March on Washington Overshadowed by Symbolism of Obama Speech

from NewsOne.com

LEFT OF BLACK:
Symbolism of March on Washington Misses the Mark
by Mark Anthony Neal

As fate would have it, Senator Barack Obama will receive his party’s presidential nomination on the anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. The symbolism of the moment has not been missed by the Democratic Party’s leadership and rank-and-file. Even mainstream news pundits have gone out of their way to connect Senator Obama’s nomination to the Civil Rights Movement. The expectation is that Obama will deliver an acceptance speech that will carry the gravitas of King’s historic address in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

In most potted histories of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is treated as the watershed moment in the movement—as if the movement came to a grinding halt and racial integration was fully achieved when all left the lawn that hot afternoon in August of 1963. In reality for King and many black leaders in this country, the March on Washington only put into critical focus the difficulty they faced in the struggle for racial and social justice in this country.

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The 45th Annivesary of Du Bois's Death in Ghana

from Vibe.com


CRITICAL NOIR: Remembering the "Old Man"
by Mark Anthony Neal

W. E. B. Du Bois died quietly in Accra, Ghana on August 27, 1963 at the age of 95. Du Bois had been living in Ghana for several years at the invitation of Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah. Du Bois's death marked not simply the end of an era and but closure on the life of a figure who remains unprecedented in African-American life and culture. For more than 60 years Du Bois remained at the center of much of the political and social discourse that examined the life of the "Negro" in America. Beginning with the publication of his ground breaking sociological study The Philadelphia Negro, his status as a founding member of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), his stewardship of the NAACP's magazine The Crisis, his break with the organization he founded over its fear of radicalism, his run for the US Senate (New York) in 1950, his subsequent indictment as a foreign agent (the charges were later dropped) to his death in Ghana--the day before the March on Washington--Du Bois possessed a "Forrest Gump"-like presence in African-American Life.

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Lifting the Veil

from NewsOne.com

Left of Black:
Michelle Obama Lifts the Veil on Black Womanhood
by Mark Anthony Neal

We are in a historical moment in which black women are regularly celebrated and lauded for a number of achievements in politics. Notably, there is the career of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice; Donna Brazile, who directed Vice-President Gore’s Presidential campaign in 2000 and continues a leadership role within the Democratic Party; the case of Susan E. Rice, who was Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in the Clinton Administration and is currently a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor to the Obama campaign; and the stellar example of the late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who was the first black women elected to congress from Ohio.

While many of these women serve as wonderful inspirations to a nation of many, rarely do their political perches allow for a greater understanding of the lives lived by black women.

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Farah Jasmine Griffin on Michelle Obama

from NPR's News & Views

Author and Columbia University professor Farah Jasmine Griffin shares her thoughts on Michelle Obama's DNC address last night.

***

Will America Accept First Lady Michelle?
By Farah Jasmine Griffin

By the time Michelle Obama -- the woman who many hope will be America's next First Lady -- took center stage, the Pepsi Stadium was electric with anticipation. We'd just watched a well-produced video, South Side Girl, documenting her "American" story.

It was followed by her brother's loving introduction. Watching her, resplendent in teal, perfectly made up and coifed, I wondered, "What will it take for Americans to love this woman?" Surrounded by tall placards with her name in bold white print, I thought "What will the pundits make of her performance?" I had no doubt she would be elegant, beautiful, intelligent and graceful. She always is. I wasn't concerned that she might slip up and speak a basic truth about our deeply flawed nation. She has learned her lesson and there are now handlers to assure that she makes no such slips.

It is Michelle's blackness that has deeply disturbed many Americans and much of the press, and it is that same blackness that has endeared her to many, but not all, black Americans. For those of us who share her race, gender and generation, the negative reaction she has inspired is stunning. As with Michelle, we are the daughters of hard working, even struggling, parents.

We are the daughters who were constantly told that we mustn't ever fit the stereotypes "they" have of us. We were raised to take advantage of the opportunities created for us by the Civil Rights Movement (and though rarely acknowledged, by the Feminist Movement as well). We grew up in black communities that were proud of us.

And, when we went off to predominantly white, elite colleges and universities it was with the reminder that we must do better than well, and that we dare not forget those we left behind. Why are black women like Michelle Obama, black women who have been educated alongside and worked with white Americans as equals, so unfamiliar to so many Americans?

