Saturday, February 28, 2009

Thursday, February 26, 2009

ANNE BRADEN


ANNE BRADEN (1924-2006) was a journalist, organizer, educator and one of the earliest and most dedicated white allies of the Civil Rights Movement.

Braden was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 28, 1924, but grew up in the more segregated town of Anniston, Alabama with her middle-class family. She was bothered by racial segregation at an early age but didn’t question it until her college years at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Virginia.

After college, she worked as a newspaper reporter in Birmingham, covering the courthouse. The lack of harmony between the Bible and the racist practices of her community troubled her, motivating her to leave the deep South. In 1947, Braden moved to Louisville to work for the Louisville Times. She found that although blacks there could vote and sit where they wished on buses, race relations were otherwise very similar to what she had experienced farther south. The following year, she married newspaperman Carl Braden.

In 1948, the Bradens worked on Henry Wallace’s presidential campaign. Following his defeat, they left journalism to devote themselves fully to the Progressive Party. Anne also fought civil rights abuses. In 1951, she was arrested for leading a delegation of Southern white women organized by the Civil Rights Congress to protest the execution of Willie McGhee, a black man convicted of allegedly raping a white woman.

In 1954, the Bradens agreed to purchase a home for Andrew and Charlotte Wade, a black couple who wanted to buy a house in a suburban neighborhood but had been unsuccessful because of Jim Crow housing practices. On May 15 (just two days before Brown v. Board of Education), the Wades spent their first night in their new home
in the Louisville suburb of Shively, but once their white neighbors discovered that blacks had moved in, they burned a cross in front of the house, shot the windows and condemned the Bradens for buying it for them. Six weeks later, the Wades’ home was dynamited while they were out one evening. The bombers were never sought nor brought to trial, although Vernon Brown, an associate of both the Wades and the Bradens was indicted. In October of that year, the Bradens and five other whites were charged with sedition after the ordeal was said to stem from the Communist Party support in the Wades’ housing quest.

Carl was the perceived ringleader and was convicted and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Anne and the others awaited their sentencing while Carl served eight months but was out on a $40,000 bond when the Supreme Court invalidated state sedition laws. All charges were dropped and the Wades moved back to Louisville.

The Bradens then took jobs as field organizers for the Southern Conference Educational Fund (SCEF), a small, New Orleans-based civil rights organization whose mission was to solicit white Southern support for the Civil Rights Movement. Before Southern civil rights violations made national news, the Bradens developed their own media through the SCEF’s monthly newspaper, The Southern Patriot, and through numerous pamphlets and press releases publicizing major civil rights campaigns.

In 1958, Anne wrote The Wall Between, a memoir of their sedition case. It was one of the few books of its time to unpack the psychology of white Southern racism from within and was praised by human rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Eleanor Roosevelt, and became a runner-up for the National Book Award, one of the highest literary prizes in the United States. Although their radical politics marginalized them among many of their own generation, the Bradens were reclaimed by young student activists of the 1960s, and in his ‘‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail,’’ King singled out Anne as one of the white Southerners who understood and was committed to the Civil Rights Movement.

After Carl’s death in 1975, Anne remained among the nation’s most outspoken white anti-racist activists. She instigated the formation of a new regional multiracial organization, the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice (SOC), which initiated battles against environmental racism. She became an instrumental voice in the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition of the 1980s and in the two Jesse Jackson presidential campaigns, as well as organizing across racial divides in the new environmental, women’s and anti-nuclear movements that sprang up in that decade.

In 1990, Braden received the American Civil Liberties Union’s first Roger Baldwin Medal of Liberty for her contributions to civil liberties. Her activism focused more on Louisville in her later years, where she reamined a leader in anti-racist drives and taught social justice history classes at local universities. Braden died on March 6, 2006. On April 4, of the following year, the Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research opened at the University of Louisville, focused on social justice globally but concentrating on the Southern U.S. and particularly the Louisville area. Over her nearly six decades of activism, Braden’s life touched almost every modern U.S. social movement, and her message to them all was the centrality of racism and the responsibility of whites to combat it.


RELATED LINKS / REFERENCES: Wikipedia, Anne Braden Institute
PHOTO CREDIT: ( The Independent )

Solange and son Julez backstage at Chicago House of Blues on Wednesday night.




MOMMY & SON... THEY LOOK CUTE......

