Ethiopian street artist Behulum Mengistu discovered graffiti arts seven years ago. Shortly thereafter, he learned more about the art form from a visiting American PhD scholar who studied hip-hop cultures. From that point, he became heavily involved in both hip-hop culture and graffiti art, quickly becoming a celebrated street artist. Despite his largely American…
Veteran journalist April Ryan perfectly exemplifies the sentiment expressed by the actor Eddie Cantor that “it takes twenty years to become an overnight success.” Ms. Ryan has toiled for exactly 20 years as the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks (AURN) – an outlet barely known outside the African-American community, but prominent within it as…
Nicki Minaj has promoted a number of causes over the years and has made some huge donations. Her latest act of philanthropy took place unexpectedly on Twitter this Saturday night. While tweeting about a lip-synching contest, she mentioned that she makes plenty of money, enough to fly a winner out from anywhere in the world. A user…
Talk about “rockin’ it.” The 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards was quite the bold and beautiful spectacle at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on Sunday night. Stars strolled on to the red carpet in some sexy, unforgettable numbers. It was smokin’ hot as Taraji P. Henson strutted her stuff in a clingy, rose-gold sequined dress.…
A horrific incident involving an African player signed with an Italian Serie A club has unfolded into a call by activists and sports fans to stop the ugliness of racism in European football. The incident involved Sulley Muntari, a talented midfielder from Ghana who has previously played with AC Milan. In a recent match between…
One of the most celebrated African-American novelists of our time, Colson Whitehead is now the winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Underground Railroad. With six novels under his belt, Whitehead is known for his genre-bending stories that focus on race, class, commercialism, and American history. Whitehead was born in New York City in…
A hugely significant event occurred in the world of marathon running recently, when Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge came agonizingly close to being the first man to ever run a marathon in under two hours. His time? Two hours and 24 seconds—less than half a minute from truly making marathon history. To put this into perspective, Kipchoge’s most recent…
The good people of France have spoken against the nationalist and populist proposals of extreme-right politics. Emanuel Macron, a 39-year-old Minister of Finance and former investment banking firm executive will succeed President Francois Hollande, marking a departure from the political stronghold of the French Socialist party. Macron did not win by a landslide; nonetheless, early counting…
A cyber attack eerily similar to the one perpetrated against Hillary Clinton in the United States is being investigated by French law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Hackers apparently gained access to the email servers and computer network used by Emmanuel Macron, the former leading candidate and now French president-elect. Copies of the messages and other…
The 143rd Kentucky Derby was held at Churchill Downs in Louisville this weekend. As always, the first leg of the Triple Crown was an exciting day filled with big hats and big bets. The favorite to win this year was Always Dreaming, ridden by John Velazquez, and the headstrong colt did indeed win the race.…
