Apple celebrates Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day
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Graphic of women working with technology for Women’s Day

For Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day, Apple is further amplifying female voices that drive culture and change by bringing to the forefront untold stories, exclusive content, and curated collections across all of its services. Available beginning in March, these offerings celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of all women who accelerate the conversation around gender equality.

Customers can learn new skills from female creators with virtual Today at Apple sessions, join the Apple Fitness+ community for inspiring workouts on International Women’s Day, or listen to an all-new show on Apple Podcasts from ABC News, featuring never-before-released audio from former first lady Claudia Alta “Lady Bird” Johnson. Here is a look at all of the experiences customers can enjoy in March and beyond.

App Store
Apple celebrates women who challenge themselves to create new paths and ways of working, sharing their knowledge and experiences for others to follow in their footsteps. Customers can read about female developers in exclusive interviews, or browse the curated Apps Made by Women Collection. Additionally, the App Store will feature an App of the Day and Game of the Day from a woman creator during the month of March, and, with Apple Arcade, showcase a collection of games starring powerful female characters.

Apple Music
Apple Music is highlighting women who are leaders in their field, breaking records, topping charts, and inspiring others through their work, advocacy, and influence within pop culture and beyond. Apple Music listeners can enjoy a diverse range of “Visionary Women” curated playlists from artists and influencers from all over the world. Apple Music will also showcase four original content short films, and Apple Music radio and Apple Music TV will feature incredible female voices, stories, and musicianship for a full 24 hours, back to back, on March 8.

Apple Books
Apple Books is celebrating everywhere with country-specific collections that feature women’s voices and elevate their contributions to every field. Customers can find a selection of biographies and memoirs that highlight trailblazers, along with collections that spotlight literary icons and exciting newcomers in fiction — including women who are rewriting the rules in every genre, from Romance to Science Fiction. Customers can also explore recommended great books and audiobooks that unearth stories of remarkable women during extraordinary times, share empowering wisdom, and explore vital intersectional feminist perspectives.

Read the full article at Apple.

Alicia Keys Lends Voice to Athleta With New Partnership, Product Line Promoting Women’s Well-Being
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Alicia Keys wearing a pink jumpsuit during sunset posed to the side with one hand over her head and one on her own shoulder

By Stephen Garner, Yahoo! Life

Alicia Keys is lending her powerful voice to a strong cause.

The 15-time Grammy Award winner has joined forces with Athleta to further their mutual commitment to women’s well-being.

As such, Keys has signed on to Athleta’s “Power of She Fund” grant program as a mentor and advisor. According to Athleta, Keys will also work with the brand to connect with women through “meaningful community conversations” in AthletaWell, the retailer’s digital community that supports women’s well-being.

And, on International Women’s Day, which is March 8, the duo will release the Athleta x Alicia Keys collection. Athleta, a division of Gap Inc., said the collection will have exclusive products co-created and co-designed by Keys, who worked alongside the brand’s all-female design team. Among the items, which will be available in sizes XXS-3X on athleta.com and at all Athleta retail locations, will be Keys’ favorite piece — a pink jumpsuit. More details of the collection will be released closer to the launch, according to Athleta.

“Alicia has made a powerful commitment to well-being and we are thrilled to welcome her to Athleta’s community of empowered women,” said Mary Beth Laughton, president and CEO of Athleta. “With a values-driven partnership like this one with Alicia, we are ideally positioned to continue to meet our customer’s needs in the well-being space and support her across all aspects of her life.”

“I was drawn to Athleta because we both want to encourage women to discover, accept and own their power,” added Keys. “We’re all about the uniqueness of women, body positivity and creating a lifestyle that showcases our immeasurable power within. It’s time to thrive – not just to survive – and my hope is that these offerings are another outlet for you to amplify your personal power, your possibility, and feel comfortable in your own skin.”

Keys joins a roster of powerful, like-minded partners, including Simone Biles and Allyson Felix.

