It’s important to know your voting status and where to vote.
You Have The Power to Make A Difference! With the 2020 election approaching, it’s important to know the changes that could effect where and how you will be able to cast your ballot this year in Prince George’s County. My guest is Ms. Tammie Norman – League of Women Votes of Prince George’s County.
For voting information go to: www.vote411.org
Listen to this mornings segment here:
How to make the best money decisions regarding homeownership.
“Advocacy” is woven into the fabric of Howard University’s DNA. Since the institution’s founding in 1867 the faculty, staff and students have embodied the mission of truth and service through the pursuit of social justice in numerous ways, including marching, protesting, and lobbying. Now, more than 150 years later, the social unrest of today’s society has made clear that the need for advocacy must press on. Howard University will continue to lead by example and demonstrate the variety of ways our community can engage: Advocacy through your Voice, Advocacy through your Dollars and Advocacy through your Vote. While this year’s Homecoming will be virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic, now is an optimal time for us to unify our spirits around our collective goals of social justice, inclusivity and equity for all.
“Advocacy appropriately captures the energy of this moment in our society and the need to use this time wisely to continue to move Howard Forward, ensuring that this great university will continue producing the scholars and leaders that our society desperately needs,” says President Wayne A. I. Frederick. “We invite our students, alumni and friends to join the campus community in this series of virtual Homecoming events around the theme of advocacy and use this as an opportunity to reignite and reinvigorate your passion for change in our society. Let’s recommit to this great institution which is standing on the front lines to uphold our mission of truth and service every day.”
The week of festivities will begin with a virtual version of the annual Howard University Day of Service on Saturday, October 10, a continuation of the volunteer spirit connecting Bison to their communities. From emphasizing service, we will segue into a day of praise, featuring Howard’s legendary “Call to Chapel” on Sunday, October 11. The centerpiece of Homecoming will be an expanded version of the HU Ideas Symposium, which will feature a virtual national conference titled “From Protest to Policy: The Pursuit of Racial Justice,” held October 14-16. On Friday, October 16, President Frederick will present the State of the University Address and provide updates on the progress of Howard’s exciting strategic plan.
In lieu of traveling to Washington, D.C., alumni and friends are asked to make a financial contribution to Howard University, investing the dollars they would have used to experience Homecoming in person to support our students instead.
“When Howard Homecoming takes place, the entire city experiences an economic boon from the increase in flights, hotel stays, dining and more. However, if those dollars are invested into the University itself, particularly during this pandemic, we’ll be able to assist students who need a hand making ends meet,” says Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations David P. Bennett. “We are grateful to each of our donors who have decided to reinvest their travel dollars into our scholars who are pushing through this challenging time to stay on course for graduation. Each donation has a significant impact in making that dream a reality.”
For a complete list of events, visit https://homecoming.howard.edu/. To follow the latest homecoming news on social media, use the hashtag #HUHC20.
911 Dispatchers Took 14 Minutes To Dispatch In Train Separation.
Former President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea set to participate in Howard University virtual homecoming.
This is part of a three-day virtual conference, hosted by Howard University and part of Homecoming festivities, titled “From Protest to Policy: The Pursuit of Racial Justice.”
Watch live today, starting at 11:00 AM EDT, at: https://howard.zoom.us/j/87184346054 and use the Meeting Password: 20202020.
This event is part of CGI U’s commitment to providing student leaders with mentorship, training, funding, peer networking, and opportunities for students to engage with national and global leaders throughout the year. Since its launch in 2007, CGI U has been a leader in bringing together over 10,000 college students from around the globe to take action and tackle the world’s most pressing challenges by building “Commitments to Action,” – new, specific, and measurable social impact projects.
CGI U’s year-round programming includes $100,000 in funding given to student projects that address the COVID-19 pandemic; a partnership with IBM Call for Code to help students develop app-based projects that address COVID-19 and climate change; programming with the Peter G. Peterson Foundation including a conversation last week with Chelsea Clinton on how young people are reinventing civic engagement; and a new partnership with Verizon to help students develop innovative technology solutions to pressing domestic issues. This also follows last week’s CGI University + Morehouse College event, which focused on addressing structural inequality and supporting student action. Watch these discussions, which included national health, education, business, and student leaders, here: live.cgiu.org
The discussions are part of Howard University’s 2020 Homecoming festivities, centered around the theme of “Advocacy.” “Advocacy” is woven into the fabric of Howard University’s DNA. Since the institution’s founding in 1867 the faculty, staff and students have embodied the mission of truth and service through the pursuit of social justice in numerous ways, including marching, protesting, and lobbying.
The centerpiece of Homecoming is an expanded version of the HU Ideas Symposium, which features a virtual conference titled “From Protest to Policy: The Pursuit of Racial Justice,” held October 14-16. On Friday, October 16, President Frederick will present the State of the University Address and provide updates on the progress of Howard’s exciting strategic plan.
A new campaign is underway that spotlights the attractions available in Prince George’s County
Experience Prince George’s has kicked off Social Distance Hear, a campaign to encourage locals and travelers to stay active and engage in the county’s expansive outdoor amenities, from golfing and hiking excursions, to unique shopping and historical expeditions. For more information go here:
Tune in to Taking it to the Streets, weekday mornings at 6:15, 7:08 and 8:40 on the Steve Harvey Morning Show on 96.3 WHUR.
Follow me on facebook and twitter at @bobbygailes for updates and to stay connected.
Listen to this mornings segment here:
New developments in the Central Park birdwatcher story, militia kidnapping allegations, large voting crowds and George Floyd’s birthday.
Judge extends Virginia’s voters registration until 11:59 p.m. Thursday
Civil rights groups and others had sued saying the website debacle cut short the time people would have been able to vote and that lack of time disenfranchised voters.
The order by U.S. District Court Judge John Gibney Jr. Wednesday morning allows voters to register through the Board of Elections website until 11:59 p.m. Thursday. Voters can also register in person at local elections officers or other agencies until 5 p.m. Mail-in registrations must be postmarked by tomorrow
Project A.B.L.E. Teaches D.C. Officers To Intervene
A number of schools in Maryland and Virginia decided to cancel the SAT exams.
Attorney Nkechi Taifa discusses Black Lives Matter and the Black Power Movement as well as her autobiography.
With musical performances by Josh-X, Lecrae, Baby Rose, DVSN, Ledisi and MORE!
