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The Guardian
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Malcolm-Jamal Warner was a TV big brother and an off-screen gentleman. He'll be forever missed
The last time I saw Malcolm-Jamal Warner was on a bittersweet night in Atlanta. This was after one of his gigs at Buteco, the east side Brazilian joint that Warner took over on the first Thursday of every month. He would magically transform it into the kind of classic Black TV hotspot that he himself might have walked onto back in the day. (Think of Natalie's, the New York Undercover hangout.) Warner's Buteco Nights had become a rallying cry among my guy friends to break away from family routines and kick back and catch up for a few hours in a house full of fellow creatives. All the while, Warner would reinterpret funk and R&B jams on the electric bass with his band, Biological Misfits. When two friends announced they were leaving Atlanta for good, this balmy night in April became a final hurrah. I didn't yet know just how final. Just when the night seemed as if it couldn't be stretched any longer, I caught Warner as he and the band were packing up at closing time. I asked about his daughter (whom I fondly remember being carried out of Buteco after a recent gig ran past her bedtime), and suddenly – as ever with Warner, always so thoughtful and intentional in his interactions – we were going deep. We joked about being older dads and the adventures and adversities that come with raising Black children in this American day and age. He was so insanely proud of the job his wife and daughter were doing in homeschool, studying Ancient Egypt and other Black history. He was especially excited about an upcoming family trip to Costa Rica, because it meant he could bring the classroom to the beach. After 20 or so minutes of catching up, we bro-hugged and parted ways. I had no reason to expect I'd never see him again. I was scrolling through Twitter on Monday when I saw Warner's name trending, and I've been numb ever since learning that he died in a drowning accident on that very family trip to Costa Rica, while swimming with his daughter. Like the sudden deaths of Chadwick Boseman and Kobe Bryant, Warner's passing is a profound shock that makes absolutely no sense to me whatsoever. Here was a guy who became a household name as a teenager and somehow wasn't turned into another tragic child star, who tarried in the industry over five decades making TV, movies, music and poetry without generating negative headlines or rumors – who, on the last night I saw him, looked for all the world like a man who had it all figured out and was at peace with the final answers. For it all to end now, as he was exactly where he wanted to be in life, just feels unspeakably cruel. Warner's is no ordinary celebrity tragedy. It's the beginning of the end of an era, of a time when TV stars were still so near and dear to us. For those of us who grew up watching the Cosby Show, my original Thursday night routine, he was more than a fictive relative. As Theo Huxtable, the respectful (if mischievous) teen who overcame dyslexia on the way to an NYU psychology major and job helping kids like himself at the community center, he showcased a range of Black masculinity that was alien at the time and still a strange sight on screen today. Just the sight of his name flashing in the opening credits was like seeing a Black fist come through the screen. How could Gil Scott-Heron say the revolution would not be televised when our man was right here, in dreads and kente patterns, repping Malcolm X and Mumia Abu-Jamal in primetime? Not just on the Cosby Show, mind you, but on The Resident and 9-1-1, too. Warner's loss has hit like a death in the family and, make no mistake, his family was immense. The welter of tributes – from Beyoncé (who remembered Warner on the front page of her official web site) to Kate Hudson (who recalled her time working with Warner on Fool's Gold) to Tyrese Gibson (who paid tribute to Warner in a Facebook poem) – speak not only to his long and varied career in the industry (an NPR Tiny Desk, directing credits on music videos for Whitney Houston and New Edition) but to his monumental kindness, fundamental decency and unwavering professionalism. That sense of character, a fixture on and off screen, really shined through when Bill Cosby was subsumed by sexual assault allegations during the #MeToo era. While other industry peers rushed to distance themselves from Cosby, Warner found a way to walk a line between denouncing Cosby's conduct and reasserting his gratitude to his mentor and TV dad without anyone really questioning his loyalty. Reacting to Warner's death earlier this week Cosby's spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt, likened the bombshell news to the 1997 murder of Cosby's flesh-and-blood son, Ennis – a close friend of Warner's, as it happened. 'When we talk about why the good people are taken away from us,' Warner reflected in a recent podcast interview with the media personality Melyssa Ford, 'I go: 'Maybe they're being rewarded or something.'' More than his body work – which, again, is simply staggering – Malcolm should be remembered for actually living up to the Cosby Show's lofty ideals. His Thursday Buteco nights were pretty special too, a natural landing spot for other Black Hollywood icons who happened to be passing through town. But the real privilege wasn't watching Danny Glover or another star drop by to pay respect. It was sharing in some good, clean fun with a room full of people – a not insignificant number of them Black men who took to their responsibilities as fathers, spouses and good citizens in large part because of the dude on the bass, jammin' on the one. That's the Warner I'll remember: the sage who elevated people as he brought them together with his bright smile, deep voice and bottomless warmth. I'll mourn him terribly, though not even half as much as his family members, friends, former castmates and bandmates who knew him far better. Suffice to say: Thursday Buteco nights won't be the same with him gone, but there's some comfort in thinking of his absence as its own reward when you know that's what it may have meant to him.
