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The Premiere Boxing Championship in Las Vegas

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Las Vegas, the mecca for boxing, hosted the first series of fights in the Premier Boxing Championship (PBC) boxing series this past weekend at the MGM’s Grand Garden Arena.

 

The fight was the first of the PBC series, which was broadcast on NBC Sports and Spike TV.

 

The first bout in the series is designed to give boxing a larger viewership on a bigger stage, rather than the pay-per-view bouts that have come to dominate boxing over the last decade.

 

Boxing has become more of a niche sport, which was not the case in the 1960s through the 80s, when the sport had a much bigger stage. Boxing officials hope the PBC series, broadcast to the general public, will bring more people into the sport.

 

In the first co-headliner, Adrian Broner defeated John Molina by a unanimous decision in the Junior Welterweight 12-round bout.

 

It was a fight of many contrasts with Broner, the smooth and gifted boxer from the streets of Cincinnati, Ohio, in the mold of a younger Floyd Mayweather, and Molina, the brawler from Covina, California, with the big punch.

 

Early in the bout, Molina tried to corner Broner, using his bigger stature to bully Broner into the corners. But Broner used his superior speed to hit and run, outlasting Molina in the ring and tiring him out.

 

As the fight moved on, Broner used his speed to rattle, stick and move Molina several times, but late into the fight, he couldn’t get the knock down.

 

“I had to be careful with him because he can punch,” said Broner after the fight. “He wanted me to sit there to bang it out there with him. But why would I do that when God gave me some many gifts that can help me win?”

 

Broner won on the judge’s cards: 120-108, 120-108, and 118-110. This victory moved his record to 30-1 with 22 knockouts, while Molina’s record dropped to 27-6.

 

The next headliner, Robert “the Ghost” Guerrero from Gilroy, took on Keith “One Time” Thurmon from Clearwater, Florida, in a Welterweight bout. Unlike the Broner vs. Molina fight that was a bore, the Guerrero vs. Thurmon fight was action-packed.

 

Thurmon is a swift heavy hitter, while Guerrero is a defensive fighter with a chin and a punch.

 

In the first round, they came out hard and fast against each other. Thurmon was the faster outside boxer, while Guerrero was more of the inside boxer.

 

The first two rounds could have gone either way, as the two studied each other, but Thurmon won these rounds as he forced the action.

 

In the third round, as a result of an inadvertent head-butt by Guerrero, a knot surfaced on Thurmon’s head, protruding like a fist. But Guerrero didn’t capitalize on this.

 

Instead, he stuck to his inside fight game, which Thurmon exploited, hitting him from the outside and moving away from Guerrero’s jabs. While he was in control of the fight, Thurmon’s power shots began to get to Guerrero.

 

Late in the ninth round, Thurmon rocked Guerrero with a hook to the ear, knocking him down.

 

“That shot behind my head kind of buzzed me,” said Guerrero. “It was a shot, but I was able to recover and weather the storm.”

 

After sitting down for the count up to five, Guerrero bounced up and lasted the rest of the round. The knockdown must have ignited something. Guerrero came back with a vengeance getting Thurmon on the ropes and attacking his body and head as the crowd came to its feet.

 

“I put the pressure on Thurmon and I got inside and I just went to work,” said Guerrero.

 

In the eleventh and twelfth rounds, the two boxers traded vicious punches, but it was clear that Thurmon was set to win.

 

In a unanimous decision, Thurmon won the fight on the judge’s cards: 120-107, 118-109, and 118-108. This win put him at a record of 25-0, while Guerrero’s record is 32-3-1.

 

“I didn’t win the fight, but I think I won the hearts of America,” said Guerrero after the fight. “He came and did his job. Thurmon landed some good shots on me.”

 

“Thurmon has a lot of power and he is one of the hardest hitters I have faced,” he continued.

 

The PBC series also included a featherweight division bout as Abner Mares defeated Arturo Reyes.

 

Over 11,000 people attended the fight with 3.4 million viewers on NBC, a ratings success. The PBC boxing series will continue with 20 fights over the next year.

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Arts and Culture

In ‘Affrilachia: Testimonies,’ Puts Blacks in Appalacia on the Map

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Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.
Author Chris Aluka. Photo courtesy of Chris Aluka.

By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez

An average oak tree is bigger around than two people together can reach.

That mighty tree starts out with an acorn the size of a nickel, ultimately growing to some 80 feet tall, with a canopy of a hundred feet or more across.

And like the new book, “Affrilachia” by Chris Aluka Berry (with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam), its roots spread wide and wider.

Affriclachia is a term a Kentucky poet coined in the 1990s referring to the Black communities in Appalachia who are similarly referred to as Affrilachians.

In 2016, “on a foggy Sunday morning in March,” Berry visited Affrilachia for the first time by going the Mount Zion AME Zion Church in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The congregation was tiny; just a handful of people were there that day, but a pair of siblings stood out to him.

