The Root Honors Xavier Henderson of Nonprofit For Oak Cliff. Last week, The Root published its annual list of most influential African American leaders in the fields of art, business, community, entertainment, media, politics, STEM, and sports. Nominees include Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah Jones of the New York Times, Colin Kaepernick, Maya Moore, and several other notable figures. In the field of community, Xavier Henderson of For Oak Cliff comes in at No. 52.
“He and Taylor Toynes, both Oak Cliff natives and alumni of the University of North Texas and Teach For America, started a Back to School Festival in 2015 to provide resources to neighborhood students. In 2020, they co-founded the For Oak Cliff nonprofit to address the systemic issues in their community. With Henderson as director of strategy, the organization launched programs for physical and mental health, college counseling, a community garden, and education for all ages,” reads The Root’s description.
Arlington’s Mickey Guyton Brings Brittney Spencer and Madeline Edwards to One of Country’s Biggest Stages. Destiny’s Chicks take the stage. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Guyton, an Arlington native, described tonight’s performance as an “honor to stand up with them [Spencer and Edwards], and a sing a song that means so much to me, [that] I wrote in a place of pain, that was all of our pain, we bonded so much over it.” Guyton invited Spencer and Edwards to join her for a performance of an unreleased song. Earlier this year, Guyton spoke about her efforts for diversity and representation in country with Rolling Stone: “I want to bring so many Black women into country music that country music doesn’t know what to do with it. I’m trying to burn this good-ol’-boy system down to the ground.” Tonight’s performance is the first Black women-led segment on the televised annual broadcast.
Erica Banks Lands a Placement on the Cardi B-Produced Soundtrack Halle Berry’s Bruised. Women hip-hop heads, let us rejoice! On Nov. 19, Warner Records will release the soundtrack to Bruised, Halle Berry’s latest film and her directorial debut. Berry hired Cardi B to select mainstream and rising women rappers for the film’s soundtrack. Dallas’ own Erica Banks is one of the artists featured on the soundtrack. She joins H.E.R., City Girls, Saweetie, Latto, Flo Milli, Young M.A., Baby Tate, Rapsody, Big Bottle Wyanna, and Dream Doll. You can stream Bruised on Netflix starting November 17.
