Ruth Negga was born in Addis Ababa on January 7, 1982 to an Irish mother and Ethiopian father. An only child, Ruth was raised in Limerick, Ireland from the age of 4, and attended Trinity College in Dublin where she earned a Bachelor's degree in Acting.

 

Her body of work spans award-winning theatre productions, big-screen dramas, independent films, and innovative television series. She won the Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of legendary singer Shirley Bassey in the telefilm Shirley.

 

Stateside, she joined the Marvel Universe as Raina on the hit show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., for which she received an IFTA Award nomination. Currently, she co-stars as Tulip O’Hare opposite Dominic Cooper in the AMC series Preacher, an adaptation of the DC Comics graphic novel of the same name.

 

Ruth made her stage debut in Lolita at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre. Her extensive theatre credits include Duck at London’s Royal Court Theatre, for which she received an Olivier Award nomination; Playboy of the Western World, at The Old Vic; Hamlet, at the National Theatre; Phaedre, also at the National Theatre, for which was honored with the Ian Charleson Award, given annually to young classical stage actors in Britain; Oedipus Loves You, at the Peter Pan Theatre; Lay Me Down Softly, The Crucible, The Bacchae, and Burial at Thebes, all at the Abbey Theatre; and, at the Project Theatre, Titus Andronicus, for which she received the Irish Times Award for Best Actress.

 

Ruth was named a Shooting Star at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival. On the big screen, she’s been featured in World War Z; The Samaritan, alongside Samuel L. Jackson; Breakfast on Pluto, for which she received an IFTA Award nomination; Of Mind and Music; Noble; Jimi: All Is by My Side, Warcraft; and in the title role of Iona.

 

Here, Ruth talks about her latest outing as Mildred Loving in “Loving,” the biopic/courtroom drama about the couple who took their challenge of the State of Virginia’s law against interracial marriage all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

 

Kam Williams (LAWT): Hi Ruth. thanks for the interview.

 

Ruth Negga (RN): Oh, hi Kam. How are you?

 

LAWT: Great! And you?

 

RN: I’m not bad. Not too bad at all, now. 

 

LAWT: I loved the film and both your and Joel Edgerton's performances.

 

RN: Oh, thank you!

 

LAWT: What interested you in Loving?

 

RN: That’s a good question. Let me try to give you a concise answer. I basically fell in love with Mildred and Richard [Loving, the main characters]. I thought they were an extraordinary couple whose love just seemed so apparent. To be honest with you, Jeff's [writer/director Jeff Nichols] script was such a beautiful reflection of these human beings that I really wanted to spend time with them. 

 

LAWT: What convinced Jeff Nichols to trust such an American story in the hands of  leads from Australia and from Ireland by way of Ethiopia? Had you ever heard of the Supreme Court case, Loving v. Virginia?

 

RN: Yes, but I don’t think that being an expert in the Loving case is what would qualify me to play Mildred. Do you know what I mean?

 

LAWT: Yes.

 

RN: I think my job is to be a chameleon and to disappear, so I don’t think my being Irish and Ethiopian should prohibit me from playing Mildred at all. I believe that what should matter more is my skill set and my willingness to work.

 

LAWT: This is very intimate film, with a quiet chemistry generated between you and Joel via looks and tender touches. Had you two worked together before? How long did you get to rehearse with each other?

 

RN: Well, Jeff doesn’t rehearse. He casts quite instinctively. In this case, I think he knew he was casting two actors who would be willing to work very hard. I did audition for him, and I think he was impressed with the extent to which I’d prepared for that. The thing is, he wanted people who could embody this couple, not mimic them. He’d previously worked with Joel in Midnight Special, so he’d already witnessed Joel’s ability to disappear into a character. And that was a very American part, too. I believe Jeff just trusted us both as actors to do our jobs individually. And we both professed such love for this couple that he was confident that we’d try as hard as possible to recreate their love and their chemistry. He also knew, intrinsically, that we were two actors who don’t act in isolation but very much rely on other actors. And Joel and I both very much felt that this was something that we could do as an ensemble.  

 

LAWT: When I saw the film, I thought that this was the first time I’d seen you. Then, when I looked at your resume, I realized I’d seen you in World War Z, in Of Mind and Music, in Jimi and in a few other productions. So, that shows how much you do disappear into a role. I was very impressed. I had no idea you weren’t American.

 

RN: Wow! that’s a lovely thing to say. Thank you!

