Black Love Matters in Real Life & in Film
On the recent cable broadcast of Book Of Negroes when Aminata Diallo says to her former slave owner, “I love that slave man… freely,” she was not only claiming her love for her African husband, she was committing an act of resistance. Manifesting their love was a radical expression of freedom for slaves that even chains couldn’t suppress. That kind of freedom was a threat to the entire institution of slavery and, seemingly, is one Read more...
theHigh-5: Mo’Ne Davis, #Ferguson, Toni Morrison
theHigh-5 is not new here on theHotness, but making it the feature where we highlight our top five Facebook posts from the past week… well that’s new. So without further ado, here’s this week’s favorite five:
1. #OnTheRun #Ferguson
While Jay-Z & Beyonce play #ontherun, this real life couple…
2. Mo’Ne Davis – #ThrowLikeAGirl
We love Mo’Ne Davis who’s showing all the boys what a fastball looks like (and that would be 70 mph)! She’s Read more...
Standing On The Corner of Self-Realization & Joy
“You meet all kinds of people that help put life in perspective and turn the horror into some kind of lesson or avenue of awakening that lives with you all your days.” -Ruby Dee
“Stand still inside yourself and know who you are.” -Dr. Maya Angelou
If you’ve seen me walk you know I walk hard and in typical New Yorker form, I rarely stand still. Exactly a month ago, after just leaving my office Read more...
The 15 Most Fascinating Hot Grrrls of 2013
Fresh on the heels of watching Lupita Nyong’o get robbed at the Golden Globes for her star-making, provocative and mesmerizing performance in 12 Years A Slave and frankly, still salty over Kerry Washington’s Emmy loss last fall, I was reminded of theHotness’ Most Fascinating List from 2010 and knew it was high-time to bring that justificative joint back. And yea, the Oscars even snubbed Oprah yesterday and left her, for a second time (first Read more...
A Little Older, A Little… 5 Bday Lessons To Know
How does it go? A little older, a little wiser? Well yesterday was my birthday and I’m indeed a bit smarter today than I was a year ago. You live and learn. I could go on and on with the quick fix proverbial snaps about the blessings that come with age, but instead I’ll just break-down the five lessons I’ve learned about life, maturity and becoming a grown ass woman.
1.) It’s Ok To Say Read more...
Is Your Half-Time Show As Good As Beyonce’s?
On Sunday I was transfixed like pretty much everyone else on the planet by Beyoncé’s half-time show. I was already amped because my team had run a clinic on the 49ers in the first half and was screwing up spreads across the land. Now I was ready for King Bey to rock that mutha.
Hot off the heels of a lip synch controversy so huge it damn near made Milli Vanilli’s debacle seem like a Read more...
Beauty, Booty & Beyonce: Loving My Black Body
Over the weekend Beyonce posted the note you see above on her Tumblr page and immediately her Beyhive started swarming. Without realizing or even considering that this may not even be a direct quote from Baby Blue’s momma, folks were in a hizzy over the first sentence. The idea that Beyonce would think, never mind write, that she was ugly had folks scratching their head, hypothesizing all kinds of scenarios. Most bloggers thought this letter 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...
FLYASPORA: Kehinde Wiley & Grace
Kehinde Wiley’s “An Economy of Grace is a study of poise, flyness, beauty, class, glamour and Blackness. And today it will all come to a close.
The women– Homegirls. Ena, Treisha, Shanatavia, Dacia. Brooklyn. Fulton Mall-shopping, Beyonce loving, mothers who take pride in a good manicure. Their poses are based on historical portraits of “society women” by Jacques-Louis David, Thomas Gainsborough and John Singer Sargent. Their clothes– long luxurious gowns reminiscent of neo-classical French romanticism. Read more...
Girls Do Run The World!
Big-up to the US women’s soccer team who rallied from behind to beat Brazil and played a nail-biter of a thriller this past weekend against Japan. Both teams showed heart, endurance and spirit throughout the competition. I’m not mad at Japan. If any one country could use an infusion of joy and excitement it would be Japan. And I love that a team of women, who were considered underdogs, were able to prove so many Read more...