August 15, 2019
By Imani Sumbi
Contributing Writer
Many of Motown’s biggest icons were in attendance at the premiere of Showtime’s latest documentary, “Hitsville: The Making of Motown,” last Thursday, August 8, at the Harmony Gold Theater in Los Angeles. Unforgettable stars such as Mary Wilson of the Supremes, Thelma Houston and former Vandellas member Betty Kelly, graced the red carpet alongside legendary producer, William “Mickey” Stevenson, songwriter Janie Bradford, and of course, members of the Gordy family.
Directed by British brothers Gabe and Benjamin Turner, “Hitsville” traces the history of Motown Records from its founding in 1958 in Detroit, up to its relocation to Los Angeles during the early 1970s. Told through rare behind-the-scenes footage, performances, and exclusive new interviews with Motown founder Berry Gordy, the film offers an intimate look into the ascent of Motown to one of the most successful record labels of all time. “Hitsville” also dives into the massive cultural impact of Motown as it blossomed alongside the flaring racial tensions that characterized the Civil Rights Era.
During the premiere, the Los Angeles Sentinel spoke to several Motown artists and creative figures, as well as the film’s directors.
The Turner brothers told the Sentinel how honored they felt to have been entrusted with the task of telling Motown’s story, and their hope is that is brings about a positive and lasting message.
“We feel really privileged to be here tonight, to have made the film, to have been people that have put this story together,” Gabe Turner said. “Hopefully, this film will travel generations and people will watch it in years to come.”
Although it has been over 60 years since Motown’s founding, Benjamin Turner believes its story is deeply relevant for modern audiences.
“I think more than anything, this is a story that needs to be told right now,” he said. “Across the world, there is division and it feels like a difficult time. Motown is a story of hope and unity and beauty, and they did something absolutely amazing against all the odds. And they did something for everybody.”
The Sentinel was able to catch a moment on the red carpet with the film’s most prominent figures, Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson. The two recalled their first meeting, when Gordy was already a professional songwriter and Robinson was just a young man with a few songs written down.
“He was doing great,” Robinson said of Gordy. “And I was just a little dude who had some songs, and most of them didn’t make sense, and he pointed that out to me. He actually mentored me in writing songs.”
Robinson said he felt forever in debt to Gordy for taking the time to cultivate him as a songwriter. Gordy likewise showed an equal, if not greater admiration for Robinson.
“He’s the only person in the world that I know every time he was criticized, he got more excited,” Gordy said. “That’s what excited me.”
Then, he added: “What didn’t excite me was, after a few months, he became better than me.”
Gordy said that when he realized Robinson had surpassed him in songwriting, their relationship became somewhat competitive.
“One day, he came to me with a song called ‘I’ll Try Something New,’” Gordy recalled. “It was just so brilliant. And then, I went back to my drawing board and I tried to write better. Then, I wrote a few hits, and then he came back and outdid me again.”
It only took a little teaching, Gordy said, for Robinson to come into himself as an artist, upon which he began producing “the stuff that we all know about, that became historical tunes.”
However competitive they may have been, Gordy and Robinson have clearly remained the best of friends over the decades.
“This bond is everlasting,” Robinson said. “I love this man with all of me. And he has earned that from me. He’s earned my respect, my trust, my love, from the day I met him.”
At the end of the interview, Robinson talked about how the music of Motown influenced and was influenced by the civil rights movement. He recalled that several Motown acts would frequently participate in sit-ins, marches and other demonstrations as they travelled across the country.
“We could not ignore it,” he said. “If you were Black in America at that time, it was impossible for you to ignore that.
And so, everybody was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, and we were very heavily involved in it. In fact, Dr. Martin Luther King made a couple albums at Motown. But we did it – we broke down barriers with music.”
Many of Motown’s earliest artists say they are amazed at how deeply the legacy of Motown is seared into the American memory, even in the present day. It could even be said that today’s tumultuous political landscape has brought a new relevance to these old tracks.
“To be part of it is mind-boggling for me,” Mary Wilson told the Sentinel. “I don’t know about the others here, but to know some fifty-some years later, we are still being listened to … people like yourself still want to interview us, and I’m still thinking like, ‘Wow, this is really fantastic!’ I always said it’s like a dream come true.”
Go to lasentinel.net/videos to watch Los Angeles Sentinel Managing Editor Brandon I. Brooks interview Motown legends on the red carpet.
