Indiana

Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration, which starts earlier than usual, is in full swing

Published

1 year ago

June 22, 2024

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Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration, which starts earlier than usual, is in full swing

The Summer Celebration is on.

The Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration 2024 kicked off Thursday with an ecumenical service at Kingdom Apostolic Ministries, 4900 E. 38th St. and is in full swing through June 30.

That means films, art exhibits and concerts celebrating Black American culture, along with conferences and summits focused on business, health education and youth leadership.

The Summer Celebration is one of the major events produced by Indiana Black Expo, a nonprofit organization that promotes social and economic advancement of African Americans through year-round initiatives, including its Black Business Training Institute, Scholarship Fund, Performing Arts Academy and Community Learning Hub.

If you think it seems early for Black Expo, you’re not wrong. Normally Summer Celebration takes place in July but this year it’s a few weeks earlier because another large event is coming to town next month.

Here’s what to know about the 53rd Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration:

The 2024 Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration is in June

This year’s events, including a three-day exhibition at the Indiana Convention Center, take place June 20-30, to accommodate the National Eucharistic Congress being held at Lucas Oil Stadium July 17-21.

Indiana Black Expo will go back to its traditional July dates next year.

2024 Indiana Black Expo: Summer Celebration will come early this year

Celebrities appearing at the 2024 Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration

Notables are appearing at various conferences, receiving awards and performing throughout the Summer Celebration. Look for:

Atlantic Starr, recording artists
Kid Capri, DJ and producer
Morris Day and The Time, recording artists
Rick Fuson, recently retired Pacers Sports & Entertainment chief executive officer
Johnny Gill, recording artist
Ed Gordon, broadcaster and BET/CBS Special Correspondent
Ginuwine
Lalah Hathaway, recording artist
Joe Hogsett, Indianapolis mayor
Edgerrin James, Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Indianapolis Colt
Next, recording artists
Soledad O’Brien, journalist and documentarian
Leon Robinson, actor
Karyn White, recording artist

IBE Film Festival

4 p.m., June 22

Indiana Black Expo, 601 N. Shortridge, Indianapolis

The annual fest has IBE screening independent films produced and written by African American and African filmmakers. The event is free and features discussions about selected titles and filmmaking in general.4 p.m. – Opening Remarks and Welcome4:05 p.m. – Short film screening: “Rasheeda’s Freedom Day”4:40 p.m. – Short film screening: “Black Girls Play”4:58 p.m. – Panel discussion5:28 PM – Feature film screening: “Black Barbie”

IBE Business Conference

June 24-25

Indiana Convention Center

This conference allows business owners to hear from key decision-makers about business development initiatives and multi-million dollar contracting opportunities as well as learn tips on doing business with public, private and international companies.

It includes a mayor’s breakfast and a governor’s awards reception.

IBX Youth Entrepreneur Series

9 a.m., June 25

Indiana Convention Center, Room 236-238

The IBX Youth Entrepreneur Series (YES) introduces middle and high school students to the basic concepts, activities and skills necessary for launching, leading, and growing a successful business. Workshops will help participants develop comprehensive business plans and prepare pitches that will be presented in competitions for prizes.

IBE Education Conference

June 27

Indiana Convention Center

The educational summit provides a platform for educators to explore innovative strategies and learn best practices to create a more equitable and impactful educational system.Keynote speakers are journalist O’Brien and Dr. Kymyona Burk, the senior policy fellow for early literacy at the Foundation for Excellence in Education.

Black & Minority Health Fair

June 27-30

Indiana Convention Center

The annual health fair aims to increase minority awareness of chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, hypertension and cancer, and how to prevent them.

It offers free health screenings and services; wellness resources; and engaging fitness activities for the Black and minority communities.

June 27 is a special night for seniors.

Admission is free.

Mental Health Symposium

June 27, June 29

Indiana Convention Center

The Indiana Black Expo will introduce its Mental Health Symposium to the Summer Celebration this year.

The two-day educational series, in partnership with the Indiana State Department of Health, is part of IBE’s new year-round mental health educational series meant to boost knowledge of and address the stigma about brain health, particularly among Black Indianapolis residents.

Journalist Ed Gordon will host the event.

Part one of the symposium will take place 4:45-5:30 p.m. June 27 during the Black & Minority Health Fair, when expert panelists will discuss the importance of self-care and how to seek mental health support when needed for seniors and senior caregivers. Part two will take place 12-2 p.m. June 29 in the 500 Ballroom of the Indiana Convention Center. Topics will include the basics of brain health; lifestyle choices; cognitive decline and dementia management; and navigating healthcare systems and resources.

Caregivers, friends and family members of individuals who have experienced mental health challenges, medical professionals, policymakers, community leaders and mental health advocates are encouraged to attend.

The symposium is free to the public.

Attendees can register for the symposium at tinyurl.com/2cu8a7f4 or visit eventbrite.com for the Cherish Your Mind: Understanding the Importance of Brain Health Symposium.