Biles, a former Nike athlete and the country’s most-decorated gymnast, signed a long-term partnership with Athleta in April 2021. The deal includes a signature performance wear line designed with Athleta’s team and capsule collections for the company’s Athleta Girl sister brand.

Click here to read the full article on Yahoo! Life.

What Sarah Jessica Parker Eats in a Day to Stay Energized
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Sarah Jessica Parker

By Karla Walsh, Yahoo! News

Since hanging up her Manolos in 2004 at the conclusion of her groundbreaking role as Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City (SATC), Sarah Jessica Parker has shown no signs of slowing. The 56-year-old actress and mom of 3 has since starred in movies (The Family Stone, Failure to Launch), appeared in guest stints on TV shows (Glee) and produced (Here and Now). Oh yes, and she partnered with husband Matthew Broderick to raise money for the Actors Fund amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, designed fashion for SJP boutiques, represented Garnier and launched a wine brand Invivo X, SJP.

And this year, she’s back to reprise her role and keep writing her story as Bradshaw on HBO Max’s SATC reboot And Just Like That.

No wonder Parker admits in her vulnerable and revealing January 2021 Grub Street Diet, “there is not typically a lot of regularity to my days. This is an unusual time because I feel like I actually have a conventional schedule, something I’ve almost never had for my entire life.”

She does have a few regular habits, however, including plenty of activity. But we’re not talking about crazy spin classes or boot camps…During an interview with The Doctors co-host Dr. Travis Stork, Parker shares that one of her keys to staying healthy is “I walk a lot…and I also live in a house with four or five flights of stairs.” She aims to hit 10,000 steps per day on her FitBit (buy it: $99.95, Target), and during summer, she loves swimming and kayaking.

So how does SJP stay so energetic to cover all of those steps in such style?

What Sarah Jessica Parker Eats in a Day to Stay Energized
Parker is not one for restrictive diets or detoxes, but she does have some very clear preferences. During Vogue’s “73 Questions with Sarah Jessica Parker,” the actress shared some hot takes about her favorite food (“Barbuto’s roast chicken”), least favorite food (“parsley”), what she loves on her pizza (“sausage, peppers, onions”), favorite drink (“Coca-Cola”), favorite dessert (“my sister’s brownies”) and dark or milk chocolate (“milk chocolate”).

The one food she needs to have every day? “I’m crazy for almond milk. I love it and can’t figure out if it’s thin and refreshing or thick like a milkshake. It’s like the gift that keeps on giving,” Parker tells Stork. (ICYMI, here are the 7 healthiest milks you can buy, according to dietitians.)

Her kitchen is always stocked with salami, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, Finn Crisps original crackers (buy it: $35.54 for nine 7-ounce boxes, Amazon) and avocados (which her daughters especially adore).

“I would prefer to have salty things if I have to than sweet, but we also always have tootsie rolls and york peppermint patties,” Parker adds to Stork.

Read on for more about her (spoiler alert!) absolutely delicious daily menu.

Breakfast
“I don’t usually eat breakfast unless I’m shooting, and when I’m shooting, I have a full, massive, crazy breakfast. When I’m home and going to work on my own, I’ll get up really early and just have coffee,” Parker admits in her Grub Street Diet.

When she does eat an A.M. meal, it might be a bagel from her neighborhood bakery Bagel Buffet slathered with Kerrygold butter, mustard and salami with a banana, or a soft-boiled egg with salt and pepper plus some mango, avocado and cottage cheese on the side.

“I love Breakstone’s 2-percent-fat cottage cheese. Love. I don’t like nonfat, because I think, What’s the point? It breaks my heart,” she tells Grub Street.

Lunch
For lunch, Parker prefers a spicy tuna sandwich (tuna, jalapenos, hot sauce and pesto, between bread) and a power shake (banana, strawberries, vanilla milk and ice) from nearby cafe Joe & the Juice. She also occasionally enjoys leftovers from a dinner made earlier in the week.

This might include a soup, stir-fry or anything simmered up in her now Instagram-famous orange Le Creuset Dutch ovens (buy it: $370, Le Creuset).

Click here to read the full article on Yahoo! News.