Reignite and reinvigorate your passion for change in our society. Celebrating advocacy – from Howard University – to the world. This is the HUR @Homecoming on the platforms of the WHUR Digital Network. Now your hosts, HU alumni, DJ Iran reppin’ C/O ’92, Coka-Lani reppin’ C/O ’95 and Mansey Pullen reppin’ C/O ’83.
President Wayne A. I. Frederick will deliver his annual State of the University Address, where he will provide key updates on academics, University finances, Howard University Hospital, enrollment, student initiatives and much more!
Understanding phishing and other consumer scams
The American Bankers Association is launching a first-of-its-kind, industry-wide campaign to educate consumers about the persistent threat of phishing scams. The engaging #BanksNeverAskThat campaign uses attention-grabbing humor to reinforce the notion that banks do not text, call or email customers asking for sensitive information like their passwords and social security numbers. The campaign is the largest consumer protection initiative in ABA’s history. For more information go here:
Tune in to Taking it to the Streets, weekday mornings at 6:15, 7:08 and 8:40 on the Steve Harvey Morning Show on 96.3 WHUR.
Follow me on facebook and twitter at @bobbygailes for updates and to stay connected.
Listen to this mornings segment here:
DC Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie talks about his reparations bills.
Cut fiber optics cable put a hold on registration.
If you miss the deadline you can register during in-person early voting or on Election Day.
FBI now says militia group also planned to kidnap Virginia’s governor.
FBI agent Richard Trask says the militia members discussed taking a sitting governor, specifically governors of Michigan and Virginia over their coronavirus shutdown orders.
The FBI obtained the information from a person who attended a June 6th meeting in Dublin, Ohio where the plot was discussed. According to reports, that person later became an informant. The FBI thwarted the plot nearly two weeks ago charging 13 people in an alleged domestic terror plot.
The alleged scheme included overthrowing several state governments.
The Rangel and Pickering fellowship programs are now taking applications
Two programs with two ways for African American students to jump start their careers and get paid while doing it. Fellowship is a premier U.S. Department of State program created to attract diverse talent to its Foreign Service. The Fellowship seeks individuals who are interested in uniquely rewarding career of international service. Foreign Service Officers represent the United States in countries around the world by promoting human rights, assisting American citizens overseas, enhancing prosperity and development, deepening ties between the United States and people around the world, and supporting U.S. global values and interests. www.pickeringfellowship.
Tune in to Taking it to the Streets, weekday mornings at 6:15, 7:08 and 8:40 on the Steve Harvey Morning Show on 96.3 WHUR.
Follow me on facebook and twitter at @bobbygailes for updates and to stay connected.
Listen to this mornings segment here:
Breast health for woman and men.
“Patience” Participants in the Howard University Hospital Annual “Mammo Day”
Before you visit your local pool or gym you will have to visit the District’s Department of Recreation website to reserve a time.
A rare opportunity to let out some anger and frustration
It’s no secret that lots of people are feeling stressed and overwhelmed. The objective of Remix Rage is to support children, youth, and adults to transition from “10 to Zen.” On Saturday, October 31t from12pm to 6pm they will host Arts Heals Fall Festival and Remix Rage Smash Room Grand Opening. More Information here:
Tune in to Taking it to the Streets, weekday mornings at 6:15, 7:08 and 8:40 on the Steve Harvey Morning Show on 96.3 WHUR.
Follow me on facebook and twitter at @bobbygailes for updates and to stay connected.
Listen to this mornings segment here:
President Wayne Frederick talks to Political Strategist Donna Brazile about the current political cycle and what we should expect as we approach the election.
ABOUT
Lately, we have been getting constant updates on the presidency and the upcoming election process. As a result, many Americans are more motivated to head to the polls and make their voices heard. Today, the conversation will highlight the latest news in politics and what we should expect during this political cycle as we approach the Presidential election. On today’s episode of “The Journey,” President Wayne Frederick talks to Political Strategist and Former Chair for the Democratic National Committee, Donna Brazile.
Air Date: October 11, 2020
Stories about coming out and living their true selves.
Judge cites safety concerns in Derek Chauvin decision.
Trump Expected To Hold Campaign Event At White House Tomorrow.
The prestigious organization announced the guest list Thursday for the ceremony, which will debut Nov. 7 on HBO.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Sean “Diddy” Combs, Bruce Springsteen and Alicia Keys will be among a star-studded guest list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020 induction.
The prestigious organization announced the guest list Thursday for the ceremony, which will debut Nov. 7 on HBO. The show will honor this year’s inductees including Whitney Houston, the Notorious B.I.G., The Doobie Brothers, Nine Inch Nails, T. Rex and Depeche Mode.
Jon Landau and Irving Azoff will be honored with the Ahmet Ertegun award.
Other guests will include Miley Cyrus, Jennifer Hudson, Gwen Stefani, Charlize Theron, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Adam Levine and Brad Paisley.
The event was scheduled for May 2, but was pushed back due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Dave Grohl will kick off the show with a “heartfelt introduction” to the new class of inductees. The special guests will speak on how this year’s inductees impacted their personal life and careers.
“The stark reality is that many movie theaters will not be able to open again if they don’t receive government help,” says Esther Baruh, director of government relations for the association. “This is as urgent as it gets.”
NEW YORK (AP) — The Pixar film “Soul” will skip theaters and instead premiere on Disney+ on Christmas, the Walt Disney Co. announced Thursday, sending one of the fall’s last big movies straight to streaming.
The move, widely expected after the recent exodus of most major upcoming releases, marks one of the final dominos to fall in Hollywood’s disastrous autumn. Following the exit of the James Bond film “No Time to Die” from November, the next big movie on the calendar is Warner Bros.′ “Wonder Woman 1984,” currently set for Dec. 25.
The successive delays of the film industry’s would-be blockbusters has only made the dire circumstances of movie theaters more acute. Earlier this week, Cinemark said it would again shutter the U.S. and U.K. locations of its Regal cinemas, the country’s second-largest theater chain.
On Thursday, the National Association of Theatre Owners, the trade group of exhibitors, said its #SaveYourCinema campaign has flooded Congress with more than 300,000 letters. Filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron and “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins have joined the campaign lobbying Congress to bring financial relief to theater owners. Without aid, the organization said, 69% of small and mid-sized movie theater companies will close or go bankrupt.
“The stark reality is that many movie theaters will not be able to open again if they don’t receive government help,” says Esther Baruh, director of government relations for the association. “This is as urgent as it gets.”
