Since the Superbowl we’ve been inundated with commercials for the video Game Dante’s Inferno.

The song featured in the clip is “Ain’t No Sunshine”  by soul legend Bill Withers from his 1971 album Just As I Am. The song was released as a single in September 1971, becoming a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also won a best R&B song Grammy in 1972.

Withers told Songfacts.com that he was inspired to write this song after watching the 1962 movie Days of Wine and Roses. He said that “I was watching…Days Of Wine And Roses, with Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon. They were both alcoholics who were alternately weak and strong. It’s like going back for seconds on rat poison. Sometimes you miss things that weren’t particularly good for you. It’s just something that crossed my mind from watching that movie, and probably something else that happened in my life that I’m not aware of.”

Many of Withers’ songs including “Sunshine,” “Lovely Day” and “Grandma’s Hands”have been sampled numerous times for popular recordings. For example, the drums alone to “Kissing My Love” have been used by at least a dozen artists including Dr. Dre. (“Let Me Ride”) and Eric B & Rakim (“The Ghetto”).

In 2009 a documentary about Withers was released aptly titled “Still Bill.” It’s a must see for any fans of music or Black history. You can find or host a screening in your area by going to  stillbillthemovie.com or pre-order the DVD.

By now, everyone’s seen Shaft and Superfly, the ultimate blaxploitation films, but the relatively shortlived film genre produced hundreds of low budget action and comedy films that allowed filmmakers like Spike Lee and Robert Townsend to have successful careers in film.

Take a look at the trailers for a few blaxploitation films that are essential viewing!

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song (1971)

Although it wasn’t really considered a blaxploitation film, Melvin Van Peebles’ magnum opus blew open the doors for black filmmakers and opened the doors for the new school of cinema.  Released with the tagline, “Rated X by an all white jury,” Sweet Sweetback tells the tale of the title character, played by Peebles, on the run from white authority.  Peebles couldn’t get a major studio to finance the film and mostly spent his own money to produce it, along with a $50,000 loan from Bill Cosby.  The soundtrack of the film was provided by Earth Wind & Fire, before they became one of the biggest bands in black music.

The Spook Who Sat By The Door (1973)

This controversial film, based on the novel by Sam Greenlee, tells the story of a black man named Dan Freeman (get it?  free man…) who becomes a top spy for the CIA with a secret agenda: destroy the agency from the inside and start a revolution.  He uses his espionage training to educate young black men in Chicago.  Soon after its release the film disappeared from theaters and remained a difficult movie to obtain until it was finally released on DVD in 2004.

Dolemite (1975)
Rudy Ray Moore’s classic character Dolemite made his film debut in 1975 after appearing on several of his comedy albums.  Dolemite is a poetry spitting pimp who is released from jail after being framed by a couple of corrupt cops.  The film is full of quotables, and several scenes were featured heavily in Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s “Got Your Money” video.

Detective: Now, I know you think you’re smart, see, cause you got all them flashy clothes, you got that big car there, you got all them black b*****s working for you.
Dolemite: You forgot about the white ones.

Truck Turner (1974)

A blaxploitation film starring Isaac Hayes as a bad-ass, ass kicking bounty hunter looking for a guy named Gator.  That’s all you need to know.  This is classic!

Welcome Home Brother Charles (1975)

One of the most unintentionally hilarious blaxploitation films ever, Welcome Home Brother Charles details the post-prison life of a man who is subjected to a bunch of incredibly ridiculous experiments while in jail.  Once he’s released, he vows to get revenge on those that put him in jail.  How does he go about getting his revenge?  He seduces their women and kills them.  The real kicker is the murder weapon he uses……… SPOILER ALERT (Highlight to find out what the murder weapon is) He strangles them with his freakishly large penis.  Yup!

Sheba Baby (1975)

Pam Grier was the undisputed queen of Blaxploitation films.  She appeared in several of its classics: Foxy Brown and Coffy to name a few.  In nearly all of them, she also managed to lose her shirt to the delight of any man who watched.

