CBU February Emagazine 2016

February 2016 E-Magazine

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NAT TURNER BIOPIC “THE BIRTH OF A NATION”

How 2016 Will Redefine the Slave NarraDve with Underground and The Birth of a NaDon

BY SHANNON M. HOUSTON for pastemagazine.com

Certain experiences in life are meant to be enlightening and educa?onal, but never entertaining. Visi?ng the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., or the Middle Passage exhibit in South Carolina, or even the post-Katrina lower ninth ward in Louisiana where the levies broke all fall under this umbrella. In many ways, these sites are as sacred as any holy place—when you enter them, you’re expected to reflect, and perhaps to weep. The last thing you’d do in these kinds of places is laugh out loud, or behave as if you are enjoying yourself in any way.

The same is true for slave narra?ves, in literature, film or TV. These stories are told in an aRempt to share the important and tragic stories that shaped this na?on. 12 Years a Slave is probably the most recent example of a slave narra?ve that was meant to be primarily difficult to watch. Even those of us whose parents made them watch Roots at a young age struggled to get through Steve McQueen’s adapta?on of Solomon Northup’s memoir. And that’s how it’s supposed to be—or, at least, that’s how it’s always been.

Something changed, however, aVer Django Unchained—and the exquisite, near-spiritual experience that came with it for me and many others. There came the realiza?on that a slave narra?ve could be something different. It’s almost blasphemy to say this, but I became convinced that, par?cularly from the angle of vengeance and/or rebellion, such stories could become entertaining. Of course, we s?ll need films like 12 Years to tell a story with an unapologe?cally difficult framing (and Django was difficult as well)—these are accurate stories and no, there are not enough of them. But we also need to open up the doors for crea?ve, risky approaches for these period pieces in TV and film that seek to enlighten, educate and—yes— entertain. The fact that I write such a sentence and exhale a sigh of relief that my mother (who was a professor of African-American history) is no longer of this world and, therefore, cannot chas?se me for making such a statement is proof that such a move is dangerous, and goes against the way we’ve always done things before—what we’ve been taught about the proper way to pay homage. But this is why we need to pay close aRen?on to WGN’s Underground series and Nate Parker’s Nat Turner biopic, The Birth of a Na=on—because in 2016, a change is surely gonna come.

And not everyone will be on board. Underground (from creators Misha Green of Sons Of Anarchy and Heroes, and Joe Pokaski of Daredevil and Heroes) is going to come under aRack for its unique style and presenta?on. The series premieres in March, and it’s taking every bit of my restraint to honor the press regula?ons and not reveal specific details this early on, but suffice it to say, this is not your mama’s (or my mama’s) Underground Railroad story. In a typical slave narra?ve the good guys and the bad guys are fairly simple to categorize—and then, of course, there’s oVen a white savior who arrives right on ?me.

Underground naturally adheres to some of this, but it also deviates in surprising ways; and these devia?ons will offend some people, especially people of color.

What will be most difficult for viewers from all backgrounds to reconcile will be the strangeness of a show like this being wildly entertaining. Underground is, at different ?mes, all of the things that stories set during slavery are not allowed to be: it’s funny, it’s sexy and it’s a thrill ride. WGN is bringing a series that fits in perfectly with our very modern-day binge-watching experiences. But, because of the content, audiences will experience a certain disorienta?on. “Am I supposed to be enjoying this so much?” is a ques?on I asked myself repeatedly, as I flew through the first four episodes made available. Where I was expec?ng to experience those familiar pangs of anger and grief (and, of course, those did occur), I felt many other things —pride in the rebellious nature of many of the characters, certainly, but also a unique sense of fascina?on with them. Everyone is presented with such specificity and nuance, that I realized I’d been guilty of doing what so many others have before, of categorizing nearly all slaves as one. Or, at most, making the dis?nc?on between house slaves and field slaves. But Underground will serve as a powerful reminder that every enslaved black was a human—complex, messy, intelligent—and, yes, intellectual—sexual beings. It’s ?me all those complexi?es were given their due, and Underground is a fantas?c aRempt at doing so.

And the film world has Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Na=on (an excellent ?tle, by the way) to look forward to, and it’s going to be very interes?ng to see how it’s received. Nat Turner is, for so many, the an?thesis of black respectability. Highly-an?cipated period pieces about the fights for black rights in America tend to spin a familiar tale of brains over brawn.

Mar?n Luther King Jr. was non-violent (though it’s important to note that Ava DuVernay’s Selma did an excellent job in complica?ng this no?on); Malcolm X may have been, for much of his life, opposed to non-violent teachings, but in his biopics he’s presented as an intellectual who believed in the right to self-defense. But Nat Turner would, today, be categorized as an actual terrorist. Slave revolts are not the typical fodder for slave narra?ves in part because they show a side of enslaved blacks that we’re not supposed to talk about: the vengeful, by-any-meansnecessary side, wherein some blacks refused to wait for a white savior, or for their freedom to become legalized. Nat Turner was accused of killing over fiVy white people in 1831 (including women and children)—it is no small thing that a 2016 movie is going to present him as a hero, a redeemer.

The cry for nonviolence is s?ll a favorite means of quie?ng black Americans who are con?nuously faced with violence of many forms.

The Birth of a Na=on will likely send a very different message

about what is an acceptable form of rebellion against a state that seeks to destroy black lives.

Although we haven’t even seen a trailer for the film (just a few beau?ful s?lls), in the hands of Nate Parker (who has delivered powerful performances in such films as The Great Debaters, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Beyond the Lights), I an?cipate greatness.

Like Underground, I believe The Birth of a Na=on will part the red sea so to speak, and make the space that film and TV need for period pieces set during American slavery. It’s not enough to have one or two of these stories a year, when there are s?ll countless slave narra?ves to be told. And in 2016, audiences will be given permission to enjoy and be entertained by such stories—difficult though they may be. We’ll also have tradi?onal no?ons of good vs. evil problema?zed, and black rebellion (violent and otherwise) elevated and even honored. It’s not what we’re used to at all, but in my book, this is the best of what’s next for stories about the black experience.

Shannon M. Houston is Assistant TV Editor & a film cri=c at Paste, and a writer for Salon and Heart&Soul. This New York-based freelancer probably has more babies than you, but that’s okay; you can s=ll be friends. She welcomes almost all follows on TwiSer.

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Nate Parker’s At the film’s Sundance premiere, Parker got a prolonged standing ova?on. It’s not an easy movie to watch because of the physical and mental brutality The Birth of a that slavery inflicted, and that’s how Parker wants it.

“I made this film for one reason, with the hope of NaDon Sells crea?ng change agents. People can watch this film and be affected. They can watch this film and see that there are systems that were in place that were corrupt and corrupted people, and the legacy of that for Record s?ll lives with us,” Parker said during the Q&A. He told the audience that they need to look inside Price at themselves and see if they are s?ll carrying these systems that need to be changed.

Sundance

It was a labor of love to get the film made. “Anything really worth having comes with a cost,” Parker told The Root. The actor put his career on hold aVer 2014’s Beyond the Lights, told his agent he would not work un?l he got The Birth of a Na=on made and spent $100,000 of his own money doing just that.

Director-actor-producer Nate Parker aSends the premiere of The Birth of Parker, who said the film had been in the works for a Na=on during the Sundance Film Fes=val at the Eccles Center Theatre in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 25, 2016. seven years, admits that people told him he was

NICHOLAS HUNT/GETTY IMAGES (IMAGE CONVERTED TO BLACK AND WHITE) crazy.

The actor-director wants his film about the Nat Turner slave rebellion to remind the audience that remnants of these corrupt systems live on.

“So many that at some point I said I’m not going to worry about the resistance and the defense ... being forged against this dream and this goal,” said Parker. Eventually he got basketballers Tony Parker and Michael Finley to sign on as producers, along with several Hollywood heavyweights. In the end, the film cost just under $11 million to make.

The film stars several well-known black actors as slaves, including Gabrielle Union (Being Mary Jane), Aja Naomi King (How to Get Away With Murder), Aunjanue Ellis (The Help) and Colman Domingo (Selma).

Union said that when she first got the script, she did not want to open it because she thought it was a remake of the original. “Understand that this is Hollywood, the things that cross your desk,” she said.

But once she saw that the film was about Turner, “I begged,” she said. “This is the only story I have ever been interested in learning as a level of our history. It showcases our humanity and what happens when you try to strip that, and that there are consequences.” Union joked about how it’s a departure from the rom-com movies she oVen does, and her work in the film shows just how great a director Parker is.

The film was shot on a former slave planta?on in Savannah, Ga., which many in the cast said was very emo?onal for them. Another sen?ment they said they shared was the idea that African Americans need to reclaim their narra?ve. The film clearly shows Nat Turner as the complex man he was, figh?ng against an unjust system that tortured his people every moment of every day of their lives.

Nate Parker in The Birth of a Na=on SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

Parker sees his film not only as a way to reclaim an important piece of African-American history but also as a way to hopefully change current thinking when it comes to racial injus?ce. “I want the audience to leave understanding it will take a riotous disposi?on to deal with the injus?ces of today,” said Parker, who cited the death of unarmed black men as one of those injus?ces.

It’s clear that whereas Turner picked up a deadly weapon to fight back in 1831, Parker and many others choose social tools as their weapons of choice. The Birth of a Na=on will clearly be part of Parker’s las?ng legacy. “I take great honor and responsibility in telling stories,” he said. “The Bible says a good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children. I just want my kids to know I made sacrifices on their behalf, and this film hopefully is a beginning to that.”

Julie Walker is a New York-based freelance journalist.

Why We Are Mad About Idris Elba, who gave a cri=cally acclaimed performance last year in the drama “Beasts of No Na=on,” told parliament: “I’m not here to talk about black people, I’m here to talk about diversity. Diversity in the modern world is more than just skin color – it’s gender, age, disability, sexual orienta=on, social background, and most important of all, as far as I’m concerned – diversity of thought. Because if you have genuine diversity of thought among people making TV and film, then you won’t accidentally shut out any of the groups I just men=oned.”

Idris Elba teaming up with BBC Three for short films The Luther star's produc=on company, Green Door Pictures, will collaborate with BBC Three on the films from new writers.

Established names will work alongside new actors for the series.

BBC Three controller Damian Kavanagh vowed the channel, which goes online next month, would be bold, Bri=sh and crea=ve.

He has a budget of £30m a year for crea=ve ideas, he said at an event to launch the new-look channel.

Elba, widely considered to have been overlooked for an Oscars nomina=on for his role in Beasts of No Na=on, said: "I'm looking forward to working with BBC Three and giving new writers and actors a chance to show what they can do."

'Just the start'

Kavanagh said the short films, made in conjunc=on with BBC Drama in-house, would be set in London, featuring "chance encounters between two people".

New programmes for the channel also include Clique, focusing on two friends star=ng university in Edinburgh, magic show Life Hacks with Ben Hart and Unsolved: The Boy who Disappeared which tells the true story of the disappearance of a teenager two decades ago.

BBC Three programmes including Stacey Dooley Inves=gates and Life and Death Row will s=ll be available when the switchover happens on 16 February.

Kavanagh said: "We're reinven=ng our offer for young people and this is just the start. We will be bold, we will be Bri=sh and we will be crea=ve."

The channel is introducing two new formats for online - The Daily Drop, home to a stream of daily content, and The Best Of, bringing together original long-form programmes and new content, including short films.

BBC director general Tony Hall said: "We are the first broadcaster in the world to work out what it's going to be like in this on-demand world.

"This is new and let's be clear, it's also risky, but risky in the way it should be risky because if we don't take risks, who's going to?"

He applauded BBC Three for making programmes that "provoke such strong reac=ons" and emphasised the importance of finding new talent.

"I want people to look back on the new BBC Three as being the place that spoSed the next James Corden, the next Aidan Turner, the next Sheridan Smith," he said.

Switchover night will include the first episode of Cuckoo, the first film from the new series of Life and Death Row, and Live from the BBC, featuring new Bri=sh comedians.

Content will be available on iPlayer and BBC Three's new online home.

THE GAME

Macklemore / Ryan Lewis

DAVID BOWIE

Actor

Stephan James star of the Jesse Owens bio pic “Race� goes big on historical dramas

With significant suppor?ng roles in the Oscar-nominated civil rights drama Selma and the CBC mini-series The Book of Negroes, and a starring role in the Jesse Owens biopic Race (set for a February 2016 release), you’d think the rising-star Toronto actor Stephan James would be looking for a break from the heavy historical roles, in favour of something fluffy or zany.

You’d be wrong, he tells us.

In accepAng the award for best song at the Golden Globes with John Legend, the hip hop arAst Common talked about how Selma had awakened his humanity, and that Selma was now. When you hear that kind of strong reacAon to a film you’re in, does it really maier what awards it wins?

AVer the Golden Globes, I got a lot of texts and e-mails. Some were congratula?ons for winning best original song, with Glory, but a lot of people are confused, thinking that Selma was snubbed in certain categories. To me, I’ve always seen this film as a victory really, even before I saw the finished version. No award can amount to the way I feel about what we’ve done with this film. We’ve done something so relevant to our youth.

You portray John Lewis, a young acAvist in 1965, and now a congressman represenAng an area of Georgia that includes Atlanta, where Selma was partly filmed. Did you meet him?

