). And there are a few different lengths based on your height range. There are small slits at each side, and for an extra $5, you can add pockets. I haven't tried the one with pockets, but I've owned a knee-length version, and I prefer the long ones, for more dramatic swishing and sashaying. Because they are more or less made to order and shipped from India, these caftans can take up to three weeks to arrive. This regular cotton version has been in rotation for at least three years. Samantha Schoech/NYT Wirecutter Although I first intended to use it as a beach cover-up (and still use it for that), my Silkandmore Caftan's main job is being a house dress. As long as the temperature is above 60 degrees Fahrenheit, this caftan is what I want to be wearing (preferably without a bra, but you do you) while I'm working, lounging, and going about my business at home. I have also worn it out of the house with a cute pair of platform sandals and a long string of turquoise beads. (But do be aware that the lighter-colored versions can be quite diaphanous.) And on many occasions, I've also worn my caftan as a nightgown. By my count, I've bought five of these caftans in the past 10 years, and there are two still in circulation. I am not careful with them — I treat them with the delicacy of a beloved pair of sweats. But I do hang them to dry to avoid shrinking them and subjecting them to unnecessary wear and tear. Still, the cotton is so lightweight that it does tend to rip after some years. The side seams also weaken and creep upward, turning modest slits into hip-high ones (though anyone with basic sewing skills could repair this in minutes). The organic cotton version seemed especially delicate and prone to tearing. But this rip only happened after two years of heavy wear. Samantha Schoech/NYT Wirecutter If I reserved one of these caftans to wear only as a dress outside the house, or used them only while I was at the beach or the pool, I could avoid loving them to death in this way. But that's not the life I want to lead. The life I want to lead has me clad in the thinnest, flowiest cotton, with a cut that barely grazes the body. And although I'm not quite as fond of hallucinatory prints as my grandmother was, I like to think she'd recognize me now as a kindred spirit. As would Mrs. Roper. This article was edited by Hannah Rimm and Catherine Kast.
Chicago Tribune
02-08-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Black Panther Party's Illinois history recognized with heritage trail
The assassination of Illinois Black Panther Party Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton and Defense Captain Mark Clark by Chicago police and the FBI on Dec. 4, 1969, caused Larry Jenkins to leave his 'well-paying' job with the Chicago Tribune after two years of employment to volunteer his typesetting and press skills with the party. 'I was making flyers,' said the Bronzeville resident. Jenkins was one of many Illinois Black Panther Party members at a celebratory event last week that was years in the making, according to Leila Wills, daughter of Panther Party members and executive director of the Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party. The building at 2350 W. Madison St., on the Near West Side, where a Walgreens currently sits, was once the headquarters of the Illinois chapter of the party. The original structure was demolished, however a marker with the Black Panthers logo was unveiled July 26 launching the Black Panther Party Heritage Trail in Illinois — the first marker of over a dozen sites that commemorate local party history. The trail will serve as an educational tool, Wills wrote in a pamphlet, showing the breadth of the inaugural 13 Chicago sites where the black and gold markers will be placed. While the trail continues to be built, the inaugural expanse of markers placed into sidewalks or affixed to buildings runs from Peoria through Chicago to Rockford. The designated locales are where Illinois party members helped their communities back in the day — from the Spurgeon 'Jake' Winters Free People's Medical Care Center at 3850 W. 16th St. to structures where refuge and meetings were conducted, such as the Church of the Holy Covenant at 925 W. Diversey Parkway. A marker also rests at Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church in Peoria, the site where Clark started the city's Free Breakfast for Children Program, which ran until the recent pandemic, per Wills. According to the preservation society's website, 21 sites have been earmarked as 'significant locations of the Illinois chapter. Those sites include the Rockford branch headquarters (529 S. Pierpont Ave.) and sites in Maywood, Summit and Harvey. Those sites are not a part of the inaugural placement of markers. The Chicago-area properties associated with the Black Panther Party have been listed in a National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Document. The designation defines the broad history and cultural context of the Black Panthers in Illinois, so that additional sites can eventually be added to the historic register or have their status updated, such as the Church of the Epiphany at 201 S. Ashland Ave., which has