on the black hand side

Queen Latifah's talk show to debut September 2013

Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah

Queen Latifah and Jada Pinkett Smith will be working together again on the Queen's new talk show set to debut September 16, 2013. Smith is the executive producer. It should be a blast.

 

Photo:   Facebook

 

 

Black Actors Collaborate on Milk + Honey TV Series from Brown Paper Dolls [VIDEO]

 

Some of Hollywood’s top black actors have collaborated and created an excellent television series, Milk + Honey . The show, over three years in the making, was created to showcase diverse images of women of color that are rarely seen on the big or small screen and to create more opportunities for black actors.

So who are some of the folks behind this series? Idris Elba, Lance Gross and Debbie Allen for starters. Then add Brown Paper Dolls --- Chicago natives and HBCU grads: Dana Gills (Spelman College);  Asha Kamali May (Howard University); and Jeanette McDuffie (Florida A&M University).

The "Milk + Honey" scripted series will soon be seen on all platforms and is looking to be picked up by a television network. The company needs 1 million views of the trailer, so let’s help them surpass their goal. Click on the video below or visit the official website at http://www.milkandhoneyseries.com/.

Thank you. Spread the word!

 

milk + honey series trailer from brown paper dolls on Vimeo.

 

 

A Message for Chris Brown [VIDEO]

I sure hope Chris Brown sees this video from Jay Smooth.  I don’t want him to just hear about it from his management or a fan or a friend.  You see, I think Chris Brown is very talented, as a matter of fact, he’s multi-talented. I also think he’s headed down the wrong path or will not reach the pinnacle of his potential success without better career guidance. Now, if he is being better advice but just not following it, then that’s another story.

 
^{Chris Brown shows off BET Awards}

Brown was given the all-clear, we forgive you welcome at the 2011 BET Awards Show with his multiple award wins, especially that Fan Favorite award during one of the weirdest presentations I’ve ever witnessed.

What was most disappointing and telling about Chris Brown was his attire to the BET Awards. Now, don’t get me wrong, he wasn’t the only one to have committed a flagrant fashion foul but if he is to be truly forgiven for physically assaulting Rihanna, his career move should be less bad boy roughneck and more smooth operator.  Instead, rather than being perceived as fashion forward, trandsetting or classy, he just came across as disrespectful like many of the other performers.  I’m just  saying.

Well said, Jay Smooth!

  

 

 

GRAMMY WINNER T-PAIN RECORDS NEW TRACK FOR SERIES PREMIERE OF “FAIL”

– Much-anticipated webisodes hit FAILSHOW.com July 1^st –

 

Multi-platinum recording artist T-Pain worked his trademark vocals for the series premiere of “FAIL,” a fresh, new take on the black sitcom set for world premiere Friday, July 1, 2011, at 7 p.m. EST.  The new show, executive produced by James Bland of BET “Lens on Talent” fame, and Vanessa Baden from Nickelodeon’s “Gullah Gullah Island” and “Keenan and Kel,” will be launched on FAILSHOW.com and feature the new T-Pain track during the title sequence.  Before recording the song, T-Pain agreed to support the sitcom about college life after hearing a fervent pitch from the producers.

“Getting him was a stretch, but we are beyond excited and so grateful that a superstar like T-Pain took an interest in our show,” commented Bland, co-president of Hometeam Entertainment, LLC, the production firm he runs with Baden. “Our watchers will go crazy when they hear it – it’s going to blow their minds!”

The anticipated premiere episode of “FAIL” opens with a 15-second snippet of the track, which watchers can hear in its entirety when the music video hits later this month.  The show has already garnered a loyal following through the posting of unique video shorts introducing the cast of characters.  Each “FAIL Friday” for the past few weeks, viewers met one of six unlikely friends in a study group that doubles as a platform for foolish misadventures and tough college lessons.

“Each one sports an electric personality just like any group of modern young adults,” shared Baden on her cast. “Everyone who has experienced college life will fall out laughing – we kept it real, showing outrageous student life in and, far more importantly, outside the classroom.”

The sitcom follows the six study-mates that mostly end up getting caught in the many distractions their college affords.  From the absent-minded jock and sheltered daddy’s girl to the money-crazed gold digger, smooth-talking ladies’ man and “wanna-be thug,” the show packs big laughs into five-minute episodes airing biweekly on FAILSHOW.com.

