By Dr. Y’Anad Burrell

“Fashion vs. Fascism” (FVF) is a visually immersive evening of fashion, music and political theater exposing the rise of fascism in the U.S. and the need to resist. Democracy is under siege, and culture is one of our most potent defenses, organizers say.

Called a live “runway revolution,” FvF premieres Oct. 3 at The Rotunda, 300 Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland.

A play that is part fashion show, part protest, part performance art, FvF stages five runway collections spotlighting the pillars of contemporary fascist politics and the urgent need to resist: the myth of a “glorious past,” the manufactured emergencies used to justify surveillance and crackdowns, and the oligarchs and grifters profiting from it all. Runway fashion shares the stage with political theater and live music, with a closing call to action.

“We need lawsuits, ballots and mass protests, but none of it lands if we’re not also fighting for people’s imagination,” says Linda Burnham, co-producer of the show. “People are exhausted and scared. FvF will expose the absurdities of fascist mythology and ideology in ways a news headline cannot and spark new ideas about how to resist.”

“Fascism doesn’t win by policy alone. It wins by telling a story. A myth about a ‘Golden Age.’ A permanent emergency that makes cruelty seem necessary. That’s not an accident, it’s a strategy, and it works on the same terrain as culture: image, spectacle, emotion,” says Aya De León, the show’s playwright.

“Every piece on this runway translates what is happening under fascism into a feeling,” explains Erica Furlong, the FVF creative director. “One designer’s trench coat is covered in pockets stamped ‘TRUTH,’ ‘MEMORY,’ ‘HOPE,’ ‘VOTE,’ ‘FUTURE,’ because that’s literally what gets seized first, pocket by pocket, under fascist decline. Fashion can hold grief and hope in the same silhouette, and that tension is exactly what this moment needs.”

At its best, fashion is about creativity, diversity, innovation, experimentation and the free exchange of ideas. Fascism, by contrast, demands conformity and control, while suppressing dissent.

FVF was created, organizers say, because democracy should always be in style.

Featured designers include Erica Varize, Rickie Lee, Tianna Charity, Julie Wong, and Maria Flores. The evening features a script by lead playwright Aya De León, musical performances by Mindeullae Project and DJ Emancipation, and other special guests.

FvF is designed to travel. Following the Oakland premiere, FvF will extend its reach through a documentary short, a curriculum on contemporary fascism in the U.S., and a full replication playbook — design templates, script, and curriculum — so organizers in other cities can stage their own version of the show.

Get more details at www.fashionvfascism.org.

Long before anyone imagined hip-hop growing old enough to have a Hall of Fame generation, MC Lyte came roaring out of Brooklyn with a voice that seemed too enormous to belong to a teenager.

It was deep, commanding, and instantly identifiable, and nothing about the young woman wielding it was tentative. By the time much of America figured out that women were not going to be supporting characters in hip-hop’s story, Lyte was already writing chapters of her own, turning “Paper Thin” and “Cha Cha Cha” into classics, becoming the first female rapper to release a full-length solo album and beginning a career that would carry her from Brooklyn to Carnegie Hall, television and movie screens, the White House and, finally, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

This fall, she is taking the long way there.

MC Lyte will spend the weeks before her November 14 induction traveling the country on her “Road to the Hall of Fame Tour,” a 12-market celebration that begins Oct. 11 in Brooklyn and is designed to put the music, memories, and stories of her nearly four-decade career in the same room with the people who helped keep them alive.

“It’s a testament to a career that I’ve worked almost four decades in now,” Lyte said after learning she had been selected for the Rock Hall’s 2026 class.

Those decades began when Lana Michele Moorer was a Brooklyn kid writing rhymes at 12, years before rap could offer anything resembling a dependable career and years before a teenage girl could look at the top of the hip-hop charts and see women staring back at her.

Lyte recorded “I Cram to Understand U (Sam)” when she was 17, telling the story of a relationship poisoned by drug addiction with a maturity that belied her age. In 1988, Lyte as a Rock made her the first female rapper to release a full-length solo album and introduced listeners beyond New York to an MC who didn’t sound interested in waiting for the men in the room to decide whether she was good enough.

“Paper Thin” erased whatever question remained.

Over a spare beat built to give the rhymes room to breathe, Lyte delivered one of hip-hop’s great dismissals of a cheating man with the composure of somebody reading him his last rites. She didn’t have to shout, exaggerate, or decorate the insult. The voice did the work.

“When you say you love me, it doesn’t matter,” she rapped. “It goes into my head as just chit-chat.”

