Kenya Vaughn

Roberta Flack’s voice was more than a musical instrument. It was a translator of human emotion. Every range of it – love, loss, longing, heartbreak, sensuality and more – was reflected with a purity and clarity that transcended genre.  And while it didn’t possess the trills and runs often associated with soul singers, her sound […]

Diadie Bathily’s Afriky Lolo Dance Company this weekend at COCA By Kenya Vaughn Of the St. Louis American “African Dance is like therapy,” said Diadie Bathily, founder and artistic director of the Afriky Lolo Dance Company. “Its being able to study yourself, understand yourself and appreciate yourself for who you are – not for who […]

Because of its subject matter, my Christmas wish for “The Six Triple Eight” was to lead the review with “Tyler Perry having an Oscar-worthy film was not on this critic’s 2024 bingo card.” The wish didn’t come true, but Perry still made a good enough movie that celebrates the legacy of unsung heroes within American […]

Saved by sports Gridiron Gang scores with familiar Hollywood playbook By Kenya Vaughn Of the St. Louis American Seeing the advertisements for Gridiron Gang with the Rock and Xzibit at top billing may prompt an “oh, that’s great, but who else is in it?” response. While they are both household names, neither carries enough star […]

When music superstar Metro Boomin began presenting Christmas giveaways to benefit single mothers and their children, he was hardly a household name. One of the first was held in the multipurpose room of Greater Bethlehem Baptist Church, a small but mighty congregation located across from Reliable Funeral Home in Midtown. “One day, We’re gonna do […]

Dignitaries from across the region shivered through an extremely brief ribbon cutting ceremony for the newest McDonald’s store to arrive in St. Charles on Thursday, December 12. Mindful of the falling temperatures, franchisee James E. “Jimmy” Williams, Jr., President and CEO of Estel Foods, Inc., kept his remarks brief. But it was clear that those who […]

Class of 2024 included Anthony Bonner, Lavar Miller and more Earl Austin Jr. already had something to celebrate in 2024. This year marked his 30th as Sports Editor for The St. Louis American. And on Sunday (November 24th), before a capacity crowd in the Chase Park Plaza’s Khorassan Ballroom, he was enshrined in the Class of 2024 […]

When Judith Jamison became artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in 1989, it was during a time of great loss for the company. “Alvin had just died, so it felt terrible,” Jamison told The American in 2011. “But, you go on. He said it best when he said, ‘Dance came from the people, […]

Fifty years ago, Quincy Jones received a gift from jazz giant Duke Ellington that predicted the future. “Before he passed, we did the ‘Duke Ellington … We Love You Madly’ TV special; my first television credit as a producer,” Jones told Revolt TV in 2021. “My blessed brother, Duke, gave me a photo of him, signed, ‘To […]

There is a common thread of misinformation that has been woven into the origin stories of descendants from the Diaspora. Whether dispersed around the world as a result of the intercontinental slave trade or colonized for the sake of empire building – a dangerous myth is perpetuated. At the crux of the fable is the […]