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Notable/Quotable: Halle Berry on Not Being the 'Marrying Kind'

April 18, 2011, 7:15 am
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"I made all the wrong choices when it came to love. I have been an idiot. I wish I had known then that I'm not the marrying kind. It would have saved me a lot of time, heartache and grief over the years. I have done it twice, and I am not going to do it again. The traditional form of marriage is not for me."

 -- Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry regrets past marriages. (The Sun UK)

 

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FAIL: Snoop Dogg Fronts Blast, New Beverage By Colt 45

April 18, 2011, 9:56 am
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Snoop Dogg Fronts Blast, New Alcoholic Beverage By Colt 45

Do you remember all the Colt 45 commercials featuring Billy Dee Williams back in the '80s? Well, get ready to start seeing a newly revamped alcohol campaign by the brand with new front man Snoop Dogg.

Snoop, the rapper whose popularity never seems to diminish, has been promoting Colt 45's newest drink, Blast, a fruit-flavored beverage with a 12 percent alcoholic volume.

The New York Times reports:

"Available in four flavors - grape, raspberry watermelon, blueberry pomegranate and strawberry lemonade - Blast joins the rapidly growing category of sweetened alcoholic beverages that go by many names, including flavored malt beverages and progressive adult beverages."


Alcohol-industry watchdog Marin Institute is not happy with the drink and has already started an online petition, titled "Stop Targeting Youth and Give Snoop the Boot":

"We have always considered them cocktails on training wheels. It's a way to bridge young consumers' fondness for juices and sodas to alcohol," says the Institute's Public Affairs Director Michael J. Scippa. And the group may have a point.

"A huge segment" of Snoop's fans are said to be underage, and obviously, colorful cans and bottles in addition to promotion on Twitter definitely skew toward a much younger demographic.

Parent company co-owner Daren Metropoulos, though, counters these youth-targeting claims:

"It's not like our distributors are putting it in the soda section, and these are clearly designated as an alcoholic product. We're not going to be showing up and selling this at schools or anything like that."

Sure.
Snoop Dogg Fronts Blast, New Alcoholic Beverage By Colt 45


But even beyond the age issue is the message.

While I usually don't want to be the one to knock anyone's hustle, I can't help but wonder what goes through Snoop's mind as a father and husband. I know he's been doing questionable things his entire career, but when is he going to grow up?

With two young boys and a beautiful girl, do we really need another alcohol endorsement that blurs the line for the kiddies? I know that we are in a tough economy, but surely he can do something more than the regular sick-ride-video-ho-cigar-in-hand number.

At the end of the day, we can't go around saying we love our daughters and wish the best for our sons, if we can't decide to take our agency and use it for empowerment rather than what comes easy or makes the most money.

How revolutionary would it be if Snoop decided to take his massive social media followings and teach?

What if he pulled on his own experiences and shared how he was able to beat the statistics and prosper? What if he was able to use his virtual pulpit to get gang banging black boys to put the guns down?

I'm not saying Snoop has never done anything for the children, but when we find ourselves in a very public position, we should use the opportunity to lift and grow and put taglines like Blast's "works every time" on its head.

Watch the video here:





 

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Hannah + REACT to FILM's 'Hell and Back Again'

April 18, 2011, 10:59 am
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Last week my grandmother died. I had never seen anyone close to me pass before my eyes, and watching her die had a huge impact on me. It also changed my perspective on death and dying in general.

To symbolize my mourning, I tore a piece of fabric and pinned it onto my clothing. I've been re-pinning it onto whatever I wear and will continue to do so until I'm ready to take it off. Some people have asked me what it's for. I explain that the tearing of clothes used to be part of the traditional Jewish mourning process (I am black and Jewish). But now, in a more modernized version, people just tear a piece of cloth and pin it to their clothing.

Beyond grieving, I've come to realize that while some people may go their whole lives without witnessing death firsthand, others are faced with it everyday -- like the people who fight for their country.

In the same week that my grandmother passed, I went to the screening of 'Hell and Back Again,' a 2010 documentary by Danfung Dennis, which follows the US Marines Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, eighth Marine Regiment, as they launch a major assault on the Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan. Sergeant Nathan Harris is filmed as he returns home to his wife, badly injured.

