‘Sugar Shack’ Painting Featured In ‘Good Times’ Sitcom Sells For $15.3 Million

Ernie Barnes’ 1976 painting The Sugar Shack, familiar to millions of TV viewers for its use during the closing credits of the ’70s sitcom Good Times as well as serving as the album cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1976 release I Want You, sold at auction in New York City last night for $15.3 million.

According to Christie’s auction house, the sale set an auction record for Barnes’ work by more than 27 times the artist’s previous record, and was 76 times the high estimate of $200,000. The 10-minute auction drew 22 bidders before Houston-based energy trader Bill Perkins.

“I would have paid a lot more,” Perkins told The New York Times following the auction. “For certain segments of America, it’s more famous than the Mona Lisa.”

During the fourth season (1976-77) of the smash Norman Lear-produced sitcom Good Times, The Sugar Shack was used during both the show’s opening and closing credits, and in subsequent seasons was featured in either opening or closing credits. During the show’s fifth and sixth seasons, the painting appeared in the family apartment of the Evans family, suggesting it was the work of eldest son and aspiring painter “J.J. Evans,” played by Jimmie Walker.

[SOURCE: DEADLINE]

First All-Black Expedition Reaches the Top of Mount Everest

Since the first person climbed Everest in 1953, there have been 6,000 successful summits. Of those summits. Only 8 Black climbers have reached the top.

A seven-member all Black Everest expedition team summited the world’s highest mountain on Thursday and made history in the process.

Known as “Full Circle Everest,” the team is the first-ever all-Black team to make it to the top of Mount Everest. And by successfully getting seven people up the mountain -- no small feat for any team -- Full Circle nearly doubled the number of Black climbers to summit Everest.

Among the summit party were Manoah Ainuu of Bozeman, Montana; Kenyan climber James Kagambi; Rosemary Saal of Seattle; Desmond “Dom” Mullins of New York City; Abby Dione of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Eddie Taylor of Boulder, Colorado; and Thomas Moore of Denver.

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WNBA star Brittney Griner's detention extended a month

The lawyer for WNBA star Brittney Griner said Friday her pre-trial detention in Russia has been extended by one month.

Griner's lawyer Alexander Boikov told The Associated Press he believed the relatively short extension of the detention indicated the case would come to trial soon.

Griner, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, was detained at the Moscow airport after vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis were allegedly found in her luggage, which could carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The Biden administration says Griner, 31, is being wrongfully detained. The WNBA and U.S. officials have worked toward her release, without visible progress.

[SOURCE: ESPN]

Judge Carlton Reeves Nominated To Become First Black Chair Of National Sentencing Commission

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves of the Southern District of Mississippi has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Reeves will be the first African American to serve as chair of the group that was created in the 1980s to reduce sentencing disparities and promote transparency in criminal sentencing.

Reeves, who has presided over several monumental civil rights cases at the federal level, previously served as a Mississippi Supreme Court clerk, as chief of the civil division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi and in private practice for multiple years.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, Mississippi’s sole African American and Democratic member of Congress, praised the appointment this week on social media.

“I support the appointment of Judge Carlton Reeves on being named head of the United States Sentencing Commission,” Thompson said. “It is a pleasure to witness the first Black judge to be appointed chair of the commission.”

[SOUTCE: ENTERPRISE JOURNAL]

MARIA TAYLOR NAMED HOST OF FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA

Maria Taylor is the new host of Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports, NBC Sports announced today. Football Night is NBC Sports’ flagship studio show, preceding Sunday Night Football — primetime television’s No. 1 show for an unprecedented 11 consecutive years — each week during the NFL season. Taylor debuted on the program as a co-host in 2021.

NBC Sports Executive Producer Sam Flood: “Maria is the perfect choice to carry the legacy forward of anchoring the most-watched studio show in sports.”

In the last 12 months, Taylor – who was named one of 2021’s “Most Powerful Women in Sports” by Adweek – has hosted many of the most-watched events and programs in sports. Following her move to NBC Sports in July 2021, she hosted the Tokyo Olympics, Super Bowl LVI Pregame Show, and Beijing Olympics and Paralympics. Just prior to joining NBC Sports, she also hosted the primetime network broadcast of the NFL Draft and the NBA Finals.

In addition to her hosting roles, Taylor is executive producing and currently in production on an eight-part documentary series on the history of the Black quarterback in the NFL that will stream on Peacock.