Queen Sugar renewed for a 5th season

Los Angeles – OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network announced today it has renewed for a fifth season Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed drama series “Queen Sugar” to air in 2020. Produced by Warner Horizon Scripted Television, “Queen Sugar” has been lauded for its powerful portrayal of an African-American family in the Deep South and for DuVernay’s initiative since the series’ inception to hire an inclusive crew and all-female directing team, many of whom were first time TV directors. Current season four showrunner Anthony Sparks returns for the fifth season. 

“Every character feels like family. Our own. I am excited to see what Ava has unfolding next for the Bordelons,” said Oprah Winfrey.

“I’m thrilled to further explore the beauty, pain and triumph of this African-American family, with hopes that their story will continue to resonate with audiences who see themselves in the Bordelons,” said DuVernay. “It’s a real honor to create this work with Warner Horizon and OWN as their support is rock-solid and wonderful.”

“Ava’s vision for ‘Queen Sugar’ is one of inspired storytelling, and her execution of that vision has given us a remarkable series that makes us so proud,” said Tina Perry, president, OWN. “Her leadership and creative spirit – including the commitment to exclusively hire female directors and establish an inclusive crew – is unprecedented and evident throughout each episode of this beautiful series. We are grateful to Ava and her entire team of talented writers, producers, cast and crew and look forward to another season.”   

Led by the talented cast of Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner and Kofi Siriboe, “Queen Sugar’s” storylines have delved into important topics such as police brutality, addiction and recovery, and systemic racism to name a few. The series has been awarded the NAACP Image Award for best drama and for three consecutive years was named Best TV Show Drama by the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) and nominated as Television Show of the Year by the American Black Film Festival (ABFF). 

“Queen Sugar” is currently Wednesday night’s #1 original series across all of broadcast and cable for African-American women and total viewers. It has averaged a 1.54 rating W25-54 and 1,655,000 total viewers. The series’ W25-54 rating is up +2% over last year and it’s the #6 original scripted series on ad-supported cable (W25-54).

At the outset of production DuVernay established an inclusive initiative to hire an all-female directorial team. Since its debut in September 2016, 35 women have directed episodes of “Queen Sugar,” 32 of whom made their television directorial debut on the series. The inclusive hiring extends in front of and behind the camera, with a dozen female department heads from casting and production design to post-production and music supervision.  

The overwhelming response to the series was also evident each week on social media demonstrating the strong connection viewers have to seeing multi-faceted portrayals of an African-American family on television. On a recent episode where two characters experience separate triggering events with sexual assault and police brutality, OWN and Warner Horizon Scripted Television worked in partnership with DuVernay’s ARRAY Impact to host a live social conversation #QUEENSUGARTALKS, featuring industry leaders such as Common and Iyanla Vanzant who answered questions and provided resources to those who may be personally affected by these issues. 

About Queen Sugar 

From award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay (16-time Emmy nominated “When They See Us” and upcoming romance anthology series “Cherish the Day” for OWN), the contemporary drama “Queen Sugar” features the Bordelon family who are fighting to save their family farm to preserve their father’s legacy while navigating their own personal journeys. In season four, Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) has remained in the thick of the trials and tribulations in both her personal and professional life as she continues to battle the Landry family while also trying to ensure Micah’s (Nicholas Ashe) safety and future. Nova (Rutina Wesley) has published her memoir and goes on a book tour around the country sharing family secrets and shaking things up at home. Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) is managing fatherhood and his complicated relationship with ex-girlfriend Darla (Bianca Lawson) after learning he is not the biological father of his son, Blue (Ethan Hutchison), and is encouraged by an old friend to create opportunities for formerly incarcerated men. 

The expansive cast also includes Tina Lifford as the siblings’ free-spirited Aunt Violet who revealed her Lupus diagnosis to her family while opening her own pie shop; Omar J. Dorsey as Violet’s new husband Hollywood Desonier; and Henry G. Sanders as Prosper Denton, a farmer and longtime friend of the late Bordelon family patriarch, Ernest. Walter Perez plays Romero, Charley’s new romantic interest, while recurring guest star Timon Kyle Durrett portrays Charley’s estranged husband and pro basketball player Davis West. Greg Vaughn portrays Calvin, a former cop who reconnects with Nova during her book tour.

