Make It Yourself

Gone But Not Forgotten...

The National R&B Society, Inc.

ROLL CALL in alphabetical order: Nick Ashford (1942-2011), Ray Charles (1930-2004), Chuck Brown (1936-2012), James Brown (1933-2006), Sam Cooke (1931-1964), Heavy D (1967-2011), Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), Isaac Hayes (1942-2008), Whitney Houston (1963-2012), Phyllis Hyman (1949-1995), Michael Jackson (1958-2009), Etta James (1938-2012), Rick James (1948-2004), Gerald Levert (1966-2006), Teena Marie (1956-2010), Teddy Pendergrass (1950-2010), Otis Redding (1941-1967), David Ruffin (1941-1991), Donna Summer (1948-2012), Luther Vandross (1951-2005), Barry White (1944-2003).

Happy Sunday!

Thanking God for the miracle of His Son!

"Kitty Sofa" Tissue Box Cover

I was out to lunch with a co-worker yesterday and we had a chance encounter with a woman who makes these adorable tissue box covers...

Of course, I just had to have one and now, I'm trying to figure out where to put it. I almost want to leave it in the plastic bag it came in and never use it! Just 2 cute!

Nostalgic TV Is Making A Comeback

The entertainment industry as a whole is just not what it used to be. For starters, we're being bombarded with reality TV shows ad nauseum. It seems that somewhere along the line, the network execs lost sight of the fact that most people like to relax and watch TV to suspend reality. And, the subject matter of most of them doesn't interest me either... especially those that center around the day-to-day lives of out-of-work celebrities and/or their spouses, ex-spouses, and relatives, whose only claim to fame is that they're related to a celebrity.

I'm also not crazy about competitive reality shows... whether it's cooking, losing weight, modeling, running a business, singing, survival, or trying to find Mr. or Mrs. Right. As for movies, they've reached an all-time low because Hollywood seems to be totally preoccupied with the concept of remaking films that don't need to be redone. And, don't even get me started on the music industry and all the changes they've put us through over the last two decades. The rapid changes in devices, formats, etc. are enough to make your head spin... and, barring a few exceptions, most of the artists and music being released today leaves much to be desired.

Well, as is the nature of most humans, when we're dissatisfied with our present, we sometimes like to reach back for things that are familiar and once brought us pleasure. So, the next time you're channel surfing and can't seem to find anything worthwhile to watch, consider enjoying some of your old classics and favorites on TV stations such as the ones below. I've read that most of them are doing quite well and much better than originally anticipated in terms of expected viewership. Perhaps, some of that is due to the overwhelming success of TV Land. Whatever it is, people seem to like it... and, from time to time, you can count me among them!

ANTENNA TV features classic television programs and favorite movies. Local television stations air Antenna TV as a digital multicast channel depending on the city and the station. Antenna TV is free and available over-the-air using rabbit ears (a traditional broadcast television antenna) or a rooftop antenna. In addition, most major cable companies from coast-to-coast carry local affiliate feeds of Antenna TV. Visit the website to check out the offerings and schedule for TV shows. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Launch Date: January 2011.

ME TV features a wide range of classic television programming, some of the best programming written for television, that audiences and advertisers find comfortable and engaging. Its library includes series from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution and CBS Television Distribution as well as independent series owners and producers. Visit the website to check out the offerings and schedule for TV shows. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Launch Date: December 2010.

RETRO TV (RTV) is a television network that airs classic television shows, as well as more recently produced programs. Owned by Luken Communications, LLC, the network airs mainly on stations' digital sub-channels or low power television stations. They run programs that come from various independent distributors. Visit the website to check out their offerings and schedule for TV Shows. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Launch Date: July 2005.

THIS TV is a free premium channel that brings you award winning films, box office hits, cult classics, retro TV shows, and all your favorite Hollywood stars! Visit the website to check out the offerings and schedule for TV shows. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Launch Date: November 2008.

