C. Shardae Jobson

Few are aware that best-selling author Dan Brown’s first novel was actually titled, “The Giraffe, The Pig and the Pants on Fire.”
“It’s a thriller, obviously!” he joked, holding up the book he wrote as a child. Created out of cardboard and punch binding, it had been dug out of storage for Brown’s author talk, held on May 15 at the Brookline High School auditorium.
Outside the auditorium, event co-sponsor Brookline Booksmith was selling copies of Brown’s 2017 thriller “Origin.” If that doesn’t...

Don’t tell Amy Rosenberg that Miami’s not a capital of culture. Rosenberg is the founder of the Overtown Music Project, a nonprofit that seeks to revive the musical traditions of Miami’s downtrodden Overtown neighborhood, once the artistic heart of the city’s African American population. Leaving behind her former life as a lawyer, Rosenberg now dedicates her time to curating major events that feature musicians from Overtown and beyond in an effort to rekindle the spirit of an area that was on...

Fresh off his packed-house performance at SOB’s in New York, and in the glow of his recently and readily downloadable, smooth-operated mixtape Whispers in the Dark, Luke James is not just your next R&B heartthrob: he’s suited up to be one of the next great masterminds of music with both production and singing talents in spades. As "Who Is Luke James" is the seducing veneer of his internet presence (follow him on Twitter at @whoislukejames), you’ll be well advised to directly listen to his inc...

Brooklyn-based acid rockers Psychic Ills first got together in 2003, and released their debut album, Dins, three years later. Now the trio’s back with a brand new disc, Hazed Dream, another richly experimental soundscape that incorporates elements of dub, electronica, Southern rock, and a universe of other genres that humans have yet to discover. Ills bassist Elizabeth Hart recently took some time off to give us the lowdown on Dream.

Where does your band’s name come from? I can’t remember the...

Due to his well-meaning but entitled Daily Mail essay on why eradicating the n-word from the English language would bring about verbal peace, Piers Morgan became the guinea pig of Twitter derision. From everyday users, to celebrities like John Legend, and prominent Atlantic scribe Ta-Neshi Coates, Morgan was regulated as the latest culprit of white privilege. Who did this White news journalist think he was to suddenly care about the jargon of black people so much and then write an essay about...

An interview with Sam Aldrich, the curator of "Pulp & Process" at the Society of Arts and Crafts.

Paper planes? I was never quite good at folding them just pointedly and narrowly in the middle, with stylishly flared wings to the sides, as I would’ve liked. Today, you can go online and select and view various styles of paper planes to create. But back in my day (!), most of us kids attempted the standard-looking airplane. And I was somewhat like Charlie Brown and that dang kite of his, every time I let my slapdash paper plane fly so freely…into the grass!
Now, paper dolls? I played with ve...

Paper planes? I was never quite good at folding them just pointedly and narrowly in the middle, with stylishly flared wings to the sides, as I would’ve liked. Today, you can go online and select and view various styles of paper planes to create. But back in my day (!), most of us kids attempted the standard-looking airplane. And I was somewhat like Charlie Brown and that dang kite of his, every time I let my slapdash paper plane fly so freely…into the grass!
Now, paper dolls? I played with ve...

Pride, as an idea, concept, and movement has never been as diverse, pronounced, and occasionally corporate than ever before in 2019. And this has so much to do with recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall Inn uprising that took place this very week, back in June of 1969.
Also, because of the anniversary, releases and reassessments that uphold and uncloak queer culture, in the name of Pride, such as the documentary Wig and exhibits including The Met’s CAMP: Notes on Fashion, a...

When listening to Melia Bensussen detail the cities she’s visited and called home, you may catch yourself humming “Where in the world is ... ”.
Except that while Bensussen is a globetrotter, she isn’t a red-caped thief named Carmen Sandiego. The Brookline resident is a lifelong fan, advocate and director of theater.
Her beginnings foretold a life of travel, as she was born in New York City and raised in Mexico City until she returned to the U.S. at age 17. It was her pursuit of a theater care...

After gathering the courage to introduce myself to Valerie Imparato, the artist behind all of the artwork in the solo show Just Because We’re Magic (on view January 12-20th at the Spaceus Annex in East Cambridge), she greeted me with a big, gracious smile and a fabulous wrap atop her head.
Now that I was feeling at ease, while we were otherwise enclosed by extremely talkative guests, Imparato leaned in closer so that she could hear me ask what her favorite piece was.
“I can show it to you!” S...

As little girls watching TV, it was a riot seeing Susie Carmichael because she looked just like us: brown skin and her black hair in braids, swinging about with barrettes on the end. We had already adored viewing the world through the curious minds of the babies on Rugrats. With the addition of Susie, the optimistic heroine against Angelica Pickles‘ antagonistic girl-child wrath (though we loved her too), the increased diversification of the program also felt natural.
Susie and her family fir...

The term “flea market” is lifted and true to its provenance of “marché aux puces.” According to Mental Floss, the phrase was first uttered in France during the 1880s, when shoppers coined it to describe items on sale, such as used furniture, that looked as if they had become sanctuaries for said insects. Despite themselves, shoppers still wanted that dang chair or that plumed hat nearby.
“Flea market” made its Oxford dictionary debut in 1922, and since then certain secondhand experiences have...

At HelloBeautiful, our stance on being pro-Black woman and pro-Black girl are definitely loud and clear, but we do know how to share the love as well. We appreciate any woman who aspires to be great and has made the moves to achieve their dreams to its full potential. And it’s not like we’re not counting the days ’til Hillary announces that 2016 campaign too! But with that being said, former Sony Pictures co-chair(wo)man Amy Pascal‘s deplorable emails about Black stars and their films in Holl...

Miley Cyrus is still riding the wave of a maelstrom of comedic shock and genuine disgust with her raunch-fest performance of “We Can’t Stop,” topped by an unsightly duet with Robin Thicke. Despite all the criticism, the pop princess-gone-wrong has increased her social media net worth, according to an MTV article posted this week. Also, in her own words, the lost Disney daughter finally broke her media silence to announce that she has succeeded in doing what she set out to do: make history.
Bu...