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Viola Davis will play former First Lady Michelle Obama in a new one-hour drama series called First Ladies that Showtime just picked up. The Emmy, Oscar and Tony winner will also serve as an executive producer.

The series will be executive produced by Julius Tennon, Oscar winner Cathy Schulman, Jeff Gaspin, Brad Kaplan.Produced by Showtime and Lionsgate Television.

Author Aaron Cooley, who created the series, will also write and executive produce.

The announcement was made today by Jana Winograde, President of Entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc.

In the East Wing of the White House, many of history’s most impactful and world-changing decisions have been hidden from view, made by America’s charismatic, complex and dynamic first ladies.

This series will display the personal and political lives of these enigmatic women.

The first season will be focusing on Eleanor Roosevelt, Betty Ford and Michelle Obama.

“Throughout our history, presidents’ spouses have wielded remarkable influence, not only on the nation’s leaders but on the country itself.” said Winograde.

“First Ladies fits perfectly within the Showtime wheelhouse of drama and politics, revealing how much personal relationships impact both domestic and global events.

“Having Viola Davis play Michelle Obama is a dream come true, and we couldn’t be luckier to have her extraordinary talent to help launch this series.”

The Star of 12 Years A Slave, Lupita Nyong’o was invited to the  Harris Westminster Sixth Form, London to mentor young women on leadership and the importance of literacy in an event hosted by the National Literacy Trust in partnership with Lancôme.

Nyong’o, now a best-selling author, told the BBC she didn’t even like reading when she was young as the books were not about her personality and kind.

She believe books should be about all people, black and white and it should address all concern.

Last year, she released her book ‘Sulwe’  a children’s fiction picture book that addresses colorism in the Black community. It follows the story of a young girl who wishes for her dark skin to be lighter. The story is ultimately about colorism and learning to love oneself, no matter one’s skin tone.

While there, the Kenyan-Mexican actress spoke to the BBC about the importance of literature and her own journey with reading books as a child.

‘I realized that books don’t have to be about White people, they can actually represent all people,’ the actress says describing her complex relationship with literature during childhood.

“When I was growing up I didn’t like reading but I was surrounded by books all ti mes and I did know how to read. But as I grew older I realized that with reading comes comprehension and confidence,” Nyong’o begins. “And I think those are two qualities that are really important as you get into the workforce and try find your place in the world.”

Intermittent snippets show the actress speaking to the young women about the roles reading and studying have played in her professional career when having had to play certain characters with specific capabilities.

Cutting back to the main interview, Nyongo’o continues, “When I was younger, one of the things that didn’t help my dislike of reading was the fact that not a lot of the books that I was reading were relevant to my immediate life, to my immediate world.” She adds that, “I realized that books don’t have to be about White people, they can actually represent all people.”

Towards the end of the interview, Nyong’o says simply, “When you are reading stories that have themes and characters that are relevant to your world, then you’re more likely to stick with [reading] longer because you can see the ways in which it is applicable to your life.”

 

Exquisite Magazine is starting the year by drawing strength from the amazing story of its magazine cover which features the amazing Busola Dakolo, nicknamed “The Voice of Courage“.

In this issue, Busola Dakolo who is a photographer graced the cover of the magazine looking absolutely stunning, as she shared her journey to finding her voice in the midst of adversity.⁣⁣⁣

The cover celebrates the photographer for her strength and courage to speak up after her rape incident, which definitely helped a lot of other women going through similar situations to find the strength to speak up as well.

Photo Credit:⁣⁣
Photographer@mike_kure⁣⁣
Art Director/Styling@infoworldcharming ⁣⁣
Assist Stylist@davidstarr_ ⁣⁣
Makeup@ceeyonceemua ⁣⁣
Hair Stylist@highdtosin ⁣⁣
Jewelry: @obidiiya⁣⁣
Outfit@ladybeellionaire_luxury ⁣⁣⁣⁣
Fascinators@enemaya_stores

Mercy Aigbe and Fathia are entering the new month with a dance. Looking georgiously dressed and ready for owambe both women looked happy.

Sharing a video of them dancing,single mum of two, Mercy Aigbe, wrote:

“Mood cos it’s a new month…
May the Unlimited Grace of God continue to be with y’all… welcome to the month of greatness! Happy new month guys!!!!”

Check out the joyful video of the beautiful actresses dancing below:

It shall be a good month!

 

Simi and Adekunle Gold have a wonderful friendship in their marriage. They prove this on and on, as Simi this time, sends a goofy message to her husband on his birthday.

Taking to her Instagram, she shared an amusing video of the both of them doing a special handshake and wrote:

Happy birthday Love mi. I promise to lick ur face, twerk for you, listen to your songs, let you lick my face, argue about stupid movies, tickle the f**k outta you, talk about nice books, strip, stop you from dancing, and tell you I love you as much and as often as possible. So help me God. i love you. in a big manner.