Jadakiss - Letter To B.I.G. (feat. Faith Evans)




The official video for Jadakiss' "Letter To B.I.G." featuring Faith Evans, from the NOTORIOUS original motion picture soundtrack, in stores now. The song will also be on Jada's The Last Kiss album scheduled for a March 10th release date.

Directed by Va$htie.

Jadakiss - Can't Stop Me



Jadakiss releases his video for his second official single "Can't Stop Me", from his upcoming third studio album titled The Last Kiss scheduled to be released March 10th.

Directed by Marc Klasfield.

DJ Drama - Day Dreaming (feat. Akon, Snoop Dogg & T.I.)





DJ Drama releases his video for his first single "Day Dreaming" featuring Akon, Snoop Dogg, and T.I., from his sophomore album Gangsta Grillz: The Album II coming soon.

Directed by RAGE.

DJ Drama - Day Dreaming (feat. Akon, Snoop Dogg & T.I.)





DJ Drama releases his video for his first single "Day Dreaming" featuring Akon, Snoop Dogg, and T.I., from his sophomore album Gangsta Grillz: The Album II coming soon.

Directed by RAGE.

JAMIE & TPAIN BLAME IT.. DIRECTED BY HYPE WILLIAMS




A HOST OF BIG WIGS IN THE VIDEO

Ron Howard, Quincy Jones, Forest Whitaker, Jake Gyllenhaal, Morris Chesnut, Tatyana Ali, and Bill Bellamy.

THIS IS A REAL GOOD CLUB VIDEO.....

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

PRESIDENT OBAMA ADDRESSES A JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS

















The President is gearing up to give his first address to a joint session of Congress tonight (it's not technically a State of the Union, since it's the first year of his administration).

Read an excerpt of his address below, and see the names of the Americans who will be seated in the First Lady’s box during the President’s remarks.

The First Lady and her guests

White House photo 2/24/09 by Pete Souza
Excerpts:

While our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.

"The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure. What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.



We have lived through an era where too often, short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity; where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election. A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future. Regulations were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market. People bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway. And all the while, critical debates and difficult decisions were put off for some other time on some other day.

Well that day of reckoning has arrived, and the time to take charge of our future is here.

Now is the time to act boldly and wisely – to not only revive this economy, but to build a new foundation for lasting prosperity. Now is the time to jumpstart job creation, re-start lending, and invest in areas like energy, health care, and education that will grow our economy, even as we make hard choices to bring our deficit down. That is what my economic agenda is designed to do, and that’s what I’d like to talk to you about tonight.


The recovery plan and the financial stability plan are the immediate steps we’re taking to revive our economy in the short-term. But the only way to fully restore America’s economic strength is to make the long-term investments that will lead to new jobs, new industries, and a renewed ability to compete with the rest of the world. The only way this century will be another American century is if we confront at last the price of our dependence on oil and the high cost of health care; the schools that aren’t preparing our children and the mountain of debt they stand to inherit. That is our responsibility.

In the next few days, I will submit a budget to Congress. So often, we have come to view these documents as simply numbers on a page or laundry lists of programs. I see this document differently. I see it as a vision for America – as a blueprint for our future.

My budget does not attempt to solve every problem or address every issue. It reflects the stark reality of what we’ve inherited – a trillion dollar deficit, a financial crisis, and a costly recession.

Given these realities, everyone in this chamber – Democrats and Republicans – will have to sacrifice some worthy priorities for which there are no dollars. And that includes me.

But that does not mean we can afford to ignore our long-term challenges. I reject the view that says our problems will simply take care of themselves; that says government has no role in laying the foundation for our common prosperity.


Yesterday, I held a fiscal summit where I pledged to cut the deficit in half by the end of my first term in office. My administration has also begun to go line by line through the federal budget in order to eliminate wasteful and ineffective programs. As you can imagine, this is a process that will take some time. But we’re starting with the biggest lines. We have already identified two trillion dollars in savings over the next decade.

In this budget, we will end education programs that don’t work and end direct payments to large agribusinesses that don’t need them. We’ll eliminate the no-bid contracts that have wasted billions in Iraq, and reform our defense budget so that we’re not paying for Cold War-era weapons systems we don’t use. We will root out the waste, fraud, and abuse in our Medicare program that doesn’t make our seniors any healthier, and we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas.


