AAFCA To Honor Broadway Trailblazers At Annual Awards Luncheon
The African American Film Critics Association returns to Broadway this fall, spotlighting the artists and innovators shaping the stage’s future.
The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) will once again spotlight excellence on Broadway with the return of its AAFCA Goes to Broadway Awards Luncheon, now in its fourth year. The celebration, which honors theater professionals advancing storytelling and diversity, will take place Oct. 13 at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in the heart of New York City’s Theater District.
This year’s event follows a record-breaking Broadway season that brought in $1.9 billion in box office revenue and attracted more than 14 million theatergoers. The 2024–2025 season saw the return of icons like Audra McDonald and Denzel Washington, alongside new productions that reaffirmed Broadway’s cultural and economic power.
Among this year’s honorees are some of the stage’s most influential figures. Actress Kara Young will receive the Spotlight Award, producer Brian Moreland will be honored with the Producers Award, actress Kecia Lewis will receive the Beacon Award, and marketing visionary Linda Stewart will be recognized with the Salute to Excellence Award.
“Each of this year’s honorees represents a different but vital force on Broadway,” said Gil Robertson IV, AAFCA’s president and co-founder. “From Kara Young’s powerful performances to Brian Moreland’s groundbreaking productions, Kecia Lewis’ inspiring artistry, and Linda Stewart’s strategic brilliance behind the scenes, their collective influence ensures that Broadway continues to thrive as a home for diverse voices and storytelling.”
Moreland recently produced the revival of Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal. Kara Young, a two-time Tony Award winner, is the first Black actress to earn four consecutive Tony nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Lewis, whose commanding performances in Once on This Island, Leap of Faith, and Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen earned her a Tony Award, continues to inspire new generations of performers. Stewart, a marketing powerhouse, has led campaigns for acclaimed shows including Ain’t Too Proud, The Color Purple, Dreamgirls, and Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen.
Founded in 2003, AAFCA is the world’s largest collective of Black film critics, representing journalists across the U.S. and internationally. The organization’s mission extends beyond film to celebrate excellence in film, television, and theater, while fostering opportunities for emerging storytellers.
Federal Judge Tosses Drake’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Universal Over Kendrick Lamar Diss Track
Judge Vargas rules that Lamar’s lyrics were artistic expression, not factual claims, in one of hip-hop’s most publicized feuds.
A federal judge in New York has dismissed Drake’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), ruling that the claims tied to Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 diss track “Not Like Us” were protected as opinion rather than fact. In her decision, Judge Jeannette Vargas determined that the statements Drake alleged were defamatory amounted to “nonactionable opinion,” effectively ending the high-profile case.
“A rap diss track would not create more of an expectation in the average listener that the lyrics state sober facts instead of opinion,” Vargas wrote, describing the song as full of “profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language.”
As reported by ABC News, Drake sued UMG for defamation and harassment, accusing the label of knowingly publishing and promoting Lamar’s Grammy-winning hit despite its insinuations that he engaged in sexual relationships with minors. The judge noted that the case “arises from perhaps the most infamous rap battle in the genre’s history,” referring to the 2024 back-and-forth that saw both rappers trading barbed lyrics across multiple tracks.
“Not Like Us,” which Lamar performed at the 2025 Super Bowl, went on to sweep the Grammy Awards, earning five trophies, including Song and Record of the Year.
In a statement following the ruling, UMG said the lawsuit “was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day.”
The label added that it looked forward to “continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
Drake’s legal team, however, said they plan to appeal. “This lawsuit reveals the human and business consequences to UMG’s elevation of profits over the safety and well-being of its artists,” they said in a statement.
UMG’s earlier response to the case accused Drake of hypocrisy: “He intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous, back-and-forth rap battles… He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression.”
Judge Vargas ultimately concluded that the accusations within Lamar’s song — including calling Drake a pedophile — would not be interpreted as literal fact. “The broader context of a heated rap battle… would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable facts,” Vargas wrote.
