- Created on 04 March 2013
Miracles Singer Bobby Rogers Dead at 73
(CNN) -- Bobby Rogers, an original member of Motown staple The Miracles, has died, the group's longtime front man Smokey Robinson announced Sunday.
Rogers was 73.
"Another soldier in my life has fallen," Robinson said in a statement to CNN. "Bobby Rogers was my brother and a really good friend. He and I were born on the exact same day in the same hospital in Detroit. I am really going to miss him. I loved him very much."
Claudette Robinson, another member of the Miracles, said that while Rogers was her cousin, he was more "like a brother to me." On her website, she said he died around 6:30 a.m. Sunday.
"Bobby will be missed and mourned by many," said Robinson, who was once married to Smokey Robinson and serves as the Miracles spokeswoman. "Rest in peace, my brother of 'song.' "
Robinson, Rogers and the rest of the Miracles were a cornerstone act for writer-producer Berry Gordy's infant Motown Records, putting songs such as "Shop Around," "Tracks of My Tears" and "The Tears of a Clown" on the R&B and pop charts throughout the 1960s. After Robinson left the group, the Miracles had a No. 1 hit with "Love Machine" in 1976.
When the group disbanded in the late 1970s, Rogers started an interior design business. The Miracles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
- Created on 01 March 2013
Arrested Development Shares Insight on Music Industry at Clark Atlanta
Speech, a member of Grammy award winning hip-hop collective Arrested Development, spoke with students of Clark Atlanta University Wednesday evening. The students were given the opportunity to ask the legendary rapper in-depth questions about his experience in the music industry.
"Entertainment is the first call that changes the things of this earth," Speech said. "Whoever controls the minds of the youth controls the whole world. They control the society. Entertainment plays a big role in the environment we have to maneuver through."
The rapper, who boasted about attending the university for a semester, was more than happy to share stories of growing up in Milwaukee, the hardship of low record sales, signing bad contracts and being a member of one of the most innovative rap groups during hip-hop's "Golden Era."
"I encourage all of you interested in getting into the music industry to look at it as a legacy, because that's what it is," Speech added. "You come from, in my opinion, the most powerful legacy that music has ever seen period. We [African Americans] have contributed some of the best music that the planet has ever heard."
Speech also encouraged students to "listen to their inner voice". He also noted the importance of originality in artistic expression.
"The pressures of this industry are extremely strong, some of it being internal from just wanting to fit in and wanting to make it and some of it external from your labels or management or fans," Speech said. "At the end of the day, you still are you and you have the ability to deny whatever people are trying to put off on you."
Speech stressed the significance of being true yourself and reminded students that there are various ways to accomplish your goals without compromising your dignity.
The lecture kicked off a series of talks called "Industry Insider." The series is designed to give students a firsthand look at various aspects of the entertainment business.
"I'm an artist myself, I rap and sing, so a lot of the things he said were very helpful and inspirational," said Davunta Harris. "I will definitely apply some of the advice he gave to my music career."
Industry Insider was put together by Linda "Pearl" Fils-Aime, who teaches a leadership in business course at Clark Atlanta.
"I decided to put this series together to give students some insight to the entertainment business and to also help them learn the business side of the industry," said Fils-Aime. "I'm in the entertainment business myself and I wish I had someone to give me this insight while I was in college."
During the event, the institution announced that Clark Atlanta's school of business will begin offering a sports and entertainment management minor in fall 2014.
Although Industry Insider is slated to be a monthly event, a date for the next event is yet to be announced.
Speech also invited students to a mixer for entertainment professionals called The Mixtape. The event, which is free to the public, is held every first and third Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The event is scheduled to take place at The Green Room.
- Created on 01 March 2013
Artistic Study of Women in African-American History Opens
In recognition of Women's History Month, "New Freedom: Images of Women in Early African American History" by Atlanta artist, Charmaine Minniefield, opens March 1 at the Auburn Avenue Research Library.
The art celebrates female strength from post-emancipation to after the turn of the century in works on canvas, fabric and paper. The exhibit also features images that were influenced by the Selena Sloan Butler papers, a special collection housed in the Archives Division of the Library celebrating female leadership in education and business.
The exhibit is housed in the Carey/McPheeters Gallery at the library which is located at 101 Auburn Avenue,
Atlanta, Ga., 30303.
Minniefield is an Atlanta-based artist and arts administrator. Her work explores African and African-American ritual from a feminist perspective. Her images draw from "ancestral memory" or indigenous traditions as seen throughout the Diaspora and from her personal connection to women who have played a major role in her life.
Her portraits of gargantuan women, often painted in bold colors and patterns, are influenced by her relationship with her mother, whom she remembers as being larger than life.
With a degree in Fine Art from Agnes Scott College, Minniefield has served the Atlanta area as an arts administrator for nearly 20 years, holding positions with such arts organizations as the National Black Arts Festival, the High Museum of Art and the Fulton County Arts Council.
"Charmaine Minniefield takes the viewer into the spiritual realm and holds them there. Her work converses with the ancestors as they guide her brushes...There are many lessons to be learned from this gifted artist. Her work is magic," says fellow visual artist Lynn Marshall-Linnemeier.
- Created on 01 March 2013
‘Stubborn as a Mule’ On YouTube.com
"Stubborn as a Mule," an award-winning film, has been uploaded to YouTube.com in honor of Black History Month 2013.
Originally released in February 2011 via DVD, "Stubborn as a Mule" enjoyed a successful film festival run garnering five awards from around the world. The producers of the film felt the rich African-American history that is included in the film needed to be shared with the world.
Miller Bargeron, one of the film's directors/producers said, "The film contains a lot African-American history that is not a part of most educational system's curriculums. We felt it was our responsibility to share these little known African-American history facts that helped build the United States into what it is today."
"Stubborn As A Mule" is a contemporary look at historical facts surrounding the call for Reparations for African-Americans. In the process, "Stubborn as a Mule" takes a retrospective look at African-American/American history dating back to the U. S. Civil War. This historical journey is facilitated by such renowned intellectual luminaries as Dr. Cornell West of Princeton University and Dr. Na'im Akbar of Florida State University.
Awards for "Stubborn as a Mule" include a 2011 Africa Movie Academy Award (Nigeria, Africa), 2010 Music Video and Screen Awards (Birmingham, United Kingdom), and three other awards. The full version of "Stubborn as a Mule" can be viewed by going to www.youtube.com and searching for "Stubborn As A Mule"
(Full Length Film) or the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PDt0E7tsBk.
- Created on 01 March 2013
Michelle Obama Responds to Critics of Her Oscar Appearance
Michelle Obama says it was “absolutely not surprising” to her that her satellite appearance at the Academy Awards ceremony provoked a national conversation about whether it was appropriate, after some conservative critics accused her of selfishly crashing the event in an attempt to upstage it.
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