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Hip-Hop: What's in a Name?

from NewsOne.com

Laugh/Riot: Wither the Hip-Hop Mayor
By Adam Mansbach

The name of Detroit's embattled mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick, is seldom mentioned without the sobriquet "hip hop mayor." Kilpatrick coined the phrase on the campaign trail, swept into office on a wave of support from young voters. He has continued to evoke it ever since-as have his critics, who now appear to far outnumber any remaining supporters.

But what, really, does it mean to be a 'hip-hop mayor?' For that matter, what does it mean to be a hip-hop teacher, parent, or businessman?

This becomes an important question as 'hip-hop' is evoked to describe an ever-broadening range of activities, occupations, mindstates, and artistic endeavors. We have 'hip-hop novels' and 'hip-hop theater,' the 'Hip-Hop Political Convention' and even 'hip-hop churches.' In many cases, the tag is merely a marketing handle, an attempt to convince certain demographic groups to partake. Depending on the product and the context, these groups range from black urban adults to white suburban teenagers.

But 'hip-hop' can and should mean more. And redefining and reclaiming the term before it becomes meaningless is crucial.

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Roll Call!

From NewsOne.com

Left of Black: FEMINISM DESERVES MORE THAN A ROLL-CALL VOTE
By Mark Anthony Neal

After months of debate, Hillary Clinton's name will be placed in nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, CO next week, allowing for a roll-call vote. Though the outcome of the roll-call vote is presumably already known--Senator Obama earned a majority of the delegates in May--Clinton supporters have argued that the formal process will allow her supporters some catharsis-emotional release-in light of the senator's history making campaign.

Senator Clinton and her supporters have strongly linked aspects of her campaign to feminist sensibilities. One wonders how those women, whose feminism is pitched to critical issues like poverty, childcare, domestic and sexual violence, inadequate healthcare and inequitable wages, will experience catharsis through a merely symbolic vote?

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NBM Book Notes: The Funk Era and Beyond

THE FUNK ERA AND BEYOND: NEW PERSPECTIVES ON BLACK POPULAR CULTURE
Edited by Tony Bolden

Palgrave Macmillan
Published: August 2008
272 pages

The Funk Era and Beyond is the first scholarly collection to discuss funk music in America and delve into the intricate and complex nature of the word and its accompanying genre. While pleasure and performance are often presumed to be mutually exclusive of intellectuality, funk offers immense possibilities for a new critical rubric. As these writings demonstrate, funk is reflected in myriad forms and context and has been the catalyst for stylistic innovation. Contributors employ a multitude of methodologies to examine this unique musical field's relationship to African American culture and to music, literature, and visual art as a whole.


PRAISE

"Paying homage to the ancestors (Jean Toomer, Zora Neale Hurston, Professor Longhair), sitting at the feat of the elders (George Clinton, Sly Stone, James Brown) and welcoming a brand new generation of griots headed by funkmaster Aaron McGruder, The Funk Era and Beyond fills the largest remaining gap in the conversation on African-American music. Bolden's collection is theoretically sophisticated, endlessly provocative and, best of all, a joy to read."
--Craig Werner, Professor and Chair, Department of Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of A Change Is Gonna Come: Music, Race & the Soul of America

"This engaging book takes the reader on a journey across the multi-layered and multidisciplinary terrain of funk. This series of essays on music and the visual and literary arts reveal how 'da funk' represents innovation and aesthetic principles rooted in the Black vernacular, which defines the uniqueness of Black creativity. The Funk Era and Beyond is a must-read to understand funk as a philosophy, an attitude, a way of life, and more broadly, a cultural phenomena."--Portia K. Maultsby, Indiana University and editor of African American Music: An Introduction


TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Prelude from the Funkmaster * Sly Stone and the Sanctified Church--Mark Anthony Neal *

II. Introduction * Theorizing the Funk: An Introduction--Tony Bolden *

III. Inside the Funk Shop: Writings on the Funk Band Era *A Philosophy of Funk: The Politics and Pleasure of a Parliafunkadelicment Thang!--Amy Nathan Wright * James Brown: Icon of Black Power--Rickey Vincent * "The Land of Funk": Dayton, Ohio--Scot Brown * From the Crib to the Coliseum: An Interview with Bootsy Collins--Thomas Sayers Ellis *

IV.Impressions: Funkativity and Visual Art * Cane Fields, Blues Text-ure: An Improvisational--Karen Ohnesorge * Good Morning Blues--Maurice Bryan * Shine2.0: Aaron McGruder's Huey Freeman as Contemporary Folk Hero--Howard Rambsy II *

