Ease on Down the Road (from The Wiz)

I first learned this song at my after-school program at The Dorchester House, during our music class, and I have never forgot it. I had no idea it was from The Wiz until years later (when I was in college and building my movie culture knowledge via Netflix). It is my favorite song from the movie. Michael Jackson is amazing, providing the right amount of joy and wonder in his performance that makes you want to come along with him and Dorothy down the yellow brick road.

Check out the song in the video below:

What Would I Do if I Could Feel (from The Wiz)

I am still riding high from that amazing live production of The Wiz that aired on NBC last Thursday. Although this was not in the version they performed, "What Would I Do If I Could Feel,"sung by Nipsey Russell as the TinMan is one of my favorite songs from the movie The Wiz. If you have never seen it, check it out below.

Miss Jill Scott Is The Real Thing (In Stereo)

Miss Jill Scott rocked Boston last night at the Orpheum Theatre. She is amazing, cool, sexy, relatable, talented, and all-round great talent. She sounds even better in person than she does on her records. I swear the sound of Jill Scott's voice could make a deaf man hear.

If you have never seen Miss Jill Scott perform live, I highly recommend you get a ticket to one of her shows in a city near you. It is definitely worth the cost of admission and the travel. For now, check out my video of her performing one of her first hits, "The Way."

My Top 5 Jill Scott Songs

It is the first day of the last month of 2015. YAY!!! Praise baby and grown Jesus! And I am ready to end this year with a bang.

Tonight I am going to see the amazing Jill Scott perform (for the 2nd time in my life) at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston. After recently watching her perform on the 2015 Soul Train Awards (where she was honored with the Lady of Soul Award), I am so so so excited about seeing her live and in person.  

So, in anticipation of my Jill Scott experience tonight, I have compiled a list of my top 5 Jill Scott songs (in no particular order) to get me through the day. Sit back and enjoy the smooth sounds of Ms. Jill Scott aka Jilly from Philly.

Album--The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3

Album--Who Is Jill Scott? (Words and Sounds, Vol. 1)

Album--The Real Thing: Words and Sounds, Vol. 3

Album--The Light Of The Sun

Album--Woman

CB4 - I'm Black Y'all

Woke up this song on my soul. I am about to get very BLACK on my students today. We are going to be talking about power, racism, police brutality, protest, and the criminalization of black bodies in my Social Inequality class and I am coming with Facts--video of Laquan McDonald's police-sanctioned brutal murder, pictures of student-led protests across this nation, and a poignant tweet about the recent Planned Parenthood shooting and the police's treatment of that violent murder versus their treatment of young unarmed black men around this country. STAY WOKE, FOLKS! #veryblackproject

Black-Owned Online Stores For Your Black Friday and Cyber Monday Shopping

Thanksgiving finally is here and you know what that means---it is time to strategically plan out your shopping for Black Friday and Cyber Monday!!!! Because I am a huge advocate for supporting black-owned businesses, I have compiled a list of online stores owned and operated by black entrepreneurs. You can buy everything from jewelry to black pop culture items to natural beauty products to beautiful paintings.

1.

Loft324

 - clothing

2.

Rachel Stewart Jewelry

- jewelry 

sale: 20% off purchases over $20 with code: BLACKFRIDAY (11/25-11/28) 

3.

Because Of Them We Can

- clothing, books, calendars, and posters

4.

Ariel Brands

- clothing, prints, accessories, and games

5.

The Hillman College Bookstore

- clothing and accessories

sale: 20% off all orders with code: BLKFRI (11/27 only); 15% off all orders with code: THANKS (11/28 only); $15 White Hillman t-shirts (11/30 only)

6.

The Artisan Loft

- natural beauty products

7.

Paperishness

- stationary 

8.

Kashmir VIII

- prints, accessories, and clothing 

9.

QUELLYRUE

- accessories, dolls, sweatshirts, and jewelry

10.

INI Vibez

- jewelry 

sale: 25% off all orders with code: BLACKOUT25 (until 11/30)

11.

Nubian Skin

- lingerie and hosiery 

I Was Janet Jackson For A Night

Oh what a night! My Halloween 2015 was great in part to my kickass costume. I have wanted to dress up as Janet Jackson from her Pleasure Principle video for the past few years, and for some reason or another, I kept pushing it off to the next year in favor of another costume idea. But not this year. This year I was determined to transform myself into Ms. Janet Jackson (circa Control album days), and I did. Check out how I became Ms. Jackson (if ya nasty). 

The Inspiration

The Costume

  • Black t-shirt (I used a white paint pen to write the same symbols from Janet's shirt in the video).

  • Black wavy wig with bangs (to get the slick haired Janet look).

  • White/Maroon Adidas wristband.

  • Silver hoop earrings (I put a key in the left one to perfectly copy Janet's signature key earring that she wore everywhere in her Control days).

  • Black knee pads (Ms. Jackson was working it in the video and needed those babies to protect her knees as she danced her way through an abandoned warehouse).

  • Black high-waisted jeans.

  • Black Adidas Superstar sneakers (I made the ultimate commitment and bought these sneakers to complete my costume).

The Completed Look: Toya T as Ms. Janet Jackson from the Pleasure Principle Video

Did I nail it? 

Click

here

to watch the video that inspired my costume. Enjoy. 

5 Shows Starring People of Color (That Are Not Scandal, HTGAWM, and Empire) You Should Be Watching

There has been a lot of talk about the abundance of people of color on network tv today (and white responses to the rise of black and brown and tan faces on their televisions), but there has not been much talk about the shows, outside of Scandal, Empire and How To Get Away With Murder, starring people of color or why you should be watching them. So I decided to make a list for you tv watchers because my gums are getting very tired from the spreading the news about these great shows via the words from my mouth. Grab your remote, set your dvr, and check out these shows.

