A new plaque facing the White House bears witness to a shameful chapter in United States history: when enslaved people helped build one of the nation’s seats of government. Unveiled in a ceremony last week, the sign is one of three informational markers that now stand at the northern entrance of Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C. Conceived by the White House Historical…
For “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, the inspirations for art and philanthropy are inextricably linked. On Wednesday, Miranda is announcing a series of donations to organizations that serve immigrants, whose experiences are central to the new film version of his hit Broadway musical “In the Heights.” “For me,” Miranda told The Associated Press, “philanthropy and artistic inspiration kind of come from the same…
According to deadline.com, the story of Charles “Charlie” Wiggins, the most famous African American race car driver of the 1920s and 1930s, will be told in the feature film Eraced. Producing partners on the film will include racing brands Firestone and IndyCar. Eraced will chronicle the victories and struggles of the once-legendary-now-little-known Charlie “Speed King” Wiggins, who worked his way from shoeshine to mechanic to star racer…
A fund formed in response to the deadly racial violence four years ago in Charlottesville, Virginia, said Thursday it will award $3 million in grants to more than three dozen groups and sites nationwide to help preserve landmarks linked to Black history. Recipients of money from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund include a consortium of civil rights sites and Black…
The company behind Ntwrk, an app that sells limited-edition merchandise during live-streamed videos often hosted by celebrities, has hired its first chief marketing officer and is planning its first major ad campaign. Ntwrk executives want to raise awareness of the app and its live-stream shopping experience, said Jason Brown, the newly named CMO at Ntwrk, which is operated by Commerce Media Holdings LLC. Founded…
Group Black Inc., a collective aimed at deepening the pipeline of Black-owned media companies, launched Tuesday with an ad-spending target of $75 million from a WPP PLC unit. The new collective and business accelerator seeks to attract ad spending from marketers that are trying to diversify where they advertise. Group Black aims to advise advertisers and agencies on possible media plans with…
The National Spelling Bee came to a conclusion Thursday night with Zaila Avant-garde, who is a 14-year-old from Harvey, Louisiana, taking home the top prize. Avant-garde won the championship in 18 rounds, defeating 10 other finalists, according to Yahoo News. “It felt like really good to become a winner simply because of the fact that I’ve been like working on it for like two years…
The Louisiana Division of Archaeology and the Capitol Park Museum announce the opening of a new exhibit – The Mardi Gras Shipwreck. In 2007, a team of archaeologists and researchers mapped, recovered, and analyzed more than 1,000 artifacts from an underwater archaeological site in the Gulf of Mexico. While the artifacts and research indicate the ship sank in the early 1800s,…
The Louisiana Office of Cultural Development’s Division of the Arts announces the release of applications for the Louisiana Cultural Districts program. The application period is now open. Any municipal or parish government can now apply to have a specific geographic area considered for designation as a Cultural District. Additionally, current eligible Louisiana Cultural Districts are able to apply for a boundary expansion.…