Filed under: Celebrity Style , Red Carpet
Filed under: Television
(L-R) Castmembers Tia Mowry and Pooch Hall attend BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
(L-R) Castmembers Hosea Chanchez, Tia Mowry, Terrence J., Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Pooch Hall attend BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
(L-R) BET executive Steven Hill and actor Coby Bell attend BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
President and CEO of BET Debra Lee attends BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City
(L-R) Castmembers Tia Mowry, Terrence J., and Pooch Hall attend BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
Promoter Tali Gore (R) attends BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
(L-R) Castmembers Wendy Raquel Robinson and Tia Mowry attend BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
Actress Tia Mowry attends BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
(L-R) Castmembers Terrence J. and Wendy Raquel Robinson attend BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
(L-R) Castmembers Hosea Chanchez, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and Tia Mowry attend BET's "The Game" launch event at Butter on January 11, 2011 in New York City.
Filed under: Celebrity Style , Red Carpet
Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama
Lionsgate has release the poster to 'Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family,' starring Shad "Bow Wow" Moss, Loretta Devine, Cassi Davis, Lauren London, David Mann, Tamela Brown Mann, Isaiah Mustafa, Rodney Perry, Shannon Kane, Natalie Desselle Reid, and Teyana Taylor.
Tyler Perry serves as director and two-time star (as Madea and her brother, Joe).
Madea, everyone's favorite wise-cracking, take-no-prisoners grandma, jumps into action when her niece, Shirley, receives distressing news about her health. All Shirley wants is to gather her three adult children around her and share the news as a family. But Tammy, Kimberly and Byron are too distracted by their own problems: Tammy can't manage her unruly children or her broken marriage; Kimberly is gripped with anger and takes it out on her husband; and Byron, after spending two years in jail, is under pressure to deal drugs again. It's up to Madea, with the help of the equally rambunctious Aunt Bam, to gather the clan together and make things right the only way she knows how: with a lot of tough love, laughter...and the revelation of a long-buried family secret.
The film will be in theaters April 22, 2011.
Filed under: News
Looking to create another box office hit like he did with son Jaden, Will Smith is considering doing a remake of the musical 'Annie' with daughter Willow as the star.
While it's still in the development stage, Variety states that through his film company Overbrook, Smith would produce the film with megastar rapper Jay-Z collaborating on the music.
Details haven't confirmed whether the film would be a contemporary version and whether it will include any original songs.
Will Smith hit paydirt when he remade 'The Karate Kid' with Jaden as the star. The film made more than $350 million worldwide.
Willow made her acting debut in her dad's film, 'I Am Legend,' and later appeared in 'Kit Kittredge: An American Girl' alongside Abigail Breslin.
In 2010, she launched her music career with the release of her single 'Whip My Hair' and signed on to Jay-Z's record label Roc Nation. The single peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, making Smith one of the youngest solo artists in history to do so.
In 2009, Jay-Z and Will Smith, along with Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith helped produced the acclaimed musical 'Fela!.'
The Broadway production won the Tony Award for Best Choreography, Best Costume Design of a Musical, and Best Sound Design of a Musical.
In 1998, when Jay-Z released his third album, 'Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life', he scored a hit with the song, 'Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem),' which samples the song 'It's the Hard Knock Life' from the Broadway musical 'Annie.'
'Hard Knock Life' was Jay-Z's first single to achieve success outside the US, reaching the top 10 in several countries.
Filed under: News
More than two decades ago, an infant was snatched from her crib in a New York City Harlem hospital. Her kidnapper was never found ... until now.
In August 1987, Carlina White (pictured above and as a baby below) was only 19 days old, burning up with a 103 degree temperature, when she was abducted from Harlem Hospital in New York City.
The child's teen mom, Joy White (pictured above), brought the infant to the hospital and left her in the pediatric ward so she could be seen by a physician. A mysterious looking woman, who police later discovered had been lingering around the hospital many times before, dressed in a nurse's uniform consoled the distraught 16-year-old mother.
New York City Police Department (NYPD) chief spokesperson Paul J. Browne told reporters:
"We had a description, back then, of a woman who picked up the baby who acted as if she belonged there, or worked there. Obviously, it has been an open investigation; some leads did not work out, and obviously had not resulted in her being found."
White, who would later claim was mistreated by her abductor, was raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and given the alias of Nejdra Nance.
White told police that the woman whom she believed to be her mother was a scam artist who used phoney social security numbers and IDs. White also went on to state that the abductor was also a drug user who oftentimes abused her physically.
As White grew up, she had a nagging feeling that she did not belong and felt like a stranger among her "relatives."
There was no birth certificate to verify her birth, and the fact that she resembled no one in her "family" kept bringing up unsettling doubts about her familial ties. At age 16, White made the decision to delve further in to her background.