Formerly with Sony Screen Gems, Bland, a Florida native and recent round-one winner of the national Shadow and Act Black Filmmaker Showcase, based the show on his experiences while a student at Florida A&M University, a historically black university in T-Pain’s hometown of Tallahassee. “FAIL” was conceived by Baden and him after getting fed up with the lack of opportunities for blacks in mainstream television.  They join Denzel Washington, Will Smith and others that have taken to the Internet as a self-produced outlet for their work.

“We kept looking for auditions that just weren’t there,” continued Bland. “Writers aren’t creating enough roles for young black actors, so we created a medium for ourselves.  We just want to add a new flavor to the market and we know ‘FAIL’ is it!”

Viewers can go to FAILSHOW.com to meet the characters before Friday’s premiere at 7 p.m. EST.  You can also connect with the cast and fans at facebook.com/THEFAILSHOW, where producers post behind the scenes footage and photos, twitter.com/THEFAILSHOW or youtube.com/FAILSHOWsitcom.  For more information on the show, cast and crew, email press@wearehometeam.com. 

 

 

Waka Flocka, Voting and Crimes Against Our Children [VIDEO]

First there was T-Pain, now Waka Flocka. This video is sad on so many levels. I don't know who Waka Flocka is or what Waka Flocka means but I do know that here is a young man, obviously a celebrity since he's being interviewed on 106 & Park, who cannot hold an intelligent conversation. He could have been nervous but that doesn't explain the vocabulary and grammar issues.

It's easy to make jokes about this interview and some of the comments about this incident on YouTube are brutal but it's so not funny. From family to community to the educational system to the record company he works for --- this is so wrong. It's child abuse...neglect...fraud and a number of other charges we should be ashamed of as adults.

Artists like Waka Flocka are emulated by other young people, pushed through or kicked out of our educational system and neglected by family and community. Like many young people, he has potential but for whatever reason, we didn't nurture him. It's not too late for Waka Flocka and many other young people in our communities, so what are we going to do?

In case you forgot...

Get out and vote on November 2, 2010!

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency

Have you seen the new HBO series The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency? It's set in Botswana and is based on a series of well-known books of the same name. Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose star in the television series.

Check out the official site on HBO. It's chock full of information on the books author, Alexander McCall Smith, as well as details on each episode and the cast.

Both Scott and Rose are wonderful in their roles and the other actors are also very good. It is refreshing to see black people in natural hairstyles and hear English spoken correctly and in whole sentences.

Here's the background of the show from their site:

About the Show:

As a young girl growing up in the African nation of Botswana, Precious Ramotswe was encouraged by her father to follow her dreams, no matter what. Now in her mid-30s, Precious is doing just that — by opening her country's first and only female-owned detective agency for the benefit of those who need help the most.

The first major film/TV project to be shot entirely on location in Botswana, 'The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency' is based on the best-selling novels by Alexander McCall Smith and co-written and executive produced by Richard Curtis and the late Anthony Minghella.

Like McCall's novels, the series chronicles the adventures of Precious Ramotswe (Jill Scott), the cheerful, eminently sensible proprietor of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, located in the Kgale Hill Shopping Center on the outskirts of Gaborone. Aided by her efficient yet high-strung secretary Grace Makutsi (Anika Noni Rose), Precious investigates a variety of cases, helping townspeople solve mysteries in their lives, from missing children to philandering husbands to con-artist scams.

Precious Ramotswe exemplifies the courageous efforts by real-life Africans to improve the quality of their lives while preserving their culture. Though Precious brings a playful, even innocent, exuberance to her job, the "mysteries" she investigates are quite serious, and include child kidnapping, poverty, organized crime, health crises, spousal abandonment and infidelity — ongoing problems that confront many Africans (and Americans) today.

In the lead role of Precious Ramotswe is Jill Scott, the R&B singer/songwriter who has won three Grammy® Awards since 2005, branching out into acting with 2007's 'Hounddog' (her debut, as Big Mama Thornton) and 'Why Did I Get Married?' Other regulars include Anika Noni Rose ('Dreamgirls') as Precious' quirky secretary Grace, Lucian Msamati as her devoted suitor JLB, and Desmond Dube ('Hotel Rwanda') as her neighbor BK, a flamboyant hairdresser. Guest stars include David Oyelowo (HBO's 'Five Days' and 'As You Like It'), Idris Elba (HBO's 'The Wire' and 'Sometimes in April'), Colin Salmon ('Die Another Day'), and Tony® winner John Kani ('Final Solution').

