Paul Robeson: Last News

Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971 is not to be missed. Not only does the exhibition celebrate Black representation in film, it serves as an important reminder and lesson about the contributions of Black filmmakers and stars to the world of cinema.Opening Aug. 21, seven galleries make up the exhibit exploring Oscar Micheaux’s low-budget dramas in the silent-film era to the works of Melvin Van Peebles.The exhibition also introduces audiences to stars largely unknown to mainstream moviegoers — Ralph Cooper, Clarence Brooks and Francine Everett — alongside iconic screen legends Paul Robeson, Josephine Baker, Harry Belafonte, Sidney Poitier and Lena Horne.

Harry Belafonte, the civil rights and entertainment giant who began as a groundbreaking actor and singer and became an activist, humanitarian and conscience of the world, has passed away. He was 96.

Carmel Dagan Singer, actor, producer and activist Harry Belafonte, who spawned a calypso craze in the U.S. with his music and blazed new trails for African-American performers, has died at his Manhattan home, according to the New York Times. He was 96.An award-winning Broadway performer and a versatile recording and concert star of the ’50s, the lithe, handsome Belafonte became one of the first black leading men in Hollywood. He later branched into production work on theatrical films and telepics. As his career stretched into the new millennium, his commitment to social causes never took a back seat to his professional work.An intimate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., he was an important voice in the ’60s civil rights movement, and he later embarked on charitable activities on behalf of underdeveloped African nations. He was an outspoken opponent of South Africa’s apartheid policies.

Lena Horne will be the focus of a new limited series at Showtime.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterShowtime is developing a limited series about entertainment icon and activist Lena Horne.The series is currently titled “Blackbird: Lena Horne and America,” named for Horne’s favorite poem “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” Jenny Lumet, Horne’s granddaughter, will co-write the first few episodes of the series with Alex Kurtzman, with both also executive producing.The series will span 60 years of Horne’s life, from dancing at the Cotton Club when she was 16, through World War II and stardom in the MGM years, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement, and her triumphant return to Broadway.

Peter White Television EditorThe life of entertainer and activist Lena Horne is to be turned into a limited series by Showtime with Alex Kurtzman and her granddaughter Jenny Lumet.The ViacomCBS-backed cable network is developing Blackbird: Lena Horne and America and will tell her story from dancing at the Cotton Club when she was 16, through World War II and stardom of the MGM years, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement and her triumphant return to Broadway.It will explore her relationships with Paul Robeson, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Joe Louis, Billie Holiday, Hattie McDaniel, Ava Gardner and Orson Welles and look at how she navigated stardom during Jim Crow as a direct descendant of slaves and their enslavers.

Patricia Bosworth, who started out as an actress in films such as “The Nun’s Story” and went on to become a notable celebrity biographer and magazine editor, died Thursday of complications of the coronavirus. She was 86.

By Pat Saperstein

Black Lives Matter.  Since 2016, Kaepernick has gone from a star quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers to a free agent and a polarizing but heroic figure wholly committed to social justice, even if it means risking his NFL dreams. Existing between the worlds of activism and athleticism has never been an easy feat for Black athletes, but the history of defying the status quo is nothing new.