Vet Obama? How About (White) America Vet Itself

from Critical Noir @ Vibe.com

CRITICAL NOIR:
Vet Obama? How About (White) America Vet Itself
by Mark Anthony Neal

So once again technology and the mainstream media have conspired to manufacture a political firestorm regarding another preacher, another sermon at Trinity United Church of Christ and another repudiation from Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

Read the Full Essay

from NewsOne.com

Op-Ed
Blame Obama for Oprah's Ratings?
by Mark Anthony Neal

For much of her public life, Oprah Winfrey has stood clear of electoral politics, no doubt, because her audience covers a full range of the political spectrum. Thus Winfrey's public support of Senator Barack Obama and subsequent campaign stops earlier this year, raised more than a few eyebrows. Would Winfrey's foray into politics impact the media empire that she has built? Recent ratings suggest cracks in the Winfrey empire, though it remains to be seen how much can be attributed to public support of Barack Obama.

Reports that The Oprah Winfrey Show has lost some two million viewers over the past few years and that, according to Nielsen Media Research, her audience is down 7% since last fall, could be attributed to a range of factors. Younger audiences, for example, are increasingly drawn to YouTube. Also, after more than 20 years on air, the show might be showing natural audience fatigue. The same explanations could be made for Winfrey's O Magazine, whose circulation is down 10% over the past few years. But ours is not an ordinary historical moment.

Winfrey's unprecedented move to support Obama has to be factored into the erosion of her popularity. A specific source of the backlash can be attributed to legions of middle-aged white women who are dismayed that the icon chose to support Obama over Senator Hillary Clinton. Part of their reaction speaks to the fact that for many in Winfrey's core audience, gender overshadows her racial identity.

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Also: Gallery--When Celebs Get Political

Single Black Female Opens @ The Duke

You are invited to the limited Off-Broadway return engagement of

Lisa Thompson's SINGLE BLACK FEMALE

Directed by Colman Domingo

The comedy “Single Black Female” stars Soara-Joye Ross (“Jerry Springer: The Opera” at Carnegie Hall, “Dessa Rose” at Lincoln Center, “Dance of the Vampires” on Broadway) and Riddick Marie (“A House with No Walls” at New Repertory Theatre, “Faust” at the Metropolitan Opera). Director Colman Domingo, whose acting credits include “Well” and the Tony nominated
“Passing Strange” on Broadway, has directed productions at Geva Theatre and the Tony Award-winning Berkeley Rep.

The Duke on 42nd Street
229 West 42nd Street (between Broadway & Eighth Ave)

Tickets are $30 for all seats, all performances
For tickets call 646-223-3010
Box office walk up T-F 4-7 pm, Sat 12-6 pm

Running Schedule: June 10 - June 29, 2008
Tuesday- Saturday at 8:00 PM
Saturday & Sunday at 2:00 PM

***

The New York Times- Theater Review
June 20, 2006

Brainy Black Women, Still Looking for Love, in 'Single Black Female'
By Anita Gates

Lisa B. Thompson doesn't think much of that old comment about a woman in her 40's' having a better chance of being killed by a terrorist than of marrying. If that woman is black and has a college degree, Ms. Thompson has a character say in "Single Black Female," she's more likely to be struck by a meteor.

The play, having its New York premiere at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater, is a socially significant and very entertaining two-woman show that manages to be simultaneously self-deprecating and proud. Soara-Joye Ross and Riddick Marie play a variety of characters in 15 scenes illustrating the imperfect lives of educated, middle-class, single African-American women.

They discuss which white men they would consider dating: Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt and Sting make the list. They have come up with the perfect reply to relatives who ask when they are going to get married: "Well, Aunt Ernestine, I'm just being a patient and obedient Christian. Whenever the Lord sees fit to bless me with a God-fearin' husband, I guess I'll plan my wedding day."

They devise the perfect Internet dating profile: "New York mind, L.A. face, Oakland booty, Vineyard trust fund." One woman brags about her workout routine, but the other challenges her: "Heifer, you do not swim. That thing is called a whirlpool."

The commentary gets off to an unpromising start, though, with a litany of brand names preferred by the single black woman. Ms. Ross and Ms. Marie seem a bit stiff at first too, but they soon loosen up, as does the material. The evening's first big laugh goes to the mention of the kind of man who would hear the words "pinot blanc" and think they referred to a light-skinned Filipino.