I know that we haven’t agreed on every issue thus far, and there are surely times in the future when we will part ways. But I also know that every American who is sitting here tonight loves this country and wants it to succeed. That must be the starting point for every debate we have in the coming months, and where we return after those debates are done. That is the foundation on which the American people expect us to build common ground.


But in my life, I have also learned that hope is found in unlikely places; that inspiration often comes not from those with the most power or celebrity, but from the dreams and aspirations of Americans who are anything but ordinary.

I think about Leonard Abess, the bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him. He didn’t tell anyone, but when the local newspaper found out, he simply said, ''I knew some of these people since I was 7 years old. I didn't feel right getting the money myself."

I think about Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado, but is being rebuilt by its residents as a global example of how clean energy can power an entire community – how it can bring jobs and businesses to a place where piles of bricks and rubble once lay. "The tragedy was terrible," said one of the men who helped them rebuild. "But the folks here know that it also provided an incredible opportunity."

And I think about Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school I visited in Dillon, South Carolina – a place where the ceilings leak, the paint peels off the walls, and they have to stop teaching six times a day because the train barrels by their classroom. She has been told that her school is hopeless, but the other day after class she went to the public library and typed up a letter to the people sitting in this room. She even asked her principal for the money to buy a stamp. The letter asks us for help, and says, "We are just students trying to become lawyers, doctors, congressmen like yourself and one day president, so we can make a change to not just the state of South Carolina but also the world. We are not quitters.

Monday, February 23, 2009

PRESIDENT & FIRST LADY HOST FIRST BLACK-TIE DINNER




President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama enter the East Room for entertainment after a black-tie dinner at the White House on Sunday in Washington, DC.

The Obamas gave their first formal White House dinner as hosts to the National Governors Association which has been holding their 2009 winter meeting discussing Obama’s stimulus program, health care, infrastructure and education.

BEYONCE KNOWLES




81ST ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS - (ARRIVALS & SHOW)

Saturday, February 21, 2009

SHE'SSSSSSSS BACK........RIHANNA BABY





After almost two weeks of hiding from the public, Rihanna was spotted in Los Angeles heading to an airport on Thursday - the same day a photo of her with bruises on her face released to the public.

The singer finally released a statement to fans on Friday (her 21st birthday) via her spokesperson:

At the request of the authorities, Rihanna is not commenting about the incident involving Chris Brown. She wants to assure her fans that she remains strong, is doing well, and deeply appreciates the outpouring of support she has received during this difficult time.

Friday, February 20, 2009

DIE BUTCHER SLIM SKIN HIGH TOP SNEAKERS | RED PATENT

MR WEST SPEAKS WITH SWAY

KID CUDI - DAY ‘N’ NITE

UPDATE: PICTURE OF A BATTERED RIHANNA



After much speculation about the seriousness of Rihanna’s injuries in Los Angeles, TMZ.com obtained a photo of a battered Rihanna after the obviously violent altercation with boyfriend, Chris Brown.

As reported, Chris was charged with one count felony criminal threats (more charges could be added after the DA is finished reviewing the case) and is expected to attend court on March 5th in Los Angeles. The 19 year-old has hired popular defense attorney, Mark Geragos to represent him.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

REGINALD F. LEWIS (1942-1993) BLACK HISTORY





REGINALD F. LEWIS (1942-1993) was a businessman and corporate attorney. He was the first black person to build a billion dollar company and also a prominent philanthropist.

Lewis was born December 7, 1942, in East Baltimore. His family encouraged him to “be the best that you can be” and stressed the value of education at an early age.

In high school, Lewis was elected vice president of the student body. He was also a hard-working student and quarterback of the football team, shortstop on the baseball team, a forward on the basketball team and was team captain of all three.

After graduating in 1961, Lewis attended Virginia State University on a football scholarship. An injury cut his football career short and he focused on school and work. While working as a photographer’s sales assistant, he generated so much business that he was offered a partnership. Lewis declined because he bad bigger things in mind for the future — a handwritten schedule he kept stated: “To be a good lawyer, one must study HARD.” And he did, graduating on the dean’s list his senior year.

In 1965, the Rockefeller Foundation funded a summer school program at Harvard Law School to introduce a select number of black students to legal studies.

Lewis was accepted and he made such an impression that he was invited to attend Harvard Law School that fall — the only person in the history of the school to be admitted before applying. During his third year at Harvard Law, Lewis discovered the direction his career would take as the result of a course on securities law. His senior year thesis on mergers and acquisitions received an honors grade.