A’ja Wilson, Aces Sweep Phoenix Mercury, Become The WNBA’s Latest Dynasty
The Las Vegas Aces became the second team in WNBA history to win three championships in a four-year span.
The Las Vegas Aces became the second team in WNBA history to win three championships in a four-year span, joining the Houston Comets as the only teams to accomplish that feat after they handily defeated the Phoenix Mercury 97-86 on Oct. 10.
In the league’s first seven-game championship series, the Aces and their superstar A’ja Wilson made history, as she became the first basketball player ever to win a regular season MVP, Finals MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and a scoring title in the same season.
According to The Athletic, dynasties in sports are rare, and franchise players like Wilson are even rarer. After her record-setting play, which saw her set the league mark for most points in a single playoff run, Wilson joins a relatively short list of two-time WNBA Finals MVPs, the list includes Wilson, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, former Minnesota Lynx forward Sylvia Fowles, former Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi, former Los Angeles Sparks center Lisa Leslie, and the only woman to win four finals MVP’s, former Houston Comets guard Cynthia Cooper.
As she told the outlet, Wilson’s coach, Becky Hammon, believes Wilson is on a trajectory that places her in her own category, and at this juncture in Wilson’s career, it’s hard to argue against her point, particularly after Wilson’s iconic game winning shot in Game Three and her 31 point, nine rebound effort in the close out game en route to another historic Finals performance.
“You have your Mount Rushmore, she’s alone on Everest,” Hammon said after the game. “There’s no one around.”
She continued, noting the important contributions the team received from All-Star guards Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young, and the path to the Finals that, at one point during the season, looked anything but a sure thing.
“I’m invested in their greatness and getting that out of them every day. This one hits different because it was different. There was probably a lot more adversity than any of us anticipated,” Hammon told reporters.
Gray chimed in, noting that despite the team’s early-season struggles, they didn’t unravel.
“To be here right now, and where we were in May and June. We had confidence in each other. I’m just really proud of how we just stayed the course,” Gray told reporters.
As ESPN previously reported, the relationship between Wilson and her “Point Gawd” Chelsea Gray is a big reason why the team was able to keep their collective heads after an Aug. 2 53-point drubbing by the Minnesota Lynx embarrassed them.
At one point, as Gray recalled to the outlet, Wilson’s challenge to her about her assist numbers lit a fire under her that helped ignite the Aces’ run from a fringe playoff team to the third overall seed.
Backup point guard Dana Evans credited Wilson as the stabilizing force during the team’s earlier trials and tribulations in her comments at the post-game press conference.
“She (Wilson) was the positive person (during our struggles),” Evans said. “She was the one sending texts, saying, ‘Hey, y’all, we good. Keep your heads up. Don’t get down on yourself.’ She’s just always been that positive.”
Aces team president, Nikki Fargas, told The Athletic in no uncertain terms that she, too, believes that when Wilson does finally hang up her jersey, she will be considered one of the greats, if not the greatest player to ever play in the WNBA.
“She’s a generational talent. A’ja Wilson, once finished playing, will be the GOAT,” Fargas said. “There’s not gonna be anything left for her to do. I just don’t want us to get tired of seeing and watching her greatness.”
Classroom to Camera: Dr. Karen Baptiste Is Dismantling the Preschool-To-Prison Pipeline
The educator saw early on how a system built to educate could also punish
Before she was an Emmy-nominated filmmaker, Dr. Karen Baptiste was a classroom teacher in the Bronx, standing in front of children who reminded her of herself—Black, curious, and too often underestimated. She saw early on how a system built to educate could also punish, labeling kids before they ever had a chance to show who they could be.
“Children don’t wake up with the intent to fail, with the intent to be bad, with the intent to disrupt,” she tells BLACK ENTERPRISE.
