Arts & Lifestyle
Of Interest ???
Harper launches his v
own publishing imprint
Actor Hill Harper has partnered with Scholastic
teen author Pamela Wells to create a multicultural chil
cken-publishing imprint called Harper & Wells Books.
"I've been wanting to have my own multicultural
childen book publishing imprint for some time,"
Harper said. "My focus is on publishing books about
black issues. I have always wanted a chilcken book
imprint that represents our voic
es. This is an extension of my
belief that you manifest your
own destiny in life."
The first two titles from
Harper & Wells Books are middle
grade titles targeted at eight to
twelve-year old readers.
"The Wiley Boys" by Hill
Harper, is about three sports
obsessed adopted brothers who
stumble across an advertisement Hill .
that' leack them to being junior
agents at the Sports Bureau of Investigations. This
book is available online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble
and other online stores including the book's web site at
www.wildyboys.com.
The second title, ^Willow Feder's Rules for Girls"
by Pamela Wells, is about a 12-year-old "Oprah," who
shares advice and experiences as she shares stories
about growing up. This book is available on the
Amazon Kinde and the.Barnes & Noble Nook. Wells
? is best-known as the author of the best-selling "The
Heartbreakers" series published by Scholastic. "The
Heartbreakers" series is scheduled to become a movie
in 2013 called "Hot Mess" featuring Disney actress
Selena Gomez.
Harper is the author of several adult non-fiction
books that have been New York Times bestsellers,
including "Letters to a Young Brother," "Letters to a
Young Sister," "The Conversation" and "The Wealth
Cure." He can currently be seen as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes
on "CSI: New York."
Hampton Museum to show
Civil War-themed exhibits
Beginning this month, Hampton University
Museum is showing tyvo very special free exhibitions
in commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial
(150th anniversary).
Based in Hampton, Va., the institution is the old
est African American museum in the United States.
"Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman Series by
Jacob Lawrence" will open Jan. 27. This free exhibi
HUM 111^1111^1115 II1C lldlllcU'
! ic biographies of two
American abolitionists
who lived around the time
of the Civil War.
Together, the paintings
have an extraordinary con
ceptual unity and visual
eloquence. In the
"Frederick Douglass and
Harriet Tubman" series,
Lawrence pursues mythic
subjects who both share
Jacob Lawrence s the will and determina
"Harriet Tubman" tion, in the faoe of all
t oddb, to fire their minds
and spirits as well as their bodies from bondage.
Chi Feb. 25, the Museum welcomes "Civil War
Vignette: Paintings and Drawings of Freedom Fighters
from the Hampton University Museum Collection," a
free exhibition that includes cfcawings and prints from
artists Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, William H.
Johnson and John Biggeis. All excellent artists, they
have portrayed Freedom Fighters Frederick Douglass,
Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Abraham Lincoln,
Sojourner Truth, and Phyllis Wheatley as true aboli
tionists and fighters for justice.
Related programming will be held in conjunction
with these two dynamic exhibitions. For more infor
mation, go to http://museum.hamptonu.edu.
La La has new makeup line
La La Anthony, entertainer, star of VHl's hit series
"La La's Full Court Life" and wife of NBA star
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with longtime friend Loren
Ridinger, senior vice president of
Market America/S HOP.com and
creator of the award-winning
Motives by Loren Ridinger cos
metics line, to create Motives
for La La, a line of makeup
uniquely-formulated for every
shade of totfay's modem woman.
Motives for La La includes
mineral oase npsucKS, oiusnes, Anthony
lip shines and more, and will be
formally introduced next month at Market America's
2012 Worid Conference at the American Airiines Arena
in Miami.
La La made ifa point to emphasize colore and prod
ucts for African American and Latina women, due to
the lack of prominence many beauty lines place on eth
nic markets. Motives by La La achieves this goal, as
the partnership between La La and Loren has resultec
in a line that shares their love of makeup through prod
ucts and colors that give a complete look - eyes,
cheeks, lips - for women of every shade.
"Having my name on a cosmetics line has always
been a dream, one I'm excited to share," La La said
"Every giri always tries to find that perfect color 01
shade that suits their personality, and now she can da
it easily and affontably."
The line contains six prodict types - lipsticks, lip
shines, eyeshadows, blushes and shimmer - that show
case La La's dstinct style.
Heritage
Commission
adds members
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Three new members will be sworn
in on the African American Heritage
Commission (AAHC) wr-*Tuesday,
Jan. 24, at 10 a.m., at N.C. Central
University in Durham. Rep. H. M.
"Mickey" Michaux will administer
the oath.
The new members are the Rev.
Dr. Pierre Crawford, Dr. Sylvia
Ezelonwu and Dr. Philip Henry.
4 : _ ? _
uasiunia s
Crawford is sen
ior pastor tp
Center Baptist
Church and a
board member of
the General
Baptist
Convention. He
is professor of
African
American
Christian
Studies and
director of con
tinuing educa
tion at
Henderson
Christian
University in
Cramerton,
N.C., 'and a
member of the
n :..
Rtv. Crawford
Dr. Parker
I
_ n i:*:
uaMon rrugrcssivc \_uaimuii.
Wilmington's Ezelonwu is an
instructor of an effective teacher train
ing course at Cape Fear Community
College. She has been a middle and
high school teacher of English and
social studies, and assistant principal
of a middle and high school.'
