September 11th: Reflections
11 years ago today, the NYC skyline and all of our lives were forever altered. I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was a bright, clear, brisk morning. Just like today actually. I was exuberant about the prospects of a meeting I was to have at 10am next door to the downtown Century 21 located mere blocks away from the World Trade Center. I was rushing out of my apartment to vote in Read more...
Zoe Saldana as Nina Simone
“I’ve never changed my hair. I’ve never changed my color, I have always been proud of myself, and my fans are proud of me for remaining the way I’ve always been.” – Nina Simone
When I think of Nina Simone I think of her dark chocolate skin, her full lips and her tight ‘fro. Her looks were and still are every bit as relevant and powerful as the songs she sang. As a matter of Read more...
Why Sparkle is Whitney’s Perfect Farewell
Last Thursday would have been Whitney Houston’s 49th birthday and I still cannot wrap my mind around the fact that she is dead. Six months after her shocking death and her passing feels as sudden and as unreal now as it did that day in February when she drowned in her Beverly Hilton Hotel bathtub. Unlike Michael Jackson’s death where many of us felt like we somehow had let the King of Pop slip through Read more...
Sex, Lies & Videotape: Erykah Badu & Rihanna
Read more...“The erotic has often been misnamed by men and used against women. It has been made into the confused, the trivial, the psychotic, the plasticized sensation. For this reason, we have often turned away from the exploration and consideration of the erotic as a source of power and information, confusing it with its opposite, the pornographic. But pornography is a direct denial of the power of the erotic, for it represents the suppression of true
Lauryn Hill, H&M’s Swimwear Ads, & Vibe Mag
What’s up? In the midst of finishing up proposals, handling social media for clients and making my page minimum for my book proposal, I haven’t had a chance to post on theHotness.com in a minute. But I’ve been busy posting on Facebook. Oh you didn’t know? That’s right, theHotness has a Facebook page that stays poppin!!!
Our post on H&M’s new swimwear ad campaign featuring a thick sister is getting so much love. So glad Read more...
Trayvon Martin: One Bullet; A Million Hoods
Dear Trayvon,
What more can I say to you that hasn’t already been said about what transpired a month ago this past Monday night? I am beside myself with rage and heartbreak. Just when I think I cannot possibly get any angrier or more frustrated, I watch the news and see these cold-hearted media pimps trying to disparage your rep with lies and matters totally unrelated to what happened to you on the street that Read more...
Dear BET: What Happened To THE GAME?
Dear BET:
I am stunned, hurt and so tremendously disappointed by the portrayals featured on your highly touted, record-breaking show “The Game.” I knew when I saw the first episode and Tasha Mack was smoking a Black-n-Mild that this was probably not going to be the CW show I once loved, but I was still invested in seeing how storylines would play out now that some of my favorite characters had found a home on Read more...
Kiss My Placenta!
Erykah Badu had to break bad when her fans voiced their disapproval over her reproductive life: “HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT THE QUEENDOM… AND MY CHILDREN AND MY INTELLIGENCE.” It seems that folk are not pleased that the singer, songwriter, producer, actress and doula has had three children with three different men, so they went straight to her fansite to voice their discontent. Up in arms and all up in her womb, fans feel Ms. Badu Read more...
Poet Nikky Finney’s Awesome Thank You Speech
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and as many of us take off to spend time with family and close friends readying our waistlines for turkey, macaroni & cheese, lasagna, greens, candied yams, pumpkin pie and an assortment of other goodies, I find the time we spend being grateful, a fleeting, yet still very essential part of this holiday. So I urge you to take a minute, actually ten, to please watch Nikky Finney’s acceptance speech that she Read more...
Under Construction & Over The B.S.
A lil’ over a month ago I realized this website wasn’t the only thing in need of an overhaul. My plug-ins needed to be refreshed and so did my attitude. I wasn’t depressed or going through a mid-life crisis, but something was certainly glitchy. Like my site, design wasn’t a major issue. I felt like I was looking flyer than ever— I had lost nine pounds and it showed, my hair still had that summer Read more...