White stumbled upon the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website, and it was there that she found a photo of an infant that she felt resembled her. Telephone numbers accompanied the photo, and White decided to make the bold move and call her birth mother Joy.
The phone call from White prompted Joy to call the police to investigate further.
The phone call to the NYPD was eventually routed to Detective Martin A. Brown, who concluded that White's story was very dramatic and unusual. Instead of passing the call to yet another area of law enforcement, Brown decided to assist in verifying all suspicions by overseeing the DNA match ups. Even though White's parents separated and even went on to raise new families with other spouses, the pair's DNA was checked against White's:
"The daughter's natural instincts were confirmed with DNA swabs," Browne told the New York Times.
White and her parents, Joy and Carl Tyson, felt so positive that the DNAs would match, that they did not even wait for the results before they reunited and celebrated last Friday:
"I already knew in my heart that this was my daughter," Tyson said. "All I could do is shed tears."
As far as the abductor is concerned, there is no statute of limitation, so she could still face federal prosecution. Reportedly, a Bridgeport woman named Mary Pettway admitted that her daughter, Cassandra, who lives in Georgia, had raised White but provided no further information.
Joy always had a feeling that her daughter was alive; the Mom even used the name Carlina in her e-mail address.
Meanwhile, White wrote on her Twitter account that she planned to move to New York City and was looking forward "to Sunday dinner" with her newfound family.
Filed under: Basketball
Filed under: News
Filed under: News, Profiles, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
With stories of Haitian orphans who left the misery of their earthquake-torn country to find happiness after moving to the United States, its nearly impossible to argue against the policy of bringing these desperate little ones here, right?
Well, let me try.
Everyone knows the orphans, ranging from 11 months to 16 years of age who are part of what's known as the "Pennsylvania Airlift" will do better with a full refrigerator, cable television and the greater physical safety they would receive in Pittsburgh compared to Port-au-Prince.
But reports that some of the children were taken without getting the permission of their families are credible.
Through the years, we have seen that people with the missionary zeal of the All Blessings International adoption agency, which coordinated the airlift, sometimes neglect to dot all the i's and cross all the t's when it comes to getting proper approvals for taking the children.
When a group of Haitian orphans landed in Pittsburgh on Jan. 19, 12 children didn't go through proper adoption channels and didn't even have new homes in the ready for them.
What would happen to those kids. Would they become wards of the state? Would they be shipped back to Haiti after getting a teasing taste of American life? Would they be sent to the highest-bidding American family?
I have no reason to question the motives of the adoption agency. But even with the purest of intentions, the business of shipping poor children across international borders is a questionable practice.
I have a very good friend who sends money to poor children in Central America and Africa. She even used her vacation time to visit the family of one of the children -- leaving behind gifts for her "child" and their family.
That is a much better way to show your concern for the poor and struggling children of Haiti. If you really want to help, visit the families, help rebuild the broken cities, leave behind money and materials to facilitate the rebuilding that will help the entire society -- not just a lucky child or two.
Simply grabbing up a few children for new lives here does little to help Haiti at large.
Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
Filed under: Celebrity Love, Relationships, Weddings, Marriage, Love Analytix
When asked had he already married the songstress he responded, "Yes that' true, and I really don't know what else to say about it." He continued, "You know that's my wife, I'm her husband, and we're going to continue to make positive things happen."
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Filed under: Exclusives, Television
Filed under: Celebrity News, News
Though several years off, President Obama's next gig is already shaping up to be a sweet deal.
He may be deep in the groove of his Presidency. But we do know he has given thought to what happens next. Before he even sat at the Resolute Desk, he inked a deal to deliver a post-presidency book, raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Millions will follow, no doubt, because after you've pulled the nation back from the brink of economic disaster, and perhaps even a second Great Depression, what you do for an encore will be worth paying for.
He'll rack up on the speakers' circuit. He's one of the world's most gift orators. So, money won't be an issue.
Neither will his age. When he leaves the White House - in either 2013, or 2017, at the age of 52 or 56, depending on the outcome of the next election - he will still have a dangerous jump-shot and a bop in his walk, and his children will still be youngsters. (The Atlanta Post)
So even if Obama doesn't win in 2012, he will remain an important and influential leader for years to come as a speaker, writer and most likely a private influencer behind the scenes. The American people might give him the pink slip, but the president still has many skills that he can parlay into multiple income streams making him financially indepedent of his employer -- us. That is a career lesson many Americans still need to learn.
Filed under: Celebrity News
Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
Leonardo Morning
Filed under: Personal Finance, Credit Card
Filed under: News, Politics, Race and Civil Rights
Filed under: News
By Gina McCauley, Black Voices Blogger
To date, her Wall Street Journal essay has garnered 7,000 comments and a slew of editorials in response. The key to Chua's attention-grabbing success hs been tapping into the neurotic insecurity among mothers that they will single-handedly doom their children to failure -- in this case, if they are not strict enough. And then there are all the haters who find her child-rearing ideas crazy. She's covered all angles and marketing bases. And of course it has different groups of mothers thinking.
