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AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM
The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) opened in 1976 in celebration of the Bicentennial of the United States and was the first major museum in the country devoted specifically to African American history and traditions. |
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| “Diana Ross — An Unauthorized Biography” (Citadel Press, 560 pages, $26.95), by J. Randy Taraborrelli: In his third book about pop culture icon Diana Ross, Taraborrelli charts the rise of Ross’ career from the Brewster Projects in Detroit to headlining concerts at the Copacabana. |
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| “Coltrane: The Story of a Sound” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 250 pages, $24), by Ben Ratliff: The saxophonist John Coltrane is among the most celebrated and mythologized musicians of his generation. But he almost never was. |
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At first, the government stood firmly by both Evan Mettie and his family.
After a car bomb in Iraq blew metal shards into his brain, he spent three months being treated in a Naval hospital in Bethesda, Md. The government and a nonprofit paid for his family to travel cross-country to visit him. They stayed for free at a government residence. |
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| As world-renown, A-list actors — from George Clooney, to Jodie Foster, to Brad Pitt — paraded to the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival to introduce Oscar-worthy movies, one Hollywood legend stood out: Veteran actor Danny Glover... |
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| I recently overheard two young men speculating on how life was prior to the cellular telephone. In light of the fact that most of us take the cell phone for granted, I decided to reexamine life without it, back in the day. The cellular phone did not exist back in the day. It has undergone a major transformation, from the large, brick-size phone to a small instrument that fits in one’s shirt pocket |
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| Dear Gwendolyn: I have a good job that pays well, but I think there is a chance I will lose it. This is the problem: I am 48 years old and have never married. I fell in love with a man while in my freshman year of college. That was disastrous. |
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| Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Lansdowne works hard to find new ways to strengthen its ministry and commitment to the community. “We are attempting to build a ministry so that they will come,” said the Rev. Trevor E. Woolridge. |
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| MOSHAV HIBAT ZION, Israel — The charred hut and blackened chimney are all that remain of what was one of Israel’s best-kept secrets. It was the Jewish state’s first and only crematorium. But more than that, it was a symbol. To secular Jews it meant the right to choose one’s own exit from this world. |
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| E very year, as twinkly-eyed hopefuls stream to L.A., New York, and Nashville, they wonder what it’ll take to become stars. Legend says that Lana Turner was “discovered” sitting at a drug store counter. Drew Barrymore was born into a famous dynasty. |
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| On Dec. 28, 2000, seven West Philadelphia residents were lined up in the back room of a crack house and shot to death. Within days, and under pressure from the newly-elected Mayor John F. Street, other elected officials and the media... |
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| SAPULOU, Taiwan — Sixty years after Roman Catholic and Presbyterian missionaries first converted large numbers of Taiwanese aboriginals in their leafy mountain villages, Christianity here is entering a new phase. Adherents are leaving the faith. |
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| If you have ever wondered what the average urban teenager is thinking about, aspiring to, or longing for, “Identity: Poems and Writing from Teen Writers Academy” ($10.99, BPT Media) will enlighten and touch your heart. |
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| The Philadelphia Museum of Art’s state-of-the-art Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building opens to the public Saturday with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m. This is the first expansion of the museum’s footprint since the museum was completed in 1928. |
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| JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — T-shirts bearing the image of Steve Biko, the symbol of Black resistance worldwide who was killed by apartheid police, can be found for sale at flea market stalls and exclusive boutiques across South Africa. |
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| The Philadelphia arts and culture scene received another financial boost this week when Mayor John F. Street presented a ceremonial check for $3 million to the African American Museum of Philadelphia (AAMP) for facility upgrades. |
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| When you are in the company of Philadelphia producers Andre Harris and Vidal Davis, you are guaranteed lots of laughs. And if you just so happen to be an artist, you can expect a hit record too. |
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| At the turn of the 19th century a veritable ‘river of gold” was discovered in central Panama. Stories were told of children playing marbles with gold beads found in the Rio Grande de Coclé, which had a long history of shifting its course due to the region’s rainy season. By the late 1920s, larger gold ornaments were found on the riverbanks and as the news spread a subsequent gold rush was initiated. |