How Jennifer Hudson and ‘Respect’ Could Set a Record for Black Women at the Oscars
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Jennifer Hudson in the movie 'Respect'

By Clayton Davis, Variety

Jennifer Hudson’s name is already written in the Academy Awards history books. At 25, she became the youngest Black woman to ever win an acting Oscar for her turn as Effie White in “Dreamgirls” (2006). She’s also the first to do it for a debut role. Her work in the Aretha Franklin biopic “Respect” has her contending for two possible Oscar nominations: lead actress and original song, for the track “Here I Am (Singing My Way Home),” co-written by Carole King and Jamie Alexander Hartman. Already a Tony Award away from EGOT status, she could break another record if she lands those two coveted noms.

Hudson would be the first Black woman to be nominated in three individual categories if she snags both nods. Only three Black women have been recognized in two individual categories: Viola Davis, Whoopi Goldberg (actress and supporting actress) and Oprah Winfrey (supporting actress and best picture). For comparison, Warren Beatty and George Clooney have been nominated in six. When it comes to Black men, Spike Lee has been acknowledged in five, winning in adapted screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman” (2018).

Dual noms for Hudson would also mark the third time a Black woman has received multiple nominations in the same year. The first two were Mary J. Blige (nominated for supporting actress and for the song “Mighty River” from “Mudbound”) and Cynthia Erivo (nominated for lead actress and for the song “Stand Up” from “Harriet”). They’re not only the first Black women to achieve this feat, but also the first by anyone in Academy history.

Hudson’s possible recognition isn’t significant merely for herself; a nod in best actress would represent a historical accomplishment for her “Respect” director Liesl Tommy. Tommy would be only the second Black woman to direct a Black leading actor or actress to a nomination (behind Erivo by Lemmons). Noteworthy, when you add Leslie Odom Jr.’s double noms for the song “Speak Now” and supporting actor for his turn in “One Night in Miami” from Regina King last year, the three talents recognized for acting and song, have all been directed by Black women.

Although we see improvements in representation for POC in the Academy, the showing for Black women is among its most notable shortcomings. There have been just over 3,100 Oscar statuettes handed out in 93 years. Of that, only 17 were awarded to Black women. Again, for comparison, one man, Walt Disney, was rewarded with 26 Oscars from 1932 to 1969, nine more than the total number of Black women from 1929 to 2021. Additionally, two Black women have been granted honorary statuettes (Winfrey and Cicely Tyson). Disney himself was given four (even one that had seven miniature Oscars on it for “Snow White”).

Hudson’s turn as the Queen of Soul has many devoted fans among awards groups. However, recency bias and mixed reviews have created significant hurdles for “Respect’s” awards prospects. Opening in mid-August, three weeks before Venice and Telluride, the positive buzz for the movie was swallowed up by premieres of more prominent titles. And with the releases of fellow MGM/United Artists Releasing counterparts “House of Gucci” and “Licorice Pizza,” both of which had better reviews and box office, “Respect” seemed to have become an awards season afterthought.

Click here to read the full article on Variety.

Eva Longoria on loving her Latina roots and challenging Hollywood’s expectations: ‘Being Mexican is who I am’
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Eva Longoria s creating new molds in Hollywood for Latino voices. (Photo: REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni)

By David Artavia, Yahoo! Entertainment

The star power of Eva Longoria should never be underestimated. A proud Mexican-American from Corpus Christi, Texas, the multihyphenate powerhouse has won the hearts of television viewers since her breakout role in ABC’s Desperate Housewives.

Now, the icon is all smiles in an interview with Yahoo Entertainment when speaking about how her Mexican heritage, specifically Tejana culture, inspires her perspective on life — from daily activities to the way she runs her businesses, which include several restaurants and a production company, UnbeliEVAble Entertainment.

“Being Mexican is who I am,” Longoria says. “For me, it exudes in everything that I do every day from how I style my hair, to putting on my lip liner, to putting on my hoops, to what I make for breakfast, how I have my café con leche, how I drive. It seeps into every aspect of my life.” (Longoria prefers to make her Cuban café con leche using a cafetera, in case you were wondering.)