“At three and four years old, they already know when they’re loved and when they’re not. When you hear young kids say that they’ve been told that they’re bad and they can’t even spell the word bad, that stays with you because nobody wants to be labeled as bad.”
In addition to her own experiences, Baptiste, who often goes by her nickname Dr. K, was also galvanized by national headlines to produce and direct Preschool to Prison: A National Crisis, her award-winning documentary now nominated for a New York Emmy® Creative Arts Award. The film exposes how bias, misdiagnosis, and “zero tolerance” policies create a direct line from early education to incarceration, especially for Black children and those with special needs.
While many people might be familiar with the term school-to-prison pipeline, Baptiste admits she changed the phrasing to preschool-to-prison because as alarming as it might sound, it more accurately describes many of the cases in the film, and she believes the public needs to be more alarmed.
“I’ve had people ask me if I didn’t think this title was extreme,” she says. “And I just respond back, the patterns of sending children from school to prison is what’s extreme.”
For her, calling it Preschool to Prison forces people to confront an uncomfortable truth.
“When you say school to prison, you think of an older child—a high schooler, someone taller than you,” she explains. “Empathy decreases as children get older. But when you say preschool to prison, you picture this itty bitty, cute child. People pause. They say, ‘That can’t be happening.’ Unfortunately, it is.”
When Baptiste learned her film had been nominated for an Emmy, she didn’t believe it at first.
“I saw it in writing and didn’t believe it,” she recalls. “I went looking for the video because I thought it might be a typo. I was with my mom when I found out, and that was everything—because she’s seen all the struggles from this.”
Filming wasn’t easy. Baptiste says everything that could go wrong did—sound loss, footage problems, financial hurdles—but she saw it as confirmation that her work mattered.
“I knew it was going to be big because the devil was working overtime,” she laughed. “Once it was out, I had to trust God’s plan.”
Through the film, Baptiste makes a clear case: discipline in schools isn’t just about behavior—it’s about perception.
“There are several studies done that show that—they looked at the three B’s: being a boy, being big for your age, and being Black,” she said. “Those factors contribute to the pipeline because punishments become harsher. People move straight to punishment instead of a teachable moment.”
She believes the solution starts with changing how educators and policymakers view children in crisis.
“Teacher prep programs should teach educators how to identify a child in crisis, not just a child being defiant,” Dr. K says. “Not every bit of defiance comes from harm or intent. Sometimes it’s pain.”
Beyond filmmaking, Baptiste leads Pioneering Possibilities, a consultancy that helps school districts and corporations build cultures rooted in empathy and equity. Her framework for “liberatory leadership” centers on CARE: curiosity, accountability, regulation, and equity.
“Curiosity cures assumptions,” she said. “Accountability doesn’t mean punishment. Regulation means ensuring adults are emotionally healthy, because we have a lot of dysregulated adults standing in front of people’s children. And equity means making intentional decisions that bring healing and belonging to the community.”
For Baptiste, systemic change begins with humanity.
“If I can connect with you heart to heart, I’ll treat you differently,” she says. “I hear a lot of, we don’t have the budget for this. Love is free. Dignity, respect, collaboration—they’re free. Start with the things that are free.”
And just as she calls for healing within institutions, Baptiste also insists on healing within the people who lead them.
“We have a lot of dysregulated adults,” she adds. “Because a person has multiple degrees, we think they’re fit to stand in front of children—and they’re not. If leadership fixes the culture, the pipeline to exclusion dries up.”
That mindset is summed up in a phrase Dr. K often repeats:
“I always say happy adults equal happy children. If we create this space where the adults are healthy and whole and feel loved and respected, then that’s in turn going to affect the children.”
Baptiste’s message extends beyond classrooms.
“Everyone has a role in dismantling the pipeline,” she said. “School and district leaders can review who policies are affecting. Parents can attend school board meetings and ask how discipline is handled. Even people without children should care, because if kids are being harshly disciplined and traumatized, that affects everyone.”