It was funny, cold, and devastating, and Lyte was only getting started.

Eyes on This followed in 1989, bringing “Cha Cha Cha,” a record that placed her lyrical ability squarely against anyone who wanted the competition. “Poor Georgie” showed another side of her, with Lyte spinning a tragic story about a charming, reckless man over a track that borrowed from the Supremes. By 1993, “Ruffneck” had gone gold, making Lyte the first female solo rapper to earn a gold single, and the song helped make her the first solo female rapper nominated for a Grammy.

The list of firsts kept growing because women in hip-hop still had so many places they’d never been allowed to go.

Lyte became the first rap artist to perform at Carnegie Hall. In 2006, she became the first solo female rapper honored by VH1’s Hip Hop Honors. She later became the first woman to perform hip-hop at the White House, taking the music into the home of the president of the United States during Barack Obama’s administration.

By then, an industry that once treated female rappers as though there were room for only one or two at a time had been forced to reckon with generations of them.

Queen Latifah had become an entertainment powerhouse. Lauryn Hill made an album that remains part of the American musical canon. Missy Elliott built a visual and musical universe nobody else could duplicate. Lil’ Kim changed the vocabulary of female sexuality in rap. Eve carried Philadelphia onto the national stage. Nicki Minaj became one of the biggest rappers in the world, followed by another explosion of women who no longer had to explain why they were there before they could begin competing.

Lyte’s place near the beginning of that lineage is why her Rock Hall recognition carries considerably more than ceremonial value.

She didn’t invent women in hip-hop. Sha-Rock, Roxanne Shanté, the Sequence, Salt-N-Pepa, and other women were essential to the culture’s earliest years, and any history that pretends women arrived after hip-hop was established is simply wrong. Lyte helped establish how much territory a solo female MC could claim while remaining unmistakably herself.

She could make a battle record and a love record without sounding like a costume, either. She could be hard without manufacturing hardness and vulnerable without surrendering control of the song. She could share a record with men without sounding as though somebody had graciously given her 16 bars. Her voice alone made anonymity impossible.

And when rap changed, Lyte changed with it without spending the next 30 years trying to impersonate her younger self.

Audiences heard that voice far beyond rap records. It became the sound introducing some of entertainment’s biggest nights, including the BET Awards, Grammys, Emmys, and NAACP Image Awards, as well as the NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show. Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Nike, and other major companies used it in national campaigns.

Hollywood found her as well.

Lyte accumulated acting credits in S.W.A.T., Power, and Queen of the South, along with films including Girls Trip, the Sundance-winning Patti Cake$, and Justin Simien’s Bad Hair. She eventually moved behind the camera, creating, directing, writing, executive producing, and starring in Partners in Rhyme and serving as an executive producer on Netflix’s Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop.

She made her directorial debut with the short film Break Up in Love, directed music videos and television, and built Sunni Gyrl Inc. into a management and production company whose roster has included Scarface, Lil Mama, DJs, comedians, and other entertainers.

Her work outside entertainment has traveled just as far. Through the Hip Hop Sisters Foundation, Lyte has awarded more than $1 million in scholarships, according to her organization. She serves on the Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Culture Council and co-produces its annual I AM WOMAN celebration honoring women in hip-hop.

All of it comes back together on the road this fall.

The tour has been conceived not simply as a run through the hits but as performance, storytelling, and conversation, giving Lyte room to revisit the records and the history surrounding them. For audiences who grew up with her, a song can transport them back to the first cassette, first party, or first time they heard that unmistakable contralto coming through a speaker. For listeners born after Lyte had already broken many of hip-hop’s gender barriers, the shows offer the rare opportunity to hear that history from the woman who lived it.

The itinerary itself reads like a map of an extraordinary American journey.

Brooklyn gets the opening night Oct. 11, bringing Lyte home to the borough where a 12-year-old Lana Moorer began filling pages with rhymes. Pittsburgh follows on Oct. 12 and Philadelphia on Oct. 13, with stops in New York’s Hudson Valley, Boston, St. Louis, Minneapolis and Nashville among the dates leading toward the Hall of Fame ceremony.

The tour reaches Nashville on Nov. 11. Three days later, Lyte is scheduled to be in Los Angeles for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where she will receive the Musical Influence Award as part of a class that also recognizes Queen Latifah, Celia Cruz, Fela Kuti and Gram Parsons in special categories.

