Cross, host of “The Cross Connection with Tiffany Cross,” has exited MSNBC after the network failed to renew her two-year contract.
The internet is in a tear over news of the abrupt cancellation of popular MSNBC news host Tiffany Cross. Known for being transparent, informed and offering fact-based opinion, Cross’s staff was notified this morning of the cancellation. News veteran Roland Martin, scholar and former MSNBC host Dr. Melissa Harris Perry and music icon Questlove let their displeasure be known on Elon Musk’s embattled social media platform.
MSNBC has not issued a statement about cancelation of “The Cross Connection.” This story is developing.
Link to application form is here. It only takes a couple of minutes to fill in and submit.
The internet has been buzzing with discussions about the Biden-Harris Student Loan Debt Relief Initiative. Some praise the effort to relieve students plagued by student loan debt with some form of relief ($10,000 to $20,000) while others feel the measure doesn’t go far enough. Some believe the government needs to tackle the obscene amount of interest on the loans while others think they should be completely forgiven due to a number of factors. Whatever the case and where you stand on the issue, the form to get your student debt relief is out and available and only takes a few minutes to submit.
The link to the Biden-Harris Student Loan Debt Relief can be found here.
According to the announcement, here are answers to frequently asked questions.
Most borrowers who apply can expect relief within six weeks.
We (Federal Student Loan Staff) encourage everyone who is eligible to file the application, but there are 8 million people for whom we have data and who will get the relief without applying unless they choose to opt out.
Borrowers are advised to apply by mid-November in order to receive relief before the payment pause expires on December 31, 2022.
The Department of Education will continue to process applications as they are received, even after the pause expires on December 31, 2022.
Atlanta, GA (October 7, 2022) – The Burton Wire, the premiere online destination for news and culture of the African Diaspora, will celebrate 10 years of elevating fact-based information, news and content covering people of African descent. The celebration, “A Black Diamond Affair,” will take place Friday, November 18, 2022 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta, GA. The evening will honor trailblazers in African Diasporic art, media, culture, history and philanthropy. The event will be hosted by CNN EntertainmentReporter Lisa Respers France.
In honor of the 10th anniversary, The Burton Wire will relaunch The Burton Wiretap, a podcast covering news and culture of the African Diaspora. The first episode will feature The Burton Wire’s founder & editor-in-chief Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. in conversation with A Closer Look’s Rose Scott.
Top Left: Filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper; Top Center: Artist Steve Allen; Top Right: TBW founder & Editor-in-Chief Nsenga K. Burton, Phd., Middle Left: Archivist Dr. Clinton Fluker; Middle Right: Archivist Jina DuVernay; Bottom Right: Publishers Darrick and Carlton Hargro and Bottom Right: Activist and Public Servant Maisha Land.
After a longtime career as a journalist and blogger at major media outlets and repeatedly hitting brick walls when pitching stories about diverse Black American, African and Caribbean populations across the globe, Dr. Burton decided to launch a digital-first publication to do just that – elevate important stories of the African Diaspora. Launched from the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC in September of 2012, Dr. Burton created an online destination for people of African descent living in the United States interested in news, culture and history of people of African descent living throughout the globe.
“I had the experience, contacts, skills and drive to make it happen. More importantly, I had the passion for telling the stories of people of African descent — in our voices. Standing on the shoulders of the historic Black Press, I launched The Burton Wire with a team of energetic writers and thinkers committed to covering people of African descent and the rest is history” says Burton.
Burton understood that not only was there a need for this type of coverage, but creating an online news site serving the African Diasporic population in the U.S. and abroad made good business sense so prior to launching Burton spent nearly 6 months conducting research to develop a business plan. “As a journalist and content creator I knew my judgment was sound,” offers Burton. “As a Ph.D. and media scholar, I also knew I had to research the market to make sure my idea was actually viable and was good business and good for our community.”
In 2013, Burton received the National Association of Black Journalists Ray Taliaferro Entrepreneurial Spirit Award for her business plan for The Burton Wire, which further validated Burton’s instincts and gave her funding to scale up and grow the business to create more original content and reach more people.