“Soul” will be available for Disney+ to subscribers at no further charge. Disney last month steered “Mulan” to its streaming service of 60 million-plus subscribers but charged $30 for early access.
Disney has been hit hard by the pandemic. It recently announced that it would lay off 28,000 workers, most of them at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, and Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. On Wednesday, the activist investor Daniel Loeb, founder of hedge fund Third Point, urged the company to more than double its budget for streaming content in a letter to Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek.
Expectation had been high for “Soul,” directed by Pete Docter, Pixar’s chief creative officer and the filmmaker behind “Up” and “Inside Out.” The film, about a middle school teacher (Jamie Foxx) with dreams of becoming a jazz musician, was originally to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. Its theatrical release had been scheduled for Nov. 20.
“The world can be an exhausting and frustrating place – but it’s also full of unexpected joys, even in seemingly mundane things,” said Docter in a statement. “‘Soul’ investigates what’s really important in our lives, a question we’re all asking these days. I hope it will bring some humor and fun to people at a time when everyone can surely use that.”
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyle
“We are working tirelessly with multiple partners on sustaining the industry once we raise our curtains again,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, which represents producers.
NEW YORK (AP) — Fans of Broadway will have to wait a little longer for shows to resume — until at least late May.
Although an exact date for various performances to resume has yet to be determined, Broadway producers are now offering refunds and exchanges for tickets purchased for shows through May 30.
“We are working tirelessly with multiple partners on sustaining the industry once we raise our curtains again,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League, which represents producers.
Broadway theaters abruptly closed on March 12, knocking out all shows — including 16 that were still scheduled to open — and scrambling the Tony Award schedule. Producers, citing health and city authorities, previously extended the shutdown to June 7, then again to Sept. 6 and again to Jan. 3.
The new timeframe may complicate a clutch of show that had planned to open in the spring, including “MJ,” “The Music Man,” “Flying Over Sunset,” “Caroline or Change,” “Plaza Suite,” “American Buffalo” and “The Minutes.”
Actors’ Equity Association, the national union that represents actors and stage managers, has urged lawmakers to include arts funding and loans to help those who work in the live performing arts.
The move by the Broadway League comes less than a month after the Metropolitan Opera said it will skip an entire season for the first time in its nearly 140-year history and intends to return from the pandemic layoff next September.
In London, producer Cameron Mackintosh has said his company’s West End productions of “Hamilton,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Mary Poppins” and “Les Miserables” won’t reopen until 2021 due to the pandemic. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., has canceled most previously announced performances and events through the end of 2020, as has the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston.
Broadway grossed $1.8 billion last season and attracted a record 15 million people. Producers and labor unions are discussing ways theaters can reopen safely.
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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
He faces two felony charges — assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The complaint states Lanez “inflicted great bodily injury” on Megan Thee Stallion.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles prosecutors on Thursday charged rapper Tory Lanez with shooting artist Megan Thee Stallion during an argument earlier this year.
Lanez is accused of shooting at Megan Thee Stallion’s feet, hitting her, after she left a SUV during a fight in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, according to a release.
He faces two felony charges — assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The complaint states Lanez “inflicted great bodily injury” on Megan Thee Stallion.
A message sent to Lanez’s representative was not immediately returned.
Lanez, a 27-year-old Canadian rapper and singer whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is due to be arraigned Tuesday in Los Angeles. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of roughly 23 years.
Lanez was arrested the night of the shooting but released after posting bail. Prosecutors are recommending that his bail be set at $1.1 million at his arraignment.
Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, is identified in the felony complaint only as Megan P.
She had declined to name Lanez as the person who shot her in social media posts and videos on the subject for more than a month. But on Aug. 20, she said in an Instagram video that “Yes … Tory shot me,” and urged him to “stop lying” about the incident.
She’s discussed the shooting in several often emotional Instagram videos, calling it “super scary” and “the worst experience of my life.”
She declined to tell police that night that she had been shot, and initial reports were only that a woman had foot injuries consistent with broken glass. She has said that she was too frightened the situation would have escalated if she revealed to police that there had been gunfire.
Lanez has not spoken publicly about the incident. On Sept. 24, he said on his social media accounts that he would break his silence that evening, but that announcement turned out to be a teaser for the release of his fifth studio album, “Daystar.”
Lanez has not reached the stardom that Megan the Stallion has, but had a Billboard top 20 hit with “Luv” in 2016, and has had a successful run of mixtapes and major-label records since his career began in 2009.
At the time of the shooting, Megan Thee Stallion was already a major hip-hop star following a triumphant year that saw her nominated for artist of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards. Since the shooting, her guest stint on the Cardi B song “WAP” helped turn the track — and music video — into a huge cultural phenomenon, and she has performed on the season premiere of “Saturday Night Live.”
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Entertainment Writer Jonathan Landrum Jr. contributed to this report.
ATLANTA, Oct. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Greenwood has secured $3 million in seed funding from private investors as the first digital banking platform for Black and Latinx people and business owners. Greenwood features best-in-class online banking services and innovative ways of giving back to Black and Latinx causes and businesses.
Greenwood’s founders include:
“It’s no secret that traditional banks have failed the Black and Latinx community,” said Ryan Glover. “We needed to create a new financial platform that understands our history and our needs going forward, a banking platform built by us and for us, a platform that helps us build a stronger future for our communities. This is our time to take back control of our lives and our financial future. That is why we launched Greenwood, modern banking for the culture.”
“Today, a dollar circulates for 20 days in the white community but only six hours in the Black community,” said Michael ‘Killer Mike’ Render. “Moreover, a Black person is twice as likely as a white person to be denied a mortgage. This lack of fairness in the financial system is why we created Greenwood.”
Greenwood’s executive leadership includes:
Greenwood’s initial products are savings and spending accounts that come with a stunningly designed black metal debit card for customers who sign up by the end of the year. Advanced features like Apple, Samsung, and Android pay, virtual debit cards, peer-to-peer transfers, mobile check deposits, and free ATM usage in over 30,000 locations are offered with no hidden fees. Customers who invite their friends to open accounts receive cash awards as a thank you from Greenwood. All deposits are FDIC insured by a partner bank.
Additionally, Greenwood plans to work with brick and mortar minority-owned backs to provide deposits to help strengthen historically black banks.
“The work that we did in the civil rights movement wasn’t just about being able to sit at the counter. It was also about being able to own the restaurant,” said Ambassador Andrew Young. “We have the skills, talent and energy to compete anywhere in the world, but to grow the economy, it has to be based on the spirit of the universe and not the greed of the universe. Killer Mike, Ryan and I are launching Greenwood to continue this work of empowering black and brown people to have economic opportunity.”