“Hitsville: The Making of Motown” will air on Showtime for the first time on Saturday, August 24, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
August 15, 2019
Aries
MAR 21 - APR 19
Your heart is swooning over someone special, Aries. It's simply impossible that there's nothing happening in your love life -- not with this much energy crowding your 5th House of Romance! This Wednesday you'll benefit from a glorious Sun-Venus conjunction right in the middle of your true love sector. Don't be surprised if you hear endless declarations of love from the person who has captured your heart. Make the most of opportunities to have fun with your lover this week. After Sunday, Mars moves into your 6th House of Routine and you'll be focused less on play and more on work.
Taurus
APR 20 - MAY 20
If your love and sex life has been ... uhh ... lacking lately, or just plain dead, there is amazing news on for you! On Sunday the 18th, Mars, the planet of libido and energy, will rush into your true love sector and remains here through October 4. Dry spell? OVER. Bored with your current mate? Things are about to spice up in the lusty, earthy way that sends you reeling. You'll also make having fun and enjoying the pleasures of life more of a priority. Making a decision to relax for a few weeks will turn out to be one of your best decisions all summer.
Gemini
MAY 21 - JUN 20
Mental stimulation is crucial to you, Gemini -- in any relationship, but especially in romantic ones. This week you will adore communicating with your lover about the things that make the both of you truly happy. You might plan a trip together that turns into a glorious romantic getaway. You may also make a solid decision together about one of your children or about having one. Single? This is definitely a week to reach out and touch someone with your sparkling mind. You'll have a way of making anyone feel like the center of the universe with your words. With this gift, you should have no trouble securing a hot date!
Cancer
JUN 21 - JUL 22
A Full Moon in your 8th House of Vulnerability on Thursday will bring deep emotional needs and desires to the surface. As a result, you're not about to play games with your mate. In fact, if you feel betrayed, wounded, or hurt in any way, you'll let your partner know just how deeply you've been cut. Take care not to close yourself off entirely and crawl so far into your shell of self-protection that you don't allow any room for healing. The best part of a Full Moon in this part of your chart is that, should you choose, you can let go of the grief. Pain is inevitable. Suffering? Optional.
Leo
JUL 23 - AUG 22
Oh, the glory of being a Leo these days! You've got people showering you with attention and affection left and right. Yet despite there being no shortage of potential romantic partners, you've got your sights set on one special someone who is clearly better than all the rest. This Wednesday, as the Sun embraces Venus in your sign, you might declare your love for this person or hear it from him or her first. It will make your heart expand in the most beautiful way, and with a Full Moon in your partnership sector on Thursday, there is only one option: You're making this person yours ... and yours alone.
Virgo
AUG 23 - SEP 22
You might have felt as if you're sleepwalking lately. The energy to accomplish your goals has been zapped from you and your partner has surely noticed. He or she might try to give you some much needed rejuvenation and surprise you with a spa treatment or other gift that he or she knows will lift your spirits. You'll love it! If you've been in a romantic situation where you're not happy but feel kind of trapped, you might finally snap out of it. On Sunday, Mars enters your sign and you'll remember that you've had the power all along. You're ready to live your life on your terms.
Libra
SEP 23 - OCT 22
You might have felt as if you're sleepwalking lately. The energy to accomplish your goals has been zapped from you and your partner has surely noticed. He or she might try to give you some much needed rejuvenation and surprise you with a spa treatment or other gift that he or she knows will lift your spirits. You'll love it! If you've been in a romantic situation where you're not happy but feel kind of trapped, you might finally snap out of it. On Sunday, Mars enters your sign and you'll remember that you've had the power all along. You're ready to live your life on your terms.
Scorpio
OCT 23 - NOV 21
You might have felt as if you're sleepwalking lately. The energy to accomplish your goals has been zapped from you and your partner has surely noticed. He or she might try to give you some much needed rejuvenation and surprise you with a spa treatment or other gift that he or she knows will lift your spirits. You'll love it! If you've been in a romantic situation where you're not happy but feel kind of trapped, you might finally snap out of it. On Sunday, Mars enters your sign and you'll remember that you've had the power all along. You're ready to live your life on your terms.
Sagittarius
NOV 22 - DEC 21
You're sure to experience a positive, inspirational, "magic carpet ride" moment with your sweetheart this week. The person who has your heart is not only expanding you emotionally, but is also exposing you to new things that are making you grow as a person. As a result of this, you're falling even more deeply in love than you ever expected. What you'll adore most about your romantic scenario this week is discovering or confirming that you and your lover share the same values and life philosophy on what truly matters to you.