 

LAWT: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: How did you prepare to play Mildred? What research did you need to conduct to capture the character accurately?

 

RN: Great question, Patricia! Luckily, Nancy Buirski had made the documentary, The Loving Story, for HBO. She first found out about Mildred Loving by reading her obituary. Being the excellent documentarian that she is, she then began digging and doing research, and she found archival footage which had been discarded that was originally intended for a contemporary documentary. And she created a documentary about this couple, weaving footage into it. So, I basically studied that and all the archival footage that we could find. The Loving Story was really a gift, because it let me sort of unlock Mildred, her physicality, the way she spoke, the timbre, tone and pitch of her voice, the way she moved, and the way she was with Richard, her kids, and the rest of her family. It really was invaluable, which is why I always quip that Nancy did my homework for me.       

 

LAWT: What message do you think people will take away from the film?

 

RN: I don’t know what people will take away from the film, but I would hope they take away the idea that it’s very important that we don’t forget those in history who might have been quiet agitators, people who might have changed the world in a way which was unexpected. And that should remind us that we all have the capacity to do that. Even if you think that you don’t, this couple proves otherwise.  

 

LAWT: I agree. I found the film to be very powerful in an understated way. It’ll be interesting to see how people respond to it.

 

RN: It will be. You’re right.

 

LAWT: Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone would?

 

RN: Gosh, that’s a good question. Hmm... [Pauses to think] I don’t know, but that’s a brilliant question, I must admit. But I do love talking about this couple.

 

LAWT: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you’d like to star in?

 

RN: Someone’s already asked me that, Kam. I answered All about Eve, because I think it’s just such a brilliant film. I doubt that it could be remade any better, but I just love the character Eve Harrington. 

 

LAWT: Ling-Ju Yen asks: What is your earliest childhood memory?

 

RN: Waiting with my mom at a bus stop in Addis Ababa during the rainy season. I remember being dressed in a pink coat and being fascinating by the raindrops hitting the pools of water. I do love rain, which you better, if you grow up in Ireland.

 

LAWT: Finally, what’s in your wallet?

 

RN: Credit cards, stick gum attached to pennies, and an unhygienic toothpick. Honestly, my purse is just a mess. Constantly. [Laughs]

 

LAWT: Thanks again for the time, Ruth, and best of luck with Loving.

 

RN: Thank you ever so much, Kam. Bye!

 

To see a trailer for Loving, visit: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zRXuCY7tRgk 

Category: Cover Stories

California Attorney General Kamala Harris, 52, won the open California U.S. Senate race defeating fellow Democrat, Orange County Representative Loretta Sanchez.  With 21% of the precincts reporting, Harris led Sanchez with 67% of the vote reporting.  The Associated Press called the race for Harris at 8PM PST. 

 

Harris becomes the second Black woman elected to the Senate and the sixth Black U.S. Senator in the country’s history.  She is also the first Black and third woman to represent California in the U.S. Senate.  It has been 24 years since California elected a new senator and there hasn’t been a Black female in the senate since the election of Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois who served one term from 1993 to 1999.  Harris was endorsed by both California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.  Harris will succeed Boxer who has held the seat since 1993, and is retiring after serving four terms in the Senate.

 

Boxer, in her endorsement of Harris said, “California deserves a continuation of clear progressive leadership in the U.S. Senate.  For almost 50 years, the seat that I hold has been a leadership seat on human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, voting rights, immigrants’ rights, fair trade, a clean environment and a voice for all families – no matter their circumstances.  Kamala Harris shares those values with me.  Her broad array of endorsements underscores this.”

 

Harris ran on a platform of criminal justice reform, enacting family leave, equal pay policies, college affordability, universal pre-kindergarten for children, and tackling climate change.  She secured the backing of some of the country’s top Democrats, including President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and California Governor Jerry Brown. 

 

Harris and Sanchez, both Democrats, finished 1-2 in California’s June primary.  Under the State’s election rules, regardless of party, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election.  Governor Jerry Brown will appoint her successor.

Category: Cover Stories

It’s no secret that the United States Senate has often been referred to as one of the last bastions for Caucasian men of privilege.  To date, nine Blacks have served in the US Senate beginning in 1870 when Hiram Revels was elected by the Mississippi State Senate.  During that time, state legislatures elected US Senators and Hiram, a man described as “a colored man, a minister who was presumed to be a Republican, believed to be a man of ability and considerably above the average in point of intelligence,” was seated as the first Black Senator. 

