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Premiering Wednesday, March 18th in Toronto is the Afrofuturistic film The Glitch.

Directed and produced by Muniyra Douglas, The Glitch tells the story of a young woman who grieves from a traumatic loss, while her mental and emotional afflictions manifest as a physical glitch.

Muniyra Douglas holds a BA in English literature from the University of Toronto. She has previously published and presented on science fiction, Black cosplay, Afropunk culture, and much more.  From Scarborough, she has been storytelling for over a decade, from spoken word to radio news to genre-bending work on post-colonialism, Black identities, womanhood, intersectionality, love and mental wellness.  The Glitch is Muniyra’s first film and adapted from an unpublished, Afrofuturistic novella penned by herself.

The post Afrofuturistic Film ‘The Glitch’ Premieres at Toronto Short Film Festival appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Billionaire rapper and businessman Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter and actor, comedian, and businessman Kevin Hart, are becoming megastars in the world of investment as well. The two stars have placed some of their investment money in a startup named Hungry, according to Forbes.

Hungry connects independent chefs to corporations that need catering. Jay-Z and Hart have teamed up with some NFL players, including Bobby Wagner and Todd Gurley, to invest in Hungry’s $20 million Series B round.

“Great founders, great mission, and they have achieved great success in short order,” Hart told Forbes. “Hungry is leveling the playing field for chefs and giving them economic opportunities that they never had before. I’m a big supporter of what this business stands for.”

In late 2016, brothers Eman and Shy Pahlavani started the company with several chefs in licensed commercial kitchens in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The company screens applicants and samples their handiwork before bringing them on board, taking care of logistics and expanding customer bases. Hungry, which plans on being competitive in the $65 billion office and events catering market, makes its money by marking up their chefs’ wholesale prices.

Jay-Z is participating in this round of funding after making an initial investment in its $8 million Series A last year via his $85 million Marcy Ventures fund. The Pahlavani brothers say Hungry’s valuation has increased fivefold between rounds as its run rate reached $20 million in late 2019; they anticipate revenues of $50 million in 2020.

“They’re very quick to want to help as we come into their market,” Eman Pahlavani said of his star investors. “You know: ‘Can we help you guys launch in this market and make connections for you guys?’ And some of them have even wanted to introduce us to chefs that they know in their local cities.”

On the Hungry website, the company states: “We created HUNGRY to provide chefs a better future–with an opportunity for significant income and to build a personal brand. For office people like us, we created HUNGRY to provide everyone an opportunity to enjoy truly delicious, exciting, and healthy food at the office. No more pizza and basic sandwiches–only great food, direct from great chefs.”

Source: Tom Cooper / Getty

Oprah is just finishing up her nationwide 2020 Vision: Your Life in Focus Tour. Presented by WW, the series seeks to highlight the life journeys of her guests, which has included Traci Ellis Ross, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jennifer Lopez, and Michelle Obama.

This past weekend, she was in Denver, Colorado for her last tour stop. And this time, she brought out her longtime friend and host of “CBS This Morning,” Gayle King.

They talked about their friendship, parenting, relationships, their careers—and of course the recent controversy with King and her questioning Lisa Leslie about Kobe Bryant’s rape allegations shortly after his passing.

Since then, several people expressed their discontent about the line of questioning. But none more vocal than rapper Snoop Dogg, who in the midst of his criticism, called King a “funky, dog-headed bitch.”

When asked her thoughts about the backlash and what she feels about it now, King said,

“I have moved on. Is there a scab, yeah? But I have moved on. I put on my game face and my big girl pants because I never lost sight of who I was, what I believe I am and my intention. I’ve never lost sight of that. It was a learning curve and it was very painful but I think sometimes you have to go through that that makes you questions things in life.”

During their conversation, Oprah mentioned that the incident was ignited because “good people” didn’t speak out in defense of King.

“In every circumstance, I think this is something for us to remember,” Winfrey said. “It’s not the people who are being mean, it’s not the badness, it’s not the vitriol that’s being put into the world, but it’s the good people who remain silent that becomes so hurtful.”

Gayle said, “I think we can disagree politically, we can disagree socially, if you want to, but I just think humanity should prevail always. I think we still have to figure out a way to navigate that with each other. That we can disagree, and you can be mad at me even, but you can’t speak to me the way I was spoken to and threatened.”

Oprah’s interview with Gayle King will air on Wednesday, March 11 (8 PM ET/ 7 PM CT)

In the meantime, you can watch highlights from the interview below.

El Cuco is dead, but its mystery lives on. Where did it come from? Do others like it still exist? What else is out there? Are other mythical monsters also real? With those unanswered questions, The Outsider‘s supposed series finale left open the possibility that Holly and Ralph could one day team up again to fight other supernatural creatures.

But that wasn’t the only sign that the show could return for a second season. A surprising mid-credits scene revealed that HBO might still have an itch to scratch with Stephen King’s story.

HBO

The most frightening aspect of the final showdown with El Cuco was that it left open so many terrifying possibilities. When Holly asked El Cuco if others like it exist, the monster didn’t know for sure either. But it had a feeling they do. “There have been times when I sense there could be more,” it said.

The legend of El Cuco—the shape-shifting eater of children, the drinker of tears and grief—transcends cultures around the world. Some know El Cuco as Baba Yaga or Babau, others call it Butzemann or the Tata Duende. People everywhere fear it. Thus, the monster Ralph killed probably wasn’t the only one of its kind. And the world will need someone to hunt them.

HBO

Ralph was open to the idea of working with Holly again someday. He’d rather they reunite for something simple like a gangland triple homicide, but if another demon posed a threat he wouldn’t ignore it.

And if El Cuco and ghosts exist, what other supernatural beings might also be out there? A second season of The Outsider could send Ralph and Holly on a different monster hunt with new challenges and dangers. (We would definitely watch Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo as monster P.I.s.)

But they might not need to go looking for a new monster to hunt, because the story of this El Cuco might not be finished yet.

HBO

The Outsider was supposed to be a limited series based on Stephen King’s standalone novel. As such, it was the last show you’d ever expect to have a mid-credits scene. Yet there it was.

Holly was looking in her mirror when the ghost of Jack Hoskins appeared behind her. The two, both outsiders in their own ways, had a connection. Jack only stopped gunning everyone down when she walked out into the open. Holly was the one who broke El Cuco’s spell over Jack. It’s possible his ghost appeared to her because they are linked in a way we can’t fully understand. This episode showed that ghosts exist, and that it’s possible to see them or feel their “glow.”

Jack’s presence doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing, but his appearance very well might have been a harbinger of something sinister. Holly immediately checked the back of her neck to make sure she hadn’t been infected by El Cuco. There was nothing there, and it seemed like that was the end. El Cuco never got physically close to her anyway.

But in the final shot of the season, we saw Holly had a fresh scratch on her arm. We don’t know how she got it or when, or who or what was responsible for it. But we do know what a scratch from El Cuco means.

HBO

Maybe that was the show’s way of saying evil can never be fully defeated, and that good people must always stay vigilante and ready to fight. Holly’s scratch might have been a fitting metaphor to end the story with.

Or it might have been a way to tell us the story isn’t over. “What else is out there?” For fans of The Outsider, it might be a second season.

Featured Image: HBO

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