African-American Presidents Of The United States In Popular Culture
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African-American Presidents Of The United States In Popular Culture
Before and after the election of Barack Obama as the first African American president of the United States in 2008, the idea of a black president has been explored by various writers in novels (including science fiction), movies and television, as well as other media. Numerous actors have portrayed a black president. Such portrayals have occurred in both serious works and comedies. Effect of media depictions As writers and directors cast blacks as president in several memorable portrayals, depictions of fictional black presidents may have accustomed Americans to accept a black man as president. Actor Dennis Haysbert who played a black president on the hit show 24, said the portrayal “may have opened the eyes, the minds and the hearts of people because the character was so well liked." The show also raised the issue of whether television series "like political trial ballons, can ready the populace for change." After Barack Obama's election, the television show the ''Cosby Show' ...
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Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the United States. He previously served as a U.S. senator from Illinois from 2005 to 2008 and as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004, and previously worked as a civil rights lawyer before entering politics. Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. After graduating from Columbia University in 1983, he worked as a community organizer in Chicago. In 1988, he enrolled in Harvard Law School, where he was the first black president of the '' Harvard Law Review''. After graduating, he became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004. Turning to elective politics, he represented the 13th district in the Illinois Senate from 1997 until 2004, when he ran for the U ...
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The Crack In Space
''The Crack in Space'' is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. In the United Kingdom, it has been published under the title of the original novella, ''Cantata 140'', published in the July 1964 issue of'' The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction''. This original title refers to the short title in English, ''Sleepers Awake'', of J.S. Bach's Cantata BWV 140 and the novel's 'bibs', the millions sleeping in suspended animation. Both are based on the short story ''Prominent Author''. The common elements are the Jiffi-scuttler transport device, the company, Terran Development, that manufactures it (and still exists to play a large role in the later works), and a brief summary of ''Prominent Author'' as an event of the past in chapter 2. The "crack in space" is a defect in Jiffi-scuttler operation that allows access to the earth (in ''Prominent Author'') and to parallel earths (in the later works) at various times and locations, beyond its intended use of ...
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Judy Garland
Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). She attained international stardom as an actress in both musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage. Renowned for her versatility, she received an Academy Juvenile Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Special Tony Award. Garland was the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, which she won for her 1961 live recording titled ''Judy at Carnegie Hall''. Garland began performing as a child with her two older sisters, in a vaudeville group " The Gumm Sisters" and was later signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a teenager. She appeared in more than two dozen films for MGM. Garland was a frequent on-screen partner of both Mickey Rooney and Gene Kelly and regularly collaborated w ...
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Babes On Broadway
''Babes on Broadway'' is a 1941 American musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland's big solo numbers. The film, which features Fay Bainter and Virginia Weidler, was the third in the "Backyard Musical" series about kids who put on their own show, following ''Babes in Arms'' (1939) and '' Strike Up the Band'' (1940). Songs in the film include "Babes on Broadway" by Burton Lane (music) and E.Y. "Yip" Harburg (lyrics), and "How About You?" by Lane with lyrics by Ralph Freed, the brother of producer Arthur Freed. The movie ends with a minstrel show performed by the main cast in blackface. Plot Cast Production ''Babes on Broadway'' was the third film in the "Backyard Musical" series, which included ''Babes in Arms'' (1939), '' Strike Up the Band'' (1940) and ''Girl Crazy'' (1943). The film was stalled in the middle of production when Garland secretly flew to Las Vegas to wed her first husband ...
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The Root (magazine)
''The Root'' is an African American-oriented online magazine. It was launched on January 28, 2008, by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Donald E. Graham. History It was owned by Graham Holdings Company through its online subsidiary, The Slate Group. In 2015, Graham Holdings sold ''The Root'' to Univision Communications. The site was subsequently re-launched under the Kinja platform used by other Gizmodo Media Group (formerly Gawker Media) websites. GMG was later succeeded by G/O Media as owner of ''The Root''. In July 2017, the blog ''Very Smart Brothas'', co-founded by Damon Young and Panama Jackson, became a vertical of ''The Root''. Danielle Belton was editor-in-chief at ''The Root'' between 2017 and 2021, when she was appointed editor of HuffPost. On April 14, 2021, it was announced that Vanessa De Luca had been appointed editor-in-chief. Since April 2021 ''The Root'' has seen substantial staff turnover with 15 out of the 16 full-time staffers resigning following internal tensi ...