Following graduating, Lewis landed a job practicing corporate law with a prestigious New York law firm. But within two years, he and two others had established Wall Street’s first black law firm — Murphy, Thorpe & Lewis.

Lewis wanted to “do the deals myself”, so he established TLC Group, L.P. in 1983. His first successful venture was the $22.5 million dollar leveraged buyout of McCall Pattern Company, a struggling business in a declining industry. Lewis streamlined operations, increased marketing and led the company to two of the most profitable years in McCall’s history. In the summer of 1987, he sold the company for $65 million, making a 90 to 1 return on his investment
.

Lewis then purchased the international division of Beatrice Foods (64 companies in 31 countries) in August 1987. After closing the deal in December 1987, Lewis re-branded the corporation as TLC Beatrice International, Inc. At $985 million, the deal was the largest offshore leveraged buyout ever by an American company. As Chairman and CEO, Lewis moved quickly to reposition the company, pay down the debt and vastly increase the company’s worth. With revenues of $1.5 billion, TLC Beatrice made it to Fortune’s 500 and was first on the Black Enterprise List of Top 100 African-American owned businesses. It also became the first black-owned company to have more than $1 billion in annual sales.

Lewis chose to donate to his most cherished causes.

In 1987, he created the Reginald Lewis Foundation which donated $10 million to various non-profit organizations. He also made an unsolicited gift of $1 million to Howard University, an institution he never attended. His 1992 gift of $3 million to Harvard University Law School was the largest single donation in its history. The gift created the Reginald Lewis Fund for International Study and Research and the Reginald F. Lewis International Law Center.

He had also expressed a desire to support a museum of African-American culture. In 2002, the Maryland State Legislature allocated $32 million dollars for a museum of Maryland African-American history and culture. The Foundation donated $5 million to the endeavor to support education programs
and when the museum opened in June 2005, it was named the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History and Culture.

Unfortunately, Lewis never saw his desire come to fruition. He died unexpectedly at the age of 50 of a cerebral hemorrhage related to cancer on January 19, 1993, in New York. He was interred at New Cathedral Cemetery in his hometown of Baltimore. His headstone includes his personal mantra, “Keep going, no matter what.”

Once called “the Jackie Robinson of deal making”, Lewis took issue with that description. He responded by saying:

“To carry around the notion that if I fail it’s going to mean that no other black person will ever have a similar opportunity, or that if I succeed, it’s going to open a floodgate of opportunity for other black Americans, misses the point.

If our work is perceived as an indication of how we can function in a global, competitive situation, that’s nice. But I’ve always believed that anyway.”

“Why Should White Guys Have All the Fun?”: How Reginald Lewis Created a Billion-Dollar Business Empire was published in 1994, based on Lewis’ unfinished autobiography and interviews from his family, friends, colleagues and employees.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

KANYE & AMBER ROSE




THEY LOOK GOOD TOGETHER

KANYE WEST ft. KID CUDI - “WELCOME TO HEARTBREAK” DOPE


KANYE WEST "Welcome To Heartbreak" Directed by Nabil from nabil elderkin on Vimeo.

POLITICS: PRES. OBAMA SIGNS ECONOMIC STIMULUS BILL




Pres. Barack Obama signs the economic stimulus bill on Tuesday in Denver, Colorado.

The $787 billion plan will fund infrastructure projects, renewable energy projects and health care
, as well as increase unemployment benefits and provide for tax breaks.





The Obama administration has launched a new website, recovery.gov to offer full transparency and accountability that will track the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s progress along the way.


Monday, February 16, 2009

Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant, Beyonce and Jay-Z


attend Sprite’s 3rd Annual “Two Kings” Dinner & After Party on Saturday night in Arizona.

CHRIS BROWN SPEAKS


The following statement was issued by a spokesman on behalf of Chris Brown on Sunday (February 15):

“Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired. I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God’s help, to emerging a better person. Much of what has been speculated or reported on blogs and/or reported in the media is wrong. While I would like to be able to talk about this more, until the legal issues are resolved, this is all I can say except that I have not written any messages or made any posts to Facebook, on blogs or any place else. Those posts or writings under my name are frauds.” [source]

As reported, Chris was charged with one count felony criminal threats (more charges could be added after the DA is finished reviewing the case) and is expected to attend court on March 5th in Los Angeles. The 19 year-old has hired popular defense attorney, Mark Geragos to represent him.

