Michael Jackson "The King of Pop"

August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009

An Icon

Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5 were a big part of my childhood. The album "Ben" was a gift from my parents in 1972 when I was 10 years old. I played this album on my personal pink turntable in my room until the grooves wore out.

May You Rest In Peace

Author, Daniel O. Black

Members of the African American Authors Book Group attended the discussion of "The Sacred Place" on April 28, 2009 at the Ypsilanti Distric Library. It was a wonderful night of discussions, good food, and picture taking with the invited author, Daniel Black from Atlanta.

Mr. Black graciously accepted by request to attend our discussion on his second novel "The Sacred Place" We communicated by e-mail, text and as the days narrowed in, by phone. Upon Mr. Blacks' request to surprise the group, we were well into our discussion when he surprised the group and made his entrance into the room, where we all sat in a circle. What a wonderful surprise and a wonderfully written book.

My husband made an Italian soup and served old fashion Faygo sodas' with fruit and vegetable trays and cheesecakes for dessert. Yuuummmy.

The Motown Review Book Club was the invited guests to the discussion. All members had already read the book and stated in an interview with http://www.apooobooks.com/ that their favorite read author for 2008 was Daniel Black. Also, the author they would like to have dinner with was Daniel Black.

It was a wonderful time had by all. We are awaiting his third novel due to be released in November of 2009 titles "Perfect Peace".

If you have not read any of his books, you must pick it up, either from a bookstore, library or borrow from a friend, you must read it.

Phenominal People of Color

Michelle Obama

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States.

Michelle Robinson was born and grew up on the South Side of Chicago and graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. After completing her formal education, she returned to Chicago and accepted a position with the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center. Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband's presidential bid and delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She is the mother of two daughters, Sasha and Malia, and is the sister of Craig Robinson, men's basketball coach at Oregon State University.

Michelle Obama - Photo Timeline from Bid Announcement to Election Night
Michelle Obama on the Day Barack Obama Announced his Bid for President
Michelle Obama and Oprah Share a Moment in New Hampshire
Michelle Obama Introduces Barack Obama
Michelle Obama, Maria Shriver and Oprah
Michelle Obama in St. Paul, MN
Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO
Michelle Obama at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO
Michelle Obama and Jill Biden in Denver, CO
Michelle Obama in Detroit, MI
The Obamas on Election Night

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama

Strong Black Character's in a Novel

An unprecedented number of black characters inhabit today's mainstream fiction best-seller lists, but few of them are created by black authors. Meanwhile, a few books by African American writers manage to attract a crossover audience among white readers. Race/culture play an important part in books. Race is (often) a major component of someone's personal and cultural identity. Individually a book should be a unique experience that reflects the author's attempt to explain the human experience through his or her own creativity.

Listed below are a few authors that are Non-African American in which the main character(s) in thier novels are African American.

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Beulah Hill by William Heffernan - a strong black male character name Jehiel Flood, Heffernan placed him in a fabulously, complex murder mystery and examination of racial history which takes place in 1933 Vermont.

This book has received outstanding reviews from the African American community.

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Barbara Hambly - Benjamin January series. They're pre-Civil War mysteries set in New Orleans, and along with solving crimes, regretting that he can't be a surgeon, and playing the piano, January also navigates through the carefully constructed racial boundaries at the time.

The Benjamin January books are the copious dedications to the Historic New Orleans Collection.

A Free Man of Color
Fever Season
Graveyard Dust
Sold Down the River
Die Upon A Kiss
Wet Grave
Days of the Dead
Dead Water




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David Handler - Lieutenant Desiree 'Des' Mitry, one of only three women on the Connecticut State Police major crimes squad, the youngest of the three, and the only black. A dedicated high-ranking officer in the homicide department, She is, as well, a closet artist and a complicated and beautiful woman, and she intrigues Mitch from the start.

The Cold Blue Blood (2001)

The Hot Pink Farmhouse (2002)

The Bright Silver Star (2003)

The Burnt Orange Sunrise (2004)

The Sweet Golden Parachute (2006)

The Sour Cherry Surprise (2008)

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James Patterson - Patterson has written several mystery thrillers featuring Alex Cross, a black D.C. cop with a Ph.D. in psychology who also works with the FBI as a profiler. Cross is a widower who lives with two of his three children and his paternal grandmother in the nation's capital. He is a good father, a true Southern gentleman to the ladies in his life. He is the perfect role model for males--white or black. The Cross series is immensely popular and three of the novels have been made into movies starring Morgan Freeman as Cross.

