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…
Author: Ron Wynn
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…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Even when she was topping the charts, vocalist Anita Baker was battling with various record labels over who had control of her music. Last Friday that fight finally came to an end as Baker announced she now had control of all her masters. “All My Children Are Coming Home,” Baker wrote beside a photograph of some of her various albums released over the years. “Impossible Things Happen … Every. Single. Day. Gratefully.” Another artist who’s battled labels over the same issue promptly praised Baker’s efforts and success. Taylor Swift on Saturday quote-tweeted the “Sweet…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — LeVar Burton may not have gotten the “Jeopardy” hosting slot, but the series that he’s championed is about to get its own cinematic spotlight. “Reading Rainbow,” which he hosted for 23 years, will be the topic of XTR’s new documentary “Butterfly in the Sky.” The documentary will examine the journeys of filmmakers, hosts , educators and broadcasters who wholeheartedly believed television could inspire the passion and love for reading. “Butterly in the Sky” will be directed by the Jasper Mall duo Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb. It is produced by Sidestilt Films alongside Bryan…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — A trio of new coaches are taking over at Tennessee State University, Vanderbilt and the University of Tennessee. In all three cases, the teams are coming off disappointing (in Vanderbilt’s case disastrous) years that resulted in their former head coaches being terminated. It would be overly optimistic (at best) to expect big results from any of these programs in their first season, but it’s certain that all three are going to get intense scrutiny and coverage. Tennessee State has already been profiled everywhere from ESPN to the Sporting News, HBCU Digest to Bleacher Report…
By Ron Wynn No one’s particularly worried over the outcome of preseason games, so the Titans losing 27-24 in their final contest before the regular season begins isn’t a concern. While losing a fourth quarter lead is never anything to celebrate, the Titans accomplished much of what they wanted while winning two of the three preseason games. It certainly provided them with much of what they need in making the final roster cuts that came Tuesday. The biggest question remaining personnel wise was who would be the number two QB behind Ryan Tannehill, who not only didn’t play a snap…