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[caption id="attachment_970" align="aligncenter" width="251" caption="BET Awards '06: Partners At Every Stage"][/caption] This post is really a quick congratulations to King B and Young Hov on expecting their first child. I tend not to swerve into gossip blog lanes but I couldn't help notice how fast the attention came away from Kim Humphries' recent wedding! When it comes to big news, the...

Nickolas 'Nick' Ashford 1941-2011 Anger bubbled inside me upon learning that one of the world's seminal soul and pop music voices was silenced by throat cancer at the age of 70 on August 22, 2011. Nickolas 'Nick' Ashford truly wrote the words that made the whole world fall in love. And I was literally pissed off that the same disease who claimed...

[caption id="attachment_952" align="aligncenter" width="768" caption="Radio host, show producer/engineer and media maven. Cherry's at the top of her game!"][/caption]   Cherry Martinez made an indelible first impression on me as a jock in Los Angeles in the '90s. Her playful but assertive voice cut through the airwaves because she didn't have an 'L.A.' accent. A proud representative of Honduras educated in Boston, (Emerson...

Rest In Power, Master Teacher Gil Scott-Heron Artist * Poet * Activist * Musician * Author 1949-2011 Gil Scott-Heron was called home Friday, May 27, 2011. An iconic creative spirit who left an indelible mark on Black music and indeed the entire world, you'll read obits about his public accomplishments and contributions. He is indeed a revolutionary. He is the Godfather of Spoken Word. But...

[caption id="attachment_921" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Hubbard: Making moves on and off screen."][/caption] You may have gotten to know Erica’s work from teen dance flick Save The Last Dance, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, or the ABC Family hit Lincoln Heights, where she stars as Cassie Sutton. Ms. Hubbard transitioned seamlessly from drama to comedy on Let’s Stay Together, the first original scripted...

[caption id="attachment_910" align="aligncenter" width="145" caption="T-pain, Akon, Ja, Fif, Drake. All inspired by this man."][/caption]   Nathaniel “Nate Dogg” Hale 1969-2011 On March 15, 2011 Nathaniel D. Hale, professionally known as Nate Dogg, transitioned from a world upon which he left an indelible mark. Before Ja Rule, before 50 Cent, and long before T-Pain, Akon, or Drake were dabbling in the hook game, there was Tha...

An offensive, incendiary ad went up in Manhattan this week targeting the wombs of Black women. I was not alone in my anger at the ad; media personality and recording artist Free shared my upset. She invited me to provide some analysis on the ad to take the discussion on twitter beyond the emotional reactions the ad sparked. Below is...

Welcome to 2011, Dreamers! I want to thank you personally for making my blog a healthy, successful adventure in thought provocation all year long. I am especially grateful because I don't blog daily or even weekly, but when I do, you are all there to read and share which means you respect quality over quantity. Here's how the blog did...

Yeah, I said it. So much talk about who will wear the proverbial white glove now that the King of Pop has passed on. And with the release of Michael, Jackson's first posthumous studio album this week, it really does beg the question: to whom does the torch belong? [caption id="attachment_883" align="aligncenter" width="150" caption="He Is Legend"][/caption] Not surprisingly, men are always mentioned: Chris...

Like many Black women of my and the generation before mine, Ntozake Shange's classic work For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the RainbowIs Enuf changed my life as a young girl. I was captivated by the book and wowed by the stage adaptation of the choreopoem. I had never heard poetry performed that way on stage before. Seeing...

  When I met singer-songwriter and producer Abby Dobson, she was working on her debut album—and determined to finish it on her own terms. Her passion was palpable. I knew I wanted to learn more about her, and this led to me conduct an interview with her for Put Your Dreams First. Well, it’s several years later. The album is complete....

Willow Smith has been in the game for a minute. She's appeared in a couple films and is now taking the music world by storm. Willow has captured the imagination of music listeners of all ages with her certified smash hit "Whip My Hair". The video debuts this week on BET during 106 & Park. Check it out here: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymKLymvwD2U&ob=av2e] No shots Rih...

[caption id="attachment_802" align="aligncenter" width="405" caption="Ready to win? Make this the next book you read."][/caption] Looking for work? Ready to start your own business or go independent? Fresh out of school? Going back to school because you're out of work? Are you a creative ready to make money doing what you love instead of something just to pay your bills? Looking for the career mentor you never had? If...

Meet Author of Put Your Dreams First: Handle Your [entertainment] Business Thembisa S. Mshaka FRIDAY, AUGUST 20, 2010 4-5:30pm Reading & Career Conversation Youth UpRising 8711 MacArthur Blvd. Oakland, California 94605 6:30-8pm Reading & Signing With Special Guests from the book: Mykah Montgomery and Traci ‘Starchild’ Bartlow Marcus Bookstore 3900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way Oakland, CA 94609 www.handleyourentertainmentbusiness.com community www.putyourdreamsfirst.com book site/trailer ...

  Anna Marie Wooldrige, PKA Abbey Lincoln 1930-2010 [caption id="attachment_768" align="aligncenter" width="132" caption="Natural Beauty: Abbey Lincoln"][/caption] I met my Abbey Lincoln through my parents. Well, not literally. My father introduced me to her heady mix of soaring and sobering vocal style by playing "Bird Alone" for me many years ago. I've loved her voice ever since. My mother introduced me to Abbey as an actress in...

[caption id="attachment_762" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Living her dreams with music and on stage."][/caption] I’m gonna give it to you short and sweet: Avery Sunshine is a self-made woman. She’s an independent soul artist charting on Billboard by the sheer force of her will and the power of her voice. She’s a dramatic actor winning raves under the direction of Hollywood veteran Jasmine...

I am on record as being one who advocated for the forgiveness of the multi-talented, multi-platinum Chris Brown as far back as February 2009, when the most media and much of the public wanted to banish and boycott him forever. His missteps with the media in the aftermath turned the fury way up, as he looked far from remorseful—especially in...

Listen, I know Sex & the City 2 has people talking, but after seeing it (my review will come next week so all my busy ladies out there can see it because TRUST-- I got mad spoilers), I can tell you I want the momentum on Just Wright to live a good while longer. Not taking anything away from my dear friend...

[caption id="attachment_723" align="aligncenter" width="450" caption="Editor, Director, Actor. Loren is a Triple Threat!"][/caption] Loren Lillian is the perfect woman to follow up my tribute to Lena Horne.  Like Lena, she only does work she's passionate about--and like Lena, who sang, acted and danced, Loren is also adept at more than one skill in the business: editing, directing, and acting. I've had the pleasure...