V. Funkintelechy: (Re)cognizing Black Writing *Alabama--Aldon Nielsen * Jazz Aesthetics and the Revision of Myth in Leon Forrest's There Is a Tree More Ancient than Eden-- Dana Williams * Living the Funk: Lifestyle, Lyricism, and Lessons in--Carmen Phelps * Modern and Contemporary Art of Black Women * Cultural Memory in Zora Neale Hurston's Mules and Men Ondra Krouse-Dismukes*

VI. Imagine That: Fonky Blues Rockin and Rollin * Funkin' with Bach: The Impact of Professor Longhair on Rock'n'Roll--Cheryl L. Keys * Blue/Funk as Political Philosophy: The Poetry of Gil Scott-Heron--Tony Bolden


ABOUT TONY BOLDEN

Tony Bolden is Associate Professor of African American Literature and Culture, University of Alabama and is the author of Afro-Blue:Improvisations in African American Poetry and Culture

Maria Sharapova Sony Ericsson Photo Shoot Pics

Maria Sharapova Profile

Name: Maria Sharapova

Birth Name: Maria Yuryevna Sharapova

Height: 6' 2''

Sex: F

Nationality: Russian

Birth Date: April 19, 1987

Birth Place: Nyagan, Russia

Profession: Model, Tennis Player

Education: Keystone High School (home schooling program via correspondence on
the internet)
Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy, in Brandenton, Florida, USA

Father: Yuri

Mother: Yelena

Claim to fame: Third youngest Wimbledon women's champion in 2004, defeated two-time
defending champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4

Maria Sharapova Biography

Maria Yuryevna Sharapova (born April 19, 1987) is a former World No. 1 Russian professional tennis player. As of August 18, 2008, she is ranked World No. 6 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

Sharapova has won three Grand Slam singles titles. In 2004, at the age of 17, she won Wimbledon, defeating Serena Williams in the final. She has since won the 2006 US Open, defeating Justine Henin in the final, and the 2008 Australian Open, defeating Ana Ivanovic in the final.

As of July 2008, she is the world's highest-paid female athlete. She is currently coached by her father, Yuri Sharapov, and former player Michael Joyce.

Sharapova is a power baseliner, with power, depth, and angles on her groundstrokes. Instead of using a traditional volley or overhead smash, she often prefers to hit a powerful "swinging" volley when approaching the net or attacking lobs. Sharapova is thought to have good speed around the court, especially considering her height. At the beginning of the 2008 season, some observers noted that Sharapova had developed her game, showing improved movement and footwork and the addition of a drop shot and sliced backhand to her repertoire of shots.

Sharapova's preferred surfaces are the fast-playing hard and grass because her game is not as well-suited to the slower-playing clay. She lacks confidence in her ability to move and slide on this surface and once described herself as like a "cow on ice" after a match on clay. Her limitations on this surface are reflected in her career results, as she did not win a WTA tour title on clay until April 2008 (despite having won 18 titles on other surfaces) and because the French Open is the only Grand Slam singles title she has not yet won.

Sharapova's first and second serve are powerful. She is often able to produce an ace or a service winner; otherwise, a powerful serve often results in a weak reply from her opponent, which allows her to take control of the rally immediately. A serious shoulder injury in early 2007, however, reduced the effectiveness of her serve for several months, as she routinely produced eight to ten double faults in many of her matches during this period. She later changed her service motion to a more compacted backswing (as opposed to her traditional elongated backswing) in an attempt to put less stress on her shoulder, but she nevertheless periodically experienced problems with her serve throughout the rest of the year, most notably producing 12 double faults in her third-round loss at the US Open. Her serve appeared to be more effective at the 2008 Australian Open, as she produced just 17 double faults in seven matches while winning the tournament. Her serving problems resurfaced, however, during the spring of 2008, as she produced 43 double faults in just four matches at the French Open and eight double faults during her second round loss at Wimbledon. Observers, including Tracy Austin, believe that when Sharapova experiences problems with her serve, she often loses confidence in the rest of her game, and as a result, produces more unforced errors and generally plays more tentatively.

Sharapova is known for on-court "grunting," reaching 101 decibels (near the volume of a police siren) during a match at Wimbledon in 2005.