The pilot (which debuted on the BBC in 2008) is the last film directed by Anthony Minghella ('Cold Mountain,' Best Director Oscar® for 'The English Patient'), who co-wrote its script with Richard Curtis (Oscar® nominee for 'Four Weddings and a Funeral,' Emmy® winner for HBO's 'The Girl in the Café'). The pilot was produced by the late Sydney Pollack (Oscar®-winning director of 'Out of Africa' and 'Tootsie'), Timothy Bricknell ('Cold Mountain') and Amy J. Moore.

Follow The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency on Twitter and FaceBook.

   

© 2009, on the black hand side, www.blackhandside.net

Vote for this blog for Best Pop Culture Blog and Best Blog About Stuff in the 2009 Bloggers Choice Awards.

Tyler Perry Opens New Studio in Atlanta

Tyler Perry opened his new studio in Atlanta with all the grandeur one would expect from him. Celebrities such as Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Cicely Tyson were among the star-studded guests.

Perry, who was once homeless, has achieved what no other black person has done in the U.S., he owns his own movie and television studios.

The grand opening was not without controversy. A small protest was staged by four writers who were fired from "House of Payne".

 

Related Link: Message from Tyler Perry (with event photos)

     

© 2008, on the black hand side, www.blackhandside.net

Vote for this blog for Best Pop Culture Blog and Best Blog About Stuff in the 2008 Bloggers Choice Awards.

   

 

The Obamas and DNC ‘08

Regardless of your political party affiliation, if you are black you had to feel a sense of pride in Barack Obama and his family during the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The event was first-class all the way, or at least the parts that were televised.

I know that pride is something that folks who are minorities understand. If you're not a minority that's not a put down at all, it's just something that you have to experience to know what I'm talking about.

How about Michelle Obama and their daughters? Her speech was on point. The little ones were too cute and not at all camera shy.

I'm looking forward to Obama becoming the next president of the United States not just my pride in his accomplishment as a black man but because he is the leader this nation needs.

And before I end this post, I must mention how great Beau Biden's introduction of his dad was. Biden's mom looked a little feisty herself. The Bidens make a great partnership with the Obamas. It's great to see diversity in Obama events as opposed to the McCain rallies. Now, don't get it twisted, McCain has been shown at several predominantly black events but his actual support among blacks is dismal.

Skimpy Prom Dress Leads to Arrest; Parents Should Have Been Arrested Also

Marche Taylor is a 17 year-old high school senior in Texas. On the night of her senior prom recently, she found herself in handcuffs and carted off to jail. Wow, that's not exactly the way anyone would want their prom to be remembered. What happened?

It seems that Miss Taylor was not allowed to enter the prom because her dress was inappropriate. She knew her dress was in violation of school rules but she tried to get in anyway.

School officials stood their grounds. Taylor became belligerent and demanded her money back. Eventually, police were called to quell the disturbance and off went Miss Taylor in handcuffs. How embarrassing.

When looking at Marche Taylor's 'custom designed' dress, one must wonder, where in the hell were her parents? She looked like a stripper. Surely, an adult in her life could have stopped her from degrading herself in that attire. When Taylor was handcuffed, the police should have picked up her parents and taken them to jail too.

Taylor was not arrested because of her dress; she was arrested for disturbing the peace. When she couldn't get in the prom and didn't get her money back, did she really think someone would have money on the spot to give her?

Taylor's incident should be a lesson to all high school kids in America. Enough with the ridiculous prom attire; our children should know what is and is not acceptable and appropriate. Acceptable according to whose standards? How about common decency.

Unfortunately, Miss Taylor has not learned that lesson from her experience. I do hope someone can reach her social conscience so she understands. In the meantime, she broke the rules and is not entitled to her money back. She really should be punished for arguing with the chaperone.

Prom Dresses and Accessories

Special Report on the Assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don't miss tonight's CNN special report on the Martin Luther King assassination committed on April 4^, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination is hosted by veteran journalist and CNN special correspondent Soledad O'Brien. It will air on CNN this evening at 9 PM ET.

It is strongly believed that James Earl Ray did not kill Rev. Dr. King. That is a belief shared b the King family and many others. This special is slated to cover the assassination as never before with documents and other information not made available to the masses until now.

Please watch it and feel free to post your views here. Thanks.