Congressman John Lewis surprised us one day on the set. We were in the middle of the take, the director calls “cut,” and in comes John Lewis. Honestly, I froze. He’s such an important, important individual. This person I was playing, literally walking in his footsteps every day. To see him walk in there was almost like seeing a ghost.

Ralph Abernathy (Colman Domingo), Mar=n Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo), Andrew Holland (André Holland) and John Lewis (Stephan James) in Selma.

And you really mean it when you say you were walking in his footsteps. The scene on the bridge, in Selma, Ala., it all happened there, right?

Absolutely. Even on the ride down there, passing that bridge on the way to the hotel, I got chills. I got chills looking at that bridge, just thinking about what happened there, and the amount of courage it took to walk across the bridge on Bloody Sunday in 1965. The amount of people who were hurt while figh?ng for jus?ce, while figh?ng for equality. Those were real people. They were not made up. To reenact those moments, while filming the scenes, it was an out of body experience. I’ll never forget it.

Let’s talk about your starring role in Race, the Jesse Owens biopic that has finished its filming. How demanding was it, physically, to portray a world class athlete?

I’ve had some experience in track and field in school, but I did have to train to be able to play Jesse Owens – to be a runner, to be an Olympian. While shoo?ng Selma, I would train on my off ?me, with the assistant men’s track and field coach at Georgia Tech. We spent hours on the track trying to get Jesse Owens’s posture right, and trying to get in shape in order to go through three months of the running I was going to be doing.

So, Selma and Book of Negroes, and next with Race, which clearly has a double meaning. These are heavy films, involving heavy issues and heavy historical figures. Is it Ame to lighten up with a fluffy rom-com?

[Laughs.] You know what? These roles have fallen in my lap, but they’ve been an experience for me to learn about myself and my history. I’ve only been in the business for five years, and these moments, where I play real-life heroes to so many people, this is going to be invaluable to the rest of my career. Definitely, I want to explore other types of roles. But this, to me, is not a bad way to start it all off.

Tyler Perry Talks Appeal & Challenges of Fox's Live Jesus Musical

"It’s live television and ulDmately something is going to go wrong, and someDmes that’s what makes the best moments," said 'The Passion' EP Mark Bracco.

When TV cameras descend on New Orleans Palm Sunday, it won’t be for a religious service but rather for a live Fox musical event.

On March 20th, the network will air The Passion, a modern-day musical retelling of the Jesus of Nazareth story, as he presides over the Last Supper and then is betrayed by Judas, put on trial by PonAus Pilate, convicted, crucified and resurrected. The classic tale, which will be told through the music of Whitney Houston, Imagine Dragons and others, will unfold live over two hours at some of New Orleans' most iconic loca?ons. The ambi?ous produc?on is expected to culminate in a procession of hundreds carrying a 20-foot illuminated cross from Champion Square outside the Superdome to a live stage at Woldenburg Park.

Country music star Trisha Yearwood has already signed on to star as Mary, and singer Prince Royce was tapped to play the disciple Peter. (The producers are s?ll narrowing in on their Jesus.)

Serving as Passion's narrator is Tyler Perry, who suggested the story, the plan to tell it through popular music and the sezng all appealed to him asboth a prac?cing Chris?an and a New Orleans na?ve. When asked why he'd sign to to a project that he hadn't conceived, the prolific producer

joked: “You want to know why it’s not Tyler Perry’s Tyler Perry Presents Tyler Perry?” He then added of his backseat role: “And I’m going to enjoy every minute because it’s a vaca?on for me.”

The producers used the Television Cri?cs Associa?on's winter press tour pla{orm to explainjust how they intend to pull it off. Helping to make the case was format creator Jacco Doornbos, who stages Passion as an annual event in Holland.

"It’s become the largest TV event of the year there," he explained, no?ng that it earns more than a 40 percent market share.

Among the ques?ons asked: what happens if it rains, to which Doornbos insisted the show would go on. In fact, it rained the fiVh ?me it was staged in Holland and, he said, "it turned out to be even more emo?onal.” Others wondered what would happen if an ambulance or fire truck comes through during the procession. EP Mark Bracco suggested the laRer was a real possibility since only some of the streets will be closed, and if that were to happen the procession would have to stop. "It’s live television and ul?mately something is going to go wrong," he added, "and some?mes that’s what makes the best moments.”

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Take these steps to find and secure scholarships If your college applica?ons are all submiRed, congratula?ons!

Now roll up your sleeves. With applica?ons in, you have the bandwidth to make a last-ditch eort to land scholarships that will help pay for school.

With tui?on, room and board at four-year public colleges and universi?es averaging nearly $20,000 even for in-state applicants, and private schools charging an average of nearly $44,000, landing scholarships is crucial for many students. And it can be some of the most lucra?ve things a student can do, said Mark Kantrowitz, publisher and vice president of strategy for cappex.com, a college search website.

"The typical high school senior will match anywhere from 50 to 100 scholarships using any of the [online na?onal search] services," Kantrowitz said. And once students have wriRen a few applica?ons, it becomes easier to reuse what they have, he said, so subsequent applica?ons take less ?me.

The process may seem arduous, Kantrowitz said, but if a student spends 10 hours applying for scholarships and wins a $500 award, that is equivalent to earning $50 an hour. OVen, he said, scholarships with smaller awards or ones that require essays aRract fewer applicants, boos?ng your odds of winning.

Cappex is just one of several na?onal scholarship databases, including fastweb.com, bigfuture.collegeboard.com, scholarships.com and the scholarship search area on petersons.com. All of them provide extensive lis?ngs of scholarships available across the country.

Those lis?ngs offer a wealth of choices, but another place to find aRainable scholarships at this point in the year is your local area, said Lisa Micele, director of college counseling at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School in Urbana, Illinois.

Her office is "being bombarded with the local ones right now," she said. "We have seen with our local ones that they are not being picked up by the search engines," so the applica?on pool is smaller, or the scholarships require that "you must live in Champaign County or in our school district." The organiza?ons sponsoring these scholarships tend to want to benefit the community around them, Micele said.

These scholarships may offer smaller awards, but Micele cau?oned against passing them by. "If you think you are going to find some na?onal scholarship right now that's going to give you a full ride, that's kind of hard," she said. And there is no reason a student can't apply for — and win — mul?ple, smaller awards.

"The students you hear about who get a gazillion dollars apply to everything," Micele said.

However, when colleges leave all their loans in place in the face of new scholarship aid, "there is no net financial benefit" to students.

For that reason, it is a good idea to be certain of a college's policy regarding outside scholarship money. Some list their policy on their websites, but for others, the financial aid office may be the best resource. Students who are weighing offers from two schools may find that a difference in policy ?ps the scales for them, Kantrowitz said.

For her part, McKenzie found that her scholarships covered her expected student contribu?on at Stanford, but because the awards she won exceeded that amount, Stanford counted the remainder as an offset to the university's grant aid. (Stanford's policy is described on its website.) McKenzie was able to use some of her scholarship funds for things like a new computer when hers broke, she said, but the policy was frustra?ng.

"Don't be afraid of the financial aid office. You are not going to get a nega?ve mark against you in the admissions office if you call up and say, 'Can we talk about my aid package?'"

-Lisa Micele, director of college counseling at the University of Illinois Laboratory High School

"I'm obviously s?ll glad that I applied for the scholarships that I did, but I would have liked to have known more of that going in," she said.

Lisa Lapin, a spokeswoman for Stanford, said the university "does not expect any of our financial aid recipients to borrow to meet their need," and she characterized the university's benchmarks for need as generous. (Parents with incomes under $65,000 typically have their student's educa?onal costs covered, and those with incomes under $125,000 will receive scholarships that at least cover tui?on.)

Students receiving financial aid are expected to cover some of their costs, she said, but "students may use outside scholarships to meet their responsibility, thereby reducing the need for work. When a scholarship recipient's outside awards total more than we ask students to contribute [$5,000], we consider those awards as contribu?ng toward the students' total financial need," she con?nued. "We adjust their federal and ins?tu?onal aid accordingly. This adjustment is actually a requirement for recipients of federal aid."

Even so, it may also be possible to nego?ate with outside aid, Micele said. One family she worked with had a student's en?re tui?on bill covered by merit-based aid from the college, and then the student won an outside grant that was to be used for tui?on.

At first the college planned to reduce what it was offering by what the student had won. Micele said she is not sure what happened, but eventually the family was able to apply at least some of the money to the housing bill.

"Don't be afraid of the financial aid office. You are not going to get a nega?ve mark against you in the admissions office if you call up and say, 'Can we talk about my aid package?'" Micele said. "This is a human process. People are in this business to help."

Famed writer Ernest Hemingway referred to Josephine Baker as "the most sensa=onal woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will."

Deborah Cox calls the content of the musical "compelling.” Photo: Mike Ruiz / Mike Ruiz

I

t's been 17 years since Toronto na?ve Deborah Cox leV an indelible imprint

on the pop music charts with her long-running R&B ballad 'Nobody's Supposed to be Here.’

And in that ?me, the married mother of three has stormed Broadway stages and endured a seismic shiV in the music industry.

"Wow, it's changed a lot," Cox told NBCBLK during a recent interview. "I think it's less about the music and more about the celebrity now. It's less about what you do as a talent and what you put on record, and it's more about what you do in social media and what you do when you make a mockery of yourself.

"It's more about those kind of things, the an?cs than it is more about the music. And I kind of wish it would get back to that.”

Because of her displeasure with the current state of the oVen fickle music industry, Cox—who hosted the 2015 Tony Awards live telecast in New York's Times Square—has found comfort in her thriving career in musical theatre.

Already a force to be reckoned with through her performances in Broadway produc?ons of 'Aida' and 'Jekyll & Hyde.' The near 40-year old powerhouse is preparing for a big year in 2016 when she will take on two Broadway-bound projects, respec?vely, celebra?ng the accomplishments of two of the most iconic black women to ever achieve such worldwide dominance: Josephine Baker and Whitney Houston.

Deborah Cox, aSached to the project for ďŹ ve years, is looking forward to ďŹ nally bringing this side of Josephine Baker's story to life. Photo: Mike Ruiz / Mike Ruiz

Next spring, 'Josephine' will see its world premier at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. Cox, aRached to the project for five years, said the musical (directed and choreographed by Tony Award nominee Joey McKneely) would show a side of the legendary entertainer that many don't know: "The role focuses on five years of her life and it tells a story about her struggle and really looking for love and not wan?ng to go back to the poverty that she grew up in and grew up with.”

Baker, considered the first "diva" of the 20th Century, was a chanteuse and show-woman that aRained interna?onal fame when she became the Toast of Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Famed writer Ernest Hemingway referred to her as "the most sensa?onal woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will.”

The St. Louis na?ve—replete with outlandish stage persona and jaw-dropping fashion sensibility—laid the founda?on for many divas that came in her wake.

Offstage, she was a humanitarian and an ac?vist.

"She was a woman who overcame many, many struggles," Cox said. "She became a pilot and she fought head on against Hitler's Nazi regime. There's a lot of content, a lot of her story that a lot of people don't know.”

Throughout the years, there have been con?nual interests in the life and ?mes of Baker. (Acclaimed actress Lynn Whi{ield won an Emmy Award for her breakthrough performance in the 1991 HBO film 'The Josephine Baker Story,' and most recently New York's Public Theatre presented a one-woman show starring the Bri?sh actress Cush Jumbo.)

“"I JUST GO FORWARD WITH BLINDERS ON AND I GO WITH MY HEART AND MY PASSION AND I KNOW WHAT I WANT TO BRING TO EACH ROLE THAT I TAKE ON."”

Inspired by Stephen Papich's 1976 book 'Remembering Josephine,' the musical revolves around Baker's s?nt as the star of Paris' Folies Bergere from 1939 to 1945, her scandalous affair with Swedish Crown Prince Gustav VI, and her heroic service in the French Resistance during World War II.

Next spring, 'Josephine' will see its world premier at the Asolo Famed writer Ernest Hemingway referred to Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. Cox, aRached to the project Josephine Baker as “the most sensa=onal woman for five years, said the musical (directed and choreographed by Tony anybody ever saw. Or ever will." Deborah Cox calls the content of the musical "compelling."

Award nominee Joey McKneely) would show a side of the legendary Photo: Mike Ruiz / Mike Ruiz entertainer that many don't know: "The role focuses on five years of her life and it tells a story about her struggle and really looking for love and not wan?ng to go back to the poverty that she grew up in and grew up with.”

Baker, considered the first "diva" of the 20th Century, was a chanteuse and show-woman that aRained interna?onal fame when she became the Toast of Europe during the 1920s and 1930s. Famed writer Ernest Hemingway referred to her as "the most sensa?onal woman anybody ever saw. Or ever will.”

The St. Louis na?ve—replete with outlandish stage persona and jawdropping fashion sensibility—laid the founda?on for many divas that came in her wake. Offstage, she was a humanitarian and an ac?vist.

Of the produc?on, Asolo Rep's producing ar?s?c director Michael Donald Edwards said, "Josephine vividly brings to life the story of a beloved American icon — one of the most magne?c and fascina?ng women in history. This celebra?on of Josephine Baker is a remarkably evoca?ve work of art.”

