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Akon Proceeds With Plans to Construct $6B 'Real-Life Wakanda' Despite COVID-19

It’s official, “Akon City” is still on its way! R&B sensation, Akon announced that construction for his futuristic pan-African city will begin next year, AP News reports. The $6 billion project will still proceed despite global tourism’s uncertain future due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by the hit film, “Black Panther,” Akon first set his sights on creating a utopian city back in 2018 and has described it as a “real-life Wakanda,” much like the technologically advanced fictional African place portrayed in the film. Akon hopes his city will serve as a “home back home” for Black Americans and others facing racial injustices. His aim is also to provide much-needed jobs for Senegalese. “The system back home treats them unfairly in so many different ways that you can never imagine. And they only go through it because they feel there is no other way,” Akon said, according to AP News. Born in the United States — to Senegalese parents — the “Lonely” singer spent the majority of his...

Shanique Yates

Sep 2, 2020

Comcast to Launch Two Independent Channels Focused on Black Programming

Afrotainment and Cleo TV have been named as Comcast’s newest independent launches as part of its merger agreement with NBCUniversal to the U.S. Justice Department. Cleo TV and Afro are both TV One stations set to be broadly distributed by Comcast Xfinity in January. Cleo TV is aimed at breaking stereotypes of women of color, while Afro is described as a polycultural Black television network. “The offerings from both AFRO and CLEO TV serve as an excellent complement to the growing catalog of programming choices we offer about global black communities,” Keesha Boyd, Executive Director, Multicultural Products at Comcast Cable, said in a press release. Cleo TV will offer original programming and acquired content that ranges from cooking shows to home-designing shows. “The best part about CLEO TV is that program formats will be both a mixture of old and new school, and viewers will find shows that have a modern twist,” Robyn Greene Arrington, TV One’s Vice President of Original...

Arriana McLymore

Nov 26, 2018