had its National Register nomination updated with the history of the Panthers. Spearheaded by the nonprofit started in 2020 for the sole purpose of organizing the landmarking effort, the Historical Preservation Society of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, the listing was approved by the state of Illinois and the National Park Service in December. It's the first time the Panthers' history and cultural significance have been recognized by the federal government in a Multiple Property Document. Wills said work on the trail culminated in 2023, when the National Park Service approved the listing of multiple properties that the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party used for activities on the National Register of Historic Places. The Historical Preservation Society fundraised for the markers beginning in February 2024, through the Party's website and members, as well as a variety of sponsors such as Illinois Humanities and Landmarks Illinois, resulting in almost $42,000 for the 13 plaques. Wills said fundraising is ongoing to cover costs for installation and permits. A look at the end of the 200-plus page National Park Service document shows the support garnered for landmarking the Illinois Black Panther Party. The federal government's acknowledgement of the Black Panther Party's history and impact on the United States is a first, according to Wills. 'We hope to have all the plaques placed by October,' Wills said. The month is significant in that the Black Panther Party was established in Oakland, California, on Oct. 15, 1966, by leaders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The heritage trail will showcase the programs and activism that provide context and testimonials from Panther members passing on their knowledge. 'Each historical plaque has a QR code that will take you to that site's webpage that will have interpretive material,' said Wills. 'We plan to have multiple means of accessibility: maps, audio, pictures and writing. We are still in the beginning stages.' The Black Panther Party was created in the 1960s as a response to racial violence against Black Americans, when youth became discouraged by the progress made by the nonviolent approach of the Civil Rights Movement. Political, community activism and armed self-defense came together under their organization to get freedom from oppression 'by any means necessary,' a phrase made famous by Malcolm X, which the party embraced in their original 10-point platform that spelled out the needs and principles of the group's actions toward African American liberation. Hampton, a member of the NAACP in high school, and retired U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, who was an Illinois Black Panther Party co-founder and member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee — would cross paths when the Illinois chapter of the Panther Party was coalescing. (Hampton served as deputy chairman and Rush as the deputy minister of defense.) As a Black Panther, Hampton would go on to create alliances to found the Rainbow Coalition since basic tenets of survival, including economic struggle and housing, traversed racial lines. The party established social programs for the public, known as 'survival programs,' which included free medical care, clothing, and breakfast for thousands of schoolchildren daily. This initiative was so successful nationally that the federal government adopted the concept after the party itself was dismantled. Empowerment, freedom, education, employment, food, housing, justice, peace and an end to police brutality were points the party worked toward in their initiatives. Rush honored the Panthers' legacy alongside Fredrika Newton, widow of Black Panther Party founder Newton, last Saturday, sharing his story on finding the West Side building where the Illinois headquarters operated from November 1968 to 1971. This is 'about those who dedicated their lives, their futures and their families to making the dream of the Black Panther Party a reality,' Rush said. While retired from politics, Rush said 'you can't retire from a calling.' Amid call and responses of 'Power to the People,' onlookers at the event could see the remaining markers that will make up the rest of the heritage trail, including Site 11 at 2156 N. Halsted St., which housed the People's Law Office; Site 2 at 2337 W. Monroe St., where Hampton and Clark were killed in the 1969 raid led by Chicago police and orchestrated by the FBI; the party's first South Side office at Site 7 at 233 E. 35th St. and Site 8, the South Side headquarters at 4233 S. Indiana Ave. — both structures have been demolished. After the ceremony, Jenkins smiled and noted what better time to place the markers. 'We have the support of a Black mayor and aldermen … this was the time,' he said. Newton received thanks and appreciation for her presence at the event. When a young man grasped her hand and said 'power to the people,' she beamed at him. 'This is what it's all about,' she said. 'He wasn't even born when this movement began, this is why it continues.' Rush agreed. 'Don't give up on the movement,' he said. 'The world still needs what you have to offer.'
