Examples.

 Original Post:  https://classixphilly.com/705753/anita-baker-masters-chance-the-rapper/ Source: Kevin Winter / Getty[/caption] Anita Baker is one of R&B's most prolific artists of all time. She like many other artists of her generation and before, released most of their music under record deal contracts that were mostly unfavorable to the artist making the art. Many Black artists like Prince, George Clinton and Frank Ocean have fought record labels to own the rights of their masters. For Anita Baker, her battle to regain the rights to her 5 albums released under Elektra Records came to a conclusion within September 2021. She previously urged her fans to not stream her music until justice was done. ANITABAKER Tweet During a show at her residency in Las Vegas, Anita revealed that she got help from an expected source. That source was label independence advocate Chance The Rapper. 3LWTV Tweet The nitty gritty of the negotiations between Anita and Elektra Records has not been...

 Original Post:  https://classixphilly.com/691410/tulsa-survivors-1-million-dollars/ Source: iOne Creative Services / Radio One Digital[/caption] In 1921 the 10,000 Black residents of Tulsa's neighborhood of Greenwood, witnessed the pillaging and destruction of their community. For about 18 hours, some 1,500 white men burned 1,256 houses along with various Black-owned businesses including a hospital and school. Greenwood once held the pillars of its nickname "Black Wall Street". For decades America tried to cover up that the incident. For a lot of the public, they had no idea the evil act even happened until a poignant reminder occurred on HBO's Watchmen. HBO - Watchmen (Tulsa Race Massacre Scene)   The Smithsonian - Colorized Footage of Greenwood A hundred and one years later, three known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre were given $1 million in donations from a philanthropic organization called Business for Good . Co-founders Ed and Lisa Mitzen of the New York...

 Original Post:  https://classixphilly.com/696260/experimental-cancer-killing-virus/ Source: Science Photo Library - ROGER HARRIS / Getty[/caption] Last week scientists tested a new cancer killing virus on their first batch of human subjects. The new experimental treatment known as Vaxinia, has been used on animals and has proven to reduce the amount of cancer cells within their bodies. The treatment has reduced the size of colon, lung, breast, ovarian, and pancreatic cancer tumors within animals. Most people would assume that a virus would cause harm to any subject. The CF33-hNIS virus, aka Vaxinia, is trying to use cancer cells damaging effects against themselves. Since Vaxinia is an oncolytic virus, it prefers to target and infect tumor cells. The scientists and researchers at the City of Hope National Medical Center in California are hoping that the virus will boost the human body’s immune response against cancer. The treatment was designed to attack hard-to-identify soli...

Original Post:  https://classixphilly.com/697463/lil-kim-biopic/ Source: Lede Company Team / Lede Company Team[/caption] On May 20th, family and friends celebrated Notorious B.I.G.'s 50th birthday at Guastavino’s in NYC. Those in attendance included B.I.G.’s mother Voletta Wallace, his kids T’yanna and CJ Wallace, and the evening’s host Lil’ Kim. Fellow friends Lil’ Cease, members of Junior M.A.F.I.A., Havoc, Sway, Smif-N-Wessun, and others had to come out to the star-studded event. Of course, it wouldn't be a celebration of one the world's greatest rappers without bars and stories being dropped. Vibe Tweet During the 2nd Annual Biggie Dinner Gala's festivities, Lil' Kim had time to speak with The New York Post . The legendary rapper revealed that she has a biopic in the works. When asked whether fans should expect a film detailing her life, she responded with "Absolutely." The New York Post even asked Kim if she knew who was going to play her in the silv...

Original Post:  https://classixphilly.com/690180/george-lopez-mayan-lopez/ Source: Bennett Raglin/BET / Getty[/caption] One of America's favorite Chicanos is coming back. George Lopez is returning to the broadcast television space after 15 years since the end of ABC's "George Lopez" show. This time around his new sitcom show will feature someone who has seen Lopez in almost every facet of his life. "Lopez vs. Lopez" will have George and his real-life daughter Mayan Lopez sharing plenty of family time together in NBC's studios. According to Variety , the show is being described as "a working-class family comedy about dysfunction, reconnection and all the pain and joy in between." This going to be 61-year-old's fourth television show in his almost 40-year career. After "George Lopez" was done, Lopez went to host TBS late-night talk show until 2011. Then in 2014, he created a non-traditional comedy for FX named "Saint George...

 Original Post:  https://classixphilly.com/688975/little-richard-documentary/ Little Richard, born Richard Wayne Penniman, will be the next subject of CNN Films and HBO Max's newest documentary. Little Richard: I Am Everything  has just been put into commission by the two media giants. The music documentary is going to showcase the showman's seven decades within and outside of music. The doc will include never-seen-before archival footage and interviews from his family, colleagues, fellow musicians and historians. The Macon, Georgia product was the third child of 12 children, and in his youth he honed his vocal and piano playing skills in church. After signing a deal with RCA in 1951, genre defining hits like “Tutti Frutti” and “Long Tall Sally”, helped shape and break barriers within the 1950s rock n' roll era. His music influenced many acts that followed including Prince, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Richard Penniman died in 2020 during his battle with bone cance...

