Spring Guide 2018
Spring Guide; Behailu Academy; Ruthie’s on Tryon; AfroPop; ‘A Time to Kill’; Golden Nuggets
PREMIERE: Brio Releases New Single, “Guru”
When we spoke to Charlotte rapper and producer Brio on an episode of CL’s Local Vibes podcast in January, he had just come off the release of his debut album, LITEBLEU, and told us he already had some new vibes coming down the pipe. Today he’s coming through on that promise with the release of…
Tomb Raider: Heroine thrills
TOMB RAIDER **1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY Roar Uthaug STARS Alicia Vikander, Dominic West Angelina Jolie proved to be a dynamic Lara Croft in her two cinematic at-bats, but 2001’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and 2003’s Lara Croft: Tomb Raider — The Cradle of Life were so daft and derivative that they did the…
7 Days in Entebbe dances around dramatics
7 DAYS IN ENTEBBE **1/2 (out of four) DIRECTED BY José Padilha STARS Daniel Brühl, Rosamund Pike It’s impossible to predict what real-life stories will capture the fancy of an inquisitive teen, and one of mine was the saga of Air France Flight 139, which was hijacked during the summer of 1976 by Palestinian and…
Listen Up: AfroPop! Nation Expands its Empire on ‘Local Vibes’
In the lead up to the big “Bantu Experience” party at the Gantt Center on March 17, we brought in two of the three co-founders of AfroPop! Nation: Ifeanyi Ibeto, aka DJ Kato; and April Hood. We talked with the duo about the beginnings of their Afrocentric party promotions, African culture in America, appropriation and…
The Blotter: Arsenal
Well Protected A police report surfaced last week describing the alarming findings of a vehicle search at the EpiCentre on Friday night during CIAA weekend. Police did not disclose why they were searching the suspects’ Chevrolet Suburban, but did report that they found a Smith & Wesson handgun in the driver seat back pocket, a…
The Age of Innocence, The Disaster Artist, I, Tonya among new home entertainment titles
(View From The Couch is a weekly column that reviews what’s new on Blu-ray, DVD and Streaming. Ratings are on a four-star scale.) THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993). A raging bull in a china shop is the image many people had when they first heard that Martin Scorsese was tackling Edith Wharton’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel…
News of the Weird: Bad Judgement
Suspicions Confirmed District Judge Joseph Boeckmann, 72, took a personal interest in the young men who came through his courtrooms in Cross and St. Francis counties (Arkansas) from 2009 to 2015 with traffic citations or misdemeanor criminal charges. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that Judge Boeckmann routinely dismissed those charges pending “community service,” which Boeckmann would…
It Takes an AfroPop Nation…
AfroPop Charlotte takes over the Gantt Center March 17.
Spring Guide 2018
It’s that time of year again, when we all stumble out of our homes after months of hibernation and make plans with friends again. There’s something for everyone on this list, whether you’re physically fit or would rather eat, drink and sit. Arts Creative Photography Workshop BLKMRKTCLT at Camp North End kicks off a series…
‘A Time to Kill’ Asks Uncomfortable Questions About Gun Violence and Race
Rape, murder and racism. That’s what’s on the docket in a small-town Mississippi courtroom in the early 1980s, the setting for A Time to Kill. The stage adaptation of the debut novel from best-selling author John Grisham, which goes up at Theatre Charlotte March 23, draws on the traditional courtroom drama trappings of a Perry…
Ruthie’s on Tryon is a Brooklyn Soul Food Joint That Came Home to the South
Ruthie’s on Tryon has only been open for five months, but its legacy spans three generations. The story began in 1997 on Dekalb Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Ruth West opened the doors to Ruthie’s Soul Food and became famous for bringing Southern staples to the big city up north. Two more Ruthie’s locations were…
Behailu Academy Students Hope to Enjoy the Light Rail, Until They Can’t Anymore
Walking down North Davidson Street in its namesake NoDa neighborhood today, it’s clear just how much things have changed since Ruth Ava Lyons and Paul Sires began turning what was once known as North Charlotte into an arts district where the Queen City’s most eclectic folks could feel at home. Today, the scene is much…
Finding My Muse
Okay, so I know I’m going to get ostracized for admitting this — probably by my CL editors who teased me when I “discovered” Snug Harbor last year — but last Friday was my first time going to The Evening Muse in NoDa. There, I said it. Before I end up having to adorn the…
Omar Crenshaw Finds ‘Golden Nuggets’ in the Trash Bin
By the time Omar Crenshaw graduated from Appalachian State University in 2011 with a master’s in marriage and family therapy, he knew he wasn’t going to be a practicing therapist. Even as an intern, he found the daily grind of treating an endless array of social and family ills was taking its toll. “It was…
A Brief Primer on Afrocentrism in American Music
The Afrocentrism movement of the late 1980s arose in part as a reaction to apartheid in South Africa, but it also gained momentum with the 1987 publication of Martin Bernal’s Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization. However, while the ’80s Afrocentrism movement was hugely significant, art and music from the African continent have…