2024 Corporate Luncheon

11 a.m., Friday, June 28th

Indiana Convention Center, Sagamore Ballroom

The Pacers Sports and Entertainment Corporate Luncheon will honor contributors to African American culture, progress and achievement.

Among the feted will be O’Brien, James, Fuson and Robinson.

Tickets are available at summercelebration.net.

Indiana Black Expo awards: 2024 honorees in African-American culture

Youth Leadership Summit

June 28

Indiana Convention Center

This three-day annual summit helps Indiana middle and high school students become more aware of STEM-related careers and better understand leadership, advocacy and civic responsibility.

Exhibition Hall

June 28-30

Indiana Convention Center

Vendors will offer food and merchandise throughout the Exhibition Hall. Visitors can check out Indiana and regional companies and organizations.

Also in the Expo Hall:

Cultural Arts Pavilion with exhibitions of the works of local and national artists and authors, including the Art Speaks Café, platforming local visual and performing artists. Expect live music; spoken word performances; free paint nights; and interactive art installations and sessions. June 28-30

The Indiana Black Expo Midwest Invitational Boxing Showcase, a competition between top amateur boxing teams from across Indiana, Ohio, Texas, and Missouri. 12 p.m., June 29-30

Textures Institute of Cosmetology Hair Show with beauticians and barbers competing. 1 p.m., June 29

IBE’s Fashion Show, with dozens of models of all ages highlighting top brands in the industry. 4:30 p.m., June 29

Man Made Improv teen-focused variety show hosted by J. Bland Made Man and featuring unscripted improv games, comical sketches, interactive crowd participation and music by DJ Boogie Bang. 6 p.m., June 29

Gospel Explosion, featuring choirs and entertainers. 4 p.m., June 30

Music Heritage Festival

6 p.m., June 28

IU Michael A. Carroll Stadium, 1001 W. New York St., Indianapolis,

The traditional Outdoor Concert gets a new location and requires tickets, starting at $10 each.

Doors open at 4 p.m. with food trucks on-site. Kids ages 2 and under are free when seated on a parent’s lap. Ages 3 and up must have a ticket. To avoid Ticketmaster fees, purchase at ticketmaster.com.

The 2024 Indiana Black Expo outdoor concert lineup:

The Black Expo summer concert: The lineup and changes for 2024

The 2024 All White Affair and Concert

10 p.m., June 29

Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Guests in all-white attire will experience live music and networking opportunities with celebrity guests and artists. Tickets, available at Gainbridge Fieldhouse or ticketmaster.com, are required.

2024 All White Affair and Concert Lineup:

Contact IndyStar reporter Cheryl V. Jackson at cheryl.jackson@indystar.com or 317-444-6264. Follow her on X: @cherylvjackson.

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Indiana

Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley team up to broadcast Indiana vs Kentucky

Published

10 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley team up to broadcast Indiana vs Kentucky

Basketball icons Dick Vitale and Charles Barkley headline the broadcasting crew for Indiana vs. Kentucky on Saturday, Dec. 13.

Vitale, a longtime ESPN analyst, and Barkley, a Basketball Hall of Famer-turned analyst, are teaming up to call two games this season, with the first coming between a pair of blue bloods in a nonconference matchup. Dave O’Brien will handle play-by-play duties.

Vitale and Barkley will broadcast together for the second time this season during TNT and CBS Sports’ First Four coverage of the men’s NCAA Tournament in March.

Watch Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley call Indiana vs. Kentucky live with Fubo (free trial)

The humorous duo will be appointment viewing for many college basketball fans, as both are known for their larger-their-life personalities. The team-up became possible after TNT lost its broadcasting rights for NBA games, moving TNT’s “Inside the NBA” to ESPN.

Vitale is returning to regular broadcasting in 2025 after battling multiple forms of cancer since 2021. He has called over 1,000 games for ESPN since joining the network in 1979.

Barkley, an 11-time NBA All-Star, averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds across his 16-year career. He was drafted No. 5 overall out of Auburn in the 1984 NBA Draft.

How to watch Indiana vs Kentucky today with Dick Vitale, Charles Barkley

Indiana-Kentucky will air live on ESPN, with streaming options available on the ESPN app or Fubo, which offers a free trial.

Indiana vs Kentucky time today

Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Date: Saturday, Dec. 13
Location: Rupp Arena (Lexington, Kentucky)

Indiana vs. Kentucky is set for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 13, from Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.

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Indiana

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti Wins Coach of the Year Award for 2nd Straight Season

Published

22 hours ago

December 13, 2025

Press Room

Indiana’s Curt Cignetti Wins Coach of the Year Award for 2nd Straight Season

For the second consecutive season, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti has been named college football’s Coach of the Year following a magical 2025 campaign.

Cignetti, who joined Indiana last November, won the Home Depot Coach of the Year Award on Friday night, making him the first coach to win the award in back-to-back seasons. He is also just the second coach to win the honor twice, joining Brian Kelly, who won it in 2009, 2012 and 2018.