1) black-ish (airs Wednesdays 9:30pm EST/8:30pm CT on ABC)

Andre 'Dre' Johnson (Anthony Anderson) has a great job, a beautiful wife, Rainbow (Tracee Ellis Ross), four kids and a colonial home in the 'burbs.  But has success brought too much assimilation for this black family? With a little help from his dad (Laurence Fishburne), Dre sets out to establish a sense of cultural identity for his family that honors their past while embracing the future. 

black-ish

stars Anthony Anderson as Dre, Tracee Ellis Ross as Rainbow, Yara Shahidi as Zoey, Marcus Scribner as Andre Jr., Miles Brown as Jack, Marsai Martin as Diane and Laurence Fishburne as Pops.

Good for:

those who are looking for a modern day The Cosby Show-esque comedy that focuses on the lives of black families trying to thrive, fit in, and maintain their cultural identities in suburbia. 

2) Survivor's Remorse (airs Saturdays 9:30pm EST/8:30pm CT on Starz)

"Survivor's Remorse" follows the life of Cam Calloway (played by Jessie T. Usher) a hard-working young basketball star who is thrust into the limelight after signing a huge contract with a pro team in Atlanta. In the second season, we see Cam and his cousin and confidant Reggie Vaughn, played by Ronreaco Lee, continue trying to navigate Cam’s meteoric rise. From business deals to relationships and friendship, the two confront the challenges of balancing the needs of family with the rewards and responsibilities generated by their newfound wealth and fame. Cam, Reggie and

the unforgettable group of characters that is the Calloway clan wrestle with the rewards and pitfalls of stardom, love and loyalty. The series is executive produced by Mike O’Malley, LeBron James, Tom Werner, Maverick Carter and Paul Wachter and the cast also includes Mike Epps, Tichina Arnold, Teyonah Parris and Erica Ash.

Good for:

those who are looking for an adult (i.e., raunchy and straight funny no chaser) sports-themed comedy. Mike Epps, Tichina Arnold, and Erica Ash are hilarious.

3) Sleepy Hollow (airs Thursdays 9pm EST/8pm CT on FOX)

  1. Ichabod Crane awakes from the throes of death 250 years in the future where he must solve a mystery dating back to the founding fathers. Due to a blood spell cast on a battlefield during the Revolution, the infamous headless horseman is revived along with Crane, and the murderous rider embarks on a bloody rampage in present-day Sleepy Hollow. Ichabod realizes that he must act quickly, for the headless horseman is only the first of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Detective Abbie Mills, a woman familiar with supernatural experiences, forms a bond with Crane as they try to stop an increasingly vicious cycle of evil.

Good for:

those who are looking for sci-fi/fantasy dramas that have touches of literary and historical references. In other words, good for those into nerdy things.

4) Being Mary Jane (airs Tuesdays 9pm EST/8pm CT on BET)

Mary Jane Paul is a one-woman show: a successful TV news anchor, entirely self-sufficient--an all-around powerhouse who remains devoted to a family that doesn't share her motivation. As Mary Jane juggles her life, her work and her commitment to her family, we find out how far she’s willing to go to find the puzzle pieces that she, and society, insist are missing from her life as a single Black female.

Good for:

those who are looking for an hour-long drama that focuses on the triumphs, trials, and beautifully flawed realities of being a single Black professional woman in America.

5) Jane The Virgin (airs Mondays 9pm EST/8pm CT on The CW)

When Jane Villanueva was a young girl, her grandmother, Alba, convinced her of two things: telenovelas are the highest form of entertainment, and

 women must protect their virginity at all costs. Now age 23, Jane is a driven young woman studying to become a teacher, nursing a dream to be a writer, and supporting herself with a job at a hot new Miami hotel. All the years of watching telenovelas with the two women who raised her – her sexy, young-at-heart mother, Xiomara, and her still-devout grandmother Alba – have given Jane a slightly unrealistic view of romance. Still, she is determined not to make the same mistake her mother made – becoming an unwed mother at 16. Jane has managed to find a wonderful fiancé: a handsome, hard-working detective named Michael, who loves her enough to accept her detailed timeline for their future together and even her insistence on “saving herself” until they’re married. All of Jane’s meticulous life plans are turned upside down, however, when she sees her doctor for a routine check-up and is accidentally artificially inseminated with a specimen meant for the patient in the next room. Unbeknownst to her, the specimen belongs to Rafael, a reformed playboy and cancer survivor, who is not only the new owner of the hotel where Jane works but also a former summer crush of hers. A few weeks later, the unsuspecting Jane is faced with the most important decisions of her life. Will she continue with the pregnancy? How can she explain the situation to her fiancé and family? And what should she do about the wishes of the biological father, Rafael, and his scheming wife Petra? Though she has always tried to be the good girl who does the right thing, Jane’s life has suddenly become as dramatic and complicated as the telenovelas she has always loved.

Good for:

those who are looking for a telenovela-esque comedy that features a young woman dealing with love, family, career, and an unexpected pregnancy.

Jesse Williams Speaks The Truth

I wish that I could articulate the many issues that are plaguing people of color in America today as well as Jesse Williams does. He is inspiring, passionate, and informative. Check out the video and let me know what you think.


Every once in a while, a brave soul comes along that is willing to put his career on the line to speak for his people when most would shy a way….Like Mohamed Ali, now is this guy. #RESPECT
Posted by Africlandpost on Monday, August 10, 2015