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Ava DuVernay

Golden Globe Awards Blackout — Travesty or Testament?
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Golden Globe Awards Blackout — Travesty or Testament?

Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., NNPA Newswire Entertainment and Culture EditorJanuary 16, 2020

Black talent being shut out of the Golden Globes is not just a travesty but also a testament to the power of the work and the narratives being told that challenge the status quo. Why folks assume that awards shows invested in the same media industries that continue to perpetuate and recycle the vilest stereotypes of black identity and behavior would somehow acknowledge the stories, performances and behind-the-scenes work that challenges dominant ways of thinking about Black people on and off-screen is befuddling.

Central Park 5 Prosecutor Resigns from Nonprofit Boards
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Central Park 5 Prosecutor Resigns from Nonprofit Boards

Sentinel News WireJune 5, 2019

NEW YORK (AP) — A former prosecutor in the Central Park Five case has resigned from at least two nonprofit boards as backlash intensified following the release of the Netflix series “When They See Us,” a miniseries that dramatizes the events surrounding the trial. On Tuesday, the president of Vassar College posted a letter on its website saying that Linda Fairstein had resigned as a Board of Trustees member. “I am told that Ms. Fairstein felt that, given the recent widespread debate over her role in the Central Park case, she believed that her continuing as a Board member would

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay Shares her Favorite Classic Films
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Filmmaker Ava DuVernay Shares her Favorite Classic Films

Associated Press - LINDSEY BAHRApril 26, 2019

LOS ANGELES (AP) — To say filmmaker Ava DuVernay is a busy woman is an understatement, but when Turner Classic Movies called and asked her to curate the channel’s “The Essentials” series, she knew she had to make it work. Usually “The Essentials” is filmed across two or three days. But the only way it would fit in with DuVernay’s schedule — which included editing her “Central Park Five” Netflix miniseries and prepping the DC film “New Gods,” among other projects — was if she and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz ruminated about 17 films in one marathon day. The new

Nipsey Hussle: A Legacy That Transcends Rap 
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Nipsey Hussle: A Legacy That Transcends Rap 

Lauren A. Jones, E. Mesiyah McGinnis and Brandon I. BrooksApril 4, 2019

The murder of Nipsey Hussle is personal. It is personal to me. It is personal to a generation in looking at social media and news interviews, there was a clear message that his death was felt deeply and hurt immensely, and particularly for anyone who came into contact with him, no matter how brief the interaction.   

‘Black Panther’ costume designer blazes trail to inspire
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‘Black Panther’ costume designer blazes trail to inspire

February 21, 2019

Ruth E. Carter is a black woman blazing a trail as a costume designer in a film industry with not many who look like her. But through her upcoming career achievement award and Oscar nomination for her Afro-futuristic wardrobes in the superhero film “Black Panther,” Carter believes she can “knock down” more doors so others like herself can walk through them. If Carter wins an Oscar for best costume design this month, she would become the first African-American to win in the category. Despite “very stiff competition,” Carter believes she has a good chance going up against Mary Zophres, Alexandra

AAFCA and ABA Film Society present Inaugural Learning Lab “Celebrating Black Excellence in Cinema” with Netflix’s Tendo Nagenda and Outler Society’s Alana Mayo
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AAFCA and ABA Film Society present Inaugural Learning Lab “Celebrating Black Excellence in Cinema” with Netflix’s Tendo Nagenda and Outler Society’s Alana Mayo

Sentinel News ServiceFebruary 15, 2019

From the global blockbuster Black Panther and the lyrical indie If Beale Street Could Talk to the hilariously poignant comedy sensations Insecure and Atlanta and beyond, #BlackExcellence in Hollywood is on full blast. Rightfully, the movement has put an additional spotlight on Black creative executives, many of whom have long worked in the trenches to create a pipeline of opportunity for traditionally underrepresented groups. In turn, that has ignited the spark that many tag as a “Black Hollywood Renaissance.”