The film doesn't take a political stance so much as it asks the viewers to form their own opinion on the many issues presented throughout. This shockingly real account shows one unit's reality, and the anguish amid a war that's rarely ever talked about anymore.




There has been U.S. military presence in Iraq and Afghanistan for almost 10 years now, yet it's still just an abstraction to most people. In the summer of 2009, Dennis was there working as a photographer for the 'New York Times.' It was not his intention to make a film. But fueled by the soldiers and his experiences with them, Dennis decided to combine the power of the still image with advanced technology to bring the viewer into that world.

The organization REACT to FILM put together the screening at the Soho House in New York City. It was a sunny, warm evening and I wasn't expecting to be hit so hard by the film. I am one of the many who rarely thinks about this war on a day-to-day basis. Having no loved ones or anyone I even know overseas, the topic of conversation is hardly discussed. And I knew then that this is how society becomes numb to inhumanity and the horrors of war.

I was spooked that not once in the film do you see the enemy, the Taliban, yet the violence is so traumatic. After Sgt. Harris returns home, the severity of his pain leads him to depend on painkillers. Watching his wife Ashley nurse, love and tend to such a wounded individual's physical, mental and emotional needs is both depressing and poignant. Our government provides physical care, but struggles to provide comprehensive mental health care for soldiers.




The film succeeds in conveying the extraordinary drama of war, and the no less shocking experience of returning home. A generation of Marines struggles to find its identity in a country that prefers to remain indifferent.

REACT to FILM screens documentaries to an intimate audience of press and tastemakers to encourage and engage discussions, and ultimately, to inspire people to make a difference.

The goal for this documentary, 'Hell and Back Again,' is that it be seen by the youth of America, and used as an educational tool to start a national conversation on the issue. If 16- and 17-year-old kids watched this film, I bet they would think long and hard before making the decision to enter the army.

 

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Moms: Go from Lack to Abundance in 5 Simple Steps

April 18, 2011, 11:15 am
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Lack. It is what drives us in our need to compete and get ahead. Greed comes from lack. War stems from lack.

Gossiping, bullying, peer pressure, anger, judgment, blame, resentment, sadness and often depression are derived from a sense of lack. What is lack? It is a feeling of insufficiency, a desire for the things you believe you don't have.

My teenage daughters constantly remind me of the lack in our world. My youngest, Kolbi, often comes home from high school sharing stories of how girls bully each other. They are like pack animals. As soon as one steps out of the crowd to be different, the pack lashes out. I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Women are so catty." The reason for this is lack, too. If a woman feels good about herself, she has no reason to attack.

So where does the lack in our world come from? It begins in the home.

I am a spiritual coach, but I am a mom first. Like so many moms, for years I felt a sense of lack in my life. I felt less than. I believed that my children and spouse mattered more than I did. I tried to prove my sense of worthiness by doing everything for my family. I wanted to be the best.

Read more at The Huffington Post

 

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Gallery: Celeb Style from Coachella Music Festival 2011

April 18, 2011, 11:37 am
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The annual Coachella music festival in Indio, California regularly attracts the hippie, brown-skinned eccentric set stoked to hear a little groovy music. This year Lauryn Hill, Kanye West and Erykah Badu rocked the crowd and along with others brought out their best boho chic looks.

 

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Exclusive: 'The Help' Trailer Debut

April 18, 2011, 12:02 pm
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'The Help' trailer is out and it seems to have all the charming characteristics that made the book a blockbuster.

Set in Mississippi during the late 1960s, 'The Help' follows Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan (Emma Stone) as she returns from college and lands a job writing a column on cleaning in her local paper. Not knowing anything about cleaning, Miss Skeeter must rely on her friend and maid, Aibileen (Viola Davis).

Read more at: Moviefone

 

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Duke Lacrosse Accuser Crystal Magnum Charged with Murder

April 19, 2011, 3:18 am
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Duke Lacrosse Accuser Crystal Magnum Charged with Murder

Like most anticipated, Crystal Gale Magnum, infamous for falsely accusing three white Duke lacrosse players of raping her, was indicted and charged with first-degree murder and two counts of larceny on Monday for allegedly stabbing her boyfriend, Reginald Daye, to death in early April.
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While no more details are available regarding Magnum's latest charge, Daye's nephew, who didn't want to be identified, had this to say about Daye's relationship:

It's Crystal Mangum. THE Crystal Mangum. I told him she was trouble from the damn beginning."