“Queen Sugar” is produced for OWN by Array Filmworks and Harpo Films in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. The season four executive producers are Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Garnes and Anthony Sparks. The series is based on the book by Natalie Baszile.

About OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network

OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is the first and only network named for, and inspired by, a single iconic leader. Oprah Winfrey's heart and creative instincts inform the brand and the magnetism of the channel. OWN is a leading destination for premium scripted and unscripted programming from today's most innovative storytellers. OWN’s original scripted series include popular dramas “Queen Sugar” and “Greenleaf;” Tyler Perry’s “The Haves and Have Nots” and “If Loving You is Wrong;” the family saga “Ambitions” from box office hit-maker Will Packer and the lyrical drama series “David Makes Man” from Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney. OWN’s Saturday night unscripted programming lineup includes “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” “Ready to Love,” “Love & Marriage: Huntsville,” “Black Love” and “To Have & To Hold: Charlotte.” OWN connects with its audience wherever they are, inspiring conversation among a global community of like-minded viewers on social media and beyond.  Launched on January 1, 2011, OWN is a joint venture between Harpo, Inc. and Discovery, Inc. The venture also includes the award-winning digital platform Oprah.com. Access OWN anytime, anywhere on WatchOWN.tv or across mobile devices and connected TVs. For more information, please visit www.oprah.com/own and https://press.discovery.com/us/own/.

Nevada Army and Air Guard gets 1st African American leader

A 32-year Nevada Air Guardsman has been appointed to lead the Nevada Army and Air Guard, becoming the first African American to hold the position in the state’s 154-year history.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Gov. Steve Sisolak appointed Brig. Gen. Ondra Berry as the state’s highest-ranking military officer on Saturday at the Nevada Air National Guard Base in Reno.

The 60-year-old Berry is a longtime Reno police officer and, most recently, a senior vice president in MGM Resorts International human resources.

Berry, who grew up in Sparks, said he wants to strengthen connections between service members, schools, civilians, nonprofits and local businesses.

Berry replaces Brig. Gen. William Burks who served under three governors.

Trump's 'African American' leaves the Republican Party

Gregory Cheadle, the black man President Donald Trump once described at a rally as “my African American,” is fed up.

After two years of frustration with the president’s rhetoric on race and the lack of diversity in the administration, Cheadle told PBS NewsHour he has decided to leave the Republican party and run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representative as an independent in 2020.

Now, the 62-year-old real estate broker, who supported the Republican approach to the economy, said he sees the party as pursuing a “pro-white” agenda and using black people like him as “political pawns.” The final straw for Cheadle came when he watched many Republicans defend Trump’s tweets telling four congresswomen of color, who are all American citizens, to go back to their countries, as well as defend the president’s attacks on Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., and his comments that Cummings’ hometown of Baltimore is “infested.”

The White House and Trump have fiercely defended the president’s comments as fair criticism of the lawmakers’ liberal policies. But for Cheadle, the incidents were too much. A few weeks ago, he was scrolling through posts written by fellow Republicans, who are his Facebook friends, and reached a breaking point.

“President Trump is a rich guy who is mired in white privilege to the extreme,” said Cheadle, of Redding, Calif., who switched from being an independent to a Republican in 2001. “Republicans are too sheepish to call him out on anything and they are afraid of losing their positions and losing any power themselves.”

“They were sidestepping the people of color issue and saying that, ‘No, it’s not racist,’” he said. “They were saying these people were socialists and communists. That’s what they were saying. And I thought this is a classic case of whites not seeing racism because they want to put blinders on and make it about something else.”

Cheadle said he understands some will think he waited too long to leave the Republican party, even accepting those assertions as “correct.” He said he had held out hope that the Republican party would move to work on challenges specifically facing African Americans like healthcare disparities or black families having less wealth than white families. But, he no longer expects that.