Patterson has created another African American character as part of his Women's Murder Club series. Claire Washburn, the heavyset black female medical examiner from San Francisco, joins three white female professionals to solve crimes that have stumped the system. Patterson has published several novels featuring this team. Like Cross, Washburn has a stable family and a comfortable middle-class lifestyle to put white readers at ease.

Alex Cross Series:

Along Came a Spider

Kiss the Girls

Jack & Jill

Cat & Mouse

Pop Goes the Weasel

Roses Are Red

Violets are Blue

Four Blind Mice

The Big Bad Wolf

London Bridges

Mary, Mary

Cross

Double Cross

Cross Country

Clair Washburn Series:

1st to Die

2nd Chance

3rd Degree

4th of July

The 5th Horseman

The 6th Target

7th Heaven

The 8th Confession

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Robert Parker - "Spenser” novels (the basis of a TV show starring Robert Urich and Avery Brooks), the character “Hawk” a heroic, mysterious black man who both embodies and serves as exception to myriad stereotypes. Hawk is Spenser's best friend a tall black man with a bald head and high cheekbones, a bodyguard and hit man. Hawk is introduced in The Promised Land (1976).

Promised Land
The Judas Goat
Looking for Rachel Wallace
Early Autumn
A Savage Place
Ceremony
The Widening Gyre
Valediction
A Catskill Eagle
Taming a Sea Horse
Pale Kings and Princes
Crimson Joy
Playmates
Stardust
Pastime
Double Deuce
Paper Doll
Walking Shadow
Thin Air
Chance
Small Vices
Sudden Mischief
Hush Money
Hugger Mugger
Potshot
Widow's Walk
Back Story
Bad Business
Cold Service
School Days
Hundred-Dollar Baby
Now and Then
Rough Weather
Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel

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George Pelecanos - who writes many detective books about Black characters in DC. They're imperfect, but he does a good job of avoiding stereotyping his main characters and developing nuanced depictions of life in a very segregated city. Derek Strange a former cop and current private investigator loves funk and soul music from the sixties and seventies, but has a secret passion for the music of old westerns

Right as Rain

Hell to Pay

Soul Circus

Hard Revolution

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Alexander McCall Smith - The African-born author of "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" mystery series were the hero of the books, Precious Ramotswe (Botswana's one and only lady private detective) is an engaging character were people come to her with all sorts of problems that need solving. This series serves not only to entertain but to explore conditions in Botswana.

The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
Tears of the Giraffe
Morality for Beautiful Girls
The Kalahari Typing School for Men
The Full Cupboard of Life
In the Company of Cheerful Ladies (also known as The Night-Time Dancer)
Blue Shoes and Happiness
The Good Husband of Zebra Drive
The Miracle at Speedy Motors
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built

Jill Scott

My Girl, Jill Scott is pregnant and made a HBO Series. This is one talented artist.I have yet to see her live in concert, but I love her music, and I have her book. She is going places. I'm just going to sit back and watch her make-way.

Love ya Jill!

Phenominal People of Color

Eartha Kitt

Entertainer, Born Eartha Mae Keith, she was raised in South Carolina and New York City. She appeared on film and television throughout the 1950s and 1960s while also establishing herself as a recording artist and nightclub singer. In 1968 Kitt made statements critical of the Vietnam War at a White House luncheon, reportededly reducing First Lady Lady Bird Johnson to tears. The public reaction led to her professional exile from the US, but she continued to perform overseas.

Kitt also wrote three memoirs, 1956's "Thursday's Child", 1976's "Alone with Me, and 1989's "I'm Still Here: Confessions of a Sex Kitten." She died after being treated for colon cancer at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital on December 25, 2008 in Weston Fairfield County Connecticut.

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eartha_Kitt
http://www.earthakitt.com/

African American Fiction
Coming in 2009

The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda N. Adichie - Jun 16, 2009

Children of the Waters: A Novel by Carleen Brice - July 7, 2009

Sisters & Husbands by Connie Briscoe - June 2, 2009

Resurrecting Midnight by Eric Jerome Dickey - August 11, 2009

Blame It on the Sun by E. Lynn Harris - July 14, 2009

Mama Dearest by E. Lynn Harris - October 13, 2009

Lover Man by Geneva Holliday -June 9, 2009

God Ain't Blind by Mary Monroe - August 25, 2009

A Deep Dark Secret by Kimberla Lawson Roby - Oct 20, 2009