Of course, TV LAND has been around for quite a while. Depending on where you live and your cable provider, it may have been the only game you had in town for watching great TV shows of the past. It's an American cable television network owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon. Originally consisting exclusively of classic television shows, the network now airs a combination of classic television shows, newer shows, original programming, and movies. Visit the website to check out the offerings and schedule for TV shows. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter. Launch Date: April 1996.

Motivational Poster Of The Day

"This is a parody of the 1930 original painting by Grant Wood. It is one of the most familiar images in 20th-century American art, and one of the most parodied artworks within American popular culture. The creator of this parody is Mario Piperni and we love it! God Bless America!" - President Obama

Political Photo Of The Day

Do you still think the Republicans are looking out for your best interest? Well, think again! If you're caught in a maze of confusion, go to this webpage for more information: Everything You've Ever Wanted To Know About Voter ID Laws.

Zoe Saldana To Play Nina Simone? I Don't Think So!

Nina Simone & Zoe Saldana

Ever since it was announced that "Avatar" star Zoe Saldana had been tapped to play jazz/blues/folk singer and activist Nina Simone, there has been sizable backlash from the Simone family and around the blogosphere, because Saldana is deemed too light for the role, according to the New York Times.

Last month, the Hollywood Reporter announced that Dominican-Puerto Rican actress Zoe Saldana was chosen to play Simone in a biopic about her life by writer and director Cynthia Mort and executive producer Jimmy Iovine. While the lead role in the jazz icon’s life is a sure win for Saldana, family members and bloggers believe it is a loss for Simone and her legacy.

On Simone’s official Facebook page, Simone’s daughter, Simone Kelly, complained to followers about the decisions movie makers have been making on behalf of her mother, writing: "How many of you know my mother’s first love was classical music? Do you know the hours she practiced preparing to audition for the Curtis Institute of Music, only to be rejected because of the color of her skin? As a child, my mother was told her nose was too big and she was too dark, yet she graduated valedictorian of her high school class, The Allen School for Girls, and skipped two grades." Kelly later told the NY Times: "My mother was raised at a time when she was told her nose was too wide and her skin was too dark. Appearance-wise, Saldana being cast is not the best choice." And, Kelly is not alone.

Tiffani Jones (Coffee Rhetoric) wrote in an article entitled "(Mis)Casting Call: The Erasure of Nina Simone’s Image": After Mary J. Blige didn't pan out as the lead, folks were left to ponder who would play Nina. Bloggers and fans campaigned for the Black actresses and entertainers they thought would be a more appropriate fit for the role, including Viola Davis, Lauryn Hill, India Arie, and especially Adepero Oduye, who starred in "Pariah" to wide acclaim. So many were left with feelings of confusion and dismay when Afro-Latina actress, Zoe Saldana was announced as Mary J. Blige’s replacement. And, it’s a very valid gripe. 

Black actresses, particularly those with darker skin, often lament their experiences having to navigate the politics of an industry, that’s rarely willing to cast them in non-stereotypical roles because, despite being attractive, immensely talented, and right for the role, they don’t have the palatable "mainstream look" the Hollywood machine requires of some of its Black actresses. So, they often lose plum roles to the Halle Berry/Paula Patton appeal, and that destructive notion often places Black-identified but racially ambiguous looking actresses on a pedestal as ideal representations of the Black female aesthetic. And, the criticism hasn’t stopped there.

Demeriese Naima Valier (ReverbNation) is petitioning both Iovine and Mort to replace Zoe Saldana with an actress who actually looks like Nina Simone. So far, 2,822 supports have signed the petition. While no one is arguing that Saldana isn’t talented enough to play the role, colorism and racism alongside a fervent dedication to her Blackness. Simone reveled in African headdresses and clothes with minimal make-up and natural hair, were inextricable to her experience.