Over the last decade, The Burton Wire has elevated stories like the kidnapping of 200 Chibok schoolgirls in Nigeria; the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia; the unjust incarceration of Kelley Williams-Bolar in Ohio; the untimely deaths of megachurch Pastor Myles Munro in the Virgin Islands and comedian David Arnold; the growth of tech and innovation labs in Uganda; the global fashion industries in Ghana, Addis Ababa, Tanzania and South Africa; the intersection of art and technology in Canada; the 2016 Olympics in Brazil; the Assassination of Brazilian activist Marielle Franco and the suspicious death of high school basketball player Kendrick Johnson. The Burton Wire has featured scores of change agents, trailblazers and celebrities from all corners of the globe.
In 2016, The Burton Wire became one of the first digital-first publications to join the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), the oldest publishing trade association for African American newspapers in the nation. The Burton Wire is now distributed on NNPA’s Black Press USA Newswire, with content reaching over 22 million people in print monthly and nearly 2 million people online daily.
“What began as a passion project is officially a business,” states Burton. “I am still shocked when I meet someone and they say they read The Burton Wire because I never imagined this idea to fill a hole in news coverage would grow to this extent. Now I see so many major online news publications launching African Diasporic related verticals, and I know The Burton Wire had a little something to do with it,” she adds. “Yes, we are celebrating 10 years of creating content and influencing the direction of news coverage of the African Diaspora and honoring trailblazers along the way.”
The Burton Wire’s, “A Black Diamond Affair,” event will honor trailblazers who have made invaluable contributions to communities of African descent. The honorees are internationally renowned artist Steve Allen, journalist and educator James McJunkins, Sr., filmmaker and educator Dr. Herbert Eichelberger, civil rights activist and philanthropist Cheryl Lowery, Black comic book publishers, brothers Carlton and Darrick Hargro,, “Stroll to the Polls” creator and activist Maisha Land, African American historical archivists Jina DuVernay (Clark Atlanta University) and Dr. Clinton Fluker (Emory University) and groundbreaking filmmaker Deborah Riley Draper.
“It is a great honor for me to receive this special award. The Burton Wire began in 2012, and within weeks of its existence, The Burton Wire reviewed my first film. This Black woman-led media platform fights to ensure Black creators and their work receive visibility and critical regard through a lens that sees and understands the creators, the culture, and the community it serves,” offers awardee Riley Draper.
The Burton Wire’s, “A Black Diamond Affair,” will begin at 6 p.m. EST. The Black Diamond sponsors (highest-level) are Miranda Solomon and Charlotte Native Realty and The Burton Wire Media Group. Platinum sponsors include O & Company Designs, Funky Roots, The Atlanta Voice, Precise Communications and YY Square Consulting.
Tickets will be available via Eventbrite beginning Monday, October 17, 2022.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Tuesday, September 27, 2022) – OWN and national voting rights leaders joined forces to launch the OWN Your Vote 2022 campaign – a bipartisan, pro-social campaign mobilizing Black women to vote in the upcoming midterm election and arming their communities to do the same. OWN Your Vote first launched in 2020 to inspire and equip voters and community leaders with specific steps they can take to register to vote, request absentee ballots, and mobilize voters throughout their community. As a direct result of this campaign, infused with powerful national town halls and informative social content, more than 250,000 women engaged in conversations about the power of their vote. Black women showed up to the polls in record numbers, with the 2020 Presidential election having one of the highest voter turnout rates in history. Given the significant drop-out in voter engagement during midterm elections, OWN and national voting partners aim to build on the success of the previous campaign by informing voters of the massive importance of casting their ballot every year and owning their vote.
“We are excited to launch OWN Your Vote 2022 and continue our partnership with key voting rights leaders as we engage our viewers about the significant importance of this election and their vote,” said Tina Perry, President of OWN. “Our audience has a powerful voice and we are proud to be part of a movement that will create the changes they want to see for our country and for our communities.”
Courtesy of the Oprah Winfrey Network.
As the nation reels from the effects of inflation, gun violence, climate change, racial injustice, and voter suppression, OWN Your Vote seeks to shed light on the solution through a bipartisan registration and a get-out-the-vote campaign aimed at providing OWN’s audience with tools and resources to overcome voter suppression in the November election.