The Hindu
9 hours ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Telangana's road network to get a boost: ₹6,478 crore sanctioned for HAM projects
To strengthen rural connectivity and regional infrastructure, the Telangana government has approved a ₹6,478 crore road development programme under the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), said Roads and Buildings (R&B) Minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy. This project marks a major step in the State's push for balanced development. As part of phase 1, works will be taken up across 17 packages covering 373 roads with a total length of 5,190 km. Tenders have already been called and construction is set to begin shortly. 'Good roads are more than just infrastructure — they are the foundation for economic growth and regional equality,' Mr. Reddy said. 'This initiative will connect every village to its mandal and every mandal to its district headquarters with high-quality roads.' The plan envisions blacktop roads from all villages to mandal centres and double-lane roads from mandals to district headquarters, aiming to drastically improve transportation, access to services, and local mobility. Minister Venkat Reddy thanked Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for approving the plan promptly and reiterated that infrastructure is a core priority for the government. He also acknowledged and appreciated the efforts of senior officials from the R&B department and Special Chief Secretary Vikas Raj, who supervised multiple field visits and helped prepare a detailed project report. 'This government believes in growth that reaches the grassroots,' the Minister added. 'With HAM, we are not just laying roads — we're laying the path to Telangana's future.
Hans India
2 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
Jagan synonymous with vendetta politics, says Janardhan Reddy
Tirupati: Roads and buildings minister B C Janardhan Reddy slammed Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy as the 'brand ambassador of vindictive politics,' stating that the former CM sees everything through a lens of revenge because he himself ruled with vengeance. Speaking to the media on Monday, Reddy said the people of Andhra Pradesh clearly know who resorted to political vendetta in the past five years. Referring to the demolition of Praja Vedika and Chandrababu Naidu's arrest, Reddy asked whether those weren't acts of political vengeance. 'Today, law is taking its course on the wrongdoings of the past. We exposed the liquor, land, and sand scams even before elections,' he said, accusing the YSRCP of looting thousands of crores, especially in the liquor scam. The minister said nearly Rs 4,000 crore was siphoned off under the previous regime and hinted that the investigation would soon reveal where the money went and who benefited. 'If the probe proves guilt, no matter how powerful, punishment is inevitable,' he added. Janardhan Reddy denied any personal vendetta in the ongoing probes, asserting that people voted the coalition to power for governance free of revenge politics. He criticised Jagan for predicting that the government would collapse in three years, questioning, 'Who is he to decide? People already dethroned him once. We have four more years to serve.' Listing the coalition government's initiatives, he mentioned the Super six schemes, increased pensions, Deepam, Thalliki Vandanam, and upcoming free bus travel for women. He also took a dig at YSRCP's electoral downfall: 'If Jagan's governance was great, why did they fall from 151 to 11 seats?' On the R&B front, the minister said the department was left in shambles by YSRCP, with 25,000 km of pothole-ridden roads, which the coalition repaired with Rs 1,200 crore. The government also cleared Rs 2,500 crore in dues left by the previous regime and is preparing DPRs for new roads. Responding to ex-MLA R K Roja's comments, he said criticism of women is unwelcome but reminded that Roja herself had used abusive language against opposition families while in power. City MLA Arani Srinivasulu accompanied the Minister during the interaction.