As Preschool to Prison continues to screen across the country, Baptiste has seen audiences moved to action.
“This film is like a love letter to children,” she said. “It’s not to make teachers the enemy. It’s a blueprint for change.”
As she prepares for the New York Emmy® Creative Arts Awards this weekend, Baptiste reflects on the road that brought her from journalism student to educator to advocate and filmmaker.
“Regardless of whether we win, this nomination affirms that I’m doing God’s work,” she said. “I’m speaking up against the harm I’ve witnessed—and helping others see that healing is possible.”
Watch: Preschool to Prison: A National Crisis is streaming on Amazon Prime, FOX SOUL TV, Kweli TV, and on its dedicated website.
Melinda F. Emerson is the founder of SmallBizLadyUniversity.com and has been delivering practical education and training to help professionals start, grow, or buy small businesses for close to 20 years
Melinda F. Emerson is the founder of SmallBizLadyUniversity.com and has been delivering practical education and training to help professionals start, grow, or buy small businesses for close to 20 years. Known in the industry as America’s No. 1 Small Business Expert, Emerson is a speaker for the U.S. State Department, podcast host, and best-selling author of Fix Your Business: 90-Day Plan to Get Your Life Back and Reduce Chaos in Your Business. Emerson has assembled some of the top experts in the business and franchise world for her upcoming The Next ACT CEO Summit, a three-day virtual conference taking place Jan. 22–24, 2026.
The summit will guide senior women leaders age 45+ to become entrepreneurs through acquisition—buying an existing business or franchise. The program focuses on the practical know-how required to step into ownership with confidence on day one, including financing, legal, technology, training, and essential services. “Women with decades of leadership experience are decisive and creditworthy. They don’t need another job in corporate America—they need a clear path to wealth creation through entrepreneurship,” explains Emerson. “This event will demystify entrepreneurship through acquisition and provide the tools, partners, experts, and community to make ownership a reality.” The Next ACT CEO Summit is designed to meet this moment, providing direction, resources, and vetted partners. Organizers are targeting 350 qualified attendees from the U.S. and Canada.
Over the three days, conference attendees will learn how to:
Compare independent acquisitions vs. franchise ownership and choose the right lane based on budget, time, and skills.
Source and evaluate real listings (brokers, resales, franchise consultants, marketplaces) with red-flag checklists.
Navigate the financing matrix (e.g., SBA, seller financing, franchise lenders, CDFIs, ROBS) and assemble lender-ready packages.
Conduct due diligence on operations, people, and financials.
Build an ownership-ready tech stack (CRM, e-signature, invoicing, payroll) and understand legal and insurance basics.
Emerson shared with BLACK ENTERPRISE that now is the time for this summit because “A growing number of experienced women are actively seeking ‘what’s next’ beyond corporate roles. They want to own assets, not a job. They want systems, teams, and revenue that they can scale with their business skills. And they don’t have time to build a business from scratch.”
The sports pundit offered his take on the Oct. 2 episode of Straight Shooter with Stephen A.
“But how Jasmine Crockett chooses to express herself, I’m like, ‘Is that gonna help your district in Texas?’ Aren’t you there to find a way to get stuff done, as opposed to just being an impediment to what Trump wants? How much work goes into that?” Smith said, in a clip shared on X.
“’I’m just going to go off about Trump, cuss him out every chance I get, say the most derogatory, incendiary things imaginable, and that’s my day’s work.’ That ain’t work!”
🚨NEW: Stephen A. Smith *GOES OFF* on Jasmine Crockett over her obsessively anti-TRUMP agenda🚨
"Aren't you there to find a way to get stuff done as opposed to just being an impediment to what Trump wants?"
Smith suggested that rather than criticizing Trump, Crockett should focus on working with the current administration to better the lives of her constituents in Texas’s 30th congressional district.
“Work is saying, ‘That’s the man in power. I know what his agenda is. I’m not exactly in a position to stop him since the Republicans have the Senate and the House, but maybe if I’m willing to work with this man, I might get something out of it for my constituency,'” Smith said.
