by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson)
In conjunction with the 2/28 release of Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody on DVD/Blu-Ray, Good Black News is giving away one bundled prize pack, courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
The items in the prize pack include:
- Blu-ray
- Vinyl album
- Karaoke mic
- Kodak Printomatic Instant Camera – with package of photo paper
- Movie night popcorn set
- Box of conversation hearts
To enter for a chance to win, send your first and last name and an email address with the subject heading “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody Giveaway” to goodblacknewsgiveaways@yahoo.com from now until 11:59PM PST on Tuesday, February 28.
One entry per email, and GBN will announce the name of the winner in a post on March 1st, then contact them for a mailing address to receive their prize pack bundle.
Directed by Kasi Lemmons (Harriet, Eve’s Bayou, Candyman) and written by Academy Award® nominee Anthony McCarten (Best Adapted Screenplay, The Two Popes, 2019), produced by legendary music executive Clive Davis and starring BAFTA Award® winner Naomi Ackie, the film — which is currently available on all digital platforms — is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice.
From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on a journey through Whitney Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before.
As it’s still Black History Month, GBN is taking the opportunity of this giveaway to highlight some Whitney Houston history that, unlike her timeless music, is not as well known.
As a model during the 1980s, Houston refused to work with any agencies that did business in South Africa, where apartheid was still alive and well.
Houston then helped bring international attention to apartheid in 1988, when she performed at Freedomfest, a concert celebrating the 70th birthday of then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela.
Houston was committed to anti-apartheid at a time when the U.S. government under President Ronald Reagan was not. The event galvanized the movement that pressured the undemocratic South African government to release Mandela less than two years later.
In 1988, Houston received the only honorary degree she was ever awarded, a Doctor of Humane Letters from the HBCU Grambling State University.
In turn, Houston’s commitment to African-American educational institutions and the education of African Americans came through with her consistent support of the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) through donations as well as fundraising concert appearances.
In 1989, Houston founded the Whitney Houston Foundation for Children (now the Whitney E. Houston Legacy Foundation) to address a variety of social problems including homelessness as well as to assist children suffering with cancer and AIDS.
In 1994, Houston helped raise over $1 million for indigenous peoples through her participation in Rock for the Rainforest.
In the same year, after Mandela’s election to the South African presidency, Houston performed in a special series of South African concerts, all proceeds of which were donated by Houston and her foundation to South African children’s charities, including two children’s museums and several orphanages.
In 1995, she gave six figures to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, towards the purchase of much-needed equipment for the new pediatric intensive care unit which was named The Whitney Houston Pediatric Critical Care Unit in her honor.
In 1997, Houston’s old elementary school was renamed the Whitney E. Houston Academy of Creative and Performing Arts. The school now offers arts-focused educational opportunities for its students and the surrounding community in New Jersey.
Houston also raised over $300,000 for the Children’s Defense Fund through the HBO concert Classic Whitney: Live from Washington D.C. the same year.
On a personal note, I had the once-in-a-lifetime pleasure of working with Whitney Houston while an executive at 20th Century Fox on Waiting to Exhale as well as other development projects for her company, Nippy Productions.
Despite being a bonafide superstar hounded by tabloids and surrounded by an entourage of bodyguards and handlers, I found her to be personable, a good sport, and as down to earth as one could be in those circumstances. She was also a very good bowler, which I got to witness at the pre-shoot party in Phoenix, AZ right before Exhale started principal photography.
To learn more about Whitney Houston’s good works, click here: https://hbcustory.wordpress.com/…/hbcu-stories-the…/ or here: https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/whitney-houston
BLU-RAY and DIGITAL
- Whitney’s Jukebox
- Deleted Scenes
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes:
- Moments of an Icon
- Becoming Whitney
- The Personal Touch
Directed By: Kasi Lemmons
Written By: Anthony McCarten
Produced By: Denis O’Sullivan, Jeff Kalligheri, Anthony McCarten, Pat Houston, Clive Davis, Larry Mestel, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill, Matt Jackson, Christina Papagjika, Matthew Salloway
Executive Producers: Naomi Ackie, Kasi Lemmons, William Earon, Marina Cappi, Erika Hampson, Josh Crook, Rachel Smith, Seth Spector, Dennis Casali, Janice Beard, Lexie Beard, Tanner Beard, Matthew Gallagher, Jane Bergere, Stella Meghie, Mackenzie O’Connell
Cast: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams, and Clarke Peters
Twitter: @WannaDanceMovie
Instagram: @WannaDanceMovie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WannaDanceMovie/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/SonyPictures
