Issue 22  |  September 2010

Jay-Z: What Michael Meant To Me

Jay-z on Michael Jackson: “I try to look for the meaning in things that happen, and it was a tragedy that Michael Jackson passed away, especially for his kids. But on the other side, I think it gave Michael a chance to be celebrated for the genius he was without all the other stuff in the way, and I don’t know if that would ever have happened had he been alive.”

Watch the video at NME

Alicia Keys’ website “I am a Superwoman” coming soon

Keys is launching AK Worldwide, a new company that will handle her various projects inside and outside of the recording industry. The first project set for the singer is a jewelery line entitled, The Barber’s Daughters. They’re handcrafted products engraved with messages of hope and wisdom. She also has a developing website called, iamasuperwoman.com, that’s devoted to spotlighting inspirational women and causes that she says will fill a missing gap in the blogosphere.

Read the full article at Yahoo news

Check the homepage of  iamsuperwoman.com

Is architect David Adjaye Ready for His Three Washington DC Projects?

Despite the recent news that his firm has suffered big financial trouble, this past year has also been fairly good to starchitect David Adjaye, particularly in the Washington DC area. First he received the commission to build two new libraries there.

Read full article at Media Bistro

Chris Rock sued over Good Hair

A documentary filmmaker sued Chris Rock today in Los Angeles federal court, alleging the comic actor stole her concept for his forthcoming film about African-American hairstyles. According to the complaint for copyright infringement and unfair competition, Regina Kimbell’s 2005 documentary “My Nappy Roots” is the basis for Rock’s “Good Hair”

Read full article at Fox Los Angeles

Wyclef Jean and his charity Yele Haiti Team Up With Timberland Company

Wyclef Jean [click to read] and his Yéle Haiti organization have teamed up with the Timberland Company to raise global awareness on Haiti, as well as to promote environmental progress.

Read full article at Hip Hop DX

Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie asks: Why Do South Africans hate Nigerians

Last week it was reported that Nigerian officials were trying to ban District 9 – a science fiction film set in South Africa, but in which the biggest baddies are Nigerian – from being shown in the country’s cinemas. The row highlights old tensions between South Africa and Nigeria, writes the Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Read the full article on Guardian

Glasgow not too white to host MOBO awards

THE organisers of the Mobo music awards today defended the decision to move the award ceremony to Glasgow. Founder Kanya King hit back at claims that the city was “too white” and not “sexy” enough to host the show, which celebrates black music. But the decision has been attacked and a host of stars nominated for awards have deserted the ceremony. Eminem, Kanye West, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga, Akon and Mariah Carey will not appear at the SECC in Glasgow, despite being nominated.

Read the full article at News Scotsman

World literature expands its horizons in Germany

A new literature prize aims to give African, Asian and Latin American authors more exposure on the German book market and show what “world literature” can really mean. Many Germans associate the term “world literature” with US-American and European literature. To help broaden that rather narrow view, the House of World Cultures in Berlin – Germany’s national center for contemporary non-European art – and the Elementarteilchen Foundation in Hamburg, a non-profit organization that supports cultural projects, have introduced the International Literature Award.

Read the full article (in english) at Deutsche Welle

Sixty Years of Forgotten Treasures

Britain is to get a Black Theatre Archive. Playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah relives his role in its creation. “I don’t read reviews of my work. In fact, I don’t read reviews of the work of anyone I know – or not until I’ve seen it for myself, anyway. This is a hard and fast rule, one I’ll never break. Well, kind of. Truth be told, I do cheat. If nobody has texted me with a “Huge congratulations!” by, say, the afternoon after press night, it’s obviously bad. So I’ll call someone I trust and ask them how bad. Depending on their tone, I’ll seek out the worst review and read that.”

Read the full article at Guardian

Revealed: The nation’s 100 most powerful black people

THE UK’s 100 most powerful people of African and Caribbean heritage are unveiled this week in the second annual edition of The Powerlist: Britain’s 100 Most Influential Black People.

The list, compiled by a high-powered panel chaired by the British High Commissioner to Australia, Baroness Amos, smashes stereotypes by featuring business leaders, entrepreneurs and people from the arts, media, science and engineering – most of whom the average Briton will probably never have heard of, yet all are leaders in their field.

Read the full article at The Voice

Centric, new channel targeting the African-American audience debuts in the US

ENTRIC, the 24-hour entertainment network featuring the artists, music, series, movies and reality programming that reflects the lifestyle and sophistication of today’s African-American and multi-cultural adult, made its debut on Monday, September 28 at 6:00 a.m. ET. The CENTRIC brand replaces the BET J brand, and the channel will continue to focus on the influential 25 to 54-year-old viewer.

Read full article at Reuters

Screenings for the kids

A project bringing mobile cinema to schools and youth centres in villages across Africa has the potential to create a new distribution network for African film. What Conrad once brashly termed the Heart of Darkness, today the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), is soon to be lit up with cinema, replacing its ravaged war-torn images with new ones.

Read full article at The Africa Report

How to write about Africa with Djimoun Hounsou

“Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts – use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress.”

Originally (we think) published in GRANTA magazine, the words of Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina’s “How To Write About Africa” are brought to life by Beninois actor/model/Kimora’s man Djimon Hounsou. First spotted over at Kweli’s place.

Read the full article at Granta

A conversation with Nigerian writer Uzodinma Iweala

A conversation with Uzodinma Iweala, author of Beasts of No Nation and named one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists. Moderated by Mamadou Diouf, the Leitner Family Professor of African Studies and Director of Institute for African Studies.

Listen to the interview here

New stills from the movie 2012

Pics from Roland Emmerich’s new movie 2012, with Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Robert Downey Jr,. The story revolves around a group of people that struggles to survive the global cataclysm predicted by the Mayans and another dismissed prophet.

See the pictures at Screen Rant