A staunch activist for gender equality, she’s also used her platform to shine a light on issues impacting Latino communities, specifically Latino visibility on and off-screen, something she says is vital in preserving the wellbeing of Hispanic communities.

“The problem is when you don’t have a person of color within your community, if your neighbors aren’t Latino, the only reference you have of us is the news. And that doesn’t do a very good job of portraying who we are,” Longoria explains. “And so, representation in TV, in film, in music, in art, it matters because it educates the community about who we are.”

The concern is warranted. According to UCLA’s 2021 Hollywood Diversity Report, Latinos accounted for only 5.7 percent of all film roles in 2020 — up slightly from 2019 when it was 4.6 percent. While the uptick is promising, she says it’s not enough.

Longoria also stresses the importance of having Latinos behind the camera and in other positions of power. After all, “that’s why I became a producer and that’s why I became a director,” she says. “It was to make sure that our stories are told because it’s important. It educates people about who we are. It educates our community about who we are, and that is even more important. If I am a Latino watching, literally, the erasure of my culture, then I think, ‘Oh OK, I am not worthy. My stories don’t matter.’ And that’s way more dangerous. We need to make sure that we share our own community, our worth — and celebrate it.”

Click here to read the full article on Yahoo! Entertainment.

Michelle Obama’s guest appearance on ‘Black-ish’ excites fans while also serving a purpose
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Michelle Obama Smiling at the camera in a white sweater and blue jean pants

By Kyle Moss, Yahoo! Entertainment

On the eighth and final season premiere of Black-ish Tuesday, Michelle Obama made a guest appearance after the show’s main characters attended an event for When We All Vote, an organization that Obama founded to help register and turn out voters across the country.

What began as Andre (Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow Johnson (Tracee Ellis Ross)’s chance encounter with the former first lady turned into a casual dinner at the Johnson house.

Obama’s main scene mostly consisted of the rest of Dre and Bow’s family interrupting with attempts to try and impress her. And there were also a few moments of conversation among Obama, Dre and Bow about what it’s like having teenage kids.

“When our girls were that age, you should have seen how they rolled their eyes, especially at their father,” Obama said during the episode.

But clearly the cameo for Obama, who was personally asked to appear on the show by Ross herself, was all about getting the word out about voter registration. And while it was subtle within the episode, Obama reiterated the objective with a tweet after the show aired, reminding people to get themselves and others registered.

Meanwhile, viewers on Twitter celebrated Obama’s appearance on the hit series with plenty of praise and even a few requests like, “Please decide to be president in 2024” and “I too would like to invite you over for dinner.”

Click here to read the full article on Yahoo! Entertainment.

BETTY WHITE HOMETOWN HONORS HER WITH OWN DAY … On Her Birthday
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betty white next to a logo of oak park

By TMZ

Betty White’s life and career won’t just be celebrated in one corner of Illinois — the village where she was born is creating a full-on holiday to honor the late actress … TMZ has learned.

“Betty White Day” will be recognized in Betty’s hometown on January 17, which would have been her 100th birthday.

The president of the Village of Oak Park, Vicki Scaman, tells TMZ … despite moving to California as an infant, OP residents have been grateful that over the course of her life Betty spoke very highly of Oak Park. She continued to visit relatives there years after heading west.

We’re told that since she passed away, folks in Oak Park have been vocal about wanting to honor Betty, and that surely will be happening now. A few days before Betty’s birthday, Village Prez Scaman will read a proclamation for “Betty White Day” during a memorial for community members in Oak Park.

For Betty’s special day, the Oak Park small business community is banding together to offer discounts to customers and “Betty White specials.” For example, Mickey’s Restaurant will be offering a special consisting of a hotdog, fries, and diet coke — one of Betty’s favorite meals, and Turano Bakery is planning to make a giant birthday cake. Scaman tells us cutouts of Betty will cover walls in the downtown area.

