Abiola Abrams: One Daring Writer - Video plus Interview

Abiola Abrams, who you may know as host of BETJ's The Best Shorts, is an artist to watch. Actually, scratch that. She's an artist who you should continue to watch because homegirl has been doing her thing as a filmmaker and writer for quite some time. She just dropped her first book, Dare, a hip-hop inspired retelling of Faust with a feminist twist. Shorter description: a damn good book.  Read Abiola's interview with the BackList's Felicia Pride

The Black Star News Awards Dinner 2007

The Black Star News Awards Dinner 2007 was held at Nubian Heritage, on November 30, 2007 in The Village of Harlem, New York.  Publisher/CEO Milton Allimadi hoted an inspiring event.  Honorees include legendary Journalist Gil Noble, Errol Lewis Columnist of the New York Daily News, NY1 Anchor and author Dominic Carter, Author Renee Daniel Flagler, and more

Please visit also visit www.blackstarnews.com to learn more about The Black Star News.

As Obama Rises, Old Guard Civil Rights Leaders Scowl by William Jelani Cobb, Ph.D.
http://authors.aalbc.com/as_obama_old_civil_rights_leaders_scowl.htm

Vote Fraud Costs Obama New Hampshire Primary a Tale of Two Tallies by Kam Williams
http://reviews.aalbc.com/vote_fraud_costs_obama.htm

It is Obama Time! - Conversation from Our Discussion Boards
http://www.thumperscorner.com/discus/messages/179/32890.html

Now that we can declare the end to racism...  - Conversation from Our Discussion Boards
http://www.thumperscorner.com/discus/messages/179/32915.html

African American Lives 2 - Black Luminaries Find Roots in 4-Part PBS Series reviewed by Kam Williams

A year ago, Harvard Professor Henry Louis �Skip� Gates hosted a groundbreaking series on which he and eight other African-American icons explored their roots via a combination of genealogical and DNA research. The show was so successful, that PBS has brought Skip back along with eleven new recruits curious about their roots.

This go-round, the group of luminaries includes actors Don Cheadle and Morgan Freeman, poet Maya Angelou, Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee, DJ Tom Joyner, singer Tina Turner. Ebony/Jet publisher Linda Johnson Rice, fellow Harvard Professor Reverend Peter Gomes and belatedly-black author Bliss Broyard. Plus, there's Kathleen Henderson, the contest winner picked from among over 2,000 entrants to have her history researched for the program.

African American Lives 2 premieres on PBS at 9 PM (EST) on Wednesdays February 6 and 13. (check local listings)  

That Mean Old Yesterday by Stacey Patton - Book Review

Paint a picture of a little brown girl who walks in fear and sadness.  Her dark story is told in Stacey Patton's memoir, That Mean Old Yesterday.  Stacey was a ward of the State of New Jersey since she was a baby.  She lived in less than perfect foster homes until she was five and was adopted by a childless couple who lived in the suburbs of Trenton.  Here is where the horror story of abuse and degradation began. �Reviewed by: Idrissa Uqdah

Why Black People Can't Lose Weight: The Psychology, The Challenge, and The Solution to Overall Wellness by Makeisha Lee - Book Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/why_bp_cant_lose_weight.htm

Well-crafted and convincing, Why Black People Can't Lose Weight offers a revolutionary, step-by-step approach to health aimed at changing the body by first eliminating destructive attitudes about dieting from the mind.
 

Passin' by Karen E. Quinones Miller - Book Review
http://reviews.aalbc.com/passin.htm

Essence best selling author Karen E. Quinones Miller has written another entertaining and compelling novel that chronicles the experiences of a Black woman posing as a Caucasian in today's society. The main character finds that the sense of entitlement that comes from being the minority race in America is not worth the pain and self-loathing that comes from denying one's racial ancestry.

Nicole a.k.a. Shanika discovers that although the grass may look greener on the other side; it grows faster and higher and threatens to bury her under a mess of lies and deception that hurts those she loves and causes her new best friends to loathe who she has become. It also teaches her to value her own self-worth in the end and forces her to return to the person she was born to be. But this growth does not come without loss and pain. From Grand Central Publishing (February 15, 2008)
 

Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker: The Great Young Stars in The Great Debaters
http://reviews.aalbc.com/denzel_whitaker.htm

In The Great Debaters, Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker more than hold their own opposite a couple of Academy Award-winners in Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. These accomplished young stars deliver powerful performances portraying members of all-black Wiley College's 1935 debate team which won the national championship.

The gifted pair share their thoughts about their latest outing as James Farmer, Jr. and Samantha Booke with Kam Williams.  Also check out Kam's Interview with Kimberly Elise who also appear in the film.

Although this premise might sound suspiciously similar to that of Stomp the Yard, given that it revolves around dance and a protagonist whose sibling dies at the point of departure, How She Move is enough of a variation on the theme to stand on its own. In fact, this engaging ensemble drama is superior in almost every way, especially in terms of character development, chemistry, choreography and conveying a feeling that you are watching real people in a real situation.

Consequently, accolades are in order for the inspired performances delivered by the two talented young leads, starting with recent Juilliard-grad Rutina Wesley, who makes a most auspicious screen debut as the picture's emotionally-conflicted heroine. Equally-impressive is dancer-turned-actress Tre Armstrong, who more than holds her own as Ms. Wesley's trash-talking nemesis.

When a movie resuscitates this many offensive African-American stereotypes, you half expect somebody to be passing out watermelons and barbecuing ribs right in the lobby of the theater. I had problems with virtually every aspect of First Sunday, starting with its basic premise. The plot revolves around a couple of petty thieves, Durell (Ice Cube) and LeeJohn (Tracy Morgan), who hatch a plan to rob a house of worship after overhearing that its congregation had had finally collected enough money to break ground on a new church.