Greenwood Gives Back
Greenwood has three key avenues to support Black and Latinx causes and businesses:
History of the name “Greenwood”
The Greenwood name pays homage to the prosperous “Black Wall Street,” part of the Greenwood District of Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the early 20th Century — a center of African American enterprise, entertainment, skills, wealth and investment capital. Though it was destroyed by white mobs in 1921, the Greenwood District remains an enduring symbol of the economic potential of community solidarity. The new Greenwood neobank takes inspiration from the entrepreneurial and empowering spirit of the Greenwood District where a dollar typically circulated 36 times – and for up to a year — within the Black community. The new Greenwood also is proud to be a backer of the contemporary Greenwood Culture Center in Oklahoma.
To sign up for a Greenwood account, visit www.bankgreenwood.com.
Media Contact
media@bankgreenwood.com
View original content to download multimedia: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/greenwood-closes-3-million-seed-round-to-build-online-banking-solution-for-blacks-and-latinx-301147915.html
SOURCE Greenwood Financial
Gene Noble performs his hot single “Matching Tattoos”!
What a fun night chatting it up with singer, songwriter Gene Noble. I had no idea that we speak the same musical language. He practically honed his craft at the legendary Village Underground in New York City. That was my spot! Anyone who was serious about taking their vocals to higher levels would frequent this “land of truly gifted musicians”. It was there that we would all shed. The crowd was quick to let you know if they were feeling you. Or not. The brave ones would sign up, and hit the open mic when your name is called.
Gene was one of the regulars. He told us how he would put his name on the list, then quickly take it off if a great singer went on before him. Well, there were so many great ones. Thankfully, he mustered up the courage to get up there and show everyone what he was working with. He came back again and again. He said that it was there that he found his voice as a singer. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Keep your ears tuned to WHUR and we’ll let you know when his new album drops next month. In the meantime, hit him up on social media at: @iamgenenoble
wHUR’s Community’s Choice is packed with a host of free family events.
United Way National Capital Area’s Project Community Connect is October 19th – 23rd. This year there will be in-person resource kit deliveries and virtual workshops. www.uwnca.org
WHUR’s Community’s Choice
To get your non-profit on WHUR’s Community’s Choice, email Renee Nash at rnash@whur.com at least three weeks prior to your event.
Female Transformational Conference
Momma Safe Haven invites your to its You Go Girl Female Transformational Conference October 24th. Explore self-love and learn to power thru. www.mommassafehaven.org
WHUT Education
WHUT reminds you to read, talk, sing, and play with your children every day. Get free educational tips on how. www.whut.org
Housing Services
Do you have questions about your tenant rights in DC? Housing Counseling Services, Inc. is hosting a series of virtual workshops throughout the month of October to answer your questions. www.housingetc.org
Fire Safety
WHUR and the DC Fire and EMS Department remind you that smoke alarms save lives. When you hear the chirp, it’s time to change the battery. 202-727-1614.
Harvest Festival
Thursdays in October just got a lot more festive. 11th Street Bridge is hosting the Taste of the Harvest Festival Homestyle weekly. www.bridgepark.org
Halloween Safety
The Black Coalition Against COVID reminds you this Halloween avoid taking the kids door to door trick or treating and try other fun things. Get some ideas. www.blackcoalitionagainstcovid.org
Analysis from the Democratic and Republican perspective.
The addition of the union workers to nearly 6,500 nonunion layoffs already announced brings the Disney-related job losses in Florida to more than 15,000 workers.
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — About 8,800 part-time union workers at Walt Disney World in Florida will be part of the 28,000 layoffs in Disney’s parks division in California and Florida, union officials said Wednesday.
The addition of the union workers to nearly 6,500 nonunion layoffs already announced brings the Disney-related job losses in Florida to more than 15,000 workers.
Disney officials announced last week that it was laying off 28,000 workers because of the coronavirus pandemic. Two-thirds of the planned layoffs involved part-time workers and they ranged from salaried employees to hourly workers.
Disney’s parks closed last spring as the pandemic began spreading in the U.S. The Florida parks reopened this summer, but the California parks have yet to reopen as the company awaits guidance from the state of California.
In a letter to employees, Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experience and Product, said California’s “unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen” exacerbated the situation for the company.
Disney has soared to success with the breadth of its media and entertainment offerings, but is now trying to recover after the coronavirus pandemic pummeled many of its businesses. It was hit by several months of its parks and stores being closed, cruise ships idled, movie releases postponed and a halt in film and video production.
The layoffs of the part-time union workers were announced by the Service Trades Council Union, a coalition of six unions that represents 43,000 workers at Disney World.
“These are unprecedented times,” the Service Trades Council Union said in a statement. “It is unfortunate anytime a worker is laid off and the mass layoffs that Disney is facing are extremely difficult for 1,000s of Cast Members.”
No fulltime workers, also called cast members, will be laid off under the deal the unions negotiated with Disney. Over the next two years, workers who have been laid off will get priority when Disney starts hiring again, and they will retain their seniority and pay rate.
According to the deal with the unions, full-time workers whose positions aren’t needed by the company can transfer to another position. But if they don’t agree to the transfers, they can be laid off. Those workers who are laid off will receive two months pay.
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Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MikeSchneiderAP.
The Attorney General of Michigan says law enforcement stopped a plot to overthrow the state government and kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
“It’s OK to not be OK,” Henson, the latest recipient of the Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion, told The Associated Press via email. “Tell someone. Your vulnerability is actually your strength.”
“Empire” star Taraji P. Henson has enjoyed wealth, celebrity, a Golden Globe win and an Academy Award nomination. But behind the scenes, she’s battled anxiety and depression.
On Thursday, the 50-year-old actress and filmmaker — who has spoken publicly and powerfully about her private struggles — was honored by the Boston-based Ruderman Family Foundation for her work to end the stigma around mental illness.
“It’s OK to not be OK,” Henson, the latest recipient of the Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion, told The Associated Press via email. “Tell someone. Your vulnerability is actually your strength.”
Henson was nominated for an Oscar for 2008′s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” She also won critical acclaim for 2016′s “Hidden Figures,” about three African American mathematicians at NASA who played a key role in the early days of the U.S. space program, and won a 2016 Golden Globe for her role as Cookie Lyon in television’s “Empire” series.
