News & Current Events

Danielle Brooks as Mahalia Jackson in 'Mahalia' on Lifetime
Documentary

Mahalia Jackson Finally Gets the Treatment She Deserves in Lifetime’s ‘Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia’

April 2, 2021 Taylor Neumann Comments Off on Mahalia Jackson Finally Gets the Treatment She Deserves in Lifetime’s ‘Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia’

When thinking of great Black female role models across history, one who stands out is Mahalia Jackson. She may not be well known outside of the musical sphere, but Mahalia was an important figure in the civil rights movement. Now she’s finally getting the (television) treatment she deserves in Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, a biopic looking at Mahalia’s gospel career and the effect her music had on history. Mahalia is played by Danielle Brooks, formerly of Orange Is the New Black. The actress is Juilliard trained, and in this project she gets to show off her phenomenal voice (Brooks won […]

News & Current Events

Three Self-Made Entrepreneurs Get Just $100 And 90 Days To Try To Build A New Business

January 5, 2021 Barb Oates Comments Off on Three Self-Made Entrepreneurs Get Just $100 And 90 Days To Try To Build A New Business

Monique Idlett-Mosley Takes Us Inside Her Journey In 2019, the Discovery series Undercover Billionaire introduced us to the concept of challenging a self-made multi-millionaire by dropping him into an unknown city with just $100, a pickup truck and a 90-day deadline to survive and build a successful business. It was a fascinating and inspiring story of humanity, perseverance and business smarts. This season, the network tapped three uber-successful tycoons for the challenge: Grant Cardone, an international motivational speaker, real estate investor and bestselling author; Elaine Culotti, a real-estate developer and builder; and Monique Idlett-Mosley, the cofounder and CEO of Reign […]

News & Current Events

Ron Howard’s Film “Rebuilding Paradise” Is A Moving Story of Resilence

November 7, 2020 Barb Oates Comments Off on Ron Howard’s Film “Rebuilding Paradise” Is A Moving Story of Resilence

It started as a beautiful fall day in Northern California. It was Nov. 8, 2018, and just two hours north of Sacramento sat the quintessential small town of Paradise, where residents were going about their normal business — kids were at school, shops were open, people were busy at their jobs. But the sky changed. Gusty winds and dry conditions coupled with sparks from a faulty power line ignited what would become the deadliest fire in California history. Director Ron Howard tells the terrifying, heartbreaking, yet hopeful, story of the residents of Paradise in his film Rebuilding Paradise airing on […]

News & Current Events

“This Is Us” Star Chris Sullivan Shares What’s In Store For Season 5

November 1, 2020 Barb Oates Comments Off on “This Is Us” Star Chris Sullivan Shares What’s In Store For Season 5

It was a turbulent and unsettling close to This Is Us Season 4 as horrible words were exchanged between Pearson brothers Randall (Sterling K. Brown) and Kevin (Justin Hartley), over their mom Rebecca (Mandy Moore) sharing she would be moving to St. Louis to start a nine-month clinical trial for Alzheimer’s. At least things looked slightly positive for their sister Kate (Chrissy Metz) and her husband Toby (Chris Sullivan), who remained committed to trying to be the best parents they could be to their blind son Jack. We caught up with Sullivan, who became a first-time father himself this summer, […]