In Sheba Baby, the title character returns to her hometown of Louisville to fight some thugs who are trying to strong-arm her father’s family business out from under him, and just like in all of her films, Pam kicks a*s and takes names later.

Willie Dynamite (1974)

Willie Dynamite has the distinction of having Roscoe Orman playing the title character.  Who exactly is Roscoe Orman, you may ask?  Well, Roscoe also played Gordon on the children’s educational show Sesame Street.

Willie Dynamite is a pimp who’s doing what pimps do, and on his quest to be the number one pimp in New York City finds himself at odds with his league of fellow pimps, the cops, and a former prostitute turned social worker named Cora.

This is one of my favorite Blaxploitation films if only for it having one of the greatest moments of a pimp losing his cool and turning into a total simp. WATCH THAT SCENE HERE.

Trouble Man (1972)

Trouble Man is mostly known for it’s score which was written and performed by the legendary Marvin Gaye.  The movie itself is pretty substandard and pretty forgettable.  But, no blaxploitation film collection would be complete without it.  After years of being unavailable, it was finally released to DVD in 2006.

BONUS:

Black Dynamite (2009)

Black Dynamite stars Michael Jai White as the title character in this brilliant homage to the blaxploitation genre. From the costuming to the intentional production mistakes to the kind of film its shot on, Black Dynamite is nearly indistinguishable from the films it parodies.  The film co-stars Salli Richardson and Tommy Davidson and features cameo appearances from Arsenio Hall, John Salley, Brian McKnight and many more.

What are some of your favorite Blaxploitation films???

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“Someone said that people don’t give to charities, they give to the person that asks them,” he says. “I think that literacy is such an important issue. I always remind young people when I talk to them that when I started in this business I didn’t have any formal training…but I could read well. I was able to let my natural abilities come through. Here I am 49 years later because I had soul that could be interpreted through words on the page.”

Over the decades Mr. Fargas has created many memorable characters. From the popular “Huggy Bear” from Starsky and Hutch to “Fly Guy” from I’m Gonna Get You Sucka and  “Doc” on Everybody Hates Chris, Fargas has successfully remained relevant in Hollywood.

After telling us about his work with Safari’s Song, The Urban Daily had the veteran discuss his influence on hip-hop,  whether Huggy Bear was really a “snitch” and what it was like being Black in Hollywood in the 1960s, 70s and today.

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“What we have to realize is that the struggle is not over, particularly in TV. Back in the day the Black male or female filled the “ethnic” slot in a TV series.  Now you have Hispanic, Korean, even women in general. It used to be a male dominated scene. The Pam Griers were rare. In order to survive we have to share now.”

As Black History Month begins to draw to a close, Fonzworth Bentley invites all of you to sit for a little “Fireside Chat.”

Built around a complete jack of UK producer Quantic’s “So Long” from 2004, the Cool Outrageous Lover Of Uniquely Raw Style (I didn’t come up with that), reflects on the journey from the Civil Rights movement to present day.

Spotted at NahRight.

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The NAACP elected a health care executive as its youngest board chairman Saturday, continuing a youth movement for the nation’s oldest civil rights organization.  Roslyn M. Brock, 44, was chosen to succeed Julian Bond. She had been vice chairman since 2001 and a member of the NAACP for 25 years.

Brock works for Bon Secours Health Systems in Maryland as vice president for advocacy and government relations, and spent 10 years working on health issues for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. She joins Benjamin Todd Jealous, the 37-year-old CEO of the NAACP, as leader of the 500,000-member organization.

Brock said she plans to focus on pushing for policy changes to eliminate inequality, strengthening the relationship between the national and local NAACP branches and holding people accountable.

“It’s not always what someone is doing to us, but what we are doing for ourselves,” Brock said in an interview.

The departure of Bond, 70, after 10 years as board chairman marks a turning point for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Pepole.