In 2018, the Washington, D.C., native started the Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation to stop those with mental illness from being stigmatized — especially Blacks, who she says are less likely to seek treatment.
This year, with the coronavirus pandemic complicating people’s mental health struggles, Henson’s foundation has been helping African Americans — who’ve been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 — access free online therapy.
Henson named the foundation for her father, a military veteran whom she said “returned broken” from his service in Vietnam. The organization, she said, is “committed to offering support to African Americans who face trauma daily simply because they are Black.”
Henson also is among several actors participating in a series of virtual panels about inclusion and equity in Hollywood hosted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organization that puts on the Oscars.
The Ruderman Family Foundation works for more inclusion and opportunities for the disabled. Previous recipients of its award include filmmaker brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps, Oscar-winning actress Marlee Matlin and former Democratic U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, of Iowa, a driving force behind the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“When role models and influencers like Taraji are so vocal about their own experiences with mental illness, it has the potential to inspire millions of people to accept their own mental health issues and find healthy ways to address them,” said Jay Ruderman, president of the group.
“But it hasn’t just been words with Taraji. She took action,” he said. “We need more people like Taraji to continue to eliminate the stigma around mental health across all our communities in America.”
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Follow AP New England editor Bill Kole on Twitter at http://twitter.com/billkole.
Senator Kamala Harris is the first Black woman to be picked as a Vice Presidential running mate on a major-party ticket.
On this launch of “Ladies Night”, we all celebrated Howard University alumnae Senator Kamala Harris as she stepped into the VP Debate with Vice President Mike Pence.
As we raised our glasses, we talked about how she is a woman of firsts and what this means to us as black women in America. Tonight was a quick pop in, to let our viewers know that we’ll be watching the debate with them.
We then joined our listeners/viewers on social media to view the debate in real time together.
See you next week, and every Wednesday at 9pm, for WHUR LADIES’ NIGHT!
Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit, educational organization behind “Sesame Street” — will later this month air the half-hour anti-racist special “The Power of We” and hopes families will watch together.
NEW YORK (AP) — “Sesame Street” has always pressed for inclusion. Now in the wake of the national reckoning on race, it’s going further — teaching children to stand up against racism.
Sesame Workshop — the nonprofit, educational organization behind “Sesame Street” — will later this month air the half-hour anti-racist special “The Power of We” and hopes families will watch together.
The special defines racism for younger viewers and shows how it can be hurtful. It urges children who encounter racism or hear someone else be the victim of it to call it out. “When you see something that’s wrong, speak up and say, ‘That’s wrong’ and tell an adult,” 6-year-old Gabrielle the Muppet advises.
The special, composed of little skits and songs in a Zoom-like format, will stream on HBO Max and PBS Kids and air on PBS stations beginning Oct. 15.
In one animated skit, a Black Muppet is told by a white Muppet that he can’t dress up like a superhero because they’re only white. Though hurt, the Black Muppet nevertheless refuses to stop playing superheroes, saying they can come in all colors. The white Muppet soon apologizes. “Racism hurts and it’s wrong,” is the message.
In the song “How Do You Know?” racism is dealt with head-on. “Hey, Elmo, how would you feel if I said, ‘I don’t like you ‘cause I don’t like the color red?‘” sings Tamir, a Black, 8-year-old Muppet. Elmo responds: ”Elmo wouldn’t care what you said ’cause Elmo is proud, proud to be red!” It concludes with the lines: “Speak up. Say something. Don’t give in.”
“We believe that this moment calls for a direct discussion about racism to help children grasp the issues and teach them that they are never too young to be ‘upstanders’ for themselves, one another, and their communities,” said Kay Wilson Stallings, executive vice president of creative and production at Sesame Workshop, in a statement.
Current and former Sesame Street human cast members Alan, Charlie, Chris and Gordon take part in the special, alongside celebrity guests Yara Shahidi, the star of “grown-ish;” “Hamilton” star Christopher Jackson; and Grammy-nominated singer Andra Day.
Viewers are offered tips to help their communities unite, including chalk drawings, making positive signs and going to sing-a-longs. When outside, all the puppets wear masks, even the letter puppets. The special concludes with the slogan “Listen. Act. Unite.”
Sesame Workshop has included online resources for parents to help guide conversations with their child about race, including talking, singing and breathing together. “Sharing can help us feel better,” is one tip. There are also downloadable pictures to color and a certificate with a place to put the name of an upstander.
“Sesame Street,” which last year celebrated its 50th anniversary, has a history of explaining the world to children, tackling everything from foster care to substance abuse. The latest special comes on the heels of “Sesame Street” contributing to “Coming Together: Standing Up To Racism,” a CNN town hall special in June hosted by Van Jones and Erica Hill.
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Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
Arena Stage’s film production of “Inside Voices”
Inside Voices and COVID-19 will air on WHUT-TV and on WHUR-World 96.3HD2 tomorrow (Friday, October 9th at 8pm) and again October 11th at 11am.
Tune in to Taking it to the Streets, weekday mornings at 6:15, 7:08 and 8:40 on the Steve Harvey Morning Show on 96.3 WHUR.
Follow me on facebook and twitter at @bobbygailes for updates and to stay connected.
Listen to this mornings segment here:
It will be the first time that a woman of color has squared off in such a debate.
Washington benches QB Haskins, switches to Allen vs. Rams
DC targets Wards 7 and 8 to improve chances of family success.
“We know that when we build stronger families, we also build stronger communities,” said Mayor Bowser. “This investment in our Family Success Centers is about meeting the needs of our parents and children and creating support networks in the neighborhoods they live. We thank all of our partner organizations for their tireless work and giving more of our families in Wards 7 and 8 the opportunity to thrive.”
In December 2019, Mayor Bowser announced the grantees selected to operate the Family Success Centers. Over the past nine months, CFSA has facilitated an intensive planning process to help the grantees prepare for opening on October 1.
The locations of the centers and partner organizations are:
Ward 7:
Ward 8:
Many of the services available at the centers are provided by District Government agencies, including the Department of Human Services, Department of Employment Services, Department of Behavioral Health, DC Public Libraries, the Office of Neighborhood Services and Engagement, and DC Public Schools. Each center’s priorities were determined in partnership with its surrounding community to identify where there are gaps in serving families and customize support to fit the needs of its residents.
“At CFSA, we believe all families want to take care of their children and thrive,” said CFSA Director Brenda Donald. “Our investments are directed to neighborhoods where health outcomes, education data, rates of substantiated abuse and neglect, and crime statistics indicate that we need to go further upstream with support services to ensure that no family is left behind. We are taking a whole family, whole community approach to remove barriers, link families to services, and make sure all residents have their chance to thrive.”
