Victor Glover makes history, CBCF sued over scholarships, nominated for a Webby
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What I’m Reading
I have some amazing news to share: “What I’m Reading” has been recognized in the 30th Annual Webby Awards! The newsletter is now competing for the Internet's two most coveted awards: The Webby Award, selected by the Webbys Academy, and The Webby People's Voice Award, voted on by the online public. Thank you to everyone who has supported this newsletter over the years; I am extremely grateful.
Please consider taking a moment to vote for this newsletter for a Webby People’s Voice Award! You can vote using this link. Voting is open now through Thursday, April 16th, at 11:59 pm PDT.
What Happened to the Blackbuster?, Hammer & Hope
“From ‘Boomerang’ to ‘Love & Basketball,’ the golden age of Black upward-mobility cinema projected fantasies of racial representation. Then they disappeared,” Ian F. Blair writes for Hammer & Hope.
What’s In The News
Across America
Arkansas: Marlon Weems talked with his brother, Orson Weems, for a wide-ranging conversation about Black music history, the roots of the blues, and more…
Colorado: An exhibit on the Black homesteader community will be on display at the Creede Underground Mining Museum until mid-May…
Florida: Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen was shot and killed, and her husband is in custody…
Georgia: TSA workers were reportedly asked to return $1,000 gift cards given out by Tyler Perry. Apparently, they will get to keep them after all…
Illinois: Skyway Lanes, the last Black-owned bowling alley in Chicago, is set to close after a surge of support faded…
Louisiana: The Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans is facing an onslaught of catastrophic projects that could be more damaging than Katrina…
Maryland: Dayvon Love and Terri Freeman are pushing back against a Baltimore Sun article attacking the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture…
Massachusetts: Librarian Mychal Threets is set to be the convocation speaker for Harvard’s Graduate School of Education…
Michigan: 11-year-old author George Latham IV visits classrooms across Detroit to offer something just as important as literacy: representation, Darlene White explains…
Mississippi: The Supreme Court appears likely to rule for Terry Pitchford, a Black death row inmate who says there was racial bias in the makeup of his jury…
Missouri: The National Blues Museum is closing its doors after nearly 10 years in St. Louis…
New York: Jonah Levi, who is accused of beating Messiah Nantwi to death in an upstate prison, has been convicted of manslaughter…
North Carolina: The Black Trans Short Film Festival is taking place from April 30 to May 2 in Durham...
Oklahoma: Nearly 10 years after ex-Tulsa police officer Betty Shelby shot and killed Terence Crutcher, a court ruled his family’s civil lawsuit against her can move forward…
Pennsylvania: The oldest Black church in Philadelphia continued its tradition of a procession on Palm Sunday behind a donkey or pony…
Tennessee: Fisk University is ending its historic gymnastics program after three years due to scheduling and recruiting challenges…
Texas: The University of Texas will host the conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas on April 15 for a closed-door talk…
What’s Happening
Victor Glover is making history as the first Black astronaut to fly around the moon…
The Trump administration has opened investigations into how race is considered in admissions at three medical schools…
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation is being sued over college scholarships for Black students…
Over 500,000 Black men have lost their jobs in the last four months. The silence around this crisis puts these men in danger of becoming a permanent underclass, Torraine Walker writes…
USDA dumped a $300 million Biden-era grant meant to help underserved producers with access to land, capital, and markets, Aallyah Wright reports for Capital B News…
A federal judge ruled that a lawsuit against Evanston’s reparations program may proceed…
AP News: North Carolina’s electoral future may hinge on rural Black voters who feel ignored by Democrats…
CNN reports Kamala Harris is set to swing through four Southern state Democratic Party events in April…
For EBONY, Kia Turner asks: Is being offline really a luxury — or just a privilege some can afford?...
Janai Norman will no longer co-anchor the weekend edition of “Good Morning America;” Natalie Korach had the news first for Status…
Rise Early Learning Center is working to help Baltimore kids by creating a space for their parents to find resources and build community…
Sparrow’s Nest, a small brick building serving various purposes at Davidson College, was once quarters for enslaved people during the 19th century…
The Guardian: From Washington to Florida, supper clubs are helping Black women slow down, connect and build lasting sisterhood…
Entertainment News
Brandy was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame this week. Watch the full ceremony above…
Whoa: Gucci Mane was allegedly robbed and kidnapped by rappers Pooh Shiesty and Big30 in Dallas over an alleged record label dispute, according to the Department of Justice…
Megan Thee Stallion was rushed to the hospital during a recent showing of ‘Moulin Rouge!’ on Broadway in New York City. She is recovering, a spokesperson said…
Following Clinton Yates’ ouster at ESPN, Yussuf Khan called attention to the disappearing Black national sports radio host….
Ayo Edebiri is the cover star of the latest issue of Paper Magazine…
Master P is leaving the University of New Orleans basketball program just one year after joining the school…
Druski once again showed how Black comedy shapes the conversation, Justin Tinsley writes for Andscape…
Chicago label Sooper Records will release piano virtuoso Charles Joseph Smith’s first professional album in April. As a Black man diagnosed with autism, it’s been a long time coming…
Hanif Abdurraqib, one of the top essayists in the country, revisited Jay-Z’s debut album “Reasonable Doubt” as it turns 30 years old…
Arsenio Hall is spilling it all in his new memoir, “Arsenio,” which came out this week…
T.I. sat down with Okayplayer on comedy and his new album while remembering ‘King’ on its 20th anniversary…
Tiger Woods announced that he will seek treatment after he was charged with a DUI…For Andscape, Justin Tinsley examined the long shadow of the golf legend…
J. Janice Coleman, an English professor at Alcorn State University, honors Mississippi history, including Civil Rights icon Fannie Lou Hamer, with her quilts…
Smithsonian Mag: A new book of Toni Morrison’s university lectures, now collected for the first time, shares some of the legendary novelist’s most important lessons…
Obituaries
Bob Law, a pioneering voice in Black radio and iconic host of National Black Network’s “Night Talk,” has died. He was 86…
Barry Caldwell, the animator and director behind the cartoon series “Animaniacs” and the film “Osmosis Jones,” has died. He was 68…
Melvin Edwards, the first Black American to have a solo exhibition at the Whitney Museum in New York, has died. He was 88…
Ernest McMillan, a teacher and human rights activist in Dallas, has died. He was 81…
Don’t Miss
Can you beat my time on Black Crossword? 43 seconds!...
ICYMI: Watch Reporting While Black, a live conversation from Howard University “on independent media, audience power, and the fight to tell the truth in a shifting industry”…
ASALH is partnering with the African American Museum of Dallas to offer FREE classes on African American history…
The 2nd annual HBCU Film Festival is approaching, and Jasmine Guy is attending as a special guest. It will be held at Emory University in Atlanta on April 10…
I figured we'd have to start changing all of our scholarships to say FBA, descendants of slaves, or something that specifically reflects the diaspora and not just black so that they wouldn't pitch a damn fit. Those other foundations like CHCI and CAPAC better back the CBC or they're up next.