Viola Davis reached into unparalleled heights of influence and popularity in the entertainment world by the 2010s. In February 2014, Viola Davis was cast in Peter Nowalk's pilot How to Get Away With Murder show. It was executive produced by Shonda Rhinda for her ShondaLand production company. Viola Davis was the lead character of the show. Like many shows of this latter day generation, it's provocative, controversial, and filled with intrigue. Her character is Annalise Keating, who is a strong-minded defense attorney and professor. She becomes entangled in a murder plot with her students. Her character is mixture of contradiction and talent. Her character is mixed of brilliance and imperfections. Her character has doubt and courage. She is desperate for love, approval, but she is willing to stand up for herself when necessary. The series started officially in September 2014. By September 2015, Viola Davis became the first African-American to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role on How to Get Away with Murder. She received a second Primetime Emmy Award nomination for the role in 2016. Davis also won two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series in 2014 and 2015. She received nominations from the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series for her performance on the show.
By 2015, Davis was in the Michael Mann directed thriller film Blackhat that had Chris Hemsworth. Davis was the executive producer of the crime drama film Lila & Eve, starring herself and Jennifer Lopez in titular roles. In 2016, Davis starred in the courtroom drama Custody, on which she also served as an executive producer, and played Amanda Waller in the film Suicide Squad, an adaptation of a DC Comics series of the same name. In 2016, Davis reprised her role as Rose Maxson for the film adaptation of Fences directed by and starring Denzel Washington. Her performance garnered critical acclaim and she received her third Academy Award nomination, making her the first black actress in history to achieve this feat. She subsequently went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2017, Davis was presented with the 2,597th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by her Doubt co-star and friend Meryl Streep. While accepting the honor, Davis said: "It's like my life flashing before my eyes, and all I can say is, God has blessed my life in abundance." Davis was also listed among and a featured cover star of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People" List for the second time, her first being in 2012. Streep penned the article in the magazine, referring to Davis as having "carved a place for herself on the Mount Rushmore of the 21st century", commenting that "her gifts as an artist are unassailable, undeniable, deep and rich and true. But her importance in the culture – her ability to identify it, her willingness to speak about it and take on responsibility for it – is what marks her for greatness." In March 2017, Davis was awarded the Artist of the Year Award at Harvard University. Also in 2017, Davis announced that she would write the sequel to the classic picture book Corduroy, titled Corduroy Takes a Bow. In a press release, Davis stated that "Corduroy has always held a special place in my life, first as a child paging through it, and then again with my daughter, introducing her to the adventures of that adorable teddy bear." The book was published by Penguin Random House later in 2018.
In 2018, Viola Daivs debut Two-Sides. That was a documentary series exploring police brutality towards the African American community. It debuted on TV One, running through till mid-February. Davis also starred alongside fellow Shondaland costar Kerry Washington for a special two-hour crossover episode of How to Get Away with Murder and Scandal, aptly titled How to Get Away with Scandal. Davis's guest appearance garnered her a fourth Emmy Award nomination, and her first for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series. That same year, Davis starred in the Steve McQueen heist thriller Widows alongside Cynthia Erivo, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, and Liam Neeson. The film was an adaptation of the popular 1983 British miniseries. She received critical acclaim, with film critic Eric Kohn of IndieWire writing, that the film "largely belongs to Davis...the actress has never been more commanding." She received her second British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance. In 2020, Davis was the executive producer and was in the documentary Giving Voice. It was about following students who entered the August Wilson monologue competition for a chance to compete on Broadway. In 2020, she starred alongside Chadwick Boseman (in his final onscreen performance) as the titular character in the biographical drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, based on the 1982 play of the same name and directed by George C. Wolfe. She received critical acclaim and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her performance, in addition to her sixth Golden Globe Award nomination and her second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, her fourth nomination overall. With that nomination, she became the most-nominated black actress in the history of the Academy Awards, as well as the first black actress to have been nominated for Best Actress more than once. She also appeared on the cover of the July/August 2020 issue of Vanity Fair, photographed by Dario Calmese.
