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Nneka Egbuna / Courtesy photoInternational recording artist Nneka made her Washington debut by slipping under the radar. In a show called “Nneka Unplugged” sponsored by Afrisonore, the 30-year-old Nigerian-German singer/songwriter/rapper played to a small, but highly appreciative audience at the Park at Fourteenth last Saturday, accompanied only by a keyboardist and guitar player. The rest; lead guitar, vocals and percussion, was done by this unassuming young woman, whose girlish looks belie her age and maturity.
Nneka Egbuna, whose first name means “mother is supermen” in the Igobo language, was born in Warri, Nigeria in 1981 and emigrated at age 19 to her mother’s homeland in Germany.
“I live in Lagos, Nigeria and I am mixed-race, German and Nigerian,” she said in a post-concert interview. “I grew up with my stepmother and my Dad, and my half-siblings. I got to know the white side of me only a couple of years ago. I lived in Germany for about six years, studied archaeology in Germany, started singing professionally in Germany and got my record deal in Germany and the whole career started professionally in Germany.”
Self-made star Oprah poses during show finale in Chicago. (Photo courtesy Oprah Winfrey Web site)Life will continue after Oprah Winfrey's final sw airs on May 25, but whoever is selected to fill the 60-minute void she leaves behind will have some big shoes to fill.
As the 57-year-old talk show titan winds down a career that has spanned more than two decades, she said in one of several farewell countdown videos on her Web site, that from among "thousands of stories" Erin Kramp had been her all-time favorite guest.
Kramp, a mother dying of breast cancer, appeared on the show 13 years ago. Oprah said Kramp – who passed away months later at age 36 – changed the way people think about dying because of a series of tapes she left behind for her daughter Peyton. The tapes were made to mark milestones in the daughter’s life as she grew up.
"[Kramp] absolutely embodies every story, every moment of perseverance, believing, gratitude – you name it – her story defines it," Oprah said.
In other videos, the self-made star reflects on interviews earlier this month with fashion icon Ralph Lauren at his California ranch and author James Frey. Oprah said the interview with Frey enabled her to come full circle with him in the aftermath of controversy that surrounded his 2006 appearance on her show.
The last of Oprah’s two-part finale titled, "Surprise Oprah! A Farerwell Spectacular," aired on May 24. Taped a week before in Chicago, the event attracted 13,000 people – including several celebrities and friends like Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, Beyonce, Patti LaBelle and Michael Jordan.
Oprah has said that in leaving the show, she will concentrate on her cable channel, The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), which launched in January.
Rapper-turned -A-list actress – and now entrepreneur, Queen Latifah has launched a partnership with the Home Shopping Network which showcases an exclusive line of apparel and accessories for women of all sizes.
The New Jersey native’s venture with the shopping giant offers clothing items under $100, with leather outerwear and bags ranging between $170 and $300.
The line debuts in late August and will also feature a variety of other products including leggings, jeans and clip-on hair extensions, according to the Huffington Post.
"I wanted to make something size two and up. The truth is, we all would like to wear the same clothes. We all want to wear beautiful, fly clothes no matter what size you are, and so for me it was important to match with a company that understood and respected that ideal," Latifah, 41, said in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily.
While adding that she abhors the term, "plus-size," Latifah – whose real name is Dana Owens – said she waited for the right partner to come along which would allow her to reach a broader range of women.
"I felt the marketplace didn't respect [larger women] in the way it should," Latifah said. "I was not going to step out with a clothing line that didn't respect a fuller-figured woman or a curvaceous woman, and really all women."
Award-winning actor Charles S. Dutton brought his one-man stage play, “From Jail to Yale: Serving Time on Stage” to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts recently to benefit the U.S. Dream Academy, Inc. The show captures a series of events in Dutton’s journey through life, from the streets of East Baltimore to becoming a celebrated actor, director and Broadway star. The performance showcased Dutton’s talents alongside nine Duke Ellington School of the Arts students, including Derrica Kisha Kearney (above left), who played “Cordelia” to Dutton’s King Lear in a scene from the William Shakespeare play King Lear. Proceeds for the event will aid children of incarcerated parents. / Photos by Shantella Y. Sherman
B. Smith, owner of B. Smith's Restaurants, center standing, poses with contestants for " B. Discovered" Talent Search Competition for DC`s Next Great Singers, Tues., March 8, at Union Station, in Northeast. / Photo by Roy LewisB. Smith, the noted style maven and former model, owns three restaurants in the District, New York City and Sag Harbor, N.Y. At a recent press conference in the District, Smith told the finalists that the District has some of the greatest singers in the world, and that the group of finalists repre-sents the city’s great talent.
In his book Ghosts in Our Blood, Guyanese author Jan Carew explains the conundrum that surrounds Malcolm X’s legacy.
“The real Malcolm X was far more complex than the millions of empty words written about him and the speeches he made at different stages of his life, or the plethora of distorted images strewn in the wake of his untimely death. Over the decades since his death, there has been a concerted effort to iconize him and, in so doing, distance him further and further from the mother who had given birth to him, his brothers, sisters, his wife and children, and his ancestors …
… The higher the iconized figure is lifted above the earth, the weaker and more indistinct the real Malcolm X becomes in their imaginations. As a result, they are less inclined to heed his warnings, and are more reluctant to live the austere life he had chosen.”
