Kool Cats And Hip Chicks

Tina Allen is no longer with us but her sculptures can be seen around the world.

We celebrate the 84th birthday and the official holiday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by presenting some of his famous speeches and interviews. While we remember the man, let’s also reflect upon his words. You can also read the text and hear King’s delivery of his famous “I Have A Dream” speech here.

Here is a documentary produced in 2011 by the BBC on Janet Jackson. Enjoy!

Widely recognized as the impresario of Black arts and culture, Ellis B. Haizlip devoted a lifetime of artistic excellence to the communication of Black perspectives through stage and television productions. His mission, in his own words, was “to sensitize and involve the total community in the lifestyle and rhythm” of Black Americans.

As I have already stated, I am an Olympics junkie. So I diligently watched most of the coverage, and as always, cheered loudly for Team USA. Although, I must admit I screamed a little louder for the brothers and sisters who represented our country so brilliantly. Okay, so I celebrated a little more exuberantly for my girls, because they did some serious work at these games. The London games were billed as the year of the woman, and on this measure they did not disappoint.

Albert Cornelius Freeman Jr. was born March 21, 1934, in San Antonio, where he lived with his mother after she and his father, a jazz pianist, divorced. He served in the Air Force and attended Los Angeles City College before heading to New York for theater roles.

Darkest of night with the moon shining bright. There’s a set goin’ strong lotta things goin’ on. The man of the hour has an air of great power. The dudes have envied him for so long…Super Fly!

Yes I love Super Fly! I loved Ron O’Neal’s portrayal of this really Kool Cat who was a street hustling cocaine dealer who wanted nothing more than to get out of the game. The Museum of UnCut Funk celebrates the 40th anniversary of Super Fly, on August 4, 2012.

When you think of Black people who have earned the title of being “THE FIRST (Fill In The Blank)” as it relates to sports, legends like Jack Johnson, Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson and Arthur Ashe come to mind. These athletes are historically significant because they broke the color barrier in their respective sports and in the face of very difficult odds went on to become champions. Simply put, they rose above adversity to become the best of the best.

Sherman Hemsley will best be remembered for his incomparable portrayal of George Jefferson, the short, militant, sharp-toungued, chauvinistic, politically incorrect, HNIC on the sitcom The Jeffersons.

I am an Olympics junkie. I especially love the summer Olympics, being a track and field fanatic, so this is one of my favorite times in sports. One of the things that I love most about the Olympics is hearing the stories of the athletes. Rarely in sports do you get the back story about the athletes and their struggles to make the team. Then you get to watch their journey as they strive to be the best they can be and beat the best in the world. A very compelling sports two-fer. Most of the stories center around personal triumph or tragedy. However, sometimes the stories are much bigger than the individual athlete and are of greater global importance. And sometimes these stories change history.

Larry Levan was the man that made NYC and the rest of the world move. He was the legendary mix master at The Paradise Garage, also known as The Garage to those of us who had the opportunity to dance there until the sun came up.

The list of Black female Grand Slam tennis champions is a very short one. So is the list of Black female Olympic tennis champions. Among this very select group of Black female athletes is Althea Gibson and the Williams Sisters. Althea Gibson paved the way for all Blacks in tennis to follow. Venus and Serena have literally picked up the ball and crushed it.

E. Simms Campbell was one of the first commercial Black artists in the US, with a career that stretched from the early 1930s to the late 1960s.

Nathan Cliff Heard was born in Newark on Nov. 7, 1936, to Nathan E. Heard, a laborer, and Gladys Fruitt, a blues singer. He never completed high school, and always listed New Jersey State Prison in the education section of his résumé. Nathan C. Heard, a novelist, wrote realistically of prison life and the mean streets of Newark, NJ.

Born in Fayetteville, GA, actor Gary Anthony Williams attended Clayton State College. A classically trained actor, Williams honed his craft via involvement with the Georgia Shakespeare Festival, then performed in various theatrical locales including Agatha’s Dinner Theatre, The Shakespeare Tavern, and the Alliance Theatre. Williams moved into television in the late 1990s, with a guest spot on the series drama In the Heat of the Night and a small role in the Schwarzenegger thriller End of Days (1999).

The Tuskegee airmen were so called because most of the Black pilots were trained at Tuskegee University in Alabama during the 1940s. Through their bravery and actions, the Tuskegee airmen joined the ranks of other patriotic Americans who defended the United States of America against the Axis military powers during World War 2.

Let’s not wait to honor those we love, admire, look up to and respect, in death.

Chris Munger directed this 1974 blaxploitation version of the popular skinflick Starlet!…1969. The story concerns Clara, Juanita Brown, an aspiring actress from the housing projects of Gary, Indiana, who goes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune.

Funk saxophonist Jimmy Castor, who recorded a string of R&B hits in the 1970s with his group, the Jimmy Castor Bunch, died on Monday January 16, 2012 in Las Vegas at the age of 71 from possible heart failure.

One of the most charismatic action stars, Fred is known for coming at you hard in-your-face action. True to his image, you can find him presently doing exactly that in Down ‘N Dirty, his second in a series of films in which he stars as street-wise Dakota ‘Dak’ Smith (first starred as “Dak’ in Night Vision – which he received the Dallas Forth-Worth Film Critics Assoc. Award).