Sinners & Saints by Victoria Christopher Murray & ReShonda Tate Billingsley

I knew that there was a lot of power and prestige associated with being the First Lady of a church, particularly, an African-American church, but I never thought that anyone would go to the extremes that Jasmine Larson Bush and Rachel Jackson Adams do for the title of First Lady to the President of the American Baptist Coalition in this urban fiction novel.

I literally had to force myself to put this book down. It was better than anything happening with Nene or Phaedra or even The Braxtons. Finished it in two nights.

These sisters are - well - there's no other word - ruthless!! This book is like a 'girl-fight' to the second power. They will stop at nothing to get their husbands elected. Expect some unexpected twists. Oh, and plenty of deceit. Some people you think are saints are really sinners.

And considering the church news we've been hearing over the past year or so, it's quite plausible that events like those depicted in "Sinners & Saints" could actually happen in real life.

MediaTakeout has nothing on this.

Victoria Christopher Murray is the author of ten bestselling novels.

Reshonda Tate Billingsley is the author of twenty-one books.


I'm waiting for the sequel.

"Sinners & Saints" - a guilty pleasure :)

"RED TAILS" OPENS TODAY

RED TAILS OPENS

Friday, January 20



TODAY Lucasfilm, i.e. George "Star Wars" Lucas releases RED TAILS, the highly anticipated action-packed film based on the real-life heroics of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first all African American aerial combat unit.



This is a project of passion for George, a project he had to self-finance because major studies "did not know how to market it..." Despite the obstacles, what we now have is a GREAT INSPIRATIONAL FILM. And -- it appears RED TAILS has become the litmus test for big budget films featuring an African American cast.



SUPPORT RED TAILS at the Box Office, especially during this critical opening weekend. This will prove a point to Hollywood, provide a pathway for future films of this type, inspire our youth, and most importantly expose the world to the untold story of the Tuskegee Airmen, some of our nation's greatest wartime heroes.

"The Obamas" by Jodi Kantor (New York Times Correspondent)

(Reviewing Coming Soon)


www.hachettebookgroup.com

MoAD MLK Day Events - "Double Victory"

At 2:00pm Monday, January 16, 2012, MoAD and MLK Liberation Film Festival present Double Victory, taking advantage of the 760 seat Novellus Theater conveniently located across the street at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (3rd and Howard). Double Victory (60 min), produced by Lucasfilm LTD, spotlights the historic role of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, revealing the ways these pioneering African Americans bravely fought a war on two fronts: fascism abroad and racial injustice and inequality at home. The screening is followed by a panel discussion (3:00pm) featuring legendary World War II Tuskegee Airmen, and moderated by well known Bay Area TV news personality Barbara Rodgers.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

Happy Birthday!

MLK Day Activities

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (FREE)
Monday January 16, 2012
11:00 am - 5:00 pm

MoAD will celebrate the national observance of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday as a Day of Service, providing FREE admission to the museum and programs throughout the day.

Activities include chalk drawing mural in front of the museum, “What is Your Dream?” Vision Board project in the MoAD Education Center. MoAD will host a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Fair in the Celebration Theatre on the 2nd Floor. Film screenings followed by panel discussions will be held in the MoAD Salon, also on the 2nd Floor. Films about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement will show continuously in the Wells Fargo Heritage Center.

11-5pm Films about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement will show continuously in the Wells Fargo Heritage Center.

12-1pm in the MoAD Salon, HBCU Campus Tours will present The 411 on HBCUs, information about the HBCUs and how to tour the various campuses.

12-4pm MoAD will host a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Fair with representatives from various HBCUs (Clark Atlanta University, Spelman College, Howard University, Florida A&M University, Alabama A&M University, Lemoyne Owens College & others).

12-4pm Vision Board Drop-in Art Activity

1-3pm Sidewalk Chalk art with Jamie Treacy

1-3pm Film Screening | More Than a Month, Filmmaker Shukree Hassan Tilghman sets off on a cross-country campaign to end Black History Month. His tongue-in-cheek journey explores the complexity and contradictions of relegating an entire group’s history to one month in a so-called “post-racial” America. Film screening followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker. Co-presented by MoAD, ITVS and KQED.

3:30-5pm Film Screening | The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement, a documentary that chronicles the stories of a barber-turned-civil rights leader during the 2008 presidential campaign. Film screening followed by a panel discussion with the filmmaker.

Presented in conjunction with the Northern California Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Foundation. For a description of the full day's events, go to www.norcalmlk.com

This day is made possible by The Clorox Company

ADMISSION IS FREE



www.moadsf.org

East Bay Center for Performing Arts Presents "In Search of My Father. . .Walkin,' Talkin,' Bill Hawkins

Robert L. Carter, March 11, 1917 – January 3, 2012

Robert L. Carter, a former federal judge in New York who, as a lawyer, was a leading strategist and a persuasive voice in the legal assault on racial segregation in 20th-century America, died on Tuesday morning in Manhattan. He was 94.

The cause was complications of a stroke, said his son John W. Carter, a justice of the New York Supreme Court in the Bronx.

Judge Carter presided over the merger of professional basketball leagues in the 1970s and was instrumental in opening the New York City police force to more minority applicants. But perhaps his greatest impact came in the late 1940s and 1950s as a member of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., led by Thurgood Marshall.*


*From The New York Times

Move Over Atlanta - "Real Wifeys Get Money" (An Urban Tale by Meesha Mink)

New Year. New Novel in the national bestselling Hoodwives series.

"Real Wifeys Get Money" in bookstores on January 10, 2012

Meet Harriett "Luscious" Jordan, a former friend of Goldie's and Minor character in "On the Grind," who now takes center stage and whose strong will and ruthlessness surpass even Goldie's.

Goldie's ex-business partner, rapper Make$, is serving hard time in prison for her brutal rape. His wifey Luscious finds herself out in the cold as his family and friends close ranks to protect his money. Like Goldie, Luscious is a first-rate hustler and she soon builds a successful business as a party promoter. yet the force that truly drives her is a blazing ambition to destroy Goldie. Luscious never forgave Goldie for stealing Make$ and she'll stop at nothing to exact revenge.

How far can she go in her bitter quest for payback without destroying herself too? In this powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of hatred and vengeance, fans of street literature will get a bold dose of Mink's authentic urban voice in a hood tale that reads with breathless passion.

MEESHA MINK (Author)

www.meeshamink.com

www.simonandschuster.com