Hasta La Gadget!

Queen Latifah is giving fans a glimpse at how celebrities experience the world’s most beautiful destinations with her new Travel Channel mini-series, “The Best Place To Be.”

Executive produced by Latifah and business partner Shakim Compere’s production company Flavor Unit, each one-hour episode follows a noted personality sharing the hidden hot spots of their favorite international destinations, including Anthony Anderson (Barcelona), Jason Biggs and Jenny Mollen (Hong Kong), Mary-Louise Parker (Kenya), and Latifah herself (Rio de Janeiro).

The multifaceted media maven told The Huffington Post that she wants viewers to experience travel through the lens of a celebrity.

“The premise of it was something that Shakim came up with based on my life,” she said. “When I go on vacations I travel to different places around the world and oftentimes I’m with friends of mine who hip me to the cool places to be and things to go to. And for a lot of celebrities, this is our only little break to escape and kind of be normal without the spotlight.”

“And so, we want to share that place with the world and tell them about their secret spots, because we want to see it through their lens,” she added. 

The show couldn’t have come at a better moment for the production duo.

In recent years, travel research group MMGY Global has found a surge in African Americans’ intent to travel internationally, which some have argued was previously overlooked and undocumented by mass media. Reports credit travel websites targeting people of color and social media influencers as contributing factors for the supposed increase. 

With reports of the “black travel movement” being on the rise, Latifah wants the mini-series to inspire even more people to broaden their international horizons.

“Sometimes it takes the media a minute to catch up and actually care about what we’re doing,” she said. “But we know what we do, and we know we love to take a vacation and get away and just enjoy life. But I’m hoping the show will just give them more places to go and stretch their horizons even further. I love to be in a land where I don’t speak the native language, but people are people no matter where you go.”

As for the best way to maximize one’s travel experience, the award-winning actress-rapper recommends travelers venture off the “beaten path” of where tourists traditionally visit for a more cultured experience.

“You’ll have a much more richer experience when you travel like that,” she said. “If you really want an experience that’s gonna stay with you for your life and you can come home, tell people who maybe can’t get there at that time. It’s so much more rich and deep and fulfilling than what you would do if you hung around the pool all day.”

Check out an all-new episode of “The Best Place To Be” on April 11 at 12 p.m. / 11 a.m. Central on the Travel Channel.

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NEW YORK ― Addressing the audience at Tina Brown’s Women in the World Summit on Friday, Women’s March co-chairs Tamika D. Mallory and Linda Sarsour had some wise words for white women new to activism: “Don’t leave us.” 

In a panel with actress and activist Rashida Jones and International Refugee Assistance Project director Becca Heller, the two activists discussed the essential role that intersectionality must play in resisting the Trump administration, and reminded the audience that the issues that brought white women out to march on January 21 are issues minorities in America have been resisting all along.

“My community suffered in silence for 15 years in post-9/11 America,” Sarsour, a Palestinian-Muslim-American from Brooklyn, told Jones. “I welcome you to the movement, but don’t leave us. Understand that there are some of us in perpetual fear and perpetual outrage.”

While you’re at the table saying you want to be a part of this movement, let us quickly help you learn what you need to learn, be educated about mistakes that the feminist movement has made in the past, and figure out ways to go forward.
Tamika D. Mallory, Women’s March Co-Chair

Mallory, who said that her activism truly started years ago when the father of her son was murdered, expressed a similar sentiment.

“I did stand on that stage looking at so many people pouring into DC [at the Women’s March] and feel a little sad,” she said. “For some of the folks who showed up, their moment [of activism] started with Donald Trump and sort of ends there… People who have been oppressed in America feel like Donald Trump is just an extension of what’s been happening.”

Mallory expanded on this after the panel, telling The Huffington Post that while she was thrilled at the march’s turnout, she was also acutely aware that these crowds weren’t present to stand up against past injustices:

The sadness came when I looked around and said, if I was Sandra Bland, whose life deserved this much attention and more, people would not have been present. Trayvon Martin’s mother was on that stage and I’m sure she had to look and say, “Where were those people when my son was killed?” That is the sadness.

Both Sarsour and Mallory implored the many women for whom the Women’s March was a turning point and an introduction to activism to stay engaged. 

“While you’re at the table saying you want to be a part of this movement, let us quickly help you learn what you need to learn, be educated about mistakes that the feminist movement has made in the past, and figure out ways to go forward without making those mistakes again,” Mallory told HuffPost. 

Check out the entire panel in the video above. 

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— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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