DOPE K WEST

Thursday, February 12, 2009

MR WEST TALKS ABOUT CHRIS & RIHANNA. GAY RUMORS. THANKS Q DEZZY


Kanye visits Big Boy's Neighborhood (Talks about Chris Brown,Rihanna,and Gay rumors) from qdeezy on Vimeo.

40 years' worth of thanks



The firefighter crawled on his stomach through the pitch-black apartment, the smoke so thick he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Somewhere inside was a baby and he had to find her.

Discuss
COMMENTS (295)
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A window broke, light filled the room, and he saw her lying in her crib, dressed only in a diaper, unconscious. Soot covered her tiny nose. She wasn't breathing and had no pulse.

He grabbed her and breathed life into her as he ran from the apartment.

A newspaper photograph captured their image - a white firefighter from South Boston with his lips pressed to the mouth of a black baby from the Roxbury public housing development - at a time when riots sparked by racial tensions were burning down American cities.

But despite this most intimate of introductions, they remained strangers. William Carroll won a commendation for the rescue, stayed on the job another 34 years, and retired. Evangeline Harper grew up, lost her family to drugs and illness, had six children of her own, and became a nursing and teaching assistant. And through it all someone would often tell her the story about the day she almost died and the man who would not let it happen. She always wanted to meet him and say thank you.

Yesterday, more than 40 years after the fire, she finally did.

In the neighborhood where they first met, Carroll, a slim 71-year-old, got out of his car, dressed in a navy blue uniform he had borrowed from a fellow firefighter, strode up to the 40-year-old woman, and beamed.

"You've grown a lot since the last time I saw you," he said, laughing and putting out his hand. She smiled, gently took his hand, and looked at him almost shyly.

"Thank you so much for remembering me," he told her.

Then he pulled her into a tight embrace and they held on to each other as they stood on Keegan Street, just a few yards from where he had carried her limp body decades ago.

"Thank you so much," she said softly.

The Globe arranged the meeting after Evangeline Harper, now Evangeline Anderson, introduced herself to a reporter at a community meeting and asked for help tracking down Carroll.

Anderson, who now lives in Dorchester, had tried twice before to locate the firefighter, first when she was 18, after her adoptive mother told her about the rescue, and again right after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

She tried to get his address from the Fire Department, but they said they could not give out personal information. She left her name and phone number, but never heard back.

"I thought, 'Oh, forget it. He probably doesn't remember," she said. " 'He's not interested.' .


That could not have been further from the truth.

Discuss
COMMENTS (295)
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PHOTO GALLERY

Fighting Newton's blaze
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"Evangeline Harper," Carroll said. "I'll never forget her name if I live to be 100 years old."

He heard once that she had been trying to get in touch with him, but somehow her phone number was lost and he did not know how to reach her.

For a while, Anderson stopped looking. Then, she heard the news about Lieutenant Kevin M. Kelley, the firefighter who was killed in January after his firetruck crashed into a Mission Hill building.

" 'Oh my God, this could have been this gentleman, and I never got a chance to say thank you,' " she recalled thinking. "I didn't want him to leave this earth or I to leave this earth without saying thank you."

Yesterday, she brought her youngest child, 6-year-old Reginald, and her godmother, Jacqueline Greer, who witnessed the rescue. For the meeting, Anderson swept her hair in a curly updo and carefully applied lip gloss.

The women brought Carroll a giant stuffed bear, and a thank-you card tucked inside an envelope addressed "To Our Hero."

Richard Paris, vice president of the firefighters union, stood nearby with Carroll's wife and little Reginald, who kicked at the frozen snow on the sidewalk as Greer, Carroll, and Anderson reminisced about the neighborhood. Gone were the brick high-rises that had once formed Orchard Park. In their place were two-level attached apartments painted in pastels and browns.

"I haven't been here in so long," Carroll said.

No one could remember exactly what started the fire on Nov. 7, 1968, but Greer said it began in the family's kitchen. Carroll, who was assigned to Engine 3, heard the report of children trapped in a burning building.

When Carroll arrived, Greer was at the scene, screaming and crying hysterically.

Carroll saved Evangeline, while Firefighter Charles Connolly rescued her 17-month-old brother, Gerry, and handed him to Lieutenant Joseph O'Donnell, who gave the boy mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

"He just cared," Greer, now 60, said of Carroll. "It wasn't that the child was black or she was white. It was a child and he was trying his best to bring her back her life."

