Questlove's 'Summer of Soul' wins the Academy Award for best documentary feature

“Summer of Soul” has won best documentary at the Oscars.

Director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s chronicle of the music of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival took the trophy at Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Summer of Soul tells the unjustly forgotten story of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which included performances from Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Sly & the Family Stone, Mahalia Jackson and more iconic artists operating in the ’60s, making the case that had this not been a primarily Black festival, it would have been as well remembered and celebrated as Woodstock, which took place in New York that same year.

Watch musician and producer Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson accepts the Best Documentary Feature Oscar for 'Summer of Love' at the 94th Academy Awards on Sunday.

Chris Rock declines to file police report on Will Smith

Chris Rock has decided not to file a police report against Will Smith after the King Richard actor hit him in the face onstage at the Oscars on Sunday — at least for now.

Los Angeles Police Department officers on the scene at the well-guarded event at the Dolby Theatre spoke with Rock soon after the ABC telecast ended, sources confirm. If Rock had filed a report with the LAPD and Smith was charged with assault, the newly minted Oscar winner could have faced up to six months behind bars and a fine up to $100,000.

“LAPD investigative entities are aware of an incident between two individuals during the Academy Awards program,” the police said in a statement tonight. “The incident involved one individual slapping another,” they added. “The individual involved has declined to file a police report. If the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.”

[SOURCE: DEADLINE]

The Queen of Basketball documentary wins an Oscar

"The Queen of Basketball", a documentary by about Lusia "Lucy" Harris Stewart, a pioneer in women's basketball won an Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject.

The documentary tells the story of Lucy Harris, one of the greatest women’s basketball players. She won 3 national college championships playing for Delta State University. She scored the first basket in women’s Olympic basketball at the ‘76 Olympics. She was also the first and only woman ever officially drafted by the NBA.

The film was directed by Ben Proudfoot and includes Shaquille O'Neal and Stephen Curry among its executive producers.

Tennessee Comptroller scales back financial oversight plans for African American town of Mason

After a state takeover of the finances of the majority Black town of Mason Tennessee, Tennessee Comptroller Jason Mumpower said that the town could be free from state financial oversight as soon as July or August after a "very positive meeting" between state and local officials.

"We were able to put together a positive plan moving forward," Mumpower said shortly after a 70-minute meeting with Mason's Mayor, Vice Mayor and financial staff. "We can release them from financial oversight sooner rather than later."

Mason's Vice Mayor Virginia Rivers said that — while she is hopeful the meeting will lead to restoring autonomy to locally elected leaders — she remains frustrated. Mason officials presented current financial statements that appeared to satisfy Mumpower and his staff on Tuesday, including proof they had complied with a repayment plan for longstanding debt. That information has been available all along, she said.

Mason officials have been making $10,100 monthly payments toward debt for the past two years, Vice-Mayor Virginia Rivers said. Those payments were not accounted for in the Comptroller public statements about Mason's financial status, she said.

"All of this could have been avoided if Mr. Mumpower had come to us and had a meeting with us like we did today," Rivers said. "He just came in with a demand."

The meeting took place after several contentious weeks beginning with the Comptroller's ultimatum to Mason's elected leaders in February:

Either give up their town's charter — subsuming the predominantly Black and Democrat community under the governance of majority white, majority Republican Tipton County — or, Mumpower said, he would take control of the town's finances for an open-ended period of time, controlling any expenditures of $100 or more.

The dispute gained national attention, with public criticism over the Comptroller's efforts to exert control over a financially struggling, majority Black town just as it was poised to reap the benefits from a $5.6 billion Ford Motor Company electric vehicle plant soon to be built less than five miles away. Ford Motor Company officials weighed in, too, saying they had reached out to state and local officials to express concern.The agreement hammered out between Mason and state officials Tuesday appears to put the town on a far different footing than it faced last week.

[SOURCE: PATCH MEMPHIS]

Cory Booker on Ketanji Brown Jackson confirmation hearings: Outrageous and beyond the pale.”

During an interview on NBC's Meet the Press, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says Republican behavior during Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination hearings were “very different” than the previous confirmation hearings.

EXCLUSIVE: Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) says Republican behavior during Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination hearings were “very different” than the previous confirmation hearings. #MTP @CoryBooker: "What we saw though this week was to me, outrageous and beyond the pale.” pic.twitter.com/ohTMYCARGD

— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 27, 2022