Entertainment News

JANET STILL HAS LOVE FOR ALEXANDER MCQUEEN: British designer created infamous outfit ripped by Justin during Super Bowl.

*Janet Jackson appeared at a star-studded event Tuesday launching the new Los Angeles store of British designer Alexander McQueen, the man behind her 2004 Super Bowl half time costume.

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BUSH'S 'APPEASEMENT' REMARKS BLASTED BY OBAMA: Illinois senator calls comments 'fear-mongering;' Also, At NRA convention, Huckabee makes sick joke about Obama getting shot.

*Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama wasted no time responding to President George Bush's comments that he would like to appease terrorists. Obama said Bush and the Republican's "fear-mongering" days are over.

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R. KELLY'S JURY IS SET: But race again became an issue during selection process Thursday.

*A jury has finally been selected in the R. Kelly child pornography trial. The court session in Chicago was on the verge of ending yesterday with 12 members and two alternates firmly in place and two more alternates about to be selected.

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LIL KIM WINS COURT BATTLE AGAINST LIL' CEASE: Queen B awarded half million for DVD's unauthorized use of her name and image.

*Lil Kim was awarded $500,000 Wednesday in a lawsuit accusing one of her former Junior M.A.F.I.A. members of using her name and image for an unauthorized DVD.

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T-PAIN LEADS ALL BET AWARD NOMINATIONS: Singer pockets five; Kanye and Keyshia collect three; Mary, Alicia and Flo Rida each get a pair.

*T-Pain received five BET Award nominations Thursday to lead the entire pack this year, but none were for his own songs.

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Feature Articles

Win a Pair of ticket to see The Nathaniel Dett Chorale Live - Register here

NATHANIEL DETT CHORALE - Founder, Artistic Director Brainerd Blyden-Taylor presents AND STILL WE SING…Song of Hiawatha?

Canada’s acclaimed Nathaniel Dett Chorale will perform two long-forgotten works by of Afro-British composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, including his most celebrated cantata, HIAWATHA'S WEDDING FEAST, on Friday, May 30, 2008, at 8:00pm at the George Weston Recital Hall in Toronto, Canada.

The son of a West-African doctor and an English mother, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912) was an English composer who achieved unparalleled success as an Afro-European man working in the arts at the turn of the last century. His greatest and most beloved work was HIAWATHA'S WEDDING FEAST (1898), a cantata inspired by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, Song of Hiawatha, which in turn was loosely based on Native American legends. HIAWATHA'S WEDDING FEAST was an immediate hit with English audiences when it was first written, and was performed hundreds of times during Coleridge-Taylor’s lifetime. Its success inspired him to compose several other pieces about Hiawatha, including HIAWATHA’S DEPARTURE (1900), which will also be performed on May 30th. For more information, visit their website.

Spike on Politics, Making Black Films in Hollywood and His Moment of Delusion

Filmmaker Spike Lee had some harsh words for democratic presidential nominee, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, during an interview with him last week at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel as he was about to be honored by Chrysler with the "Behind the Lens" Award. Spike talked up politics, making films in Hollywood and his moment of delusion.

Full Story from Black Talent News.

Poetry from Kemit Mawakana

Kemit Mawakana, A.K.A. the Seven Foot Poet, muses on the worth of a life spent spitting on the mic, a life lived for the "culture" of hip-hop, a life spent in pursuit of something that was maybe never there at all.

2216
He told me he’s been putting in work for 22-years
He said he’s been spittin on the mic for 22-years
From cipher to ciper to hole in the wall
He’s been droppin’ 16-bars at 16-bars
for 16-slobs that said they was A&Rs
Said he loved hip-hop bleed and die for hip-hop
STOP
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African-American Films in the National Film Registry

Every year, twenty-five films are selected to go into the Library of Congress National Film Registry. These films are chosen because they are “aesthetically, culturally or historically” important to the United States. Of the 475 films currently in the registry, there are twenty-one films that are particularly important to African-American film history and culture.

These movies showcase great African-American talent and document significant events in African-American history. Also, some of these African-American films are available on DVD. For a list of films, click here.

Movies

Meet the Browns

Starring: Tyler Perry, Angela Bassett, David Mann, Jenifer Lewis
Directed By: Tyler Perry
Released By: Lionsgate
Theatrical Release Date: 03/21/2008
Genre: Comedy/Drama
Rating: PG-13

A single mother living in inner city Chicago, Brenda has been struggling for years to make ends meet and keep her three kids off the street. But when she's laid off with no warning, she starts losing hope for the first time -- until a letter arrives announcing the death of a father she's never met. Desperate for any kind of help, Brenda takes her family to Georgia for the funeral. But nothing could have prepared her for the Browns, her father's fun-loving, crass Southern clan. In a small-town world full of long afternoons and country fairs, Brenda struggles to get to know the family she never knew existed…and finds a brand new romance that just might change her life.