By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The pandemic wiped out most of the 2020 Broadway season, including the annual Tony Awards. While Broadway has only been reopened a few weeks, the theatrical industry decided it was finally time to recognizeTony winners from the previous season. They were announced last night in a split ceremony, with many of them presented in a one-hour special shown only on CBS-TV’s Paramount Plus streaming service. A handful of other awards were presented within a two-hour “Broadway Is Back” special that aired immediately afterwards. Audra McDonald hosted the first half, and Leslie Odom Jr. the…
Author: Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — After finally beginning to look like the Super Bowl contender that many predicted, the Tennessee Titans now prepare to open AFC South play Sunday with a positive outlook. That’s because they did something they seldom do last Sunday, play well on the West Coast. They rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit to tie and then defeat in overtime the Seattle Seahawks on the road. In the process they evened their record at 1-1, and after two weeks join the Houston Texans as the only AFC South teams with victories. The Titans also finally got their offense rolling,…
There remain relatively few Black head coaches in major college football, even in such conferences as the Big 10 or Pac-12 that are supposedly populated by schools with better track records historically on racial issues than those in the South. But there’s now a chance to at least partially correct that oversight as one of the nation’s premier coaching jobs is open. Southern California fired its head coach Clay Helton following a blowout home loss to Stanford. At least for now, the Southern California head job does belong to a Black man, and a homegrown one at that. Donte Williams…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — One of the longest running and most controversial “reality” shows ever seems set to return soon. For several years the show “Cops” was widely syndicated depicting what its producers claimed was a fair and accurate portrayal of police officers daily encounters. Its critics felt it was pro police propaganda, a show that offered video apologies, excuses and justifications for questionable, sometimes open misconduct and brutality. Both it and “Live PD” were canceled last year as a wave of protests swept the nation after the killing of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin. But…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Two Black actors made history Sunday night for different reasons at the 73rd annual Emmy Awards. One became the first Black woman to ever win in a category, while the other became the biggest single Black winner in Emmy history. Michaela Coel won for outstanding writing for a limited or anthology series. She is both the principal writer and star of HBO’s “I May Destroy You.” She was overcome with emotion upon hearing the news. Coel dedicated her award to sexal assault survivors, while her speech also urged fellow writers to share their stories…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Black actors were big winners over the weekend, with Courtney B. Vance, Dave Chappelle, Maya Rudolph and Rupal all getting awards for their various shows. The Creative Emmys were held over the weekend as the lead-in to next Sunday’s Emmy Awards that will be hosted by Cedric The Entertainer, and aired on CBS-TV (locally WTVF-5 Sunday night). Vance won the Guest Drama Actor award for “Lovecraft Country.” He used his acceptance speech to pay tribute to recently deceased co-star Michael K. Williams. “Michael did everything with his full heart open, with his infinite spirit…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Singer/songwriter Taylor Rae, a native of Santa Cruz, California now residing in Austin, skillfully incorporates a host of different styles into her music. Rae’s debut release “Mad Twenties” provides listeners with compelling, emotionally varied perspectives on romance, travel, personal growth and journeys, featuring Rae’s consistently impressive leads and thoughtful, memorable lyrics. The LP’s songs, all originals, reflect an insight and viewpoint developed by someone who’s experienced a lot over a relatively short time frame. Taylor Rae’s been writing songs since she was eight, playing guitar (self-taught) by 12 and being a professional at 15. …
This year’s US Open didn’t have the glamour or big names of the past. Both Williams’ sisters weren’t participating, nor were Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. The women’s final had two unseeded players, including one who had to get through the preliminary rounds just to get into the tournament. There was no American player in the quarterfinals of either the men’s or women’s draw for the first time in the Open era (over five decades). There was one thing that did generate some interest in this year’s Open. It was the possibility that Novak Djokovic would become the first man…
By Ron Wynn Though HBCUs have long been a place where some of the greatest football players have performed prior to becoming pros, they certainly aren’t the powerhouses today they were in the pre-integration era. It would have been quite interesting to see what would have happened if some of the best squads led by Tennessee State University’s John Merritt, Grambling’s Eddie Robinson or Florida A&M’s Jake Gaither had been given the opportunity to face teams from the major conferences. But once the SEC, Big 10, ACC, Pac-10 and Big 12 started routinely recruiting top Black talent, HBCUs found themselves…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — There were some good things on display in the opener for Tennessee State, a game marking the debut of former All-Pro and Titans star Eddie George as the Tigers’ head coach. But unfortunately there weren’t enough of them to prevent TSU from taking a 16-10 loss at the hands of Grambling in the 2021 Black College Hall of Fame Classic, held in Canton, Ohio. It was the renewal of a formerly fierce HBCU rivalry that hadn’t been resumed before Sunday since 2002. The game was nationally televised on the NFL Network. The first major…