In Memorian: Ntozake Shange

I was deeply saddened yesterday when I learned of the passing of Ntozake Shange (nee Paulette Williams).  I felt like I knew her, although I'd never even met her.

If you're a Black woman of a certain age, the first live performance you saw, may have been "for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf."  My favorite line in one of the poems is "Somebody done walked off with my stuff."  That line resonates in the board room as well as the bedroom.

Ntozake Shange was as much a part of my coming of age with "colored girls" as Maya Angelou was with "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."  Because both of them spoke to me because they were me and they understood me.  A young black girl coming of age.

If you're a millennial, your first time seeing "colored girls" might have been the movie adaptation.  

If you knew Ntozake Shange's work, you'll want to go back and re-read it.  All of it.  That's what I plan to do and if you don't know her work at all, you're in for a real literary education.

Ntozake Shange was a feminist, a playwright, a brilliant, author, a mother and a soul sister.

Her work will live forever.

"A Safe Place" - 40th Anniversary Gala & Musical Extravaganza, Saturday, October 20

TICKETS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

www.asafeplace.org

Officers for Justice Peace Officers' Association - 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner - Saturday, September 29, 2018

The West Bay Conference Center

1290 Fillmore Street, San Francisco

Purchase tickets, HERE!

Bay Area Black Journalists Association (BABJA) Presents: "Race and Media in a Changing Landscape"

A Conversation Featuring:

Van Lathan

P. Frank Williams

Christin Ayers

Davey "D" Cook

Saturday, September 8, 2018

1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

OAKSTOP

1721 Broadway, #201

Oakland, CA  94612

$20.00

Further details and tickets, HERE!

Van Lathan was recently catapulted into the social media spotlight following his insightful confrontation with Kanye West on TMZ’s live show in response to West’s comments regarding slavery being a choice.

BABJA and MIJE will facilitate a discussion focusing on the correlation between race and media and the ways in which social media has impacted the dissemination of news.

Additional Panelists include KPIX reporter, Christin Ayers, Emmy Award winning Producer for TVOne's, Unsung, P Frank Williams and just added, KBLX's Armand Carr.

All proceeds benefit BABJA's student scholarship program. 

"Better Late Than Never" by Kimberla Lawson Roby - The Conclusion to the Reverend Curtis Black Series

The whole time I was reading this book, I kept saying to myself, "This can't be the last one."

We have come to know and love (and hate at times) Reverend Curtis Black and his family.  From Charlotte to Matthew to Alicia to Phillip to Curtina to Raven to Dillon, each and every one of them has become a part of our lives.  Speaking to fans of Kimberla Lawson Roby and the Curtis Black Series.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then you've got a lot of catching up to do.

I also realized that despite their flaws, they're just like the rest of us (okay, minus the wealth in my case) but they really are just people.  Black folks living their every day lives.  Obviously, being the pastor of a large megachurch comes with its own set of issues, but the raw emotion and feelings are what many of us feel from time to time and we go through life's ups and downs.

I don't want to give anything away, however, I will say at the end of the book, I love them now more than ever.

"Better Late Than Never."  On sale everywhere July 31st.

Curtis Black is no stranger to scandal. Throughout the decades, he has done much in the public eye, both good and evil. But what most people don’t realize is that Curtis has been hiding an abusive childhood that has affected him in horrifying ways.

Sadly, when his estranged sister becomes alarmingly ill, his buried past returns without warning, and his youngest daughter, twelve-year-old Curtina, becomes the kind of problem child he never thought she could be…and this is only the beginning. Worse, all the public scandals they’ve experienced over the years now seem like mere child’s play compared to the turmoil they are facing in private. And who could have known that their deepest wounds would come from within?

Need a laugh? Go to the theater and check out, "Uncle Drew!"

You don't have to be a basketball fan to appreciate the laughs you'll get while watching, "Uncle Drew" which is now in theaters everywhere.

It's a wonderful escape from the world that we're currently living in and the tragedies and bad news on every cable channel and social media.

I haven't enjoyed mindless entertainment like this in a while and it was long overdue.

Kudos to the costume design team and great acting from the basketball greats.

in fact, I had such a good time, I think I'll go see it again next weekend!

Check out the trailer, here!

Joe Jackson - Jackson Family Patriarch Has Passed Away

July 26, 1928 – June 27, 2018