Liv Tyler : Wallpapers

Liv Tyler Profile

Name: Liv Tyler

Birth Name: Liv Lundgren

Height: 5' 10

Sex: F

Nationality: American

Birth Date: July 1, 1977

Birth Place: Portland, Maine, USA

Profession: actress, model

Education: York Prep, New York City, New York
High School

Husband/Wife: Royston Langdon (former Spacehog frontman-bassist ; born on May 1, 1972; began dating fall 1998; married on March 25, 2003; separated in May 2008)

Relationship: Joaquin Phoenix (actor; born on October 28, 1974; together from 1995 to November 1998), Johnny Whitworth (together from 1994 to 1995)

Father: Steven Tyler (lead singer of Aerosmith; born on March 26, 1948)

Mother: Bebe Buell (former model; born on July 14, 1953)

Half Sister: Chelsea Tyler (born in 1988), Mia Tyler (model; born on December 22, 1978; daughter of Steven Tyler and model Cyrinda Foxe)

Half Brother: Rex Rundgren and Randy Rundgren

Step Father: Coyote Stevens (musician; married in June 1992; filed for divorce in 1998), Todd Rundgren (musician; born on June 22, 1948; raised her until 1988)

Step Mother: Cyrinda Foxe (model; born in 1952; died on September 7, 2002)

Son: Milo William Langdon (born on December 14, 2004 in Manhattan; weighed in 8 lb; father: Royston Langdon)

Claim to fame: as Grace Stamper in Armageddon (1998)

Liv Tyler Biography

Liv Rundgren Tyler (born July 1, 1977) is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's frontman, Steven Tyler and model, singer Bebe Buell. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of fourteen, but quickly decided to focus on acting. Her first notable role was appearing alongside Alicia Silverstone in the music video for Aerosmith's song "Crazy" in 1993.

At age seventeen she made her film debut in the 1994 film Silent Fall. Following her performance in Silent Fall, Tyler starred in her breakthrough performance in 1996's Stealing Beauty. In 1998, she starred opposite Ben Affleck in Armageddon, which became a summer blockbuster. Tyler then went on to portray elf princess Arwen Undómiel in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. After a brief hiatus she returned to acting, starring in the horror-thriller The Strangers and portraying Betty Ross in The Incredible Hulk.

Tyler was born Liv Rundgren at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, New York. She is the first born daughter of Bebe Buell, a model, singer, and former Playboy Playmate (Miss November 1974), and Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith. Her maternal grandmother, Dorothea Johnson, founded the Protocol School of Washington. Her mother named her after Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann after seeing Ullmann on the cover of the March 5th 1977 issue of TV Guide. At birth, Buell claimed that rock star Todd Rundgren was Tyler's biological father. Tyler discovered her true parentage at age nine. She discovered that she was Steven Tyler's daughter after meeting him and noticing a resemblance she shared with his other daughter, Mia. When she asked her mother about the similarity, the secret was revealed. The truth about Tyler's paternity did not become public until 1991, when she changed her name from Rundgren to Tyler, but kept the former as a middle name. Buell's alleged reason for the initial decision was that Steven was too heavily addicted to drugs at the time of her birth. Since learning the truth about her paternity, Tyler and Steven have developed a close relationship. They have also worked together professionally, once when she performed in Aerosmith's video for "Crazy" and again when Aerosmith wrote and performed many of the songs in the film Armageddon, in which Tyler starred.

Tyler attended the Congressional School of Virginia, Breakwater Elementary and Waynflete schools in Portland, Maine, before returning to New York City with her mother at the age of twelve. She went to York Prep in New York City for Junior High and High School, graduating in 1995. One month later Tyler set off for Italy to star in Stealing Beauty.

Hayden Panettiere HQ Photo Shoot Pics

Hayden Panettiere Profile

Name: Hayden Panettiere

Birth Name: Hayden Leslie Panettiere

Height: 5' 4¼''

Sex: F

Nationality: American

Birth Date: August 21, 1989

Birth Place: Palisades, New York, USA

Profession: Actress

Education: South Orangetown Middle School in New York (but in 8th grade started home schooling)

Relationship: Stephen Colletti (actor; born on February 7, 1986)

Father: Skip Panettiere

Mother: Leslie Vogel

Brother: Jansent Panettiere (younger)

Claim to fame: Her portrayal of Lizzie Spaulding on CBS' drama series The Guiding Light

Hayden Panettiere Biography

Hayden Leslie Panettiere (born August 21, 1989) is an American actress and singer. Hayden plays the character Claire Bennet on the NBC television program Heroes. The advertising campaign and slogan for the program known as "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" has helped make Panettiere famous.

Born and raised in Palisades, New York She has one younger brother, fellow actor Jansen Panettiere.

Panettiere attended South Orangetown Middle School in New York but following seventh grade, finished her high-school education via home schooling[4] and has postponed higher education in favor of an acting career, although she has expressed an interest in "continuing to learn."