Bond came of age in the segregated South, helped found the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and was on the front lines of the protests that led to the nation’s landmark civil rights laws. He is a symbol and icon of “the movement,” which was a defining experience for older generations.

Click here to read more…

VIA:  ShaniDavis.Com

Shani Davis was born on Friday, August 13, 1982, in Chicago, Illinois. Raised by his mother on the city’s south side, he started roller-skating at local rinks at age two. By age three Shani was darting around the roller rink so fast that skate guards would chase him just to ask him to slow down. Seeming to become bored with roller-skating, at age six a coach suggested that Shani switch to ice skating. Shortly thereafter, his mother started working for an attorney, Fred Benjamin, whose son happened to be involved in speed skating at an elite level. It was at that time that Benjamin suggested that Shani give speed skating a try.

Shani joined the Evanston Speedskating Club at age six and within two months started competing locally. Though immediately taking to ice, at competitions Shani was generally more interested in running around with his competitors and playing video games than he was with competing. Nevertheless, by age 8 he was winning regional age-group competitions and began to hear about the Olympic ideal from his Northbrook competitors and friends. Shani’s mother encouraged him to participate and, in an effort to build his endurance, woke him most mornings to run a mile on a track close to their home. As there were — and still are — no speed skating clubs in inner city Chicago, at age 10 Shani and his mother moved to the far north side of the city to be closer to the Evanston rink.

Click here to read more on Shani Davis…

Watch Shani’s video blog dated 2/13/10:

2006 World Cup Interview:

VIA: TYLERPERRY.COM

Tyler Perry is by all means, a Renaissance man.  He’s an actor, director, screenwriter, producer and author.  He is a true American success story.

Tyler Perry’s inspirational journey from the hard streets of New Orleans to the heights of Hollywood’s A-list is the stuff of American legend.  Born into poverty and raised in a household scarred by abuse, Tyler fought from a young age to find the strength, faith and perseverance that would later form the foundations of his much-acclaimed plays, films, books and shows.It was a simple piece of advice from Oprah Winfrey that set Tyler’s career in motion.

Encouraged to keep a diary of his daily thoughts and experiences, Tyler began writing a series of soul-searching letters to himself-letters full of pain, forgiveness, and, in time, a healing catharsis.  The letters inspired a musical, I KNOW I’VE BEEN CHANGED, and in 1992 Tyler gathered his life’s savings and set off for Atlanta in hopes of staging it for sold out crowds.  He spent all the money but the people never came, and Tyler once again came face to face with the poverty that had plagued his youth.  He spent months sleeping in seedy motels and his car but his faith-in God and, in turn, himself-only got stronger.  He forged a powerful relationship with the church, and he kept writing.

In 1998 his perseverance paid off and a promoter booked I KNOW I’VE BEEN CHANGED for a limited run at a local church-turned-theatre.  This time the community came out in droves, and soon the musical moved to Atlanta’s prestigious Fox Theatre.  Tyler Perry never looked back.I KNOW I’VE BEEN CHANGED was a poignant story of failure and redemption, and it resounded with urban audiences who identified with its themes and exalted in its spirit.  In Tyler they’d found a voice for their longings, and an outlet for their entertainment, and so began an incredible run of eight plays in as many years, including WOMAN THOU ART LOOSED!, a celebrated collaboration with the prominent Dallas pastor T.D. Jakes.

But if audiences were buoyed by Tyler’s faith, they were bowled over by his humor.  No way around it: the man was plain funny.  Nowhere was this more in evidence than in 2000′s I CAN DO BAD ALL BY MYSELF, which marked the first appearance of the now-legendary Madea.  A God-fearing, gun-toting, pot-smoking, loud-mouthed grandmother, Madea was played by Perry himself.  Madea was such a resounding success, she soon spawned a series of plays-MADEA’S FAMILY REUNION (2002), MADEA’S CLASS REUNION (2003) and MADEA GOES TO JAIL (2005)- and set the stage for Tyler’s jump to the big screen.