BlackVoices.com will keep you posted as this case develops.



 

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A Black Hair Love Supreme: Oyin Handmade

April 19, 2011, 3:45 am
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BALTIMORE - The smell of cocoa butter fills the air as bubbling oils are poured into white drums, whisked into a foaming mass and left to cool.

Another part of the factory -- which takes up room on three floors of a Baltimore storefront -- fills with fruity smells as owner Jamyla Bennu, 35, and husband Pierre, 37, test scented oils as their youngest son coos from a stroller parked protectively in an office.

Since starting up in 2005, Oyin Handmade has commanded a loyal following for their quirky hair and body products and right-on sensibilities. Along with pomades, lotions, soaps and conditioners obsessively formulated with natural ingredients, Oyin offer t-shirts with slogans like "Black Nerds Unite," as well as illustrated books.

What started as a hobby for Jamyla turned into a business when the couple realized they wanted to work together, and start a family. Jamyla was doing a PhD at New York University and Pierre was working on Wall Street, and under so much stress his hair was falling out in patches, he said. They saw a nine-to-five future looming and decided to go their own way. "We were trying to build a life together that was self-supporting," Jamyla explains.


Both artists, they tried everything that looked like it could turn into a solid business. They made a film together, and published a book of advice Pierre regularly gave to struggling artist friends. Jamyla was building websites, and Pierre would DJ at parties around New York, where they were based at the time. If the hustle didn't work out, they'd move on to the next thing, following the motto: "We're only funding what funds itself," said Jamyla.

But the one thing that eventually stuck was completely unintentional. A product junkie, Jamyla would mix grocery store ingredients into hair oils and body butters in an attempt to find products that worked with her hair and body. "When we made a batch, there'd always be extra, and our friends were like, 'Hey can I get the extra?'" said Pierre. They started selling batches at artists gatherings and launched an online store in 2005. That year, they made $80,000 in sales. In 2010, their online sales alone were close to $410,000.


And they did it all without borrowing a dime, building the business slowly, with revenue from sales. "We didn't have a lot of money, our credit was not in the best of shape, we had come from a personal economic downturn," Jamyla said. Not taking on any debt also meant hard choices, like turning away larger orders from some stores and salons.

But part of that decision was pragmatic. The couple was part of the first wave of artists and musicians who helped turn the New York City borough of Brooklyn into a cultural capital, only to be pushed out. "I saw the gentrification of Brooklyn -- the deli turning into a sushi restaurant with no one that looks like us in it -- I was like, I cannot let that happen again," said Pierre. So the couple relocated to Baltimore, determined to build a community they couldn't be displaced from, and a business that would support that.

"We want to live well and we want to employ people," said Jamyla. "And it feels good to make something that goes out into the world and touches people and makes them feel good about themselves."

 

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Stars of Broadway

April 19, 2011, 5:11 am
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When Hollywood comes to Broadway people take not. When black Hollywood comes to Broadway, folks celebrate. Here's a look at some of our favorites who have starred in Broadway productions.

Check it out...

 

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Floor Designs, Made Easy + Lovely!

April 19, 2011, 5:43 am
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Just look down. It's right there, beneath your feet.

Though the humble floor may not be the most prominent element in your design plans, don't underestimate its power in setting the overall mood. A subtle floor tweak or an all-over paint job could be all you need for a quick room makeover.


Here are two ways to change the feel of a room by paying attention to what you're walking on.

Paint It White
Our sister site ShelterPop recommends brightening things up with a bucket of white paint.

White-painted floors evoke summer beach homes. But a white floor can be appropriate in almost any interior, not just a seaside escape. Whether you want a contemporary or a country look, white is always a safe bet, since it's a neutral ground for any decorating scheme.

So, why go white?

  • It's cheaper than replacing the floor altogether.
  • It can make an ugly (or damaged) wood floor into something glamorous.
  • It will brighten up even the darkest of rooms.
  • It will match anything you want to use in the room.
  • It will make anything you put into the room look like an art object.
  • It will make your room feel like an island retreat.
  • It will make you feel like a Swedish super-model whenever you walk in the room...

Okay, maybe that's going a little bit far, but you get the idea.