Ezelomwu recently was appointed to
the Gullah-Geechee Cultural Heritage
Corridor Commission, operated by
the National Park Service.
Raleigh's Henry has worked on the
Black Abolitionist Editorial Project
with libraries and archives ' in the
northeast and served as a counselor at
Vance-GranviMe Community College
in Henderson. He has published arti
cles on teen suicide, counseling and
affirmative action, and is co-editor of
the "Heritage of Blacks in North
Carolina."
Launched in 2009, the AAHC has
been creating new partnerships and
supporting programs to "assist the
Secretary of Cultural Resources in the
preservation, interpretation, and pro
mdtion of African American history,
arts, and culture" and was legislative
ly created in 2008.
AAHC Chairman Dr. Freddie
Parker and Acting Director Michelle
Lanier lead the commission in its
work, which has included hosting the
N.C. Museum of History's annual
African American Cultural
Celebration, partnering with the
National Park Service Underground
Railroad to Freedom Network to tell
the "freedom seeking" story of North
Carolina, and producing the educa
tional "Journeys Toward Freedom"
poster for educators and students.
'The new members' experiences
and interests make them valuable
assets to the commission," explains
Lanier.
Films with UNCSA connections
screening at festivals
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
Two University of North
Carolina School of the Arts
(UNCSA) School of
Filmmaking alumni will
return to the Sundpnpe Film
Festival this month -with films
selected in out-of-competition
categories, and a film by cur
rent film students will be
screened at the "alternative"
SI am dance Film Festival.
"Compliance," written and
directed by '99 alumnus Craig
Zobel, was selected for the
Festival's Next category,
which is for films that
"embody the spirit of independ
ent filmmaking."
"Robot and Frank," which
has Michael Sledd, a '01 alumn
as its production manager, was
selected for the Premieres cate
gory at Sundance.
"The Severe Psychosis of a
Musiclessman," by current stu
dents Ian McClerin, Matt
Gomez, Dylan Gravley, Daniel
Satinoff, Taylor Sommers,
Matthew Gorbachov and
Daniel Anderegg, will be
screened in the noncompetitive
See Films on A9
Photos by Larente Hamlin/NCBRC Graphics Dept
The cast of "By a Black Hand."
Black Rep Teen Theatre
to stage 'Black Hand'
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The North Carolina Black Repertory
Company's Teen Theatre Ensemble will per
form the stage play "By a Black Hantf' dur
Mn?;Anni u;e?/Mn>
nig i^iaiiuiiai uiatK uisiui^
Month.
The show will be staged at the
Arts Council Theatre, 610
Coliseum Drive, on Weckiesday,
Feb. 15 and Thursday, Feb. 16 at
10 a.m. for largely audiences made
up of local students.
Broadway veteran Mabel
Robinson, the artistic director of
the N.C. Black Rep, will direct
the production, which has been
billed as a lyrical history lesson
that shines light on African
American inventors wno gave tne worm
everything from the steam engine (Granville
T. Woods) to the traffic stop-light (Garrett
Augustus Morgan).
Written by Professor Arthur Htetse and
Darryl Goodman, "By a Black Hand" was
birthed at Chicago State University. This
piece of "edu-tainment" centers around a
teenager who knows very little about black
heritage and history. The teen is enlightened
about the many contributions blacks have
made by her grandfather and a hip hop troupe
Robinson
Festival i
i .1 J _ _ _.
U1 ^UUIlg9lClS WI1U etui IIIV1UOW11VJ
the Mystical Muses. The produc
tion features old and new school
music.
The late Larry Leon Hamlin,
the founder of the National Black
Theatre Festival, was a huge fan of
"By a Black Hand." He brought the
show to Winston-Salem nearly a
decade ago and invited local
schools to bring their students to
performances. It was first staged at
the National Black Theatre
in 2005; it returned in 2007 and
2011. The N.C. black Kep s leen lheatre
Ensemble has staged its signature version of
the production for the past several years.
? ' t "?1
Tickets are $8' per student. For ticket
aid!or other information, call 336-72^-2266.
AHh
Photo by Chris Large/ AMC
Rapper/actor Common dukes it out with Anson Mount in an episode of
AMC's hit show, "Hell on Wheels." The network announced earlier this
month that the series has been renewed for a second season. The original
series reigns as the second highest rated series on AMC, averaging 3.2
million viewers.
Seminar to explore
black life in Salem
CHRONICLE STAFF REPORT
The Museum of Early Southern
Decorative Arts (MESDA) - one of three
museums at Old Salem Museums &
Gardens - will hold a seminar next
month offering new perspectives on the
African American story in Salem (the his
tone town tnat
became the city of
Winston-Salem) and
the South.
'"Tell me your
names . . . : Images
and Artifacts of the
African American
Story" will be held
on Saturday, Feb.
11 from 10 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. It will Parent
feature authors
Maurie D. Mclnnis, associate dean of the
College of Arts and Sciences and profes
sor of Art History at the University of
Virginia, and Leland Ferguson,
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of
Anthropology at the University of South
Carolina. Many other noted scholars will
take part as well.
Seminar sessions will be held at
MESDA and the St. Philips Heritage
Center, both in Old Salem. Mclnnis' ses
sion is entitled, "Slaves Waiting for Sale:
Abolitionist Art and the American Slave
See Seminar on A10