Black

ABC’s The Bachelor won Monday’s primetime ratings race as Matt and his crew of potential brides-to-be bowled their way to a 1.3 in the adults 18-49 demographic and 5.23 million viewers. The two-hour episode was down a tenth in the demo from last week, but it was still enough to top the night in the demo. Meanwhile, it was Fox’s 9-1-1 (1.1, 6.62M) which scored the night’s largest audience, followed by 9-1-1: Lone Star (0.9, 5.44M). Both shows ticked up in the demo from last week. The CW’s Black Lightning (0.2, 525,000) returned for its fourth and final season, nearly matching its numbers for the Season 3 finale. Lead-in All American (0.3, 819K) climbed a tenth in the demo from last week while seeing a jump in numbers. After taking a week off, CBS saw the return of its Monday lineup with Bob Hearts Abishola (0.8, 5.44M) ticking up in the demo and The Neighborhood (0.9, 5.97M), All Rise (0.5, 4.05M) and Bull (0.5, 5.23M) holding steady across … [Read more...] about ‘The Bachelor’ And ‘9-1-1’ Lead Monday Night Ratings; ‘Black Lightning’ Returns Steady

In celebration of Black History Month, the Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) and the Black Artists Group will host a webinar on February 16 that will explore the contributions of Black animation pioneers. The discussion, titled Drawing Ourselves: Being Black in Animation , will feature the personal journeys of panelists Everett Downing Jr., co-director of the Oscar-winning animated short Hair Love ; Sidney Clifton, executive producer of the animated TV series Black Panther ; multiple Daytime Emmy-nominated animator Ron Myrick; and Carole Holliday, recipient of Black Women Animate’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The webinar will be moderated by supervising animation director Kimson Albert and Deborah Anderson, aka The BlkWmnAnimator. “The effects of racism do not stop at the animation studio door,” said Local 839 business rep Steve Kaplan, “and we need to forge pathways into leadership positions for Black artists and writers in order to truly see change in our industry. We … [Read more...] about Animation Guild & Black Artists Group To Host Panel On ‘Being Black In Animation’

Last Christmas, Sha-Asia Washington, a paraprofessional at a Brooklyn charter school, and her boyfriend Juwan Lopez announced to his mother Desiree Williams that she was pregnant. They gave her a Christmas card with a sonogram inside it, inscribed, “to grandma.” She was thrilled to be pregnant, posing for maternity photo after maternity photo; when the COVID pandemic hit, she had a virtual baby shower at Williams’ house, cherishing a knitted blanket with her baby name, Khloe, on it. On July 2nd, Sha-Asia went to Woodhull Medical Center, a hospital in the Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn, for a routine stress test. She was a few days past her due date, and the hospital decided to keep her for observation when they saw her blood pressure was abnormally high. The hospital ended up giving her pitocin, a medication that causes uterine contractions, to induce labor, asking Sha-Asia if she wanted an epidural. After some hesitation, she assented. “The next thing you know he’s waiting there … [Read more...] about Death of Sha-Asia Washington, Pregnant 26-Year-Old Black Woman, Highlights Devastating Trend

Rebecca Black celebrated the 10th anniversary of her surprise viral hit “Friday” with a bonkers new remix featuring Big Freedia , 3OH!3 , and Dorian Electra , produced by 100 Gecs ’ Dylan Brady. The new remix is about as different from Black’s 2011 original as you can get, with Brady warping the sanitized mall pop into something delightfully delirious. Black’s vocals are pitch-shifted into oblivion, while Dorian Electra and 3OH!3 chip in quick verses and Big Freedia steps in for a big bounce breakdown. The “Friday” remix arrives with an equally over-the-top music video, directed by Weston Allen, that feels like the past 10 years of the internet collapsed into a campy barrage of memes, goofy animations, and well-utilized stock footage. In several sequences, Black appears in a convertible alongside a gold record, a fitting nod to the fact that the original “Friday” was officially certified gold by the RIAA earlier this week. In a statement, Black said: “I’d had the … [Read more...] about Rebecca Black Celebrates 10 Years of ‘Friday’ With Remix Featuring Big Freedia, 3OH!3, Dorian Electra

It is truly unfortunate that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has disqualified Branford Marsalis ’ riveting original score for the Netflix feature adaptation of the August Wilson play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. AMPAS’ current rule is that a movie’s music needs to be comprised of 60% of original score, and apparently this feature love letter to 1920s jazz and blues falls under that quota. Marsalis’ fingerprints are all over the movie from arranging the jazz standards to providing a big note to Viola Davis (scroll down to listen). Not only does Marsalis create some toe-tapping rhythms here, but he soulfully props the grave monologues about the African American experience with some nuanced musical touches; a craftsmanship in the face of great drama which should be lauded and recognized as opposed to being shutout by petty AMPAS rules. I truly hope that Netflix challenges the Academy and lands Ma Rainey on the Original Score shortlist. The good news is that … [Read more...] about ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’: Branford Marsalis On Capturing The Sound & Emotion Of The 1920s Chicago Jazz Scene – Crew Call Podcast