THE PRESS CONFERENCE THAT SILENCED THE DOUBTERS
Count Down For The Super Bowl
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Oscar Nominated Quvenzhane Wallis
Quvenzhane Wallis is the youngest actress ever nominated for an academy award, and win or lose, maybe the nicest thing about her nomination will be that more people will seek out the movies she's in. It's called "Beasts of the Southern Wild."
6 Energy-Boosting Foods From Dr. Drew Ramsey
Feeling sluggish by 3? Psychiatrist and author of The Happiness Diet, Dr. Drew Ramsey, recommends six energy-boosting snacks to fight the late afternoon slump.
Photo of the Day
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| I will never get tired of photographing a father embracing his child... ♥ Eunique Jones Photography http://euniquejonesphoto.com/ |
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Bassett & Blige Discuss Their Iconic Roles On Katie
Mary J. Blige and Angela Bassett Historic New Roles
Mary J. Blige and Angela Bassett are strong, modern-day women who are portraying the wives of the most iconic figures of the Civil Rights movement in the new Lifetime movie, Betty & Coretta.
Oscar-nominated Angela Bassett and Grammy-winning Mary J. Blige tell Katie about their new film Betty & Coretta and what it was like working together.
Mary J. Blige and Angela Bassett are strong, modern-day women who are portraying the wives of the most iconic figures of the Civil Rights movement in the new Lifetime movie, Betty & Coretta.
Oscar-nominated Angela Bassett and Grammy-winning Mary J. Blige tell Katie about their new film Betty & Coretta and what it was like working together.
Lifetime's Original Movies For Black History Month
Lifetime will premiere three
movies in celebration of Black History Month. The first entitled Betty & Correta starring Golden Globe
Award-winner and American Academy-nominee Angela Bassett as Coretta Scott King
and nine-time Grammy Award winning singer Mary J. Blige as Dr. Betty Shabazz. The
second entitled Twist of Faith stars six-time
Grammy Award winner Toni Braxton, Mykelti Williamson and David Julian Hirsh.
The third rounding out the original movies scheduling is entitled Pastor Brown,
with Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Rockmond Dunbar, Ernie Hudson and Tisha
Campbell-Martin, Nicole Ari Parker, and Michael B. Jordan.
Betty & Coretta
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Angela Bassett portrays Coretta Scott King (L)
and Mary J. Blige portrays Dr. Betty Shabazz in a scene from Betty & Coretta. Photo credit: Jan Thijs
Focusing on the extraordinary women
behind the two men who would change history, Betty & Coretta tells
the similar true stories of Coretta Scott King (Bassett), wife of Dr. Martin
Luther King (Malik Yoba) and Dr. Betty Shabazz (Blige), wife of Malcolm X (Lindsay
Owen Pierre). When their husbands were tragically assassinated, these two women
not only inherited the mantle of the civil rights movement in America, each
also found herself to be a single mother who had to find a way to raise and
support her children with no husband or father, resulting in a relationship
like no other that spanned more than three decades.
Betty & Coretta will premiere Saturday, February 2, at 8:00pm ET/PT. Movie Preview: http://www.mylifetime.com/movies/betty-and-coretta/video
Twist of Faith
 David Julian Hirsh (Jacob) and Toni Braxton (Nina) are shown collaborating musically in a scene from Twist of Faith. Photo credit: Ed Araquel
In Twist of Faith, Jacob
Fisher (Hirsh), an Orthodox Jewish Cantor and amateur songwriter who resides in
Brooklyn, New York, witnesses the senseless murder of his wife and three
children. Catatonic, Jacob walks out on his Jewish mourning ritual, leaving
behind his Jewish garments, wallet and keys. Abandoning his identity, he
wanders aimlessly, hoping somehow to understand his tragedy. Fortuitously, he
lands in Brent, Alabama (population 2,500), where he is embraced by Nina
(Braxton), a single mother and the lead singer of a small gospel choir (an
unlikely finalist in the competition to determine the best gospel choir in
Alabama), her Uncle Moe (Williamson) and their gospel community who help his
return to life while music brings Nina and Jacob together as they try to make sense
of his past and their possible future.