In 2021, Davis reprised her role as Amanda Waller in the superhero film The Suicide Squad. Also in 2021, she appeared alongside Sandra Bullock in the drama film The Unforgivable, directed by Nora Fingscheidt. Davis appeared uncredited as Amanda Waller in two episodes, "A Whole New Whirled" and "It's Cow or Never", in season 1 of the show Peacemaker, a spin-off of The Suicide Squad, and in the film, Black Adam. Davis executive produced and played former First Lady Michelle Obama in The First Lady, a Showtime drama series. It premiered in April 2022. After receiving criticism on social media for her portrayal, Davis responded by calling the disapproval "incredibly hurtful" and saying "it is my job as a leader to make bold choices." In 2022, Davis starred in The Woman King, inspired by true events that took place within The Kingdom of Dahomey. The film tells the story of Nanisca, the general of an all-female military unit, played by Davis, and her daughter Nawi, played by Thuso Mbedu. Davis was the narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Disneyland in 2022. In August 2022, it was reported that Davis was cast as Head Gamemaker Dr. Volumnia Gaul in the prequel to The Hunger Games film series, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. In March 2024, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of International Women's Day, Davis was one of a number of the women celebrities that had their likeness turned into Barbie dolls. Also in March, Davis voiced the Chameleon, who was the main antagonist of Kung Fu Panda 4, the fourth installment in the eponymous franchise. In December 2024, Davis reprised her role as Amanda Waller in the animated Max TV series Creature Commandos. In 2025, Davis starred in G20, an action thriller in which she plays the U.S. President.
The history of Texas from 1876 to 1899 saw massive racism and oppression against black people. Still, the freedmen created educational systems, organized new churches and fraternal organizations, entered politics, and won local offices. By the 1890s, more than 100,000 blacks were voting in state elections. In 1896 and 1898, Republican Robert B. Hawley was elected to Congress from the state by a plurality, when most white voters split between the Democratic and Populist parties. Democrats were determined to end competition by Republicans and Populists, and reviewed what other Southern states were doing to disenfranchise blacks and poor whites. Mississippi's new constitution of 1890 had survived a Supreme Court case, although in practice it was highly discriminatory against freedmen. There were land politics during this time too. There was the federal Morill Act, and then Texas sold public lands to gain funds to invest in higher education. In 1876, the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas opened, and seven years later the University of Texas at Austin began conducting classes. There were more land policies that were drafted during the time of Governor John Ireland. Now, people in Texas could accumulate land like forming cattle ranches. Many ranchers ran barbed wire around public lands, to protect their access to water and free grazing. This caused many range wars. Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross guided the Texas Legislature to reform the land use policies. The railroads grown in Texas by the 1880s. That ended the famous cattle drives and allowed ranchers to market their cattle after a short drive, and farmers move their cotton to market cheaply. They made Dallas and other cities the centers of commercial activity. Ft. Worth became the gateway to the west, via the Fort Worth and Denver Railway. However the passenger trains were often the targets of armed gangs.
Governor Lawrence Sullivan Ross had to personally intervene to resolve the Jaybird-Woodpecker War (1888–1889) among factions of Democrats in Fort Bend County; at bottom, it was a racial conflict. The majority population was black by a large margin, and had been electing county officers for 20 years. But, the white elite Democrats wanted their own people in power. Conflict became violent and the Jaybirds ordered several black people out of town. Tensions increased and a total of seven people were killed. In the fall of 1889, the Democratic Party created "white-only pre-primary elections," which in practice were the only competitive contests in the county, and thus disenfranchised the black human beings. This situation lasted until the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Terry v. Adams (1953) declared it unconstitutional in the last of the white primary cases. Under Jim Hogg, the state turned its attention toward corporations violating the state monopoly laws. In 1894, Texas filed a lawsuit against John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company and its Texas subsidiary, the Waters-Pierce Oil Company of Missouri. Hogg and his attorney-general argued that the companies were engaged in rebates, price fixing, consolidation, and other tactics prohibited by the state's 1889 antitrust act. The investigation resulted in a number of indictments, including one for Rockefeller. Hogg requested that Rockefeller be extradited from New York, but the New York governor refused, as Rockefeller had not fled from Texas. Rockefeller was never tried, but other employees of the company were found guilty.