“FACT: Trump wants to distract from Epstein. RELEASE THE FILES,” she tweeted. “FACT: Republicans run the House, Senate, & White House…if there is a shutdown, Real Math says it’s the REPUBLICANS’ SHUTDOWN. FACT: Republicans only know how to break sh-t & then deflect & deny any accountability.”
Judge Dismisses Wendy Williams’ Ex-Husband’s Lawsuit Over Guardianship
Hunter filed the lawsuit on Williams's behalf in June.
A judge has rejected a lawsuit filed by Wendy Williams’ ex-husband, Kelvin Hunter, earlier this year to remove Sabrina Morrissey as her guardian, TMZ reports. .
Williams did not request Hunter to file a lawsuit on her behalf.
“He has no standing to add her name [to the lawsuit] or no authority from Wendy whatsoever. And we certainly don’t need his help if we want to file a lawsuit. So, thanks, but no thanks,” Williams’ attorney Joe Tacopina, told People in June.
The judge dismissed the case earlier this week, but it was noted that Hunter can amend the lawsuit himself and remove Williams from
In his original filing, obtained by TMZ Hunter sought to replace Morrissey with another conservator and requested a forensic accountant to review Williams’ finances. He also sought $250 million in compensation for “financial losses, emotional distress, and damage to his reputation.
The TV personality phoned in to an Oct 9 segment on TMZ and said she was “happy” the judge threw the case out.
“Of course he wants to steal my money, Williams told TMZ’s Harvey Levin.
During the call, Williams also admitted that she was unsure of how much money she actually has.
In 2022, a New York court appointed a guardian for Williams after finding her incapacitated and unable to handle her affairs. In February 2023, doctors diagnosed her with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and primary progressive aphasia (PPA). She now lives in an assisted living facility where, according to the New York Post, the lowest rate is $27,000 per month, and monthly expenses can reach about $52,000.
The TV personality compares living in the facility to being in prison.
Williams and Hunter were married for 21 years and have one son. They divorced in 2020 after Williams learned that Hunter was having a baby with his mistress.
Far-Right Utah Pastor Calls For Biblical-Style Executions Of ‘Rebellious’ Young Black Men
The source of his logic: the Old Testament.
Brian Sauvé, a far-right Christian nationalist pastor in Utah, is making headlines for saying that young “rebellious” Black men needed to be executed.
In a recent episode of his podcast The King’s Hall, Sauvé and Eric Conn, another far-right Christian nationalist pastor at Refuge Church in Utah, discussed the killing of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was murdered earlier this year on a Charlotte metro train by a Black man later reported to be mentally ill.
The two pastors blamed the crime on “Black culture” and called for the state to execute “rebellious” young Black men, citing the Old Testament.
“I think it’s something like five percent of Black males are murderers,” Sauvé said. “If you take that and then you took a law like Deuteronomy 21, which is a just law that got enacted through Moses; the law was that if you had a rebellious son, you have a child who’s coming up into their manhood and they’re rebellious, they don’t listen—he lists some characteristics—and even though they’re disciplined, they will not turn, he says the father is to bring them out into the town square, this is a rebellious son, and then they stone him to death. They kill him.”
Conn said armed robbers would qualify for stoning.
“Oh, absolutely,” Sauvé agreed. “Armed robber, all the ghetto culture; basically, take ghetto culture, it would describe this to a T. If you did that over three generations, how much violent crime would you have in the third and fourth generation? Much, much less.”
Sauvé further claimed the problem stemmed from “Blacks” in positions of power, singling out “the several Black women who were involved in releasing Decarlos [Brown], the murderer in the city of Charlotte,” he said.
