Tag: Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics

Posted in Dr. G's Weekly Hot Topics, On the Desk..., On The Radar

Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics!!

Posted on by drblackfuturefeminist

So I know it has been quite a while since I’ve dropped some HOT TOPICS, but it’s never too late to share…especially when SO MUCH is happening in the world!! Day to day there is always something going on, particularly within pop culture.

And without further ado, check out this week’s Hot Topics!!

Ever wanted to know more about Black cowboy culture? With the Paramount+ series Lawmen: Bass Reeves and the Netflix film The Harder They Fall , I know my interest has been piqued. And as a fan of westerns and cowboy culture, this new photography book celebrating Black Rodeo Culture in the US will definitely be making its way to my coffee table!! Dropping in April of this year, Eight Seconds: Black Rodeo Culture: Photographs by Ivan McClellan highlights decades of work capturing the many journeys of what it is like to be a part of contemporary Black rodeo culture in America.

Referring to the minimum amount of time a rider has to stay on a horse or other livestock in order to register a score during a competition, Eight Seconds provides a visual glance into world that is often forgotten!

New Beats Solo headphones campaign features some #BlackGirlMagic with WNBA star Angel Reese, track & field star Sha’Carri Richardson, and tennis champion Naomi Osaka!!

This all-new line of Beats Solo Buds can be purchased in four new colors including Matte Black, Storm Gray, Arctic Purple and Transparent Red, retailing at $79.99. For the new Solo headphones, you can purchase them in Matte Black, Slate Blue and Cloud Pink ($199.99), which all three ladies are sporting in the campaign.

For all my P-Valley fans!! To tide us over until Season 3 comes back, fans can tune into the upcoming documentary series, Down in the Valley. Inspired by the hit series P-Valley from executive producers Katori Hall and Nicco Annan, Down in the Valley is a six-half-hour episode series hosted by Annan (also known as ‘Uncle Clifford’) where he takes viewers on a “tantalizing tour of the Deep South, where they will be “immersed in the people, sensuality, music, culture and stories of the South. From strip clubs to sex workshops, rap performances, and ancient hoodoo rituals.”

Down in the Valley will “pull back the curtain on the surprising but always intriguing people and places that make the Deep South a place where anything can happen and usually does.” The series is set to premiere on July 5th!! And I can’t wait!!

Now here is another documentary, that I AM DEFINITELY looking forward to watching, however with this one we will have to wait a little minute lol…On May 15th CNN announced that CNN Films, in partnership with OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, acquired the documentary feature Luther: Never Too Much, from award-winning filmmaker Dawn Porter (CNN Films John Lewis: Good Trouble). 

Luther: Never Too Much chronicles the story of a vocal genius. “Using a wealth of rarely seen archives, Vandross tells his own story with assistance from his closest friends and musical collaborators including Mariah Carey, Dionne Warwick, Valerie Simpson and Roberta Flack.” Luther: Never Too Much premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in January to raving reviews and a standing ovation!!

Here’s something to quench your thirst… Welch’s is set to jump on the wagon by releasing some tasty canned cocktails! As noted by Ryan Stump (Coop Beverage Works’ vice president of business operations), “We are extremely excited to partner with Welch’s to create this lineup of Craft Cocktails that will bring classic cocktail recipes to the market with the fruit juice flavors that Welch’s is known for.” These juicy adult drinks will come in four flavors (each made with real fruit juice and spirits, and come in at 5.9% ABV): Vodka Transfusion, Vodka Cranberry, Watermelon Mule, and Passion Fruit Mojito!!

The new canned cocktails are set to ship soon to retailers in select states. Makes me wonder whose gonna be next in the canned cocktail game?!!

And to get you ready to jam to some live music, check out these upcoming festivals:

TwoGether Land (May 25-26) [Dallas, TX]

Roots Picnic (June 1-2) [Philadelphia, PA]

Governors Ball (June 7-9) [Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, NY]

Capital Jazz Fest (June 7-9) [Columbia, MD]

Blavity House Party (June 14-15) [Nashville, TN]

Hollywood Bowl Jazz Festival (June 15-16) [Hollywood, CA]

Summer Smash (June 21-23) [Bridgeview, IL]

Cincinnati Music Festival (July 25-27) [Cincinnati, OH]

Broccoli City (July 27-28) [Washington, DC]

Afro Nation Detroit (August 17-18) [Detroit, MI]

Fool In Love (August 31) [Hollywood, CA]

Music At The Intersection (September 14-15) [St. Louis, MO]

Rolling Loud Miami (December 13-15) [Miami, FL]

Posted in Dr. G's Weekly Hot Topics, On the Desk..., On The Radar

Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics!!