 

Revels served for one year and he was followed in 1874 by Blanche Bruce of Mississippi who served from 1875 to 1881.  Another century would pass before Edward Brooke of Massachusetts would be elected by popular vote in 1967.  He would serve two terms.  The glass ceiling in the Senate would be broken 123 years later by Carol Moseley Braun, the first Black woman elected to the Senate in 1993 from the State of Illinois.  And we will never forget that it was the fifth Black Senator, Barack Obama from the State of Illinois who would go on to become the 44th President of the United States. 

 

And now, the great state of California; the first state to send two women, Barbara L. Boxer (D-Calif.), and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to the Senate simultaneously and one of three states currently represented by two women is poised to elect by popular vote the second Black woman to serve in the US Senate.  And that Black woman is Kamala D. Harris.

 

Kamala Harris, 51, the astute State Attorney General, bold leader, is running for the California Senate seat to succeed Barbara L. Boxer.  This seat is the state’s first open Senate seat since 1992. Her opponent, Loretta Sanchez, is an Orange County Congresswoman and a fellow Democrat.  According to the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll, Harris leads by a two-to-one margin over her opponent.  We believe that the election of Harris is vital for the State of California and for Black Americans across this country and it’s not just because she is Black.

 

 There is no better political resume than that of Kamala Harris.  She has served as District Attorney in San Francisco and won two terms as California’s Attorney General. Described by most as “eloquent and insightful,” Harris has worked to reduce recidivism among young offenders, working with local businessman to secure job opportunities for a population most would have written off.  She said “it was time to rock the crime pyramid” and she did.  While some wanted Harris to offer a bolder plan, she decided to offer a blueprint for redirecting nonviolent offenders, working from the inside out.  She expanded her Back on Track LA program that connected inmates with services such as therapy, health care, child support, education, and job training.  It was Harris who developed statewide policies regulating the use of body-worn cameras by police officers, instituted new training on racial profiling and implicit biases, hot issues across the country that left many police departments playing catch-up. 

 

For Harris marriage equality, health care, homeowners reform – providing mortgage relief to thousands of Californians who were underwater and gun violence, Harris is a dedicated public service.  Not one to showboat, Harris declares that she is a fighter who knows and understands that the path to victory to fairness and justice is paved with activists and insiders.  “Here’s the bottom line.  I am trying to change the system from the inside.  They (activists) are trying to change the system from the outside. And together, change will occur,” Harris said.

 

An ardent supporter, President Barack Obama said this of Harris, “She is brilliant, and she is dedicated, and she is tough.”  And toughness is what Black Americans need in the Senate and what America needs to foster change in a system that this election has shown is broken and in need of new ideas, fresh blood, and persons who can quite frankly forge partnerships as oppose to operating as a fear monger.

 

For Harris, passing legislation to prevent gun violence will be a top priority.  “Congress’ failure to control the sale of guns is shameful.  We need to prevent dangerous people from obtaining guns,” said Harris.  She knows that the criminal justice system is draconian and must change.  Harris gets that this country cannot force more than 11 million undocumented immigrants to live and work in the shadows.  And Harris knows that Obamacare has provided access to health care for millions of Americans.  She has pledged to “fight any attempts to repeal the law.”

 

Kamala D. Harris, candidate for the United States Senate, has shown us that she’s the one.  She is a crime fighter, a protector of families, the intelligent one, a possessor of extraordinary skill, and one who has a servant’s heart.   She is a vote of a lifetime.

  

 

Days Before the Election, Clinton Talks about Criminal Justice, Jobs and Education with the Black Press

 

By Cash Michaels

 

The Carolinian, NNPA Member

 

 

 

In an exclusive interview with North Carolina’s African-American press, Hillary Clinton said that even though she is running to benefit all Americans, the first woman expected to be elected president of the United States on Nov. 8 does have a special focus on working with the African-American community and its leaders — both local and national — to improve employment, business, education, and other important quality of life issues.

 

“I want to pay particular attention to Americans who feel left out and left behind by the economy, or the situation in their communities,” the former First Lady, senator and United States Secretary of State said Oct. 23 at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, a historically Black college, during perhaps one of her last sit-down interviews of the campaign.

 

“I’ve laid out a really extensive agenda for African-Americans, starting with improving the economy so that its producing more jobs for more people; raising the national minimum wage – [we’ve] got mostly women earning minimum wage, often times being the sole support of their children, and they deserve a better economic opportunity,” she said. Clinton also cited more affordable housing as a need.

