Washington Informer
Entertainment Archive (444)
Gil Scott-Heron - Courtesy PhotoI found out about Gil’s passing while scanning my Facebook and Twitter posts as I waited to take my daughter to dance class. She took a while, so I had time to think. The tears started pouring. I couldn’t stop them. I had to wait in the car. My oldest daughter called and she could hear it in my voice.
“What’s wrong Daddy.”
“I just found out that Gil Scott-Heron is dead.”
“Okay...”
She didn’t understand. Later, I tried to explain to my girlfriend. “Well it’s not like you knew him or he was a friend or something.”
She didn’t understand either. I never met Gil, but his music was a friend to me. It was a friendship of over thirty-five years.
The Washington Informer was media sponsor for the March of Dimes' Signature Chefs Auction of D.C. October 26 at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington, DC Hotel.
“Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend†by Larry Tye will be the topic of discussion on Wed., Sept. 9 at the Smithsonian’s Carmichael Auditorium in Northwest. Courtesy PhotoBaseball fans worldwide recognize Satchel Paige as the legendary African American pitcher who spent the majority of his career in the Negro Leagues. Born Leroy Robert Paige on July 7, 1906, in Mobile, Ala., Paige grew up in the era of Jim Crow. Tye said that he wanted his book to reflect the significant role that the baseball great played in toppling the Jim Crow system of segregation.
“This is the first book to really come out and say that it was on his shoulders that Jackie Robinson stood, and if Jackie was the father of the integration of baseball, then Satchel was most certainly the grandfather,†Tye said.
“There is no better institution to better understand Jim Crow America than through the Negro Leagues, and no better sparkling individual to understand it through than the great Satchel Paige,†Tye said.
Tye’s vivid memories of Paige date back to the 1960’s. He remembers going to baseball games at Fenway Park in Boston with his father. He said that anytime a good pitcher was on the mound for the Boston Red Sox or for the opposing team, the benchmark was always Paige -- they weren’t as good as Paige nor could they throw as hard as Paige,†Tye said.
Yet, whenever he questioned his father or other adults about the pitcher, their knowledge “was only an inch deep.â€
“It was so much a question of legend that had built up, but in terms of the real story, that was elusive,†Tye said.
“Satchel Paige was the perfect person to write a book about, someone that everybody seemed to know a little bit about, but nobody seemed to know the real story,†Tye said.
WI Intern
The Ourisman Cheverolet dealership in Marlow Heights, Md., recently took time to celebrate "Save Our Youth/Racing 4 Life (SOY/R4L)" during its first annual Car, Truck and Bike Show.
SOY/R4L is designed to empower youth in Prince George’s County by providing them with alternatives to gangs, drugs, crime and violence.
Using motorsports as a catalyst, SOY/R4L encourages students to consider science, technology and racing at an early age to keep their minds off the streets.
Douglas Roeser and Mecca Trotter-Roeser, president and founders of SOY/R4L, said it’s time for area businesses and community leaders to give back to the youth.
"We’re trying to keep their minds right," said Roeser. "We provide room for them to build their social skills through drag racing, while we build their literacy and reading skills with our partner in their educational development centers."
SOY/R4L has a tight-knit group of community leaders and program developers tied to its core that keeps the program alive and doing great things for the community’s youth.
Programs like Transforming A Generation (TAG) and the Alliance for Concerned Men have united to strengthen what SOY/R4L stands for.
Jonathan Jackson,16, had been a part of SOY/R4L since its infancy. He loved bikes and mechanics, and in the Roesers he found a second family and others with whom he could share his hobby.
But tragically, Jonathan died last September in a motorcycle accident.
"I never had any trouble with him," said his mother Jessie Jackson. "He would be up all night in the garage just working on his bikes. Sometimes I would have to go get him and make him go to bed."
Jackson was presented a plaque in honor of her son for his dedication to both the sport and the program.
"Jonathan was one of our first students," said Roeser, fighting back tears as he made the presentation. "We take this job seriously, and he wanted to do this. Jonathan will always be remembered and his name will live on."
The Jonathan Jackson Scholarship Fund will award one male and female youth from Prince George’s County with a year-long scholarship to WyoTech to study automatics.
Meanwhile, SOY/R4L has continued to enrich the lives of many students in the Prince George’s County area, and for those like Lamont Ray, 12, it’s only just begun.