Families First DC and the District’s federal Five-Year Family First Prevention Plan round out DC’s robust city-wide prevention strategy, in conjunction with services provided by city agencies and community partners. The District was the first jurisdiction in the nation to submit and have a plan approved by the federal Children’s Bureau.
For more information about the Families First DC Success Centers, visit www.cfsa.dc.gov/page/families-first-dc.
San Francisco-based Airbnb said it will ban one-night rentals of entire homes in the U.S. and Canada on Oct. 30 or Oct. 31. Previously booked one-night rentals will be canceled and Airbnb will offer refunds.
Airbnb will prohibit one-night rentals over Halloween weekend as part of its ongoing effort to crack down on party houses.
The action, announced Friday, comes nearly a year after a deadly shooting at an Airbnb in Orinda, California. Five people were killed in the shooting, which happened during an unauthorized Halloween party.
San Francisco-based Airbnb said it will ban one-night rentals of entire homes in the U.S. and Canada on Oct. 30 or Oct. 31. Previously booked one-night rentals will be canceled and Airbnb will offer refunds.
Airbnb said it will also look more closely at two- and three-night reservations during Halloween. A guest may be denied, for example, if they try to book a whole home close to their own home during that period and they don’t have a history of positive reviews on Airbnb.
Airbnb has taken a series of steps to crack down on parties since last year’s shooting. Last November, it started manually reviewing U.S. and Canadian reservations to weed out suspicious rentals.
The company’s efforts have intensified as it prepares for an initial public stock offering, which could come later this year.
In July, the company banned U.S. and Canadian guests under age 25 with fewer than three positive reviews from booking entire homes close to where they live. That policy was later expanded to the United Kingdom, Spain and France. And in August, Airbnb banned parties worldwide and limited occupancy at its rentals to 16 people.
Airbnb has also warned guests and hosts that it could take legal action against violators. In August, for the first time, it started legal proceedings against a guest who held an unauthorized house party in Sacramento, California.
“Black Entrepreneurs Day” is aimed at providing “guidance and inspiration to the next generation of rising entrepreneurs,” according to Monday’s announcement. It’s scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 24, on platforms including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Shark Tank” veteran Daymond John will host a live-streamed special aimed at bolstering Black entrepreneurship, with Shaquille O’Neal, Gabrielle Union and Jamie Foxx set to participate.
“Black Entrepreneurs Day” is aimed at providing “guidance and inspiration to the next generation of rising entrepreneurs,” according to Monday’s announcement. It’s scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. EDT Saturday, Oct. 24, on platforms including Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
While the year has been challenging for many, it’s “also created tremendous opportunities for people throughout this country to rise up to be heard,” John, the CEO and founder of the lifestyle brand FUBU, said in a statement.
Black entrepreneurs and small business owners are eligible to seek a share of $175,000 in grant money contributed by the special’s business sponsors. Applications for the seven NAACP-administered grants can be filed through Oct. 12 at BlackEntrepreneursDay.com, with recipients to be announced during the live stream.
John plans one-on-one conversations with his guests, who will also include LL Cool J and media magnate and BET co-founder Robert Johnson. Musicians Chance The Rapper and Questlove are set to perform.
“Love never left off,” says Fox, speaking by Zoom alongside Rob from New Orleans. Says Rob: “Instead of a story of crime and punishment, a story of love and conviction was put before our people to see.”
NEW YORK (AP) — For the 21 years while Sibil “Fox” Richardson’s husband, Rob, was imprisoned, they were, she says, “a telephone, letter-writing, visitation, just-stay-alive and keep-your-head-above-water couple.”
How long is 21 years plus four days? Garrett Bradley’s acclaimed documentary about the Richardson family, “Time,” measures its passage through a father’s absence. It’s seen in children growing up, graduations coming and going, faces changing with age. Made with family video diaries shot by Fox of herself and their six children that span more than two decades, “Time” lends a powerfully intimate portrait of the toll of mass incarceration.
Many films have sought to capture the impact of America’s prison industrial complex, but “Time” is something else. The film, which Amazon will release in select theaters Friday and launch on Amazon Prime next week, is a lyrical, black-and-white montage that digs into the long-term ache of incarceration. In footage that unspools more circularly than chronologically, toddlers turn into young men and then back again.
It’s also about an enduring love. Throughout the two decades, Fox remains steadfastly devoted to her husband. She becomes a social rights advocate and works tirelessly to get him freed from the Louisiana State Penitentiary where he’s serving a 60-year sentence for robbing a bank.
“Love never left off,” says Fox, speaking by Zoom alongside Rob from New Orleans. Says Rob: “Instead of a story of crime and punishment, a story of love and conviction was put before our people to see.”
Rob and Fox were high-school sweethearts. They married, bought a house and planned to start a business. But when their plans for a hip-hop clothing store fell through in 1997, they held up a branch of the Shreveport Credit Union. The scheme was poorly thought out; they didn’t steal any money and no one got hurt. But their sentences were harsh. Fox, the getaway driver, got 19 years. Rob got 60 years.
“It was hard to even admit out of pride and out of guilt that our actions had led us to such a lowly place,” says Fox. “We’re good people. And sometimes good people do the darnedest dog-gone things.”
They never claimed they were innocent but the length of sentence seemed to them excessive. Fox was three-months pregnant with twins at the time of sentencing. In “Time,” she grows furious, weary and increasingly impatient with the bureaucratic appeals process. “These people have no respect for other human beings’ lives,” she says in the film.
“We want to believe that justice is not just some imaginary thing that we’ve conjured up inside of our minds,” Rob says now. “When you find yourself up against a system, the system, you realize how heinous and harsh and unusual such a system is, it takes you back to another space in time where people wanted to justify slavery.”
Bradley, 34, was working on “Alone,” a 2016 short about incarceration from the point of view of a single mother, when she met Fox. Bradley first began filming Fox imagining she would make a sister short to “Alone.” On what was to be her last day shooting, Fox handed her 100 hours of mini-DV tapes. Her plans went out the window.
“Getting a hundred hours-worth of Fox’s family archive and personal footage was very much a thwarting of the vision I thought I had,” says Bradley. “But it was completely necessary and opened up doors that needed to be opened.”
