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10 Great Black Photographers

cmw_01_bodyCarrie Mae Weems (b. April 20, 1953)

Weems has been a photographer and artist since the 1965 and her work has been featured in over 50 exhibits throughout her career. In 1983, she created her first collection of photographs and spoken word called, Family Pictures and Stories. Some of her other works include, Sea Island Series (1991-92), the Africa Series (1993), From Here I Saw What Happened and I Cried (1995-96), Who What When Where (1998), Ritual & Revolution (1998), the Louisiana Project (2003), Roaming (2006) and others. Weems has earned many awards for her work, including becoming a MacArthur Fellow in 2013.

James_Van_Der_ZeeJames Van Der Zee (June 29, 1886 – May 15, 1983)

Van Der Zee was a major artist in the Harlem Renaissance. During the 1920s, he documented some of the most famous Black people of the time, including Florence Mills, Hazel Scott, Marcus Garvey, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Countee Cullen and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Even though his work was popular, Van Der Zee never garnered major financial success. In the 1970s, he went back to portrait photography, photographing celebrities like Bill Cosby, Lou Rawls, Cicely Tyson and Jean-Michael Basquiat.

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6 Major Announcements About Marvel’s ‘All New, All Different’ Relaunch That Has Fans Excited 

Beginning in September, Marvel will be relaunching and introducing new and diverse titles in an initiative it calls “All New, All Different.” The bulk of the new titles will be released in November, but in the next two months there will be some cool surprises to check out.

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‘Blade, The Hunter’

This new series will introduce the world to Blade’s AKA Eric Brooks’ daughter Fallon Grey. She is a 16-year-old high school student who lives in Oregon. She does not know that Blade is her dad until supernatural forces want to hunt her down. This title has been under the radar, compared to the other announcements, but sounds like a much-needed twist on Blade. Blade, The Hunter will be written by Tim Seeley, with art by Logan Faerber. The title will be on stands in October.  

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Black Star Power: Legendary Actress Alfre Woodward to Join Marvel Netflix Show ‘Luke Cage’

According to a Deadline report, veteran actress Alfre Woodard will join the cast of the next Marvel Netflix show Luke Cage. Woodard has had a long career as a stage, TV and film actress. This won’t be her first comic book adaptation.

She has voiced Dondi Reese in the 2009-10 animated Black Panther series. She also voiced Jean Hawkins in the early 2000s’ Static Shock.

blackmariah001She is rumored to play Black Mariah, the leader of the crime gang called the Rat Pack. Woodard would join Michael Colter, who will be the title character Luke Cage.

The project will be produced by Showtime’s Ray Donovan executive producer Cheo Hodari Coker who will also act as executive producer of the upcoming show.

The show does not have an official release date, but it likely will be available next year.

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5 Actors Who Would Be a Perfect Fit to Play Miles Morales in the Upcoming Spider-Man Film

Earlier this year, Marvel Studios and Sony reached a deal that would allow Marvel to produce a Spider-Man film. This newfound hope sent the Internet into a frenzy with the idea that Peter Parker would be set aside for the first Black and Hispanic Spider-Man Miles Morales. Marvel cast young actor Tom Holland in the role of Peter Parker, continuing a long line of white Spider-Men; even though there have been many people — male, female, Black and Hispanic — who have taken up the mantle. If there is a Miles Morales Spider-Man film, here are some actors who should portray him.

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Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino 

Actor and rapper Donald Glover is the only person on the list who has portrayed Miles Morales to date. In the current Disney XD animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, Glover was Morales during the Spider-verse event fighting alongside Peter Parker to bring down an inter-dimensional threat. He gained a cult following as Troy Barnes in the show Community (2009-14), which is his most famous acting role to date. Glover has the acting chops and comedic range for the role.  He will be in the upcoming Ridley Scott film The Martian (2015).

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Marvel Introduces New Comic ‘Moon Girl’ Featuring an Afro-Brazilian Character

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will be the latest title added to an all new relaunch of Marvel Comics titles later this fall. This relaunch will feature more diverse titles and characters to make the Marvel Universe more inclusive for readers of all backgrounds.

The creative team will consist of longtime comic artist Amy Reeder and writer Brandon Montclare on writing duty and artist Natacha Bustos. This new title is based off of a 1978 series created by legendary comics writer and artist, Jack Kirby, where a caveman called Moon Boy and a red scaled dinosaur called Devil Dinosaur had strange adventures.

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Moon_Girl__Devil_Dinosaur_Bustos_Design_SketchesThe updated version will star Lunella Lafayette as Moon Girl, a tween super genius who struggles to fit in with people her own age.

When asked about diversity in comics in a Entertainment Weekly profile, artist Natacha Bustos said it’s been disappointing.

