Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
“Verses & Flow” will begin filming its second season on June 11 at the historical Belasco Theater in Downtown Los Angeles. This year’s host is actor and Georgia native Omari Hardwick. Known for his performances in award-winning television series and films, including “CSI: Miami,” “Dark Blue” and “For Colored Girls,” he will be a significant addition to the celebrated series. In addition, Hardwick will be making a debut in the summer release of “Sparkle,” playing alongside the late Whitney Houston. This season “Verses & Flow” will be comprised of eight 30-minute weekly variety shows. Each episode will consist of a performance by a music artist as well as performances by three featured poets.

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NFL former Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Hank Baskett rallied a star-studded list of Hollywood and athletic celebrities to host his inaugural Hank Baskett Classic Golf Tournament, saying he was launching his “biggest challenge ever” to wage a war on cancer. He’s fighting on behalf of his father, who is being treated for lung cancer. Teaming up with the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, a recognized global leader in lung cancer research and awareness, Baskett rallied about 25 celebrities to play in the tournament at Trump National Golf Club, Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., on May 21. Celebrities included Alfonso Ribeiro, Antonio Pierce, Jermaine Dye, Kris Humphries, Marcellus Wiley, and his wife Kendra Wilkinson and 2-year-old son, Hank IV.

Georgia
When psychologist, Alduan Tartt, got a call from Brian Puterman of Mike Mathis Productions and Nikki Webber of TV One Cable Network to perform “love interventions” for people trapped in toxic relationships on national television, he thought the idea was crazy—crazy enough to actually work. “The idea of using reality TV to do something positive, fix toxic relationships and showcase the healing power of therapy to millions was too tempting to pass up on,” Tartt states. Tartt is joined by fellow therapists, Thema Bryant-Davis and Hasani Pettiford to form a diverse team of healers for TV One’s new show “Love Addiction.” The show has only aired four episodes, addressing dating unavailable men, dating older women, dating users and dating playboys. However, this week’s show covers dating verbally abusive men. Tartt says, “Viewers will connect with this topic because relationship abuse is a community problem that silently affects thousands of men and women daily.”

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
African American young men from the San Francisco Bay Area who are graduating from high school and heading to college will take center stage June 3 at a unique graduation ceremony aimed at celebrating and amplifying their achievements. The event is part of the Mitchell Kapor Foundation’s College Bound Brotherhood, a college readiness program that aims to expand the number of young Black men in the San Francisco Bay Area who are prepared for college. Youth participating in the event will be eligible for a $100 stipend to defray the cost of college books. Across the nation and locally, African American young men are graduating from high school at alarmingly low rates, and even fewer are ready for a college education. Since the launch of the College Bound Brotherhood in 2008, the Kapor Foundation has distributed more than $1 million in grants to organizations that support young Black men through college readiness workshops, college tours, academic coaching and mentoring.

Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are partners in owning a racehorse—a 4-year-old gelding named Siempre Mo—which made its first start at Betfair Hollywood Park on Saturday. The horse was entered in the sixth race, and was ridden by Joy Scott. The teammates purchased 25 percent of the gelding at a team charity auction in April. Part of their deal is that neither Bryant nor Gasol pay any expenses in the horse’s care and training. Santa Anita CEO Mark Verge and Chris Quinn, also an executive at Santa Anita, are the horse’s other owners. Siempre Mo won a $25,000 claiming race in his last start. He’s trained by Doug O’Neill, whose coltse I’ll Have Another, won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and will try to win the Triple Crown when he runs in the Belmont Stakes on June 9. Bryant and Gasol’s horse will carry the Lakers gold and purple colors.

District of Columbia
Nearly 300 people attended the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation’s 15th annual Spirit of Democracy Awards Gala in Washington, D.C., last week. As the night was dedicated to “Celebrating Our Brothers,” six men doing constructive work to empower the African American community were honored. There was also a special Servant Leadership and Community Service Award established in memory of the former manager of the annual Spirit Awards, Ruby Campbell Pulliam. “It was important to take a moment to lift up and celebrate what the brothers are doing in our communities across the country,” said president and CEO of the Coalition, Melanie L. Campbell. “The men who dedicate their lives to mentoring, social justice, training and creating opportunities for our youth—especially those running Black male initiatives—are truly the fabric of our community.”

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
Allied Integrated Marketing recently announced it is launching a new African American marketing division, Allied Moxy. The new division will create innovative campaigns that integrate publicity, promotions, digital and grassroots outreach to speak directly to the full diversity of African American consumers. Spearheading Allied Moxy are industry veterans Kim Walters and Gloria Jones. Walters will oversee national strategy from Los Angeles, while Jones will oversee regional/local strategy from Washington, D.C. Walters brings more than a decade of marketing experience working with entertainment companies such as Codeblack Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, and A&E Lifetime Television, as well as consumer brands such as KIA and L.A. Gear and awards programs such as NAACP Image Awards and Soul Train Music Awards. Jones has been with Allied for five years running publicity and promotional campaigns for clients, including Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Relativity Media, and previously worked for WBDC-TV in D.C. and MTV Networks’ Nick @ Nite and TV Land.

Representing Los Angeles and Center Theatre Group, Tyler Edwards, a senior at the Orange County High School of the Arts, placed third at the national finals of the fifth annual August Wilson Monologue Competition (AWMC) at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre in New York City. “I am thrilled . . . I’m so glad that I took it for L.A. the first time we got up . . . that’s what we’re talking about!” said an elated Edwards following the competition. Edwards, an aspiring actor, describes the soaring, lyrical monologues found in the plays by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson as “very inspirational,” and said prior to the Los Angeles Regional Finals of the August Wilson competition, “I would love to share a bit of that inspiration with any audience, in hopes that they leave with more appreciation than they walked in with.”

Georgia
Bounce TV, the nation’s first-ever over-the-air broadcast television network for African Americans, will launch a second new original comedy series, “Uptown Comic,” on June 18, immediately after the series premiere of the just-announced sitcom “Family Time.” “Uptown Comic” is a half-hour series featuring stage and skit performances by some of the hottest up-and-coming comics in the country. The show is currently in production in front of a live studio audience at the longest-running African American comedy club in the U.S.—Uptown Comedy Corner in Atlanta. Actor and comedian Joe Torry (Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam) hosts. “Family Time,” a half hour situation comedy created by Bentley Kyle Evans ( “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Martin,” “Love That Girl”) and produced by Evans and partner Trenten Gumbs is set to launch Monday, June 18, at 8 p.m. The series premiere of “Uptown Comic” will follow and be seen weekly at 8:30 p.m. (All Times Eastern.)