“In this case, [we have] the double whammy of Black female judges [and] politicians who have appointed these sorts of people,” Sauvé said. “If you look at who appointed the judge and the judge that released them, it’s two Black women. And what did they do? They said, ‘Oh, it’s mental health, it’s homelessness, it’s this, it’s that. It’s not a criminal tendency of Black males that needs to be cut off through the wielding of the sword by the civil magistrate.'”
Sauvé and Conn are closely aligned with racist Christian nationalist pastor Joel Webbon, having appeared multiple times at his conferences and on his podcast.
Black Feast Week Spotlights Local Kansas City Eateries
Black Feast Week includes more than a dozen restaurants offering special pricing, pop-ups, and giveaways.
Black Feast Week is back in Kansas City, Missouri, to celebrate Black culinary creativity and advance community revitalization efforts from Oct. 6 to Oct. 12.
The Kansas City Defender newsroom created the event to help combat food insecurity and highlight local small businesses.
The People’s Buyout kickoff event fed 150 single Black mothers free meals at District Fish & Pasta. Joshua “JT” Taylor, senior content producer and chief administrative officer at The Kansas City Defender, spoke to KCUR about the event’s goals.
“We’ve always tried to prioritize helping people who are most marginalized,” said Taylor. “And the Black woman is probably the most marginalized among us. We try to look out for our people.”
Black Feast Week includes more than a dozen restaurants offering special pricing, pop-ups, giveaways, and social media events. Participating businesses this year include Orange by Devoured, District Biskuits, and Vine Street Brewing.
The initiative began in response to widespread restaurant closures in Kansas City’s Black business community, prompting calls for interventions.
“We saw a need to bring more marketing to Black entrepreneurs and restaurant owners,” Taylor said. “Some of those areas don’t offer the same type of revenue flow.”
This year’s programming is designed to be a culinary showcase and a branding platform. Organizers emphasized that Feast Week is part of broader mutual aid and advocacy work. The Defender newsroom hosts regular giveaways, clothing drives, and community arts events.
“The point is getting people to actually spend money with Black-owned businesses and encourage Black economic growth as a whole,” Taylor said.
This year’s Feast Week is expected to further spotlight economic disparities in Kansas City and strengthen ties between residents and Black restaurateurs, creating both immediate support and building momentum for long-term investment in the local culinary ecosystem.
Turning Point USA Announces Alternative Super Bowl Halftime Show In Protest Of Bad Bunny Selection
Bad Bunny, who is Puerto Rican, has openly criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies, particularly the ICE raids.
The conservative group Turning Point USA (TPUSA) will host an alternative Super Bowl halftime show in response to reggaeton star Bad Bunny headlining the mid-game spectacle.
The organization, co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, announced the news Oct. 9 on X.
The “All American Halftime Show” is being promoted as a celebration of “faith, family, and freedom.”
TPUSA is directing interested participants to its website, where they can submit their name, contact information, and preferred musical genre, including “Americana, Classic Rock, Country, Hip Hop, Pop, and Worship,” as well as an “Anything in English” option.
Bad Bunny, who is Puerto Rican, has openly criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies, particularly the ICE raids. The Grammy-winning artist even chose not to include U.S. dates on his 2025 world tour, citing concerns that ICE could be present to arrest and deport his fans.
“There were many reasons why I didn’t show up in the U.S., and none of them were out of hate,” Bad Bunny said at the time. “ICE could be outside (my concert). And it’s something that we were talking about and very concerned about.”
Since Bad Bunny, who recently hosted Saturday Night Live, was announced as the Super Bowl halftime performer, conservatives have voiced strong criticism.
Pundit Tomi Lahren claimed he was “not an American artist.” Bad Bunny, being a Puerto Rican, is a U.S. citizen. Corey Lewandowski, chief adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, suggested that ICE agents would be present at the Super Bowl in response to his selection.
“We’re going to do enforcement everywhere,” Lewandowski said. “We are going to make Americans safe. That is a directive from the president. If you’re in this country illegally, do yourself a favor: Go home.”