White painted floors aren't just for country-chic interiors. White can also be a base for a contemporary space filled with bold, sleek pieces. In this room, the graphic furniture seems to leap off of the white, white floors.

How to Make It Happen:
DoorSixteen has an amazing step-by-step guide to how to paint your floors white with helpful and practical tips.

Paint a Rug
A faux rug doesn't pill.

It can personalize a room without all the dust bunnies. And if you can pull it off, it provides an illusive 3-dimensional effect on a painted flat surface.

A faux rug offers real customization, according to ShelterPop. You can create your very own design using whatever color palette you wish to match your room perfectly. You just have to be a little crafty.

How to Make it Happen:
This project will take about a weekend to complete, due to paint drying times.

Here's what you'll need:

  • Painter's tape
  • Paint roller with 1 roller for each paint color (Tip: Depending on the surface you are painting, you may need different types of paint. Be sure to consult an expert at your local paint store.)
  • Paint brush
  • Paint tray
  • Floor paint (if you're painting outdoors, be sure to get exterior paint)
  • Pencil
  • Measuring tape
  • Utility knife
  • Sand paper
  • Stencils and small paint brushes (for more elaborate designs, such as the one pictured above)
  • Spackle (DIY recommends spackling and sanding the gaps between the wooden slats for even coverage and a more realistic look)


Happy flooring!

 

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Successful Literacy Program Should Be Implemented Across Country

April 19, 2011, 8:30 am
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A literacy program in Chicago has become part of the solution rather than the problem.

Open Books, founded by former businesswoman Stacy Ratner, began sending out volunteers four years ago to local schools in order to assist children with their reading and empower them to take charge of their lives :

"If you can't read the bus schedule, how are you going to get to work? If your kids don't know how to read, how are they going to grow up to have the kind of lives that they want to have," Ratner said. In the United States, just 33 percent of 4th graders are on par with their reading level or better, while 22 percent of adults are said to be entirely illiterate.

Ratner decided to do something about these statistics and has seen her volunteers grow to 3,000 and her book collection at her book store balloon to more than 50,000 books. Most importantly, though, the children touched by Ratner's program have seen a major improvement in their reading levels.

At the local Bronzeville Lighthouse Charter School, participating students have seen their reading speeds increase from 20 words per minute to 62 words per minute, and Ratner's strategy is simple: In addition to an online mentoring program, volunteers serve as tutors in the classroom. Students are required to both write and read in class, and for all the kids who volunteer to read their stories aloud, they get to wear a pencil costume.

The kids involved in this reading program are not only excited about reading but also enthusiastic about school.

With all of the talk these days about failing students and dead-end schools, Ratner stands as a beacon of light that should be followed and studied. She is only one person, but in her positive works, she has been able to impact more than 2,300 kids.

What a hero.


Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



 

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Present-Racial America II: Hair

April 19, 2011, 10:14 am
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Having a white friend who has adopted a black child, and bearing witness to the process from the get go, feels alternately like receiving some sort of epically heartbreaking gift, and time-traveling on a really high-quality hallucinogen.


When my friend, who I will call Alice, and her husband were first meeting with the birth mother then pregnant with the child they hoped to adopt, Alice told me the first thing this woman asked was: "Do you know how to handle black hair?" To which Alice responded, "Well, no. But I have a friend who does." I look at little Zahara Jolie-Pitt, as cute as she is, and I think, does Angelina Jolie have no black friends whatsoever?

My mom did not have any black friends, which you'd likely have been able to tell by looking at my own head of unkempt hair as a child (that's me, below), but she did manage to find me a black dance teacher, who wore her hair in a lovely, understated Afro. I didn't mirror her look knowingly, but I'm sure her Afro made me feel less freakish about mine.

And really, I didn't feel all that freakish about anything until I started middle school. Then I didn't need to simply worry about getting boobs, toning down my boy-craziness, and coveting the latest Nike sneaker (white leather with red swoosh). I also had to figure out how to somehow make my coarse, frizzy and difficult hair appear shiny, silky and easy.

My sister had a curling iron, which I used to no avail. I pulled and tugged at my hair. I wore head wraps and forced barrettes to hold what they couldn't, and weren't made to. I had a neighbor braid the front half, the rest was too knotted to comb through. And then there was the issue of my scalp. It was dry and itchy, and I had no idea what to use for it. And in any event, none of these efforts, which went on through high school, came close to producing the result I was hoping for, which was to bear at least some resemblance to Julie McCoy from 'The Love Boat.'