In early 2005, Tyler’s first feature film, DIARY OF A MAD BLACK WOMAN, debuted at #1 nationwide.  By the end of its first weekend in theatres, two things had happened: the film had earned $22 million, and Tyler Perry-writer, actor, and producer-had become a superstar.  Tyler’s ensuing films, MADEA’S FAMILY REUNION, DADDY LITTLE GIRLS, WHY DID I GET MARRIED?, MEET THE BROWNS, and THE FAMILY THAT PREYS have all met with massive critical and commercial success, delighting audiences across America and around the world.  His most recent film, MADEA GOES TO JAIL, spent two weeks at the top of the box office and ultimately went on to gross more than $90 million.2006 saw the publication of Tyler’s first book, DON’T MAKE A BLACK WOMAN TAKE OFF HER EARRINGS: MADEA’S UNINHIBITED COMMENTARIES ON LIFE AND LOVE, which shot to the top of the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list and remained there for eight weeks.  It went on to claim Quill Book Awards for both “Humor” and “Book of the Year” (an unheard-of feat for a first-time author), and spread Tyler Perry’s unique brand of inspirational entertainment to a devoted new audience.   It is a brand that is quickly becoming an empire.

Read Tyler’s entire bio and more at TylerPerry.com.

Enjoy this interview with Tyler as he speaks with CBN about his rise to fame, relationships and marriage.

VIA:  TheGrio.Com

The Hysterectomy is one of the most invasive procedures in the medical practice, and Tony Hansberry  has invented  a device that will do the post surgery stitching with minimal chances of complications or harm.  Sounds like something a seasoned physician developed, but it’s actually something a 15-year-old high school student named Tony Hansberry invented. People in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida are calling him the “next Charles Drew.”

Hansberry is a student at Darnell Cookman School of Medical Arts, referred to as the first medical magnet school in the country with an integrated medical curriculum. He came under the tutelage of Bruce Nappi, the director of the University of Florida’s Center for Simulation Education and Safety Research (CSESaR) in the summer of 2008. From his experience there, he developed a project that showed how to reduce surgical time for hysterectomies. It only won him second prize in his school’s science fair, but it caught the attention of University of Florida physicians who invited him to present his project alongside theirs during a medical education event.

Click here to read more on this extraordinary student…

While at Merritt College, Newton had become actively involved in politics in the Bay Area. He joined the Afro-American Association, became a prominent member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. Beta Tau chapter, and played a role in getting the first black history course adopted as part of the college’s curriculum. It was during his time at Merritt College that Newton, along with Bobby Seale, organized the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in October 1966.

In 1967 Newton was accused of murdering Oakland police officer John Frey. Though he was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 2-15 years in prison the case was dropped after two subsequent mistrials. 

Newton and the Black Panthers influenced a generation of artists and musicians and his name was referenced in many songs, poems and tv shows. In 1996, A Huey P. Newton Story was performed on stage by veteran actor Roger Guenveur Smith. The one-man play was later made into an award-winning 2001 film directed by Spike Lee.

Newton was fatally shot on August of 1989 by a drug dealer in Oakland. He was only 47 years old.

Huey P. Newton Interview From Jail

Public Enemy, “Welcome To The Terrordome”

“Every brother ain’t a brother/Cause a Black hand
Squeezed on Malcom X the man/The shootin’ of Huey Newton
From a hand of a N*gger who pulled the trigger”

Nas, “Queens Get The Money”
“I’m Huey P. And Louie V./At the eulogy
throwing Molotov’s for Emmitt…”

dead prez, “Police State”
I’ll take a slug for the cause like Huey P.
While all you fake n*ggas try to copy Master P

Notorious B.I.G, Coolio, Redman, Busta Rhymes, Bone Thugs & More.. – “Points” (Uncut) from the Panther Movie Soundtrack

Huey Freeman of The Boondocks

Roger Guenveur Smith as Huey P. Newton