The celebration will continue with a Betty White mural contest, in which the winning mural will be painted downtown. And, there’s a bonus … most everyone in town will already be off from work as BWD happens to fall on a national holiday — MLK Jr. Day — this year.

Click here to read the full article on TMZ.

Betty White’s Agent Says He Always Told Her How Beloved She Was By Fans: ‘She Knew It’
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By Liz McNeil and Nicholas Rice, People

Even in her final days, Betty White knew she was beloved by her fans, according to her agent at APA and longtime friend Jeff Witjas.

While speaking with PEOPLE after her death at age 99 on Friday, Witjas opened up about the late star and their years-long relationship, as well as how White appreciated the kindness she received from the world over.

“She knew it, but I would tell her often,” Witjas says. “Even when she wasn’t working, I said, ‘Betty, millions of people out there are still asking for you. You’re getting your fan letters, I’m getting offers for you.’ ”

“I don’t know if she ever embraced it, [or] really, really felt it. The extent of it. I really don’t,” he continues. “I would always reinforce it with her because I always felt she should know that. I never wanted her to think while she was sitting at home, that the world has passed her by. It never did.”

“Betty lived a great life and she lived a life that she chose. She was happy,” Witjas adds. “Every time I told her, ‘Betty, you’re loved,’ she would look at me with a wry smile and say, ‘Really?’ I hope she knew. I think she did. It was something beyond love.”

Witjas — who previously confirmed to PEOPLE that the actress “died peacefully in her sleep” — had a close bond with the Golden Girls star, who he considered to be not only a work colleague, but a dear friend.

Click here to read the full article on People.

THE WALTONS’ HOMECOMING
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The Waltons' Homecoming promo poster

Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the TV movie that launched the long-running series, THE WALTONS’ HOMECOMING is set in the Depression Era and told through the eyes of John Boy Walton (Logan Shroyer – This Is Us).

The series also stars Prodigal Son’s Bellamy Young and Richard Thomas, who starred in the original series.

#TheWaltonsHomecoming

First deaf ‘Bachelor’ contestant, Abigail Heringer, celebrates her disability with photo of cochlear implant
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Abigail Heringer with her back facing the camera as she lifts her hair to show her new cochlear implant

By Kerry Justich, Yahoo! Life

Abigail Heringer made history with her appearance on Season 25 of The Bachelor as the franchise’s first deaf contestant. Now, the 26-year-old is reflecting on her experience and sharing gratitude for how Bachelor Nation welcomed her.

“As 2021 starts to wrap up, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you for this past year. The amount of support and love I’ve experienced through DM’s, comments and more continues to blow me away,” Heringer wrote alongside a slideshow of photos of her wearing her cochlear implant — a small electronic device that helps to provide her with a sense of sound, although she was born completely deaf.

“When I first got the call saying that they wanted to cast me for The Bachelor, I called my mom in a panic,” she wrote. “I was excited but also so scared and unsure if I wanted to talk about my hearing loss on tv, especially on a show that hasn’t had much disability representation.”

While Heringer was ultimately celebrated for being on the show and bravely sharing her story during her first meeting with bachelor Matt James, she explained that she had reservations about being so open about her disability on television.

“After countless awkward interactions growing up, I had become so used to trying to ‘act normal’ which meant to me, undermining my hearing loss. Acting like I had nothing different about me,” Heringer shared. “I wouldn’t tell new friends, first dates, teachers and I felt guilty about it. I had something beautifully different about me and so when my mom said ‘if sharing your story can help just one person, one family, you should do it’, that’s all it took for me to say yes.”

Heringer went on to explain how going on the show changed her life “overnight.” More importantly, however, it was just the beginning of a longer journey to finding confidence to fully embrace her cochlear implant, which has long made her feel different.

“It took me 26 years,” she said of showing off her device. “But I got here and I’m not ready to stop sharing. I’d like to think a lot of you are here because either you have a similar situation, know someone that is deaf or hard of hearing, or simply just curious and want to learn more. And I’m happy you’re here.”