"Child, it's a whole lot in the story, but really, really compelling theater," Cox furthered, adding that it's a role she has to really sink her teeth into to get to her emo?onal core. "It's very, very complex and deep and I have to really conjure up a lot of personal stuff in order to get to the ugly stuff that we don't necessarily want to face, a lot of the fears, a lot of the stuff from the past that we don't necessarily want to get into but as an actor you have to visit those dark places in order to get the story told."

And then there's the whole "Whitney Thing.”

Earlier this year, Cox drew some of the harshest cri?cism ever in her career, when she was chosen to sing the vocal tracks for Life?me's 'Whitney'—the controversial television biopic about her late friend and former label mate Whitney Houston. Directed by Angela BasseR, the telefilm drew ire from members of the late singer's family and die-hard fans for being unauthorized.

"Wow, what a reac?on," she reflected. "What was my reac?on? For me I go from show to show that I'm passionate about and I'm not really thinking about what the response is going to be. I don't take all of that on. I just go forward with blinders on and I go with my heart and my passion and I know what I want to bring to each role that I take on."

R&B chart-topper Deborah Cox is back in the music game with a Top 20 hit, 'More Than I Knew,' from her forthcoming opus 'Work of Art' due out later this year. She's also readying lead roles in two Broadway-bound musicals next year.

Photo: Mike Ruiz / Mike Ruiz

"For me it was something that Dick Rudolph was the music supervisor, Angela Basset was the director and they chose me to do it," Cox con?nued. "They knew that I would be able to bring the essence of her tone and quality to the film. So in that respect I feel like people already know the kind of history behind the two of us as label mates, the two of us being groomed by Clive Davis and his legacy, and the history of us singing the duet ('Same Script, Different Cast')."

"And I know when you get to a certain place, you're going to get those kind of calls and you goRa rise to the occasion and bring it and that's what I did," she stated maRer-of-factly. "I got on that plane from Miami to Los Angeles and went into the studio and sang the songs.”

Weeks aVer the film scored record ra?ngs for Life?me, it was announced that Cox would take on the lead role in the musical produc?on of 'The Bodyguard,' based on the blockbuster 1992 film starring Houston and Kevin Costner.

The Grammy nominated Toronto na=ve will play the lead role in the musical adapta=on of the 1992 blockbuster movie 'The Bodyguard.'

Photo: Keith Majors

"The difference with this Bodyguard musical, not just music from the film but music from Whitney's catalogue as well," she revealed. "There are 18 songs that are going to be telling the story, which is a liRle darker than the film. The storyline is slightly different with the rela?onship between the sisters.”

Cox starts rehearsals next August. "I think the thing with 'The Bodyguard' is it's an iconic movie, everyone knows the music and it represents a moment in all of our lives and it's really going to be about making sure that I tell that story. I can't wait to do it.”

Her sixth studio opus, 'Work of Art' is due out this year.

A 100-Year-Old Church in Spain Transformed into a Skate Park Covered in Murals by Okuda San Miguel

By Christopher Jobson for thiscolossal.com Photo by Lucho Vidales

Originally designed by Asturian architect Manuel del Busto in 1912, the church of Santa Barbara in Llanera, Asturias, was abandoned for years and crumbling from neglect. Luckily, a group of enterprising individuals lead by a collec?ve called the ‘Church Brigade,’ with help from online fundraising and Red Bull, the church was salvaged and turned into a public skate park dubbed Kaos Temple.

As if having a skate park inside a beau?ful abandoned church wasn’t enough, ar?st Okuda San Miguel was commissioned to cover the walls and vaulted ceilings with his unique brand of colorful geometric ďŹ gures. Nearly every at interior surface is covered with a rainbow of color, illuminated from every side by tall windows, making this a truly special place to skate.

Watch the video below to see an interview with Okuda where he talks about his inspira?on both for Kaos temple and his other works around the world. (via designboom)

Quick Tips You Can Use To Make a Better LinkedIn Profile

It can be hard to think of social media as something useful. But it actually can be a very valuable tool in many situaDons.

There’s no site where this is more true than LinkedIn. It takes all the familiar trappings of a social networking site and switches the premise from connecDng with friends to connecDng with current and potenDal business partners.

If you want to make the most of LinkedIn, you need to have a well-designed profile. Check out the infographic below for 12 Dps you can use to make a be^er profile that just might lead to a new job opportunity.

I MOTIVATE

261 Day Challenge

which boils down to working out 5 days a week for a year either at home, the gym or wherever.

Ethnic by Designs

Fox orders new 24 pilot, wants diverse actor to star Producers seeking nonwhite actor to replace Kiefer Sutherland

It’s official: Fox is making a new version of 24.

Also official: The reboot will have an all-new cast, with producers currently seeking an African-American actor to take over for long?me series star Kiefer Sutherland.

Fox has ordered a pilot for 24: Legacy, a new series starter that contains many of the hallmarks of the original ac?on hit that launched in 2001 and ran for nine seasons on Fox: “The pilot will feature an all-new cast of characters and retain the real-?me, pulse-pounding, fast-paced format with split screens and complex interweaving storylines, with each episode represen?ng one hour of an even{ul day.” Original producers Howard Gordon, Manny Coto and Evan Katz will return as execu?ve producers.

But that means Jack Bauer (Sutherland) has firmly walked off into the sunset. Sutherland has recently been cast in a new ABC thriller called Designated Survivor, where he’ll play a man suddenly handed the presidency aVer a catastrophic aRack during the State of the Union address

The 24 reboot is about a military hero, “Eric Carter,” who returns to the U.S. and the trouble that follows him back – compelling him to ask the Counter Terrorist Unit for help in saving his life, and stopping what poten?ally could be one of the largest-scale terror aRacks on American soil.

The pilot, filming this winter, has not yet been cast, but the process is underway. We’re hearing producers are specifically seeking an AfricanAmerican actor for the role, though Fox Television Chairman and CEO Dana Walden and Gary Newman suggested a La?no actor could be considered as well. “We wanted [the star] to be as different from Jack Bauer as possible, whether that’s an African-American or a La?no actor,” Walden said, with Newman adding: “As envisioned, the lead character would be diverse, so that will be our first effort in cas?ng. As always, we’re going to cast the best actor we can find for the role. As you can imagine, bringing 24 back, we want to really try to create some dis?nc?on and make this feel different than Jack Bauer’s 24, so having a diverse actor in that lead role I think would be helpful in doing that.”

A series order would be a 12-episode arc, like the 2014 revival Live Another Day, rather than the strict real-?me 24-episode format of the original series. “That’s something we discussed for years, ‘It’s 24 — it has to be 24 episodes,’ ” Walden said. “I don’t think any of us believe that a 24-episode arc in this day and age is the way to go.”

In another switch from the original series, the show will focus less on a lone wolf lead and is more of a “two-hander,” with the Carter character paired with a female co-lead.

“There’s also a female co-lead who is a former head of CTU,” said Fox Television Chairman and CEO Dana Walden at the Television Cri?cs Associa?on in Pasadena on Friday. “It doesn’t feel like it is fully replica?ng the original in terms of how much Jack Bauer carried by himself, but it’s a very prominently featured lead.”

Walden also revealed to reporters there will be a ?me jump in the show’s storyline and that Legacy will deal with sleeper cells radicalizing Americans. “It’s a new CTU, a new cast of characters,” she said. “It’s a completely different story in terms of the special ops groups that we’re focusing on. It’s a very contemporary feeling story about the poten?al to ac?vate new sleeper cells in the United States and radicalizing Americans. It’s a whole new story. There are nods in the pilot to prior CTU agents, there are a couple photos that will feel reminiscent of the original, but no ongoing [returning] characters.”

YOU SHOULD PLAN ON SWITCHING JOBS EVERY THREE YEARS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE

THE STIGMA OF BEING A FLAKY JOB-HOPPER IS QUICKLY BECOMING A THING OF THE PAST AND THAT'S A GOOD THING. Changing jobs every couple of years used to look bad on a resume. It told recruiters you can’t hold down a job, can’t get along with colleagues, or that you’re simply disloyal and can't commit.

That s?gma is fast becoming an?quated—especially as millennials rise in the workplace with expecta?ons to con?nuously learn, develop, and advance in their careers. This sen?ment is different than the belief of past genera?ons that you cling to an employer over a life?me in the hopes that your long-term employer will treat you fairly in the end with a matching 401(k) plan, among other benefits.

WORKERS WHO STAY WITH A COMPANY LONGER THAN TWO YEARS ARE SAID TO GET PAID 50% LESS

There are a lot of arguments for jumping ship every few years. The economy isn’t what it used to be—and never will be again. Workers who stay with a company longer than two years are said to get paid 50% less, and job hoppers are believed to have a higher learning curve, be higher performers, and even to be more loyal, because they care about making a good impression in the short amount of ?me they know they’ll stay with each employer.

PaRy McCord, former chief talent officer for Ne{lix (and responsible for the company’s current innova?ve work culture), says job hopping is a good thing, and young people should plan to do so every three to four years.

"I think that the most important, cri?cal change in people’s mental outlook is to view employees as smart contributors from the beginning," advises McCord, who now coaches and advises companies and entrepreneurs on culture and leadership.

"If we changed our perspec?ve and said, ‘Everyone here wants to come in, do a great job, and contribute,’ then they either fit or they don’t," she adds. "You build skills faster when changing companies because of the learning curve."

Why the high learning curve?

Because job hoppers are constantly placed outside of their comfort zones. They join companies, know they have to learn fast, make great impressions, and improve the boRom line—all within a couple of years before moving on to their next conquest. As a result, they’re usually overachievers and learn a lot in a short span of ?me.

According to Penelope Trunk, serial entrepreneur and author, life is actually "more stable" with frequent job changes.

"In terms of managing your own career, if you don’t change jobs every three years, you don’t develop the skills of gezng a job quickly, so then you don’t have any career stability," Trunk tells Fast Company. "You’re just completely dependent on the place that you work as if it’s 1950, and you’re going to get a gold watch at the end of a 50-year term at your company."

She adds:

I read a lot of research about what makes a good employee . . . and people used to think that the longer you kept an employee, the more worth they are to you, because you train them and they get used to their job and then they do it.

But, in fact, an employee who stays on the job and isn’t learning at a really high rate is not as engaged, so they’re not doing as good work. So it turns out, the employee who stays longest, you get the least work out of, and the employees that job hunt are the most recepDve of becoming extremely useful, very fast.

Trunk believes that the learning curve "preRy much flaRens aVer three years." While there are few excep?ons to jobs people should stay in for longer, such as academia, most people should leave if they want to stay engaged, says Trunk.

“IF YOU DON’T CHANGE JOBS EVERY THREE YEARS, YOU DON’T DEVELOP THE SKILLS OF GETTING A JOB QUICKLY, SO THEN YOU DON’T HAVE ANY CAREER STABILITY.”

But what about companies? We all know how costly it is to train employees. If companies have to keep training new employees, how does this affect their business objec?ves?

This is a concen McCord is asked about regularly by the companies she consults.

Employee reten?on is a big issue, and "it scares the hell out of" employers, says McCord. They’ve invested a lot in hiring big talent. To that, McCord has some advice: In 15 years, when your company is growing rapidly because of all the high, jobhopping achievers that have come and gone, unless you’re an ins?tu?on, don’t worry that no one has any ins?tu?onal knowledge of your company.

Stony Island Arts Bank

Stony Island Arts Bank,

It’s the new and it opened on the South Side of Chicago. The ar=st, Theaster Gates, bought the old Building and Loan Bank from the city for a dollar and renovated it, turning it into an arts center and archive for local culture and history.

Steve Hall Š Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy of Rebuild Founda=on.

“The radically restored building will serve as a space for neighborhood residents to preserve, access, reimagine and share their heritage – and a des=na=on for ar=sts, scholars, curators, and collectors to research and engage with South Side history.” – Rebuild FoundaDon

Steve Hall Š Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy of Rebuild Founda=on.

First look inside Theaster Gates' new Stony Island Arts Bank This story originally ran on September 4, 2015 on chicagotribune.com

The last ?me Theaster Gates walked me through the abandoned bank at East 68th Street and South Stony Island Avenue, water dripped from the ceiling, clouds waVed over a hole in the roof, and shards of glass and scraps of plaster crunched under his feet.

The 42-year-old Chicago ar?st will debut his $4.5 million renova?on of the bank — which he has transformed into a library and cultural center — on Oct. 3, the opening day of the city's first architectural biennial.

That the city's cultural elite will be drawn about 9 miles south of the Loop into a building once scheduled for demoli?on speaks to Gates' loVy posi?on in the contemporary art world.

It also speaks to his commitment to the South Side, even as ManhaRan and Europe frequently draw him away, as well as his skill at requisi?oning everything from record collec?ons to patrons' money. Playwright Regina Taylor once aptly summed up Gates' demeanor in the Chicago Reader as that of "a soulful Cheshire Cat."

"I was really determined to see this project happen," Gates said in a phone interview from Istanbul, where he was preparing for that city's contemporary art biennial. "For people in my life who respect the work I do and understand the work, everyone around me had anxiety about its scale. And the friendly advice I got from everybody was to walk away.”

The 17,000-square-foot facility, once known as the Stony Island Trust & Savings Bank, opens to the public Oct. 6. Coffee and tea will be served behind a massive an?que wood bar; a liquor license could come later. The plan is for the center to be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

"The once vibrant commercial strip is ac?ve with the basics of a black strip mall but is culturally starved and in need of economic investment and more care," Gates said of the area around the building, located south of Jackson Park between the Greater Grand Crossing and South Shore neighborhoods.

On deposit at the renamed Stony Island Arts Bank will be the magazine and book collec?on of John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony and Jet magazines; the record collec?on of disc jockey Frankie Knuckles, the godfather of house music; Edward Williams' collec?on of negrobilia, racist collec?bles the couple bought to take off the market; and slides of the University of Chicago's and Art Ins?tute of Chicago's collec?ons — no longer needed once the images were digi?zed.

Ken Stewart, chief execu?ve officer of Gates' Rebuild Founda?on, said "this will be Rebuild's first public venue that has normal opera?ng hours." The founda?on oversees programming and the collec?ons on the bank's first and second floors.

Rebuild enables Gates to raise money from nonprofit founda?ons without having to sell artwork.

"We will have regular public programs," Stewart said. "It won't be these isolated moments or that you have to have an invita?on. You can be driving down the street and come in."

On temporary exhibit during the biennial will be Portuguese ar?st Carlos Bunga's "Under the Skin," a mixture of sculpture and temporary architecture made from cardboard and packing tape.

Bunga's cardboard columns lend a cathedral-like feel to the bank, immediately drawing the gaze up to the atrium's arched plaster ceiling. On the other hand, the installa?on narrows the room, blocking light from exterior windows as well as views of many of the atrium's archways.

On a tour this week, the building smelled of drywall and lacquer as workers varnished the bar and tables. The air condi?oning was installed that day. Others were organizing the Art Ins?tute slides into vintage card catalogs as well as shelving Johnson's books in the two-story second-floor library.

Aside from Bunga's exhibi?on, none of the artwork had been hung.

The city sold the bank for $1 to an LLC controlled by Gates in 2013. To finance the restora?on, Gates sold 100 "Bank Bonds" made from marble slabs pulled from the bank for $5,000. Gates has described the marble as the building's "last usable currency." Inscribed on the bonds are the words "In ART We Trust.”

Gates also sold $50,000 "bonds" while Rebuild has raised more than $1.1 million from ?cket sales for a Sept. 19 gala. Gates will auc?on an artwork made from wood reclaimed from the bank at the event.

The public will eventually gain access to the basement vault, which smells of mold and must. It was once submerged in water, and a "water line" mars the back wall of the vault. Adding machines are strewn about. Some stacks of safety deposit boxes have collapsed. Everything is rusted.

This is the one area Gates intends to remain as he found it, now that the water has been drained, Stewart said.

Something must be leV unrenovated if visitors are ever to grasp the scale of this revival. mmharris@tribpub.com TwiSer @chiconfiden=al

Steve Hall Š Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy of Rebuild Founda=on.

Steve Hall Š Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy of Rebuild Founda=on.

Steve Hall Š Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy of Rebuild Founda=on.

Steve Hall Š Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy of Rebuild Founda=on.

Steve Hall Š Hedrich Blessing. Courtesy of Rebuild Founda=on.

9 life-changing habits to adopt when you feel lost in life

When you feel lost in life, these habits may be transformaAve for you. AdopAng habits of successful people, of happy people, of people who are fulfilled in their daily acAviAes is one way that you can find new meaning and redefine your life. It is not enough to just live your life – you need to take an acAve role in your life. ParAcipate in your life and take tangible steps in beiering your life.

These nine habits, from TIME, could truly prove to be transformaAve in your life if you adopt them.

1) Volunteer Zig Ziglar has famously said, “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.” This holds truest when it comes to volunteering. If you are not satisfied with your life, or can’t seem to get over feeling down, it might be time for you to get up and go help somebody else.

Helping other people helps us. Give it a try.

If you’re sad, it’s okay to be upset for awhile. “We’re meant to feel happiness, fear, sorrow, anger, disappointment, jealousy, passion, love… the full spectrum.” Without all of these emotions, life is a dull place. Experience the emotions when they come at you. If you don’t, they won’t just go away. We are meant to experience the full range of emotions and so allowing yourself to experience them will help you deal with situations and move past the emotions surrounding them. Otherwise, they will most likely continue to crop up when you want to deal with them least.

3) Count your blessings

2) Embrace your emoAons

You are blessed. Remember that.

“There’s always someone out there in circumstances far worse than yours.”

Remember this when you need to pick yourself up and move on in life… otherwise, you’ll be stuck in a rut.

Sometimes you need to just take a step back and appreciate your own life and count your own blessings to realize you really are going to be okay.

4) Cherish your loved ones

It’s your loved ones who will be the ones who will pick you up when you’re feeling down. Cherish your loved ones. Remind them how much you care about them and remember how important their own needs and emo=ons are so that you can be there for them as well. These are the people who are there for you, so you need to get into the habit of letng them know that you appreciate that.

5) Judge less, accept more If it isn’t your life, you don’t have to be responsible for what happens in it.

Remember, “Everyone has a story, a baSle of some sort, that no one else knows about.”

Let other people fight their fights and if it doesn’t interfere with your daily work… don’t let it get to you. Don’t waste nega=ve energy judging the ac=ons of other people who you don’t control..

6) Take care of your body When you meditate or exercise or eat healthy (or all three), you are giving yourself the opportunity to be a beSer, happier person through wellness.

Wellness is important in finding happiness because when you take care of your body, your mind will be in a beSer place. Give yourself the =me to relax.

Sleep enough, but don’t waste your days sleeping to pass the =me. Remember balance in your life.

7) Make lists Organiza=on and focus are vital to any person’s success. When you feel lost in life, making lists and focusing on goals will help you to find a path out of that place of loss.

Wri=ng down your goals and aspira=ons will allow you to step forward and find a path to achievement. Without lists, you might not know where you want to go and you may end up con=nuously walking aimlessly in circles.

8) Find an outlet Music, wri=ng, exercise… find something that can help you blow off the steam. “Embracing your emo=ons is important, but releasing those emo=ons is just as important.” Be sure to give yourself ample opportunity to release the pent-up emo=ons that you have or they will con=nue to eat away at you on the inside.

9) Live with your heart & your head Follow your dreams, but don’t act without reason. “Life is short. Don’t waste your =me on mistakes that could’ve been easily prevented by thinking twice and having an honest conversa=on with yourself.” The boSom line is that you need to be realis=c with your goals and abili=es and you need to re-think things. If you’re financially unstable – you probably need to follow your head a liSle more than your heart to realize you can’t book a week-long vaca=on. However, you might be able to take the day off of work and relax a liSle bit at home.

Let's dance!

It was announced Lady Gaga will be performing a tribute to David Bowie at the Grammys.

Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich said in an interview with the New York Times that Lady Gaga had already been booked to perform at the Grammys prior to Bowie's death, and as the tribute came together, it made sense for Gaga -- who Bowie clearly influenced -- The performance will not open the show, per Ehrlich, but will last six or seven minutes and cover "at least three or four" Bowie tunes. It “is going to be a true homage to who David was, par?cularly musically, but not ignoring his influence on fashion and pop culture in a broader way,” Ehrlich told the Times. (A rep for Gaga did not immediately reply to Billboard's request for confirma?on.)

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter conducted prior to Bowie's death, Gaga spoke of her fondness for all things David Bowie. ""When I fell in love with David Bowie, when I was living on the Lower East Side, I always felt that his glamor was something he was using to express a message to people that was very healing for their souls," she recalled to THR's ScoR Feinberg. "He is a true, true ar?st and I don't know if I ever went, 'Oh, I'm going to be that way like this,' or if I arrived upon it slowly, realizing it was my calling and that's what drew me to him."

The Grammys air live on CBS February 15.

Above: Lady Gaga performs onstage at the 27th Annual Producers Guild Of America Awards at the HyaS Regency Century Plaza on Jan. 23, 2016 in Century City, Calif.

KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES FOR ABA Right: David Bowie, performing in Athens in 1996, died last month at 69.

Credit: Reuters

These Are the Best Jobs for 2016

Each year, U.S. News & World Report ranks the best jobs to help job seekers at every level take advantage of new opportuni?es and make smarter career decisions.

Health care related jobs dominate the list of the 100 Best Jobs due to a combina?on of high salaries, low unemployment rates and beRer work-life balance. For the ďŹ rst ?me, orthodon?st tops the list while den?st moves to the No. 2 spot. Computer systems analyst is No. 3 followed by nurse anesthe?st at No. 4.

In 2016, health care related jobs also top the list of the Best Paying Jobs. With an average salary of $246,320, anesthesiologist is the No. 1 Best Paying Job, followed by surgeon and oral maxillofacial surgeon. While these jobs require advanced degrees, not every highly ranked job involves extensive schooling or work experience.

Jobs in the technology sector, one of the fastest growing industries, also remain valuable.

Computer systems analyst leads in technology, followed by soVware developer at No. 2 and web developer at No. 3.

The U.S. News Best Jobs report features rankings and informa?on on more than 100 jobs in 12 sectors. New this year, U.S. News added six industry speciďŹ c rankings: engineering, science, maintenance & repair, educa?on, health care support and sales & marke?ng.

The methodology for 2016 Best Jobs is comprised by data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Sta?s?cs to iden?fy jobs with the greatest hiring demand. Jobs were then scored using seven component measures including 10-year growth volume, 10-year growth percentage, median salary, employment rate, future job prospects, stress level and worklife balance.

Check out the infographic below for more details on the rankings and visit U.S. News & World Reports for the full list.

These Are the Best Jobs for 2016

David Hart Used Only Black Models in His NYFW: Men's Presentation Seems diversity isn't that difficult after all.

By Hannah Ongley for details.com

New York-based menswear designer David Hart just issued an important statement regarding model diversity: it's not that damn difficult.

The designer's Fall 2016 collecAon, presented on the first day of New York Fashion Week: Men's, was inspired by the style of jazz greats like Miles Davis and Sunny Rollins that Hart grew up hearing. "I wanted to pay homage to the jazz age in a very authenAc way where it felt real," he told Mashable. "All of the photos I was inspired by was with these musicians who played in them.“

However, the decision wasn't just a way to dodge controversy.

It's also an asserAon that casAng models of color is not impossible, nor an excuse to shelve the blame enArely on the unchanging ways of agencies or casAng directors. Hart worked with three agencies—Red, IMG and Wilhelmina—to cast yesterday's collecAon, and maintains that while there were some challenges, it wasn't really a BFD. The final lineup included "guys from Senegal, South America, HaiA, to New Jersey."

[ @DavidHartnyc at @newyorkmensday #NYFWM] . My favorite collec?on so far with a strong 1950s inuence. Be in the lookout for his @johnstonmurphy formal shoe collab .#style #NYMD #davidhart#menswear #mensfashion #mnswr #nyc #mensstyle mensstylerpro –

Hart's ouAng was not the very ďŹ rst Ame a designer has made this type of statement. DSquared2's Fall 2013 menswear collecAon "La Nouvelle Noir," which was also inspired by jazz, saw designers Dean and Dan Caten cast a black man of every shade. Sophie ThĂŠallet, meanwhile, said the collecAon she presented on all-black models in 2008 was not intended as a poliAcal statement but rather because the colors looked best on dark skin. SAll, the French transplant's choice showed that caving to runway whitewashing is laziness at best.

For Hart, a white guy from Maryland, it made for quite the call of arms.

Frederick Dunson, execu=ve director of the Frankie Knuckles Founda=on, checks out a 1979 promo=onal copy of the Ish single "Don't Stop" from his old friend's collec=on. Photo by Andrea Bauer

Frankie Knuckles's vinyl gets a permanent public home

Ar?cle originally published on the Reader.com September 22, 2015

The Stony Island Arts Bank, whose collecDons will include 5,000 records the Godfather of House used in his world-changing mixes.

On the third floor of the Stony Island Trust & Savings Bank Building, a 17,000-square-foot neoclassical edifice in South Shore, roughly 5,000 vinyl records sit on rows of shelves salvaged from a defunct hardware store. There's not much about the collec?on that suggests a museum, but these records are a cultural treasure far more valuable than the music in their grooves—their presence here, in the newly christened Stony Island Arts Bank, is intended to preserve them and make them accessible to the public. They belonged to the late Francis Nicholls, beRer known as Frankie Knuckles, who died at age 59 on March 31, 2014. Beginning with a late-70s gig DJing at short-lived West Loop nightclub the Warehouse, which gave house music its name, Frankie spun ecsta?c live sets that would define the genre for decades—a genre that's reshaped dance and pop music perhaps more profoundly than any other.

Chicago ar?st and urban planner Theaster Gates bought the bank building from the city as a dilapidated hulk for $1 in 2012. He set about rehabbing the bank under the auspices of his Rebuild Founda?on, a nonprofit that aRempts to invigorate blighted communi?es by turning underused spaces into cultural centers. The renova?ons aren't merely restora?ons—oVen they also transform the buildings into pieces of art in their own right.

Gates's Dorchester Projects, for instance, consist of two buildings just south and west of the Arts Bank; the Listening House, a former candy store, contains the leVover inventory from Hyde Park record shop Dr. Wax, which closed in 2010, and the Archive House has held a collec?on of 60,000 photographic lantern slides rescued from the University of Chicago, among other things. (The slides have since been moved to the Arts Bank.) On August 11, ARTnews magazine wrote about the opening of the Arts Bank on Saturday, October 3, when it will host the kickoff event for the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial. The story men?oned a few of the collec?ons on the premises, including Frankie's vinyl. Within a day, several music sites—among them Fact, Beatport, and Pitchfork—had reposted the news.

The amount of aRen?on the collec?on aRracted came as a bit of a surprise to Frederick Dunson, a long?me friend of Frankie's who also serves as execu?ve director of the Frankie Knuckles Founda?on and a member of its advisory board.

But he took it as a ra?fica?on of the founda?on's decision to place the records in the Arts Bank.

"I'm like, 'Yeah yeah yeah yeah,' trying to be cool and calm about it, where on the inside I'm going, 'Ahhh!,'" Dunson says. "I sent a note to some of the board members: 'This was the right thing to do!'”

While he was alive, Frankie spent some ?me thinking about what would become of his records aVer his death. Entertainment aRorney Randy Crumpton, who represents Frankie's estate and helped establish the founda?on, brought up the subject aVer Frankie's diabetes forced him to miss a performance at Green Dolphin Street in July 2008.

"The car pulled up with him in it, and the car pulled off with him in it—he was so ill he was not able to come in to spin that night," Crumpton says. "That just made me start thinking, 'God forbid, something happens, we need to archive this history. We need to be able to tell the history of house music—and he being the godfather, what beRer way than through him.'”

Crumpton's ins?ncts were right: Frankie's death inspired not just tributes to his greatness but also a fair amount of reflec?on on house music in general. In spring 2014 the Ar?s?c Bombing Crew made a graffi? mural of Frankie, which sat level with passing Blue Line trains near the California stop (it came down in July). In June of last year, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events held a tribute concert in Millennium Park, and the size of the crowd helped grease the wheels for "Move Your Body," the Chicago Cultural Center's summer 2015 exhibit on the history of house.

Frankie's records at the Arts Bank, with Rebuild Founda=on intern Gaylord MineS Sarah Pooley

Frankie began looking into what to do with his record collec?on about a year and a half before his death, though at that point he was in talks with Columbia College's Center for Black Music Research. "I think he just wanted it to be accessible. I don't know if he thought about programming around it or conversa?ons about it," Dunson says. "I think he just wanted something to happen to it." Frankie also knew the vinyl wasn't the whole story. "Frankie had men?oned, 'If you get the records, you probably want the bags that I carried them in, because the bags have the stamps from the various countries I've been to,'" Crumpton says.

Frankie never reached an agreement with Columbia, and when he died, the records and their traveling cases s?ll hadn't gone anywhere. Crumpton says he got the idea to reach out to Theaster Gates in June 2014. They'd met in April 2013, aVer Crumpton threw his birthday party at Gates's Black Cinema House. Crumpton had also seen Gates's 2013 MCA exhibit, "13th Ballad," which documented the ar?st's rehabilita?on of a 19th-century home built by migrant laborers in Kassel, Germany; the rehab work used material from the Dorchester Projects. Crumpton thought Gates might be interested in assembling a traveling exhibit of Frankie's record cases. "When I contacted Theaster, he contacted me right back and said that he would be interested in the record collec?on as well," he says.

Crumpton set up a mee?ng between Gates and Dunson, who was impressed with the ar?st. "He knew who Frankie was. He knows house music; he loves house music," Dunson says. And the vinyl medium is well suited to Gates, considering his history of working with discarded objects.

"Theaster made this comment that DJing was a lost art on kids in the sense of 'true DJing,'" Dunson says. "You plug your computer in, and there's no feeling like vinyl." Working out a plan to bring Frankie's records to Gates was the easy part, according to Dunson. "It took us a couple months," he says. The bigger job would be actually moving the vinyl—and then cataloging it and figuring out how to make it accessible to the public.

The Rebuild Founda?on has been renova?ng the Stony Island Trust & Savings Bank Building for the past year, aVer placing it on the Na?onal Register of Historic Places in December 2013. Frankie's records made the move to their new home earlier this year, and they share a room with a trove of racist memorabilia from collectors Edward J. and Ana J. Williams. "This is the most secure space in the building," says Kate Hadley ToVness, Rebuild's manager of archival collec?ons and public engagement. "We really wanted to make sure that we were good stewards of the collec?on and that we'd be able to protect it and to keep it in good shape."

As with Rebuild's other sites, the Arts Bank and its contents are designed to be used by the community. Preparing Frankie's records for that role is an ongoing concern—Rebuild and the Frankie Knuckles Founda?on s?ll aren't certain what sort of access they'll be able to permit without risking harm to the vinyl, and the logis?cs aren't all in place yet either. "We're taking it one step at a ?me to make sure that when people do access these things, they'll be doing it the right way and won't be damaging anything," ToVness says. "Our first step was to do that full inventory, to make sure that we have the proper insurance and security for this collec?on. Over the next year we'll be crea?ng the real catalog that you'll be able to search when you visit.”

ToVness and Dunson say the inventory process took a couple months. Dunson found a former record-store owner who helped catalog the vinyl by genre, determined ar?sts for unlabeled discs, and noted the quality and condi?on of every record. "He listened to each record, I do believe," Dunson says. "He had a liRle turntable and he came in and listened just about to each record.”

The process has been revealing for Dunson. "I didn't realize his body of work was as large as it is—it just made me realize the span of ?me," he says. "There were a couple surprises—like a dead snake in one of the record bags." The jazz records are a reminder of another part of Frankie's life as well. "His mom died when he was fairly young—his sister raised him, and she raised him on jazz music," Dunson explains. "He could appreciate jazz, so you may find some easy-listening stuff, you may find some pop stuff in here."

The records are organized in what ToVness describes as a hybrid system. The part of the collec?on that appeared to be already archived is arranged alphabe?cally by ar?st and grouped into one of ten genres; the rest is divided into 30 small numbered batches, which correspond to the traveling cases Frankie kept them in. "Some of them were clearly just packed for storage, but others retain this feeling of having been packed for some kind of gig," she says. "In order to look at that more closely, we've preserved which records were in which boxes to see that proximity between them, and how they might've been mixed.”

Other aspects of the collec?on remain a mystery—like the colored dot s?ckers Frankie placed on many of the records. "To us it means nothing, but to him it meant something— where [the s?cker] was posi?oned [and] the color," Dunson says. "In the dark, he could tell what this was or what he was going to play.

Don't ask me—he had his own system."

ToVness has developed a few theories. "There

are certain things where it seems like, 'Oh, he put that on the side of the record that he preferred— like if there's one version or another version,'" she says. "Then some records, it's interes?ng, they have mul?ple colors—so some have two blue dots, some have a red dot and a blue dot. Someone can decipher this one day, maybe.”

A master list of the vinyl will be made available in the Arts Bank's library; so far, the database includes ar?st, ?tle, label, and catalog number. Anyone who wants a closer look at the records—or any of the other collec?ons in the building—will have to complete a free orienta?on to learn the protocols for handling the materials. At least one person from the neighborhood has already goRen an in?mate look at Frankie's stash: Gaylord MineR, a 20-year-old Cornell junior who's interned for Rebuild and used to live near the bank in Greater Grand Crossing.

Nobody's en=rely sure what Frankie meant by the colored dot s=ckers he put on some of his center labels. Andrea Bauer

MineR is majoring in urban planning, which is what brought him to Rebuild in summer 2014.

When he resumed his internship this past summer, he worked as ToVness's assistant, and the Knuckles collec?on interested him the most. "I was raised on house music. My dad was raised on house, and I love house to this day," he says. He helped alphabe?ze and organize the records, and he'd find leRers—some handwriRen, some typed—tucked into their sleeves. Some?mes someone had scrawled a note on an actual LP jacket.

"Some of the cooler things I found kind of prove to me that Frankie wasn't just an icon for this underground house music. House music was a universal, worldwide genre that everybody vibed to, and I found this out when I saw leRers from people—leRers from different ar?sts, in France, and in Korea, and in Germany, thanking Frankie Knuckles for his influence on the musical genre, on house music, and on music," MineR says. He also discovered a somewhat more down-to-earth message wriRen in Sharpie on the sleeve of a Janet Jackson record. "It was very vulgar," he says. "It said, 'Frankie please put that big thing in my mouth' or something, and then for the 'i' it was a liRle sketch of a penis."

MineR believes the collec?on can abet Rebuild's mission to engage crea?vely with people in the neighborhood. "For it to be in that community, for people to be able to see and listen to his stuff, and for people to see his legacy be idolized like that, can inspire so many people. I know it inspired me," he says. "It could ignite a posi?ve revolu?on for new ar?sts who are exposed, who get to engage in that collec?on to make posi?ve music like Frankie Knuckles did.”

Actually touching the records was almost surreal for MineR. "I couldn't believe that I actually had the honor of handling the records," he says. I found the aura of history radia?ng from these ordinarylooking objects similarly heady, even a liRle in?mida?ng. The knowledge that Frankie handled these records, and that he used at least some of them at the Warehouse and later at the Power Plant (a Chicago club he established himself), gives them immeasurable value. When I went to see the collec?on earlier this month, I couldn't bear to touch a single record. Even though I know people other than Frankie have already handled them, I was afraid my hands would somehow destroy one of his Italo-disco singles or smudge his fingerprints on the sleeve of a Front 242 LP.

Chosen Few DJ Alan King, who's also a Frankie Knuckles advisory board member, performed a DJ set using Frankie's records this past weekend at the Arts Bank's preopening gala, and even he isn't immune to awe. "I was nervous picking up a record or two," he says of his first visit to the collec?on. King knew Frankie personally, like every advisory board member, and he was selected to talk about him during DCASE's Millennium Park tribute show. Seeing his friend's old records was biRersweet for him. "Frankie was not only a close friend but a mentor and really a role model for all of us as DJs," King says, "both in the way he prac?ced the art and also just in the humble and classy way that he carried himself and interacted with others."

King guesses that the last ?me he DJed with vinyl in public was in 2008, so he had to get his groove back on real live turntables. When I spoke to him before the gala, he was s?ll facing the challenge of selec?ng records from Frankie's collec?on that he thought would best pay tribute to the Godfather of House. "What I'm gonna try to do is pick out some things that I think that he would want to represent his collec?on and his legacy, and in knowing him as I did, that's not gonna be all classic stuff. Obviously the early years and the Warehouse era were very important, but he had moved on from that, and a lot of his best produc?on work, arguably, was in more recent years," King says. "He was always on the vanguard, so I'm gonna try to play a variety of older and newer music.”

Frankie's records will get another workout at the Arts Bank's opening party on October 3, though organizers aren't saying yet who the DJ will be. And Dunson already has his eye on future collabora?ons with Gates. "Theaster has this other property, and we were thinking about 'The House of House,'" he says. A house-music museum is definitely on the table, but as Dunson acknowledges, "Theaster's got 60 different things going on at one ?me—the last thing he needs is, you know, another museum." S?ll, their partnership has been a great fit so far. "I've been surrounded by angels," says Dunson. "I could feel Frankie tapping me on my shoulder going, 'Good job, good job, good job.'"

Theaster Gates

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"The 2016 Guide to Job Interview Tips for the Black Man"

by Philip Green

Got A Job Interview Upcoming?

Be Interview Ready: How To Impress Like A Boss, Black Man

The old saying is true: first impressions are everything. This is especially true when it comes to landing a job.

News reports show that landing a job is not an easy road for Black males or people of color. But we knew that already.

It’s important to look good, feel good and let your skills, charm and personality do the talking. Grooming and dressing well go a long way in making sure you stand out from the other poten?al job candidates.

Of course, you should dress to impress by including the following components:

A classic navy or gray suit. Make sure it’s tailored to fit you well

A white dress shirt. Crisp and unwrinkled.

A ?e. Pick one in your power colors, but stay away from overwhelming paRerns.

A pair of dress shoes. Shined and scuff-free.

A briefcase. It pulls your look together and will keep the lines of your suit clean by keeping your wallet and phone out of your pockets.

Now when it comes to grooming, here are a few of our preinterview prep ?ps:

1. Shave the night before

Let’s face it: You’re going to be a liRle nervous or distracted the morning of an interview. JiRers and nerves could result in you nicking yourself right before you meet your new boss.

Having blood on a white dress shirt: not a good look. We recommend using the Bevel shaving system the night before your interview. Not only will your skin have ?me to repair itself overnight, but you can take your ?me for the best shave possible.

2. Deal with Puffy Eyes If you have an early morning interview, use eye cream to minimize puffiness and make your eyes appear alert and focused. We recommend Kiehl’s Eye Cream Treatment with Avocado or Arcona’s Eye Serum.

3. Kill the cologne You’re not going on a date; there’s no reason to have an overkill moment with your favorite fragrance. Make sure to apply deodorant, but leave the cologne at home or in your hotel room.

4. Make sure your hands are well groomed While a handshake can be judged by hiring managers, so can the appearance of your hands. Clip your fingernails and buff them a day or two before a job interview. Or treat yourself to a manicure without a clear coat applied. The morning of your interview make sure you apply a good moisturizer to your hands so you don’t have ashy or flaky skin.

5. Get a fresh line up Gezng a fresh haircut is a requirement for a job interview. It’s one of the easiest ways to look polished and professional.

However, we recommend you gezng a cut at least three days to a week before an interview depending on your hairstyle. That way your hairline can grow a bit and look liRle more natural, and if your hair was cut too short, it has the poten?al for a few days’ growth.

6. Have fresh breath Having halitosis could cause you to stand out in the wrong way with a poten?al boss. Before you leave home, brush your teeth and use a tongue scraper. If dry mouth is a problem, we recommend using TheraBreath Fresh Breath Oral Rinse. Also carry chewing gum, mints and a boRle of water in your briefcase.

7. Hide distracAons Unless you’ve applied for a job at a crea?ve agency, your taRoos, piercings and blue hair aren’t going to fly when you’ve applied for a job at a tradi?onal company. Take extra ?me to cover up or remove the hardware before you meet with your poten?al boss. Good luck and abundant blessings, Black Brothers

FALL 2016 MENSWEAR

Ralph Lauren

Purple Label remains the acme of Ralph Lauren’s expression of luxury. However, since the brand ra?onaliza?on that has seen it swallow the func?on of Black Label —a spor?er, more casual voice in the Lauren choir—it has become a broader church whose remit runs beyond the boardroom.

Witness the fantas?cally sleek steamsealed shearling and technical alpine and urban outerwear clustered around a pair of bespoke skis in carbon fiber and burled wood (there was a snowboard, too). Or a cream-heavy sec?on of ruggedly styled shaggy-shearling looks that were The Revenant–meets–the Ritz, because who can’t imagine Leo beguiling bears in a pair of cashmere spa pants? Par?cularly powerful was the inverted shearling worn

by Lucky Blue in a finish that looked wolfish and featured toggles inspired by— but not made of—seal’s teeth. A trucker jacket in cowhide and a ragged-hemmed suede jacket with fringing and faux roughwoven-edging details—both worn over hearty leather belts with hand-tooled buckles—all spoke strongly of this house’s long-honed rancher angle.

This fantasy masculine montage transi?oned once more, shiVing from big country to high society: A richly paRerned jacquard evening jacket (with matching slippers) and a devilish all-black hussar jacket were the standouts in a sec?on that included a subtly military-touched tuxedo.

Luxury business sui?ng is s?ll a key part—if no longer the core—of the Purple Label proposi?on. The formal suits featured lightly roped jackets otherwise unlined, in a paleRe of complementary grays. At the end of the line this collec?on brought it all together with a black suit cut sharp in a ski-suitable performance nylon. The message? Everything that the Ralph alpha male might possibly hanker for lives under one, Purple, label.

Image Credit: Marvel

Image Credit: Marvel

Black Panther: Meet Marvel's fearsome warrior from Captain America: Civil War The history-making first black superhero arrives onscreen.

Black Panther is no joke.

It’d be easy to snark about how Captain America and Iron Man were barely managing to hold their alliance together un?l a certain black cat crossed their path, but the truth is – they both want him on their side.

Black Panther commands respect. (And you definitely don’t want him against you.)

The historic first black comic book superhero will be gezng his own stand-alone movie in February 2018, but we’ll first encounter Chadwick Boseman’s warrior-prince on May 6 in the clash between heroes in Captain America: Civil War.

Panther is a key figure in the conflict between Chris Evans’ Cap and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron

Man, and his allegiance is in flux — although he’s got serious issues with Sebas?an Stan’s Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, which steers him alongside the man in the iron mask.

While Tony Stark is known for flooding the zone with wisecracks, Black Panther isn’t fooling around.

“He’s definitely not the life of the party in this instance,” says Boseman, who won the role last October. “I think this is something true of the comic book character and the movie. You never quite know where he stands. There’s always a bit of concealing and mystery. So I think mysterious is more his boat. Not to say there’s not charm and he can’t be a ladies’ man and all that. It’s more like if there is humor, it’s more like James Bond.”

For the unini?ated, Black Panther, whose real name is T’Challa, is a prince from the fic?onal African na?on of Wakanda, a technologically advanced na?on that’s home to the world’s largest natural supply of vibranium — the same malleable-yet-indestruc?ble metal that comprises Cap’s shield. Black Panther is not just a badass secret iden?ty; in the comics it is a ?tle passed down through the genera?ons of rulers.

The character was first introduced in Fantas=c Four #52 in July 1966, at a ?me when black characters in general were few and far between in comic books – and ones treated with the awe and admira?on reserved for white heroes were even more rare.

Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon, may have come first in the movie ?meline, but Panther cleared the way for that character in print – along with other black superheroes like Luke Cage, Storm, Misty Knight, and more recently, Miles Morales, who took on the mantle of Spider-Man in Marvel’s “Ul?mate Universe.”

Next spring, around the ?me the character makes his screen debut, Marvel Comics will publish a new Black Panther comics series wriRen by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the journalist whose book, Between the World and Me, a missive to his own son about living as a black man in the United States, recently won the Na?onal Book Award for Nonfic?on.

So, even in real life, Black Panther has a powerful legacy — and one that’s s?ll growing.

The movie has a lot to live up to.

In Civil War, T’Challa is drawn into the conflict between Cap and Iron Man that arises from the Sokovia Accords, which were enacted by world leaders aVer the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron as a way to mandate control over those with “enhanced abili?es” who say they only want to do good for the world.

“There definitely is a sort of tradi?on that he’s torn between, in terms of how things were done in the past and how things need to happen now in this new world,” says Boseman, who’s best known for playing James Brown in Get On Up and Jackie Robinson in 42.

“I think there’s perhaps a bit of a maverick there, and then there’s also a need to live up to tradi?ons and his father’s legacy. And not even his father’s legacy, but the en?re na?on of Wakanda. I think those are the things you will see.”

Under different circumstances, Steve Rogers, another warrior whose very iden?ty represents his country, might find common ground with Panther.

“I love our scenes together because I do think they feel a sense of responsibility. I think they’re both very selfless people,” Evans says.

“They want the right thing, no one’s irra?onal, no one has an inflated ego.” (That’s got to be a dig at Iron Man, by the way.) “They’re familyfirst people,” Evans says. “I think outside of the suits we’d be friends, Steve and T’Challa.”

Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios and creator of the interlocked series of movies (Civil War is No. 13, for those keeping track), says Panther was added to the story ahead of his solo-movie debut because Civil War needed someone who had his own agenda, who was a third party separate from the fac?ons that aligned themselves behind Captain America and Iron Man.

“We kept talking about ‘somebody like Black Panther …’ AVer the third or fourth ?me that came up in a development mee?ng, someone said, ‘Can’t we just do the Black Panther?’ And we all looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, I guess we could,’” Feige says. “We introduce him here, give him an arc, and make him a full character. We don’t just give him a cameo, to wave. He has his own conflict and his own people that he’s looking out for.”

Execu?ve producer Nate Moore calls T’Challa “the undecided voter”: “He’s someone who hasn’t necessarily made up his mind about either side and whose agenda isn’t exactly what Cap’s agenda or what Tony’s agenda is. And I think that brings him into conflict weirdly with both characters at different ?mes in the film. He is the prince of an African na?on that has so far stayed very much sort of in the shadows. And eventually the film will draw him and his father out of the shadows.”

The movie version is also not the same Black Panther fans now see in comics, almost 40 years aVer his crea?on. “In publishing, he is sort of this very wise and a sanguine figure who seems to know more than he lets on,” Moore says. “I think this is Black Panther in his younger years, where he maybe is a liRle bit more fiery than I think how they write him in the comics because he’s very much in the nascent stages of being a hero. So that means he is probably more fallible than the Black Panther that you read in comics, but for reasons that are completely logical.”

In the trailer for Civil War, we catch only a glimpse of Black Panther — delivering a spin-kick to the face of Winter Soldier — the brainwashed assassin and former best friend of Captain America’s, who is seeking redemp?on but has apparently been framed for a horrible crime. (No spoilers, but it’s not much of a leap to assume that T’Challa’s father may have been one of the vic?ms of the blast targe?ng those world leaders, and was either killed or seriously hurt.)

But Boseman says no one’s loyalty is simple in this story. “Ul?mately some sides are taken, but I think the trick of the movie is for no one to be blindly following,” he says. “Everybody is actually on their own side, in truth.”

Image Credit: Marvel

Unlike Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, another prince from a far-off kingdom, who was introduced in the movies as a petulant prince unworthy of his powers and ?tle, T’Challa doesn’t have those kinds of hang-ups. “The spoiled brat thing is never an op?on,” Boseman says. “He’s not in any way unaware of how important his role and his posi?on is. I think he’s very much aware of the responsibility.”

So the responsibility thing is down. But what are his great powers?

“Panther is a cool character and he has a toughness, and a sort of in?mida?on factor with his costume,” says Anthony Russo, who directed Civil War with his brother, Joe. (The pair also made Captain America: The Winter Soldier together and are signed on to make the two-part Avengers: Infinity War movies in 2018 and 2019.) “We’re experimen?ng with how the light catches the costume.”

That’s because Black Panther’s ou{it is not actually cloth. It’s metal. It’s vibranium. “It has a sheen because its a weave of the strongest metal in this fic?onal universe,” says Joe Russo.

“It’s like medieval chain mail, woven extremely thin,” Anthony adds. “It’s not comparable to any other costumes in the universe.”

Ask Boseman about the suit, and he lets out a low, rumbling laugh. “Are you talking about the mythology or the actual suit?” he says. The fic?on is amazing, he says, but actually wearing the thing… not so much. The narrow, white-lensed eyes made it par?cularly hard for the actor to simply see where he was going.

“As far as the actual suit is concerned, I would say there’s a lot of comfort in the shoes, or the boots,” Boseman says. “That’s probably the only part I did enjoy! AVer you get them on you’re like, ‘Okay, that feels good.’ But other than that, I remember feeling extremely hot and claustrophobic, like, ‘How in the world am I gonna move and act and respond in this?’ But the shoes feel good.

Everything else you get used to.”But the imagina?ve parts? That was fun.

“As far as the storytelling is concerned, the vibranium is a metal that is dynamic. It can change how it’s used. It’s not a liquid, but it has the ability to change shape and change form and s?ll have its strength. I think there a lot of things about that in the mythology that I think has a lot of poten?al in terms of the storytelling,” Boseman says.

Vibranium is not your typical armor. “It’s not just about being durable, it has the ability to absorb energy,” Boseman says. “It’s not just like you hit it and it doesn’t take it. It has the ability to absorb the aRack of another person and repel or respond to that aRack. That’s part of the power.”

As for figh?ng style, Black Panther has a unique amalgam of moves. “There are some animal forms, but not just cat. He could be a snake, or various different styles. Obviously there’s an opportunity to do some capoeira,” the Brazilian mar?al art that combines figh?ng with dance, Boseman says.

Part of Panther’s power is not just brute strength, but thinking ahead. “The key with T’Challa is to keep everybody on their toes. It’s to do the thing that is surprising, that you wouldn’t expect. So there’s a lot of agility and a lot of, like, ‘Why did he do that? Oh now I know why he did that. He was gonna come over here aVer he did that.’ I wouldn’t say he’s a ninja, but he does employ some of those aspects as well.”

Panther’s retractable claws are also made of vibranium — and since Cap’s shield is also forged from the substance: Who wins in a fight?

The Russo brothers have a simple answer for that: “We shall see,” Joe says.

But from Boseman’s point of view… ? There’s not even a ques?on.

“If you’re talking to Mayweather about the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight, then Mayweather’s gonna say he’s gonna win,” Boseman says. “I have to back myself.”

L'ArAsan Parfumeur

Etat Libre d'Orange

This is what we imagine Tilda Swinton's hair smells like: Pumpkin pie sprinkled with cinnamon. The iconic actress collaborated to the crea?on of this delicious scent, a holiday special by French fragrance house Etat Libre d'Orange. Try saying it four ?mes really fast, and Tilda might appear.

'Tilda Swinton Like This, 1.7 fl. oz, $85, at LuckyScent.com

The latest release from the niche fragrance brand is to file under "gourmand": a mouthwatering blend of chestnut, coffee, and tonka beans, with dark woody undertones. Like walking into a French bakery.

Yum! Noir Exquis, 3.4 fl. oz, $165, Ar?sanParfumeur.com

ChrisAan Dior

Speaking of gourmand scents, Chris?an Dior's line of exclusive fragrances made room for a new concoc?on, reminiscent of warm almond frangipane.

Now you can have your cake and eat it too.

Fève Délicieuse, 4.25 fl. oz, $210, Dior.com

By Kilian

For those addicted to the holiday spirit (or not), Kilian Hennessy's "Addic?ve State of Mind" collec?on includes a smoky stunner that's as comfor?ng as a wood fire -- with a twist: This one boasts a special ingredient that's currently only legal in 23 states.

Dis?lled for its smell (not, allegedly, its effects) it can be enjoyed freely, without a doctor's note.

Smoke For The Soul, 1.7 fl. oz, $270, at Saks FiVh Avenue

Frédéric Malle

If there were an Adele of winter scents, Eau d'Hiver would probably be it. This new classic, a blend of heliothrope, iris, and honey conceived by legendary nose Jean-Claude Ellena, is light and ambiguous -- perfect for that one person you know who has everything.

Eau d'Hiver, 1.7 fl. oz., $175, at Barneys New York

New Spring/Summer Collection 2016 Fits comes in all sizes: Sm, Med, Lg, XL Model: Marshall Price

3 reasons

Nobody wants to pay a mortgage any longer than necessary. It's a bit unseRling to have an enormous debt looming over you for years on end, racking up interest. You may even be tempted to pay off your mortgage early if you're fortunate enough to have the cash lying around.

However, paying off a mortgage early isn't always the smartest decision, and there's a reason mortgages are referred to as "good debt." So if you're thinking of paying off your mortgage early, here are three reasons to reconsider.

not to pay off your mortgage

1. You'll lose out on that interest deducAon Paying all that mortgage interest has a benefit, and it comes in the form of a poten?ally sizable tax deduc?on. If you're in a high tax bracket, losing out on this deduc?on could mean paying more in taxes, especially if forgoing it pushes you into the next higher bracket. Let's say you're in the 25% tax bracket and currently pay $24,000 in mortgage interest per year. That's a $6,000 tax break you'd be giving up by paying off your mortgage.

2. You may be lew with limited liquidity The housing market isn't par?cularly liquid. Buying and selling property takes a lot of ?me and work; sealing a deal can take weeks or even months. If you use your disposable cash to pay off your mortgage, making your house your only major asset, then you'll have difficulty covering any big expenses that may arise. If you lose your job, have a medical emergency, get married, or send a kid to college, for example, you'll want to have liquid assets on hand. Moving house should not be your only op?on.

On the other hand, if you take the money you'd use to pay off your mortgage and instead spread it out over a diverse por{olio of investments, including stocks and bonds, then you'll have more op?ons should the need for cash arise.

3. It won't provide income When you invest your money in stocks and bonds, you have the poten?al to secure an income stream via dividends, interest payments, and capital gains. Paying off your mortgage, however, won't provide you with income. Instead, it will leave you with limited cash leV over to invest. If you put all your money into your home, it could take years for it to grow in value, and paying off your mortgage could limit your ability to generate income for things like college, re?rement, or other short- and long-term goals.

If your mortgage carries a high interest rate and you have the cash on hand to pay it off, then you might as well go for it. But if you have a low interest rate, you can take advantage of it by using that cash to generate higher returns elsewhere.

Let's say you get a $100,000 mortgage with a 4% interest rate. If you slowly pay it off over 30 years, you'll end up paying $72,000 in interest. That's a lot of money, so it's natural to think that any extra cash should go toward paying down your principal.

However, let's say you s?ck to your 30-year payment schedule, invest $240 each month -- just half your mortgage payment -- and earn a reasonable 8% return. In that case, your por{olio will grow to $352,000 by the ?me you've paid off your mortgage. So if you have a rela?vely low interest rate, then clearly it can pay to hold on to that mortgage, con?nue reaping the tax benefits, and invest spare cash.

Remember, too, that when you get a 30-year mortgage, you're locked into a fixed interest rate for that period of ?me. If you have a low rate, you'll get to keep it as long as you carry that mortgage, infla?on be damned. So why not let your lender absorb all that infla?on risk while you enjoy the benefits of an affordable monthly payment?

You should also consider paying off your mortgage if you're nearing re?rement. Once you're close to re?rement, you'll want to limit much of your por{olio to safer investments with less vola?lity. Reducing your exposure to stocks and buying more bonds will lower your risk of catastrophic losses, but it will also lower your returns -- probably to the point where they no longer outpace the interest rate you're paying on your mortgage. Therefore it's probably best to direct any spare cash to mortgage payments.

Everybody's circumstances are different, so you need to crunch some numbers and do some long-term planning before you decide how soon to pay off your mortgage. If that debt is giving you ulcers and gray hairs, then by all means, pay it off as soon as possible. However, if you have many working years ahead of you and a low interest rate to boot, then you should consider hanging on to that mortgage and puzng your spare cash to work in the market. You may end up enjoying a much higher net worth and a richer re?rement.

FAGNIDI is proud to introduce you THE MCMLXXVIII CONQUERORS.

From fashion model to ROLE MODEL

The MCMLXXVIII CONQUERORS collec?on as a messenger , as a quality and hand craVsmanship, grace the in?mate parts of the male body.

It's an innova?ve male clothing style for a modern athle?c man who wanted to dress for his lifestyle . IT'S REAL SWEET, REAL NAUGHTY!!!

How to Tell an Entrepreneur from a Wannapreneur

By Michael O'Donnell

There are a lot of people running around these days calling themselves entrepreneurs. They introduce themselves as such at networking events. They include the ?tle in their social media profiles. Some even put it on their business card and email signature line. Many of these people are not actual entrepreneurs, they are wannapreneurs. How can you tell the difference and why does it maRer?

The dic?onary defines an entrepreneur as, “A person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable ini?a?ve and risk.” The opera?ve words are manages and risk, explained in more detail below, along with other tell-tale characteris?cs.

A wannapreneur is an aspiring entrepreneur – an entrepreneur-in-wai?ng or in-training. They have not yet taken the plunge, though they may be dancing all around it. This term is in no way meant to be nega?ve or derogatory.

(In fact, there are a number of websites and incubators expressly dedicated to wannapreneurs.)

ALL entrepreneurs, great and obscure, were once wannapreneurs. When I was first star?ng out, thrashing around for a good idea, my parents would introduce me to their friends: “This is our son, Michael. He’s an entrepreneur. That’s a fancy way of saying he’s unemployed.” I wasn’t an actual entrepreneur. I was, in fact, a wannapreneur.

All entrepreneurs were once wannapreneurs, but most wannapreneurs will not become entrepreneurs.

To be perfectly CLEAR, wannapreneurs may be, and probably are, entrepreneurial. So are lots of people who work for universi?es, corpora?ons, government agencies and non-profits. But that does not make them entrepreneurs. In the same vein, there are a lot of aspiring actors and hobby musicians in the world. If they aren’t doing it for a living, or have never been paid for it, it’s a stretch to call it their profession.

Here’s a short list to tell the difference between entrepreneurs and wannapreneurs:

Entrepreneur • Has a working product or service.

• Has a business and is working full ?me in the business. Probably has a team.

• Has assumed considerable risk.

• Is addressing a sizable market with a coherent strategy and business model.

Wannapreneur • Has an idea, or is looking for an idea.

• Does not have a business (but maybe a company) and is working part-?me or full-?me for someone else.

Probably flying solo.

• Has assumed liRle or no risk.

• Has a vague no?on of the market, no strategy for addressing it, and is not sure how they will make money.

Why does it maRer to know the difference between entrepreneurs and wannapreneurs? Very simply, ?me and aRen?on. Whether you are looking to invest, provide services, or join a startup team, you need to know whether or not someone presen?ng themselves as an entrepreneur has actually made the plunge, and how commiRed they are. I spend most of my ?me with entrepreneurs, but I always make ?me for serious wannapreneurs. I only invest my money, however, with entrepreneurs.

The next ?me someone introduces themselves to you as an entrepreneur, ask them 4 ques?ons:

1. Do you have a working product or service and is anyone buying it (or at least using it)?

The one excep?on to this tell-tale sign is the person who has a successful track record as an entrepreneur and is working full-?me on his or her next company. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that just because someone was once an entrepreneur, they are now an entrepreneur. It is not a ?tle for life. Just as someone who once prac?ced law is no longer a licensed aRorney, someone who once started and ran their own business is not necessarily an entrepreneur today.

(Note that I do not use the =tle on my Linkedin profile even though I started and ran several businesses, because I am not currently a prac=cing entrepreneur. I used to be an entrepreneur. I am currently a proud wannapreneur, researching and tes=ng ideas for my next venture.)

2. Do you have a duly incorporated business and are you working in the business full Ame? Be careful with this one, the answer can be misleading. There is a big difference between having a business and a company. See this post to dis?nguish the difference between the two. The tell-tale sign is whether or not they are working in the business full-?me and are fully commiRed to it, not working for someone else or looking for a job and calling themselves an entrepreneur in the mean?me.

3. How much have you personally invested in the business and how much have you raised from family, friends or outside investors?

The amount and type of risk is an important tell-tale sign. The dic?onary defini?on characterizes it as “considerable” risk. I like to think of it as “material” risk. Even if an entrepreneur has no money of their own at stake (probably because they had no money or credit to start), they will have assumed material and fiduciary risk. They took money from others. They signed a lease with a personal guarantee. They have significant skin in the game.

4. What’s the size of your market and how are you addressing it?

The tell-tale sign here is size and scope. In my opinion, someone who is selling crea?ve or development services on an hourly basis is a freelancer, not an entrepreneur. Someone who has a lawn-mowing business or runs a local market is a small business owner, not an entrepreneur. Size and scope determine the amount of ini?a?ve and risk that meets the classic defini?on of an entrepreneur.

A true entrepreneur has a plan, a strategy, and a validated business model. They are crystal clear on how they are going to make money and provide a return to investors. Wannapreneurs are s?ll trying to figure these things out.

The entrepreneurial journey is exci?ng, all-consuming, and fraught with substan?al risk. Lots of people want to take it beyond a few steps, but most people do not. The best way to test the waters is by joining an accelerator like the Founder Ins?tute, that does not require you to give up your day job. Being a serious wannapreneur is the first step on the journey to becoming a successful entrepreneur. For those of us looking to invest, provide services, or join a startup venture, it’s prudent to know exactly where those leading it are on this journey.

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Dear Charter Members and Friends,

The Smithsonian today announced that the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) will open to the public on Saturday, September 24, 2016.

The opening will be the focus of a week-long celebration that begins with a dedication ceremony on September 24th and will include extended visiting hours and a three-day festival on the National Mall showcasing popular music, literature, dance and film. Also planned are events co-hosted by other museums around the country and the world.

“After 13 years of hard work and dedication on the part of so many, I am thrilled that we now have this good news to share with the nation and the world,” said Lonnie Bunch, the museum’s founding director. “In a few short months visitors will walk through the doors of the museum and see that it is a place for all people. We are prepared to offer exhibitions and programs to unite and capture the attention of millions of people worldwide. It will be a place for healing and reconciliation, a place where everyone can explore the story of America through the lens of the African American experience.”

“We look forward to the opening of this enormously important new museum,” said David Skorton, Smithsonian Secretary. “The NMAAHC furthers the Smithsonian’s commitment to telling America’s story in all its dimensions.”

Please be advised that at this time many details about the grand opening remain to be decided. When more details and information become available, it will be posted on our website, www.nmaahc.si.edu.

The NMAAHC’s 400,000 square-foot building on the National Mall is located on a five-acre site on Constitution Avenue NW between 14th and 15th streets NW adjacent to the Washington Monument and across 14th Street from the American History museum. The museum consists of five levels above ground and four below. The museum will have exhibition galleries, an education center, a theater, auditorium, café, and gift shop, as well as staff offices.

We must raise $40 million to reach our $274 million dollar goal! If you are a Charter Member, please consider making a gift donation today in celebration of our anticipated September 24th opening. If you have not become a Charter Member, won't you join today?

PLEASE DONATE!

THE AIR JORDAN 1 NOUVEAU “BLACK HISTORY MONTH” LAUNCHED

Special “Black History Month” releases from Jordan Brand have become a regular annual tradiDon, and 2016 sees an Air Jordan 1 High Nouveau kick off the proceedings. A black leather upper makes up the shoe’s base, accented with a vivid mulD-colored design appearing on the Swoosh, collar and tongue. Details include a “BHM” logo on the leather tongue tag, as well as waxed laces and a clean white sole unit. A one-piece toe and deconstructed “wings” round out the details. Get the kicks beginning this Saturday through select Jordan retailers, including Sneaker PoliDcs.

Natalie Cole Is Unforgettable Except To Younger Generations

Do Millennials understand the legacy of the R&B icon?

The worst part of hearing that Natalie Cole passed away? Knowing that my 18-year-old daughter wouldn’t par?cularly care. And worse yet, she might not know who she was at all. I held my breath and sent her a text as soon as I heard the news.

Me: Did you hear that Natalie Cole passed away?

18-year-old: Yeah.

Me: Did you know her music?

18-year-old: Not really.

Sigh. Yet another musical parental fail for me.

My parents made sure I was exposed to more than just what was current in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I had to listen to Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. I knew not just Nat King Cole’s music but how he had to fight against racism in his day — both personally and professionally. I was allowed to love New Edi?on and paper my room with their posters. But I had to have knowledge of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn too.

Today, my teenaged daughter and I equally bonded over Beyoncé’s latest album. And while she occasionally falls down the Internet rabbit hole and discovers The Beatles or Stevie Wonder, I don’t ac?vely make sure she knows her R&B history. Much of it has to do with how we consume music. If our house were filled with vinyl records, like my childhood home, she’d probably be more educated by osmosis.

By the ?me I was 12, Natalie Cole had formed an indelible impression in my mind. For my 12th birthday, I’d received a stereo with a record player. But I only owned one album, Thriller. And while I lived for Michael Jackson, Thriller wasn’t the kind of album you played on repeat. I stole down to my parent’s basement one night, picking through the crates of their albums. I grabbed Natalie Cole’s Inseparable. I only knew her name in passing. I knew she was Nat King Cole’s daughter and that my dad loved her dad. But I digress. It was Natalie’s sunny smile and the pink rose tucked into her fluffy ‘fro on the front cover sold me before I even got it back up to my room to play it.

The worst part of hearing that Natalie Cole passed away? Knowing that my 18-year-old daughter wouldn’t par?cularly care. And worse yet, she might not know who she was at all. I held my breath and sent her a text as soon as I heard the news.

Me: Did you hear that Natalie Cole passed away?