Capricorn
DEC 22 - JAN 19
A major boost in happiness is coming your way this week. How? It seems you'll experience both financial and erotic joy, thanks to a dazzling Sun-Venus conjunction in your 8th House of Sharing on Wednesday. Lucky you! If you're in a relationship, then your partner might surprise you with amazing news about money. He or she might bring happy news about an influx of cash that is sure to make you smile. You're also going to feel quite satisfied in the sexual department. Your partner is set on making you the center of attention. You won't be disappointed.
Aquarius
JAN 20 - FEB 18
A Full Moon in your sign on Thursday has you feeling all the feels, and this might not exactly sit well with you. As a cerebral Aquarius, emotions aren't really your thing. You feel just as much as any other human out there, but you much prefer to sit in your head than your heart space because it's just more comfortable with you. With a Full Moon in Aquarius, however, you are likely to become extremely emotional about someone you can't stop thinking about. Go with it. A Sun-Venus conjunction in your partnership sector signals that the person on your mind has nothing but mad love for you.
Pisces
FEB 19 - MAR 20
The energy you'll have for relationships is off the charts after Sunday the 18th. That's when Mars will move into your partnership sector for the first time in two years, remaining here through October 4. You're motivated to relate and partner up and this will be achieved in one way: work. Yes, with Mars in Virgo you're ready to roll up your sleeves and fix everything that's wrong with your current love connection. While it's true that this may include a few arguments at the end of the day, you don't care. It's the only way to make your love life better.
August 15, 2019
By Lapacazo Sandoval
Contributing Writer
Director Tom Shadyac (“Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”) was not originally looking at 52 years old actress Sherri Shepherd to play Leomia Banks, the mother of Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) in the film “Brian Banks.” In a happy turn of events, the actress did what she does best, which is, to stay in the game, never giving up and always proving that there is much, much more to her than meets the eye. This funny lady has layers like a peeled onion and like an onion, she can bring a tear to an eye.
In many ways, it’s Shepherd's performance that brings the much-needed balance in telling the hard parts of the truth of what really happened to Brian Banks.
“Brian Banks” is an inspirational true story of Brian Banks, an all-American high school football star who finds his life smashed when he’s wrongly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. Despite the lack of evidence, Banks gets pushed through a broken justice system and sentenced to a decade of prison and probation. Years later, with the support of Justin Brooks and the California Innocence Project, Banks fights to reclaim his life and fulfill his dreams of playing in the NFL.
Shepherd made her name as a comedic actress in projects like “30 Rock,” and recently in “Mr. Iglesias” on Netflix. Here is an edited phone conversation with the gifted Sherri Shepherd.
L.A. Watts Times: You are an excellent actress Sherri Shepherd and in playing Leomia Banks, the mother of Brian Banks, you deliver. I can’t wait to see more of your dramatic work. You always surprise me. I respect your ability to always stay in the game.
SHERRI SHEPHERD: Thank you. Can I put you on the phone with my daddy?
LAWT: Yes, or better yet send him the link when the story runs. How did you get involved with this project? I’m sure that your desk is filled with scripts.
SS: (laughing) I wish my desk was filled with scripts. This project came from my agents and when I read it, I connected with Leomia Banks as a mother. At the time my son was 12 years old and I said my baby could be Brian Banks. I connected with her for her faith. She had to use her faith to sustain her. I connected with the love that she has for her son despite the horrible things that were happening to him.
LAWT: Why did you say that ‘you wished you had scripts on your desk’? Did you have to work to get this part?
SS: Yes, yes I did. I asked my agent to please, please get me an audition for this role. The very thing that people love me for which is my comedic background worked against me. The movie was so heavy as a drama that they weren’t interested in seeing me for the role. They were looking at names like Viola Davis, Octavia Spenser, Jada Pinkett, Halle, it was a bunch of names [actresses] known for drama. Can you imagine? I’m a standup comic. All I knew that in my soul that I connected with Leomia Banks, I was Leomia. It took weeks for me to finally get the audition and then I did face time with the director Tom Shadyac. It was wonderful because he has directed other standup comics. He wrote the “Nutty Professor” and he’s directed Eddie Murphy in a bunch of movies. He knew how to work with stand-ups. I knew I had gotten the part when [Tom] said that I brought a softness to the role which is what he was looking for. Then he said he had to sit on Eddie Murphy with his comedic timing and I think that I have to sit on you. He was able to take the comedy side of me and put it on the shelf with the fine china and bring up the more painful side that stand-up comics cover up with comedy.