Indian Express
2 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
‘Effectively monitor bridges & govt buildings, ensure they are built as per approved designs': Surat district in-charge secretary to officials
There should be an effective monitoring of government buildings, bridges and other structures, and it must be ensured that they are built according to the approved designs, Surat district in-charge secretary Rajiv Topno said during a review meeting with officials of the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) and the district administration on Monday. Surat has the highest number of bridges – 121 – in the state. In the meeting, officials shared detailed information with Topno on the current status and conditions of public service buildings or government office buildings, schools and colleges, Anganwadis, and bridges in Surat city and district. During the meeting, the incharge secretary said, 'During the construction of any bridge or government building, it is necessary to effectively monitor that the construction is done as per the approved design. The officials should ensure that the inspection and monitoring of the bridges are done as per the prescribed IRC code.' IRC or the Indian Roads Congress is considered the apex body of highway engineers in the country. Topno also emphasised that officials should supervise the surface design of the highway bridges as well as Railway bridges. There should be timely checks of footover bridges at Railway stations, and a third-party agency should conduct inspections, he said. The meeting was attended by Surat Municipal Commissioner Shalini Agarwal along with officials from the Bridge department, Surat District Development Officer Shivani Goyal and her team, and officials from the Roads and Buildings (R&B) department, among others. Commissioner Agrawal shared a presentation on the 121 bridges along with their health card reports. She also informed the incharge secretary that the bridges are repaired periodically under the 'Bridge Rehabilitation Scheme', adding that no bridges are in a dilapidated state at present. At the district level, the officials informed Topno that inspection of bridges that come under the R&B Department, District Panchayat, Surat Canal Department, Kakrapar-Jamna Kantha (Kakrapar Right bank canal) and Ukai Daba Kantha (Ukai left bank canal) has been completed. The officials said that 25 bridges under National Highway-53 and four bridges that come under National Highway-48 have been inspected recently. Besides, seven bridges coming under Gujarat Metro, 18 under Gujarat State Road Development Corporation, seven under Surat Urban Development Authority (SUDA) and 45 under the Railway Department, among others, have also been inspected. The condition of government offices, Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, college buildings, city and district government schools, Anganwadi centres, roads and buildings, SMIMER-Civil Hospital and District Health Department buildings were also reviewed during the meeting. Surat District Development Officer Goyal said, 'SMC officials, R&B department officials, district development officials and others had shared their reports about the condition of the bridges and government buildings in the meeting with the Surat district in-charge secretary. He laid emphasis on monitoring of government buildings and bridges and ensuring that it is done as per the approved design.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Drake Taps Lauryn Hill, 21 Savage, Rema, More Surprise Guests for London's Wireless Festival
Drake headlined the three-day Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park in London over the weekend and it was a star-studded, surprise guest-filled affair. Lauryn Hill, 21 Savage, Rema, Vanessa Carlton, and more joined the rapper throughout the weekend. On Friday, Drake set the theme for the night. 'This is the first time in my life that I've done three different shows on three different days,' Drake told the crowd, per Billboard. 'You came to a very special night. It's night one. It's a celebration of all things R&B. All things melodies. All classics.' Beyond his own classics, surprise guest Lauryn Hill also dropped one of her own. Her performance of 'Ex-Factor' transitioned into Drake's Hill-sampling 'Nice for What.' The night also included appearances by Bryson Tiller, Givēon, and PartyNextDoor. More from Rolling Stone Lauryn Hill Addresses 'Nonsense' Idea That She's 'Too Important to Care' About Being Late to Shows Ovrkast on Working With Drake, Dealing With Success, and His Supernatural Inspiration Drake's 'Iceman' Era Could Be a Misstep if It's Too Focused on Beef On Saturday, Drake switched gears. 'London, tonight is different,' Drake told the crowd. 'All that sweetheart, singing shit? That shit is over tonight. This is for my motherfucking dogs. I see my dogs came out tonight.' Rappers Skepta, Latto, Sexyy Redd, and 21 Savage were among the guests. He and 21 Savage performed 'Knife Talk' and 'Rich Flex' from their collaborative 2022 album, Her Loss. The second night also had the crowd chanting 'Fuck Kendrick.' Drake's response was to ask someone to pour him a shot, before he said, 'I'll drink to that.' The two rappers' monumental beef has continued to spark conversations even a year later, and so it's not surprising that their respective concerts (along with Drake's defamation lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us') touch on it, even if it's crowd-sourced. He capped off the rap-focused night with an unexpected surprise guest: He invited Vanessa Carlton out to perform her 2002 song, 'A Thousand Miles.' Sunday's set was a brief 40 minutes due to a strict curfew, per the BBC, but Drake still had some surprises in store. He teased an unreleased collaboration with British rapper Central Cee, and Rema drew cheers, as did Vybz Kartel. Earlier in the month, Drake dropped 'What Did I Miss?' ushering in his Iceman era. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword
