By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Major League Baseball is celebrating in 2022 the 75th anniversary of Jackie Robinson shattering its racial barriers. Aside from last Friday’s Jackie Robinson Day, when every team’s players wore his number 42, there’s now a new project coming to celebrate his legacy. It is being executive produced by LeBron James, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson, and critically-acclaimed director Andre Gaines and will make its debut June 18 on the History Channel. The two-hour program is titled “After Jackie.” It will tell, according to publicity material, the “often overlooked story of the second wave of…
Author: Ron Wynn
It’s not often that HBCU football teams make headline news in the offseason, but Tennessee State University has certainly done it with the announcement that they will be playing the vaunted Notre Dame Fighting Irish in 2023. The game will be in South Bend, Indiana, and televised nationally on NBC. It will open the season for both teams on September 2. It is the first time in Notre Dame history that they have faced an HBCU team, and also the first visit to South Bend for TSU. The game has generated plenty of interest and some controversy, both among HBCU…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — There haven’t been many comedies that have enjoyed big success this season, but one of them has been the blend of supernatural fantasy and historical portraits called “Ghosts.” It’s both CBS’ most successful new comedy and the highest rated among first year comedies on any network. The series’ main stars are Rose McIver and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Samantha and Jay.) They are described in the promotional material as “a cheerful freelance journalist and up-and-coming chef from the city, respectively, who throw both caution and money to the wind when they decide to convert a huge rundown…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — It’s been in the works for over six years, but it seems that finally “Beverly Hills Cop 4” will be filmed. The Hollywood Reporter has said that the much anticipated latest chapter in a franchise that dates back to the mid-80s has found a director. Mark Molloy will helm the new chapter. It’s the result of a one-time licensing deal between Netflix and Paramount. Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were on board to direct the long-awaited fourth installment of the series, but Molloy will replace them after the duo moved to direct Warner…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — When it began eight years ago there were comparisons between Kenya Barris’s comedy “Black-ish” and “The Cosby Show.” But over its eight-year tenure the program has established its own identity, carved out a faithful following and even spawned two spin-offs. Now, as the finale approaches April 19, one of its main stars Tracee Ellis Ross, has expressed her feelings about seeing the program end. She talked about it during an appearance April 11 on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” “The whole season, I knew was the end, so I was very present and sort of…
HBCU sports has gotten the short end of the coverage stick for decades, roughly ever since major Southern and Midwestern colleges began not just integrating their squads, but pursuing prime Black athletic talent with a vengeance. Watching the Final Fours of both men’s and women’s teams this past weekend you saw schools like Duke and Stanford with playing rosters stocked with Black players despite both being schools with minimal Black student bodies. HBCU football has managed to retain a modicum of interest, and the recent addition of high profile coaches Deion Sanders at Jackson State, Eddie George at Tennessee State…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Pianist and bandleader Joe Davidian and his trio have long been Nashville jazz fan favorites. Now they have a new name, an upcoming CD and will be performing in concert Friday night at the Nashville Jazz Workshop’s Jazz Cave, 1012 Buchanan Street. The trio is now called The Lost Melody, and features along with Davidian bassist Jamie Ousley and drummer Austin McMahon. Before he relocated to New York City, Davidian was a familiar and highly respected regular on the local jazz scene. During his high school years Davidian studied with such greats as Kenny…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Taraji P. Henson has had a prolific career as an actress in film and television, among them the recent hit show “Empire.” But she also is a proud graduate of Howard University and has frequently participated in events to benefit it and other HBUCs. Now she’ll be in a position to do even more. She was named last Thursday to President Joe Biden’s HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Board of Advisors. Henson –– who studied musical theater at HBCU Howard University before graduating in 1995 –– revealed the news with a throwback snap…
Black head coaches have had their difficulties making headway in NCAA football circles, but things are much better in basketball circles. Both the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments have seen teams led by Black coaches distinguish themselves, with one of them making history and another reaching the Final Four in his inaugural season. The talk of the men’s field has been the Saint Peter’s Peacocks, who at one point in the year were only 12-11. But they went on a winning streak, reached the Tournament as a 15 seed, and then shocked the entire basketball world. Led by Shaheen Holloway,…
NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee men’s team may have had a disappointing NCAA Tournament, but the school administration is certainly pleased with the overall job head coach Rick Barnes has done. They announced last week that his contract has been extended an additional year, and now runs through the 2026-27 season. According to the Knoxville News, Barnes is scheduled to make $5.45 million during the 2022-23 season. The publication also reported that Barnes will earn $28.85 million over the next five seasons. Tennessee finished 27-8 this season, and won the SEC Tournament for the first time since 1979. But they…