Diedre Johnson

Dolores Huerta and Angélique Kidjo have close to a century of experience between them raising their voices to demand human rights.
They come from different backgrounds — Huerta is a longtime labor activist and civil rights leader who grew up in California; Kidjo is a singer-songwriter from Benin who has devoted her time to advancing children’s rights, women’s rights and women’s empowerment — and Huerta is a generation older. But when it comes to the importance of education in empowering peopl...

New York Times reporter Walter Thompson-Hernandez’s The Compton Cowboys is both a skilled insider’s look at a community of cowboys in the most unlikely of places and a homage to the healing power of horses.
Although in recent years Compton has become infamous for being the birthplace of gangsta rap, of homies killing homies, West Coast versus East Coast, and all the other stereotypes, before that it was once just another suburb in Southern California with tract homes and farmland. Yes, farmla...

Print and online music magazine.

The first sign of illness in my Uncle Bob was his swollen, curled hands—the mark of rheumatoid arthritis. Then, not long after, type 2 diabetes.
For a veteran and longtime auto mechanic, these illnesses in and of themselves were life changing. His wife and two children rallied around him, endlessly patient with a man who was used to taking care of himself.
But when he began to lose his hearing, the change shifted our family dynamics in ways his other illnesses had not.
The telephone was his l...

Healthy Lifestyle and organic beauty guru Shiva Rose gives wellness tips.

INSPIRED BY CHINA, AMERICAN-MADE
Hemingway would have loved the founders of 1620, the burgeoning workwear company located in the historic New England town of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Josh Walker [(r) above], self-described on his Instagram as a man who can “shotgun a beer and reiterate Thoreau,” and his partner, Edward (Ted) de Innocentis combined their work experience with wearable brands (in Walker’s case it was a well-known helmet, in de Innocentis’, it was industrial strength sports garm...

We all know this is the same Kevin Costner who starred in Dances With Wolves, The Bodyguard and in Hidden Figures featuring people of color in the cast and so many other films BUT we asked him about diversity anyway.
Costner also discussed the story Yellowstone is telling, his next big screen film release and a few other things.
Interviews below feature actors: Wes Bentley, Neal McDonough, Gil Birmingham, Cole Hauser, Kelly Reilly, and Kevin Costner.
The sophomore season of Yellowstone will p...

By Diedre Johnson
JAMIE CULLUM DOESN’T WANT TO BE BOXED IN. If you spend any time talking to him, you’ll find out he likes it that way. The 39-year-old is able to pop legendary jazz artists such as Charles Mingus as well as 90s’ trailblazing hip hop groups like A Tribe Called Quest into the conversation. He’s worked on albums with au courant hit song maker Pharrell Williams and played a song on the piano for actor Robert De Niro.
He’s been married for eight years to former modelturned-childre...

From returning bingeables like American Gods, Killing Eve and Good Girls, to highly-anticipated series such as Good Omens and the currently-showing The Enemy Within, plus a few imports. Here’s the mid-season roll out.
THE VILLAGE
Premieres March 19 on NBC
The phrase “It takes a village” comes sharply to mind in this NBC series about an apartment building of people who are not related but whose closeness feels like family. The ensemble cast includes Emmy-nominated TV vet, Lorraine Toussaint, M...

By Diedre Johnson @diedremichelle
Shaun Robinson was a fixture on the red carpet for Access Hollywood and one of the few on-air (yep, so retro now) faces of color in the early aughts in Los Angeles. After years of couture gowns at award shows and chatting with A-listers such as Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise and Halle Berry for the camera, the Emmy-Award-winner left the TV show in 2015.
With just a few years away from the spotlight (although not away from working, including a stint wit...