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Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her notable recordings include "Dinah", " Stormy Weather", "Taking a Chance on Love", "Heat Wave", "Supper Time", " Am I Blue?", " Cabin in the Sky", "I'm Coming Virginia", and her version of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Waters was the second African American to be nominated for an Academy Award, the first African American to star on her own television show, and the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Early life Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896 (some sources incorrectly state her birth year as 1900) as a result of the rape of her teenaged African-American mother, Louise Anderson (1881–1962), by 17 year old John Wesley (or Wesley John) Waters (1878–1901), a pianist and family acq ...
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Rufus Jones For President
''Rufus Jones for President'' is a 1933 American Pre-Code satirical musical-comedy, clocking in at 21 minutes. The film was directed by Roy Mack, and starred Ethel Waters and Sammy Davis Jr., in his first onscreen appearance, as the title character. The film's tone may appear racist to today's audiences. The film is considered an important musical short. This film is available on YouTube. Synopsis Rufus Jones, an African American child, is elected president of the United States in this short musical comedy, which features song and dance numbers by seven-year-old Sammy Davis Jr. Home media ''Rufus Jones for President'' was released on the six-disc ''Big Band, Jazz & Swing'' set of short subjects by Warner Archive Collection The Warner Archive Collection is a home video division for releasing classic and cult films from Warner Bros.' library. It started as a manufactured-on-demand (MOD) DVD series by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on March 23, 2009, with the inte .... Refer ...
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1933 In Film
The following is an overview of 1933 in film, including significant events, a list of films released, and notable births and deaths. Top-grossing films (U.S.) The top ten 1933 released films by box office gross in North America are as follows: Events The Film Daily Yearbook listed the following as the ten leading news events of the year in North America. * Motion picture industry goes under National Recovery Administration code. * Receivers appointed for Paramount Publix, RKO and Fox Theatres. * Film industry takes eight week salary cut. * Sirovich bill for sweeping probe of film industry is defeated. * John D. Hertz withdraws as Paramount Publix finance chairman and Adolph Zukor appoints George J. Schaefer as general manager. * Sidney Kent effects financial reorganization of Fox Film Corp., averting receivership, and company shows first profit since 1930. * Ruling of the United States District Court for the District of Delaware creates "open market" for sound equipment. * Na ...
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Sammy Davis Jr
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally, and his film career began in 1933. After military service, Davis returned to the trio and became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's (in West Hollywood) after the 1951 Academy Awards. With the trio, he became a recording artist. In 1954, at the age of 29, he lost his left eye in a car accident. Several years later, he converted to Judaism, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced by African-American and Jewish communities.Sammy Davis Jr. Biography
Biography.com. Retrieved June 6, 2013.< ...
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Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. The newspaper's offices are located at One Yonge Street in the Harbourfront, Toronto, Harbourfront neighbourhood of Toronto. The newspaper was established in 1892 as the ''Evening Star'' and was later renamed the ''Toronto Daily Star'' in 1900, under Joseph E. Atkinson. Atkinson was a major influence in shaping the editorial stance of the paper, with the paper having reflected his values until his death in 1948. The paper was renamed the ''Toronto Star'' in 1971. The newspaper introduced a Sunday edition in 1973. History The ''Star'' was created in 1892 by striking ''Toronto News'' printers and writers, led by future mayor of Toronto and social reformer Horatio Clarenc ...
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Eddie Murphy Delirious
''Eddie Murphy Delirious'' is an American stand-up comedy television special directed by Bruce Gowers, written by and starring Eddie Murphy. The stand-up set became a TV Special for HBO on October 15, 1983. The 70-minute special was Murphy's first feature stand-up and the predecessor to the wide theatrical release in 1987, ''Eddie Murphy Raw''. ''Delirious'' was also released as an album on October 24, 1983, titled '' Eddie Murphy: Comedian'', which won Best Comedy Album at the 1984 Grammy Awards. Overview Unlike his acts on ''Saturday Night Live'', Murphy's performance was very profane, saying the word ''fuck'' a total of 230 times, and ''shit'' 171 times. The show was recorded at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. Before the show started, The BusBoys performed "(The Boys Are) Back in Town" over a montage of pre-show footage of Murphy traveling with his road crew. Then, he is introduced after the song and thanks The BusBoys for the opening act before starting his com ...
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