Annette John-Hall

Annette John-Hall is a metro columnist for The Inquirer. She was previously a features reporter and columnist focusing on music, film television and pop culture. A native of Berkeley, Calif., she covered professional, college and high school sports at the San Jose Mercury News, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver and the Oakland Tribune.

Her column appears Tuesdays and Fridays in The Inquirer's metro section.

Read Annette's blog Free Flow
Latest post: Marvin Gaye Spoke For Me - 04/01/2009
Email Annette at johnhaa@phillynews.com

Marvin Gaye Spoke For Me

Marvin Gaye Spoke For Me

Donna Summer, a disco diva who defined an era - 05/17/2012: Annette John-Hall

The news of Donna Summer’s passing Thursday at age 63 shook me to my dancing shoes. Of all the so-called disco divas, I thought Summer would be the one to live forever. Ah, disco. The pulsating beat exploded onto the music scene in the mid-’70s like the inferno the Trammps sang about. A mirrored, rotating cherry bomb that just as quickly flamed out. Those one-hit wonders it produced, so relevant then, forgotten now. (Alicia Bridges? Dorothy Moore? Somebody? Anybody?)
Community College a ticket to freedom - 05/14/2012: Annette John-Hall

Annette John-Hall: Who wouldn’t want to earn a four-year degree for half the price?
Hallelujah for President's stance - 05/10/2012: Annette John-Hall

Annette John-Hall: History has proven bigotry dies when people risk taking a stand as Obama did.
'Changing the Game' breaks the norm - 05/07/2012: Annette John-Hall

Annette John-Hall: A Philly filmmaker is "Changing the Game" of the downward trend of African American cinema.
Rodney King finds peace - 05/03/2012: Annette John-Hall

Annette John-Hall: Twenty years after being brutally attacked, King forgives those who harmed him.
Food Stamp Challenge lessons - 04/30/2012: Annette John-Hall

Annette John-Hall: A weekly food budget of only $35 had my feelings running the gamut.
His mother would be proud of his acts - 04/28/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist

It was Joyce Parker's final wish. As the original Miss Tootsie - whose premier soul-food restaurant at 13th and South bore her nickname - lay dying of pancreatic cancer last year, she made her son, Keven, promise to "get the work done."
His mom set the example he follows - 04/26/2012: Annette John-Hall

Annette John-Hall: Giving back was always in Joyce Parker’s DNA. Even before there was a Miss Tootsie’s.
A fresh vision, a new festival - 04/24/2012: By Annette John-Hall

Annette John-Hall: A jazz trombonist, 28, makes his vision with the Center City Jazz Festival.
Just how far will $35 a week for food stretch? - 04/20/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist

John-Hall: I'm racking my brain for creative ways to eat three meals daily for $5 in the Food Stamp Challenge.

MORE STORIES

John-Hall: Our domestic terrorism crisis - 04/17/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist
Penn students have good ideas for Phila. - 04/13/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist
Scoring for scholarships - 04/10/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist
When perception trumps reality - 04/06/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist
Will they put ads atop Penn's hat? - 03/30/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist
Voter ID bill wins by losing voters - 03/27/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist
Horror of fatal Fla. shooting: racial profiling - 03/23/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist
Filmmaker embraces her OCD - 03/20/2012: By Annette John-Hall, Inquirer Columnist