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Goyo Says Her Ultra-Passionate Debut Album ‘Pantera' Is ‘a Safe Place for Me'
Goyo has unleashed her debut studio album, Pantera, which is inspired by a revolutionary movement, a blockbuster movie and most importantly, her personal experiences. Released Thursday (July 10) via Sony Music Latin, the 14-track set — home to previously released singles 'Tumbado,' 'Salta Por Mi' featuring Luister La Voz, and 'Volver a Verte' featuring Zaider — is named after the large, wild cat because 'it's a very instinctive and elegant animal, and all of that resonates with me,' the Colombian artist tells Billboard. More from Billboard Conner Smith Issued Misdemeanor Citation Following Fatal Nashville Car Accident Polaris Music Prize 2025 Short List Includes Albums by Mustafa, Nemahsis, Saya Gray & More Burna Boy Shows 'No Sign of Weakness' on New Album: Stream It Now Beyond its characteristic connection, Pantera is powered by the Black Panther Party, the nationalist and socialist organization founded in 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale, aimed to protect Black communities, and also Goyo's admiration for Wakanda, the African nation with advanced technology within the Marvel universe. 'I learned about the movement through Tupac, because I was a huge fan of his when I was younger and while researching his life, I realized that his mother, Afeni Shakur, was part of Black Panther,' she elaborates. 'Learning about the entire political and social movement was quite beautiful for me.' On the album, Goyo — who gained fame as part of the Latin Grammy-nominated group ChocQuibTown — explores the sounds of Afrobeats, delivers empowering lyricism and collaborates with key artists such as Pras, Afro B, Greeicy and J Noa, resulting in a very sensual, personal and passionate project. 'This is a world to me. Ever since I left Chocquibtown, the first thing I thought about for my first album was a panther,' she expresses. 'It's a safe place for me to start finding that artist who was never lost, but always amalgamated into a group. Finding that individuality through 'Pantera' was one of the best exercises I've ever done.' Below, Goyo shares anecdotes to three standout tracks on Pantera. 'This song was produced in London, and I still can't believe I'm collaborating with one of the members of the Fugees. I really like the lyrics because when I thought about them, I thought about a woman telling her ex-boyfriend to not do the same things to other women as he did to me. That topic interests me a lot.' 'This is an R&B song I wrote in a hotel in London. I was writing in my journal because two years ago, I started therapy, and my psychologist recommended I start journaling. There were many moments in my life where I screamed what I felt, and she taught me how to write down my emotions without having to act them out. I think it's a really nice resource to learn how to let go. In this song, I try to explain that I was never alone, and in those moments I had my journal. I felt accompanied by my own thoughts.' 'This song is a mix of Amapiano and Bounce. Bounce is music from New Orleans, and Amapiano is music from the provincial and it's where you can rap the most. There are types of Afrobeats where you can create more melodies. My brother [producer Slow Mike] and I were in the kitchen, and he told me that amapiano would go well with bounce. My mom was cooking, and we started creating the song. I invited DFZM because I love his voice. It's like Snoop Dogg's voice, and he also comes from the Pacific.' Listen to the full album here: Goyo is confirmed for the 2025 Billboard Latin Music Week taking place from Oct. 20 to 24 at the historic Fillmore Miami Beach. Spanning over 30 years and recognized as the most influential week in Latin music, the event will once again celebrate the heartbeat of Latin music and culture with four days of panels, marquee conversations, roundtables, showcases, networking and activations. Tickets are on sale now at The full schedule and lineup will be revealed in the coming weeks. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
The Hindu
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Vikrant Bhise's shades of blue
When Vikrant Bhise, 40, had his first big South Mumbai show, Hum Dekhenge (We Will See), in 2024, he gave the politically somnolent neighbourhood a booster shot of hidden-in-plain-sight history. 'Lots of people from the movement came,' the multi award-winning painter recalls. There was everything from Ambedkari jalsa (anti-caste protest poetry and songs) to Dalit Panther magazine archives that belonged to its co-founder Raja Dhale, and other invocations of Bhim, a rallying cry for Ambedkarites. Residents of Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar chawl in suburban Ghatkopar stood in front of his paintings of the 1997 riot where police fired on those protesting the desecration of a statue of B.R. Ambedkar, and soaked in the portraits of the 10 victims. 'That's my uncle,' one visitor told Bhise. It was an important moment for an artist who is driven to paint the unseen and untold. 'This is my calling,' says Bhise, who witnessed the riot from his uncle's house. 'These are my stories.' His work seems even more urgent at a time when these histories are being deliberately erased and/or co-opted. Some visitors said they didn't know such things had happened in Mumbai and that too 'so recently'. Now you understand why the artist is on a mission to take our 3,000-year history of caste-based oppression to a wider audience and disillusion those who believe the caste system is dead. Pain, people and protest Bhise is prolific. He may set out to make 50 multi-layered works and end up with 120 as it happened with Archival Historicity, inspired by Dalit Panther pamphlets from the 1970s and showcasing their inspiration, the Black Panther Party, founded in California in 1966. (The series is ongoing; Bhise sees it as his 'daily diary'.) Some of these works were acquired and are on permanent display at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. At his first solo show in Noida in 2023, there were some 400 works, including a 16x10 foot mural of the 16-year-long Namantar struggle that centred around renaming a university in Maharashtra's Aurangabad, and the 10-panel 'Quest For Justice' inspired by protests past and present that stretched across 40 feet. 