Cignetti’s Hoosiers delivered an encore worthy of recognition following his successful first year in Bloomington where they fell in the first round of the College Football Playoff after going 11-2 overall and 8-1 in the Big Ten. Unlike 2024, however, the 2025 season will go down as the best in program history with Cignetti and California transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza leading the way.

Indiana went undefeated (13-0) for the first time since 1945 and won its first outright Big Ten championship since 1967 with a win over Ohio State en route to clinching the No. 1 seed in the CFP for the first time. The Hoosiers enter the CFP as the favorites to win their first-ever national title.

While Indiana was one of CFB’s most well-rounded teams, Mendoza proved to be a major catalyst behind the success. In his first season with Cignetti, the redshirt junior earned the right to call himself a Heisman Trophy favorite after leading the nation with 33 touchdown passes to just six interceptions, and completing 71.5% of his passes (226-of-316).

Mendoza has won multiple awards, including the Davey O’Brien (top QB) and Maxwell (Player of the Year) Awards, entering Saturday’s Heisman Trophy ceremony. Should he win the coveted honor, Mendoza would be the first Hoosier to ever win the Heisman, giving Cignetti another feather in his cap as top-seeded Indiana looks to make CFP history, starting with its first-round game on Jan. 1.

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Indiana’s rejection of new voting map shows Trump’s might is not unlimited

Published

1 day ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

Indiana’s rejection of new voting map shows Trump’s might is not unlimited

The Indiana legislature’s rejection of a new map that would have added two Republican seats in Congress marked one of the biggest political defeats for Donald Trump so far in his second term and significantly damaged the Republican effort to reconfigure congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

The defeat showed that Trump’s political might is not unlimited. For months, the president waged an aggressive effort to twist the arms of Indiana lawmakers into supporting a new congressional map, sending JD Vance to meet in person with lawmakers. Trump allies also set up outside groups to pressure state lawmakers.

Heritage Action, the political arm of the Heritage Foundation, which has close ties to the Trump administration, issued a dramatic threat this week ahead of the vote: if the new map wasn’t passed, Indiana would lose federal funding. “Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame,” the group posted on X. The state’s Republican lieutenant governor said in a since-deleted X post that Trump administration officials made the same threat.

All of that may have backfired, as Republican state senators publicly said they were turned off by the threats and weathered death threats and swatting attempts as they voted the bill down.

“You wouldn’t change minds by being mean. And the efforts were mean-spirited from the get-go,” Jean Leising, an Indiana Republican state senator who voted against the bill, told CNN. “If you were wanting to change votes, you would probably try to explain why we should be doing this, in a positive way. That never happened, so, you know, I think they get what they get.”

Nationally, the defeat complicates the picture for Republicans as they seek to redraw districts to shore up their majority in an increasingly messy redistricting battle. The effort began earlier this year when Trump pushed Texas Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional map to pick up GOP seats, a highly unusual move since redistricting is usually done once at the start of the decade.

“This isn’t the first time a Republican state legislature has resisted pressure from the White House, but it is the most significant, both because of the over-the-top tactics President Trump and speaker Johnson employed, and also the fact that there were two seats on the line,” said Dave Wasserman, an expert in US House races who writes for the non-partisan Cook Political Report. “It changes the trajectory of this redistricting war from the midpoint of possible outcomes being a small, being a modest Republican gain to a wash.”

Republicans in Texas and Democrats in California have both redrawn their maps to add as many as five seats for their respective parties, cancelling each other out. Republicans in North Carolina and Missouri have also redrawn their congressional districts to add one Republican seat apiece in each of those states. The Missouri map, however, may be blocked by a voter initiated referendum (Republicans are maneuvering to undercut the initiative). Democrats are also poised to pick up a seat in Utah after a court ruling there (state lawmakers are seeking a way around the ruling).

Ohio also adopted a new map that made one Democratic district more competitive, and made a new Democratic friendly and Republican friendly district out of two different competitive districts.

The biggest remaining opportunity to pick up seats for Democrats is in Virginia, where they currently represent six of the state’s 11 congressional districts. Don Scott, the House speaker, has said Democrats are considering adding a map that adds four Democratic seats in the state. Republicans could counter that in Florida with a new congressional map that could add as many as five Republican seats. There is also pending litigation challenging a favorable GOP congressional map in Wisconsin.

The close tit-for-tat has placed even more significance on a supreme court case from Louisiana that could wind up gutting a key provision in the Voting Rights Act that prevents lawmakers from drawing districts that weaken the influence of Black voters. After oral argument, the court appeared poised to significantly curtail the measure, which could pave the way for Louisiana, Alabama, and other southern states to wipe out districts currently represented by Democrats. It’s unclear if the supreme court will issue its decision in time for the midterm elections.

“The timing of that decision is a huge deal with two to four seats on the line,” Wasserman said. “We haven’t seen the last plot twist in this redistricting war, but the outlook is less rosy for Republicans than it was at the start.”

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