Panettiere began modeling at the age of five months. She then began appearing in commercials at 11 months, first appearing in an advertisement for Playskool. She landed a role as Sarah Roberts on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live (1994- 1997) and later as Lizzie Spaulding on the CBS soap opera Guiding Light when she was seven years old (1996 - 2000). While on Guiding Light, Panettiere's character Lizzie battled leukemia. The show received a Special Recognition Award from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society for bringing national awareness of the disease to the attention of daytime viewers.

Panettiere appears as Claire Bennet in the NBC series Heroes as a high school cheerleader with regenerative healing powers. Due to her role on Heroes, she became a regular on the science fiction convention circuit, invited to attend conventions around the world in 2007, including GenCon, New York Comic-Con and Fan Expo Canada. In regard to the roles she has played, Panettiere admitted that options are sometimes limited because "people look at [her] as either the 'popular cheerleader' type or just 'the blonde'."

She has appeared in over a dozen full-length feature films, as well as several made-for-TV movies. She provided the voice for Dot in the Pixar CGI animated movie A Bug's Life. She also played the role of Coach Yoast's daughter, Sheryl, in the 2000 Disney film Remember The Titans. In addition, she appeared as the voice of Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts series of video games for the Playstation 2. Panettiere appeared on FOX's Ally McBeal as Ally McBeal's daughter, and had a recurring guest role on Malcolm in the Middle and guest starred in Law & Order: SVU. She starred in Bring It On: All or Nothing as a cheerleader and had a supporting role as Adelaide Bourbon in the recently released independent film Shanghai Kiss. She also appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie Tiger Cruise playing the main role of a Navy brat.

She appeared in the drama film Fireflies in the Garden as a younger version of Emily Watson's character, Jane Lawrence. In June 2007, she signed with the William Morris Agency, after previously being represented by United Talent Agency. Forbes estimated that she earned $2 million in 2007.

In early 2007, Panettiere appeared on the syndicated Ashton Kutcher-produced show, Punk'd. The appearance was engineered by her mother and involved a male "fan" discussing her work with her, instigating a jealous reaction from the man's spouse.

Drew Barrymore Photo Shoot Pics

Drew Barrymore Profile

Name: Drew Barrymore

Birth Name: Drew Blythe Barrymore

Height: 5' 4''

Sex: F

Nationality: American

Birth Date: February 22, 1975

Birth Place: Culver City, California, USA

Profession: Actress, Producer, Director

Education: Didn't complete high school

Husband/Wife: Tom Green (comedian; born July 30, 1971; engaged July 2000; married July 7, 2001; divorced October 15, 2002), Jeremy Thomas (bar owner; married March 20, 1994; divorced April 28, 1994)

Relationship: Justin Long (actor; born June 2, 1978; dated August 2007-July 2008), Fabrizio Moretti (drummer of The Strokes; born June 2, 1980; broke up January 10, 2007), Jamie Walters (actor; born June 13, 1969; engaged August 1992; broke up January 1993)

Father: John Drew Barrymore Jr. (aka John Drew; actor; born on June 4, 1932; died on November 29, 2004 in Los Angeles)

Mother: Ildiko Jad Barrymore (aka Jaid; actress, author; born in 1947)

Half Brother: John Blyth Barrymore (actor; born on May 15, 1954)

Grand Father: John Barrymore Sr. (actor; died on May 29, 1942; pneumonia and
cirrhosis of the liver)

Grand Mother: Dolores Costello (actress; died on March 1, 1979; emphysema)

Aunt: Diana Barrymore (actress; b. March 3, 1921; d. January 25, 1960)

Claim to fame: As Gertie in the E.T.: Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

Drew Barrymore Biography

Barrymore was born in Culver City, California to American actor John Drew Barrymore and Ildiko Jaid Barrymore (n��e Mak��), an aspiring actress born in a refugee camp in Brannenburg, West Germany to Hungarian World War II refugees. Her parents divorced after she was born. She has a half-brother John Blyth Barrymore, also an actor, and two half-sisters Blyth Dolores Barrymore and Brahma (Jessica) Blyth Barrymore.

Barrymore was born into the acting profession, coming from a long line of acting talent stretching back nearly 200 years; her great-great grandparents John Drew, Louisa Lane Drew, her great-grandparents Maurice Barrymore, Georgiana Drew and Maurice Costello, and her grandparents John Barrymore and Dolores Costello were all highly successful actors; John Barrymore was arguably the most acclaimed actor of his generation. She is the grand-niece of Lionel Barrymore, Ethel Barrymore (whom Winston Churchill once proposed to), and Helene Costello, and the great grandniece of John Drew, Jr., actress Louisa Drew, and silent film actor/writer/director Sidney Drew. Her father and half-brother are also actors. She is also the goddaughter of director Steven Spielberg.