LAWT: There by the grace of GOD go anyone of us. Brian Banks was falsely accused of rape and jailed for six years. For so many Black and Brown people there is no real justice inside the justice system. How did Brian stay sane?
SS: Leonia, when he (Brian) was incarcerated, she drove three and a half hours there and thrre and a half hours back, the entire time he was incarcerated. She wrote him a letter every day. And that is what kept Brian Banks sane. I want parents to see that you make such a difference in your child’s life.
LAWT: There by the grace of GOD go all of us.
SS: Yes. Twelve years of his life were taken away because they just automatically believed somebody and didn’t do the due diligence, And not only that, at 16 years old, they wouldn’t let him consult with his mother and forced him to make a decision that affected the rest of his life. So being able to play that woman who advocates for her child was something special to me because I have to advocate for my son Jeffrey all the time.
LAWT: Indeed, last words Miss Sherri Shepherd.
SS: Let’s use our voice to change the judicial system I don’t think children should be, he was arrested when he was 16 years old, I don’t think children should be tried as adults. And something that Brian said too, go to jury duty stop trying to get out of jury duty. And I used to do that all the time. But go to jury duty because God forbid you are in front of a jury you want someone that looks like you. That might have empathy for your situation. So I hope that we bring awareness to this judicial system and how unlevel it is.
August 08, 2019
By Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D.
NNPA Newswire Culture and Entertainment Editor
Alice Walker, one of the premiere writers of the 20th Century, was honored in July by her hometown of Eatonton, GA for her 75th Birthday (Alice Walker 75). Hundreds of people flocked from all over the country to Walker’s birthplace to celebrate the birthday of the Pulitzer Prize winning author.
The activist, who was born February 9, 1944 in Eatonton left in 1961 to attend Spelman College, eventually enrolling at Sarah Lawrence College due to controversy surrounding her political activism at Spelman.
Walker’s legacy of activism and storytelling was on full display at the event, which was held at the Georgia Writers Museum and included a day of activities and events to honor Walker’s life and achievements. The event was co-chaired by award-winning author Valerie Boyd, editor of “Gathering Blossoms Under Fire: The Journals of Alice Walker,” which will be released in 2020 and Lou Benjamin, founder of Eatonton’s Briar Patch Arts Council.
Walker, who lived just outside of town, acknowledged this was the first time she had been to Eatonton and was unaware the Plaza Arts Center existed, which is where many of the festivities were held.
The day kicked off with a screening and discussion of the American Masters Documentary, “Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth” followed by a discussion with the filmmaker Pratibha Parmar and scholar Salamisha Tillet at The Plaza Arts Center.
Celebrants were able to take bus tours of the area and see Walker’s birthplace while fellow authors and poets and friends paid tribute to the game changer, who was clearly touched by the praise, humbly thanking the audience throughout the day of events.
“An American Marriage” novelist Tayari Jones read from the novel “Meridian,” poet Daniel Black read Walker’s short story “Flowers,” and poet Kamilah Aisha Moon read Walker’s poem, “How Poems are Made.” Journalist and author Evelyn C. White offered remembrances of friendship and activism and classically trained Gospel violinist Melanie R. Hill performed a medley of songs honoring the legend.
Perhaps the most poignant part of the program was when Walker’s daughter Rebecca, read several pieces including “Now That Book Is Finished,” a poem Walker wrote about Rebecca when she was a child. Rebecca’s son Tenzin, 14, performed an original song he composed entitled, “Sun and Steam,” which he played beautifully on the piano. Rebecca Walker’s words, expressions of love and gratitude to her mother and Tenzin’s performance were symbolic of the reconciliation between Walker and her daughter who had been estranged during a difficult period. Walker’s former husband Melvyn R. Levanthal was also in attendance.
The special birthday celebration ended with Walker taking the stage of The Plaza Arts Center for a candid conversation with Boyd, author of the award-winning biography “Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston.” Walker and Boyd’s tête-à-tête ended with an invitation for all attendees to take the stage and dance with the celebrated author to two of her favorite songs, “Rock Steady,” by Aretha Franklin and “As” by Stevie Wonder, concluding a lovely day of celebration of one of the 20th Century’s greatest writers.