The pro-social campaign connects people to urgent political actions and gives their concerns a powerful microphone by spotlighting crucial community issues. Organizations that have galvanized to support the OWN Your Vote 2022 initiative include: the Advancement Project; African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church Social Action Commission; Color of Change; Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated; Higher Heights; Kapor Center; Lawyers’ Committee for CivilRights Under Law; Legal Defense Fund (LDF); National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); National Action Network; National Bar Association; National Black Justice Coalition; National Council of Negro Women, Incorporated; Power Rising; Sistahs in Business Expo; Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated; The Joseph and Evelyn Lowery Institute; The King Center; The Links, Incorporated; Top Ladies of Distinction, Incorporated; Vote Run Lead; Vote.org; and When We All Vote; among others.
OWN Your Vote was designed to help Black women make a voting plan for this critical 2022 midterm election cycle, by connecting the everyday issues critical to Black women to the issues appearing on the ballot. Empowering this key voting block to own their voting story and make a plan to ensure success at the polls is the campaign’s principal aim. Organizations affiliated with the effort will help encourage local community activism and collaborate with the community to boost voter registration, volunteerism, mail-in voting, transportation to the polls and safety protocols at voting locations across the country.
Black Theatre Day (2017)International Black Theater Summit.
By Monica White Ndounou
Black Theatre Day (September 17) is an annual day of solidarity and service, to celebrate and support 21st century Black theatres in their ongoing efforts to build sustainable, institutional wealth.
Last fall, The International Black Theatre Summit, biennially convened by The CRAFT Institute, commemorated the 200th anniversary of the African Grove Theatre’s opening night on September 17, 1821 by launching the inaugural Black Theatre Day with a day of virtual events in collaboration with The Billie Holiday Theatre. As the first known professional Black theatre company in the United States—composed of Black Americans and African-Caribbeans—the company launched the career of Ira Aldridge, who claimed to be an African prince as he toured Europe. In case you have not heard of Aldridge, he is arguably the greatest Shakespearean tragedian of all times. Currently staging a production of Carlyle Brown’s The African Company Presents Richard III, which recounts the story of their immense talent and experiences with racial bias, St. Louis Black Rep is one of many participating organizations hosting a series of such events to celebrate Black Theatre Day.
Black theatres provide a public service as an educational resource. After two decades of teaching in higher education, including the past five years at Dartmouth College, I found that most students entering my theatre and cultural studies classes as well as many K-12, undergraduate and graduate theatre educators I encounter through CRAFT, have little to no knowledge of Black theatre. Regardless of background, those connected to Black theatres in their communities, like the Douglass Theatre, founded in Macon, GA in 1921, and collaborative educational programs, are better informed about Black life and culture and a broader range of Black theatre. Black Theatre Day is an opportunity for everyone to learn more about Black theatre and how to collaborate and support Black-led theatre institutions, the beneficiaries of the illustrious legacies of the African diaspora.
Black-led theatre institutions are incubators for Black talent on stage and screen who mutually recognize their intrinsic value through various forms. Playwright, screenwriter and actress, Alice Childress, author of last season’s Broadway production of Trouble in Mind, studied at the historic American Negro Theatre which launched the careers of Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Ruby Dee. Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago Hudson, an alum of the Negro Ensemble Company and protégé of the esteemed Broadway director and Lloyd Richards, former Dean of the Yale Drama School, also wrote, directed, and starred in his 2021 Broadway production of Lackawana Blues. This Broadway season, Samuel L. Jackson will star in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson directed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson. Both are NEC and HBCU alums of Morehouse College and Spelman College, respectively. Playwright Lynn Nottage, who wrote the book for MJ: The Musical established her roots at The Billie Holiday Theatre, where stage and screen actor, Wendell Pierce, currently starring in the Broadway production of Death of a Salesman, serves on the board. Pierce is a native of New Orleans, the home of Black-led theatre institutions like No Dream Deferred and Ashé Cultural Arts Center. Intentional Black theatre connections and collaborations are the future.
