"One of us has polluted the air and I know who it is," a disgusted member of a Kenyan regional assembly declared.
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Friday, August 9, 2019
Thursday, August 8, 2019
New Reality Show Mines Family Albums for Black History
Marcus Garvey once said that “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” If you’re scratching your head wondering who Marcus Garvey is, then you’re in need of a black history lesson, and you might start by watching the PBS debut of Family Pictures USA on PBS Aug. 12 and 13.
The brainchild of filmmaker and artist Thomas Allen Harris, Family Pictures USA is the latest outgrowth of an award-winning body of work from this director who has always been driven by a desire to bring the largely hidden and neglected history of black people in America into the light.
An entirely new type of reality show, this new television series reconstructs the histories of resilient communities such as Detroit and Durham, North Carolina, through the memories of longtime residents and the treasured family photographs they share.
Black History Narratives
The result is a compelling and educational show that highlights not only individual family stories, but the weaving together of those stories over the course of generations into the history of a larger community, a city, its economy, its culture, and its hopes. The show stands apart for its simple elegance and narratives that, unlike most reality shows, don’t feel contrived.
When the descendants of Frank Wall, a second-generation Duke University janitor who bequeathed $100 to the school for use in the advancement of black men, share their photos and memories alongside the descendants of George Washington Duke, the white tobacco industrialist for whom Duke University is named, the history of those families, the city of Durham, and its most famous institutions, takes on a whole new meaning.
(Family Pictures USA/Flickr)
Centered on pictures of people who are long dead, the storytelling of their descendants is very much alive, honest, and intimate and Family Pictures USA’s approach to mining these stories also stands apart for its inclusiveness. Says Harris, simply, “You can’t tell American history without including African American history.”
While Harris, who teaches film and African American History at Yale, is always motivated in part by a desire to educate, he admits to being surprised by how much he learns in doing the show. “The stories of black business people who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps that you never heard about or had an image for were pretty amazing. The series helped me understand how towns were formed and how they developed and how people of means and employers shaped culture and people’s lives.”
Breaking Down Stereotypes in Country’s Current Political Tone
Harris, who stepped out from behind the camera to host the series, says it has been the most financially ambitious project he’s directed to date. Leveraging the success of his 2014 award-winning documentary, Through the Lens, Darkly, he and his partners raised $2.3 million largely through grants from the Ford Foundation and others. PBS, which is eager to compete more dynamically with other networks, invested about $250,000. A small network of high net worth African American businesspeople also contributed. In order to complete the series, Harris is still looking to close a $125,000 gap.
Harris, a Harvard graduate who began his career in public television, first produced award-winning shows in his native New York for WNET. He says that even 30 years later, raising money for new film projects remains a challenge.
Thomas Allen Harris (Family Pictures USA)
“Artists are used to networking with other artists, but I don’t know if we’re used to networking with people who think radically differently than we do, who may be business or finance people,” he says. No matter what your background is, to successfully finance a project, Harris adds, “You have to be able to tolerate rejection without any kind of resentment. Persistence and finding those sweet spots of commonality are key.”
Family Pictures USA certainly offers those sweet spots. Especially given the tone of the country as the 2020 election nears; Harris says he hopes the show will help break down the stereotypes and other barriers that divide us, and that through the show’s all-inclusive spectrum of photos, we will come to see ourselves in each other more and lean more into our commonalities.
As he says in a promo, “Once you see our history through family pictures, you’ll never see this country the same way again.”
More articles by Caroline Clarke:
- UNPACKING THE WENDY WILLIAMS EXPERIENCE
- BAD ASS BLACK WOMEN: TIME TO CLAIM YOUR PLACE IN HISTORY
- This Woman May Have Been the First Black Woman Manager in the Fortune 500
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Wendy Williams talks divorce, her estranged husband’s side family and says her ex is NOT running her businesses
The cat’s officially out of the bag.
Wendy Williams has finally confirmed that her estranged husband has a whole new family after it was reported that he cheated with his mistress Sharina Hudson and fathered a baby on the side.
Williams, 55, appeared on SiriusXM’s “Sway in the Morning,” about her impending divorce from Kevin Hunter and wished him and new his new family well.
“I want a divorce like yesterday, I want a divorce two months ago, three months ago. Whenever I found out, four months ago,” she said.
She explained that she wants her divorce and her relationship with Hunter to be cordial, Page Six reports.
“I want a divorce, and I want to be friends with Kevin. I mean, and not because we have a son but because that was real love. I still love him just not in that way.
“You either in or you are out with me,” she continued. “I still have love for him and I wish him the best in his new life with his new family.”
Now that’s growth.
While it has been reported that Williams may have recently softened her stance on her cheating ex-husband and hired him back to run her businesses, on Wednesday, Williams denied that claim while on Fox 5 in New York.
