entertain ment
NAACP’s ACTSO Program
Focuses On Minority Youth
To# focus will be on the academic
achievement of African-American
young people when ABC-TV airs an
hour-long program, Saturday, Peb.
29, at 12:30 p.m. on the NAACFe
ACT-SO program.
The special, taped last July at the
NAACPs annual convention in
Houston, Texas., highlights scores
of outstanding high-school students
from all across the country who have
set their sights on achieving aca
demic excellence through the ACT
SO program.
^Opening with the impressive
march into the auditorium of some
1 000 students, representing some
6o 'ties and towns, the special
features the awarding of prizes to
the top students in 24 academic and
performing arts categories.
This is an exciting presentation
that will gladden the hearts of all
who qee it. What it shows is our
young people at their finest, sharing
unforgettable moments of glory. It
demonstrates the wealth of talent
present in our communities, and
gives assurance that the future is in
good hands,” said Dr. Benjamin L.
Hooks, the NAACPs executive di
rector and chief executive officer.
Among the presenters of awards
is Dr. Louis Sullivan, secreatry of
the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, who told the
young people and their more than
2,000 relatives and friends gathered
for the ceremonies:
“My congratulations to today’s
award winners and the NAACP for
this singular contribution to the
black community, to the nation and
indeed the world.”
Begun in 1978 by Chicago Sun
Times columnist Vernon Jarrett for
students in grades 9-12 as a method
of encouraging them to seek aca
demic excellence, ACT-SO annually
enrolls more than 10,000 youth.
Through ACT-SO, and the help of
adult volunteers, they are provided
opportunities to develop their tal
ents in 24 categories ranging from
architecture, mathematics and
physics—to dance, drama and con
temporary or classical instrumental
and vocal.
Through the year, youngsters
enrolled in the ACT-SO program
hone their skills and talents in their
local, state and regional competi
tion. Finalists attend the NAACPs
annual convention where the win
ners of first, second and third place
in each of the categories are
awarded medals and share in more
than $300,000 in scholarships and
prizes.
Dr. William F. Gibson, NAACP
board chairman, who was instru
mental in persuading the ABC-TV
network to televise the ACT-SO
program, said he and his national
board of directors “were most
pleased that more than 140,000
students have had an opportunity to
develop their technical, artistic and
academic skills in the program—
and that more than 92 percent have
gone on to complete college careers
and become leaders in their endeav
ors.”
Speaking at the 1991 ceremo
nies—the subject of the ABC-TV
special, Vernon Jarrett went to the
heart of what ACT-SO is all about
when he said, “We are really here to
celebrate academic excellence in the
sciences, the performing arts, the
humanities and the visual arts.”
The awards ceremony was under
written by six corporate ACT-SO
sponsors. Major funding came from
the Ronald McDonald Childrens
Charities and SOF-SHEEN Hair
Care Products in Chicago.
TOP HONORS-Superstar Prince and Janet Jackson
receive top honors at the sixth annual “Solul Train Music
Awards,” produced live on March 10. Multi-talented Prince
Is this year’s recipient of the prestitious Heritage Award tor
Career Achievement, Grammy Award winner Janet
Jackson receives the Sammy Davis, Jr. Award tor
Entertainer of the Year.
napper Big Daddy Kane Doesn’t
“Bare All” In ‘PlaygirF Spread
ALdJAiNi, in.x. (Ah')—Attention
female fane of reigning rap sex
symbol Big Daddy Kane: There are
some negatives you may be inter
ested in.
They’re nude outtakes of Kane's
reent Playgirl magazine photo
spread. Due to the reluctance of
Kane’s record company, the feature
wasn’t quite as revealing as it could
have been.
“Some people say it was very
tasteful; they enjoyed the way I did
it and they were real happy that I
didn’t kill the suspense,” Kane said.
"Then some people were like, ‘Oh,
CREATIVE TEAM-Tht creative team on Manrtri now
KM ‘n* Play comic book Includes writar Dwight Coyo (loft)
and poncMer Chuck Frazlor.
Actor Danny Glover Brings Lite To
Langston Hughes Poetry At FSU
BY JOHN HINTON
BimmIaI fT cmr—n onliint
PAYETTEVIIJLE^Movie and
tclaviaion actor Danny Glover deliv
ered a dramatic performance of
reading eeveral poems by Langston
Hughes that portrayed the hopes,
fears and anxieties of many black
Americans in a presentation here
recently.
"Langston made black people feel
good about themselves,” said
Glover, who appeared at J.W. Sea
brook Auditorium on Feb. 10 in "Art
Connection: A Black History Month
Celebration.” “He made us laugh,
cry, and dream,” he said. "He made
us move forward with a sense of
purpose and love for ourselves.”