The International Black Theatre Summit and its Black Theatre Day partners (WACO Theater Center, Project1Voice, Black Theatre Network, Black Theatre Association, The National Association of Black Theatre Building Owners, National Black Theatre Festival, the National Association of Dramatic Speech and Arts, Support Black Theatre) are encouraging everyone to donate $5, 5 hours or more and invite 5 people to #SupportBlackTheatre through Black-led theatre institutions year-round. Black Theatre Day inspires us to reimagine new possibilities!
To learn more and to obtain additional resources for Black Theatre Day visit thecraftinstitute.org.
Monica White Ndounou is an Associate Professor of Theater and affiliate faculty in African and African American Studies and Film and Media Studies at Dartmouth College. She is the Founder and Executive Director of The CRAFT Institute, Convener of The International Black Theatre Summit, the author of the award-winning book, Shaping the Future of African American Film: Color-Coded Economics and the Story Behind the Numbers (Rutgers UP 2014) and co-founder of CreateEnsemble.com. She is a Public Voices Fellow
R&B Singer Jesse Powell dies at 51. Photo: Google Images
R&B singer and Grammy-nominated artist Jesse Powell has died. Powell’s sisters Trina and Tamara Powell announced his passing on social media Tuesday (September 13, 2022).
Powell rose to fame in the 1990s with his smooth and melodic vocals. Powell’s song, “You,’ introduced the singer’s distinct voice and demonstrated Powell’s four-octave vocal range. An indication of Powell’s popularity and vocal prowess is indicated by “You” being streamed 13 million times on Spotify.
The Gary, IN native released four albums between 1996 and 2003. His second album, ‘Bout It, was certified Gold in 1999. Powell recently released a song July, 1, 2022. No cause of death has been reported. He was 51.
This post was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder and editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. Follow Nsenga on Twitter @Ntellectual or Instagram @TheBurtonWire.
The internet is buzzing over Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end and ESPN commentator Shannon Sharpe’s takedown of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre over his latest scandal. Brett Favre, who has managed to escape allegations of rape, sexual harassment and drug addiction may have gone one step too far in this latest incident.
Favre is accused of conspiring with Mississippi’s ex-Governor Phil Bryant to defraud the government to pay for a volleyball stadium built for the University of Southern Mississippi. Favre is named in a civil suit along with Bryant and others for stealing $5 million from the state’s welfare funds. Texts released show Bryant assuring Favre there was no way to trace back the fraud directly to him. Bryant also ushered Favre through the process of defrauding the government by advising him on how to write a proposal to get it through, just after firing Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis for fraud.
Most want to know why this is a civil suit instead of a criminal suit and Shannon Sharpe is in that group. During a segment on “Undisputed,” Sharpe goes off on Favre discussing the double standard of putting Black and Brown people in jail over defrauding the government for $400. Co-host Skip Bayless mostly agrees with Sharpe but also manages to remind people of Favre’s greatness on the field as if one has something to do with the other. Favre appears to be teflon for his off-the-field bad boy behavior including an alleged rape, sexual harassment of women sports reporters, drug addiction, fraudulently collecting money for speeches he never gave and now this scandal.
Sharpe does not believe Favre will be penalized for his wrongdoing because he has gotten away with so many other horrible things and there is a double standard when it comes to wealthy white men. Sharpe’s, “Undisputed,” co-host Skip Bayless believes there will be consequences for Favre’s latest scandal but continued to remind viewers of Favre’s greatness on the field as if one has anything to do with the other. What do you think will happen?
George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing is also like breath. Inhale the rich color palette of the Middle East with all its spices and spaces. Smell the curries, turmeric and saffron of the bazaar. Then exhale any preconceived notions. Writer/Director George Miller and his daughter/Co-Writer, Augusta Gore have written a rich contemplation of love, loss and the stories that skillfully engage our imagination. They carry us to a realm where ancient tales are crafted, and the mythic and mortal meet to spin a yarn for the ages. Adapted from the short story, The Djinn in the Nightengale’s Eye by British writer A.S. Byatt, this oral tapestry of star-crossed lovers and political intrigue spanning centuries, is the fodder of legendary ancient narratives ala Scheherazade and 1,001 Arabian Nights. How appropriate then that the female lead of this film is an expert on story. Three Thousand Years of Longing matches story and its power, with the only thing that could be more powerful – love. Maybe that is why it is so deeply enjoyable.