In college, I had a (white) boy ask me why, if I washed my hair regularly, as I told him I did, was my scalp so flaky? And then I had girls (white) ask me if I was able to get my hair wet -- could I, they wondered audibly, 'Go, like, you know, swimming?' I said that I could, of course, but secretly wondered if I hadn't been properly taught that black people were not supposed to get their hair wet.

My mom, who made gorgeous crowns of wildflowers for me to wear around my Afro when I was small (don't judge, hippies are people too), always just told me that my hair was beautiful. It did have a certain beauty, in retrospect. It was strong and willful, oddly elegant with its rough-hewn sprigs of anger, as I tried to force it into something it could never be.

It wasn't until I was in my early 20s that a (black) girlfriend, who straightened her own hair, was thoughtful enough to tell me not long after we'd become friends, "Honey, you need to put some oil on that scalp." I returned the favor, at that point fully embracing of my inevitably boho style and sensibility, by telling her to go natural, which she did.

My friend's suggestion didn't solve all my problems -- and lord knows, we black women are engaged in an endless dance with our hair. It is a defining characteristic of our lives -- for better or worse. How we care for, think about, and wear our hair takes us to emotional heights and depths unimaginable to most non-black folks. And much of the time, it's nearly impossible to explain why.

And so it's really important, Angelina Jolie, for black girls to be taught proper hair care in much the same way that they are taught to ride a bike -- as an integral part of their childhood learning. Luckily for my friend Alice, the birth mother had a boy, and black hair for boys is tons easier.

 

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President Obama's Mother Ann Dunham Is Brought to Life

April 20, 2011, 5:11 am
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President Obama's Mother Ann Dunham


Reporter Janny Scott spent two years compiling information for a book on President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham (pictured above with her first husband, Barack Obama Sr.).

The book, "A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother," was adapted into a six-page article in the New York Times, which is a delightfully inquisitive journey of the woman who was, as President Obama would later write, "the single constant in [his] life."

Scott merges those who knew Dunham with unexpected quotes and dialogue, illustrating a complex woman of courage who had a high-moral compass: Intentionally or not, the label [of being known as just a white woman from Kansas] obscures an extraordinary story - of a girl with a boy's name who grew up in the years before the women's movement, the pill and the antiwar movement; who married an African at a time when nearly two dozen states still had laws against interracial marriage; who, at 24, moved to Jakarta with her son in the waning days of an anticommunist bloodbath in which hundreds of thousands of Indonesians were slaughtered; who lived more than half her adult life in a place barely known to most Americans, in the country with the largest Muslim population in the world; who spent years working in villages where a lone Western woman was a rarity; who immersed herself in the study of blacksmithing, a craft long practiced exclusively by men; who, as a working and mostly single mother, brought up two biracial children; who believed her son in particular had the potential to be great; who raised him to be, as he has put it jokingly, a combination of Albert Einstein, Mahatma Gandhi and Harry Belafonte; and then died at 52, never knowing who or what he would become.

Another highlight presents Dunham as a stoic and steely matriarch when her son is attacked with racist jeers in Indonesia:

After lunch, the group [including Dunham, Barry and friend Elizabeth Bryant] took a walk, with Barry running ahead. A flock of Indonesian children began lobbing rocks in his direction. They ducked behind a wall and shouted racial epithets. He seemed unfazed, dancing around as though playing dodge ball "with unseen players," Bryant said. Ann did not react. Assuming she must not have understood the words, Bryant offered to intervene. "No, he's O.K.," Ann said. "He's used to it."

"We were floored that she'd bring a half-black child to Indonesia, knowing the disrespect they have for blacks," Bryant said. At the same time, she admired Ann for teaching her boy to be fearless.

Dunham always had the highest expectations for her son. She even spoke about Obama being president of the United States as a child:

It was clear to many that Ann believed Barry, in particular, was unusually gifted. She would boast about his brains, his achievements, how brave he was. Benji Bennington, a friend of Ann's from Hawaii, told me, "Sometimes when she talked about Barack, she'd say, 'Well, my son is so bright, he can do anything he ever wants in the world, even be president of the United States.' I re­member her saying that." Samardal Manan, who taught with Ann in Jakarta, remembered Ann saying something similar - that Barry could be, or perhaps wanted to be, the first black president.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" Lolo asked Barry one evening, according to Saman.

