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Bravo’s new spinoff, Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard promises the usual drama and hookups, but the series will also spotlight the historic island.

The 12 friends will spend plenty of time in various towns on the island. But the rich history of Oak Bluffs is special. Known as a top spot for Black vacationers, Oak Bluffs is home to the adorable gingerbread cottages, the historic Flying Horses carousel, and an iconic harbor that has one of President Barack Obama’s favorite restaurants.

Here are 5 hot spots in Oak Bluffs:

Inkwell Beach

The Oak Bluffs town beach was given the moniker of “Inkwell Beach” in the late nineteenth century because it was a popular beach frequented by Black vacationers. The original name was pejoratively given by white residents, but it later became an emblem of pride. Several merchants lining the main street, Circuit Avenue sell Inkwell merchandise.

Gingerbread Cottage in Oak Bluffs,...

Blair Tindall, the concert oboist whose 2005 memoir Mozart In The Jungle was adapted into a hit 2014 comedy-drama series on Amazon Prime, died of heart disease in Los Angeles on April 12. She was 63.

Her death was announced on Facebook by her fiancé Chris Sattlberger, and confirmed to Deadline by publicist Danny Deraney.

Tindall was an oboist for the New York Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s who turned her experiences in the classical music world into the best-selling and critically lauded memoir. She completed Mozart in the Jungle during a fellowship at The MacDowell Colony.

The book was optioned by actor Jason Schwartzman, who with his cousin Roman Coppola, director Paul Weitz, and Broadway director Alex Timbers created the Amazon series. The show, which starred Lola Kirke, Gael García Bernal (who won a Golden Globe Award for his performance), Bernadette Peters and Malcolm McDowell,...

Bravo’s new iteration of Summer House has all the reality TV ingredients of a wild party, but the newest destination of Martha’s Vineyard has an important history behind it. The Summer House: Martha’s Vineyard features a Black cast of attractive millennials who embrace the work hard/party hard mantra Summer House is known to embody.

But by peeling back the layers of this small Massachusetts island, there’s more to the destination than just tequila sodas and endless hookups. The island is comprised of several small towns, and specifically, Oak Bluffs has deep meaning and appreciation to the Black community.

Also known as “The Inkwell,” Oak Bluffs and Martha’s Vineyard is a favorite vacation destination for decades. The island also attracts hugely famous and powerful people, including President Barack Obama, director Spike Lee, Oprah Winfrey, and many others.

What is the history of Martha’s Vineyard for Black vacationers?...

Emmy-winning actress Mary Alice, known for her roles as Leticia “Lettie” Bostic on NBC‘s “A Different World” and as Effie Williams in the 1976 musical drama “Sparkle,” died Wednesday in New York City, according to the NYPD. Her birth year had been reported both as 1936 and 1941 in various sources.

In “The Matrix Revolutions,” she played the Oracle and also played the role in the video game “Enter the Matrix.”

She appeared in “A Different World” for two seasons, and also played Ellie Grant Hubbard on “All My Children” in the 1980s.

In films, she appeared in “Malcolm X,” “The Inkwell,” “Down in the Delta,” “Beat Street,” “To Sleep With Anger,” “Awakenings,” “The Bonfire of the Vanities” and “Sunshine State,” among many others.

Born Mary Alice Smith in Indianola, Miss., she pursued acting at a very early age, starting her stage career in her hometown. After a brief stint as an elementary school teacher,...

On Fox’s Our Kind of People, Teddy and Raymond stay beefing.

As fans of the drama know, Teddy is Leah’s father, and Raymond is her husband. But because money and power matter more than love on this soapy series, Teddy is far too comfortable trying to usurp Raymond for his family’s business, Darmon Foods. (Our Kind of People returns Tuesday, Jan. 11 at 9/8c.)

More from TVLineOur Kind of People's Joe Morton Previews His Move to the Director's Chair, More Trouble Ahead for TeddyThe Big Leap, Our Kind of People Both Set for Short Freshman Runs on FoxFantasy...

Suzzanne Douglas has died at the age of 64. On July 6, The Parent 'Hood star's cousin, Angie Tee, confirmed the news in a statement on Facebook. "Suzzanne Douglas a beautiful and talented actress made her transition today. She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world. This beautiful soul was my cousin," she said. "I can remember growing up, there weren't very many black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in Tap starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. She also performed with Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. The Inkwell, Jason's Lyric and so much more the list goes on."

While Suzzanne got her start in the 1981 TV film Purlie, it was her NAACP Image Award-winning role as Amy Simms in 1989's Tap that served as a breakout in her career.

Sad news out of the TV world today.

Suzzanne Douglas, best known for playing Jerri Peterson on the hit sitcom The Parent 'Hood, has reportedly died at the age of 64.

Suzzanne's cousin, Angie Tee, shared the sad news on Tuesday.

"A beautiful and talented actress made her transition today," Tee wrote, tagging her cousin.

"She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world. This beautiful soul was my cousin."

Her post continued, "I can remember growing up, there weren't very many black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in Tap starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr."

"She also performed with Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg in How Stella Got Her Groove Back," the post reads.

"The Inkwell, Jason's Lyric and so much more the list goes on."

"The world will miss...