 

She maintained that getting equal pay for women as a “particularly big issue for African-American women,” adding that black female small business owners are “the fastest growing segment of the small business world in our country.”

 

“[But] they’re running into credit… [and] regulatory problems. We’ve got to look at those, not just from a 30,000-foot view, but right down on the ground. What is it that stands in the way of men or women getting their businesses going?”

 

Improving higher education not only through the proposal she and Sen. Bernie Sanders have developed to make public universities “tuition-free” for students from families making $125,000 or less, but also creating a “dedicated $25 billion fund” to help private historically black colleges and universities like St. Augustine’s and Shaw universities to continue to grow.

 

After reading that one in five North Carolina homes have no access to the Internet, noting that they are disproportionately African-American or Latino, Clinton said emphatically, “I want to fix that,” continuing that those families are left out of so many economic and educational opportunities as a result.

 

“Taking on systemic racism,” something she has “talked very openly and specifically about,” is something Clinton added to her pronounced agenda for African-Americans. She points towards reforming the criminal justice system “from end to end” to help stem the tide of questionable fatal police shootings of black people, improving police training, and building greater respect between law enforcement and the African-American community.

 

“I particularly want to provide more diversion from the criminal justice system and more second chance programs for people who have paid their debt to society so that we begin to reverse what has been an over incarceration that has really disrupted communities.”

 

“But I also have to do more to heal the divides that we face in our country, and I’m taking all of this on because I want to build on the progress that Pres. Obama has made. I don’t want to see it reversed or ripped away.” And yet, a “President” Hillary Clinton’s approach would be from “a different perspective that will hopefully get even more people listening,” she says.

 

Clinton certainly disagrees with Donald Trump’s assessment that African-Americans “live in hell,” instantly exclaiming, “Oh that’s so wrong,” and then adding “One of many insulting, divisive comments that Trump made was his characterization of African-American communities. It just shows he’s never been in any, he doesn’t know any people, he has no idea of the dynamism of small business or the importance of historically black colleges and universities, or the role that black churches play, or black professionals, and every walk of life.”

 

“He has characterized in such a negative way what I see as a part of America that has a lot going for it, but [also] has some challenges that we must honestly address.”

 

Clinton expressed support for South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn’s  “10-20-30” plan – ten percent of federal funds should go to the twenty percent of communities that have been living with generational poverty and lack of development for thirty years. Clinton says she’s developed a plan that not only implements 10-20-30 into the federal budget, but also the empowerment and enterprise zones that helped build black businesses under President Bill Clinton’s “New Markets” tax credits to be able to further invest, and hire people within their communities.

 

Mrs. Clinton said she’d like to see “a much bigger effort” when it comes to upgrading skills training so that more people can actually qualify for the 1.2 million available jobs in the marketplace. She says she wants to accomplish this challenge literally on a “neighborhood by neighborhood” basis, working with local officials, businesses and faith leaders who know the most about their own communities, and bring different perspectives to the table.

 

Clinton lauds President Obama’s leadership in getting the country out of the greatest financial crisis since the great Depression – an economic collapse she says was caused by a combination of huge tax breaks for the wealthy, and Republicans taking the regulatory eyes off of Wall Street and the financial markets. Clinton says that Obama “doesn’t get the credit that he deserves for pulling us out of that big ditch.”

 

She credits the president’s “steadiness” in guiding the economy with a substantial stimulus and recovery package and the reinstatement of a higher tax rate on the wealthy, all resulting in over 75 consecutive quarters of economic growth. Last year until now, Clinton adds, more people are finding work, incomes went up and more people are entering the jobs market.

 

“I want to build on that foundation,” Mrs. Clinton says of Pres. Obama’s achievements, “and I don’t want to see it ripped up and thrown away by a false ideology that the way you create economic wealth and equality in America is top down. I think its middle out, and bottom up. I will build on what the president has done.”

 

When asked if “President” Hillary Clinton’s United States Justice Department would continue to pursue the strengthening of voting rights, keeping in mind the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that the Republican-led NC General Assembly deliberately suppressed African-American voters with “surgical precision,” Clinton immediately said, “Yes, a hundred percent.”

 

She furthered that she was “proud” of the efforts of both US Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch and her predecessor, Eric Holder, to beat back unconstitutional voter ID laws in North Carolina and across the nation. However Clinton also blasted the US Supreme Court for striking down Section 4(b) of the 1965, effectively taking away the Justice Dept’s most effective tools in policing how various states are upholding the 1965 Voting Rights Act [VRA].

