The Perfect Match

Joe Pantoliano also played Guido in “Risky Business”. Paula Patton and Terrance J are actors and producers of the film. French Montana plays himself. Brandy has a cameo as a diva. Queen Latifah is an executive producer of the film. Lauren London, Terrance J, and Brandy all appeared in the television show “The Game” and […]

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Mavis Staples

She is 76 years old. She won her first Grammy at 71. She was born and raised in Chicago. Sam Cooke, Mahalia Jackson, Lou Rawls, and Curtis Mayfield were her neighbors. She always travels with her sister Yvonne. “Pops” Staples first name is Roebuck. She wrote “freedom songs” . She performed at Newport Folk Festival […]

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Barbershop The Next Cut

If you like it you pay, if you don’t like it you pay anyway. The mantra by the owners. POTUS probably has bitches. Hilary probably has a side chick. White people love to say awesome. Tyga, Eve, Nicki Minaj, Common and of course Ice Cube are all in the movie. Ice Cube contributes to the […]

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Selma

Brad Pitt is an executive producer. I had no idea Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. smoked cigarettes. The actors playing Rev. Ralph Abernathy and Bayard Rustin were superb. Sammy Davis Jr. and Harry Belafonte were but two celebrities participating in the walk as seen in archival footage in the film. There was little difference in […]

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Bessie

Bessie Smith and her mentor, Ma Rainey were bisexuals. The director/writer/filmmaker was an intern at Frameline who produced the film in collaboration with HBO. Both Bessie and Ma Rainey were cross-dressers. The movie took 22 years to make. Benny Goodman recorded with Bessie. Queen Latifah portrayed Bessie and Mo’Nique portrayed Ma Rainey. Dee Rees’ mentor […]

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Zora Neale Hurston

Sunrise 1/7/1891 Nostasulga, Alabama, sunset 1/28/60 in Florida. She was a PK, preacher’s kid. She grew up in Eatonville, Florida, an all-black town. She worked as a maid and a singer. During her life she had 4 novels published, most notably Their Eyes Were Watching God, and 50 short stories, plays, and essays. She lied […]

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Nina Simone

She was born Eunice Waymon. She changed her name so her mother wouldn’t know she was playing non-church music a.k.a. the devil’s music a.k.a. jazz. She wanted to be the first black classical pianist to play Carnegie Hall. She wrote Mississippi Goddam after the deaths of Medgar Evans and the girls in the church in […]

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Straight Outta Compton

The Straight Outta Your Hometown meme has 6 million downloads to date. Learned the birth names of some of the N.W.A. members: Eric Wright a.k.a. Eazy E, Andre Young, a.k.a. Dr. Dre, O’Shea Jackson, a.k.a. Ice Cube. There was no extra security at the Grand Lake Theatre in Oakland, California where I saw the movie. […]

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