Twist of Faith will premiere Saturday, February 9, at 8:00pm ET/PT.
Pastor Brown
 In Pastor Brown Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Rockmond Dunbar share an enjoyable evening out. Photo credit: Quantrell Colbert
In Pastor Brown, a
wayward preacher’s daughter, Jessica “Jesse” Brown (Richardson-Whitfield), returns
home for the first time in more than a decade after her father (David) falls
terminally ill. Her father’s dying wish – that Jesse take over as head of the
Mount Olive Baptist Church – turns her and her family’s lives upside down.
Jesse reluctantly undertakes her father’s commission, thereby pitting herself
against her sister (Parker) and the leadership of Mount Olive Church who know
of her sordid past. Through accepting her father’s request, Jesse embarks upon
a path that will change her life when she reconnects with her family and
estranged teenage son (Jordan) and finds the dignity and self-love she lost
long ago. Pastor Brown will premiere Saturday, February
16, at 8:00pm ET/PT.
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Modern Black History Books
7 Modern Black History Books That Should Be Required Reading
by Joshunda Victoria Sanders
Book blogs and publishers have started recommending Black History Month titles, but those titles tend to be imprint/publishing-house specific. There's nothing wrong with that, but it means that some titles might escape your notice. I love big books, but I especially adore giant books about black history, which I read for fun. So, there will be at least one other list like this before February is out. But for now...
by Joshunda Victoria Sanders
Book blogs and publishers have started recommending Black History Month titles, but those titles tend to be imprint/publishing-house specific. There's nothing wrong with that, but it means that some titles might escape your notice. I love big books, but I especially adore giant books about black history, which I read for fun. So, there will be at least one other list like this before February is out. But for now...
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The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson This is one of my favorite books from the past 20 years. I can't recommend it enough. Ta-Nehisi Coates agrees. As a work of superior journalism, it has few peers. You've certainly heard about the Great Migration before and maybe your grandparents or parents told you all you need to know. But the narrative power and style of Isabel Wilkerson as applied to more than 1,000 interviews is educational and inspirational nonetheless. Here's my Q&A with her from 2010 ahead of her appearance at the Texas Book Festival. 
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention by Manning Marable
There were some big questions that remained unanswered in Marable's book, but it's still an incredible biography. I'm sad that he didn't live to see its publication. My 2011 Q&A with Zaheer Ali. 
Sojourner Truth: A Life, A Symbol by Nell Irvin Painter
This was worth reading to find out more about the woman beyond her "Ain't I a Woman" speech. Not only did she bare her breasts in public in the context of this speech, since her audience was treating her like she was a man, but she was also a shrewd marketer of her image. The photograph we associate most with her says beneath it, "I sell the shadow to support the substance." 
Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom by Catherine Clinton
This is one of my favorite biographies in the past decade, in addition to Alice Walker: A Life and Wrapped in Rainbows, the biography of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd. Catherine Clinton writes about Tubman not just as the Moses of her people, but also as a woman who was married multiple times, including once when she was past retirement age, and adopted many children with her last husband. 
At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle McGuire
I was profoundly moved by reading this thorough history of black women like Rosa Parks and learning a fuller history of how sexual assault was used against them (us) in the racist South. It was jarring and well-researched. In comparison to most black history lessons and stories, it was far more nuanced.  The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander There isn't a black person in American who is unaffected by the prison industrial complex and mass incarceration of black men and women in our country. Michelle Alexander's important book shows just how bleak modern incarceration is and how racism impacts not just prisoners and ex-convicts but society at large. 
