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Singer Traci Braxton of ‘Braxton Family Values’ dies at 50
Singer Traci Braxton, who was featured with her family in the reality television series “Braxton Family Values,” died at age 50 on Saturday, March 12, 2022.
11 U.S. mayors commit to reparations as national example
Eleven U.S. mayors — from Los Angeles to tiny Tullahassee, Okla., — have pledged to pay reparations for slavery to a small group of Black residents in their cities, saying their aim is to set an example for the federal government on how a nationwide program could work.
Hip-hop classic Biz Markie succumbs at 57
Biz Markie, a hip-hop staple known for his beatboxing prowess, turntable mastery and the 1989 classic “Just a Friend,” died Friday, July 16, 2021, with his wife by his side.
Did Miss Jamaica’s hair cut short her chance?
Halle Berry won an Academy Award for her dramatic role in the 2002 movie “Monster’s Ball” with a beautiful, short hairstyle. So why, an astonished audience at Sunday’s Miss Universe Pageant protested, didn’t their overwhelming favorite win? Their favorite: Short-haired beauty Miss Jamaica, 22-year-old Kaci Fennell.
Mayweather seals legacy; rematch possible
Floyd Mayweather Jr. cemented his place among the pantheon of boxing greats, improving to 48-0 with a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao last Saturday in a fight some believed didn’t live up to its immense hype and price tag.
Prosperity preachers to pray at Trump inaugural
Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, who hosted President-elect Donald Trump with his Detroit congregation in September, is among the religious leaders chosen to offer prayers at the new president’s swearing-in next week in Washington. The inaugural committee announced that prosperity gospel preachers Bishop Jackson, who leads Great Faith Ministries International, and Pastor Paula White, a friend of the president-elect, will join four others selected to participate in the inauguration on Friday, Jan. 20.
Football icon Jim Brown honored with statue
For one more Sunday, Jim Brown felt the kind of emotional surge that made him an NFL legend. The greatest player to wear a Cleveland Browns jersey, and in the conversation as the best in league history, Brown was immortalized Sept. 18 as the team unveiled a bronze statue of the running back’s likeness outside FirstEnergy Stadium.
Emmy Awards filled with color, politics
Diversity ruled at Sunday’s Emmy Awards, where a record 21 nominees of color were up for the annual awards for television and cable shows in contrast to this year’s all-white Oscars acting lineup. Several took home Emmys, many for the first time.
Tiger clinches first win in 5 years
Tiger Woods was moved to the brink of tears after capturing his first title since 2013 with a two-stroke triumph at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on Sunday that proved he was far from washed up at the age of 42.
Gabby poised for gold at 2016 Summer Olympics
Gabby Douglas is seeking to become the first gymnast since Romanian Nadia Comaneci to win gold medals at back-to-back Olympics.
More than gold
Gymnast Simone Biles stuns the world, her teammates and her competitors by withdrawing from Olympic team and individual all-around competition to focus on her mental health
Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles was expected to again helped lead the American team to gold medal glory at the Tokyo Olympics just as she had at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Instead, the reigning queen of the sport help draw attention to the stresses that top athletes face Tuesday after she voluntarily withdrew from further competition, citing concerns about her mental fitness to continue.
For Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush, eviction fight is personal
Roughly two decades before she was elected to Congress, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri lived in a Ford Explorer with her then-husband and two young children after the family had been evicted from their rental home.
Oscars awarded to people of color during year of pandemic
The 93rd Annual Academy Awards was a mix of triumphant firsts for African-Americans, other people color and women during a glitter fest held Sunday for the first time at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.
Rev. Jesse Jackson, wife remain hospitalized with COVID-19
The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Tuesday that he’s feeling “fairly well” and receiving great care at a Chicago hospital after a breakthrough COVID-19 infection.
Dr. Dre hospitalized with brain aneurysm
Dr. Dre says he will be “back home soon” after the music mogul received medical treatment at a Los Angeles hospital for a reported brain aneurysm.
Oprah sells majority control of her OWN network
Oprah Winfrey has sold control of her 6-year-old cable network for $70 million.
Motown songwriter, producer Lamont Dozier dead at 81
Lamont Dozier, the middle name of the celebrated Holland-Dozier-Holland team that wrote and produced “You Can’t Hurry Love,” “Heat Wave” and dozens of other hits and helped make Motown an essential record company of the 1960s and beyond, has died at age 81.
Art Neville, one of the legendary musical Neville Brothers, dies at 81
Art Neville, a member of a storied New Orleans musical family who performed with his siblings in The Neville Brothers band and founded the groundbreaking funk group The Meters, died Monday, July 22, 2019, at his home
Funeral arrangements announced for ‘Queen of Soul,’ Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin, the glorious “Queen of Soul” whose music became the backdrop for a generation and a theme song for both the civil rights and women’s movement, will be laid to rest Friday, Aug. 31, at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit.
Personality: Julie Anderson
Spotlight on 2017 Star of Life Award winner
Growing up as the child of a paramedic and a firefighter, Julie Anderson says she never worried about her parents’ safety, even after her father was burned and hurt his back in two separate incidents