“The only business – I repeat – the only business me and Mr. Hunter are involved with is getting a divorce finalized,” Williams said.
The two had been joined at the hip for more than 20 years as a married couple and together built an empire and had several business ventures together like the Hunter Foundation.
—She’s Free! Cyntoia Brown has been released from prison after serving 15 years—
But when Williams reportedly found out her man had fathered a baby outside the marriage, she ousted him with the quickness, filed for divorce and dissolved her joint businesses.
It appears poppa has rolled his way back into Wendy’s good graces and they have released a joint press statement saying that they will not dissolve their production company, publishing house or charitable foundation.
Stay strong Wendy!
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The MIT Press releases a comprehensive report on open-source publishing software
The MIT Press has announced the release of a comprehensive report on the current state of all available open-source software for publishing. “Mind the Gap,” funded by a grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, “shed[s] light on the development and deployment of open source publishing technologies in order to aid institutions' and individuals' decision-making and project planning,” according to its introduction. It will be an unparalleled resource for the scholarly publishing community and complements the recently released Mapping the Scholarly Communication Landscape census.
The report authors, led by John Maxwell, associate professor and director of the Publishing Program at Simon Fraser University, catalog 52 open source online publishing platforms. These are defined as production and hosting systems for scholarly books and journals that meet the survey criteria, described in the report as those “available, documented open-source software relevant to scholarly publishing” and as well as others in active development. This research provides the foundation for a thorough analysis of the open publishing ecosystem and the availability, affordances, and current limitations of these platforms and tools.
The number of OS online publishing platforms has proliferated in the last decade, but the report finds that they are often too small, too siloed, and too niche to have much impact beyond their host organization or institution. This leaves them vulnerable to shifts in organizational priorities and external funding sources that prioritize new projects over the maintenance and improvement of existing projects. This fractured ecosystem is difficult to navigate and the report concludes that if open publishing is to become a durable alternative to complex and costly proprietary services, it must grapple with the dual challenges of siloed development and organization of the community-owned ecosystem itself.
“What are the forces — and organizations — that serve the larger community, that mediate between individual projects, between projects and use cases, and between projects and resources?” asks the report. “Neither a chaotic plurality of disparate projects nor an efficiency-driven, enforced standard is itself desirable, but mediating between these two will require broad agreement about high-level goals, governance, and funding priorities — and perhaps some agency for integration/mediation.”
“John Maxwell and his team have done a tremendous job collecting and analyzing data that confirm that open publishing is at a pivotal crossroads,” says Amy Brand, director of the MIT Press. “It is imperative that the scholarly publishing community come together to find new ways to fund and incentivize collaboration and adoption if we want these projects to succeed. I look forward to the discussions that will emerge from these findings.”
“We found that even though platform leaders and developers recognize that collaboration, standardization, and even common code layers can provide considerable benefit to project ambitions, functionality, and sustainability, the funding and infrastructure supporting open publishing projects discourages these activities,” explains Maxwell. “If the goal is to build a viable alternative to proprietary publishing models, then open publishing needs new infrastructure that incentivizes sustainability, cooperation, collaboration, and integration.”
Readers are invited to read, comment, and annotate “Mind the Gap” on the PubPub platform: mindthegap.pubpub.org
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Cyntoia Brown is married and has a memoir on the way!
Recently released sex trafficking victim, Cyntoia Brown got married while in jail and has a book deal brewing.
—She’s Free! Cyntoia Brown has been released from prison after serving 15 years—
Brown’s book publisher, Atria Books, announced that Brown “looks forward to starting her life as a recently married woman,” and will discuss her life in a new memoir set to drop October 15.
On Aug 7, after 15 years, Brown was been released from a Tennessee prison after being granted clemency in January from former Republican Governor Bill Haslam.
More about her plight will be outlined in her upcoming book, “Free Cyntoia: My Search for Redemption in the American Prison System,” which contains her thoughts and writing from the years she was imprisoned, The Tennessean reports.
“For the first time ever, Cyntoia shares the details of her transformation, including a profound encounter with God, an unlikely romance, and an unprecedented outpouring of support from social media advocates and A-list celebrities which ultimately lead to clemency and her release from prison,” a press release said.
The memoir is a “coming-of-age memoir set against the shocking backdrop of a life behind bars”. While in prison, Brown earned two degrees and started the GLITTER Project, (Grassroots Learning Initiative on Teen Trafficking, Exploitation and Rape).
Yona Deshommes, associate director of publicity for Atria, which is a division of publishing giant Simon & Schuster, revealed that Brown now goes by “Cyntoia Brown-Long.”
The 288-page hardcover book is set to cost $26.
Brown was officially released early Wednesday morning, according to a press release sent at 3:30 a.m. local time, according to ABC News
—Wesley Snipes snags a role on the upcoming ‘Coming 2 America’ sequel—
“Early this morning offender Cyntoia Denise Brown was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women,” the Nashville District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “Per the commutation, Brown has now been released to parole supervision.”