Disintegration by Eugene Robinson
A lot has been made of the post-racial nature of America - are we or aren't we? Eugene Robinson doesn't answer that, and for good reason - instead he looks at how black America has become so diffuse that its impact from decades past, mainly during America's segregated era, has disintegrated along class and geographical lines. Source: jvictoriawrites |
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Is This Volkswagen Super Bowl Commercial Racist?
Controversy is brewing over this Volkswagen Super Bowl
commercial featuring Jamaican accents. Do you find this commercial funny or
racist?
Monday, January 28, 2013
A Pep Talk from Kid President to You
We all need a little encouragement every now and then. Kid President, knowing this, has put together a video you can play each morning as you wake up or to share with your friend who needs a kick in the right direction. Take a moment and spread some encouragement. "It's everybody's duty to give the world a reason to dance." Also, by popular demand, we present the: NOT COOL, ROBERT FROST
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Free E-Books Download
Click on book title for access. Please note free status changes without notice. Double check the buy button before purchase. Enjoy!
Pink Range
Soul Sisters
Homecoming
The three friends have seemingly perfect lives; since graduating from college ten years earlier, each girl has gone on to become accomplished in her own right. However, when the girls reunite for Homecoming at their alma mater, Porter University, for a "Let your hair down, they can live without us" weekend, events begin to reveal that the ladies' lives may not be as perfect as they initially seemed.
Baby girl Tisha, waking up from a long, seductive nap in the land of denial, is beginning to see her fairytale marriage for what it is...and isn't. Fiery Denise is tired, stressed and can't figure out how to commit to motherhood, marriage and her career at the same time. And level-headed Aston feels that something is not quite right in her fast-paced life but has no idea how or what to fix.
Mix in old beaus, untold secrets, a jealous husband, a batch of mojitos and a whirlwind weekend of fun and partying changes into an event that forces the friends to face their individual dilemmas and make difficult decisions which change them forever.
Over a drama-filled four day period, the girls begin to embark on the empowering transformation from young ladies to grown women and learn the true meaning of success, friendship and love.
This first installment of the "Homecoming" trilogy is followed by "Measure of A Man", currently available, which continues the story from the perspective of the male characters in the novel.
Pink Range
As Sorai Madison enjoys the privileges of a life of luxury,
just beneath the surface a secret is brewing. Just completing her PhD in
Psychology at the age of 31 she is enjoying life in Harlem, NYC. She has a great
job, amazing condo, beautiful life, and a huge sense of accomplishment. She has
two loving parents, a caring best friend (Lea), and new man (Marcus) who came
into her life two years ago. Sorai's older brother Twain is her main concern in
life. After years of trying to talk him out of his life of hustling she has
given up and accepted him for who he is. But unbeknownst to Sorai her new man is
actually a FED who is in her life as an undercover agent trying to build a case
against her brother Twain. Many people in Sorai’s life are not who they seem to
be, experience her journey to uncovering who’s who…….
Soul Sisters
Soul Sisters is an urban fantasy novel about African-American twin sisters Ani
and Dana who have a rather unique secret: one sister is human while the other is
a vampire. While the sisters have lived peacefully with each other for many
years one fateful night will change both their lives forever. When a drunken man
tries to attack Dana (the human sister) Ani (the vampire sister) protects her
sister with all of her ferocious power.
However, when the vampire’s leader Donovan finds out about the public display he calls for the sisters to be assassinated for disobedience. Ani and Dana now are in for the fight of their lives to protect each other as well as the lives of their dedicated friends who have joined them on their mission for survival. If Dana and Ani can make it through this time of uncertainty, Ani can take her new place as vampire queen. Soul Sisters is expected to be a trilogy; The book also features a multicultural cast of characters that brings a new edge of chic to the vampire world.
However, when the vampire’s leader Donovan finds out about the public display he calls for the sisters to be assassinated for disobedience. Ani and Dana now are in for the fight of their lives to protect each other as well as the lives of their dedicated friends who have joined them on their mission for survival. If Dana and Ani can make it through this time of uncertainty, Ani can take her new place as vampire queen. Soul Sisters is expected to be a trilogy; The book also features a multicultural cast of characters that brings a new edge of chic to the vampire world.