According to Berry, Ann Rogers and Mae Louise Allen lived on opposite sides of town, and neither had a driver’s license. He surmised that church was the only time the elderly sisters were together then, but their devotion to one another was clear.

As the service ended, he asked Allen if he could visit her. Was she willing to talk about her life in the Appalachians, her parents, her town?

She was, and arrangements were made, but before Barry could get back to Cullowhee, he learned that Allen had died. Saddened, he wondered how many stories are lost each day in mountain communities where African Americans have lived for more than a century.

“I couldn’t make photographs of the past,” he says, “but I could document the people and places living now.”

In doing so he also offers photographs that he collected from people he met in ‘Affrilachia,’ in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, at a rustic “camp” that was likely created by enslaved people, at churches, and in modest houses along highways.

The people he interviewed recalled family tales and community stories of support, hardship, and home.

Says coauthor Navies, “These images shout without making a sound.”

If it’s true what they say about a picture being worth 1,000 words, then “Affrilachia,” as packed with photos as it is, is worth a million.

With that in mind, there’s not a lot of narrative inside this book, just a few poems, a small number of very brief interviews, a handful of memories passed down, and some background stories from author Berry and his co-authors. The tales are interesting but scant.

For most readers, though, that lack of narrative isn’t going to matter much. The photographs are the reason why you’d have this book.

Here are pictures of life as it was 50 years or a century ago: group photos, pictures taken of proud moments, worn pews, and happy children. Some of the modern pictures may make you wonder why they’re included, but they set a tone and tell a tale.

This is the kind of book you’ll take off the shelf, and notice something different every time you do. “Affrilachia” doesn’t contain a lot of words, but it’s a good choice when it’s time to branch out in your reading.

“Affrilachia: Testimonies,” by Chris Aluka Berry with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam

c.2024, University of Kentucky Press, $50.00.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024

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Arts and Culture

Promise Marks Performs Songs of Etta James in One-Woman Show, “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.” Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

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Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.
Photo Courtesy Of Promise Marks.

Special to the Post

It was “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night, Dec. 7. The one-woman musical based on the music of Etta James featured the multi-talented singer Promise Marks

Marks, who wrote and directed the musical, also owns PM Productions.

“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.”

Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”

In between her soulful songs, Marks narrated impactful moments of the love story and journey of blues and forgiveness.

Marks sultry voice carried the audience back to an era that echoed with the power of Black music and a time of great change.

Marks said James shared love for the Black community by singing at gatherings during the Civil Rights Movement uplifting the people.

“She spoke to the movement, spoke to the people, and let her music speak for itself,” Marks said.

Backing the musical’s monologues, images and videos of Etta James are projected for the audience to view. While the production is fictional, Marks infused script with the unfairness and heartbreak James experienced while performing.

Marks performed gospel artist Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down” as she narrated acts of reconciliation and forgiveness among the characters at Johnny Rhythm’s deathbed.

Marks, who regularly sings for the Miss America Pageant, was asked to perform as Etta James last year. “(At the event) a lady yelled out to me: ‘You’re Etta James!’ And then the audience went crazy. I said to myself, ‘I may have something here,’” she said.

Within 12 months, Marks created the musical production, which featured a dozen songs honoring “the great legacy of Etta James,” she said.

Marks says she was saddened to see how Etta James was often judged by the struggles in her life and wanted to offer attendees a more layered view.

“Etta’s life was so big. I want people to know that she was more than her drug addiction,” said Marks. “We can’t make that her legacy. Her catalog is too amazing. You can’t just be that and have the catalog that she (created). I don’t want the addiction to be the focus: I want her music, her element, her sassiness, and what she brought to be the focus – her woman-ness, that she was strong, and I wanted to honor that.”

Set Designer Nora Burnette says she created the set segments to mirror James’ life story. A set designer for BRG since 2016, she explained that her process of researching the scenario and the character serve as her inspiration for her design.

“I try to design a set as close to real life as possible so that the actress can deliver the performance sincerely,” said Burnette. “By creating the right setting, it helps the actors release the true essence of a character.”

The set brought the story to life and absolutely floored Marks. “Once Promise (Marks) saw the actual set, she understood my vision: ‘Wow, you get me. You get it,'” Marks told the designer.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta James, began her career in 1954 and gained fame with hits such “At Last” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” She faced a number of personal problems, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album “Seven Year Itch.”

Co-producer and BRG Development Director, Sean Vaughn Scott, works with Overseer Production. According to producer Pamela Spikes, “Marks talent truly does Etta’s life story justice.”

Pam Jacobs of Hercules, a friend of Marks’ mom, Jackie Smith, said, Marks “was fabulous and sang all of those songs flawlessly.”

“I’m so proud of my daughter,” said Smith.

Marks, who has served as an instructor for BRG, will return on Feb. 21- 23 for an encore run of the musical.

“It’s an honor to be a part of the BRG (Black Repertory Group) family and continue our executive director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott’s vision for the Black Repertory Group theater,” said Marks.

The Black Repertory Group Theatre is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For information, visit: BlackRepertoryGroup.com

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