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| NEW YORK – Rapper Foxy Brown has been indicted on charges that she smacked a neighbor with a cell phone, a Probation Department lawyer said Friday. The lawyer, Matilda Leo, said the indictment, handed up in Brooklyn, charges Brown with second- and third-degree assault, attempted second-degree assault and criminal possession of a weapon – presumably the cell phone. In Manhattan, Leo told Criminal Court Judge Melissa Jackson about the indictment before a hearing on whether Brown, 28, violated terms of her probation. |
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| BEVERLY HILLS , Calif. – When he’s not rapping or acting, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges is probably shopping. “It’s become a hobby of mine,” he says while admiring a pair of Prada high-top sneakers during a recent visit to Saks Fifth Avenue. “Over time, I’ve learned a lot about style and a lot about fashion ... |
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| ROME — Italian designer Valentino, whose signature flaming red couture gowns have graced royalty, Hollywood stars and the international jet set for 45 years, announced Tuesday he was stepping down as head designer of the Valentino fashion house. |
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| A s a kid, you probably know how easy it is to get into trouble. You know what happens. A thought, a place, an action all seemed like a good idea at the time. You go ahead and do what you’re gonna do and before you know it, you’ve messed up big-time. |
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| The century-old Museum of the Confederacy offers a more single-minded approach to the war. Red, white and blue battle flags from different Confederate troops wave from the ceiling. Three levels of exhibits feature bullet-riddled uniforms, blood-spattered letters from dying soldiers and maps generals once used to lead their men. Located in downtown Richmond, the museum bills itself as home to the world’s largest collection of Confederate artifacts. |
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| NEW YORK – Venus Williams wants to leave the U.S. Open crowd in stitches – her own. Williams has become the latest celebrity to join forces with budget-minded retailer Steve & Barry’s. The deal was announced last week, ahead of the tournament she’s already won twice. The company says it’s the largest collection ever created by a female athlete. Williams is enjoying a career resurgence with her fourth win at Wimbledon earlier this summer, but she’s played in fewer tournaments the past few years, largely because of injuries. |
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| HOUSTON – In the Ethiopian language, she is called Dinknesh – a name that means the wonderful, the fabulous, the precious. But to most of the world, she is known as Lucy, a 3.2 million-year-old fossil whose discovery 33 years ago yielded then-unparalleled insights to the origins of humankind. Next week, the iconic set of bones will be the star of a much-hyped exhibit that is pitting the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the Ethiopian government against the world’s scientific community. |
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| “To our children we give two things: one is roots; the other, wings”. When a baby is born, the adults in its life see possibility. The child can be so many things; can do so much in the years ahead, if only he or she is furnished with a good foundation and a nudge toward the right path in life. The question is, do you pray for a smooth road for him or her, or do you place a few bumps along the way to season the young traveler? |
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| As Philadelphia’s adopted son, saxophonist John Coltrane was arguably the most influential musician in modern jazz, both technically and spiritually. This weekend the Second Annual John Coltrane Jazz Festival will commemorate and continue Coltrane’s legacy through unique performances featuring musicians who continue to explore and celebrate the outer boundaries of jazz and improvisation. The festival is produced by the 28 year-old non profit music education organization TraneStop Resource Institute, Inc. (TRI) will feature Jerry “The Ice Man” Butler on the Saturday blues program. |
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| ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Lillian Roberson was about to doze off when she heard a car pull up outside her home. Her husband, Bungum, and her four young sons were asleep. When she got up to check, the back of her home was ablaze — a firebomb had been thrown inside, likely by the Ku Klux Klan. She and her husband were able to get the boys out safely, but their home was destroyed. |
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| NEW YORK — Given the multiplatinum, Grammy-winning successes of fellow “American Idol” winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, Jordin Sparks is feeling pressure to make her own mark on the music world. It’s a lot to live up to. “They’ve risen the bar so high and I’m like, ‘I hope I can reach it,’” the bubbly 17-year-old told The Associated Press on Wednesday. |
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| “The cancer is out of my body and I’m healing from the surgery,” the “Good Morning America” co-host told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. “Hopefully, the plan now is to keep it out.” She announced on ABC’s morning show July 31 that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery Aug. 3. |
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