Since people are dabbling in gross generalizations about motherhood, children, parenting, and race, I thought I'd compare the 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother' to that of Black Mamas... or at least my Mama.
Chua defines her children's success as their ability to get good grades and play musical instruments. My mother defined her children's success by their behavior. . . and securing their eternal salvation through regular church attendance, but that's another post.
That's not to say that my parents didn't value education -- they did. But it was made clear at an early stage that I could get away with bringing home a B, while I had better not bring home a "needs improvement" or "unsatisfactory" in the conduct portion of my report card. After all, it didn't take a genius to exhibit "good home training." And failure to exhibit this good training would be worth a whipping. Sounds very "tiger mother" to me.
I'm not alone in noting the similarity. Culture writer Danielle Deadwyler did her own comparison between Chua's Tiger Mother and "Southern Black Mothers," showing they have a great deal in common:
No wuss nurturers are allowed below the Mason Dixon line; Southern black women have been hardcore disciplinarians for generations. Results have been varied... However, there seems to be a 'get it done' through line in black parenting that echoes Malcolm's 'by any means necessary'. (Danielle Deadwyler)Danielle goes on to tell a familiar tale about the time her classmate's mother came to school and whipped him "in front of the whole school" -- something we have all seen, heard about, or worse, experienced. Her friend wasn't alone. We all know many black parents tend to favor corporal punishment, also known as spanking, as a preferred form of behavior modification. In addition, many people of other groups are horrified by this. Yet just as Chua bragged to her peers over dinner about her harsh mothering methods, the black mother is not ashamed to administer punishment in broad daylight.
I too was spanked as a child, but eventually my parents figured out that I was actively weighing the cost benefit analysis of bad behavior vs. spanking so they had to get more creative. I was a little black girl raised in the black Baptist church where children were to be seen and not heard. Unfortunately, I felt the good Lord gave me plenty to say. I thought the adults were generally wrong and they ought to know the extent of their many faults. In the end, I frustrated the heck out of my teachers, but they could never come up with anything concrete to pin on me other than my questioning their authority and their intelligence... in the most polite way possible.
My string of annual conferences in the principal's office ended in high school when my exhausted mother finally conceded that I was right. Well it was about time she realized that! Oh, how long I had waited for her to tell me what I already knew! But then she went on to add "but you lack prudence and tact!"
Why this focus on behaviour and not grades to the point of public beating -- or berating? It makes sense to me now. My parents were born and raised in the segregated south. Back then even the smartest black folks could find themselves hanging from trees or tied to train tracks for a small misstep. Being right wasn't enough.
As Karen Grigsby Bates explained:
During slavery, a black person's pout or backtalk to the wrong person could not only get him whipped, it could get him sold -- or, if the transgression was deemed bad enough, maimed or killed. Swift physical retribution for even minute transgressions tended to reinforce the rules, and adhering to the rules meant you were able to live to raise another generation. (Karen Grigsby Bate)Having the correct answer wasn't nearly as important knowing how to navigate yourself in a world where your "backtalk" would result in death. So frequent beatings were not only the lesser of two evils; a beating was also a lesson that could save your life. Much higher stakes than what Chua is dealing with. But the intensity of her methods is something that black mothers can understand.
So who is better at cranking out successful children -- Tiger Mothers or Black Mamas? Doesn't matter. As for me, I turned out okay. I went to law school and passed the bar exam to get paid to question authority.
In the end, this is all hype that plays upon on of the most natural inclinations in the world: A mother's desire for her children to do well. No group of mothers have a monopoly on rearing successful children. No one group has a monopoly on defining success for their children. Every child is different. A mother's role is to prepare her children to navigate the world and I suspect that most are doing the best they know how -- including African American moms.
Filed under: News
From Jan. 20 to 30 in Park City, Utah, the 2011 Sundance Film Festival will showcase a number of films hoping to land distribution deals for theatrical release.
While films featuring Don Cheadle, Terrence Howard, Mekhi Phifer, Tracy Morgan and A Tribe Called Quest will be on display, there are some filmmakers and talent hoping to get their careers launched or reignited at the festival.
It was at Sundance where the Lee Daniels film 'Precious: Based on the novel 'Push' by Sapphire' first gained recognition, having won the grand jury prize for best film. Everyone from Mo'Nique, Gabourey Sidibe, Mariah Carey and Paula Patton watched as their film careers ignited following their performances in the film. Sidibe landed an Oscar nod, while Mo'Nique won the award for best supporting actress.
