Category: Entertainment

Bakersfield
News Observer

Inside 820 S. Michigan: New Book Captures the Lost World of Ebony and Jet

820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon, published Tuesday by MW Editions, features photographs by Chicago photographer Barbara Karant documenting the former Johnson Publishing Company headquarters at 820 S. Michigan Ave., the longtime home of Ebony and Jet magazines. Pasted markdown

Bakersfield
Cecil Egbele

Kern County Fair closes 12-day run with heat, music and a calypso send-off

Under a lime-green canopy, a 70-year-old steel drummer, Prince Bernard, in a straw hat and beads, worked a pair of gleaming steel pans, serenading passersby. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago and now based in Los Angeles, the traveling musician was one small part of a fair that, for 12 days, offered something for nearly everyone.

African Americans
News Observer

Why Black Artists Struggle to Sell Tours

The internet chatter about Black artists struggling to sell concert tickets points to a much larger crisis reshaping the touring business, according to recent industry reporting and artists’ own comments.

Entertainment
News Observer

Feel the Rhythms of the Beat at the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus

The City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA) and Friends of Watts Towers Arts Center presented a wonderful two-day showcase of music, rhythms, culture, art, cuisine, and community with the 44th Annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival on Saturday, September 26, and the 49th Annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival on Sunday, September 27, 2026. Both festivals ran from 10:00 am-6:00 pm at the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus, one of Los Angeles’s iconic, historic landmarks. (1727 East 107th Street, Los Angeles, CA. 90002). Where Truth, Art & Community Connect!

Lucas Museum of Narrative Art - Los Angeles aug 2022
Los Angeles
News Observer

Lucas Museum Opens With Free Admission for Kids and EBT Cardholders

The reported $1 billion museum co-founded by Mellody Hobson opened to the public Tuesday in Exposition Park. Children 17 and under get in free, California EBT cardholders can claim two free adult tickets, and residents of the museum’s own ZIP code get a free pass.

African Americans
News Observer

7th Annual Leimert Park Jazz Festival Returns to the Village

The month of August will be written in the jazz history books with a couple of notations. The entry will include the postponement of two jazz festivals. One of the festivals has been produced for over three decades. The other festival was making a debut with a magnificent showcase of jazz, Latin Jazz, and Caribbean music throughout Los Angeles.

Bakersfield
Cecil Egbele

Why Kern County and Black Americans love Dolly

I wonder if “quiet” is the right reference here. Maybe it’s more a particular kind of “grief?” In Kern County, Dolly Parton is being mourned as much for her philanthropy and impact on children as she is for her worldwide impact on music and bridging cultures.

African Americans
News Observer

Jordan Walker Leads Call for More Black Youth in Baseball

Shortly after Jordan Walker’s 12th and clinching blast of the Home Run Derby final against hometown hero Kyle Schwarber had landed among bitter fans at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, the St. Louis Cardinals right fielder spoke of the importance of his achievement.