With editor Gabriel Rhodes, Bradley sifted through the tapes and something larger took shape that captured the hard-to-see family reality of incarceration. She scored it partly with the piano solos of Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, an Ethiopian nun who released a handful of records in the 1960s.
At the Sundance Film Festival in January, “Time” won the award for documentary directing. Bradley credits the films of the L.A. Rebellion by filmmakers like Charles Burnett and Julie Dash as inspiring her formally adventurous but deeply humanistic approach to filmmaking. She envisions “Time” as a kind of meeting of her film and Fox’s. Next month, she’ll present an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art of vignettes interspersed with footage from 1913’s “Lime Kiln Field Day,” one of the first films made with an all-Black cast.
“I’m interested in seemingly opposing ideas or communities or individuals and thinking about filmmaking as a tool to bring these things together to create sort of third ideas or proposals for a blending and communication,” says Bradley.
Bradley kept shooting, too, including the day Rob finally got out of prison. So ecstatic to finally be reunited, Fox and Rob quickly set to making love in the backseat even with a cameraperson from the documentary crew in the front seat. You’d say they picked up right where they left off, but Fox disagrees.
“This is a well-oiled machine over here,” she says, laughing. “Our sex life at 50 is so much better.”
So is everything else. Fox sees the difference most in their children’s eyes, in their sense of security. “It’s better than I ever imagined,” she says. Early in the pandemic, Rob and Fox each contracted COVID-19, and as difficult as the experience was, they had the chance for the first time in a long time to take care of each other. They’ve since regularly posted videos of their family workouts on Instagram.
“Time” resurrected a lot of what they — and Rob, in particular — are also trying to get past. Watching and talking about the film, he says, has been both therapy and torture.
“You’re aware of a lot of things that took place because you’ve been there by way of phone, but it’s something else when you put video with audio,” he says. “You can hear the voices and hear the sounds and hear the lectures, but it’s another all together different when you can see the images and the faces.”
Bradley screened the film for the family shortly before its Sundance premiere.
“We’ve been crying ever since,” says Rob, smiling.
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
“Saturday Night Live” scored its biggest season premiere audience in four years and second best in 12 years, emphasizing the importance of presidential election time for the NBC comedy show.
NEW YORK (AP) — The big debate — the one between Alec Baldwin and Jim Carrey — was a winner in the ratings.
“Saturday Night Live” scored its biggest season premiere audience in four years and second best in 12 years, emphasizing the importance of presidential election time for the NBC comedy show.
Its “cold open” featured Baldwin, portraying President Donald Trump, satirizing last week’s debate performance. Carrey debuted with his impersonation of Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
During a busy week for news and sports, “Saturday Night Live” was the most-watched entertainment show, despite starting at 11:35 p.m. on the East Coast, the Nielsen company said. It was shown live across the country, which meant it aired during prime time in the West.
With 8.24 million viewers, it was the second most-watched “SNL” episode since May 2017, with the exception being last December’s triumphant return of Eddie Murphy.
It was also a return to its familiar New York studio for the comedy show, which did a few remote episodes last spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The strong ratings overshadowed some rough reviews. “The Late Shift” author Bill Carter called it a “standout — not in a good way” for some uniformly flat skits.
“We needed ‘Saturday Night Live’ to rise to the occasion for this moment, and it didn’t,” agreed Eric Deggans, critic for National Public Radio. “Let’s hope the nation’s firehose of news will slow a bit, and the show will have time to catch its breath and raise its game.”
NBC was the most-watched broadcast network last week, averaging 5.5 million viewers in prime time. Fox had 3.9 million viewers, ABC had 3.8 million, CBS had 2.7 million, Univision had 1.14 million, Ion Television had 1.11 million and Telemundo had 1 million.
Fox News Channel topped the cable networks with an average of 5.18 million viewers in prime time. ESPN had 3.9 million, CNN had 2.85 million, MSNBC had 2.8 million and HGTV had 1.16 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race with an average of 8.2 million viewers, NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.3 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.4 million.
For the week of Sept. 28-Oct. 4, the top 20 prime-time programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. Presidential Debate, Fox News, 17.88 million.
2. NFL Football: Philadelphia at San Francisco, NBC, 15.08 million.
3. NFL Football: Kansas City at Baltimore, ESPN, 14.7 million.
4. “Debate Preview,” Fox News, 12.96 million.
5. Presidential Debate, ABC, 12.65 million.
6. “Debate Analysis,” Fox News, 12.58 million.
7. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 10.76 million.
8. “NFL Sunday Night Pre-Game,” NBC, 9.86 million.
9. Presidential Debate, NBC, 9.69 million.
10. “Debate Analysis,” ABC, 8.71 million.
11. Presidential Debate, CNN, 8.33 million.
12. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Tuesday), Fox News, 8.29 million.
13. “Debate Analysis,” CNN, 8.12 million.
14. NBA Finals: Miami vs. L.A. Lakers (Game 1), ABC, 7.58 million.
15. “Football Night in America,” NBC, 7.53 million.
16. Presidential Debate, MSNBC, 7.21 million.
17. “Hannity” (Tuesday), Fox News, 7.16 million.
18. “Monday Night Kickoff,” ESPN, 7.01 million.
19. “Debate Analysis,” MSNBC, 6.97 million.
20. “Debate Analysis,” NBC, 6.94 million.
Byrd acted in films including “Clockers,” “Chi-Raq,” “Bamboozled,” “He Got Game” and “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus.”
ATLANTA (AP) — Authorities are offering a $10,000 reward as they continue to search for the person who shot actor Thomas Jefferson Byrd in Atlanta.
Best known for his roles in Spike Lee films, Byrd was found dead around 1:45 a.m. Saturday morning on the city’s southwest side. He had been shot multiple times in the back.
The reward was announced Tuesday. Police have not identified a suspect in the 70-year-old actor’s shooting death or said why it may have happened.
Byrd was found shot near his home and died before he could be taken to a hospital. Robert Calloway told WSB-TV he found Byrd in a yard and ran to a fire station for help. Calloway didn’t know Byrd.
“I thought he had a health issue. He was in the yard,” Callaway said.
Byrd acted in films including “Clockers,” “Chi-Raq,” “Bamboozled,” “He Got Game” and “Da Sweet Blood of Jesus.” Also a stage actor, Byrd was nominated in 2003 for a Tony award for for his performance in the Broadway revival of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” co-starring Whoopi Goldberg and Charles S. Dutton.
Police ask anyone with information to call them or Crime Stoppers at 404-577-8477, or submit information online at www.StopCrimeATL.com.