By September 8, 1900, there was the Hurricane that destroyed Galveston or Texas's fourth largest city during that time. It had a 20 ft. storm surge. Water covered the whole island, killing between 6,000 and 8,000 people, destroying 3,500 homes as well as the railroad causeway and wagon bridge that connected the island to the mainland. To help rebuild their city, citizens implemented a reformed government featuring a five-man city commission. Galveston was the first city to implement a city commission government, and its plan was adopted by 500 other small cities across the United States. In the aftermath of the Galveston disaster, action proceeded on building the Houston Ship Channel to create a more protected inland port. Houston quickly grew once the Channel was completed, and rapidly became the primary port in Texas. Railroads were constructed in a radial pattern to link Houston with other major cities such as Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin.
By 1900, the Dallas population reached 38,000 as banking and insurance became major activities in the increasingly white-collar city, which was now the world's leading cotton center. It was also the world's center of harness making and leather goods. Businessmen took control of civic affairs; with little municipal patronage, there was only a small role for the Democratic Party to play. The predominantly black Republican Party was essentially closed out of politics by the disenfranchisement in 1901 of most blacks through imposition of a poll tax (see below). The Democrats in 1901 wanted to end the political power of Republicans, Populists, and black people. So, the Democratic dominated state legislature passed a poll tax as a requirement for voting. Given the economic difficulties of the times, the poll tax caused participation by African Americans, poor whites, and Mexican Americans to drop sharply, effectively disenfranchising more than one-third of the population of the state. The Democrats used a white primary to harm the rights of minorities. . By 1906, the number of black voters had dropped from more than 100,000 in the 1890s to 5,000. The state also passed a law for white primaries. In 1896, 86.6% of all voters in Texas voted in the presidential election; following disenfranchisement, voter turnout in 1904 was 29.2% and in 1920 was 21.6%.
When the Supreme Court ruled in 1923 that white primaries established by political parties were unconstitutional, in 1927 the Texas state legislature passed a bill that authorized political parties to establish their internal practices. The Democratic Party reinstated the white primary. That law survived until 1944 before another Supreme Court case ruled that it was unconstitutional. After 1944, the NAACP and other organizations worked to register black voters and participation increased. But the major disenfranchisement continued until passage in the mid-1960s of civil rights legislation, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to provide for federal oversight in areas in which historically minorities did not vote in expected numbers based on population. Texas reached 4 million population in 1910, making it the fifth largest state, and continued to grow. It remained primarily rural, based on cotton farms and ranches, with 30% living in numerous villages and towns and a few cities. Later, the populations of Galveston, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, El Paso grew their populations, had cars, and increased their infrastructure. In 1911 an extremely bloody decade-long civil war broke out in Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of refugees fled to Texas, raising the Hispanic population from 72,000 in 1900 to 250,000 in 1920. The number reached 700,000 in 1930, 1,400,000 in 1960, and 4 million in 1990. The black population grew in numbers but declined as a proportion. There were massive lynchings in Texas too. Of the 468 lynching victims in the state between 1885, the peak, and the last episode in 1942, 339 were black, 77 white, 53 Hispanic, and 1 Native American. There was improved law enforcement after 1920 meant the violence rapidly died out, but segregation only ended in 1964.