Hip-hop’s presence inside the Rock Hall would have been difficult to imagine when Lyte was making Lyte as a Rock. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five did not become the Hall’s first hip-hop inductees until 2007, almost two decades after Lyte’s debut album. Since then, the institution has welcomed Run-DMC, Public Enemy, N.W.A, Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, LL Cool J, Eminem, Missy Elliott, A Tribe Called Quest, and others.

Lyte belongs to the generation that had to imagine permanence before hip-hop possessed much evidence that permanence was possible. Rap records were still dismissed as disposable when she was making them. Female rappers faced the additional insult of being treated as though their success could only be temporary, with one woman’s arrival routinely framed as another woman’s departure.

Nearly 40 years after Lyte as a Rock, MC Lyte is still here.

The teenager who once had to prove that a woman could command hip-hop’s microphone never left it long enough for anybody to take it away.

“I’m thrilled,” she said, acknowledging that even that is an understatement.

Pastor Dr. Darius Brooks celebrated the release of his debut book, SAY, “SELF,” Volume I, on August 30, 2026, at Grace Central Church in Westchester, Illinois.

Presented by Brooks Legacy Publishing, the event brought together church members, relatives, friends and supporters for an afternoon of conversation, music and fellowship, marking a new chapter in Brooks’ ministry.

Legendary Chicago broadcast journalist Art Norman joined Brooks for a discussion about the experiences that inspired the book and the lessons Brooks has gained throughout his life and ministry. Brooks said he hopes the book will encourage readers to strengthen their faith, reconsider how they approach life’s challenges and pursue purposeful growth.

For years, people encountering Brooks at churches, restaurants, stores, airports and other places have asked him to repeat something he said so they could write it down. Those memorable observations and words of encouragement became the foundation for SAY, “SELF,” Volume I.

The self-published book contains 52 original inspirational statements known as #ADBQ, meaning “A Darius Brooks Quote.” Each quotation is accompanied by a personal reflection and space for readers to consider how its message applies to their lives. Structured as a 52-week journey, the book encourages readers to move forward through one quotation, reflection and intentional decision at a time.

The launch celebration concluded with an official release countdown and a book-signing session with Brooks. His wife, Deborah “Wonderful” Brooks, who designed the book, and their daughter, Dasha Brooks, also participated in the celebration.

“This book is the result of years of sermons, songs, conversations and life experiences,” Deborah Brooks said. “I have watched people stop Darius everywhere we go and ask him to repeat something so they could write it down. Now, it has already been written down for them. I could not be prouder of my husband and this incredible accomplishment.”

The family thanked the Grace Central Church congregation for its support and hospitality. It also expressed appreciation to Norman, Brooks’ relatives and friends, the event-planning team, volunteers and those who attended the celebration or purchased the book.

Brooks is an award-winning songwriter, composer, arranger, producer, musician and recording artist whose career in contemporary gospel music spans more than four decades.

For nearly 40 years, he served as music director for the late Rev. Jesse Louis Jackson Sr. and the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, traveling across the United States and internationally in support of the movement for civil rights, justice and equality.

He also spent more than 30 years in musical leadership with the late Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers, known worldwide as “The Tommies.”

Brooks is the creative force behind several gospel standards, including “Safe in His Arms,” “My Mind’s Made Up,” “For the Good of Them,” “If I Be Lifted,” “I Tried Him and I Know Him,” “God’s Got It” and “Your Will.”

Throughout his career, he has worked with artists including Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Ramsey Lewis, Shirley Caesar, Vickie Winans and Ricky Dillard. His work has received Grammy, Stellar and Dove Award recognition and reached audiences in Great Britain, Sweden, Italy, South Africa, Germany and other countries.

In 2009, Brooks became senior pastor of Grace Central Church. He also leads Darius Brooks & The Tommies Reunion and founded the SDM Foundation for Education and the Arts, through which he mentors and develops aspiring musicians and performing artists.

Whether preaching, writing music, mentoring artists or encouraging others through everyday conversations, Brooks has built his ministry around strengthening faith and helping people pursue their God-given purpose.

SAY, “SELF,” Volume I is the first installment in a planned series, with Volume II currently in development.

The book may be purchased at Grace Central Church’s website: New Book Release | Say, “Self” Volume I by Dr. Darius Brooks

Based on reporting by Gary Crusader.

What does it take for a campus choir to get noticed by the biggest names in gospel music? For Southern University’s Gospel Choir (SUGC), it took countless late rehearsals, unwavering faith, and a powerful sound.

Here on the bluff, SUGC captures audiences with strong praises and an uplifting spirit. Witnessing their performance is an unforgettable experience. The DIGEST had the honor of interviewing Mr. Ernest Bowman Jr., the Director of SUGC, regarding the choir’s recent Stellar Award nomination for HBCU Choir of the Year.

