Karen Grigsby Bates

Dumbfoundead: A Rising Star In A Genre In Transition

Karen Grigsby Bates — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:26:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZFRlV9G9eg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmk4a76CXTw

'American Winter' Families Struggle To Survive Fall From Middle Class

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 07:26:00 +0000

It's a visual no parent wants to picture: a child describing what it's like to live in a house with no power for lights, heat or cooking. For many middle-class American parents, it's hard to imagine their family ever facing a situation like that.

Gangsta Rap Swap Meet Proprietor Wan Joon Kim Has Died

Karen Grigsby Bates — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 21:20:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MrQtOoQRpc

1963 Emancipation Proclamation Party Lacked A Key Guest

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 23:27:00 +0000

Fifty years ago, the White House was the site of an unusual party.

It was a celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation's centennial, held on Abraham Lincoln's birthday, and many of the guests were descendants of the people Lincoln's historic document freed.

But noticeably absent was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Bloomingdale's Lays Out Welcome Mat To Chinese Shoppers

Karen Grigsby Bates — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:36:00 +0000

A number of luxury retailers are rolling out tactics this year to mark the beginning of the Lunar New Year. For Bloomingdale's in New York City, though, reaching out to Asian shoppers during the cultural celebration is a decades-long tradition.

The upscale department store's marketing strategy traces back to 1971, the year President Nixon lifted the U.S. trade embargo with the People's Republic of China.

Aretha Franklin Was Already Famous, But Her Hat-Maker Wasn't

Karen Grigsby Bates — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:22:00 +0000

After the first Obama inauguration, everybody talked about three things: the historic moment, the Arctic weather — and Aretha Franklin's hat.

If it is possible for a piece of millinery to steal the thunder of one of the most-watched moments in recent memory, the Queen of Soul's hat managed to do it. Her gray felt cloche was topped with a giant, matching bow, outlined in rhinestones that flashed in the chill sunlight as she sang "My Country 'Tis of Thee."

She took the crowd to church in more ways than one.

'Living' In Color, Long Before 'Girls'

Karen Grigsby Bates — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 08:19:00 +0000

The second season of HBO's critically acclaimed series Girls begins Sunday night, but the show about 20-something girls navigating their social and work lives in New York has itself been criticized for not being diverse enough.

By now, most of you have heard the buzz about Girls: It's written by 26-year-old Lena Dunham, and stars a quartet of young women whose plans sometimes crash face-first into life's nasty realities.

The show's smart dialogue attracted writer Allison Samuels, a cultural critic for Newsweek/The Daily Beast.

"I love the writing," she says.

New Policy For Young Immigrants Creates Paperwork Deluge

Karen Grigsby Bates — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 22:25:00 +0000

In the six months since a new law opened a path to temporary legal status for some young immigrants in the U.S., more than 300,000 people have applied — and have rushed to request qualifying documents from their schools.

The law, Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, offers legal status, renewable every two years, to people ages 30 and younger who were brought to the country as children. Applicants must prove they were in the U.S.

Susan Straight: One Home Town, Many Voices

Karen Grigsby Bates — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 07:21:00 +0000

Think of all the great writers who have made their hometowns literary history — William Faulkner, Zora Neale Hurston, Thomas Wolfe, to name a few. Now, Susan Straight is getting the same praise for her portrayal of Riverside, Calif. It's a small town at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains, an hour east of Los Angeles.

Read any of Straight's 10 books, and you hear tales of a tight-knight black community in a working-class neighborhood, with voices that sound lively and real. Then you meet Straight, and do a double take: she is petite and blond.

Controversial Casting For A Nina Simone Biopic

Karen Grigsby Bates — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 08:26:00 +0000

The rumors that had been around for a couple of years have finally been confirmed: At long last, there's a film in the works about the turbulent life of Nina Simone, otherwise known as the "High Priestess of Soul."

Simone was famous from the 1950s through the '70s for her music and her civil rights activism. And although she died in 2003, her voice remains popular on TV, movie soundtracks and commercials.

Originally, hip-hop diva Mary J. Blige was slated to star in the film, called Nina, but she dropped out last year after shooting was delayed.