Suzzanne Douglas, who starred in Robert Townsend’s WB ’90s sitcom The Parent ‘Hood and most recently appeared in Ava DuVernay’s 2019 Netflix miniseries When They See Us, died yesterday at the age of 64. A cause of death has not been disclosed.

Douglas’ death was announced on Facebook by her cousin Angie Tee.

“Suzzanne Douglas a beautiful and talented actress made her transition today,” Tee wrote. “She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world…The world will miss your talent but your soul will live on forever.”

DuVernay remembered Douglas as “a quiet, elegant force.”

“A gentlewoman,” DuVernay wrote on Twitter early this morning. “A gem of a lady. A confident, caring actor who breathed life into the words and made them shimmer. I’m grateful that our paths in this life crossed. May she journey on in peace and love.”

A Chicago native...

Suzzanne Douglas, best known to TV audiences for her starring role as Jerri Peterson on the 1990s sitcom The Parent ‘Hood, has died at the age of 64, TVLine has confirmed.

Douglas’ death was first announced Tuesday in a Facebook post by her cousin, Angie Tee. “A beautiful and talented actress made her transition today,” she said. “She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world… The world will miss your talent but your soul will live on forever.”

More from TVLineNAACP Image Awards 2020: black-ish, When They See Us, Greenleaf and Power Are Among TV WinnersCritics' Choice 2020: Fleabag,...

Suzzanne Douglas, best known for starring in the WB sitcom “The Parent ‘Hood” and in the 1989 dance drama “Tap,” died on Tuesday. She was 64.

“Suzzanne Douglas, a beautiful and talented actress, made her transition today,” her cousin Angie Tee wrote on Facebook on Tuesday. “She warmed our hearts on movie screens and television sets all over the world. This beautiful soul was my cousin. I can remember growing up, there weren’t very many Black actresses who had starring roles but there was my cousin with the lead role in ‘Tap’ starring alongside great dancers such as Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis Jr. She also performed with Angela Bassett and Whoopi Goldberg in ‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back.’ ‘The Inkwell,’ ‘Jason’s Lyric’ and so much more, the list goes on. The world will miss your talent but your soul will live on forever. Rest in Paradise, my beautiful cousin Suzzane,...

This year’s American Black Film Festival lineup is stacked with some of the top names in Hollywood as well as emerging voices including a screening of Reginald Hudlin’s The Black Godfather, a conversation with Spike Lee and his protege Stefon Bristol as well as the five finalists for HBO Short Film Competition, which is now in its 22nd year. The fest takes place June 12-16 in Miami.

The program will also include the previously announced opening night film Shaft. New Line Cinema’s reboot of the iconic character will screen at the fest ahead of its June 14 release. In addition, Netflix will screen the Chris Robinson-directed Beats, a coming-of-age drama set in Chicago’s South Side hip-hop scene starring Anthony Anderson.

“Beyond the Spider-Verse: What’s Next for Sony Pictures Animation” will be a conversation between Academy Award-winner Peter Ramsey (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Matthew A. Cherry...

BrandChannel.com is a site that lists all product placement found within #1 studio feature films, going back to 2001.

Something to pay attention to next time you sit down to watch a movie, and to later discuss, when you and your pals go to Starbucks afterward and order cappuccinos, oblivious of the fact that you might be doing so because a character in the movie you just saw was drinking one

For example… Limitless, last week’s number 1 movie, featured brands that include: adidas, Apple, At&T, Bentley, BlackBerry, Bloomberg, Dell, Google, Ibm, Levi’s, Louis Vuitton, Maserati, Mercedes, New York Post, Percocet, Red Bull, Smartwater, St. Regis Hotel, Trump, and Two Men and a Truck.

Several “high end” brands there. I haven’t seen the film however. But since you’re technically supposed to be able to tell who the target audience of the film is, by looking at the brands featured in the film,...

The Inkwell starred a young Larenz Tate and Jada Pinkett in a coming-of-age story set on a beach in Martha’s Vineyard. I haven’t seen this movie in years but I have fond memories of it. The Inkwell is the only movie of my youth that I remember seeing in theaters that centered on an awkward black teen. It’s a typical summer movie that gets done quite often, but why does it feel like so few black filmmakers capitialize on this genre?

Stories about young love, especially young summer love, are universal (i.e. Grease, Dirty Dancing, High School Musical, etc.) so hopefully we’ll see a new batch of black films bringing fresh approaches to the big screen.

If The Inkwell were to have came out this summer how do you think it would have been received? And for those you who watched The Inkwell when it...

With the new tv show Undercovers premiering next month, starring the already oft-mentioned Gugu Mbatha-Raw, who I know best at Freema Agyeman’s (#1 on my ‘Wifey List’) sister on Dr. Who, and pretty-boy extraordinaire Boris Kodjoe, I thought I’d focus on what seems to be, in a good way, a proliferation of Black men on tv shows lately. Although these guys are supporting characters, they’re playing some pretty intense roles and putting forth some great comedic and dramatic performances. Though none of these are network shows like Undercovers, they are often better (and sometimes better performing) than those.

Coby Bell on Burn Notice

Coby Bell has been working non-stop for the past decade. First as a rookie cop on Third Watch, then as team captain & starting running back Jason Pitts on The Game and now as the first cast addition since the show started three years ago – and...