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Showing posts from 2010

Teena Marie Dead at 54

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Motowns First White Female Act Dies at Age 54 Teena Marie, the "Ivory Queen of Soul" who developed a lasting legacy with her silky soul pipes and with hits like "Lovergirl," ''Square Biz," and "Fire and Desire" with mentor Rick James, has died. She was 54. The singer continued performing in recent years after overcoming an addiction to prescription drugs. It was unclear late Sunday where and how she died. Marie certainly wasn't the first white act to sing soul music, but she was arguably among the most gifted and respected, and was thoroughly embraced by the black audience. Even before she started her musical career, she had a strong bond with the black community, which she credited to her godmother. She gravitated to soul music and in her youth decided to make it her career. Marie made her debut on the legendary Motown label back in 1979, becoming one of the very few white acts to break the race barrier of the groundbreaking black-owned r

Happy Kwanzaa!

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Origins Kwanzaa, a relatively new observance in December, dates back just 34 years. The holiday's primary purpose is to link African traditions and American customs. Each candle represents a principle the holiday honors. Founded by Dr. Mualena Karenga, then chairman of black studies at California State University in Long Beach, Kwanzaa focuses on seven core principles, expressed in Swahili as Nguzo Saba (nn-Goo-zoh SAH-bah). Each principle is linked with one of the seven days of the celebration, which runs from December 26 through January 1 each year. Listed in order of observance, the principles are: Umoja (oo-MOH-JAH) -- Unity Kujichagulia (koo-ji-chah-goo-LEE-ah) -- Self-determination Ujima (oo-JEE-mah) -- Collective work and responsibility Ujamma (oo-jah-MAH) -- Cooperative economics Nia (NEE-ah) -- Purpose Kuumba (koo-OO-mbah) -- Creativity Imani (ee-MAH-nee) -- Faith The holiday's daily ritual begins with the lighting of one of the seven candles placed in the cand

Abbey Lincoln Dies at 80

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Abbey Lincoln, a singer whose dramatic vocal command and tersely poetic songs made her a singular figure in jazz, died on Saturday, August 14, 2010 in Manhattan. She was 80 and lived on the Upper West Side. Ms. Lincoln’s career encompassed outspoken civil rights advocacy in the 1960s and fearless introspection in more recent years, and for a time in the 1960s she acted in films, including one with Sidney Poitier. Ms. Lincoln was born Anna Marie Wooldridge in Chicago on Aug. 6, 1930, the 10th of 12 children, and raised in rural Michigan. In the early 1950s, she headed west in search of a singing career, spending two years as a nightclub attraction in Honolulu, where she met Ms. Holiday and Louis Armstrong. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she encountered the accomplished lyricist Bob Russell. It was at the suggestion of Mr. Russell, who had become her manager, that she took the name Abbey Lincoln, a symbolic conjoining of Westminster Abbey and Abraham Lincoln. Ms. Lincoln worked co

Authors & Me

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Elizabeth Nunez Wes Moore Karen Hunter Gary Hardwick & Jean Winborn As a lover of books and a collector...the NBCC was a truly remarkable and intimate literary experience. I met a dozen new people and talked about the publishing world, health and other issues. I spoke with authors in a sit down, face-to-face setting. I'm so joyed that I attended this event and look forward to doing it again. While at the Conference, I attended a panel discussion: Share Ourselves...Healing Starts With Us. An intimate and unforgettable conversation about how we're really doing.. Featuring Terrie Williams (moderator), Ntozake Shange , Wes Moore, Sybil Wilkes, Bernice McFadden, and more. This was a very emotional, engaging and enlightening discussion. How Black Books Keep Rising In Economic Downturn panel discussion featuring Linda Duggins (moderator), Pamela McBride, Paula Renfroe , Karen Hunter, Gregalan Williams was educating and captivating. I gained a new role model of Karen Hunter

New Author on the Rise

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I met this aspiring artist while attending the National Book Club Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. He made a positive impression on me and it seems he has a lot to say. I wish him much success. Sebastian K. Young is a successful entrepreneur and author from Beaumont, Texas. At the early age of two his mother was tragically murdered and he was sent to live with his grandparents. Although his grandparents were older in age, they possessed a wealth of knowledge. Anecdotal stories about relationships and life choices coupled with tough punishments carved out a determined leader, mentor, and parent. Growing up, the death of his mother haunted him. He would hear voices at night, see her murder in dreams, and relent the days that he was unable to hug her as a teenager. Then, after his grandparents passed, he determined to turn his pain into motivation. Every trial and experience became a springboard. Sebastian has kept his family first throughout his life and made tough sacrifices to ensure th

Debut Novel

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An ambitious and startling debut novel that follows the lives of four women at a resort popular among slaveholders who bring their enslaved mistresses wench. Tawawa House in many respects is like any other American resort before the Civil War. Situated in Ohio, this idyllic retreat is particularly nice in the summer when the Southern humidity is too much to bear. The main building, with its luxurious finishes, is loftier than the white cottages that flank it, but then again, the smaller structures are better positioned to catch any breeze that may come off the pond. And they provide more privacy, which best suits the needs of the Southern white men who vacation there every summer with their black, enslaved mistresses. It's their open secret. Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is startling and original fiction that raises provocative questions of power and freedom, love and dependence. An enchanting and unforgettable novel based on little-known fact, Wench combines the narrative allure o

Historical Fiction

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Grease Town by Ann Towell Category: Juvenile Fiction - Social Situations - Prejudice & Racism ; Juvenile Fiction - Historical - Other Imprint: Tundra Books Format: Hardcover Publication Date: February 2010 Age: 10-14 Pages: 240 pages ISBN: 978-0-88776-983-2 (0-88776-983-7) CDN Price: $19.99 / US Price: $17.95 Description: A heartbreaking history of prejudice, family ties, and the loss of innocence.When twelve-year-old Titus Sullivan decides to run away to join his Uncle Amos and older brother, Lem, he finds an alien and exciting world in Oil Springs, the first Canadian oil boomtown of the 19th century. The Enniskillen swamp is slick with oil, and it takes enterprising folk to plumb its depths. The adventurers who work there are a tough lot of individuals. In this hard world, Titus becomes friends with a young black boy, the child of slaves who came to Canada on the Underground Railroad. When tragedy strikes in the form of a race riot, Titus's loyalties are teste

Shanti Das

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Here is another family member to whom we can applaude and has accepted a purpose in her lifetime. May God Bless my Cousin. Former Motown Exec Helps Bury Detroit's Dead Monday, January 4, 2010 6:55 AM by Jenisha Watts In Detroit, the tough economy has prevented some residents the privilege of burying their loved ones. Dead bodies are bagged and tagged individually in black plastic bags in the Wayne County Medical Examiner's refrigerated storage rooms. They are "stacked like shoe boxes," an image that haunts Shanti Das. One night while working late, Das, a former Motown Records executive, remembered she had not read the daily financial news. She clicked on CNN Money and saw the headline, "Detroit: Too Broke To Bury Their Dead," followed with an image of the bodies. "I was thinking there is something really wrong with this picture," says Das. "That's when I immediately wanted to help." The same night: she came up with a nonprofit organi