Angela Davis, in reality, has been free from jail since 1972. But that
was a generation ago and filmmaker Shola Lynch in her riveting
documentary “Free Angela Davis (And All Political Prisoners)” recounts
those turbulent times when Davis was hunted, captured, and tried for her
alleged involvement in a shootout in a courtroom in San Rafael,
California, in 1970.
Maya Angelou’s fans began arriving and assembling at the Union Square
Barnes and Noble hours before her seven o’clock appearance on Tuesday.
As early as 4pm, the fourth floor was filled to capacity—more than 250
people—and the store’s security at the escalator blocked any more from
ascending. The famed writer was in town to promote her latest book “Mom & Me
& Mom,” which is mainly about the years she spent reconciling with
her mother.
Like Miles, Mingus and Monk, drummer Michael Carvin is a leader who
knows when and how to mix veteran musicians with emerging jazz stars. Such a tasteful mixture of the tried and true with a fresh brood was
fully evident recently at Dizzy’s Club in midtown Manhattan.
Many young girls start doll collecting with their first Barbie but there
are some people who continue into adulthood. Debbie Behan Garrett, author of The Doll
Blogs: When Dolls Speak, I Listen and creator of the Black Doll
Collecting website, provides some insight on collecting Black dolls.
On Monday, March 25, 2013, Evidence, A Dance Company, held its 9th Annual Gala at The Plaza Hotel. Highlights from the star-studded, black-tie affair hosted by actress Lynn Whitfield and chaired by Tonya Lewis Lee and Spike Lee were the Community Activist Award that went to the late Beth Young and the 2013 Corporate Philanthropy Award given to Valentino D. Carlotti on behalf of Goldman, Sachs & Company.
In Eslanda—the
Labor and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson (Yale University
Press, New Haven & London, 2013), author Barbara Ransby, a professor in the
department of African American Studies, Gender, and Women Studies
Program, University of Illinois, Chicago, extricates Eslanda Goode
Robeson from the enormous shadow cast by her indomitable husband and
provides her a platform to express her own considerable bona fides.
On Tuesday, February 26, the Dance Theater of Harlem held its Vision
Gala at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York City. Entertainment industry
veteran Vanessa Williams was honored for her extraordinary career
accomplishments in film, television, music and the Broadway stage.
