Season 16 of AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange returns with new films from the African diaspora with themes of redemption, magic, the supernatural and environmental racism. The Black Public Media and WORLD created series will air season 16 on their YouTube channels. 

The next season starts with Commuted from director Nailah Jefferson, who also directed Donyale Luna: Supermodel which premiered in 2023 on HBO Max. Commuted follows Danielle Metz who was serving a triple life sentence for drug charges until President Barack Obama gave her clemency. The camera captures Metz as she returns to her New Orleans works on re-bonding with her children. Likarion Wainaina’s Supa Modo is set in Kenya and shows how a village helps a terminally ill girl fulfill her wish to become a superhero. Mbithi Masya’s Kati Kati is another Kenyan film and it is the story of a young woman’s journey into the afterlife. The feature won Best Movie at the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards. Freedom Hill ends the season with the story of the first American town chartered by former slaves and the floods that threatened its survival. The film was a finalist at the 2022 Essence Film Festival and winner of Best Documentary Short at the 2022 Middlebury New Filmmakers Film Festival.

AfroPoP has presented 91 films since it premiered in 2008. Bobbito Garcia, Baron Claiborne, Terence Nance, Raoul Peck, Violeta Ayala and Yaba Blay are some of the directors who have showcased their work. The series is executive produced by BPM Executive Director Leslie Fields-Cruz and WORLD (at GBH) Editor and Chief Chris Hastings. Denise A. Greene is series director/producer, Carol Bash is series associate producer and Ashton Pina is the series writer.  Hastings elaborated on the purpose of AfroPoP in a press statement.

“AfroPoP is more than just a series; it’s a vibrant tapestry that stitches together the voices of marginalized communities, offering a platform for stories that are too often overlooked. WORLD’s mission is to illuminate the many facets of the human experience through content that educates, informs and inspires. In partnership with Black Public Media, with AfroPoP, we continue to push experience through content that educates, informs and inspires. In partnership with Black Public Media, with AfroPoP, we continue to push boundaries, finding innovative ways to connect audiences with content that reflects their lives and experiences. Join us as we celebrate the voices, the stories and the impact of the African Diaspora on our world.”

Viewers can find AfroPoP on the WORLD and Black Public Media YouTube channels and the PBS app. The new episodes will air weekly on WORLD through April 22 and PBS Plus will distribute the series to PBS affiliate public television stations across the country beginning April 1. The show can be seen on all PBS platforms and iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO.

Beauty and fashion photographer Matthew Jordan Smith releases Aretha Cool: The Intimate Portraits. Smith’s fourth book is his tribute to the Queen of Soul during Women’s History Month. Smith is the author of Sepia Dreams: A Celebration of Black Achievement Through Words and Images (St. Martin’s Publishing Group), Lost and Found (Filipacchi Publishing), and Future American President: 50 States, 100 Families, Infinite Dreams (Goff Books). The photographs were taken between 2005 and 2018, the last years of her life. Smith was the iconic singer’s favorite photographer and their rapport included conversations about photography, food, album titles, and plenty of laughter and jokes. Smith says, 

“The first time I captured Aretha Franklin through my lens, I presented her with my maiden publication, Sepia Dreams: A Celebration of Black Achievement Through Words and Images, says Smith. “Her immediate response, laced with her iconic mix of humor and sincerity, ‘Why am I not in this book?’ It was then that I made a heartfelt promise to rectify this oversight in a future endeavor.”

Aretha Cool: The Intimate Portraits has two distinct editions. The Limited Edition has 100 copies and includes all the same photos as the standard one but each book is signed, numbered,  and packaged within a clamshell enclosure. This edition also has a signed and number 8 x 10 fine art print that collectors will appreciate. 

Smith is no stranger to photographing larger-than-life figures including Queen Latifah, Oprah, Courtney B. Vance, Quincy Jones, George Lucas, Samuel L. Jackson, and many others. 

Aretha Cool: The Intimate Portraits will be available via Amazon  on March 15th.  For international purchases visit ArethaCool.com. 

Over 100 women have signed on to a statement in support of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. Signers include Shirley Franklin, former Atlanta Mayor, and civil rights leader, Helen Butler. The statement reads as follows:

We, the undersigned women, fully support Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and call for an immediate end to the unwarranted investigations into her personal life, as it bears no relevance to her professional responsibilities. 

When Black women ascend to positions where their voices can be heard, their presence seen, and their power felt, it often unsettles certain individuals in this country. We are currently witnessing a concerted effort to scrutinize and attack Black women in positions of power, finding any issue or flaw, no matter how small, to use against them. In Charles M. Blow’s New York Times column, “The Persecution of Harvard’s Claudine Gay,’ he refers to this phenomenon as the “Wonder Woman requirement”—the relentless pursuit of the slightest imperfections to persecute Black women who rise to high positions.  

We knew that the first Black woman to become the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia would face challenges, especially when prosecuting powerful men. We simply request that DA Fani Willis be afforded the same dignity and respect as her peers, or merely treated with the same level of respect as previously shown to her. There was no scrutiny of her personal life when she prosecuted and locked up Black teachers, or when she indicted Black gang members. Let’s not alter the standards just because she’s pursuing wealthy, politically-involved men. Remove the unfair burdens placed on Black women and stop subjecting us to higher standards than others. We are not Wonder Woman.

Black women have endured centuries of oppression, from slavery and Jim Crow to various forms of bias. We’ve been the backbone of the fight for civil rights and women’s rights. We’ve shouldered the burden of holding families together amidst the fallout from a welfare system that divided us, the scourge of drugs, and mass incarceration that took our fathers, husbands, and sons away. We continue the tireless battle against police brutality, inequality, and voter suppression. Despite these challenges, Black women persist in pursuing education and have broken barriers to excel in all sectors of the professional world.

It’s time for this biased treatment to end. As the brave freedom fighter, Fannie Lou Hamer declared, “we are sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Let Fani Willis’ private life remain exactly that – private. Stop the witch hunt.

For a list of signers visit Dogon Village.

Tyler, The Creator’s le FLEUR lifestyle brand has partnered with Pharell’s Humanrace to debut a limited edition nail polish color in Humanrace’s signature green. The color joins 13 other hues in the line and will be housed in a Humanrace green carton with le FLEUR’s flower-capped bottle. The new nail color arrives after le FLEUR unveiled a second season of clothing and accessories in December 2023. The green shares space with Geneva Blue, Onyx, Georgia Peach, Jade, Blonde, Rose, Glitter, Matte (a texturizing topcoat), and Glossy (a high gloss topcoat).

le FLEUR* nail polishes and top coats are 13-free, non-toxic, and cruelty-free, assembled in Los Angeles, California from global ingredients and components. The season two clothing, accessories, nail polishes, top coats, and nail files are available at golflefleur.com. 

Pharrell founded his Humanrace company in 2020 with the mission to revolutionize the concept of being well through thoughtfully crafted and innovative products that become daily routines. Their award-winning all-gender skincare and body care collections are vegan, fragrance-free, cruelty-free, refillable, and available at humanrace.com