Posted on by drblackfuturefeminist

Another week of hot topics hot off the press!! Lots of goodies to get your week started!! Check them out below:

A Black Twitter docu-series is headed to Hulu!! Inspired by Jason Parham’s detailed oral history, A People’s History of Black Twitter, comes the story of “the rise, the movements, the voices and the memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly every aspect of American political and cultural life.” The three-part docu-series is led by showrunner and executive producer Prentice Penny (Insecure) and will be his first project under  Onyx Collective . As tweeted by Penny, “For those who know me you know how much love, respect, fear, and admiration I have for #BlackTwitter so I can’t be more excited and scared to a doc about the culture – just remember im doing this in love.” 

Brown Twitter birds. Shown top left is the original illustration by Alex Eben Meyer (http://www.eben.com) that appeared in the Slate article, “How Black People Use Twitter”. The remaining birds are parodies by Twitter user @InnyVinny illustrating the diversity of the Black Twitter community. The resulting #browntwitterbird hashtag game went viral, as users adopted or suggested new Twitter birds

According to Crayola Executive James Wells, “creativity is currency” for young children!! And starting on January 23 through January 29th, teachers, children, their families can celebrate “Crayola’s Creativity Week!!” As part of the week-long celebration there will be free-virtual events, resources, and opportunities for kids to earn lots of prizes! Youth will be able to tap into their creative side whether in the classroom or in the comfort of their home.

As we prepare for the Mardi Gras season you gotta make sure you have your King Cake!! Well you are in luck I have a few places where you can order your own special “Fat Tuesday” treat online:

What do Nikki Giovanni and Sundance have in common…well a documentary titled Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project made its debut in Park City on January 20th. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson “craft a vision fit for the radical imagination of Nikki Giovanni.” The synopsis reads, through intimate vérité, archival footage, and visually innovative treatments of her poetry, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project pushes the boundaries of biographical documentary film to reveal the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest living artists and social commentators.

And lastly, if you plan to be out in the Bay Area, you should check out the new exhibit at the ICA San Francisco!! Two Black women California artists Tahirah Rasheed and Autumn Breon “are celebrating Black beauty and relaxation ” in the exhibition Resting Our Eyes. As a new institution, the ICA San Francisco will celebrate the work of Rasheed and Breon along with work from Carrie Mae Weems, Derrick Adams, Sadie Barnette, Genevieve Gaignard, and Simone Leigh. “Focusing on the liberation and celebration of Black women through the lens of leisure and physical adornment, Resting Our Eyes features new and existing works from 20 multi-generational Black artists working across sculpture, photography, video, mixed media, painting, and textile.” Resting Our Eyes will be on display from January 21-June 25!

[The images above include Ja’Tovia Gary, Citational Ethics (Saidiya Hartman, 2017), 2020; Curators Tahirah Rasheed and Autumn Breon at “Resting Our Eyes” at the ICA San Francisco (Photo by Vikram Valluri for BFA); and the ICA-SF]

Posted in On the Desk..., On The Radar

Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics!!

Posted on by drblackfuturefeminist

We are back!! Starting out the year with a few goodies for you to either visit, stream, buy from your grocery store, or add to your calendar!! Nothing like a few hot topics to get you through the mid-week hump! Check them out below:

For all my Toni Morrison fans this coming February her papers will be part of an exhibition called, “Toni Morrison: Sites of Memory” at Princeton University in the Millberg Gallery-Firestone Library. Conceived by Autumn Womack, Assistant Professor of African American Studies and English, the exhibition is a multi-faceted, immersive journey into the archives of Toni Morrison.  Before she passed away, Morrison gave her archives to Princeton in 2014. The exhibition will consist of essays, speeches, day planners, and letters. The exhibition will be open to the public Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. through June 4, 2023. Looks like I’m gonna need to take a trip to New Jersey!!