"Oh, prime minister," Barry answered.

Even if you are not an Obama fan, this book sheds light on a woman who dared to live as she saw fit. Apparently, Dunham was able develop and rear the first black president of the United States while creating an existence that she could be proud of.

Read the entirety of the article on Dunham here.

Also check out her timeline.

 

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A first-timer's guide to the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

April 20, 2011, 5:13 am
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The annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, or simply Jazz Fest, is a massive springtime music and cultural festival that takes place over two consecutive weekends in late April and early May. Many music lovers of all ilk consider it the country's premier music festival and return year after year. Others have called it the best party in America.

The name Jazz Fest is somewhat misleading, as jazz is only one component of the festival's musical offerings. Performers represent a wide range of genres including jazz, rock, blues, gospel, R & B, Cajun, zydeco, folk, bluegrass, African, Caribbean and Latin. Non-stop performances take place on a dozen stages scattered around the festival site. In addition to music, there's a huge selection of regional cuisine, arts and crafts booths, second line parades and numerous other attractions.

Over its seven-day run, the festival typically attracts around 400,000 visitors. Jazz Fest is really big and big-time fun.

When and Where
Most people attend Jazz Fest for only one of two weekends, though some stay for the duration. The first weekend begins on the last Friday of April and runs through Sunday. After a three-day hiatus, festivities begin again on Thursday and conclude on Sunday. The dates for Jazz Fest 2011 are April 29-May 1 and May 5-8. The festival takes place at the Fair Grounds Race Course in the Mid-City section of New Orleans, about three miles from Downtown and the French Quarter. Daily hours are from 11am to 7pm which leaves fest-goers time in the evening to explore the city's famous restaurants, bars and clubs.

Read more at Gadling

 

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Snapped: Lauren London's Nude Look

April 20, 2011, 5:21 am
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Remember Lauren London from 'ATL'? Well now "New New" is a new mom with multiple movie roles under her belt. Last night she was spotted at the premiere of Tyler Perry's new movie 'Madea's Big Happy Family.' Be sure to check out London as the character Renee in the film, opening April 29. She arrived at the Hollywood premiere in a nude basket weave tube dress and taupe pumps.


Closeup


Hair

 

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Beyonce and Jay Z Dine in Paris

April 20, 2011, 6:34 am
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With reports of Beyonce and Jay Z's marriage on the rocks, it's good to see them smiling and happy. The pair was seen in Paris's Champs-Élysées on a dinner date with matching sunglasses. Beyonce wore a floral satin dress, snake skin Louboutins and carried a snake skin bag, while Hov looked comfortable in his denim jacket and green cargos.









 

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Obama Mixing Politics And Policy On West Coast

April 20, 2011, 7:02 am
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WASHINGTON - Stepping away from Washington's contentious fiscal debates, President Barack Obama is making a West Coast trip aimed at building support for his deficit-reduction plans and raising money for his re-election campaign.


In town hall meetings in California and Nevada, including one hosted Wednesday by Facebook, Obama will pitch his prescription for reducing the deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases for the rich. The president's three-day trip is his most extensive travel since he announced his 2012 bid earlier this month.

That campaign could set new fundraising records as Obama courts high-dollar donors, as well as young people, many of whom were among the small donors who buoyed his 2008 campaign.

Returning to that campaign's playbook, Obama will seek to connect with those younger voters through social networking sites like Facebook. The president's official Facebook page has more than 19 million fans, and he'll become the first U.S. president to visit the massively popular company's Palo Alto headquarters when he conducts the town hall there.

Obama was expected to answer questions submitted via Facebook and read to him by a moderator, as well as some questions from a small in-person audience. Video of the event was to be streamed on the White House Facebook page.

Read more at The Huffington Post

 

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BV Round Table: Would You Let Your Boyfriend Do Your Makeup?

April 20, 2011, 7:53 am
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Black Voices HQ is in the midst of a heated debated today and we need your help to settle it.

It all started after our sister site Stylelist posted this article today about Boyfriend Makeup Tutorials.

