John Johnson, Business Mogul, Honored With 2012 USPS Stamp
 Publisher John H. Johnson, who created Ebony and Jet magazines, will be honored on this year's Black Heritage stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service. A Tuesday ceremony is planned in Johnson's hometown of Arkansas City, where he lived until moving to Chicago with his family at age 15. Johnson founded Johnson Publishing Co. on a $500 loan using his mother's furniture as collateral. At the time, he was working as a clerk at a black-owned life insurance company. [Read More]
INTERVIEW: Cymphonique Miller Talks About Her New Sitcom On Nickelodeon
 Daughter of businessman, music mogul and philanthropist Master P and sister of Romeo Miller, Cymphonique has built a diverse R&B, pop and hip hop fan base online, enjoying over 20 million web views and counting. As an actress, she has made many guest appearances on several Nickelodeon shows, but here, she talks about her very own new sitcom series How to Rock, which premieres on Nickelodeon on Saturday, February 4th with back-to-back episodes airing at 8:30 and 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT). [Read More]
Actress Viola Davis and "The Help" Nominated For Multiple Oscars
 Films nominated for Best Picture include “Hugo,” “The Artist”, “The Descendants”, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”, “The Help”, “Midnight in Paris”, “Moneyball”, and more. Best-actress nominees include: Meryl Streep, Glenn Close as a 19th century Irishwoman masquerading as a male butler in “Albert Nobbs”, Viola Davis as a black maid going public with tales of white Southern employers in “The Help”; and Rooney Mara as a traumatized, vengeful computer genius in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.” [Read More]
REVIEW: "Red Tails" Starring Cuba Gooding Jr and Terrence Howard
 Red Tails is an eye-popping, special-f/x driven adventure which recreates these belatedly-appreciated veterans' daring exploits in the skies, while chronicling their simultaneous, uncompromising quest for dignity in the face of the incessant humiliation mandated by Jim Crow. The picture was produced by George Lucas' Lucasfilm, and it features an ensemble cast topped by Academy Award-winner Cuba Gooding and Oscar-nominee Terrence Howard. [Read More]
Legendary Blues Singer, Etta James, Dies At 73
 Etta James' performance of the enduring classic "At Last" was the embodiment of refined soul: Angelic-sounding strings harkened the arrival of her passionate yet measured vocals as she sang tenderly about a love finally realized after a long and patient wait.
In real life, little about James was as genteel as that song. The platinum blonde's first hit was a saucy R&B number about sex, and she was known as a hell-raiser who had tempestuous relationships with her family, her men and the music industry. [Read More]
INTERVIEW: Cuba Gooding, Jr on Playing A Tuskegee Airman in New Film "Red Tails"
 In 1997, Cuba Gooding, Jr won an Academy Award for his memorable outing as Rod "Show me the money!" Tidwell in Jerry Maguire, and was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by People Magazine the same year. Since then, he has garnered many other prestigious awards for other outstanding performances. Here, he talks about his latest outing as Major Emanuelle Stance in Red Tails, a World War II epoch about the legendary Tuskegee Airmen. [Read More] |