Yesterday, both remembered who was missing from the reunion. Connolly and O'Donnell died long ago of heart problems. Anderson's brother Gerry succumbed to pneumonia as a toddler. Her grief-stricken mother turned to drugs for comfort, and died of an overdose at age 25. Her two sisters died young of natural causes. Last year, Anderson lost both her adoptive mother and uncle.

"I wish my friends . . . were here," Carroll said. "But they're up there watching over us."

"That's what I say about my family," Anderson said.

The two quickly built a rapport. He asked about her children, and she told him her eldest son was studying forensic science in college and how musical her other children are.

He told her he wanted to get to know her, and she promised to cook him some soul food.

"Oh, baby," he said, laughing. "I love it, but my stomach don't."

Carroll then took the group for lunch at Florian Hall, the union's headquarters, where Carroll still goes every week for coffee with friends or to help fellow retirees with healthcare questions. Over sandwiches, the group looked at old black-and-white photos of that day and traded stories about the challenges of raising children.

Carroll bonded with Anderson's son, who drew a picture of himself holding Carroll's hand.

Parting in the parking lot, Carroll hugged Greer and Anderson and told Reginald to call him.

"There's your new grandpa," Anderson said to her son.

"What a beautiful day," the retired firefighter said as he turned and walked back inside.

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.

Robin Thicke- Dreamworld

THE DREAM "ROCKIN THAT THANG"

Jennifer Hudson’s new video for “If This Isn’t Love,”

NINA MAE MCKINNEY






Born Nannie Mayme McKinney in Lancaster, South Carolina, McKinney was raised by her grandmother near the estate of Col. LeRoy Sanders, where her family had worked for several generations. When she was 12, her parents who were living in New York, sent for her. At 16, McKinney performed in the chorus line of the Lew Leslies Blackbirds. It was there that director King Vidor cast her in the lead role of Hallelujah!, one of the first all-black films by a major studio.

McKinney originated the stereotype of the “Black Temptress” in the role for Hallelujah! At the time, she was only 17 years old, and the young beauty was given a five-year contract with Metro-Golden-Myers (MGM). During this time, she fell into deep exploitation and oppression common to black women in Hollywood. Unfortunately, McKinney was a leading lady in an industry that had no leading roles for a black woman.

Known for her big, bright eyes and charismatic, full of life personality, McKinney became the first black movie star, sex symbol and recognized beautiful black actress by not only the black community, but also by Hollywood.

The studio, however, seemed reluctant to star her in feature films. In fact, her most notable roles during this period were in films for other studios, including a leading role in Sanders of the River in 1935, where she appears with PAUL ROBESON.

After MGM cut almost all her scenes in Reckless (1935), she left Hollywood for Europe where she acted and danced, appearing mostly in theatrical shows and cabaret. Billed as the “Black Garbo” (after popular actress GRETA GARBO), McKinney was well received by audiences abroad.

She returned to the United States at the start of World War II where she married Jimmy Monroe, a jazz musician. She appeared in many indie films in America including Pie Pie Blackbird with EUBIE BLAKE. After the war, she moved to Athens, Greece, and lived there until she returned to New York in 1960.

On May 3, 1967, McKinney died of a heart attack and the news of her death went unnoticed in the industry and the media at large, except for a small notice in a local paper. In 1978, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. However, her films are difficult to find.

Sunday, February 8, 2009

GOOD FRIENDS/BIG $

VERIZON & BLACKBERRY’S PRE-GRAMMY PARTY





NBA reads blogs, takes away LeBron's MSG triple-double

Lest anyone get confused, let me make this perfectly clear; I'm kidding about the headline. The NBA didn't necessarily make this change because they read Ball Don't Lie, FanHouse or any other NBA blog. But hey, feel free to humor us ...
After 40 hours of intense, meticulous review, the NBA announced today that a statistical error was made during the Cavaliers-Knicks game on Feb. 4 at Madison Square Garden. The boo-boo? Exactly what we pointed out to you on Thursday — a Knicks' scorekeeper incorrectly crediting LeBron James with this, his ninth rebound:



Due to the correction, James finished Wednesday's game with just nine rebounds — one board short of a historic triple-double. This, of course, is really bad news for the rest of league. Why? Because knowing the way LeBron operates, he'll probably now make it his personal mission to lead the league in rebounds.
This bear needs no poking.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

LISA RAYE IS ABOUT TO LET IT ALL OUT


ABOUT HER EX HUSBAND

EUBIE BLAKE (1887-1983)


EUBIE BLAKE (1887-1983) was one of the most important figures in early-20th-century music, and one whose longevity made him a storehouse of the history of ragtime and early jazz music and culture.