"Single Black Female," directed by Colman Domingo, has a few serious moments and slides into them gracefully. And there are serious issues underneath much of the humor. As the play points out, so many women have chosen to better themselves by going to college and building great
careers, "and Tiger Woods marries a nanny."

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

Walton Muyumba on Hypermasculinity, Whiteness, and Racial Paranoia

from studio-walton muyumba

Hypermasculinity, Whiteness, and Racial Paranoia
by Walton Muyumba

Recently the late author, Norman Mailer came to mind as I sat considering the machinations of whiteness and masculinity in American life. In 2003 Mailer, one of America's most famous white men and "white Negroes," predicted our current national condition of manifold social, political and economic decline in his acerbic essay "The White Man Unburdened." Though many of his critiques of African Americans and women foundered as dubious (if not plain wrong), Mailer was always a reliable critic of white American masculinity.

In an effort to analyze our wanton and exuberant Iraq war-lust, Mailer points to our craven desire for manipulated and televised displays of dominance as a major factor for the drive to the military invasion of Baghdad. But behind what Mailer calls the "Advertising Science"'s trumpeting the war was a "minor but significant" effort to charge the enthusiasm of white American men, raising them again to the top of the national social order. Understanding that conservative white men had taken "a daily drubbing" from feminists and the women's movement, while also losing their stake in major professional sports to black male genius, Tiger included, Bush, Mailer argues, played to their addiction to victory by using "sports, the corporate ethic (advertising), and the American flag" in order to develop "many psychic connections with the military." According to Mailer, what Bush has always counted on is that "if we could not find our machismo anywhere else, we could certainly count on the interface between combat and technology," because, at least, "we knew we were likely to be good at [war]."

Read the Full Essay

***

Walton Muyumba is a writer, critic, and university professor living in Dallas, Texas

A White Valedictorian @ Morehouse? Stephane Dunn: "Why Not?"

from NewsOne.com

OP-Ed: Why Not Morehouse?
By Stephane Dunn

The calls started early in the week before Morehouse's graduation ceremony and increased after snippets of it appeared on national television. I saw your school on CNN and Fox News, they'd say. "Got the white boy all over TV like that's the most outstanding thing ever to happen at Morehouse."

The 'white boy' of course is Joshua Packwood, the valedictorian for Morehouse's class of 2008.

Some of the internal conversation at Morehouse and within the black community has centered on the question of whether a young white man should be valedictorian of historically black Morehouse and what it says about the school.

And there's another disturbing question which has become the center of media attention about Packwood's presence at Morehouse: Why would a stellar, white male student with Ivy League attention and potential choose Morehouse?

But there is a better question: Why not Morehouse?

Read the Full Essay

***

Stephane Dunn is a visiting assistant professor of English at Morehouse College and the author of Baad Bitches" and Sassy Supermamas: Black Power Action Films (University of Illinois Press, 2008)

Preity Zinta In Blue Dress - 61st Festival De Cannes May 2008

Preity Zinta Profile

Name: Preity Zinta

Birth Date: January 31, 1975

Birh Place: Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

Age: 32

Occupation: Actress

Years active: 1998 - present

Spouse(s): None

Partner(s): Ness Wadia (2005 - present)

Official site: http://www.preityzinta.com

Preity Zinta Biography

Preity Zinta (born 31 January 1975) is an award-winning Indian film actress who appears in Bollywood movies. She is among the most popular actresses in the industry.

Making her acting debut in Mani Ratnam's Dil Se (1998), Zinta had her first commercial success with Soldier in the same year, and won a Filmfare Best Debut Award for both of the films. She was widely recognized with her performance as a teenage single mother in Kundan Shah's hit Kya Kehna (2000). Following this she went on to demonstrate her versatility and flexibility as an actress, portraying a diversity of different characters, which were usually distinct from typical roles played by Indian actresses at that point of time.

After a number of critically and commercially successful films, Zinta received her first Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003), as well as numerous other awards. She starred in the science fiction film Koi... Mil Gaya (2003), which turned out to be her biggest commercial success so far. She later won acclaim for her role as Zaara in Yash Chopra's romance Veer-Zaara (2004), and was praised for playing roles of Indian modern and independent women in international hits like Salaam Namaste (2005) and Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna (2006). This way, she has established herself as one of the most prominent leading actresses of Hindi cinema. According to the Indian box office, she is placed on the top in the list of the most successful actresses of this generation.