"I race for SOY/R4L and I have so much fun. I’m learning and enjoying myself and I hope to make a lot of friends doing this," Lamont said.
Although the program is for drag racing and learning, it also provides a sense of self-fulfillment.
"The students get something interesting to do after school," saidTrotter-Roeser. "We’re here to cheer them on in a race, but to show them that it’s not always about racing and winning -- it’s also about seeing that you can do any and everything that you set your mind to.”
Sacred Heart Seminary, 2701 Chicago Boulevard, Detroit, Mich., 2003. During the 1968 riots, an individual painted Christ’s face, hands and feet black. Church officials had the painting restored to its original representation. In the riot’s aftermath, tense community relations ensued and the painting was altered once again to establish a sense of solidarity within the community. Courtesy PhotoEighty six color photographs are displayed and more than 100 slides are included in the documentary exhibition that opened in June and will run through November.
Photographer Roy Lewis stands with two of his photographs at the second world Black and African festival of art and culture, and the sultan of Sokoto. The festival included 482 African American participants from the U.S., along with 16,000 others from 70 countries, gathered to share and celebrate in the name of the ancestors, and for future generations of Africans.Courtesy PhotoVeteran photographer and photojournalist Roy Lewis, mixed media artist Charly Palmer and painter Preston Sampson are featured. This trio provides a foundation of complex and distinctive original works of arts showcasing the complexity of the president and African American history.
The saga starts with “FESTAC Revisted-1977†by Lewis. In 1977, he was invited to be a participant at the “Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture: FESTAC†which was held in Nigeria.
“From Slavery to Freedom: A Tribute to Obama†is currently on view at Parish Gallery. This politically aggressive exhibition features the work of Robert Sengstacke, called “one of the most significant photographers of the Civil Rights era,†by the New York Times.
“I never tried out to be the best. Art is a form of religion in itself,†said Sengstacke, considered a trailblazer of cutting-edge photography. This show is accompanied by a video with a compelling soundtrack titled, “Coppin’ The Ghost.†It is a phrase that means you must get the shot.
“I never tried out to be the best. Art is a form of religion in itself,†said Sengstacke, considered a trailblazer of cutting-edge photography. This show is accompanied by a video with a compelling soundtrack titled, “Coppin’ The Ghost.†It is a phrase that means you must get the shot.
Shannon Price, the ex-wife of Gary Coleman, is certainly keeping herself busy these days, trying desperately to muscle in on Coleman's estate. Price, who was recently embroiled in everything from orchestrating death shots of Coleman to sell to shopping around interviews asking to be paid up to $50,000 to cleaning out all that the actor owned in his home with her family members, is now filing court papers to take over the estate.
Former manager and confidant Dion Mial was recently named executor of Coleman's will. Mial has had no qualms about speaking his mind when it comes to how he feels about Price. In face, he has publicly stated that Price has "absolutely no rights or authority, with regard to the disposition of Gary's remains, services, estate management." Now the 24-year-old redhead is claiming otherwise.
Former manager and confidant Dion Mial was recently named executor of Coleman's will. Mial has had no qualms about speaking his mind when it comes to how he feels about Price. In face, he has publicly stated that Price has "absolutely no rights or authority, with regard to the disposition of Gary's remains, services, estate management." Now the 24-year-old redhead is claiming otherwise.
Promoting artist East of the River
Eastoftheriverarts.com will host its Launch Party on August 27, 2010 at 7:00pm. The community event will take place at The African Heritage Dancers and Drummers studio located at 1320b Good Hope Road, SE.
DCCAH Commissioners, Tendani Mpulubusi El, Marvin Bowser and featured East of the River Artist will host this event officially launching Eastoftheriverarts.com, an online artist networking community and resource directory.
NBC 4 Black History Essay Contest WinnersThe Black History Essay Contest is one of three heritage month essays contests that are sponsored by NBC4, because of their commitment to acknowl-edging the rich and diverse heritages throughout our community. The goal of the Black History Month Essay Contest is to continue to motivate study and thought.
The Washington Informer is proud to publish the winning essays from the 2011 NBC 4 Black History Month Essay Contest. Of the many entries that were received, the following four essays were judged to be the cream of the crop and are published here un-edited.
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