“I myself have come up against this dilemma (I’m half Afro-Brazilian and half Chilean besides being Spanish) of finding few or no cultural references, especially in Spain, a country where there is isn’t any community comparable to the African-American community in the states,” she says. “You end up ironing out your differences and you need to work hard on this aspect to be able to continue maturing as a person.”

Lafayette will be an Inhuman with a hidden gene that has yet to be triggered. One element of the plot will be focused on her trying to control her potential problem.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will be out on shelves this fall.

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Black Panther Is Revealed in New Set Photo from ‘Captain America: Civil War’

Earlier this week, set photos leaked from the 2016 Marvel film, Captain America: Civil War revealed Black Panther in costume. The character has been in the press all year primarily because of the prospect of Ava DuVernay directing his solo film. Du Vernay turned down the job a month back.

Currently, the next Captain America film is shooting in Berlin, Germany. From previously released set photos, Wakanda will be a major setting in the film where Captain America, the Falcon, and Black Widow will be at large. These newly released photos confirms that Black Panther may be in the center of the action.

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Black Panther is seen here on a harness preparing for a stunt scene.

On the set of Captain America, Chadwick Boseman plays the Black Panther Featuring: Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan Where: Berlin, Germany When: 12 Aug 2015

This may be part of a battle scene that requires Black Panther to scale a wall.

On the set of Captain America, Chadwick Boseman plays the Black Panther Featuring: Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan Where: Berlin, Germany When: 12 Aug 2015

This could be a stunt double or Chadwick Boseman in costume.

Captain America: Civil War is slated for release on May 6, 2016.

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10 Black Comic Book Characters We Can’t Wait See Get Their Own Films

Revenger.1.prev2_-600x928Revenger (Independent) 

From writer and artist Charles Sanford Forsman, Revenger is about a woman that takes the cases of the downtrodden and helps them seek revenge. For comic book fans that enjoy tough female leads and some violence, this is a cool title to check out.

watsonWatson and Holmes (Independent) 

This series was created by comic writer Karl Bollers and artist Rick Leonardi. Watson and Holmes takes Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous detective series and transports John Watson and Sherlock Holmes to Harlem.

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Leaked ‘Warcraft’ Trailer: What Google and Legendary Pictures Have Planned Will Blow Your Mind

As the San Diego Comic Con starts to take off, there is already surprising news coming from Legendary Pictures and Google.

The production studio and tech giant are teaming up to bring director Duncan Jones’ Warcraft to virtual reality. However, there are a few caveats. The VR footage does not include footage of the film. Also the viewing experience is not similar to “traditional” virtual reality viewings.

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“The scene is viewable only through Google Cardboard, a headset made of — you guessed it — corrugated paper that cradles a user’s smartphone, letting them peer through a pair of cheap lenses for no-frills VR experiences. Called The Skies of Azeroth, the short interactive scene puts viewers on the back of a flying eagle as it traverses a detailed fantasy city called Stormwind,” reports Nick Statt for CNET.com.

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Legendary Pictures started this partnership during 2013’s promotion of Guillermo del Toro’s  Pacific Rim and there will also be a Crimson Peak VR experience at the con.

According to Legendary vice president of theatrical strategy Barnaby Legg, “VR is a very nascent medium, and I think all of us in the entertainment business are dipping our toe in and kind of seeing where it goes. Our view at the moment is that we feel we’re in the experience business, and as we learned last year VR is an amazing way of expanding the universe of our films and really immerse our audiences.”

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In regards to Warcraft, the companies have yet to release a teaser online, a trailer, and there are very few promotional stills out there. The film will bring to life the fantasy and sci-fi world of Azeroth on June 10, 2016. So the DIY VR sets are the first in a year’s worth of promotional buildup.

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The Roots’ Questlove and Black Thought Discuss ‘Hamilton’ the Musical

Hamilton the American musical is based on the biography Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow. It was conceived in 2013 by composer, rapper, actor and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also plays Alexander Hamilton in the play.

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This play combines the historical accounts of founding father and abolitionist Hamilton with modern rap and hip-hop. The Roots’  Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter were recruited to produce the album for the Broadway production.

In an interview with BillBoard, Miranda, Questlove and Black Thought talked about what it was like to work and experience the play.

hamilton-publicQuestlove talks about the diverse cast and the lack of white actors in the play.

“The casting is a bold decision that works, that totally works. I went on a night when Lorne Michaels was in the audience and ­[playwright] Tracy Letts was there and I just kept looking at their faces, and they were so energetic and entertained by it. And I was like, ‘OK, so maybe this isn’t as controversial as I thought it would be.’ From a hip-hop head perspective, it was thumbs up. And then I was wondering: What will a history buff say? Who’s going to snark in The New Yorker and say, ‘You know, this is not at all an authentic portrayal’?”

Hamilton is not the first play Questlove composed music for. In fact, he co-composed the play Fela! in 2009. Hamilton is currently on Broadway.