July 26, 2011

Grooves

Amy Winehouse: Fades Back To Black

With strength he didn’t know
It’s you I’m fighting for
We put it in writing
But who you writing for
Just us on kitchen floor
Justice done,
I’ll battle til this bitter finale
Just me, my dignity and this guitar case.

Amy Winehouse was a Blues Woman in every sense of the word. She carried a heavy load and unpacked it for all the world to see without adornment, accoutrement or affectation. Girlfriend kept it Read more...

July 15, 2010

Grooves, Real Talk

Being A Bad Girl: Nicki Minaj (Part1)

NickiMinaj

You know the state of hip hop is really in trouble when a rapper who has yet to drop her own record AND who lip-synchs her live performances wins a BET Award for Best Female Hip-Hop Artist. I was out of the country on vacation, but got back just in time to see Chris Brown boo-hoo his way to redemption and see Nicki Minaj proclaim she’s “fighting for women.” Ugh! Fighting? For me? Homegirl flashed Read more...

October 29, 2009

Best Of, First Lady, Lifestyle, Real Talk

From Hottentot Venus To The White House

Last Saturday’s dreary grayness did not stop me and about 100 women from attending NY Open Center’s panel, “From Hottentot Venus To The White House: Black Women On Beauty & Bodies.”  The panelists were Veronica Webb (Super+Role Model), Tricia Rose (Chair, Africana Studies @Brown U.), Susan Akkad (SVP Corporate Marketing/Diversity for Estee Lauder) with Michaela angela Davis (Cultural Critic) moderating.

I settled in with style maven Sharon Pendana sitting on my left and Ngozi Odita Read more...

September 3, 2009

Grooves, Real Talk

Roxanne Shante Caught The Vapors

Last week on our Facebook page I posted this really amazing story about Roxanne Shante earning her Ph.D and how she so cleverly had her record label pay for her entire academic ride. It was impressive. Redemptive even. I was thrilled to hear that one of my favorite female rappers had the foresight to include in her contract a provision for her educational expenses. Homegirl had juiced the music industry and had her doctorate in Read more...