'When I see the works of Renaissance painters, they're mostly about war and fighting, about the depiction of real things,' he says. 'This is our renaissance.' On display at the just-concluded Summer Berlinale were five panels or 20 feet of the Mahad Satyagraha, the 1927 non-violent movement led by Ambedkar for the right to access public water. Change is here, but its pace is not enough for the artist. 'We keep thinking how far we've come,' he says. 'But it's been 100 years and only one community does the waste collection and sanitation work.' From the precarious lives of workers to scholars driven to suicide by casteism, all find representation in Bhise's labyrinthine artworks bursting with pain, people and protest. Bodies are entwined in conflict and change in paintings with shades of blue that range from the palest sky to the deepest indigo. Painting untold histories While Bhise's works have always centred caste, labour, poverty and justice, it was only after the citizenship protests in 2019, the COVID-19 lockdown, and the farmers' protests, that he began painting Ambedkar, a leader who was invoked in all of these moments. 'Wherever there is injustice, there is Ambedkar,' Bhise says. His first portrait in 2021, titled Labour Leader, was of a worker using a rag to wipe a statue of Ambedkar. The man cleans the statue with his right hand as his left hand rests over Ambedkar's eyes. You could say it represents the uncovering of hidden history. 'Who killed Nitin Aage?' Bhise asks this question in the title of a painting about an intercaste love affair that ended in the brutal murder of a teenager. Like Aage, Bhise fell in love with a Maratha woman, Siddhi, who he met in art school, and they married despite family opposition. Now he dodges their four-year-old twins, Abir and Kabir, instructing them to stay away from his materials, as he paints in the midst of his fatherly life, grabbing every chance to work. 'There's no waiting for the right mood,' he says. He also spotlights the everyday joy and inspiration a community relies on in the midst of oppression, whether it's the annual gathering at Mumbai's Chaityabhumi, where Ambedkar was cremated; or humanitarian idols such as Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule; a euphoric indigo representation of a Jayanti; or the red wall of his parents' home. 'I want people to see Ambedkarite lives,' he says. 'Our houses are also different, our food, our literature, our living style, the colour palette…' Recently, his paintings have been displayed at prestigious venues such as Art Dubai and Art Basel. Coming up are Bergen Assembly in Norway and Frieze London, among many others. 'My works were shown in 20 group shows last year,' he says, still slightly incredulous about the growing interest in his art. It was after the Noida show that the art world really embraced Bhise's stories. All the years of working with a courier company until he took a big leap to follow his passion and study art, and then a long stint as an art teacher and tutor, have finally paid off. Now he can devote all his time to painting the histories that nobody told us about. The writer is a Bengaluru-based journalist and the co-founder of India Love Project on Instagram.
Perth Now
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Rob Delaney joins Being Heumann film
Rob Delaney has joined the cast of Being Heumann. The Dying For Sex actor is the latest star announced for the civil rights drama movie, alongside Ballroom actress Madeline Delp, and The Piano Lesson star Ray Fisher. Mark Ruffalo, Ruth Madeley, and Dylan O'Brien will also appear in the film, which is based on the memoir Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights, by disability activist Judy Heumann. According to Deadline, Delaney will portray Congressman Miller in the Apple movie. The character is said to be inspired by George Miller, who supported Heumann in her disability rights battle in the 1970s. Disability advocate Delp is to portray disability rights activist Kitty Cone and Fisher will appear as Chuck Jackson, a member of the Black Panther Party. Heumann - who was left paralysed from polio aged 18 months old - is best known for leading a 28-day sit in at the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in San Francisco in 1977. She led more than 100 people to take over the building, to protest that the Rehabilitation Act's Section 504 - which protects qualified individuals from discrimination based on their disability - should be enforced. The Act had been signed in 1973, but Section 504 had not been enforced, but the protest resulted in the signing of Section 504, meaning all federal spaces were accessible. President Jimmy Carter had vowed to enforce Section 504 after he was elected president in 1976, but Joseph Califano, Carter's Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, then said he wanted more time to review it, sparking the protest. Heumann previously told the BBC: "We were very, very concerned that they were going to make drastic changes to the rules. "We had been fighting very hard for many years to get the rules [to] where they were. So we said, if the regulations were not signed by a certain day there would be demonstrations around the country in nine or 10 cities." Madeley will take on the role of Heumann - who died in 2023, aged 75 - and Ruffalo will portray Califano. Sian Heder will direct the Apple Studios movie.
