Woman of Interest: Rue McClanahan (1934-2010)

I will let this genius speak for herself...bye for now dear Blanche...I hope you rest well on that Lanai in the sky...

Beyonce on the Desperate Housewife (w/ Grammy's to boot)

"Why Don't You Love Me" - Beyoncé from Beyoncé on Vimeo.

Is this another installment of B's brand of scantily clad, 21st century feminism?
Are we to be empowered by this display?
Not hating at all...this is a genuine question...
What are your thoughts?
I will share mine at length once I have lived with it a little longer. As for now, I think I am living for this video! This is of course minus my cultural critique hat as I simply tap into my inner drag queen. YE$ MS. BBBBBBBBBBB! LOL!

He's BAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! JAMIE LIDELL

So excited...
Check him out...he won't disappoint: http://jamielidell.com/

Woman of Interest: Mrs. Cherry Wyley (September 6, 1923-April 3, 2010)

My dear Aunt Cherry passed away this past Saturday. I was fortunate enough to spend the last fours of her life with her. Not only will the moment when I realized she was about to take her last breathe stay with me for the rest of my life, but I will cherish all the moments we had together; especially the Sunday afternoon dinners with Mrs. Green and crew. I've known Aunt Cherry my entire life, but we became really close about ten years ago just before my Uncle Ed (her hubby) passed away in 2000. We were really like two peas and a pod! LOL! Everyday I realize how much I am like her in so many ways: feisty, ambitious, loyal and about our business (among other things)!

Words cannot express what she has meant to me over the years. She's dropped so many pearls of wisdom and surrounded me with so much love and support...it just warms my heart to think about hearing her raspy voice...so Brooklyn...so Black Jewish lady! LOL! Aunt Cherry loved her Matzahs! Although I will miss her, I am happy that she is in a better place with the loves of her life: her Lord and her Ed.

One of my favorite Cherry Wyley sayings is what she told me she used to say to Uncle Ed all the time, "Love me less, understand me more!" YES! I could not have put it better or more plainly. Every time I hear that...I think to myself, "Aunt Cherry gets me and I get her! That's why I love her so and she loves me."

Aunt Cherry...I love you and already miss you terribly but I am so glad that you stopped by this way a little while to show us how this life thing should be done...to the fullest! I think I am going to hit up some conventions and take some cruises in your honor...I may even finally learn how to play Pinochle and the rules of parliamentary procedure! You were good at and knowledgeable of so many things and did not take anybody's junk but you also knew how to really have fun...even when you were not feeling your best. Not only that, I admire the way you shared your love with us (me, son Stevie and others) and sang hymns and praises even until the very end. You were and continue to be a shining example to me...I will never, ever forget you. Truly, we are all going to miss you because the work you've done will continue to speak for you. Rest in Peace...

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. Proverbs 31:10

Woman of Interest: Yes Ms. Stanwyck! (Absolutely!)

Per Mr. Ebert's recommendation, check out this awesome scene between Henry Fonda and the amazing Barbara Stanwyck...hot like pepper and hilarious, to boot! ;-)

parlez-vous francais? or My Epic Fail Turned Inspiration

Being a resident of such a diverse city like NYC, I am often stopped on the street by people of various ethnic backgrounds and nationalities who claim that I remind them of home. Where is home? As long as they are brown, it doesn't really matter. I am sized up by folks from Trinidad, South Africa...even southern India. It all depends on how I am wearing my hair that day (see photos)! Honestly, I am flattered when this happens to me. I like to think of myself as a world citizen so, if a bunch of different peeps think we are some kin...I AM ALL FOR IT!



I am sure you are asking yourself, "where is all this coming from?" Well, today I had another one of these moments. A couple approached me though they did not come out and say, "you're like home." Still, they scanned the drugstore we were in for a person that looked familiar, sized me up and then asked a sizable question in French; a french dialect that sounded West African and beautiful to me. I looked at the woman puzzled. "Do you speak French?" she said in her best English. "NO...well...un peu," I said in my twelve year old voice. "D'accord"...my little was obviously good enough for her to launch into asking me another very detailed question in French! But here's the funny part...I knew exactly what she was saying: "Do you know if they sell IMAN cosmetics here?" Unfortunately, I could not say anything comprehensible back to her. Instead,I started into the embarrassing pantomiming that New Yorkers tend to do when trying to direct an international guest towards the right direction. I almost panicked until her husband came over to me and asked in English, "Where can she get it?" with a big ole smile! I told him. They both thanked me and gave me the warmest smile...like we were family. I felt better and kind of fell in love with them for a second. I can be super sentimental at times. Still, I had failed to use the French that I have been studying and practicing off and on for the past couple of years. The VERY language that I hope to use in my research on women of the African Diaspora and how they communicate in beauty salons! HELLO...MCFLY!




Though I played the fool yet again, I learned three important lessons today:
1. I NEED TO PRACTICE MY FRENCH EVERYDAY OR I WILL TURN INTO A BABBLING IDIOT LIKE I DID TODAY AND ON MY LAST TRIP TO THE SOUTH OF FRANCE.
2. I SHOULD NOT ABANDON THE RESEARCH PROJECT THAT I HAVE BEEN WANTING TO DO ON DIASPORIC SUBJECTIVITIES AND THE BEAUTY INDUSTRY.
3. BE YE ALSO READY!



And that is how you learn from your failures folks! That is all. ;-)

Woman of Interest: Ms. Jackson (if your nasty, of course)

I would be lying if I told you Janet Jackson was not a huge influence on me as a young performer. In fact, she was very much the prototype for a triple threat(behind Ms. Debbie Allen of course...more on her later) when I was a teenager. However, as I got older and became more "refined", I began downplaying the impact she had on me. Besides, she was "just" a pop icon and I had begun discovering greats like Sarah, Ella and Billie as a singer and Babs, Chita and Patti LuPone as a triple threat performer. Still, looking back I remember those days in the mirror "trying" to do all of Tina's choreography (especially the one in the video above! LOL!); not so much! Ironically, as a member of Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera's Mini-Stars, "Rhythm Nation" was one of my biggest solos; which gave me a chance to perform her dope choreography on a regular basis in front of people other than my Cabbge Patch doll! Although I was merely fifteen years old at the time, this solo is still a career highlight for me.

I could really go on and on about all of my JJ moments: the concerts, the DVDs, the cassettes then CDs...the first time I heard "That's the Way Love Goes" while sitting in the beauty salon getting my hair done for my senior prom! The bottom line is this: Ms. Janet is an icon who is very much her brother's sister...she has more than proven herself worthy of her last name...she can go toe to toe with the best of them because she resides among them in the Pantheon of American Performing Artists...I've seen her in concert...the woman is no joke....and she was Penny for goodness sake!

Unfortunately, as our pop icons get older they are forced to make decisions about their career that can either make or break them. Ms. Jackson has been no exception as she too has struggled to make the adjustment like so many of her predecessors and contemporaries. How do you continue to portray powerful and sexy at 40ish in a business that glorifies 20ishness? Who knows...no matter what...we can't deny the amazing body of work Janet has already given us. Though she continues to make the transition into her full womanly awesomeness, I am sure she has got decades worth of greatness still in her to give. I can't wait to see what she does next besides "Why Did I Get Married Too!" I aint hatin...I'ma be up in that show...#imjustsayin