BILL VAUGHAN’S TASTY CLIPS: Michelle Obama, The Roots Unite To Energize Voters

This year, in partnership with Michelle Obama’s national nonpartisan nonprofit organization, When We All Vote, The Roots are launching the 13th annual Roots Picnic as a virtual broadcast experience June 27, exclusively on YouTube.

Hosted by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tarik “Black Thought” Trotter of The Roots along with the former first lady, the picnic will be filled with performances by a diverse group of young, highly popular hip hop, R&B and gospel artists with the goal of engaging and reaching 500,000 eligible voters.

H.E.R.Lil BabyRoddy RicchSZAKirk FranklinSnoh AallegraD-NicePolo GG HerboMusiq Soulchild and Earthgang will provide the music.

Also scheduled to appear are Tracee Ellis RossKerry WashingtonCommonChris PaulElaine WelterothLin-Manuel MirandaTom HanksDeon Cole and others.

The partnership comes from a shared ethos of wanting to reach the most underrepresented community of people when it comes to voting, black people between the ages of 21-35.

There will be a call to action to allow fans to register to vote at https://weall.vote/rootspicnic or by texting ROOTS to 56005.* Throughout the broadcast (at www.yt.be/music/rootspicnic) this will be available in the form of a link in the live chat section allowing fans to register to vote in real time while enjoying the show.

4EVER ROYAL: Following the 36th anniversary of his landmark album “Purple Rain,” TikTok partners with The Prince Estate to bring the late artist’s full catalog to the service, introducing his music to a new (power) generation of fans.

For the first time, TikTok users around the globe can create videos soundtracked to their favorite Prince songs.

Follow the official Prince TikTok account (@Prince.4.ever), owned and operated by the late artist’s estate, and keep your eyes open for forthcoming videos, including archival footage of Prince performances, interviews and excerpts from his long career as an artist and activist.

PRIDEFUL: A special expanded encore presentation of the online benefit special, “Get In: Get Out! Magazine & Friends for The Ali Forney Center” with added celebrities and performances will stream on June 26 at 5 p.m. at www.youtube.com/GetOutMagazinePresents). Honey Davenport (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”) returns as the host with the lineup of performers and speakers to include Dionne WarwickFreda PayneCeCe PenistonCrystal WatersNarada Michael WaldenLeonScherrie PayneShannonLisa LisaPaul Anthony of Full ForceThelma Houston and more.

CLIPPETTES: The Jeff Bradshaw Band and Fostina Dixon & Winds of Change close the 33rd annual Clifford Brown Jazz Festival on June 27 beginning at 6:15 p.m. Visit www.cliffordbrownjazzfest.org for the livestream 

Author Malcolm Gladwell’s landmark “Outliers” is headed to television as an HBO Max anthology series with a first subject teased as Dr. Anthony Fauci …

HBO and (www.humanbyorientation.com/#/) present Moments of Pride 2020 with an intimate musical performance by Janelle Monáe on June 28 @ 5:30 p.m. 

Also that evening, Blue Note New York At Home is live at 3 p.m., with Delfeayo Marsalis on their Facebook and Instagram page @bluenotenyc 

Boots Riley, the creative force behind 2018’s controversial “Sorry To Bother You,” is following that up with a TV series starring Jharrel Jerome (“When They See Us”) as a 13-foot tall Black man who lives in Oakland called “I’m A Virgo” 

With his bestselling book “The Nickel Boys” making its paperback debut this week, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead will discuss his work on June 30 at 4 p.m.  Visit www.politics-prose.com for details 

Kenya Barris, the “black-ish” creator whose first Netflix series “BlackAF” was just renewed for a second season, is collaborating with Pharrell Williams (“Happy”) to develop a “Juneteenth” musical 

Professor Eddie S. Glaude Jr. and his mentor, Cornel West, are collaborating to present “Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and its Urgent Lessons for Our Own” on July 1, from 4 – 5 p.m.  Register at Eventbrite for a link to the video conference on the day of the event 

After that, singer Eric Benet is live streaming a show called “Eric @fter Dark” on July 1 at 11 p.m., ET with special guest Jon B.

