theblackbottom

Daughter of a aristocratic WASP and Haitian Songbird, Susan Fales-Hill presents a rewarding novel of her adventures.

The memoirist-philanthropist-TV producer talks about her debut novel, Bill Cosby, Lena Horne and the philanthropic life.
By: The Root.com
The intrigue in One Flight Up, the first novel by Susan Fales-Hill, begins before the story does. Just after the title page, [...]

Two weeks ago while in the hood shooting his latest street anthem Jizzle. Young Jeezy over heard some of the parents in the community talking about how the kids were getting ready to go back to school yet still lacked supplies. Atl’s kids going without weighed heavy on Jeezy’s mind over the weeks while on [...]

Source: Kalamazoo Gazette
NEW YORK — Jazz singer and actress Abbey Lincoln, 80, died Saturday in New York, according to the New York Times.
Lincoln, who was born Anna Marie Wooldridge, graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School in 1949.
Her death was announced by her brother David Wooldridge, according to the Times. Lincoln had lived in New York [...]

Daughter of Independence
By ANGéLIQUE KIDJO
Like a true revolutionary, I was born on Bastille Day (July 14), 1960, in Dahomey, which was then a part of the French Empire in West Africa. A few days later, on August 1st, 50 years ago this month, my country was declared independent: I was French for [...]

Wyclef Jean on Tuesday announced his bid to run for president of Haiti in the country’s Nov. 28 election. Analysts say Wyclef Jean is in a strong position to become Haiti president after René Préval.

Haitian musician Wyclef Jean, right, gives a pack of goods to a woman at a camp for [...]

Clayton Hardiman | Muskegon Chronicle
For more than 20 years, it sat dormant — an empty storefront whose significance as a community voice was barely a whispered memory.
But 1877 Peck is back, this time with a name.
And the whisper is now a roar.
Friends, neighbors, dignitaries, well wishers and listeners, more than 100 strong, crowded around [...]

Interesting site, bringing a fresh perspective to Detroit.

To think, Margarita Barry wouldn’t be the woman she is today if her mom let her out of the house more often.
“I spent a lot of time on the computer as a kid,” says Barry, creator of the new website, I Am Young Detroit. “My mom never [...]

A new HBO Series about the “Roaring Twenties” executive produced by Martin Scorcese and Terrance Winter. Set in Atlantic City, New Jersey during the Prohibition era. The show is based on Enoch “Nucky” Thompson played by Steve Buscemi who is a Party Boss, political fixer and half gangster/ politician. The show is adapted from [...]

Carl Gordon, who four decades ago, nearing midlife and feeling trapped in a series of dispiriting jobs, heeded a surprising call and became a successful character actor on television and the stage, died on Tuesday at his home in Jetersville, Va. He was 78.
The cause was non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his family said.
To television [...]

Source: WYNC Culture
Combine the funk of James Brown with traditional vodun (voodoo) rhythms and add an Afro beat, and you’ll approximate the sound of the popular West African band Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou. Play the WNYC review of this band below.
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