President Obama has finally joined Twitter as @POTUS. “Six years in, they’re finally giving me my own account,” he tweeted. Obama describes himself as “Dad, husband, and 44th President of the United States.” Welcome, Mr. President.
Film critic Roger Ebert’s widow, Chaz Ebert, is developing a film on the life of Emmett Till. The Chicago teen was killed in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman while visiting family in Mississippi. The movie will be based on Till’s mother, Mamie Till Mobley’s book “Death of Innocence: The Story of the Hate Crime That Changed America.” [Deadline]
The actor will play Hedwig in the hit Broadway show, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, starting July 22. [Vulture]
Fans will have the opportunity to pay their respects to B.B. King during a public service to be held in Las Vegas. The blues legend, who passed away Thursday, will be buried next week on the grounds of the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interprative Center. On Friday fans will have a chance to pass by King’s open casket at Palm Mortuary West in Las Vegas to say their goodbyes. [People]
The late rapper was born June 16, 1971.
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Harry Belafonte spoke out about the use of the term “thug” in relation to recent media coverage, specifically the Baltimore riots. During a town hall telephone conference with The Root and National CARES mentoring movement spoke about the racial climate in America.
“The pain and the anguish of tanks and being called names and being viewed as misfits and discontents and unappreciative of what white America has given us and done for us, that is not a new definition,” he said. “It has been there all along. We’ve been called n****rs from the day we landed on this continent.”
“We may not have that in our vocabulary now because the n-word is socially unacceptable as an act of courtesy and politeness. You may not say it, but do you think it? You may not say it, but do you feel it? When you act upon what you feel, if you feel that the n****r does not deserve any humanity. Then what do you say to yourself?” [TheHuffingtonPost]
Maya Rudolph did not dissapoint during her commencement speech to the graduating class of 2015 at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Known to bring the funny, Rudolph sent the students out into the real world with a hilarious over-the-top rendition of the National Anthem. She even threw an impersonation of Beyoncé for good measure. [PerezHilton.com]