Honeydripper - Danny Glover Stars in Saga Set in Segregated South
http://reviews.aalbc.com/honeydripper.htm

Danny Glover's engaging turn as the protagonist of Honeydripper is matched by the equally-measured performances by Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Mary Steenburgen, Kel Mitchell, Sean Patrick Thomas and YaYa DaCosta. Plus, the production has been blessed with country cred courtesy of some gifted blues musicians, such as Keb Mo� and Mable John, whose talents add immeasurably to the comfy auditory ambience.

Kudos to two-time Oscar-nominee Sayles (for Lone Star and Passion Fish) who has tackled themes of interest to the African-American community previously, both in his comic cult classic Brother from Another Planet and in the relatively cerebral Sunshine State. Here, he's to be commended for again serving up a thought-provoking slice of African-Americana sans the shucking and jiving which Hollywood typically attaches to black-oriented fare.

Why African-Americans Can't Get Ahead: And How We Can Solve It with Group Economics by Gwen Richardson

In Why African-Americans Can't Get Ahead, Ms. Richardson makes a passionate appeal for a collective black mindset in terms of money matters. And, in numerous case studies, she eloquently illustrates why she feels this approach is imperative, such as in her discussion of how Koreans came to control the bulk of hair care supply stores in black communities all across the country.

The author, a graduate of Georgetown University with a B.S. degree in marketing, is not just some ivory-tower intellectual with impractical Pan-African notions. No, she bases the ideas in this, her first book, on her practical experience of 20 years spent as an entrepreneur, which included co-founding with her husband, Willie, Cushcity.com, the largest African-American internet retailer.

She's Gotta Have It (1986) - Spike Lee's First Feature Film Finally Arrives on DVD
http://reviews.aalbc.com/shes_gotta_have_it.htm

After 22 years, Spike Lee's feature film debut still more than holds up for a bare bones production made on a shoestring budget in a dozen days. Shot on locations scattered around the Brooklyn native's neighborhood, this inner city romantic comedy chronicles the amorous misadventures of Nola Darling (Tracy Camila Johns), a sex-starved sister who, well, who has just gotta have it.

The film is also noteworthy because it launched not only Lee's historic career but that of numerous other African-American thespians like S. Epatha Merkerson and actors-turned-directors Eric Dickerson (Juice) and Reggie Hudlin (House Party). Finally, it features some of what would become Spike's trademark cinematic stylings, such as his having folks address the camera directly.

2008 Essence Literary Awards Nominees
http://books.aalbc.com/2008_essence_literary_awards_nominees.htm

Essence Magazine, led by their books editor Patrik Henry Bass, has initiated the first Essence Literary Awards.  In the process they have compiled an impressive list of 38 books for this prestigious award.  All of the books are excellent some are even great.  I'm sure, if you review the list you will find a book you'll love. 

The winning titles will be announced February 7, 2008. AALBC.com's Troy Johnson was a member of the blue-ribbon panel which voted on the winning books.

 

All the Rage: The Boondocks Past and Present by Aaron McGruder
http://aalbc.com/authors/aaron.htm

Here are the latest, greatest, and last of the daily and Sunday strips; banned comics that have never been seen before, with Aaron McGruder's commentary on them; and interviews and profiles of the man behind the rage. All the Rage is a must for any true Boondocks fan.

Aaron McGruder is the creator of The Boondocks, a nationally syndicated comic strip, which appeared daily in more than 350 newspapers around the country. Now a smash hit as a Peabody Award�winning animated series on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, the second season of The Boondocks promises even more controversial events. Aaron is the author of the bestselling A Right to be Hostile, Public Enemy #2, and Birth of a Nation. He lives in Los Angeles and has been banned from more newspapers than you've ever read.
  

Joy Newhouse is the diva of the airwaves, a relationship expert who scores big with listeners for her jaw-dropping, scathing commentary on men, women, sex�no subject is taboo for this provocative radio shock jock. When she's fired suddenly by new management, Joy isn't happy off the air and out of the spotlight. So she writes a book that features her most titillating calls and letters, a bestseller ripe with the kind of gossip intended to put Joy back where she belongs: on top.

Soon, however, negative and righteous feedback from those listeners she exploited in her book stirs up a media scandal, giving Joy a crisis of conscience�and a taste of payback. Perhaps it wasn't so wise of her to hitch her star to her readers' most personal stories�tales of secret affairs, office romances, baby-daddy drama, cheaters, swingers, sibling rivalries, job infighting and more. Perhaps there's a better way to reinvent herself?

 

Power to the Small Publisher!
http://mosaicbooks.com/banner.htm

Join successful author Cheryl Robinson, and have your book prominent displayed on AALBC.com (the most popular site dedicated to African-American literature, Cushcity.com (the largest African-American Internet retailer) and MosaicBooks.com (the first site created to showcase Black literature).

Never before has it been so easy to reach the Black reading audience.  That is why we call it the "Power Network" visit  http://mosaicbooks.com/banner.htm for more information

One Million Views

Join Go On Girl! book Club author of the Year (2003), Persia Walker and take advantage of our brand new 1 Million Views Campaign.  You give us up to 4 different media; any combination of advertising banners, videos, or book covers and we'll display it all over the AALBC.com for an entire year!

Your campaign will run a minimum of 1 year and your media will be displayed for a combined minimum total of 1million times.

Contact AALBC.com for more information