Zinta is widely known in the Indian media for her penchant for speaking her mind, being forthright about her personal views and expressing her outspoken opinions in public, which have occasionally been surrounded by controversy.

Salma Hayek @ Partouche Charity Poker Festival (Arrivals) - 61st Festival De Cannes May 2008

Salma Hayek @ Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull - Screening - 61st Festival De Cannes May 2008

Salma Hayek Profile

Name: Salma Hayek

Birth Name: Salma Hayek Jimenez

Height: 5' 2"

Sex: F

Nationality: Mexican

Birth Date: September 2, 1966

Birth Place: Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico

Profession: Actress

Education: Catholic school in Texas
National University of Mexico (dropped out)
Stella Adler Conservatory in Los Angeles, California

Relationship: Francois-Henri Pinault (businessman; engaged March 3, 2007), Josh Lucas (actor; born June 20, 1971; dated August 2003 - July 2004), Edward Norton (actor; born August 19, 1969; dated 1999 - 2003)

Father: Sami Hayek Dominguez (Lebanese; businessman)

Mother: Diana Hayek (Mexican; opera singer and talent scout)

Brother: Sami Hayek (younger)

Claim to fame: as Carolina in Desperado (1995)

Salma Hayek Biography

Salma Hayek Jimenez (born September 2, 1966) is an Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated Mexican-American actress, Daytime Emmy-winning director, and an Emmy-nominated TV and film producer. Hayek has appeared in more than thirty films and performed as an actress outside of Hollywood in Mexico and Spain. Hayek's charitable work includes increasing awareness on violence against women and discrimination against immigrants.

In July 2007, The Hollywood Reporter ranked Hayek fourth in their inaugural Latino Power 50, a list of the most powerful members of the Hollywood Latino community. That same month a poll found Hayek to be the "sexiest celebrity" out of a field of 3,000 celebrities (male and female); according to the poll, "65 percent of the U.S. population would use the term 'sexy' to describe" her.

Hayek was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico, the daughter of Diana Jiménez, an opera singer and talent scout, and Sami Hayek, an oil company executive. Hayek's father's side of the family is of Assyrian-Lebanese descent and her mother's family is of Spanish descent Reflecting her Assyrian heritage, her first name literally means ‘peace’ or ‘calm’ in Aramaic. Raised in a wealthy, devoutly Catholic family, she was sent to the Academy of the Sacred Heart, Grand Coteau, Louisiana, at the age of twelve. She was also an accomplished gymnast aspiring to compete in the Olympics but her father prevented her from being recruited by the Mexican national team. The religious sisters running the Academy ejected Hayek citing behavioral problems, so she returned to Mexico. She was later sent to live with her aunt in Houston, Texas, where she stayed until she was seventeen. She attended college in Mexico City, where she studied International Relations at the Universidad Iberoamericana. To the surprise of her family, she dropped out to pursue a career as an actress.

Petra Nemcova @ 'Un Conte De Noel' Premiere - 61st Festival De Cannes May 2008

Petra Nemcova Profile

Name: Petra Nemcova

Height: 5' 10''

Sex: F

Nationality: Czech

Birth Date: June 24, 1979

Birth Place: Karvina, Czech Republic

Profession: Model, Actress, Writer

Relationship: James Blunt (British musician; born on February 22, 1977; confirmed as couple on July 2006), Simon Atlee (British fashion photographer; drowned in Thailand by the tsunami on December 26, 2004)

Claim to fame: Featured on the cover of the 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

Petra Nemcova Biography

Petra Nemcova (born June 24, 1979) in Karvina, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic) is a fashion model and; founder and president of Happy Hearts Fund. In December 2004, she was injured in Thailand by a tsunami resulting from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake; her then-fiance, Simon Atlee, was killed in the tsunami.

Her father was a mason and her mother, a teacher. She became a model after being spotted at the age of 16 during a national talent search.

She was featured on the cover of the 2003 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, and has also modeled for Victoria's Secret, and for many other companies in the women's clothing market. In addition to working with world class photographers on her Sports Illustrated shoots, she was the object/subject of Joanne Gair's body painting work. On June 3, 2004, she was one of the telecast judges during the 53rd annual Miss Universe competition in Quito, Ecuador.

During the Indian Ocean earthquake of December 26, 2004, Petra was at the Khao Lak resort in Thailand with her main photographer and fiance, Simon Atlee when the tsunami struck where they were staying. Initially, Atlee was presumed missing, but his body was found and identified on March 3, 2005, on the shores of Sumatra (near the epicenter of the earthquake that caused the Tsunami).