Watch the video below:

 

A short video of a cute 9-month old baby washing the dishes has gone viral on social media.

Arabia-Iman Tillery, the baby’s mother, posted the video on Twitter. In the video, the baby can be seen laying on the counter washing off utensils and sucking a green pacifier while his grandmother is on the phone.

“My mom has my 9 month old son doing dishes,” Tillery wrote. “My mom got him to work already,”

People all over the world are impressed and amused over the little boy who has started early on with his household chores.

The video has gathered about 5 million views since it was posted.

Tillery said it was all a plan to get him to stop fussing so he can take a nap. Arabia-Iman Tillery tells Fox News that during a recent visit to see Tillery’s mother in Maryland. Tillery’s mom, Denise Jackson, then suggested they set up Chase at the sink, to occupy his attention before putting him down.

“My son was getting a little fussy before a nap, like he usually does,” . “[My mom] figured he might as well play with water and ‘wash the dishes’ a little, and it worked really well.”

Tillery said she intended putting up the video just for laughs and was surprised it gathered so much attention.

“I think the funniest thing of all is that clearly he’s not actually washing, he has no idea what’s happening.”

 

Mikayla Simpson otherwise known as Koffee in the music industry on Sunday carved her name in the history of Reggae.

Koffee made history as the youngest and the first woman ever to win a Grammy for Best Reggae Album.

According to eDaily, Koffee, 19, won the award for her Reggae EP ‘Rapture’ released last year.

The EP featuring among other songs, her biggest hit ‘Toast’ debuted at the top spot on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. It held that position for 32 weeks.

A singer-cum-rapper, Koffee was born in 2000 and raised by her single mother in Spanish Town, just the outskirts of Kingston. She sang in a church choir as a child and taught herself how to play guitar at the age of 12.

Koffee started writing lyrics in her early teens drawing inspiration from Jamaican reggae stars – Chronixx and Protoje.

Koffee released an acoustic version of her song “Legend” about Jamaican runner Usain Bolt in 2017, and the video quickly went viral on Instagram. Her next single, “Burning,” featured her original take on Upsetta Records’ “Ouji Riddim” and topped several reggae charts in the U.S.

In 2018, at only 18 years old, Koffee performed with both Protoje and Chronixx, joining the latter on a BBC broadcast from Kingston’s legendary Tuff Gong Studios and later on a tour of the U.K.

According to Allmusic.com, Koffee’s status as a rising star grew even brighter when she signed with Columbia U.K. and released the singles “Toast” and “Ragamuffin,” both of which appeared on her debut EP, Rapture, in 2019.

Accepting the award, Koffee thanked hеr producers and fеllоw muѕісіаnѕ Јulіаn Маrlеу, Ѕtееl Рulѕе, Ѕlу аnd Rоbbіе аnd Моrgаn Неrіtаgе “fоr аll thе іnрut thеу mаdе іn rеggае іnduѕtrу аnd thе muѕіс. І’vе lеаrnеd а lоt frоm thеm аnd frоm оthеr оldеr реорlе іn thе іnduѕtrу аnd thаt’ѕ whу І’m hеrе; thаt’ѕ whаt brоught uѕ аll hеrе.”

She added: “Ѕо І јuѕt wаnt tо ѕау thаt thіѕ оnе (hоldіng uр аwаrd) іѕ fоr аll оf uѕ; thіѕ оnе іѕ fоr rеggае, thіѕ оnе іѕ fоr Јаmаіса. Тhаnk уоu vеrу muсh аnd blеѕѕіngѕ.”

Speaking to Guardian, last year, Koffee said she counts Bob Marley as an influence and that the pace that “Bob Marley set in reggae music, on such a positive and widespread level, is something that I want to emulate and carry on.”

“I want to honor his legacy in that sense.”

Koffee describes her sounds as “youthful”.

“Positive … Me nah know. It’s kind of difficult to describe sound as positive, but I feel like music has feeling,” she said.

 

Source: Woman Africa

Ghanaian female musician Mzbel, cries out about the state of her career in music, saying her involvement in Politics has affected the promotion rate of her songs.

She was an avid supporter of  the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2016 general elections.

For 16years she has been a hit but has been experiencing a few support from fans after her political involvement. According to her, an attempt to promote her song three years ago failed, which has made her to put music on hold for now.

In an interview she had with Graphic Showbiz, Mzbel said, “Music is kind of on hold for now. The main reason is that when I released Tongues, promoting it was difficult. It was right after the general election (2016) and I had shown my face as to whom I supported, so, there was hatred. I went for a nationwide tour but it still didn’t work.”

“As things stand now, if I release a song, I won’t be able to promote it and I won’t get gigs because of political reasons. I have about 11 or 12 songs to be released, so, I put them on my website,” she stated.

Mzbel has chosen to focus on her pub located at Tema West at the moment.

“At the moment, I am focusing my energy on my pub and other things,” she said.