Glover has appeared in films such
as The Color Purple, Lethal Weapon,
Lethal Weapon 2, and the current
release, Grand Canyon. He played
characters on television in shows
such as "Hill Street Blues” and in
the mini series, "Lonesome Dove.”
Glover was joined by Felix Jus
tice, who portrayed the late Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert
McDaniel, who sang Negro spiritu
als. FSU Chancellor Lloyd V. Hack
ley said the performance was a cele
bration of the “spirit and history of
black art and the heritage of man
kind."
Glover told the audience of about
600 people that Hughes began to
write poetry as a 15-year-old in a
predominantly wh:*e school class in
Lawrence, Kan.
“In America, most white people
think all black people can sing and
dance and have a sense of rhythm,"
Glover said, quoting a passage from
Hughes’ autobiography, The Big
Sea. “So his classmates, knowing
that a poem had to have rhythm,
elected him unanimously to write
the poem.”
Hughes was raised by his grand
mother in Lawrence, Glover said,
“His grandmothers would tell him
beautifbl stories about people who
wanted to make the Negro free, and
how her father had apprenticed tc
him many slaves in Fayetteville
before the Civil War," he said.
“They could work out their free
dom under him as stone masons,”
Glover said. "Once they had worked
out their purchase, he would see
that they reached the North, wherq
there was no slavery.”
Glover read about 30 poems o
Hughes, who lived in Harlem foi
most of his life. Most of Hughes
poems focused on life in Harlem.
The themes of the poems range<
from humorous to serious. Glovei
read poetry that told about racisn
and discrimination in America t<
the dangers of love.
“Langston used humor in hii
poetry, and he had the ability t<
allow us to laugh at ourselves,’
Glover said. He read the poem, "I
too,” to an agent who was consider
ing him for roles not cast for a bind
actor.
I, too, have Keen America
I am the darker brother.
They tent me to eat in the
Kitchen when company comes,
But 1 laugh, eat well and
Grow strong. Tomorrow, 1 will
Be at the table when company
comes.
Nobody will dare say to me
To eat in the kitchen then.
Besides they will see how
Beautiful I am and be ashamed.
I, too, am America.
The audience laughed after
Glover read a poem of a man waking
up from a hangover called “The
Morning After."
Glover has toured America for
many yeare, speaking to young
people about the value of education
and the dangers of drugs. He has
served as spokesman for the Na
tional Association for Sickle Cell
Disease for the past two years,
j. After Glover’s performance, Dr.
. Hacldey gave him a key to the city of
, Fayetteville on behalf of Mayor J.L.
Dawkins. Dr. Hackley also pre
I sented Glover, Justice and
McDaniels with FSU caps and
sweatsuits.
i
I
DISCOURAGEMENT
i You do not need to be discouraged,
> no matter what today or tomorrow
’ oring. There is difficulty in the
world certainly. But do not allow
youraelfto become discouraged. Lift
your thoughts. You will find that life
has much to offer. You will have
victory over your difficulties.
Dr. Norman V. Peale
man, why didn’t you show it all?’"
Born Antonio Hardy 23 years ago
in Brooklyn, Kane alternately rev
els in and tries to dispel his image as
rap’s leading love man—almost a
quaint notion in the Magic Johnson
era of heightened AIDS awareness.
Kane has recorded with ’70s era
love god Barry White, and the cover
of his new album. Prince of Dark
ness, shows a white-suited Kane
standing over a lingerie-clad
woman lying on a bed.
Besides the Playgirl spread,
which Kane initiated by contacting
editors unfamiliar with him, he
gave an interview to the sex-ori
ented magazine Players. That cover
shows Kane in a hot tub between
two chesty women.
But Kane insists he’s not trying to
become the Barry White of rap
music. And the song, “Troubled
Man,” on his new album suggests
that love machines have problems,
too.
“Just because people say some
wiung tuxjuw me oeing a laaies man
doesn’t mean that I’m running
around trying to have sex with every
woman," Kane said. “That’s like
killing the suspense. If I run around
trying to have sex with them all,
they know what it’s like then, they
can’t imagine anymore.”
He said he tries to show men,
through his actions and the song,
“The Lover in You," how to appeal to
women by treating them with re
spect.
“You cater to them, you try to
make them happy,” he said. “You
can make them happy just by smil
ing at them, giving them a kiss on
the cheek, or giving them a big hug.”
Still, the image persists. Perhaps
he’s still trying to live down that hit
single, “Pimpin’ Ain’t Easy,” from
his second album.
Kane said he doubts his posing for
Playgirl sends an irresponsible
message.
“All I did was get naked,” Kane
said. “I wasn’t seen in the magazine
having sex with a girl.”
The rapper, who says his musical
hero is Marvin Gaye, said he ap
proached Playgirl because he
wanted to attract attention beyond
rap fan magazines.
“There’s no shame,” he said.