Her first name, Drew, was the maiden name of her paternal great-grandmother, Georgiana Drew; her middle name, Blyth, was the original surname of the dynasty founded by her great-grandfather, Maurice Barrymore.

Avril Lavigne - HQ Red Photo Shoot Pics

Avril Lavigne Profile

Name: Avril Lavigne

Birth Name: Avril Ramona Lavigne

Height: 5' 2"

Sex: F

Nationality: Canadian

Birth Date: September 27, 1984

Birth Place: Napanee, Ontario, Canada

Profession: musician

Husband/Wife: Deryck Whibley (lead vocalist of Sum 41; born on March 21, 1980;
engaged on June 25, 2005; married July 15, 2006)

Father: John Lavigne

Mother: Judy Lavigne

Sister: Michelle Lavigne

Brother: Matt Lavigne

Avril Lavigne Biography

Avril Lavigne Whibley better known by her birth name of Avril Lavigne (born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian Grammy award-nominated pop punk singer, musician, fashion designer and actress. In 2006, Canadian Business Magazine ranked her the seventh most powerful Canadian in Hollywood.

Lavigne's debut album, Let Go, was released in 2002. Over 16 million copies were sold worldwide and it was certified six times platinum in the United States. Her second and third albums, Under My Skin (2004) sold 8 million copies and The Best Damn Thing (2007) currently over 5 million copies sold respectively, reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. Lavigne has scored six number one songs worldwide to date and a total of eleven top ten hits, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm with You", "My Happy Ending", and "Girlfriend" which became #1 hits in the ARC Top 40. In December 2007, Lavigne was ranked at #7 in the Forbes "Top 20 Earners Under 25", with an annual earnings of $12 million Currently, Avril Lavigne has sold about 30 million albums worldwide.

Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario on September 27, 1984, the daughter of Judy and John Lavigne. Lavigne's birth name is usually pronounced in an anglicized way as above ("La-Veen"). In French, it is commonly pronounced /av��il la��vi��/ (help��info)). Avril is French for "April", while la vigne means "the vineyard". Her French-Canadian parents are devoutly Baptist. She has an elder brother, Matthew, and a younger sister, Michelle. Lavigne's mother was the first to spot young Lavigne���s talent. At the age of two, Lavigne began singing along with her mother on church songs. The family moved to Napanee, Ontario, when Lavigne was five years old.

In 1998, Lavigne won a competition to sing with fellow Canadian singer Shania Twain on her first major concert tour. She appeared alongside Twain at her concert in Ottawa, appearing on stage to sing "What Made You Say That". She was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario. During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was spotted by local folk singer Steve Medd, who invited her to sing on his song "Touch the Sky" for his 1999 album Quinte Spirit. She also sang on "Temple of Life" and "Two Rivers" for his follow up album, My Window to You, in 2000.

At the age of sixteen she was signed by Ken Krongard, the artists-and-repertoire (A&R) representative of Arista Records, who invited the head of Arista, Antonio "L.A." Reid, to hear her sing at the New York City studio of producer Peter Zizzo.

She then completed work on her first album, Let Go. The Matrix, who worked extensively with Lavigne on the album, commented on her songwriting, saying, "We had a fabulous and unique experience with Avril, who was then a 16-year-old rapidly growing songwriter with tremendous raw talent. The songs were conceived on piano and guitar by four people: The Matrix (3) and Avril. Avril was instrumental in the songs' creation. We were all very close during the making of the record.

Remembering 1968; Remembering Curt Flood

special to NewBlackMan

‘The Way It Is’: Curt Flood’s Revolution
By Nasir A. Muhammad and Stephane Dunn

I lost money, coaching jobs, a shot at the Hall of Fame. But when you weigh that against all the things that are really and truly important, things that are deep inside you, then I think I’ve succeeded.

–Curt Flood

1968. It was a historic year and most will remember it as such for the great American tragedies that defined it: the assassination of Dr. King in April of that year followed by the June murder of Presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy. But it was also a historic year for revolutionary black athletes and three amazing photos document it. In the most familiar two, Muhammad Ali appeared on a 1968 Esquire cover impaled-after his controversial refusal to be inducted into the US Army and Tommy Smith and John Carlos quite literally fired up the Olympics with the Black Power fist salute the world has never forgotten. Yet, the world may have forgotten too quickly another signature cover shot that ironically set the stage for one of the great revolutionary stands in major sports: Baseball great Curt Flood on the August 19, 1968 cover of Sports Illustrated as ‘Baseball’s Best Centerfielder.’