TC ON TV: June 26 – “The Talk” (CBS): Patti LaBelleGabriel Iglesias  “47th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards” (CBS): The ladies of “The Talk”: Sheryl UnderwoodEveSharon OsborneCarrie Ann Inaba and Marie Osmond will host the virtual special to be presented in primetime. “Pose: Pose-A-Thon For Pride” (FX/Freeform): Billy Porter and MJ Rodriquez join the cast and creatives for a virtual event benefitting GLSEN, The Hetrick Martin Institute, and Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund.

June 27 – “Global Goal: Unite For Our Future” (NBC/YouTube): Hosted by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the two-hour special benefiting communities impacted by COVID-19 will present performances by Jennifer HudsonUsherShakiraJustin Bieber with QuavoColdplayJ BalvinChloe X HalleMiley Cyrus and Yemi Alade.  It will also feature appearances from Forest WhitakerKerry WashingtonChris RockSalma Hayek PinaultKen JeongHugh JackmanDavid BeckhamCharlize Theron, and NAACP President Derrick Johnson, among others.

June 28 – “2020 BET Awards” (CBS/BET): Amanda Seales (“Insecure”) hosts this edition simulcast on a major network for the first time. Performers will include Lil WayneFutureMegan The StallionWayne BradyRoddy RicchMasegoDaBaby and Lonr. Tributes to Little Richard and Aretha Franklin also are planned.  “Celebrity Family Feud” (ABC): Cedric The Entertainer vs. Wayne Brady “Perry Mason” (HBO): Last week’s premiere of the reboot focusing on the attorney’s beginnings as a P.I. garnered the network’s best kick-off ratings in two years – besting even “Watchmen!”

June 29 – “Kids, Race and Unity: A Nick News Special” (Nick/YouTube): Alicia Keys conducts discussions with kids and special guests such as Black Lives Matter co-founders Patrisse CullorsAlicia Garza and Opal Tometi; and “Antiracist Baby” author Ibram X. Kendi.  “POV” (PBS): “She Could Be Next” is a two-part documentary (concluding June 30) telling the story of a defiant movement of women of color, transforming politics from the ground up.

June 30 – “Adú” (Netflix): Luis TosarÁlvaro CervantesAnna Castillo and newcomer Moustapha Oumarou star in this drama taking place near a Spanish town in northern Africa. “George Lopez: We’ll Do It For Half” (Netflix): In his latest stand-up special, the comic tackles the future and the past of Latinx culture in America, touching on immigration, his tough relatives, aging and much more. “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out” (VH1): Montell Jordan vs. Montel Williams – Get it? “OWN Spotlight: Oprah + 100 Black Fathers” (OWN): With Tyler PerryCourtney B. VanceKiller MikeShaka Senghor and more.

July 2 – “Carl Weber’s The Family Business” (BET+): Half of the 12-episode second season following a New York crime clan will be available for binging. The stellar cast features Ernie Hudson (who also serves as executive Pproducer), Gary DourdanMalik YobaMiguel A. Nunez Jr.Clifton PowellChristian KeyesDarrin HensonNick TurturroSean RinggoldTami RomanValerie Pettiford and Armand Assante.  “Marriage Boot Camp: Hip Hop Edition” (WE): This season Phaedra Parks (“The Real Housewives of Atlanta”) and rapper/actor MedinaWillie and Shanda (“Love and Hip Hop Hollywood”); Tahiry Jose (“Love and Hip Hop New York”) and rapper VadoKurupt and Toni; and Hazel-E (“Love and Hip Hop Hollywood”) and model De’von Waller get some relationship help from Dr. Ish and Judge Lynn Toler.

TASTY QUIP: “We better come together, there’s a new world coming, the norm is out the window, there ain’t no more norm we gotta make it what it is.” – BOOTSY COLLINS to SPIN

As featured in the Los Angeles Wave and Independent, Tasty Clips is one of the leading entertainment columns in the nation, serving nearly one million weekly readers. Bill Vaughan may be reached at tastyclips@yahoo.com, via Twitter @tastyclips, or Instagram @tasty_clips.