Lately, there's been a trend on YouTube of boyfriends and husbands taking the reigns when it comes to their ladies putting on their face in the morning. After a few giggles, it quickly became clear here at Black Voices, that there's a very definite difference of opinion on the subject.


The pro/con ratio fell clearly along gender lines too, as all but one of the male staffers were firmly against it, while all of the female staffers thought it was very cute (though skeptical if they'd let the men in THEIR OWN lives do it). Here are some of the responses from our team:

Pro

"It's a sweet idea but I still don't think I'd want my boyfriend to do it."

"I don't see the big deal, if he's good at it, let him give it a try."

"I think this is so cute! I don't see what's the big deal!"

Con

"Not my style, but if that's what keeps your love alive go for it!"

"I'm all for dudes sharing intimate moments with their girlfriends, but let her do her own makeup or pay for a pro to do it for her. I prefer natural women anyway. The less makeup, the better. Maybe just a lil lipstick..."

"It's not CRAZY, but I wouldn't do it myself and I KNOW she wouldn't let me."

So now, we turn to you, dear reader. Check out the video below and tell us in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter what you think.


Cute Way to Bond or Slippery Slope to Emasculation?


 

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Lucy Florence Cultural Center struggles to stay open

April 20, 2011, 7:59 am
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Written by Rhonda Kuykendall-Jabari for Ron & Richard Harris: We are in a season of resurrection. The photo above was taken on Easter 1961; a past season of resurrection. We stood before our twin sisters with no knowledge of the many rebirths we would experience during this lifetime. We were young, protected, loved and unafraid. We stood before our twin sisters knowing nothing about the wonderful adventures in our future.

That was 50 years ago. Today, we are living proof of the Divine MotherFatherGod and the spirit of resurrection. We embrace countless lessons about life, death, fear and achievement along the way. We are boys, students, men, teachers, retail buyers, managers, dancers, coaches, designers, owners and creators. We've died and been reborn so many times we've lost count of our birthdays! This is a season of resurrection; but is it our season of resurrection?

We've lived in Los Angeles for nearly 30 years and it's our second home. Last week, we visited the original Lucy Florence (our mother) in our hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. Absence makes for interesting insight. We forgot how different things can be from city to city.

Small business is thriving in the ATL. Surprisingly, there were no invisible racial borders when it came to commerce. Money changed hands among, between, within and across ethnicities. Businesses were packed with people of different races. There was no 'Hollywood' expectation of free services to boast celebrity patrons. People didn't act like anyone owed them anything beyond the good or service for which they paid. Everyone pays and everyone benefits. Don't be mistaken, though. There was no chorus of Kumbaya, just a respectable exchange of currency for quality goods and services. You know, business.


Read more here.

 

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Remembering MC Guru Through Hip-Hop & Jazz

April 20, 2011, 9:25 am
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On a gray day in New York City, party promoter Meghan Stabile, 28, is in her home office, beginning her regular routine of multitasking. She replies to numerous emails and a constant stream of text messages and prepares for two meetings scheduled later in the evening.

The first meeting will be with DJ Premier, celebrated hip-hop producer and former member of legendary hip-hop group Gang Starr. Stabile has to edit a video interview and talk to him about plans she has for the upcoming 'Revive Da Live' tribute concert for his Gang Starr partner and MC, Keith "Guru" Elam, who died of cancer last year. After that, she's set to connect with her small staff to finalize the concert's last details.

For Stabile, the show is bittersweet. On one hand, the music of an iconic MC who died sooner than any of his fans expected will be celebrated. On the other hand, the show marks the fifth anniversary of 'Revive Da Live,' Stabile's brainchild she started as a student at Berklee College of Music in Boston.




Back when she was a music business major at Berklee, Stabile worked a part-time job as a bartender at the famed Wally's Café, a popular hangout spot and live music venue where many of Berklee's best musicians cut their teeth. There, she was introduced to jazz cats who were all her age and looked no different than the friends with whom she would hang out at hip-hop clubs. "I didn't know what jazz really was," Stabile says. "I just knew about it from whatever I saw on television, but actually being around it all the time, I just fell in love with it."

Stabile's love for the music inspired her to change up its perception. She recalls how irritated she was by her own lack of exposure to jazz until she enrolled at Berklee, and how the talent of the up-and-coming jazz musicians she saw at Wally's were being ignored by the mainstream. "I'm 20-years-old, and thinking where did this music come from? Why didn't I get exposed to it?" she recalls. "The more I thought about it, the more it started bothering me. I came to my own conclusion this is something I ultimately want to fix or fight."