Is it defensible to have a light-skinned Afro-Latina represent Simone’s life to the world when she clearly cannot visually communicate the oft times contentious experience Simone endured, and often triumphed over, just to exist in the very White space of Hollywood and the world? Is it a disservice to the integrity of Simone’s experience to represent her with an actress who is devoid of the very characteristic that shaped both her successes and failures? Or, should we simply celebrate the choice of Saldana as a competent and studied Black actress who was chosen because she can best bring Simone’s story to forefront?

The Timing Couldn't Be Better...

Click here to order this book from Amazon.com

A dear friend just gave me this book as a birthday gift, and I can't wait to read it while I'm commuting back and forth to work. And yes, I still enjoy holding an actual book in my hands!

Mrs. Lucimarian Tolliver Roberts may be best known as the mother of Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, but the 88 year old woman has achieved great success in her own right.

Lucimarian Tolliver was born in 1924 in Akron, OH. As a teenager she was awarded the John S. Knight Scholarship, given by the publishers of the Akron Beacon Journal. The first person in her family to go to college, Tolliver graduated in 1946 from Howard University, where she met her future husband, Lawrence Roberts. The couple had four children and moved 27 times as part of Mr. Roberts' career as an Air Force officer.

Mrs. Roberts' achievements include serving as director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, New Orleans Branch; chair of the Mississippi Department of Education; and as a board member for the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She also served on the Presbyterian Church (USA) National Committee on the Self-Development of People and was co-chair of the national steering committee for the mission initiative: Joining Hearts and Hands.

In 2011 Mrs. Roberts received the Medgar W. Evers Lifetime Achievement Award from the Gulfport branch of the NAACP. Mrs. Roberts collaborated with daughter Robin Roberts and author Missy Buchanan to pen My Story, My Song: Mother-Daughter Reflections on Life and Faith. The book brings together pivotal moments of Lucimarian Roberts' intriguing life with personal reflections from Robin Roberts.

PBG Supports President Obama!

Click here to order your PBG for Obama T-Shirt today!

"The Greatest" Honored In Philadelphia

Muhammad Ali was celebrated at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia this week as he was honored with the National Constitution Center’s 2012 Liberty Medal. The award is given to those who exemplify courage, conviction, and who strive to secure the blessings of liberty to people around the globe. The crowd erupted as Ali took the stage with his wife and daughter, who also gave a speech praising her father as one of the greatest men she has ever known. Mayor Michael Nutter and other dignitaries were present. Actor Terrence Howard also took the stage to speak about the freedoms of America and how we should never forget about the people who fought for us to have such freedoms.

A Sweet Lesson In Patience

Please take a few minutes to read this short story. I guarantee when you finish, you'll be glad you did. Then, reflect on it, do a little soul searching, and ask yourself... How would YOU have handled the situation if YOU had been the cab driver?

A NYC taxi driver wrote:

I arrived at the address and honked the horn. After waiting a few minutes, I honked again. Since this was going to be the last ride of my shift, I thought about just driving away... but instead, I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked. "Just a minute", answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90s stood before me.

She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie. By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knick-knacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

"Would you carry my bag out to the car?" she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb. She kept thanking me for my kindness. "It's nothing," I told her... "I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated." "Oh, you're such a good boy," she said.

When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?" "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly. "Oh, I don't mind," she said. "I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice." I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. "I don't have any family left," she continued in a soft voice. "The doctor says I don't have very long." I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. "What route would you like me to take?" I asked. For the next two hours, we drove through the city.

She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a young girl.

Sometimes, she would ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and she would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, "I'm tired. Let's go now." We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. "How much do I owe you?" she asked, reaching into her purse. "Nothing," I said. "You have to make a living," she answered. "There are other passengers," I responded. Almost without thinking, I bent over and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. "You gave an old woman a little moment of joy. Thank you so much," she said. I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn't pick up any more passengers during that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life. We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But, great moments often catch us unaware... beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

Look @ The Big Girl!

My granddaughter, Little Sister Alexis, can hold her bottle all by herself! YGG!

Happy 43rd Birthday, Tyler!

Click here to see more celebrities born on September 13th!