Malcolm X, also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (1925-1965), was a seminal figure in the 20th century. This Black Nationalist and revolutionary sought nothing but a radical shift in the power paradigm that governed how blacks and whites in America, and later the world, dealt with each other.
“Gauguin: Maker of Myth” is on view through June 5 at the National Gallery of Art. Visit www. nga.gov for more information. A full line of Gauguin inspired gifts are available in the East Building gift shop. / Courtesy photosAs a young girl who frequented art museums, I admired the work of Paul Gauguin, whose unctuous-looking brown women gazed serenely from the canvases, looking not only peaceful, but regal in their nudity. Years later, as an art historian, I realized my naïve notions about the work of this 19th century French painter, but the love of his work remained and still exists to this day. Which is why I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of “Gauguin: Maker of Myth” for more than a year.
The extensive exhibition, which does not claim to be a retrospective of the artist’s work, is currently on view at the National Gallery of Art’s East Building through June 5th. “Gauguin: Maker of Myth” assembles some of the artist’s most iconic work in one extensive, two-level exhibition that includes his paintings, prints and sculpture, exploring the role that myth-making had in the creation of his art. The exhibit focuses on some of the more central themes of Paul Gauguin, born in Paris, France on June 7, 1848. The first myth he created visually was his own, depicting himself in many forms and phases throughout his career. But this exhibit also explores his search for an earthly paradise, which he hoped to find in Tahiti and later in the Marquesas Islands, and his preoccupation with the so-called “exotic.”
Revelers enjoy Farafina Kan African Dance ensemble at Africa Underground / Courtesy Dedicated partiers describe nirvana as that state where the vibe, music and atmosphere blend seamlessly.
Recently, Africa Underground was the place, and Nicole Cutts exemplified that state. She was one of more than 1,300 revelers at the Smithsonian Museum of African Art’s Africa Underground: From West Africa to the Caribbean.
At the beginning of one reggae set on Friday, May 20, Cutts was off to the right side of the stage grooving to Lenny Kurlou and the Reggae All Stars.
She was working it out: eyes closed, face lit up with a beatific smile, arms extended outward, totally wrapped up in the music. Kurlou called her to center stage so he could serenade her with Gregory Isaacs’ anthem, Night Nurse.
Cutts, the perfect ham, complied.
“I want you to stay right here so I can focus on you,” said Kurlou.
Cutts assumed an air of contemplation, placing a finger on her lips, still dancing as he sang. Then she put her hand over her heart with mock-seriousness, before bending over in a fit of laughter.
When she straightened up, the singer said in patois, “Gimme yu han’ girl. Don’t be running away…”
Kurlou captured the hearts of the crowd by substituting “D.C.” into many of the calypso and reggae lyrics, as in Marley’s No Woman Nuh Cry.
“I remember when we used to sit, inna government yard, in D.C,” he crooned.
Museum Director Johnnetta Cole, and husband James Staton, resplendent in colorful African attire - danced with unabashed glee. Smiling broadly, she pulled a series of women standing watching to the front to twirl and dance.
“This is my first time at this event,” said Brandie Maxwell, who enjoyed the festivities with her friend, Azara Turaki in the museum’s lush Enid A. Haupt Garden.
“This museum is at the top of my list. There are so many choices and the music is great.”
Maxwell, a 31-year-old Liberian and editor of the blog, Out and About Africa, was attuned to the African music.
“I think this is kind of nice because they’re not a lot of African cultural events here. Just the fact that they have our music and food – I love it,” said Turaki, a Nigerian native. “The natural hair does it for me. I love it.”
Maxwell credited social media such as Twitter and Facebook for making “people know they wanted to be here.”
The pair soaked up the event and the nighttime museum experience. Inside the foyer, people lined up to buy rice and peas, curry chicken, curry vegetables and vegan dishes. Others, spread out over several levels, listened to music, chatted or carefully perused the exhibits. While downstairs in the museum’s central building, Farafina Kan, a traditional African dance ensemble performed.
Inside, as Cole and Staton made their way downstairs, people greeted them, posed for pictures and exchanged pleasantries. Then they waded into the crowd and swayed as the dance ensemble started slowly drumming polyrhythmic beats which became more insistent, before climbing to a crescendo. Individual drummers stepped forward to showcase their talent, while enthusiasts slapped money on their foreheads as a sign of approval.
“Hello my brothers and sisters,” Cole said to the sizable crowd in the gallery’s lower level.
“I can’t welcome you home because you’re already here. You belong to us and the National Museum and we belong to you; don’t be a stranger.”
Staton, acting director of the D.C. Office of Contracting and Procurement, couldn’t contain his excitement.
“This is just wonderful, wonderful. There is lots of positive energy and diversity,” he said.
As the semi-circle of drummers called the ancestors down, Nikki Bouknight stood transfixed.
“I love the variety of activities they offer, and the liveliness of it all,” said the 35-year-old District resident, speaking of her second Africa Underground experience. “I love the beautiful gaze of brown people.”
Cutts, an organizational development consultant and success coach, called the night memorable.
“Totally,” she said, pointing to the dancing and atmosphere as the highpoints of the evening.
“I enjoy the museum and the garden. I come here all the time. I feel like I’m in my backyard with all you people.”
Her friend Hallely Azulay beamed and nodded in agreement.
“I love that it was outdoors and the weather was perfect,” the Israeli native said. “… music plus dancing, plus (it being) outside equals the formula for a successful evening.”
Omekongo Dibinga Courtesy PhotoADVERTISMENT
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