Here's a list of films showing at Sundance that has black talent in front of and behind the camera. (Synopsis provided by Sundance Film Festival Guide.)
'The Guard' -- Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle star in this film about a small-town cop in Ireland who has a confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humor, a fondness for prostitutes and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the international drug-smuggling ring that has brought a straight-laced FBI agent to his door. However, a surreal chain of events pulls him into the action. Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot and Dominique McElligot also star in the film.
'Gun Hill Road' -- Written and directed by Rashaad Ernesto Green, the film stars Esai Morales, Judy Reyes, Harmony Santana and Vanessa Aspillaga. After three years in prison, Enrique is back in his beloved Bronx, back in the arms of an estranged wife and back in the life of his teenage son, who is stumbling toward a transformation that will put the bonds of their embattled family to the test.
'Pariah' -- Written and directed by Dee Rees, the film stars Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell and Aasha Davis. When forced to choose between losing her best friend or destroying her family, a Bronx teenager juggles conflicting identities and endures heartbreak in a desperate search for sexual expression.
'Beats, Rhymes and Life' -- Actor Michael Rapaport directs the story of the rise and influence of one of the most innovative and influential hip-hop bands of all time, the collective known as A Tribe Called Quest.
'The Ledge' -- Perched on a ledge, a man says he must jump by noon, while a cop races against time to get to the bottom of it. Written and directed by Matthew Chapman, the cast includes Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Terrence Howard and Christopher Gorham.
'Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey' -- Meet the unlikely man behind the heart and soul of Elmo: Kevin Clash. Elmo is one of the most beloved characters among children across the world.
'The Son of No One' -- Written and directed by Dito Montiel. Channing Tatum, Al Pacino, Katie Holmes, Tracy Morgan, Ray Liotta and Juliette Binoche star in this tale of two men in post-9/11 New York who are forced to relive two murders they committed as young boys. Their lives start to unravel by the threat of the revelation of these shocking and personal secrets. Morgan will play Vinnie, a friend of Tatum's and Binoche will play a reporter.
'Flypaper' -- Mekhi Phifer joins a cast that includes Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd, Jeffrey Tambor, Octavia Spencer, Tim Blake Nelson and Pruitt Taylor Vince. The film follows a man caught in the midst of two simultaneous robberies. He finds himself trying to protect a teller with whom he is secretly in love. The film is being directed by Rob Minkoff ('Stuart Little') and was written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore of 'The Hangover.'
'The Blackpower Mixtape 1967-1975' - From 1967 to 1975, Swedish journalists chronicled the Black Power movement in America. Combining that 16mm footage, undiscovered until now, with contemporary audio interviews, this film illuminates the people and culture that fueled change and brings the movement to life anew.
'Family Portrait in Black and White' - In a small Ukrainian town, Olga Nenya, raises 16 black orphans amidst a population of Slavic blue-eyed blonds. Their stories expose the harsh realities of growing up as a biracial child in Eastern Europe.
'An African Election' - The 2008 presidential elections in Ghana, West Africa, serve as a backdrop for this feature documentary, which looks behind the scenes at the complex political machinery of a third-world democracy struggling to avoid civil war and establish stability for good.
'Kinyarwanda' - Written and directed by Alrick Brown and based on accounts from survivors, 'Kinyarwanda' tells the story of Rwandans who crossed the lines of hatred during the 1994 genocide, turning mosques into places of refuge for Muslims and Christians, Hutus and Tutsis.
'Submarine' -- Directed by Richard Ayoade and adapted from the novel by Joe Dunthorne, 'Submarine' is the story of 15-year-old Oliver Tate, who has two big ambitions: to save his parents' marriage and to lose his virginity before his next birthday.
'Restless City' -- An African immigrant survives on the fringes of New York City. Music is his passion, life is a hustle and falling in love is his greatest risk. The cast includes Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa and Babs Olusanmokun.
'The Interrupters' -- From the Academy Award-winning director of 'Hoop Dreams' (Steve James) comes a story of ex-gang members who are now protecting their communities from the violence they themselves once employed.
'The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement' -- Gail Dolgin and Robin Fryday direct this short film about 85-year-old Mr. Armstrong, an African American barber in Birmingham, Ala., who experiences the manifestation of an unimaginable dream: the election of the first African American president.
'Close' -- One night after a casual "visit," Angela is all but ready to leave Derek's apartment. Derek, however, is determined not to let her go without a fight. The short was written and directed by Tahir Jetter.
'Cedar Rapids' -- A wholesome and naive small-town Wisconsin man travels to big-city Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to represent his company at a regional insurance conference. The cast includes Ed Helms, John C Reilly, Anne Heche, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Alia Shawkat and Sigourney Weaver.
Despite a lot of basketball fans still hating on LeBron James for his "Decision" debacle last summer and his new team's current struggle, he's still in great spirits and excited about his new animated series.