Items from the Papers of Toni Morrison, Special Collections, Princeton University Library (PUL)

If you have been keeping up with the latest Netflix movies or series, you will know that the heist-drama Kaleidoscope just dropped on New Years Day! The eight-part series centers around master thief Leo Pap (Giancarlo Esposito) and his crew attempting an epic heist worth $7 billion! However, there is a little twist, the episodes can be watched in any order and it still make sense; the introduction “Black” explains the concept of the show, while the episode “White” is intended to always be the series finale. According to various outlets they have offered some suggestions:

  • Chronologically: “Black,” “Violet,” “Green,” “Yellow,” “Orange,” “Blue,” “Red,” “Pink,” “White”
  • In Reverse: “Black,” “Pink,” “Red,” “Blue,” “Orange,” “Yellow,” “Green,” “Violet,” “White”
  • Viewers Choice: “Black,” “Yellow,” “Violet,” “Orange,” “Green,” “Blue,” “Red,” “Pink,” “White”

Stars Giancarlo Esposito and Tati Gabrielle recommend no particular order or watch it “in the colour scheme that appeals to you.” When it is all said and done the ball is in your court, choose as you wish!

Award-winning filmmaker Ava DuVernay is partnering with Ben & Jerry’s to launch its newest flavor, Lights! Caramel! Action! DuVernay, who is the first Black woman to be a featured partner on the Ben & Jerry’s pints, will have a flavor that is an ensemble of vanilla ice cream, salted caramel swirls, graham cracker swirls and chocolate chip cookie dough pieces. MMM Good!! The new flavor will begin shipping out this month!! Proceeds from Lights! Caramel! Action! will benefit DuVernay’s non-profit ARRAY Alliance (a woman-led nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, works to advance social justice through art)! According to DuVernay, “Ice cream is a simple joy of life. A comfort food that I’ve turned to on many days—making sunny ones brighter and dark ones sweeter,”

Sneak peak into the 15th Doctor Who…BBC has released some first looks into the upcoming continuation of the “Doctor Who” series. Ncuti Gatwa (also known for his role in “Sex Education” will star as the 15th doctor. It’s unclear when Gatwa will take on the mantle and pilot the TARDIS, but it looks like he will be featured in the 60th anniversary special in November 2023.

And last, but not least, for all my Black Panther: Wakanda Forever fans, just in case you missed it in the theaters it’s coming to Disney+ on February 1st!! So hang tight only a few more weeks till we can watch it on repeat!!

Posted in Dr. G's Weekly Hot Topics

Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics

Posted on by drblackfuturefeminist

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!! Got a new addition to the site for you all!! Everyday I find myself learning the latest trends in fashion, getting the latest news in media, uncovering the next great memoir, new restaurant openings, and where I should be traveling to next. It’s also necessary that I share this news as I am a huge proponent of showcasing the joys and achievements of what is happening in the world especially as it pertains to Black and Brown folks!! So I figured, why not share these with you and share in the wealth…I’m calling it Dr. G’s Weekly Hot Topics!!

Each week, much like the trailer alerts, I will share some of the top news stories with you! Without further ado, let’s see what is on the docket this week!

  • Black Brewers are changing the Washington, DC landscape of craft beer!! To date DC has three Black-owned breweries, making up 20% of the city’s total of 15 (Sankofa Beer Company [2018], Soul Mega [2018], and Urban Garden Brewing [2021]). Along with these breweries making their mark, DC Black beer fans can also bridge the brewery gap and build community through the Black Brew Movement. Our nation’s capital is shaping up to be another prime location for Black owned breweries. DC is truly taking a leading role with other Black-owned breweries in such places as Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and neighboring state Maryland. Who says representation does not matter in the beer game?!
Urban Garden’s flagship brand “Chamomile”
  • For all my travelers near and far, there is a new Black-owned travel bottle company, “Ries Beauty“!! Looking for a refillable, TSA-friendly bottle that will not leak all over suitcase, ruining your good clothes…Ries Beauty is the product for you!! Founded by a Black-woman Megan Graham, who was once the beauty market director at Vogue, Graham has created the first reusable travel bottle and has partnered with Sephora to launch the product. As told to WWD by Graham, “Ries is built for women and people in the way that we truly travel. Historically the bottles in the beauty industry have been build on single-use, cheap, inexpensive virgin plastics—they’re not built for the functionality that Ries provides.” Ries is available now on Ries-Ries.com and Sephora.com

Now these are some things we ought to be talking about and sharing with the masses!! And make sure you stay tuned next week for more Hot Topics!!