Born to former slaves on February 7, 1887, Blake was the only surviving child of eight who all died in infancy. His musical training began when he was only about four years old. hile out shopping with his mother, he wandered into a music store, climbed on the bench of an organ, and started foolin’ around. When his mother found him, the store manager said to her: “The child is a genius! It would be criminal to deprive him of the chance to make use of such a sublime, God-given talent.”

The Blakes purchased a pump organ for $75.00 making payments of 25 cents a week. When Blake was seven, he received music lessons from a neighbor. At 15, without knowledge of his parents, Blake played piano at Aggie Shelton’s Baltimore bordello. Blake composed the melody to “Sounds of Africa” (later retitled “Charleston Rag”) around the same time.

In July 1910, Blake married Avis Elizabeth Cecelia Lee (1881–1938), proposing to her in a chauffeur-driven car he hired. Blake and Lee had met about 15 years before while attending Primary School No. 2 in Baltimore. Blake brought his wife to Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he had already found employment at the Boathouse nightclub.

His career did not really take off until he met Noble Sissle in 1915. Together, Blake and Sissle wrote many hits. Blake also collaborated with Andy Razaf (on “Memories of You”), Henry Creamer, and other writers, composing more than 350 songs.

Blake and Sissle began work on a musical revue, Shuffle Along, which incorporated many songs they had written, and had a book written by F. E. Miller and Aubrey Lyles. When it premiered in June 1921, Shuffle Along became the first hit musical on Broadway written by and about African-Americans. The musicals also introduced hit songs such as “I’m Just Wild About Harry” and “Love Will Find a Way.”

In 1938, Avis was diagnosed with tuberculosis and died later that year at 58. Of his loss, Blake is on record saying:

“In my life I never knew what it was to be alone. At first when Avis got sick, I thought she just had a cold, but when time passed and she didn’t get better, I made her go to a doctor and we found out she had TB … I suppose I knew from when we found out she had the TB, I understood that it was just a matter of time.”

Blake continued to play and record into late life. As one of the principle figures of the ragtime and early jazz revival of the 1970s, he gave talks and performances well into his nineties. In 1979, the musical Eubie was created from his work and Blake himself made several cameo appearances in performances. He died in 1983 in Brooklyn just five days after celebrating his claimed 100th birthday, actually his 96th. Every official document issued by the government, records his birthday as February 7, 1887. However, Blake claimed to be born in 1883. He was interred in the Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Raphael Saadiq- 100 Yard dash

BOW WOW PUTS SOUL BOY N HIS PLACE

50 Cent Talks With Rick Ross Baby Mama & Takes Her Shopping



HE KILLED ROSS

Garden party: Kobe’s 61 sets MSG record




NEW YORK (AP)—Kobe Bryant broke the current Madison Square Garden record with 61 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers looked plenty potent without Andrew Bynum in a 126-117 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday night.

Bryant teased and pleased a sold-out crowd that took turns booing him and saluting him during an electrifying performance with chants of “MVP! MVP!” He passed Michael Jordan’s opponent record of 55 points at the present building, known as “Garden IV,” when he hit three free throws with 3:56 remaining, then bettered Bernard King’s mark of 60, set on Christmas Day 1984, with two more foul shots with 2:33 to play.

Bryant, who also finished with the highest-scoring game in the NBA this season, left to a loud ovation after the 24th 50-point game of his career.

OFFICER RICKY PT 1 50 CENT COMES BACK

SHE'S BACK........


In her first public appearance since the tragic murders of her mother, brother and nephew last October, Oscar winner and Grammy nominated star Jennifer Hudson gave a stunning performance of the National Anthem before Super Bowl XLIII on Sunday, February 1st. (View video when you keep reading..)

Jennifer is currently working on her new video, “If This Isn’t Love” and released some behind the scenes photos last week. Go J. Hud!!

Quincy Harris Live Fox 29 7:00am - 10:am

Quincy Harris Live Fox 29 7:00am - 10:am