By the early to mid 1900s, there were oil industries growing, high skyscrapers, and then the Great Depression happened. The economy, which had experienced significant recovery since the Civil War, was dealt a double blow by the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. After the Stock Market Crash of 1929, the economy suffered significant reversals. Thousands of city workers became unemployed, many of whom depended on federal relief programs such as FERA, WPA and CCC. Thousands of unemployed Mexican citizens received one-way bus tickets to their home villages in Mexico. The Dust Bowl happened form 1934 to 1939. Many people left Texas. Many of the New Deal helped some people, and some minorities didn't benefit from the New Deal because of discriminatory reasons. Federal money came into Texas during the World War II era. Texas saw the growth of military bases, factors, Army hospitals, and POW detention camps. There were tons of military bases in Texas from Fort Sam Houston to Camp Mabry. People of many races participated in WWII form Texas to fight fascism overseas. Tens of thousands of new migrants streamed in from rural areas, straining the city's housing supply and the city's ability to provide local transit and schools. For the first time, high-paying jobs went to large numbers of women, black people and Hispanic people. The city's African-American community, emboldened by their newfound prosperity, increased its agitation for civil rights; they backed and funded the legal case of Smith v. Allwright (1944), in which the Supreme Court ruled against the latest version of the white primary in support of voting rights. Jim Crow still existed including the Texas drought from 1949 to 1957. Because of the drought, a system of water conservation existed via the Texas Water Development Board form 1957. There was more of an access to groundwater, lakes, and rivers. By the early 1960s, times would change. More black civil rights leaders fought for their human rights including other ethnic groups like Latino Americans.
There are many types of hockey in the world. Field hockey is played on natural grass, gravel, or sand based or water based artificial turf. It is played with a small hard ball that is about 2.9 inches in diameter. It is popular among men and women from the Americas, Europe, Asia New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina. Games can be played between single sex sides or mixed sex sides. The governing body is the 126-member International Hockey Federation (FIH). Men's field hockey has been played at every Summer Olympic Games since 1908 except for 1912 and 1924, while women's field hockey has been played at the Summer Olympic Games since 1980. Modern field hockey sticks are constructed of a composite of wood, glass fiber or carbon fiber (sometimes both) and are J-shaped, with a curved hook at the playing end, a flat surface on the playing side and a curved surface on the rear side. All sticks are right-handed – left-handed sticks are not permitted. Indoor hockey is a type of indoor field hockey. Indoor hockey is played in a smaller area and between smaller teams than field hockey. The sidelines are replaced by solid barriers from which the ball rebounds and remains in play. Bandy is played with a ball on a football pitch-sized ice arena (bandy rink), typically outdoors, and with many rules similar to association football. It is played professionally in Russia and Sweden. The sport is recognized by the IOC, including the variety rink bandy. Its international governing body is the Federation of International Bandy. Bandy has its roots in England in the 19th century, was originally called "hockey on the ice." A similar Russian sport can also be seen as a predecessor and in Russia, bandy is sometimes called "Russian hockey." Bandy World Championships have been played since 1957 and Women's Bandy World Championships since 2004. There are national club championships in many countries and the top clubs in the world play in the Bandy World Cup every year. Sledge hockey, a variant of ice hockey designed for players with physical disabilities, was created in the 1960s and has since been renamed, "Para-ice hockey." There is roller hockey and inline hocky. There is street hockey, air hockey, beach hockey found in Southern California beaches, ball hockey, box hockey, broomball, deck hockey, floor hockey, unicycle hockey, and other hockey related sports.