 

Clinton lamented that the High Court crippled the VRA, especially since Democrats and Republicans in the US Senate when she served voted 98-0 to renew the VRA, and then-Pres. George W. Bush signed it.

 

“I want to appoint people to the [US] Supreme Court who understand, based on what you read in the Fourth Circuit [and other court findings against Republicans trying to suppress the vote]. I also want to go back to Congress and try to get legislation to fix the heart of the Voting Rights Act…” noting that Congressman John Lewis  (D-GA) is leading a bi-partisan effort now “…to reinstate the full reach and power of the VRA.”

 

Clinton, her husband former President Bill Clinton, and other campaign surrogates have been flooding North Carolina in recent weeks trying to edge Republican Donald Trump in one of the nation’s tightest battleground state races. Last Thursday, Clinton appeared with First Lady Michelle Obama in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Category: Cover Stories

By all accounts, Steve Bradford could rest on his laurels. A former member of California’s State Assembly, from 2009 to 2014 he had 42 bills passed making him one of the most active and successful lawmakers in Sacramento at the time. But instead Bradford, a Gardena native, is campaigning for California’s 35th Senate District with the same passion and fervor he put into his first campaign some 18 years ago when he was elected to the Gardena City Council.

 

California’s 35th Senate District includes the cities of Compton, Carson, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Gardena, San Pedro, Torrance and parts of Long Beach and South Los Angeles.  On November 8, voters in those cities will go to the polls to elect a new state senator to replace Compton’s Isadore Hall who is running for the House of Representatives.  And while he’s not resting on his laurels, many see Bradford as shoo-in for the position.

 

Recognizing that to earn the trust of voters today it’s going to take more than a handshake or kissing a baby while on the campaign trail to win in November, Bradford points to his history while in office.

 

“I’m not addicted to elected office but I am committed to public service,” said Bradford of his campaign for the state senate.  “I delivered results for 13 years as a member of the Gardena City Council and six years as a member of the Legislature.  When I was elected as a member of the Gardena City Council [the city] was on the brink of bankruptcy. Twelve years later when I left, we had $8.5 million in the bank, we eradicated a $7 million debt, we had given employees raises and we went from 62 sworn police officers to 92.”

 

While in Sacramento, Bradford served as the chair of the Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color.

 

“I worked hard to correct the many institutional injustices that plague young Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific Islander males in California,” Bradford recalled.

 

“As a result of our progress on this issue, I had the pleasure of joining President Barack Obama at the White House for the launch of My Brother’s Keeper, a national initiative modeled after the work we have been doing in California for years.”

 

Bradford also dedicated his time to environmental justice as it relates to commerce. As chair of the Committee on Utilities & Commerce he authored legislation to promote renewable, clean energy and to protect and enhance local neighborhood security. He also spearheaded numerous pieces of legislation ranging from public safety and civil rights to protecting the environment.

 

Bradford grew up in Gardena.  He attended Purche Avenue Elementary, Henry Clay Junior High School and Gardena High School before going on to earn a Bachelors of Arts degree in Political Science at California State University, Dominguez Hills and San Diego State University.

 

He founded the popular South Bay Gardena Jazz Festival and currently serves as the annual event’s chair.

 

Like in any campaign, Bradford has his share of endorsements, including Congresswoman Karen Bass, Senator Isadore Hall, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Inglewood Mayor James Butts, the Los Angeles Sentinel and L.A. Watts Times along with a bevy of other elected officials, businesses, and labor groups.

 

Even as a member of the State Assembly, Bradford was not known for traveling in an entourage.  Just like his humble beginnings when he made history as the first African-American to be elected to the Gardena City Council, Bradford approaches his constituent relationships sincerely and personally.  With a full campaign staff, Bradford still attends many events by himself.  He makes regular calls to voters and can often be found when not canvassing for votes—at his campaign office working alongside his volunteers.

 

“I am not a career politician,” said Bradford.

 

“Instead, I’m a public servant and a citizen activist who happens to have served in local and state government on behalf of my local community. Guided by this philosophy, I have spent my career being singularly focused on one objective– to represent my constituents to the best of my ability and to work tirelessly to get things done for families and local neighborhoods in our community.”

 

For his humbleness, effectiveness and proven track record, Steve Bradford is the Los Angeles Sentinel’s official choice for State Senate to represent the 35th district.

Category: Cover Stories

Page 1502 of 1617