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PEOPLE & ARTS A31
                                                                                                                            Thursday 18 February 2016

College racial tensions to play out on TV drama 

LYNN ELBER                      This photo provided by Disney shows Adam Hagenbuch, left, as Mingo and Katie Leclerc as                                               affects them, their families
AP Television Writer            Daphne Vasquez in a scene from “The Call” episode of the television series, “Switched at Birth.”                                      and friends. “We’ve always
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A                                                                                                                                                  had deaf protagonists, and
white college student goes                                                                                                                          Associated Press  we’ve always done stories
out to party costumed as                                                                                                                                              that you don’t normally get
black rapper Lil Wayne, an-     week, belongs to the pro-       to action at the show’s fic-      ries to tackle, both because                                        to see on TV ... and that
gering African-Americans        testers. The series returns in                                    of its college setting and                                          tell different versions of di-
who see it as evidence of       spring, with the date yet to    tional version of the Univer-     because, as Weiss puts it,                                          versity,” Weiss said. Among
insidious campus racism.        be announced.                                                     “Switched at Birth” is about                                        them: an episode that was
The incident may sound          “That’s the point in the sto-   sity of Missouri-Kansas City.     those who endure being                                              done entirely in sign Ameri-
familiar but it’s fictional,    ry where we realized we                                           treated as “outsiders.”                                             can Sign Language with
part of a five-episode arc      needed to shift perspective     Mirroring real events, Weiss      The drama launched in                                               subtitles, and a story line
in the upcoming season          entirely and let our black                                        2011 as the story of two                                            about a Down syndrome
of “Switched at Birth,” the     characters lead their own       said, black students en-          teenage girls — Daphne                                              pregnancy. Last year, the
Freeform (formerly ABC          story. ... We see the entire                                      (Katie Leclerc), who is deaf,                                       series dramatized the issue
Family) channel drama.          episode from their points of    counter “everything from          and Bay (Vanessa Marano)                                            of college sexual assault.
While black student pro-        view,” Weiss said.                                                — who learn that a hospi-                                           Weiss said the upcoming
tests at campuses nation-       The party incident is one of    micro-aggressions,  as            tal error sent them home                                            campus story arc was in-
wide have made news             a series of events that drive                                     with the wrong parents,                                             spired by the rise of black
headlines, “Switched at         African-American students       they’re called, small things      and how that discovery                                              student activism, especially
Birth” is providing a rare,                                                                                                                                           at the University of Missouri
if not unprecedented, TV                                        on a daily basis that stu-                                                                            in Columbia, where protests
dramatization of the tur-                                                                                                                                             including student demon-
moil.                                                           dents of color experience                                                                             strations and a threatened
With characters in college,                                                                                                                                           strike by the school’s foot-
the series has “both the                                        and usually swallow ... to                                                                            ball team led to the presi-
ability and the responsibility                                                                                                                                        dent’s resignation last year.
to tell those stories,” execu-                                  larger acts that are impos-                                                                           “I’m a storyteller and it was
tive producer Lizzy Weiss                                                                                                                                             a fantastic story, and it’s
said.                                                           sible to swallow, and which                                                                           a really important story,
“We are really trying to                                                                                                                                              to show you can make
be accurate and honest                                          galvanize them.”                                                                                      change. You can, as young
about both sides of the de-                                                                                                                                           people, demand change,”
bate,” she said. The white                                      It’s a fitting topic for the se-                                                                      she said.
student, for example, con-                                                                                                                                            The story arc that unfolds
tends he was celebrating                                                                                                                                              in the first half of the sea-
his favorite hip-hop artist,                                                                                                                                          son features “Switched
not mocking blacks, with                                                                                                                                              at Birth” actresses Bianca
the costume.                                                                                                                                                          Bethune and Sharon Pierre-
But the climactic episode,                                                                                                                                            Louis and newcomer Sam
scheduled to tape this                                                                                                                                                Adegoke.q

Singer, actress Denise Matthews, known as Vanity, dies 

JESSE J. HOLLAND                said.                           wake up in the morning            all about me,” she said                                             Musicians around the
Associated Press                A native of Niagara Falls,      without some smoke,” she          in 1999. “But when I’m                                              world expressed sorrow at
Vanity, a Prince protege        Ontario, Matthews first rock-   said in an Associated Press       preaching the word of                                               Matthews’ death.
who renounced her sexy          eted to stardom through         story in 1999.                    God, it’s Jesus Christ speak-                                       Prince, who was touring in
stage persona to become         her association with Prince     She renounced her Hol-            ing through me. I don’t                                             Australia, dedicated sever-
a Christian minister, has       and the 80s girl group Van-     lywood lifestyle and be-          want people to know who                                             al songs to Matthews dur-
died. She was 57.               ity 6. During her time in mu-   came a Christian minister.        I was back then, but the                                            ing a show, according to
The singer and actress,         sic, Vanity released four       She married former Oak-           new creature that God has                                           the Herald Sun newspaper.
born Denise Matthews,           albums with Motown and          land Raider Anthony Smith         made me.”                                                           q
died Monday at a hospi-         Warner Brothers and was         in 1995 and they divorced
tal in Fremont, California,     known for her sultry appear-    the next year.
said Gisela Hernandez, a        ance and sexually-themed        On a GoFundMe page
spokeswoman for Washing-        music, including “Nasty         aimed at helping her pay
ton Hospital Health Care        Girl.” She also appeared in     her medical bills, Matthews
System. Hernandez did not       films in the late 1980s and     said four months ago she
give a cause of death.          early 1990s, including “The     had gone through 23 sur-
Matthews’ sister Renay said     Last Dragon,” ‘’52 Pick-Up”     geries and was on dialysis
the death was from com-         and “Action Jackson.”           three times a week. She
plications over longstand-      Matthews’ health took a         said she was also diag-
ing kidney issues.              turn for the worse in 1992      nosed with sclerosing en-
She said Denise Matthews        and she was hospitalized        capsulating peritonitis, a
was happy in recent years.      for kidney failure, which she   rare benign cause of small
“She loved her time in the      blamed on cocaine and           bowel obstruction.
‘80s, but I think she loved     other drug use.                 Matthews expressed no re-
her recent time more, be-       “I was sick inside. I was a     grets about leaving her ce-
cause she had been at           crack cocaine addict and        lebrity lifestyle behind.
peace,” Renay Matthews          didn’t even know how to         “When I was Vanity, it was
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