Many people still don't know that black people have been involved in the history of country since the genre's inception. Back in the day, many of us never heard of anyone black playing country music except for Charlie Pride and Darius Rucker (from the group Hootie and the Blowfish). Yet, there were tons of black artists playing country music for a long time. The vocalist and historian Queen Esther spoke her words in TED Talk to document this history. Country music has always been part of many cultures including black culture. We know that the blues and jazz are part of American culture. We know that West African music traditions influence the music today in our time. Our ancestors came from Western and Central Africa mostly. The African plants, fruits, vegetables, and music spread globally including the Americas. The banjo is a key part of the country music being a powerful instrument. The banjo came from Africa. The banjo has been called the banjar, bangie, banjer, and banza. It came to America by the 17th century. Many black musicians taught early country music artists too. Tee Tot Payne was a guitarist and street performer form Louisiana. He was a teacher to Hank Williams, teaching him passing chords and how to write sounds. Musician Lesley Riddle helped the Carter family. Fiddler and guitarist Arnold Shultz – the son of a former slave, from a family of musicians and performers – played a pivotal role in the life of Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass. He gave him his first gig, introduced him to the blues and taught him a Kentucky “thumb style” guitar technique that would make musician Chet Atkins famous. Bill Monroe said that Arnold Shultz was his best friend, and always spoke of him fondly. DeFord Bailey was the first black artist to perform at the Grand Ole Opry back in 1927, making history. Tina Turner played a country song before too which was DeFord Bailey's Pan American Blues (from 1941). In our modern times, we have Mickey Guyton who loves country music and has toured the world to celebrate life and the black contributions in country music in full detail. Cowboy Troy came after Darius Rucker to have a country and even hip hop type of sound too. Linda Martell was a black woman who was an innovator of country music during the 1970s. There are artists like Stoney Edwards, Howdy Glenn, The Pointer Sisters (yes, they did country music along with R&B music), Frankie Staton, Aaron Neville, Cleve Francis, Jake Blount, Kane Brown, Rhiannon Giddens, Rissi Palmer, Shaboozey, Tanner Adell, Chapel Hart, Willie Jones, Miko Marks, Beyonce, Don Flemons, Adia Victoria, Valerie June, Julie Williams, Amythyst Kiah, Allison Russell, Breeland, Reyna Roberts, Alice Randall, Brittney Spencer, Blanco Brown, and other human beings who made country music then and now. Many younger people know about the country music duo War and Treaty.
The issues in Haiti are very real. Haiti was once unjustly conquered by France. Haiti was France's richest colony and tons of black Haitians were enslaved. Black people in Haiti fought back for their independence, and Haiti was a Republic in 1804. After 1804, the West, including France wanted revenge against Haiti. A French spy named Medina was arrested by Henri Christophe in 1817. On Madina were instructions from France trying to re-enslave Haiti. Later, France wanted 150 million gold francs and recue by 50 percent tariffs on all French imports.
This was 10 times the Haitian government. France wanted more like taking a loan from a French bank. Haitian President Boyer was there in that time. This tactic (of France using the lie that they are owe reparations to steal wealth from Haiti) from France harmed the Haitian economy. There were revolts in 1842. Boyer left office. Haiti was imposed unjust tax burdens by Western powers. There were many governments and resources went to debt service. The National Bank of Haiti was formed in 1880 being controlled by France. Wealth was stolen by France and sent to France from Haiti. America used the U.S. Marines to occupy Haiti in 1914. America left after 9 months.
Wealth in Haiti was stolen by the National City Bank of New York. America occupied Haiti until 1934. Papa Doc was a dictator in Haiti. Many people left Haiti to America and other places to escape the rule of Papa Doc. Later, President Aristide rose up. He promoted the end of the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 as Aristide was more democratic. Then, Aristide was a victim of an army led coup d'etat, and Aristide was forced into exile. Aristide came back to form a truth and reconciliation commission, demobilized the Haitian army, and caused a democratic transition of power in Haiti. Haiti improved from 1994 to 2000. Many in the international community blocked a 54-million-dollar loan in 1998 to help Haiti's water system. Haiti deserves its reparations. After Aristide called for reparations, a coup d'etat happened by February 2004. Aristide came back to Haiti. The 2010 Earthquake changed everything with people desiring food prices stabilization by 2009. After Michel Martelly and Moise were in power, there was the Ariel Henry Presidency. There was a strong 2021 Earthquake. Since 2022 (On July 7, 2022 massive clashes between two rival gangs began in Cité Soleil, an impoverished and densely populated neighborhood of Port-au-Prince), multiple gangs have a civil war in Haiti that continues to this day. Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigned by March 2024. By 2024, Alix Didier Fils-Aime was the Prime Minister of Haiti. Now, we have Fritz Alphone Jean (from the Transistional Presidential Council or CPT) being the current President of Haiti's CPT. Issues in Haiti relate to the economy, gang violence, poverty, United Nations occupation's legacy, and other issues.
By Timothy
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