We are introduced to the brilliant mind of renowned narratologist, Dr. Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton), a self-described solitary creature, whose unruly imagination conjures up unreal friends and enables her to engage the seen and the unseen. The always riveting Swinton delivers an Alithea whose aplomb and curiosity render her perfectly placed in lofty intellectual circles like the conference she’s attending in Istanbul, but we struggle to take seriously her heart cry for romantic love, given her convincing banter about self-sufficiency and the joys of solitude. Nevertheless, fate has another plan. This perfectly content and unsuspecting intellectual has a most fantastic encounter with the deeply feeling and complex mythical character known only as Djinn (Idris Elba). Trapped in a trinket Alithea picks up in the bazaar in Istanbul, the Djinn (genie) is released in her hotel bathroom and upon exit announces that he must grant three wishes to be eternally released and allowed to return to the realm of his own kind – those of fire, rather than dust (humans).
Archetypal to Muslim lore, the djinn is a mythical character full of mischief and wonder, dwelling in the realm of the unseen but able to influence and engage the seen world. Idris Elba does not disappoint as Djinn. His presentation of this global literary staple is nuanced. This is not the smoldering sex appeal of Stringer Bell or People Magazine’s 2018 Sexiest Man Alive. No, this is a mystical soul tortured by love and loss who remains at its mercy in the presence of the mercurial, and uncooperative, Alithea Binnie. With each release and incarceration, Djinn is deceived by love every time. This is the tale of woe that he shares so poetically with Alithea. From the Queen of Sheba to a 19th century genius maiden, Djinn cannot seem to escape his doom try as he might – but maybe in Alithea there is a glimmer of hope.
Djinn begins to plow his craft again by asking: What is your heart’s desire?What is your wish? What is typical of a genie narrative, becomes the heart cry of every soul to have their heart’s deepest desires granted. Like many, the request and its granting involve love, that most elusive elixir that soothes, satiates, and slays all at the same time. The interplay and exchange between Elba and Swinton are skilled and constrained, each resisting the urge to lean into dated tropes. It is rare anymore to see two actors on screen together in such a nuanced dance of emotion and expression but Elba and Swinton pull it off beautifully and convincingly.
Three Thousand Years of Longing is well worth viewing in the theatre. It will restore your joy in cinematic storytelling and the power of story itself.
Check local movie listings for theater information.
This review was written by Michele R. Brown, an author, critical thinker and storyteller. Follow Michele @micheles_pen on Twitter and @MichelezPen on Facebook.
New episodes of OWN’ssmash hit unscripted series “Love & Marriage: Huntsville” return to Saturdays at 8:00pm ET/PT starting September 10 with Melody Shari and Martell Holt, Kimmi and Maurice Scott, Marsau and LaTisha Scott, Destiny Payton-Williams, as well as Tiffany and Louis Whitlow.
The new episodes continue to follow the group as they navigate their businesses, friendships and relationships in Huntsville, Alabama. The new season rehashes the fallout from Melody and Martell’s divorce and professional partnership as the two reconnect, and Melody admits to Stormi that she is cautiously moving forward with him, while Martell explores unexpected business ventures. Also, Kimmi confronts Maurice with infidelity rumors, Tiffany searches for her birth father, and Wanda’s past resurfaces.
If that’s not enough unscripted television for you, OWN’s“Family or Fiancé” follows with an all-new episode at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT featuring New York couple Jackie and Zuri, who have been together for five years and plan to marry, but their families have yet to meet. Jackie is holding resentments and secrets from her past that are compromising her emotional well-being and current relationships.
Hosted by renowned relationship coach Tracy McMillan, “Family or Fiancé” is a high-stakes social experiment that brings real-life couples and their disapproving families together for three days to unpack their differences. After coaching sessions and tasks designed to strengthen bonds, will the families’ renewed understanding persuade them to bless the couple’s happily-ever-after, or will they be forced to choose between family or fiancé?
Check local listings for channel information.
This article was written by Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D., founder & editor-in-chief of The Burton Wire. Follow Nsenga on Instagram or Twitter @Ntellectual or @TheBurtonWire.
