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6 days ago | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
This review contains spoilers. “Numbers are always in a conversation.”In Ryan Coogler’s Black Southern horror hit Sinners, the above quote is offered as sage advice to a young Black girl in the town of Clarksdale, Miss., by the gangster Smoke.
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2 months ago | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
One of my favorite performances from 2024 was not even nominated for the Academy Awards. Marianne Jean-Baptiste—partnering again with Mike Leigh, whose previous film Secrets & Lies (1996) led to her Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress—is a tour de force of rage and crippling depression in Hard Truths. At times, her blistering remarks and caustic encounters with both family members and strangers contribute to the film’s comedic moments.
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2 months ago | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
The Netflix film, The Six Triple Eight, directed by Tyler Perry, opens with a poignant quote by the great civil rights activist and educator, Mary McLeod Bethune (portrayed in the film by none other than Oprah Winfrey).
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Feb 5, 2025 | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
“Goodbye to what has been … I am the one to cleanse me of my father’s sins.” —Beyoncé, “American Requiem,” Cowboy Carter (2024)With all the upheaval, just two weeks in, that has accompanied the second term of the current presidential administration, the 67th annual Grammy Awards show came and went Sunday night like a welcome distraction.
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Feb 5, 2025 | 
flipboard.com | Janell Hobson
1 day agoTaylor Swift's Management Sends Strong Message After 0 Grammy Award WinsWhile Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce looks to make history by winning a Super Bowl three-peat, his girlfriend, Taylor Swift, looked to …19 hours agoBianca Censori Reportedly ‘Wanted to Back Out’ of Nude Grammy’s StuntA close confidante told the New York Post that the model initially tried to back out of the stunt, but her husband insisted she go through with it.
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Dec 19, 2024 | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
The year 2024 had promised an era of women rising to the top. This was spectacularly highlighted by the historic presidential run of Vice President Kamala Harris, who had mounted an unprecedented campaign in just over 100 days.
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Dec 5, 2024 | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
Most moviegoers who went to the box-office hit Wicked can pinpoint the moment in the show-stopping tune “Defying Gravity” that sent chills down their spine. Once Cynthia Erivo, in her career-defining role as Elphaba, famed Wicked Witch of the West, belts out, “It’s meeeeeee!”—which introduces the bridge to the song—her vocals combined with the movie’s special effects have quite literally lifted us to a higher plane: sonically, visually, even spiritually.
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Aug 27, 2024 | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
Given how ubiquitous Beyoncé’s “Freedom” has become—now that it is the theme song for Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign—perhaps it was inevitable that rumors circulated about the pop star’s surprise appearance and performance the final night of the Democratic National Convention when Harris delivered her acceptance speech for the nomination. Sadly, the rumors did not come to fruition.
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Jul 25, 2024 | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
Within hours of the stunning decision by President Joe Biden to end his re-election campaign—and to follow this announcement with his subsequent endorsement of his running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, as his successor—the organization #WinWithBlackWomen stepped into action. After the group circulated a Zoom call, approximately 44,000 Black women gathered and raised over $1 million in three hours.
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Jun 21, 2024 | 
msmagazine.com | Janell Hobson
It is only fitting that Netflix chose Juneteenth—now a federal holiday, thanks to the efforts of Opal Lee, a Black woman who fought for national recognition of a local holiday commemorating the emancipation of the last enslaved people of the Confederate South in Galveston, Texas—to debut the Shondaland-produced documentary film, Black Barbie. The film tells a similar story of Black women who worked at Mattel and gave us the titular doll, showcasing the joy of freedom through play.