By August of that year, Flood, a St. Louis Cardinal, was arguably having his best career performance in a thirteen year career in Major League Baseball. A two time World Series champ, three time All Star, and five-time Gold Glove Award Winner, Flood held the Major League fielding record for most consecutive games without an error--226--and most consecutive chances without error--568. He had already achieved something that his legendary competitors, Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente, had not yet--a perfect fielding percentage of 1.000. When he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Flood was in elite company as one of the magazines few covers featuring a black baseball player. Flood, however, was about to become famous for more than his stats on the field.

The 1968 baseball season ended with the Cardinals squaring off against the Detroit Tigers in its third World Series appearance with Flood. Flood, the team’s co-captain, was having an ‘all-star’ performance in his best World Series performance until he misjudged a fly ball in the seventh inning of game seven. The Cardinals ended up losing. A year later, baseball underwent a series of changes and St. Louis began some restructuring efforts of its own, putting Flood at odds with the organization. Though Curt won his seventh Gold Glove, in October of 1969, after his twelve years with the team, the Cardinals decided to trade Flood and three teammates to the Phillies under baseball’s standard Reserve Clause. The reserve clause was a part of players’ contract that bound the player, one year at a time, in perpetuity, to the club owning his contract. So began the battle that made Flood, the “father of free agency.” In a dangerous career move, Flood famously resisted the trade, sacrificing a $100, 000 salary and the continuation of his storied career. After consulting with the Players’ union, Flood submitted a landmark manifesto to baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, demanding that he be declared a free agent: He stated, “It is my desire to play baseball, in 1970 . . . I have received a contract from the Philadelphia Club but I believe I have the right to consider offers from other clubs . . .”

His request was denied in favor of the Reserve Clause. Curt Flood took his fight to another level and sued MLB on the grounds that it had violated anti-trust laws. Flood stirred up baseball diehards and critics by likening the reserve clause to slavery. Flood was traded but sat out the 1970 season, refusing to be ‘the property of’ the Phillies or the Cardinals. Flood vs. Kuhn ended up in the Supreme Court, which ruled five to three in favor of MLB, upholding an earlier 1922 decision preserving the primacy of the Reserve Clause. Flood was subsequently traded again, this time to the Washington Senators with a $110.000 contract, but he came back to a hostile climate. 1971 was Flood’s last year in Major League Baseball. That same year Flood, who painted a portrait of King that hung in Coretta Scott King’s house, wrote the story of his battle in The Way It Is. He lost his lawsuit but won the battle for future baseball players; in 1975, two white players played a year without a contract and the court reversed its earlier position on the reserve clause.

Today, baseball players enjoy unprecedented financial and physical flexibility. Meanwhile, baseball continues to hold its grudge against Flood for taking on America’s pastime. When he died in 1997, Flood was still being ignored year after year by the Baseball Hall of Fame. And he still is. When we recall revolutionary black athletes, we should remember Curt Flood, one of the game’s best defensive players, and keep number 21’s legacy alive: After twelve years in the Major Leagues, I do not feel I am a piece of property to be bought and sold irrespective of my wishes. I believe that any system, which produces that result violates my basic rights as a citizen and is inconsistent with the laws of the United States . . .”

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Read More About Curt Flood in Brad Snyder's A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood's Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports

Cash Rules Everything Around Me! Paying for Good Grades?

from NewsOne.com/Left of Black

Can Paying for Grades Fix No Child Left Behind?
by Mark Anthony Neal

CNN’s recent “Black in America” captivated a nation still grappling with how race is lived in America. The series featured many of the most prominent “talking heads”—scholars, journalists, college presidents and preachers—in the Black community. If there was one of these figures that stood out, it was Harvard economist Roland Fryer.

Though “Black in America” was short on solutions to all that ails us, it was Fryer who offered up one of the most provocative responses. He suggested that students should be paid for good grades to counter the so-called achievement gap between whites and blacks in schooling.

As the Chief Equity Officer in New York City’s Department of Education, Fryer is in a unique position to make this claim. He has implemented such a plan in several New York City public schools at the behest of Schools Chancellor Joel L. Klein and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Under his program, forth and seventh graders will be paid up to $250.00 and $500.00, respectively, for earning high grades on standardized test.

