Queen Latifah Brings Newark Housing Mission To BET Documentary

Queen Latifah‘s effort to build housing in Newark is headed to BET, which set a Friday, November 27 premiere for “You Can Go Home Again.”

The documentary follows the rapper’s return to the New Jersey community that raised her and the years of work behind RISE Living. The mixed-use development includes affordable apartments, with a name that honors her late mother, Rita.

BET announced that the film will air at 10 p.m. Eastern on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Muta’Ali directed it, with Flavor Unit Entertainment and P&G Studios co-producing.

“It’s about my community and the people and places that make us who we are,” Queen Latifah said.

RISE stands for Rita Is Still Everywhere. Latifah’s mother was a schoolteacher, and the film connects that family history with her investment in the neighborhood.

The housing effort predates the documentary announcement by years. Latifah joined Newark Mayor Ras Baraka for an April 2022 groundbreaking after construction had begun that January. Her BlueSugar Corporation worked with Life Assets Development and Gonsosa on the project.

Plans at the time called for 76 homes, including 16 classified as affordable. The rest included market-rate housing. That distinction is part of the project’s design: RISE was planned as a mixed-use development with affordable units within a larger residential community.

The plans also reserved 1,900 square feet on the ground floor for nonprofit organizations. They included a business center, fitness space and electric-vehicle charging stations, along with in-unit laundry and common-area Wi-Fi. Those were features outlined during the 2022 development phase.

The documentary received a first look in Chicago on November 4, when Latifah appeared with childhood friend and project partner Tammy Hammond at the Obama Presidential Center.

It also extends her work with a network where she now has a role beyond the screen. In June, Latifah and LL Cool J joined BET’s first advisory board. Her television and film production business includes Flavor Unit, which she runs with Shakim Compere.

Compere and Loretha Jones served as executive producers on “You Can Go Home Again.” The film follows the housing work alongside Latifah’s early life in Newark.