“He was the best father I could ask for,” Van Halen’s son Wolfgang wrote in a social media post. “Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift.”
A person close to Van Halen’s family confirmed the rocker died Tuesday due to cancer. The person was not authorized to publicly release details in advance of an official announcement.
“He was the best father I could ask for,” Van Halen’s son Wolfgang wrote in a social media post. “Every moment I’ve shared with him on and off stage was a gift.”
With his distinct solos, Eddie Van Halen fueled the ultimate California party band and helped knock disco off the charts starting in the late 1970s with his band’s self-titled debut album and then with the blockbuster record “1984,” which contains the classics “Jump,” “Panama” and “Hot for Teacher.”
Van Halen is among the top 20 best-selling artists of all time, and the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007. Rolling Stone magazine put Eddie Van Halen at No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.
Eddie Van Halen was something of a musical contradiction. He was an autodidact who could play almost any instrument, but he couldn’t read music. He was a classically trained pianist who also created some of the most distinctive guitar riffs in rock history. He was a Dutch immigrant who was considered one of the greatest American guitarists of his generation.
Honors came from the music world, from Lenny Kravitz to Kenny Chesney. “You changed our world. You were the Mozart of rock guitar. Travel safe, rockstar,” Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx said on Twitter. Added Lenny Kravitz: “Heaven will be electric tonight.”
The members of Van Halen — the two Van Halen brothers, Eddie and Alex; vocalist David Lee Roth; and bassist Michael Anthony — formed in 1974 in Pasadena, California. They were members of rival high school bands and then attended Pasadena City College together. They combined to form the band Mammoth, but then changed to Van Halen after discovering there was another band called Mammoth.
Their 1978 release “Van Halen” opened with a blistering “Runnin’ With the Devil” and then Eddie Van Halen showed off his astonishing skills in the next song, “Eruption,” a furious 1:42 minute guitar solo that swoops and soars like a deranged bird. The album also contained a cover of the Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” and “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love.”
Van Halen released albums on a yearly timetable — “Van Halen II” (1979), “Women and Children First” (1980), “Fair Warning” (1981) and “Diver Down” (1982) — until the monumental “1984,” which hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album charts (only behind Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”). Rolling Stone ranked “1984” No. 81 on its list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s.
“Eddie put the smile back in rock guitar, at a time when it was all getting a bit brooding. He also scared the hell out of a million guitarists around the world, because he was so damn good. And original,” Joe Satriani, a fellow virtuoso, told Billboard in 2015.
Van Halen also played guitar on one of the biggest singles of the 1980s: Jackson’s “Beat It.” His solo lasted all of 20 seconds and took only a half an hour to record. He did it as a favor to producer Quincy Jones, while the rest of his Van Halen bandmates were out of town.
Van Halen received no compensation or credit for the work, even though he rearranged the section he played on. “It was 20 minutes of my life. I didn’t want anything for doing that,” he told Billboard in 2015. “I literally thought to myself, ‘Who is possibly going to know if I play on this kid’s record?’” Rolling Stone ranked “Beat It” No. 344 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Jackson’s melding of hard rock and R&B preceded the meeting of Run-DMC and Aerosmith by four years.
But strains between Roth and the band erupted after their 1984 world tour and Roth left. The group then recruited Sammy Hagar as lead singer —some critics called the new formulation “Van Hagar” — and the band went on to score its first No. 1 album with “5150,” More studio albums followed, including “OU812,” “For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge” and “Balance.” Hit singles included “Why Can’t This Be Love” and “When It’s Love.”
Hagar was ousted in 1996 and former Extreme singer Gary Cherone stepped in for the album “Van Halen III,” a stumble that didn’t lead to another album and the quick departure of Cherone. Roth would eventually return in 2007 and team up with the Van Halen brothers and Wolfgang Van Halen on bass for a tour, the album “A Different Kind of Truth” and the 2015 album “Tokyo Dome Live in Concert.”
Van Halen’s music has appeared in films as varied as “Superbad,” “Minions” and “Sing” as well as TV shows like “Glee” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Video games such as “Gran Turismo 4” and “Guitar Hero” have used his riffs. Their song “Jamie’s Cryin” was sampled by rapper Tone Loc in his hit “Wild Thing.”
For much of his career, Eddie Van Halen wrote and experimented with sounds while drunk or high or both. He revealed that he would stay in his hotel room drinking vodka and snorting cocaine while playing into a tape recorder. (Hagar’s 2011 autobiography “Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock” portrays Eddie as a violent, booze-addled vampire, living inside a garbage-strewn house.)
“I didn’t drink to party,” Van Halen told Billboard. “Alcohol and cocaine were private things to me. I would use them for work. The blow keeps you awake and the alcohol lowers your inhibitions. I’m sure there were musical things I would not have attempted were I not in that mental state.”
Eddie Van Halen was born in Amsterdam and his family immigrated to California in 1962 when he was 7. His father was a big band clarinetist who rarely found work after coming to the U.S., and their mother was a maid who had dreams of her sons being classical pianists. The Van Halens shared a house with three other families. Eddie and Alex had only each other, a tight relationship that flowed through their music.
“We showed up here with the equivalent of $50 and a piano,” Eddie Van Halen told The Associated Press in 2015. “We came halfway around the world without money, without a set job, no place to live and couldn’t even speak the language.”
He said his earliest memories of music were banging pots and pans together, marching to John Philip Sousa marches. At one point, Eddie got a drum set, which his older brother coveted.
“I never wanted to play guitar,” he confessed at a talk at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 2015. But his brother was good at the drums, so Eddie gave into his brother’s wishes: “I said, ‘Go ahead, take my drums. I’ll play your damn guitar.’”
He was a relentless experimenter who would solder different parts from different guitar-makers, including Gibson and Fender. He created his own graphic design for his guitars by adding tape to the instruments and then spray-painting them. He said his influences were Eric Clapton, and Jimi Hendrix.
Van Halen, sober since 2008, lost one-third of his tongue to a cancer that eventually drifted into his esophagus. In 1999, he had a hip replacement. He was married twice, to actress Valerie Bertinelli from 1981 to 2007 and then to stuntwoman-turned-publicist Janie Liszewski, whom he wed in 2009.
“I’m so grateful Wolfie and I were able to hold you in your last moments,” Bertinelli wrote on Instagram, showing an image of their baby son. “I will see you in our next life.”
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AP Music Editor Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report.
The moratorium on evictions has been extended
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