In April 2006, as part of her final project in a concert promotions class, Stabile organized her first 'Revive Da Live' event in Boston. The show, which paired local MCs with the top-notch jazz musicians enrolled at Berklee, was a success. She soon followed with three more shows, but like many of her musician friends, Stabile knew New York City was where she wanted to be and where 'Revive Da Live' would really thrive.

"I moved to New York with $100," says Stabile, who spent the first six months in the Big Apple doing grunt work for booking agencies, interning at Def Jam records, and trying to recreate the magic she made in Boston with the Revive brand. Eventually through her music business connections, Stabile landed a meeting with the owners of Crash Mansion, an East Village nightclub, which resulted in her 'Revive Da Live' New York debut in February 2007.

Since then, 'Revive Da Live' has gained a cult-like following on the New York live-music scene, attracting some of the biggest names in jazz such as trumpeters Nicholas Payton and Roy Hargrove and pianist Robert Glasper. Rappers Talib Kweli and the late Guru have performed there as well. Unlike some hip-hop and jazz collaborations, one style does not overpower the other. Instead both sounds usually work together seamlessly. Despite some purists claiming that the jazz/hip-hop hybrid is not a new concept, the way 'Revive Da Live' presents the combination -- with its focus on big bands -- is wholly unique.




During the 1990's, Guru was arguably the leading proponent of merging hip-hop and jazz, releasing 'Jazzmatazz,' a four album series which fused the genres together. The Brand New Heavies (below), De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest also demonstrated a deep appreciation for jazz through their production and lyrical references. Around the same time, on the jazz front, saxophonist Branford Marsalis reached across the musical aisle with 'Buckshot LeFonque,' a group incorporating hip-hop, R&B, and others genres into the jazz fold. Miles Davis also made an effort with 'Doo-Bop,' his final studio album released in 1991. The album includes production from Easy Mo Bee, a producer most known for his work with rapper Notorious B.I.G.

What also makes 'Revive Da Live' different is that it not only has a musical mission, but there's a social aspect too. Though Stabile doesn't direct or compose any of the music played at the concert, she brings together artists from both genres in hopes that fans of both will come together in one space to appreciate the high level of hip-hop and jazz musicianship.

"The music we were doing, we were already trying to be relevant," says Igmar Thomas, 28, a trumpeter who attended Berklee with Stabile and plays professionally with both jazz and hip-hop artists. He is also co-directing the 'Revive Da Live Guru Tribute' concert band with pianist Marc Cary.

"She came in and was like the yang to our ying," he adds. "She made what we were doing relevant even to Berklee kids, because normally musicians don't check out musicians, but we were packing out shows with musicians and common folk."

The 'common folk' are the people who, much like Stabile once was, are unaware of how musical art forms like jazz and hip-hop can co-exist. "I don't think it's easy for the average person to understand the complexity of a musician and jazz music," she says. "A priority since the beginning has been getting people to appreciate and understand who these musicians are and what they play."

To help cultivate an audience who appreciates both forms, Stabile also started The Revivalist, a Website which is part of the popular hip-hop site Okayplayer and features profiles of musicians who are known in jazz circles but who have also played with some of the leading names in pop music. For example, an April 14 article features an interview with drummer Nikkie Glaspie, one of two drummers who back Beyoncé during her live shows (the other drummer is Kim Thompson).

For Stabile, the 'Revive Da Live' shows, and The Revivalist website, are two-thirds of her grand plan. The final phase is to foster an advocacy group of sorts where jazz artists are more appreciated by their more mainstream counterparts. While she won't name any specifically, Stabile is quick to vent about musicians not being treated properly by some pop artists.

"I don't think it's the artists, it's the managers that don't understand how to work with musicians," she says. "Therefore they're not treated the best." And with more mainstream artists utilizing live instrumentation to back them up as opposed to looping their songs instrumentals, Stabile's work on behalf of musicians has been just as crucial to her vision as the website and the shows.

"The core mission from the beginning was producing shows and exposing people to this combination of two genres of music that is so underground and underexposed," says Stabile. "Our whole point is to put it on a level where everybody can have access to it and know that it exists."

 

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