“First of all, I wasn’t bom with any
clothing. Shame is something that’s
manmade. I just wanted to do some
thing different, and Tm not scared to
take off my clothes.”
The song, “Troubled Man,” sug
gests an underside to the image.
Kane raps that he never wants to get
married, not trusting the institution
since he’s had relations with so
many women who are married to
other men.
“Everything in that song is true,”
he said. “It was just to let people
know what’s on my mind. They say,
‘Kane, you’re livin’ large.’ But Fve
got problems, too. I don’t want
people to think that I’m bigger or
better than anyone out there. Life
ain’t a piece of cake for me.”
Among his troubles: ornery crit
ics. In the here-today, forgotten
tomorrow world of rap music,
Kane’s moment may have passed—
and the image has something to do
with it.
Reginald Dennis, a senior writer
for the rap magazine the Source,
said people on the street don’t take
Kane seriously anymore.
“It would almost be funny if he
didn’t take himself so seriously,”
Dennis said. “He already had a
reputation with the ladies as being a
sex symbol, but he didn’t have to
cross the bridge into being a Luther
Vandross where he’s turning his
back on the street.”
Dennis said Kane’s music is get
ting away from rap and more toward
rhythm and blues—perhaps an ef
fort to appeal to 35-year-old women.
Kane suggested the critics are
overreacting, saying four out of 15
songs on his new album are rhythm
and blues oriented.
“Everything else is street mate
rial,’’ he said. "I don’t really see
much of a change. If you call experi
menting with R&B music a change,
then I guess it is a change .But that’s
for somebody else to explain.”
The R&B influences are to be
expected, he said. Kane grew up
listening to the records his mother
Actor Ossie Davis
Honored For Wk.
On & Off Stage
BUCKHANNON, W.Va. (API
West Virginia Wesleyan College
honored actor and playwright Ossie
Davis for his film and television
work and his efforts for human
rights recently.
Davis, 74, a cast member of the
television series “Evening Shade,”
made his most recent film appear
ance in Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever.
As a civil rights activist, the
Cogdell, Ga., native helped the Rev.
Martin Luther King, Jr. organize
the 1963 March on Washington and
delivered the eulogy at the 1965
funeral of Malcolm X.
The Methodist College presented
Davis with its Wesleyan Peace
Award for his contributions to the
arts and his concern for human
rights, said spokesman Jerry Wood.
Davis chastised U.S. industry for
exploiting young people and Third
World countries.
“Today people are so interested in
commerce that they forget about
how to help people,” Davis said.
“The impulse to exploit is much
stronger than the instinct to de
velop.”
Riot Erupts Near
Jackson’s Hotel
ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP>—
Violence between police and stu
dents spilled over into a gather) ng to
greet singer Michael Jackson, when
police attacked the crowd with trun -
cheons and whips.
The Ministry of Communications
said the police responded last
Thursday night because student
protesters had infiltrated the
Jackson fans and the crowd was
getting too close to the hotel where
Jackson is staying, near the univer
sity.
The ministry said police were
trying to contain the crowd.
“Perhaps they were a bit brutal,
but it was not with the intention of
doing any harm,” it said in a state
ment.
me violence occurred alter a day
of clashes between police and anti
government protesters in which 37
people were reported injured and
143 were arrested.
Thousands of his fans gathered
outside his hotel Thursday night,
following a government invitation
broadcast on official radio to “the
youth oflvory Coast” urging them tc
give the singer a warm welcome.
Police attacked the teenagers,
many of whom were chanting,
“Michael, Michael,” without warn
ing. No arrests or injuries were im
mediately reported.
Jackson is in the Ivory Coast tc
film part of his latest video, “Return
to Africa.’* No concerts were sched
uled.
Earlier, police had battled stu
dents who tried to march from the
suburbs to the capital. They were
protesting the failure of the govern
ment to punish a military general
who ordered a raid on a university
campus last year that resulted in
three rapes.
brought home, by artists like Evelyn
“Champagne” King. He started
rapping to impress an older cousin.
He may have more family compe
tition on the way. Kane’s album
features a duet with Little Daddy
Shane, his younger brother.
ACADEMIC APPROACH-Sami Augustine's WAUG was
selected as Radio and Records featured for Black History
Month. Radio and Records is the radio industry's National
leading publication. Assistant Vice-President/6eneral
Manager, Jay Holloway was saluted for contributing to the
continuous development ot Saint Augustine's Broadcasting
Students, by academic instructions and first hand
opportunities through internships at WAUG. Seen here are
Broadcast students sharing a moment in between classes:
left to right Osborne Sawyer, Teens White, Aeesha Blow,
Shauvaugn Gordon, Shanyt-tel Lewis, Denita Adams,
Cherry Bowens, Narcus Moss, Laron Vaughn and Anthony
Brown.