Brown, who has requested to “leave the prison and seek some time for privacy and transition,” says she will make no public appearances for now. She will spend the first few days adhering to the conditions of her release.
The post Cyntoia Brown is married and has a memoir on the way! appeared first on theGrio.
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Wesley Snipes snags a role on the upcoming ‘Coming 2 America’ sequel
Blade may not have welcomed him back, but Zamunda is welcoming Wesley Snipes with open arms.
Snipes reportedly has been cast in the upcoming “Coming 2 America” sequel starring comedic icon Eddie Murphy, who plays Prince Akeem. The movie is slated to hit theaters August 7, 2020, reports The NY Daily News.
—Mahershala Ali to star in ‘Blade’ series reboot—
The former Blade actor who recently was not re-cast in the upcoming Marvel reboot will play General Izzi, the ruler of a neighboring nation to Zamunda, the place where Prince Akeem reigns, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Also on board for the next installment of the cult classic movie is “Saturday Night Live’s” Leslie Jones and the legendary James Earl Jones. TMZ also caught up with comedian Michael Blackson who revealed that he got a dream call to play in the movie too.
And of course, Arsenio Hall reprises his role of Semi, Prince Akeem bosom buddy.
It sounds like movie magic is happening and we’re here for it!
The script was written by industry vet and Black-ish creator Kenya Barris along with original Coming to America writers, David Sheffield, and Barry Blaustein. Craig Brewer has also been tapped to direct.
The idea of a sequel for Coming to America was first floated by Murphy himself in 2017 when he posted a picture of Vanessa Bell Calloway along with the caption, “Coming to America sequel?”
The original film was centered around Prince Akeem, who traveled from his wealthy African country to a modest neighborhood in Queens in order to escape an arranged marriage and find a wife who will love him in spite of his wealth and nobility. Arsenio Hall brilliantly co-starred as the prince’s loyal handler, while James Earl Jones, Shari Headley, and John Amos were also featured in the hit.
—Back to Zamunda: ‘Coming To America’ sequel gets a release date!—
Reportedly, the plot for the second installment will follow Akeem as he learns about a long-lost son in America, so he returns to meet the unlikely heir to the throne of Zamunda. Given the recent international, blockbuster success of Black Panther, there’s no doubt that Paramount is feeling confident about revisiting their beloved cult classic and appealing not just to long-time fans but also to a younger audience that may not have even been alive when the first movie hit theaters.
The original movie also made over $128 million domestically and another $160 million globally, according to IMDb so it might just break the bank the second time around too.
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Cuba Gooding Jr.’s attorney starts #NotMe movement after judge denies motion to dismiss his sex abuse case
Cuba Gooding Jr.’s lawyer has launched a #NotMe movement after a Manhattan judge decided she wouldn’t dismiss his upcoming sex abuse case.
The actor’s attorney is walking a fine line by throwing his alternative take of the #MeToo movement into the mix after a woman accused him of getting too handsy and groping her in New York nightclub in June.
—Cuba Gooding Jr. accused of putting his hands where they didn’t belong, report says—
On Wednesday, Judge Phyllis Chu refused to drop the misdemeanor forcible touching and sex abuse charges against Gooding Jr for allegedly squeezing a woman’s breasts inside the Magic Hour Rooftop Bar. Gooding Jr’s team filed a motion asking for the charge to be dismissed, Page Six reports.
Heller wrote in her decision Gooding hasn’t proved why the case shouldn’t move forward.
“The court finds the defendant has failed to meet his burden of setting forth compelling reasons to warrant dismissal.”
The judge did however contend that the accuser has “certain mental characteristics” that make it more likely for her to fudge the truth.
And it hasn’t helped that the accuser wrote on Facebook previously her “brain was one big fat mess…Some people are scared of others and want nothing more to be invisible. I am not that type of person. I am starving to be seen.”
Gooding Jr’s attorney Mark Heller announced that he has activated the “Not Me Movement” in response.
“After fifty years of defending innocent, falsely accused and unfairly prosecuted defendants, I am igniting the ‘Not Me Movement’ (#NotMe),’ ” Gooding Jr’s attorney Mark Heller announced.
—Atlanta hotel guest dies after contracting disease that has affected up to 73 other guests—
Heller has been scolded by Manhattan prosecutors for victim shaming. Gooding Jr has maintained his innocence.
At issue is video of the Oscar winner which appears to show Gooding Jr. motion his hard toward a woman’s chest and then pull back before kissing her hand.
“I am totally confident that when a jury of Cuba Gooding, Jr.’s peers assess all of the exculpatory evidence in this case, that he will be totally exonerated,” Heller said. “His case will be a hallmark example for the #NotMe Movement.”
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