By CHEVEL JOHNSON and REBECCA SANTANA undefined NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Novelist Ernest J. Gaines, whose poor childhood on a small Louisiana plantation germinated stories of black struggles that grew into universal tales of grace and beauty, has died. He was 86. The Baton Rouge Area Foundation, which sponsors a
NEW YORK (AP) — Ta-Nehisi Coates’ first novel, “The Water Dancer,” is among the nominees for an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence. Coates’ narrative of an enslaved person’s journey to freedom is a fiction finalist, along with Valeria Luiselli’s “Lost Children Archive” and Myla Goldberg’s “Feast Your Eyes.” The nonfiction
Dr. Dre, who has produced hits for Eminem, Tupac, Snoop Dogg and more, will be honored by the Recording Academy for his trailblazing production work. The Recording Academy announced Friday that its Producers & Engineers Wing will pay tribute the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer on Jan. 22 at
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Actor-comedian John Witherspoon, who memorably played Ice Cube’s father in the “Friday” films, has died. He was 77. Witherspoon’s manager Alex Goodman confirmed late Tuesday that Witherspoon died in Los Angeles. No cause of death was released. The actor had a prolific career, co-starring in three
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Dave Chappelle receiving the Mark Twain prize for lifetime achievement in comedy (all times local): 10 p.m. Musician John Legend paid tribute to Dave Chappelle’s passion for music and determination to use his influence to spotlight different artists. Chappelle’s show, during its short 2
BALTIMORE (AP) — Congressman and civil rights leader Elijah Cummings was remembered Friday as a “fierce champion of truth, justice and kindness” at a funeral that brought Washington politicians and ordinary people alike to the Baltimore church where he worshipped for nearly four decades. “It is no coincidence — is
LOS ANGELES — Deon Taylor doesn’t take no for an answer when it comes to filmmaking. And it’s a word he hears all the time. When no one wanted to make his first film, he made it himself and even persuaded Rutger Hauer to be in it. When the studio
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — “The Casagrandes,” Nickelodeon’s new original animated series that centers around an 11-year-old girl trying to survive a big city, is one of the first cartoons in the U.S. to feature a multigenerational Mexican American family. The long-awaited spin-off from the network’s popular animation series, “The Loud
NEW YORK (AP) — As Lupita Nyong’o accepted an award from the Harlem School of Arts — and entered the stage to Beyoncé’s anthemic hit “Brown Skin Girl” — the actress mainly had two people to thank for fueling her passion for the arts as a child: her parents. “I
BALTIMORE (AP) — He stood up for the poor and the disadvantaged throughout urban America — but Elijah Cummings was principally the strong voice and political advocate for Baltimore, where he was revered as his hometown’s champion. The Democratic congressman lived at the doorstep of some of the city’s worst
