Thursday, July 25, 2019

Harriet Tubman movie coming November 1, 2019

Based on the thrilling and inspirational life of an iconic American freedom fighter, HARRIET tells the extraordinary tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America’s greatest heroes. Her courage, ingenuity, and tenacity freed hundreds of slaves and changed the course of history.

HARRIET is set to be released November 1, 2019 and was directed by Kasi Lemons.

The Focus Features film stars Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Jennifer Nettles, and Clarke Peters.

WATCH THE TRAILER

The National Museum of African American History and Culture to acquire archive of Ebony and Jet magazines


The National Museum of African American History and Culture will acquire a significant portion of the archive of the Johnson Publishing Company, the publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines. The acquisition is pending court approval and the closing of the sale. 
A consortium of foundations—the Ford Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation—is making this acquisition possible. The consortium will transfer the archive to the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Getty Research Institute.   
The archive, purchased at auction for $30 million, includes more than four million prints, negatives, and media that explored, celebrated and documented African American life from the 1940s and into the 21st century. 
“It is a distinct honor for the museum to be invited to join the Getty Research Institute and other leading cultural institutions to safeguard and share with the world this incomparable collection of photographs,” said Spencer Crew, acting director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. 
“We applaud the generosity of the consortium of foundations that made this acquisition possible.  And we pay homage to the vision of John H. Johnson and his commitment to bringing to the nation and the world, the story of the African American experience—in all its complexity and all its richness. Ebony and Jet were the only places where African Americans could see themselves. They were the visual record of our beauty, humanity, dignity, grace, and our accomplishments. 
“Being the steward of the archive is an extraordinary responsibility, and we are humbled to play a critical role in bringing new life to these images. With the depth of its curatorial expertise and the technical skills in digitization, the Museum stands ready to marshall its forces to make this archive accessible to the widest possible audience.  We are honored to work with our recipient colleagues to make this gift to the nation possible.”  
The Museum has built a distinctive photography collection that includes more than 25,000 prints, negatives, and photographic materials. Photographers represented in the collection include Anthony Barboza, Cornelius M. Battey, Arthur P. Bedou, Bruce Davidson, Charles “Teenie” Harris, Danny Lyon, Jack Mitchell, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Gordon Parks, P. H. Polk, Addison Scurlock, Lorna Simpson, Aaron Siskind, James Van Der Zee, Carrie Mae Weems, and Ernest Withers.  


Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Elizabeth Warren speaks at NAACP candidates forum in Detroit

During the 2019 NAACP convention which took place on July 24, 2019, in Detroit, Sen. Elizabeth Warren took part in a forum that was moderated by April Ryan. Warren and Ryan discussed many issues on interest to African American voters. Watch their conversation.

Bernie Sanders speaks during NAACP forum in Detroit

During the 2019 NAACP convention which took place on July 24, 2019, in Detroit, Sen. Bernie Sanders took part in a forum that was moderated by April Ryan. Sanders and Ryan discussed many issues on interest to African American voters. Watch their conversation below.

Joe Biden speaks at NAACP forum in Detroit

During the 2019 NAACP convention which took place on July 24, 2019, in Detroit, former Vice President of the United States Joe Biden took part in a forum that was moderated by April Ryan. Biden and Ryan discussed many issues on interest to African American voters. Watch their conversation below.