Last spring, when Kimora Lee Simmons announced that Baby Phat was coming back, those of us who enjoyed the label at its ‘90s and early-aughts heights admittedly got a thrill—though we knew full well those velour tracksuits might not look quite as flattering on us 20 years later. (Fun fact: According to a release from…
A Dallas County grand jury indicted three men on capital murder charges for the killing of Joshua Brown, a key witness in the trial of former Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in October for fatally shooting her neighbor Botham Jean.
Earth, Wind & Fire, one of our favorite feel-good bands, made history on Sunday as the first Black group to get inducted into the Kennedy Center Honors.
To accept the honor were three of the band’s original members, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, and Verdine White. EWF founder, Maurice White, died in 2016 although band members say his spirit was with them.
READ MORE: Why Taylor Swift trashing this Earth, Wind and Fire song makes our writer’s ears bleed
“You can’t play any Earth Wind & Fire songs without Maurice’s DNA being on it, so he’s always here and we’re always celebrating him and his vision,” Johnson told Billboard before the show started. “People are still coming together and having fun.”
In addressing the honor of being the first Black band to get inducted, Bailey added that “there are so many more African-American acts that are deserving and perhaps this can be the first of many more to come.”
During the EWF tribute, John Legend, Ne-Yo, the Jonas Brothers, and Cynthia Erivo, who starred in Harriet, had the audience on their feet with hit after hit until they came together to perform one of Earth Wind & Fire’s greatest hits, “September.”
The honor was particularly timely as EWF will celebrate 50 years in the business next summer, and group members hinted that they may be planning something big – possibly a duets album or some other collaboration.
“We’re making a list, and checking it twice,” Bailey said to Billboard. “And you’ll hear about it soon.”
White added that EWF has been blessed to have had “a special chemistry from day one because we were all hand-picked by Maurice. He had a vision and he knew what he wanted, so here we are.”
READ MORE: Kennedy Center to honor Dave Chappelle with Mark Twain prize for humor
Singer Linda Ronstadt, actress Sally Field, conductor, Michael Tilson Thomas, and Sesame Street, which turns 50 this year, were also honored during the 42nd Honors.
Attending the ceremony were a bipartisan group of politicians, from Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State, to 40 congressional leaders, including Sen. Patrick Leahy, (D-VT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), who also got a rousing round of applause when she was introduced, according to Billboard.
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By DAVID KEYTON and JIM HEINTZ Associated Press
STOCKHOLM (AP) — The winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize says his horrifying experiences as a young Ethiopian soldier fueled his determination to seek an end to the long conflict with a neighboring country.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed spoke at Oslo City Hall during the ceremony in Norway’s capital where he received his Nobel on Tuesday.
“War is the epitome of hell for all involved. I know because I was there and back,” he said in accepting the prize.
Abiy won the prize, in part, for making peace with Eritrea after one of Africa’s longest-running conflicts. Abiy served in the army during the war.
“Twenty years ago, I was a radio operator attached to an Ethiopian army unit in the border town of Badame,” he recalled. “I briefly left the foxhole in the hopes of getting a good antenna reception. … It only took but a few minutes. Yet upon my return I was horrified to discover that my entire unit had been wiped out in an artillery attack.”
Abiy, 43, took office in early 2018 and within weeks astonished the long-turbulent Horn of Africa region by fully accepting a peace deal ending the 20-year border conflict with Eritrea that saw some 80,000 people killed.
In his speech, he said stability in the region was strategically important.
“The global military superpowers are expanding their military presence in the area. Terrorist and extremist groups also seek to establish a foothold. We do not want the Horn to be a battleground for superpowers nor a hideout for the merchants of terror and brokers of despair and misery,” he said.
“The peace prize also recognizes Abiy’s significant domestic reforms including the release of tens of thousands of prisoners and the return of once-banned opposition groups. But since the prize was announced in October, he has faced growing challenges at home, including bloody protests.
Just days after the November launch of his book promoting his national unity philosophy, protesters burned copies of it in the streets. The protests had erupted after an outspoken activist who had returned from exile asserted that his government-provided security detail was being removed.
The claim came a day after Abiy had warned unnamed people that “if you threaten our peace and security, we will take measures.”
The government said 78 people were killed in the unrest.
In Oslo, he called on “my fellow Ethiopians to join hands and help build a country that offers equal justice, equal rights and equal opportunities for all its citizens.”
“The evangelists of hate and division are wreaking havoc in our society using social media. They are preaching the gospel of revenge and retribution on the airwaves,” he said.
Tensions with another regional power, Egypt, over Africa’s largest dam project have led biy to talk in terms of war. Ethiopia wants a peaceful settlement of the Nile water dispute but could muster millions to fight if needed, he said recently.
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Heintz reported from Moscow. Elias Mesert in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, contributed.
The post Nobel winner, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, says ‘hell’ of war fueled desire for peace appeared first on theGrio.
It would appear that social media influencer Rossi Lorathio Adams II took the phrase “doin’ it for the ‘Gram” a little too literally.
