Bernice King & The King Center respond to Dodge Super Bowl commercial

Both Bernice King and The King Center took to Twitter to respond to the Dodge/Ram Truck Super Bowl commercial that used Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's "The Drum Major Instinct" sermon to sell trucks, although they would have the public believe that the ad was about community service. Read those tweets below:

Neither @TheKingCenter nor @BerniceKing is the entity that approves the use of #MLK’s words or imagery for use in merchandise, entertainment (movies, music, artwork, etc) or advertisement, including tonight’s @Dodge #SuperBowl commercial.

— The King Center (@TheKingCenter) February 5, 2018

Here is #DrumMajorInstinct in its entirety. Learn about #MLK from him. Please listen to/read his speeches, sermons and writings. Understand his comprehensive teachings and his global perspective. Study his nonviolent philosophy. It’s more than a tactic. https://t.co/56fiF8r6iP

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) February 5, 2018

AFRICAN AMERICAN REPORTS TAKE ON THE MLK/RAM TRUCK COMMERCIAL

Dennis Edwards, lead singer for The Temptations, dead at 74

Dennis Edwards, the former lead singer for The Temptations, whose gritty voice carried some of the biggest hits of the Motown era, has died, according to his booking agent Rosiland Triche. He was 74.

Edwards, who would have turned 75 on Saturday, died Thursday night in Chicago after suffering from a long illness, Triche told CNN. Triche described Edwards as "the ultimate showman."

The Grammy Award-winner's voice was prominent on hits including "Cloud Nine," "Papa was a Rollin' Stone" and "I Can't Get Next to You."

Edwards joined The Temptations in 1968, replacing lead singer David Ruffin, just as the group launched its funk-psychedelic sound. He left and rejoined the group several times over the decades.

[SOURCE: CNN]

Black Panther headed toward $150 million opening weekend

Everyone believes that Marvel's upcoming Black Panther movie will be a massive hit at the box office on its opening weekend, but it may be even bigger than initially thought. Earlier projections had it headed for an opening in the $120-$122 million range, but more recent projections show that Black Panther will have one of the biggest openings in Marvel history for a movie without Avengers in the title.

Per Variety:

Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” is heading for as much as $150 million in its North American opening on the four-day Presidents Day weekend, updated tracking is showing.

That’s significantly above the first tracking on Jan. 25 for the Chadwick Boseman tentpole, which initially placed the debut in the $100 million to $120 million range for the Feb. 16-19 period. “Black Panther” could break the Presidents Day weekend record of $152 million, set in 2016 by “Deadpool.” It will easily top the second-highest debut for the four-day holiday, set in 2015 when “Fifty Shades of Grey” opened with $93 million.

Black Panther opens on February 16, 2018.

The movie is directed by Ryan Coogler and stars Chadwick Boesman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Angela Basset, Forest Whitaker, and Sterling K. Brown.

Octavia Spencer is buying out a theater so kids can see 'Black Panther'

Talented Academy Award winning actress, Octavia Spencer is giving back to underserved communities by buying out a theater to allow families to see Black Panther who otherwise may not have been able to.

Via Instgram Spencer announced her plan to buy out a theater in Mississippi when Black Panther opens on Instagram Wednesday, saying she'll be in the state when the movie opens on Feb. 16.

I will be in MS when this movie opens. I think I will buy out a theatre in an underserved community there to ensure that all our brown children can see themselves as a superhero. I will let you know where and when Mississippi. Stay tuned. #KingsAndQueensWillRise #blackpanthermovie

A post shared by Octavia Spencer (@octaviaspencer) on Jan 31, 2018 at 1:03pm PST

Florida to replace Confederate statue in US Capitol with statue of black woman

Florida could soon help diversify the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall, by replacing a Confederate general's likeness with the hall's first statue honoring an African-American woman.

The state Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to install a statue of educator Mary McLeod Bethune in the spot where a statue of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith still stands.

"It's a way of recognizing our history, but also our diversity. It shows Florida in our best light," said the bill's sponsor, Democratic Sen. Perry Thurston. "It's a major message. It shows not only Florida, but the nation that we are coming together and trying to recognize all of our history."

Bethune founded Daytona Literary and Industrial Training School for Negro Girls in 1904, which eventually became Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach.

Two years ago the state Legislature voted to remove Smith's statue from the U.S. Capitol over the objection of some members who said that was an effort to erase Southern history.

Smith is famously remembered as the last Confederate officer to surrender a significant force at the end of the Civil War, nearly two months after Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in Virginia and formally ended the war on April 9, 1865.

The law requiring the removal of the Smith statue set up a process to replace it.

An independent committee reviewed 130 recommendations from Floridians and presented the Legislature with three choices: Bethune; Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who wrote "The Everglades: River of Grass" and is credited with helping create that national park preserving 1.5 million acres (607,000 hectares) of wetlands in southern Florida; and George Washington Jenkins, who started the Publix supermarket chain.

Bethune was the committee's only unanimous choice.

[SOURCE: ABC NEWS]