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Filmmaker, curator and visual artist Ayana Morris discusses her inspiration for the traveling “Don’t Touch My Hair” immersive experience that will be in Harriet Tubman Square in Newark, New Jersey until Nov. 15.

Heavily inspired by the Crown Act, Don’t Touch My Hair, was created by filmmaker and Newark Native Ayana Morris as part of the Newark Arts Festival.

Visionary filmmaker Ayana Morris invited audiences to confront and reflect on societal perceptions of Black hair and the intricate relationship Black women have with their crowns through her inaugural mobile art installation, “Don’t Touch My Hair,” a three-day display that launched Oct. 11 and ran until Oct. 13 at Harriet Tubman Square during the Newark Arts Festival.

Don’t Touch My Hair celebrates Black women and hair culture.

Eight years ago, Ayana Morris was struggling with her identity as a Black woman. She felt insecure and was trying to figure out her career path. During that time, she came up with the idea of “Don’t Touch My Hair.”

A couple is reviving the drive-in theater by showing all-diverse films.

According to Cassius, Newark, NJ filmmaker Ayana Stafford-Morris and her husband Siree Morris are only playing films with diverse casts at their Newark Moonlight Cinema, such as Just Mercy, Set It Off, Creed II, Girl’s Trip, Hardball, the 2007 film adaptation of the musical Hairspray and others. The couple’s reason is that diverse films “reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of the region’s audiences.”

A Black-owned drive-in movie theater in New Jersey that opened during the height of the pandemic has no plans of closing as their business thrives in a social distancing society.

The Covid-19 pandemic dramatically altered the small business landscape in the U.S., boosting some while crushing others.

For Ayana Morris and Siree Morris, it represented an opportunity: They co-founded drive-in movie theater Newark Moonlight Cinema. But even as vaccinations have some people returning to their pre-Covid ways, the Morrises told CNBC they have plans to expand their small business.

In the span of just 6 months, Newark Moonlight Cinema drive-in has established itself as an entertainment go-to in Brick City.

Drive-ins have been popping up all over the country during the coronavirus pandemic. But few are right in the middle of a city, next to a highway and skyscrapers.

The owners of the Newark Moonlight Cinema project films by and for African Americans.

NEWARK, New Jersey (WABC) -- A Newark movie theater is on a mission to highlight African-American films, with their latest endeavor paying tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman.

Others are taking the chance to do something new. In New Jersey, filmmaker Ayana Stafford-Morris opened the Newark Moonlight Cinema in July, with a focus on African-American filmmakers and actors. “My drive to see this through stems from my love of films, my frustration with the current, assumed definition of cult classic films, and the pressures we are all feeling confined by Covid,” she tells BBC Culture.

And Siree and Ayana Morris, of Newark, New Jersey, saw their chance with an old, demolished baseball stadium … or rather, they saw a need. Ayana told Giles, "I came to my husband and I said, 'Hey, I want to do a pop-up drive-in movie theatre,' and he was like, 'OK.' And I was like, 'This is why I married you!'

"Because of the racial tension, I was getting depressed," said Ayana. "I wanted to be able to create a space that highlights the beauty of black people and give us the opportunity to see something, see a positive image of ourselves."

A filmmaker and her developer-husband create a family-friendly pop-up showcasing films appealing to the black community in New Jersey’s largest city. News 4’s Gaby Acevedo reports..

The African American owners of New Jersey’s latest pop-up, drive-in theater are giving Ferris Bueller the day off.

With their launch of Newark Moonlight Cinema this Friday, Newark-based filmmaker Ayana Stafford-Morris and her husband, real estate developer, Siree Morris, ditched the '80s cult classic that stars Matthew Broderick—and instead will show Girls Trip, Creed II, and the 2007 remake of Hairspray — movies whose characters reflect the ethnic and cultural diversity of the region’s audiences.

The Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka, has released a powerful spoken-word piece demanding social justice.

The new video for “What We Want,” features the Mayor and a microphone. Dancers with face paint reminiscent of characters in the movie “Dead Presidents”, also express his words through dance.

"We need more than justice in the moment — we need an overhaul of our systems," the politician and educator says