18-year-old: Yeah.

Me: Did you know her music?

18-year-old: Not really.

Sigh. Yet another musical parental fail for me.

My parents made sure I was exposed to more than just what was current in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I had to listen to Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme. I knew not just Nat King Cole’s music but how he had to fight against racism in his day — both personally and professionally. I was allowed to love New Edi?on and paper my room with their posters. But I had to have knowledge of Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn too.

Today, my teenaged daughter and I equally bonded over Beyoncé’s latest album. And while she occasionally falls down the Internet rabbit hole and discovers The Beatles or Stevie Wonder, I don’t ac?vely make sure she knows her R&B history. Much of it has to do with how we consume music. If our house were filled with vinyl records, like my childhood home, she’d probably be more educated by osmosis.

By the ?me I was 12, Natalie Cole had formed an indelible impression in my mind. For my 12th birthday, I’d received a stereo with a record player. But I only owned one album, Thriller. And while I lived for Michael Jackson, Thriller wasn’t the kind of album you played on repeat. I stole down to my parent’s basement one night, picking through the crates of their albums. I grabbed Natalie Cole’s Inseparable. I only knew her name in passing. I knew she was Nat King Cole’s daughter and that my dad loved her dad. But I digress. It was Natalie’s sunny smile and the pink rose tucked into her fluffy ‘fro on the front cover sold me before I even got it back up to my room to play it.

Inseparable stayed on my player for months on end. “This Will Be,” “Inseparable,” and “I Can’t Say No” were my favorites. I was twelve years old, with no roman?c prospects whatsoever. But it didn’t maRer. Natalie’s vocal convic?on made me believe I’d one day be able to belt out “I Can’t Say No,” “Inseparable,” or “This Will Be” into a hairbrush in front of a mirror and really have someone in mind I’d be singing to.

While Cole didn’t have a major hit in recent years, her importance to the entertainment industry can’t be overstated.

My 18-year-old doesn’t know about Cole’s Grammy Awards trifecta win in 1992, when her hit single “Inseparable,” a duet with her deceased father, won Record of The Year, Album of The Year and Song of The Year at the 34th Grammy Awards. My 18-year-old also doesn’t realize that some of her famous rappers, including Jay Z and Kanye West, have sampled Cole’s work. She doesn’t know that some of her favorite R&B singers, including Keyshia Cole and Mary J. Blige, have covered or sampled Cole’s music.

In 2006, I worked with Faith Evans on her memoir, Keep The Faith. I knew she would understand Cole’s importance and gave her a ring this morning for her thoughts on Cole’s passing.

Inseparable stayed on my player for months on end. “This Will Be,” “Inseparable,” and “I Can’t Say No” were my favorites. I was twelve years old, with no roman?c prospects whatsoever. But it didn’t maRer. Natalie’s vocal convic?on made me believe I’d one day be able to belt out “I Can’t Say No,” “Inseparable,” or “This Will Be” into a hairbrush in front of a mirror and really have someone in mind I’d be singing to.

While Cole didn’t have a major hit in recent years, her importance to the entertainment industry can’t be overstated.

My 18-year-old doesn’t know about Cole’s Grammy Awards trifecta win in 1992, when her hit single “Inseparable,” a duet with her deceased father, won Record of The Year, Album of The Year and Song of The Year at the 34th Grammy Awards. My 18-year-old also doesn’t realize that some of her famous rappers, including Jay Z and Kanye West, have sampled Cole’s work. She doesn’t know that some of her favorite R&B singers, including Keyshia Cole and Mary J. Blige, have covered or sampled Cole’s music.

In 2006, I worked with Faith Evans on her memoir, Keep The Faith. I knew she would understand Cole’s importance and gave her a ring this morning for her thoughts on Cole’s passing.

“The music industry lost a true talent in Ms. Cole,” Faith said to me this morning. “There was just something about her smooth vocal approach that was soothing. Like her dad, she had that jazz background so even when she was singing pop music, there was a special touch she brought to her sound." I asked Faith about her favorite Natalie Cole song and she answered with no hesita?on. “'I’ve Got Love On My Mind’ is my favorite,” said Faith.

Just this past holiday season, I spent some ?me with the one and only Paz LaBelle, taste-tes?ng her infamous “Paz Pies.” I checked in with Ms. LaBelle today as well, for her thoughts on Cole’s passing. For Ms. LaBelle it’s more then the loss of a musical icon, it’s the loss of a friend. “I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend Natalie Cole,” she said. “She was a beau?ful spirit, a consummate ar?st and an inspira?on to so many. Natalie will be truly missed, but her light will shine forever."

Cole’s light can shine forever — but only if we con?nue to light it. That starts with me making a playlist for my 18year-old and my 8-year-old. This weekend, we’re taking a break from Meek Mill and J. Cole — today, in her memory, it’s Natalie Cole 101 in this house.

Aliya S. King, a na=ve of East Orange, N.J., is the author of two novels and three nonfic=on books, including the New York Times best-seller Keep the Faith, wriSen with recording ar=st Faith Evans. She lives with her husband and two daughters in New Jersey. Find her on TwiSer and at aliyasking.com.

ShowAme Picks Up Chicago-Set Drama Pilot Exec Produced by Common Common is exec producing a coming-of-age drama pilot for Show?me, which revolves around a young African American man in Chicago’s South Side.

Lena Waithe created and wrote the hour-long un?tled pilot and will serve as exec producer with Common, plus Aaron Kaplan (“Secrets and Lies,” “The Mysteries of Laura”) and Clark Johnson (“Homeland,” “The Wire”), who will also direct.

Show?me president David Nevins made the announcement Tuesday at the Television Cri?cs’ Assn. press tour in Beverly Hills, no?ng that the cabler has high hopes for the project, as he was blown away by Waithe’s script from the get-go.

“The two crea?ve forces behind the show, both hailing from Chicago’s South Side, give this pilot an unparelled authen?city,” said Nevins. “Lena Waithe is an extremely fresh, talented young writer with a unique voice and a deeply though{ul perspec?ve into the world where she grew up. I immediately gravitated to her script, which is emo?onal, funny, tragic and relevant, all at once. And, we are so fortunate to have ar?st and visionary Common for his first producing project in scripted television.”

The pilot, hailing from Fox 21, is described as relevant, ?mely and dis?nc?ve, revolving around an African American male for whom just growing up can be a maRer of life and death.

Waithe, one of Variety‘s ten comics to watch, produced “Dear White People” and wrote the viral video “Shit Black Girls Say.” Her TV wri?ng credits include “Bones.”

Shoo?ng on the Show?me pilot begin in Chicago last year.

SPRING 2016 MENSWEAR

Ralph Lauren

What brought Ralph Lauren back to Milan for his first on-model European presenta?on since 2003? Rather unroman?cally, an expansion of brand architecture. Back on Madison Avenue, Polo is being nurtured through a growth spurt that's seen its first NYFW womenswear presenta?ons (menswear will follow soon) and first stand-alone New York retail site (London will come next, on Regent Street). So with Polo upping s?cks, there's suddenly room at the apex of Ralph Lauren's offer.

Thus this collec?on saw Purple Label's formerly tailoring and trad-casual focus pan back some for the sake of a wider angle. The look that encapsulated this was the black denim tuxedo. A sports-casual story offered Aran knits, crocodile blousons, summery foulards, and wide, cuffed linen pants worn alongside an orange-shouldered, laser-cut, bondedseam leather sailing jacket. Street-ninja sportswear combined nylon with stripes of yellow leather; espadrilles came printed with an abstracted RL monogram; and an overt RL logo was applied to Purple for the first ?me on belt buckles. An interes?ng color sec?on used lilac as a base beneath an overlay of cream brushed-silk tailoring, while a double-breasted shawl-collar white evening jacket was, in its way, rather radical. Accessories included perforated leather RL totes along with the chunky stolidity of the Cooper bag.

Whether the day demands execu?ve decisions or extreme expedi?ons, only bankruptcy now prevents the Purple Label man from ever needing to accoutre himself anywhere else.

12 Social Media Facts and Statistics You Should Know in 2016

As we ease into 2016, maybe it’s prudent that we take a step back and survey the social media landscape.

For once, it feels like the big giants — like Facebook and TwiRer — are actually losing their momentum, and the whole industry feels like it’s shiVing.

In other words, the social media landscape of 2016 is going to look much different than what we’ve seen up un?l now. Here are some interes?ng facts and sta?s?cs that show where we are today and where we might eventually end up.

1. Over 75% of all Internet users use social media. Social media sites used to be an auxiliary territory in Internetland, but it’s become clear that these kinds of sites are now the bread and buRer of modern Web ac?vity. They make up a sizable por?on of all Web traffic.

And moving forward, we’re only going to see even more social media sites popping up. If you aren’t connected already, you’ll probably be hooked in come 2016.

2. For younger users, Instagram is more important than Facebook and Twiier. While Facebook and TwiRer are s?ll the reigning leaders, their mainstream status means that the younger genera?on considers them “old school”.

Indeed, Instagram is one the fastest growing social networks of 2015. According to eMarketer, there are over 77 million Instagram users in the U.S. alone and that figure is es?mated to break 100 million by 2018, which means that 1 out of every 3 people in the U.S. would be using Instagram by that point.

And while Instagram might be the hippest site around, there’s evidence to suggest that its days may already be over as younger users start flocking to even newer social media outlets like Snapchat and Vine.

3. LinkedIn is the most important social network for professionals. The value of LinkedIn is propor?onal to where you are in your career path. It’s where you need to be if you want to build new business connec?ons and rela?onships, and it’s been that way since 2002.

It’s especially important for fresh workers in the workforce. Of the 400 million users on LinkedIn, 39 million are students and recent college graduates, and that number is s?ll growing.

Not only that, but consider the fact that millionaires prefer LinkedIn over all social networks except Facebook. In a poll of 1,300 millionaires, at least 41% of them used LinkedIn regularly. Imagine what could happen if you struck up a connec?on with one of those millionaires.

4. Most social networks are evenly split between males and females… except Pinterest, which is used by 42% of females but only 13% of males. In comparison, Facebook is used by 77% vs. 66%, Instagram is used by 29% vs. 22%, TwiRer is used by 21% vs. 24%, and LinkedIn is used by 27% vs. 28%.

For whatever reason, women love Pinterest while men despise it.

5. For the 18-49 age group, YouTube has greater reach than any cable network. This sta?s?c actually first came to light back in 2013, but the truth is that YouTube’s popularity and reach has grown even more since then.

And this is just the beginning. Cord-cuzng behavior is on the rise, and there’s already hard evidence that online streams are overtaking cable TV in terms of popularity and demand.

6. YouTube is massive, but Facebook is sAll bigger. Everyone knows that Google is the most-visited website in the world, but no one would blame you if you thought YouTube came in second. As popular as it is, it’s s?ll outranked by Facebook.

The above-linked poll of Web users found that 77% use Facebook, 63% use YouTube, 25% use LinkedIn, 24% use Google Plus, and 21% use TwiRer. In hard numbers, YouTube has a liRle over 1 billion monthly users while Facebook has over 1.5 billion monthly users. The difference is significant.

7. The largest online daAng site is actually a social network: Badoo. OkCupid, Tinder, Adult FriendFinder, Ashley Madison — all of these sites have a higher public profile than the humble Badoo, but the truth is, Badoo has the largest membership base by a long shot.

The numbers are rough es?mates — sources for Adult FriendFinder, OkCupid, Ashley Madison, Tinder, and Badoo — but the disparity is large enough to make the point clear.

There are many reasons that play into this, of course, but maybe it suggests that online da?ng is more successful when there’s a healthy amount of socializa?on involved. Anyway, if this came as a shock to you, check out these other surprising sta?s?cs about online da?ng.

8. Reddit is the best social network for large-scale communiAes. On its 10th anniversary, Reddit had just over 36 million user accounts spread across 850,000+ subreddits (i.e., individual communi?es) and approximately 10,000 of those subreddits had some ac?vity yesterday.

9. Social media encourages the development of more extreme viewpoints. The beauty of social media is that it hands over a lot of control to the end user — but this control is a double-edged sword: it’s great for finding like-minded communi?es, but it demolishes the diversity of ideas.

It’s called the echo chamber effect (also the filter bubble effect) and it arises when social media users are allowed to “follow” things that they already believe and “block” anything that might dissent from those beliefs. The result is that ideas become amplified towards extremes.

10. Teens need to be made more aware of privacy and security issues. In general, people just aren’t very good about personal privacy and security, but teens are especially bad with it. Only 9% of teenaged social media users even have concerns about the privacy of their data.

The best thing to do is to follow these online safety ?ps used by the experts.

11. One wrong social media post can ruin your life for good. Whether it’s an edgy tweet that gets taken out of context (and riles up an online mob against you) or a badly-?med joke in poor taste (which lands you prison), one mistake could send your life spiraling in an unexpected direc?on.

It’s important to remember that social networks are public, and there are consequences for what you post — even if your inten?ons aren’t malicious!

12. Revenge porn and accidental leaks are growing threats. If you’re going to use social media in a sexual way, just remember this: the Internet never forgets. There’s a good chance that that racy photo of you will come back and bite you in the rear.

Even if you think something is private, you never know. AVer all, revenge porn is definitely a reality and many lives have been ruined by it. Don’t be naive enough to think that it could never happen to you.

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