Cannon Arrington has pushed aside a social life to dedicate his time to medical
school, extracurricular activities, and helping others … that is, until he lays
his eyes on the angelic face of Yasmine Dubose. For Cannon, meeting her was a
breath of fresh air. Something about the bubbly, sexy teacher makes him realize
he needs to stop and smell the roses.
Yasmine has had a crush on Cannon since high school, but he’d never noticed the nerdy freshman. Now she’s blossomed into a woman who’s full of life. She knows Cannon’s drive for success is important to him, but she fears he’ll become even more of a workaholic than her father, who died when she was a child.
Will Cannon settle down and learn how to balance his career and love life, or will he lose the simply amazing woman who has stolen his heart?
Yasmine has had a crush on Cannon since high school, but he’d never noticed the nerdy freshman. Now she’s blossomed into a woman who’s full of life. She knows Cannon’s drive for success is important to him, but she fears he’ll become even more of a workaholic than her father, who died when she was a child.
Will Cannon settle down and learn how to balance his career and love life, or will he lose the simply amazing woman who has stolen his heart?
Homecoming
Can one weekend change your life ? Just ask best friends
Aston, Tisha and Denise.
The three friends have seemingly perfect lives; since graduating from college ten years earlier, each girl has gone on to become accomplished in her own right. However, when the girls reunite for Homecoming at their alma mater, Porter University, for a "Let your hair down, they can live without us" weekend, events begin to reveal that the ladies' lives may not be as perfect as they initially seemed.
Baby girl Tisha, waking up from a long, seductive nap in the land of denial, is beginning to see her fairytale marriage for what it is...and isn't. Fiery Denise is tired, stressed and can't figure out how to commit to motherhood, marriage and her career at the same time. And level-headed Aston feels that something is not quite right in her fast-paced life but has no idea how or what to fix.
Mix in old beaus, untold secrets, a jealous husband, a batch of mojitos and a whirlwind weekend of fun and partying changes into an event that forces the friends to face their individual dilemmas and make difficult decisions which change them forever.
Over a drama-filled four day period, the girls begin to embark on the empowering transformation from young ladies to grown women and learn the true meaning of success, friendship and love.
This first installment of the "Homecoming" trilogy is followed by "Measure of A Man", currently available, which continues the story from the perspective of the male characters in the novel.
Wednesday's Child
View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.
Wednesday's Child 1/23: Meet Cyntora
Meet Cyntora, a young woman with big dreams. If you're interested in adopting Cyntora or any of our Wednesday's Children, contact the NYC Children's Services Parent Recruitment Hotline at 212-676-WISH.
2013's Six Best New Shows
By JARETT WIESELMAN
Graceland, USA
USA is known -- and celebrated -- for their "Blue Skies" shows, but with the network's second series from Jeff Eastin (he previously created White Collar), the skies have gotten a little cloudy and the darker drama that emerges is a refreshing change of pace, while still being totally on-brand for USA.
Starring Aaron Tveit (hot off Les Miserables) and Daniel Sunjata (just plain hot), Graceland tells the recently declassified true story of a beach-side mansion that is transformed into housing for a diverse group of undercover agents from The DEA, The FBI and U.S. Customs. Watching these officers work and live together while collaborating on cases and grocery lists makes for excellent drama, while the charismatic cast dazzles, proving USA is the most consistent network when it comes to cultivating chemistry.
Graceland premieres this summer.
Read more http://www.etonline.com/tv/129169_6_Best_New_Shows_of_2013/index.html
LUV starring Common and Michael Rainey Jr. is a coming of age story worth seeing. Woody at the tender age of eleven gets a crash course in becoming a man when he spends the day with his ex-convict uncle whom he idolizes. Also starring in LUV: Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, Charles Dutton, Megan Good, and Lonette McKee. It's playing now so check your local listings.
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