By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — One of reggae’s greatest songwriters, lyricists and artists has died. The great Bunny Wailer, a founding member of Bob Marley’s Wailers died early Tuesday at 73. His manager confirmed Wailer’s death to the Jamaica Observer. “He died about 8:00 this morning. I’m still right here with him,” his manager, Maxine Stowe, told the Observer from the Medical Associates Hospital in Kingston. No cause of death was cited, but Wailer had suffered a second stroke last July. He was born Neville Livingston, and until Tuesday was the final surviving member of the Wailers. Bunny Wailer,…
Author: Ron Wynn
It’s no longer a news story or a big deal today to see Black faces on a sports telecast, either a game broadcast or a studio show. Nor does anyone even blink when women are part of a studio or game team. But that certainly wasn’t the case as recently as the ‘70s. Longtime cornerback and broadcaster Irv Cross died on Sunday near his Minnesota home, the Philadelphia Eagles announced. CBS made headlines back in 1975 when they announced a change in the lineup for their marquee studio show “The NFL Today.” That was the year that former Philadelphia Eagles…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Titans will be in the market for at least one and possibly two wide receivers this off-season, and they will also be looking for new faces in the defensive backfield. The revamp began last week as three players were cut, including one who’d previously been thought to have been a significant upgrade at the time, and another who ended up starting five games last season before getting injured. Adam Humphries had enjoyed good years as a slot receiver with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but was mostly a disappointment during his two seasons for…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Only days after being attacked for having no Black members, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) awarded four Blacks Golden Globes Sunday night, and three won in film categories for the first time in 14 years. The night was started by Black winners in both film and television, but the overall report for the HFPA is not very encouraging. The evening began with wins for Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) for supporting film actor and John Boyega (“Small Axe”) for supporting TV actor. Boyega was the only person of color to win…
The late Perry Wallace was a true trailblazer at Vanderbilt in many ways. On the basketball court he proved that Blacks could excel and helped smash the barriers of ignorance that had kept them prohibited from being on SEC campuses for decades. Off the court he was an academic success, showing that you could combine greatness on the court with accomplishments off it. He also underwent a lot of turmoil and struggles during his Vanderbilt tenure, something chronicled in Andrew Maraniss’ exceptional book “Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the collision of race and sports in the South.: Now the United…
By Ron Wynn Any parents concerned about the impact of stereotyped images or portrayals on such Disney + rebroadcasts as “The Muppet Show” can be reassured their fears have been addressed. The network is issuing disclaimers on several programs done in earlier eras. The most recent comes on Jim Henson’s classic “The Muppet Show.” It began streaming on Disney+ last Friday, but as of this week is prefaced with an offensive content disclaimer. “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures,” the warning reads. “These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. Rather than remove this…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — It’s taken longer than anticipated due to production schedule changes forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, but a date has finally been announced for the second season of EPIX’s “Godfather of Harlem” series starring Forest Whitaker. The network has just issued a new trailer that’s available on the Shadow and Act website for the series that’s rooted in history, but does take some liberties with both character and events. The new season gets underway April 18. The network also released a content statement that summarizes planned developments for the second year. The summary says “Godfather…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — Podcasts have become the latest world for former President Barack Obama to conquer, and towards that end he’s teaming with rock superstar Bruce Springsteen. President Obama and Springsteen began a series of podcast conversations this week that will air exclusively on Spotify. It’s the newest entry in the company’s expanding slate of audio programming. The series is titled “Renegades: Born in the USA” is an eight-episode podcast. President Obama and Springsteen have been friends for over a decade. According to a Spotify press release they will engage “in deep and revealing conversation” on a…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — The Tennessee Titans had a wonderful regular season and very disappointing, short-lived playoff run. The personnel decisions that are made between now and training camp will be critical in determining whether they can take the next step and make it to the Super Bowl. Defensive improvement is paramount for a club that finished near the bottom in every significant category and in particular had a feeble pass rush which in turn contributed to their inability to stop teams from converting third downs and extending drives, A major factor in improving the pass rush could…
By Ron Wynn NASHVILLE, TN — One of the main stars from Netflix’s latest hit will now be featured on a broadcast TV staple. “Bridgerton” star Rege-Jane Page is making his debut this weekend on “Saturday Night Live,” with musical guest Bad Bunny, who is also appearing for the first time on the NBC network’s (locally WSMV-4) long-running show. Page is enjoying rave reviews and big audiences in his current “Bridgerton” role as Simon Basset, Duke of Hastings. The series, based on Julia Quinn’s romance novels of the same name has been brought to television as ace producer Shonda Rhimes’…