Heringer received an outpour of love and support in the comment section from fellow Bachelor contestants turned friends.

Click here to read the full article on Yahoo! Life.

How much pain goes into a movie? Kristen Stewart, Lady Gaga sound off in our roundtable
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Photos of actors and actresses (Photos by Jay L. Clendenin, Christina House and Allen Schaben / L.A. Times; Matthew Brookes/For The Times)

BY AMY KAUFMAN, LA Times

Lady Gaga had been holding back.

Fifteen minutes into a conversation with five of her peers — Penélope Cruz, Kirsten Dunst, Jennifer Hudson, Kristen Stewart and Tessa Thompson — the performer had yet to speak unless spoken to. It was so unusual for her that she decided to interrupt the conversation to offer an explanation.

“I really apologize that I’m so quiet,” Gaga said, joining the actresses virtually from Las Vegas, where she was slated to go on stage for her residency later that evening. “But I’m so fascinated listening to you. I feel like I’m learning so much about all of you and the way that you approach your craft and the way your personal lives are interwoven into everything you do. I feel like being vulnerable for a second and sharing that.”

The “House of Gucci” star, 35, went on to describe herself as a “masochist” when she acts, “completely detached from real life.” She said she was opening up about her “totally unhealthy” process in the hope of both connecting with the others on The Envelope’s Actress Roundtable and seeking advice from women who have more film experience than she does.

Gaga’s role in “House of Gucci” is just her second major turn as a movie star, following her Oscar-nominated part in 2018’s “A Star Is Born.” In the new Ridley Scott film, she plays Patrizia Regianni, the real-life Italian whose stormy marriage to the head of Gucci nearly brought down the famous fashion house.
Compare her with Stewart, who at 31 has appeared in more than 50 films. The “Twilight” veteran, who began acting when she was 8, appears most recently as Princess Diana in “Spencer.” In the movie, Stewart depicts the late royal in the fragile final days before she separated from the Prince of Wales.

Dunst, too, has been in front of the camera since childhood. The 39-year-old began auditioning for commercials when she was just 3, spending her youth in films as varied as “Little Women,” “Interview With the Vampire” and “The Virgin Suicides.” Her latest role comes in “The Power of the Dog,” in which she plays a newlywed whose ornery brother-in-law refuses to welcome her to the family.

Hudson, who like Gaga began her career as a singer, pivoted to movies with her Academy Award-winning turn in 2006’s “Dreamgirls.” Now, the 40-year-old can be seen as Aretha Franklin in “Respect,” which follows the legendary soul artist from her church origins through alcoholism to global superstardom.

Thompson, 38, has been acting for the majority of her life but first made an impression on the industry in the 2014 Sundance hit “Dear White People.” Now a member of Marvel’s “Thor” franchise, she is still loyal to her independent roots with her new film “Passing.” Set in the 1920s, the movie is the story of a Black woman who realizes her old friend is passing through New York society as a white woman, causing her to reassess her own life choices.

Click here to read the full article on the LA times.

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Upcoming Events

  1. City Career Fair
    January 19, 2022 - November 4, 2022
  2. NAWBO Leadership Academy – Winter 2022
    January 31, 2022
  3. NAWBO LEADERSHIP ACADEMY 2022
    January 31, 2022
  4. From Day One
    February 9, 2022
  5. The Small Business Expo–Multiple Event Dates
    February 17, 2022 - December 1, 2022
  6. From Day One
    February 22, 2022
  7. CSUN Center on Disabilities 2022 Conference
    March 13, 2022 - March 18, 2022
  8. WiCyS 2022 Conference
    March 17, 2022 - March 19, 2022

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Upcoming Events

  1. City Career Fair
    January 19, 2022 - November 4, 2022
  2. NAWBO Leadership Academy – Winter 2022
    January 31, 2022
  3. NAWBO LEADERSHIP ACADEMY 2022
    January 31, 2022
  4. From Day One
    February 9, 2022
  5. The Small Business Expo–Multiple Event Dates
    February 17, 2022 - December 1, 2022

View All Events