“To be nominated in the first year of this category was historical,” Bowman stated. “Although we did not bring home the award, SUGC will always be recognized as one of the first choirs nominated in a category of its kind. Nearly every artist I met already knew about us and had great things to say, confirming that SUGC is one of the premier collegiate gospel choirs in the country. Our legacy reaches well beyond campus.”

The experience was also monumental for student director D’Arius Roland, who represented the Jaguar Nation on a national platform. Bowman notes that while the recognition serves as a powerful recruiting tool, budget limitations unfortunately prevented the entire choir from traveling.

“I pray this historic honor helps our administration realize what a jewel SUGC truly is and begin supporting us accordingly,” Bowman said. “Moving forward, we want to expand travel, record original music, strengthen our digital presence, and secure additional student scholarships. This nomination was not the finish line.”

Kyra Long, a Junior Nursing major, Dance minor, and SUGC President, shared how surreal the moment felt. “To see our choir receive recognition on that level is a reminder that our work goes far beyond singing. We use our gifts to minister, represent our university, and glorify God,” Long said. “SUGC has truly changed my life. It gave me a family, strengthened my faith, and challenged me to grow as a leader.”

Curtis Williams Jr., a second-year member majoring in Rehabilitation Services and Counseling, echoed that excitement. “The nomination was shocking and exciting; we found out during Spring 2026 graduation and were so grateful,” Williams said. “SUGC has helped me grow not only as a singer, but also as a person.”

Well jaguar nation, there you have it! History in the making and there’s a lot more to go and achieve. The Southern University Gospel Choir has achieved so much and changed the lives of many.

As we all shall remember: When the music in your spirit matches the joy in your heart, heaven listens and a Stellar Award nomination follows.

Based on reporting by Southern University – SouthernDIGEST.

By Nefertiti Austin
Special to the “Sentinel”

The highly anticipated “The Varnell Hill Show” not only celebrates the comedic genius of Tommy Davidson, who reprises his role from the classic sitcom “Martin,” but also honors the talent of three childhood friends who came together to create the spin-off.

Show creators Kevin G. Boyd, Sherri McGee McCovey, and Bentley Kyle Evans grew up in Baldwin Hills and View Park-Windsor Hills, located in South Los Angeles. In fact, Sherri and Kevin’s parents raised them as godbrother and godsister, and they still call Baldwin Hills home. Sherri attended Beverly Hills High School and then went on to Spelman College, while Bentley and Kevin attended Westchester High School; Kevin joined Sherri at nearby Morehouse College, and Bentley stayed local at Santa Monica College to pursue a career in entertainment.

The trio’s shared experiences encompassed college and professional collaborations that kept them connected over the years, culminating in late 2019 when “The Varnell Hill Show” was created. “Varnell was always such a memorable character from the ‘Martin’ universe,” says Boyd. “When Martin expressed interest in revisiting the character in a series, Sherri and I began exploring what Varnell might look like as the focus of a show.” As the project developed, Bentley joined in, contributing his own creative ideas to shape what would eventually become the series’ premiere episode, shot at his Harvest Studio in Northridge.

The three Hollywood veterans emerged during the early days of the Black Television Renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s, a period when Black writers, actors, directors, and those above the line found steady work. In fact, McCovey got her big break on “The Parkers,” where she got an Assistant job for creator Sara Finney Johnson and sold her first TV pitch, which became the pilot episode. “I remember the excitement of attending weekly live tapings of ‘Martin’ and ‘Moesha’ back in the day,” recalls McCovey, who started her career as a freelance journalist writing for Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise, and InStyle magazines. “During that time, I would document the careers of my friends who were making headlines in Hollywood while also trying to build a television career.” When the opportunity to develop the Varnell Hill Show arose, McCovey was excited to work with Boyd and Evans, whom she had watched succeed in entertainment through “Martin” and “The Jamie Foxx Show.” “For the three of us to represent Baldwin Hills and View Park/Windsor Hills is a meaningful full-circle moment.” McCovey built a fifteen-year career working with Oscar-winning comedian Mo’Nique, co-writing three books, co-writing the film “Hair Show,” and serving as a writer and producer on multiple shows for ABC, BET, Comedy Central, YouTube, and Aspire TV. Her other credits include “Sunday Best,” hosted by Kirk Franklin; “Hart of the City,” with Kevin Hart; and the Emmy-winning series “Recipe for Change,” produced by NBA star LeBron James’ SpringHill Entertainment. Since 2022, she has worked as a content producer for Straight Shooter Media, the production company of ESPN star Stephen A. Smith.