Cheadle said he is especially unhappy with the racial makeup of the president’s judicial nominations. Trump often gets loud applause at campaign rallies for touting how many judges his administration has been able to get confirmed by the Senate. But an Associated Press analysis has found that 91 percent of Trump’s nominees are white, and 81 percent are male.

Cheadle said he wouldn’t use the term “racist” to describe the president but believes he has a “white superiority complex.”

When asked what he would say to critics who think he is leaving the Republican party for publicity, Cheadle said he understands the potential criticism, but that he believes running as an independent is even harder than as a Democrat or Republican because of the lack of party structure. In the end, his decision came down to being disgusted with the president’s words.

“We just haven’t had people called the names publicly that we have had with this administration,” he said. “To stay on this ship now, as a black Republican, I couldn’t do it.”

[SOURCE: PBS NEWSHOUR]

Congressman Payne, Jr. visits Two Newark Facilities to Help Distribute Bottled Water

Washington, D.C. — Congressman Donald M. Payne, Jr. handed out bottled water and discussed Newark’s water crisis with residents at two local facilities Sept. 6. The Congressman spent more than two hours at the Bo Porter Sports Complex and the Boylan Street Recreation Center, where he helped residents get the clean water they needed and talked with them about their water concerns. The visits were part of the Congressman’s commitment to do everything possible to help local communities survive the crisis.

Congressman Payne, Jr. said he understands their concerns because he is one of them.

“As a resident and representative of Newark, I am very concerned about the discovery of elevated levels of lead in Newark’s water supply,” said Congressman Payne, Jr. “This is water my family and I drink regularly. Traditionally, Newark has been known for the quality of its water and had been known for some of the cleanest water in the country.”

He said the crisis in Newark is his top priority. He is working with local, state and national officials to solve it as quickly as possible. Congressman Payne, Jr. introduced the Test for Lead Act in Congress to establish stronger tests for lead in school drinking water across the country. Recently, he co-signed and sent letters to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Agriculture to make sure facilities and communities have enough bottled water to distribute until the city’s drinking water is considered safe.

But he wanted to see the situation and talk with affected residents personally. He said the urgency of the issue is one that requires physical as well as political action to get clean water to communities now and then make sure nothing like this tragedy happens in the future, especially when it comes to the safety of the district’s children.

“The greatest threat with this water issue is the health of our children,” said Congressman Payne, Jr. “We need to work tirelessly and immediately to guarantee what happened in Flint, MI. doesn’t happen anywhere else.”

Congressional Black Caucus honors 1619 anniversary

Led by African drummers, a parade of Congressional Black Caucus members, including civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, marched into Emancipation Hall on Tuesday to mark the 400th anniversary of the first Africans brought to the English colonies.

“All of our history is what makes this country a great country,’’ said Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, noting the nation has been reluctant to embrace all of its history, including slavery.

The ceremony was held in Emancipation Hall, an ornate foyer in the Capitol Visitor Center, named after the slaves who helped build the U.S. Capitol. With a statue of abolitionist Frederick Douglass only a few feet away, Republican and Democratic leaders cited the work of civil rights activists like Douglass and the contributions of African Americans to the building of the country.

This summer marked the 400th anniversary of the arrival of a ship from Angola carrying the first Africans to the English colonies. Across the country, lawmakers, civil rights activists, national park service officials and descendants of enslaved Africans have held ceremonies to remember the country's "original sin" and the impact of chattel slavery.

Later this week, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. will host its annual legislative conference, which will also include programs to recognize the year 1619.

[SOURCE: USA TODAY]

As we remember and honor the 400th Anniversary of all of the enslaved Africans arrival in America, we must never forget the tragedies, successes, and contributions of all of them and all of their progeny. #400YearsLater pic.twitter.com/RlCBiYSviH

— The Black Caucus (@TheBlackCaucus) September 10, 2019