Atlee drowned, and Nemcova suffered a broken pelvis and serious internal injuries, but she managed to hold onto the top of a palm tree, reportedly for eight hours, until she was rescued by Thai civilians and airlifted to an inland hospital nearby. Petra spent three weeks in a Thai hospital, and then flew home to the Czech Republic, where she spent an additional three weeks in the hospital. Atlee's body was not found until over two months after the tsunami. Petra's first interview after her near-death experience was with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Primetime Live, on March 9, 2005. She has also spoken of her experiences on the "Larry King Live" program on CNN.

Premature Autopsies for the Race Man

from Critical Noir @ Vibe.com

"Premature Autopsies" for the Unrepentant Race Man (ver. 1.0)
by Mark Anthony Neal

On his 1989 recording, Majesty of the Blues, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Wynton Marsalis paid tribute to the legacy of New Orleans Jazz. The centerpiece of the recording was a three-part suite called "The New Orleans Function." Arranged as a traditional New Orleans funeral on the occasion of "The Death of Jazz," the suite features a 16-minute sermon aptly titled "Premature Autopsies." Though "Premature Autopsies" was written by noted Jazz critic and curmudgeon Stanley Crouch, it is none other than the Reverend Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr. who delivers the sermon on the recording. While Reverend Wright was largely unknown to most in America only two months ago, at the time he recorded "Premature Autopsies" he was already regarded among the black cultural vanguard as one of Black America's--if not America's--greatest preachers.

Like the music that Marsalis "recreated" for Majesty of the Blues, Reverend Wright's preaching was the embodiment of what some might call "classical" Black American Culture--easily recalling examples like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Louis Armstrong, Mahailia Jackson, Bessie Smith, Katherine Dunham, Langston Hughes, and Duke Ellington, the latter whom serves as the primary referent throughout "Premature Autopsies." Crouch composed "Premature Autopsies," in response the sense that classical Black American Culture was under assault in the marketplace and by a dismissive generation of young Americans. The sermon gives the strongest inkling to what drives Crouch's very public criticisms of rap music and hip-hop culture. But I also submit that the passion with which Reverend Wright delivers the sermon also explains the sense of indignity that was on display during the Q&A portion of Wright's recent talk at the National Press Club.

Read the Full Essay

Aishwarya Rai With Bachchans @ Vicky Cristina Barcelona Premiere - 61st Festival De Cannes May 2008

Aishwarya Rai Profile

Name: Aishwarya Rai

Nick Name: Aishu

Born: November 1, 1973, Karnataka, India

Family: Mother-Brindya, Brother-Aditya

Star: Scorpio

Height: 5 ' 7 "

Eyes: Green

Family: Mother Brindya, Brother Aditya

Languages: English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil

Aishwarya Rai Biography

Aishwarya Bachchan Rai (born November 1, 1973), is an award-winning Indian actress. Rai, who won the Miss World title in 1994, made her film debut in Mani Ratnam's Iruvar (1997) and had her first critical and commercial success with Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (1999), with whom she repeated this success with Devdas (2002). Since then, she has acted in nearly forty Hindi, Tamil, Bengali and English films. Today, she is considered to be one of the most popular actresses in India and the best-known Indian actress in the world. Rai is married to Indian actor Abhishek Bachchan and is daughter-in-law to Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan.

Rai was born in Mangalore, in the South Indian state of Karnataka, to Krishnaraj Rai, a marine engineer, and Vrinda Rai, a writer. Her ancestors are from the Bunt community of Mangalore. Her family relocated to Mumbai (Bombay) after her birth. Rai has one elder brother, Aditya Rai who is in the merchant navy. Rai attended the Arya Vidya Mandir at Santacruz, Mumbai, then entered Jai Hind College, Churchgate, Mumbai for one year and then moved to Ruparel College, Matunga, Mumbai to finish her HSC. She was an A student and was on track to become an architect. Her mother tongue is Tulu. She also speaks Hindi, English, Kannada, Marathi and Tamil.

Rai began modeling on the side while pursuing for studies in Architecture, which did not materialise. In the 1994 Miss India contest, she was placed second behind Sushmita Sen, and went on to win the Miss World title that same year and the Miss Photogenic award. After the one year reign as Miss World in London, she then worked as a professional model, in advertising and Indian fashion magazines and later got into the Indian film industry.