X-Factor

May 10 2012

Sports, sitcoms, music awards shows dominate

WASHINGTON—Nearly all African Americans polled—97 percent—say they are unhappy with the Black TV programs currently on air. Seventy-five percent say they want more documentaries, 71 percent prefer more history, 68 percent desire to see more independent films and 59 percent would like to see more news, according to a new study conducted by Target Market News, a Chicago-based organization that tracks Black consumer market trends.

But what Blacks say they want and what they’re watching are two different things.

Cynthia E. Griffin-  |   OW Managing Editor
Jun 23 2011

Despite changes, ‘wow’ factor still needed to help new artists stand out in a crowd

“Don’t go into the music industry for money. There are much easier ways to get it. Go to medical school. Go to law school. Become a civil engineer.”

That’s the advice Mark Chubb often gives his students in his music classes at Cal Poly Pomona.

The assistant professor heads music industry studies at the San Gabriel Valley-based university, and has just completed his fourth year of teaching there.

Across Black America

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

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”