Why pay our kids to do what is nominally expected of them? Criticism of the program have ranged from “there is no price tag for the love of learning” to “it’s common sense for students to earn good grades in order to better their opportunities in life.”

But common sense doesn’t take into account the realities of life in the era of “No Child Left Behind.”

Read the Full Essay @

of Soul & Sneakers

from CRITICAL NOIR @ Vibe.com

Marvin Gaye's "song & dance" for Nike
by Mark Anthony Neal

Moments before the start of National Basketball Association's annual All-Star Game in February of 1983, the legendary Soul singer Marvin Gaye took center court at the Los Angeles Forum to perform the "Star Spangled Banner." . Armed with only a first generation drum machine (programmed the day before by Gordon Banks), his own vocal genius and the legacy African-American protest, Gaye offered the most soulful rendition of the National Anthem that most Americans had ever heard. That singular moment in Gaye's career has been recaptured in a recent Nike commercial featuring the so-called Olympic "Redeem Team."

Give Nike credit for mining the digital crates of Black American culture to make explicit comment on the hegemony of basketball, black music and their products in the world. It's difficult to watch images of Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Carmelo Anthony juxtaposed to classic footage of Marvin Gaye and not get warm fuzzies about America's role in the world and the position of black athletes and artists as ambassadors. The Nike commercial succeeds in part because it forces us to forget the silence of these same athletes on issues like China's support of the Sudanese government and Nike's own labor practices.

Read the Full Essay @

Hello World, Cullen Jones

from NPR's News & Notes

Gold Medalist Cullen Jones On Chasing History

The U.S. men's Olympic swim team won gold and set a world record in the 400-meter freestyle relay this week. But 24-year-old Cullen Jones, who swam the third leg of the race, made history in another way: He became the second African American to win a gold medal in the sport.

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with Whurl-a-Gurl #1

Hot Buttered Soul in Heaven

from The Root

From his days as a behind-the-scenes songwriter, a look back at the man who single-handedly changed the sound of soul music.

An Ode to Hot Buttered Genius
by Mark Anthony Neal | TheRoot.com

Aug. 11, 2008--That the career of Isaac Hayes could be neatly packaged into two generationally specific cultural touchpoints like Shaft and the Comedy Central animated series South Park says volumes about the man's longevity. But the timeless soundtrack that Hayes produced in support of Gordon Parks' groundbreaking blaxploitation film, the animated character of Chef (a hammer-like nod to that same film) and the later controversy surrounding Hayes' Scientology-related departure from South Park, provide little context for the genius of the man. At his peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Isaac Hayes' music and image embodied the potency and vibrancy of blackness during one of the most tumultuous eras in American history.

Perhaps the best measure of Isaac Hayes' social and political importance may be glimpsed in an incident in 1972 at the Wattstax music festival at the Los Angeles Coliseum. Modeled on Woodstock, Wattstax was designed to give something back to the black community, especially Watts, in the aftermath of the 1965 riots.

Black music mogul Al Bell and a young Rev. Jesse Jackson came to the concert to expound on the virtues of black politics and black business. But it was clear that the most important person to hit the stage that day was Black Moses, aka Isaac Hayes, who served as the closing act.

Writing about WattStax in his new book, In Search of the Black Fantastic: Politics and Popular Culture in the Post-Civil Rights Era, Richard Iton observed: "Toward the end of the concert as Jackson passed the microphone to Hayes after introducing him, there was an exchange of words between the two. It was unclear what was said, but what was apparent was that Hayes, the show's headliner, had the power, and Jackson looked a bit resentful that that was the case."

Iton's comments are a reminder of how significant a figure Hayes was to black America, despite recent caricatures of him.

Hayes was never comfortable being referred to as "Black Moses," calling the term sacrilegious, but at least on that day in 1972, it was not only true; it was the Gospel.

Read the Full Tribute @

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Also See Oliver Wang's Soul Sides Tribute

Sunday Afternoon; Johnny Walker Black: Remembering Bernie Mac and Black Moses

Remembrances

Deaths of Isaac Hayes, Bernie Mac An Incredible Loss

Tell Me More, August 11, 2008 · Music and comedy fans everywhere are mourning the sudden loss of two enormous talents. Soul musician and composer Isaac Hayes and comedic actor Bernie Mac died over the weekend. Professor and culture critic Mark Anthony Neal explains how the lasting contributions of both Hayes and Mac put them in a class of their own among entertainers.

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