Boyd transitioned into network television with credits on “The Jamie Foxx Show,” “Fastlane,” “Girlfriends,” and “One on One.” He also developed and sold original TV projects to Disney, FX, UPN, ALLBLK, and BET and has written branded character content for Beats by Dre.

Evans began his Hollywood career as an extra in the indie film “Hollywood Shuffle,” which became an industry classic. “When the time came for college, I planned to go to Morehouse with my friends, but my father said, ‘Do you want to chase your friends or your dreams?’” Evans recalls. “The rest is history.” During his acting days, Evans often ran into Martin while auditioning, often for the same roles, and the two became friends. Evans eventually shifted from acting to writing, and when he heard Martin was getting his own sitcom, he reached out for a job. Martin looked out, and Evans became a staff writer on the now-classic show, rising through the ranks to become an Executive Producer. It led to his next project, creating “The Jamie Foxx Show,” which aired for five seasons on the WB Network. It was on “Jamie Foxx” that Bentley hired Kevin. Evans also went on to create and write the shows “Love That Girl,” “Family Time,” Netflix’s “Dad Stop Embarrassing Me,” and the upcoming “State of Mind,” Aspire TV’s first-ever original scripted multi-camera sitcom.

Paramount+ is excited about “The Varnell Hill Show,” which features a star-studded cast including Wendy Raquel Robinson (“The Chi,” “The Game”), comedienne Kym Whitley (“Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Next Friday”), Chris Williams (“Silicon Valley,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), and Neil Brown Jr. (“Insecure”). Guest stars include Ms. Pat, Mike Epps, Deon Cole, Lavell Crawford, Damon Wayans, and more.

The pilot episode, “Did Ya Miss Me,” was written by the trio, with Bentley also serving as director and showrunner. Set behind the scenes of the fictional Varnell Hill late-night talk show, the series explores the chaotic world of television production and Varnell’s journey to stay relevant in an ever-changing television industry. “We sold the show in 2020, one week before the world shut down,” says McCovey. “It’s been a long time coming, and we’re excited for a new generation to enjoy one of Martin’s most memorable characters.”

Malachi Wright, a 24-year-old artist from the Chicago area, has created a new mural for Snoop Dogg’s ice cream brand, Dr. Bombay. Located near LAX, the mural is designed to attract the company’s ice cream taste testers. Wright graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in Design & Media Arts in 2024 and is currently completing a master’s degree in fine art at California State University Long Beach.

Wright is available for interviews before and during the mural’s unveiling on Saturday, August 29. The exact time of the unveiling is to be confirmed. He can discuss the meaning behind the mural’s design, his creative process, and what it has meant to work with Snoop Dogg and his son at this stage in his career.

The mural depicts Snoop Dogg driving a colorful convertible with his son, Cordell, and his dog in the back seat. Cordell is holding a Dr. Bombay ice cream cone. Wright depicts both Snoop Dogg and Cordell at age 29—Cordell’s current age—imagining father and son spending time together as peers. Both are looking toward the viewer to directly engage the audience.

The mural also features the words “Dr. Bombay, Snoop’s Hiring” in the top left corner and “Powered by Deel” in the bottom right corner. Deel is collaborating with Dr. Bombay to hire ice cream taste testers.

The project marks another chapter in Wright’s continuing creative relationship with Snoop Dogg and his family. While still in high school, Wright designed the cover for Snoop Dogg’s 2019 album, I Wanna Thank Me. He later collaborated with Snoop’s son, Cordell Broadus, on an NFT project and designed a mural for the rapper’s Dr. Bombay brand in Venice Beach.

This latest mural continues a creative relationship that has evolved alongside Wright’s career, from his beginnings as a young artist in the Chicago area to his established practice in Los Angeles.

The mural is a project of Golden Street, LLC, a company Wright co-owns with his brothers Amoz and Ira. Amoz and Ira, along with their close friend/artist Lamar Hawkins, who flew in from Chicago to collaborate on the mural.

Golden Street completed two other murals this summer —one for the Chicago Park District and the other for Harvey City Hall in Illinois. Golden Street’s work centers on creating meaningful experiences in public spaces through art, storytelling and community-driven projects.

The mural is located at The Coffee Company, a popular restaurant in Los Angeles’ Westchester neighborhood. Address: 8751 La Tijera Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045

Based on reporting by Chicago Defender.