James Ijames has been a South Philadelphia playwright, teacher and actor for several years now. He graduated from Temple University earning his MFA in acting; he's a theater professor at Villanova University and is a founding member of the Philly's playwright producing organization, Orbiter 3. As a transplant from Bessemer City, North Carolina he has really made Philly his own, and now he adds an illustrious award to his resume. On Monday James Ijames's play Fat Ham won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Fat Ham  is a modern comedy-drama re-tooling of Shakespeare's Hamlet . Without spoiling anything about a 400-year-old story, Fat Ham  features "Juicy" who is a queer, Southern college kid going back home for a family BBQ. Things get haywire when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenges his murder. Juicy is an obviously different guy from Hamlet. He is a sensitive, self-aware Black kid struggling to break the cycles of trauma a...

  Tony Luke's has been a premiere Philly cheesesteak destination since 1992. That's 30 years of service. As of yesterday, Eighty-three-year-old Anthony Lucidonio Sr. and 55-year-old Nicholas Lucidonio have pleaded guilty for conspiring to defraud the U.S. government. The federal tax fraud case alleged that they were hiding of nearly $8 million in sales over the course of a decade, from 2006 to 2016. The two co-owners admitted that they paid part of their workers’ salaries under the table to evade payroll taxes. They reportedly told the federal judge they kept two sets of books to hide cash from sales at their South Philly shop. The tax fraud practice allegedly ended in 2017. The Lucidonio's attorneys released a statement following pleading guilty, the father and son "accept full responsibility for paying some Tony Luke’s employees in cash." The statement also said that the defendants “have fully cooperated with the government’s investigation since it began and loo...

  Source: Nia Noelle / Nia Noelle[/caption] U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, within the Minnesota Court of Appeals, has accepted the plea deal of Derek Chauvin. Derek Chauvin is one of the four police officers that are on federal civil rights trials for the murder of George Floyd. The aftermath of George Floyd's death led to Black Lives Matter protests all over the world. The four officers were immediately handled to try their chances in federal courts, a rare instance when dealing with police officers. In December 2021, Chauvin pleaded guilty to violating Floyd’s civil rights, admitting that he kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck. The initial sentencing required Chauvin to spend 22 and a half years in prison. With good behavior he would've likely spent 17 to 21 years. U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson initially wanted to hold off Chauvin's plea deal until the investigation in the matter was done. As of Wednesday, that deal is looking to proceed forward. The motion to pr...

 Original Post:  https://classixphilly.com/674796/the-smithsonian-return-stolen-items/ Source: Tonya Jameson / Tonya Jameson[/caption] It is not a secret that art from Black and Brown people has been stolen and taken away from its source. In museums around the world, the collections of stolen art are donated to installations without the context of how these pieces really go there. Museums have had a hard time agreeing about who had the authority to return stolen items and how these items will brought back to their origins. The Smithsonian Institution, on the other hand, is somewhat ready to face the facts and attempt to make amends. This major national museum organization just announced its process to start returning items from their collections that were looted or acquired unethically. The Smithsonian owns 21 museums and the National Zoo. The amount of items within all of the places could bring a plethora of problems in search for what's stolen or not. Lonny G. Bunch III is ...

Source: The Balvenie / The Balvenie[/caption] Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson has been on a roll of success as of late. Questlove is still riding the massive wave of his directorial debut film Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). Even after winning a slew of awards, including a Grammy and an Oscar, the Philadelphia product wants to bring that success to other people's lives. Questlove's partnership with Scottish whisky brand, Balvenie, is proving to be more than just a face. Questlove is partnering up with Philly's University of Arts to create a whole new scholarship program for creatives. The program titled The Balvenie Fellowship, will let students explore creativity in various fields including arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences. Most PhD programs require six or seven years to complete. This program is looking to cut that requirement down to three years. What helps that quicker completion is the fact that the program choose...

Original Post:  https://classixphilly.com/672373/brittney-griner-honored-wnba-court/  Source: Jennifer Stewart / Getty[/caption] WNBA superstar Brittney Griner has been detained in Russia since February for allegedly carrying vape cartridges that contained cannabis oil through airport security. TASS, a Russian state-owned news outlet, reported in March that Griner would be released on May 19th. As the date comes near, Brittney Griner has put her faith in Russia's judicial system to quietly return home.  It was rumored that Brittney wouldn't not be able to even get a trial date 12 to 18 months after the incident. As Russia is currently at war with Ukraine, people concerned with Griner's safety are right to feel worried. The last update of Griner's status came in April, from a U.S. State Department official stating that her return is a “top priority” following the release of ex-Marine Trevor Reed in a prisoner swap with Russia. In solidarity with Griner, the WNBA has ele...