Jennifer Hudson to perform at The NAACP Image Awards

Academy Award-winning actress and Grammy Award nominee Jennifer Hudson and Seal are set to perform at the 40TH NAACP IMAGE AWARDS, which will broadcast live from Los Angeles’ historic Shrine Auditorium Thursday, Feb. 12 (8:00-10:00 PM ET live) on FOX.

Additionally, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Taraji P. Henson, Keke Palmer, Regina Taylor and Kerry Washington will present during the special joining previously announced hosts Halle Berry and Tyler Perry.

La Diva Jennifer will also be performing at The Grammy Awards on February 8th

"The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes." - Earl of Beaconsfield

J Hud KILLS it at The Super Bowl!!!

I don't know if y'all know this about me or not but I don't follow football all that much. I mean my monster tries to teach me, cuz he loves it but in all honesty, I just don't get it.

But I tuned in last night to Superbowl 43, mostly to watch Jennifer Hudson sing The National Anthem and to check out the half time show.

And Miss Jennifer did not disappoint me in the least.....as a matter of fact...Mama absolutely KILLED IT!!!! She sang it pitch perfectly, she sang it the way it was written and didn't try to "riff us all into a coma", thusly destroying the song. She sang it straight and STILL managed to make it her own.



This is what EVERY singer aspires (lol...or SHOULD aspire) to do as a performer. It was a beautiful thing to watch and I for one am glad that she has returned to the stage.

I missed her.

Welcome back Jennifer!

I am telling you family....this sister is gonna be HUGE!!!!

Btw...this commercial by Bridgestone had me laid out on the floor laughing:



"The only thing that stands between a man and what he wants from life is often merely the will to try it and the faith to believe that it is possible." — Richard M. DeVos

Character Counts Says Students at Lincoln Elementary School!

This story comes from fellow curvy chick Paula Rhoden of The Daily Courier...

The first-grade students at Lincoln Elementary School donned sunglasses and sang along with Aretha Franklin's R-E-S-P-E-C-T during the school Character Counts assembly Jan. 23. Respect is one of the six pillars of Character Counts.

Principal Bucky Bates said, "Typically, across the United States, Character Counts Week is in October, but at Lincoln, we don't always do things like everyone else."

Lincoln officials combined an already short school week and the kick off of Read to Feed with its Character Counts celebration.

Lincoln students spent the Jan. 20 through 23 working on Character Counts.

Thanks to the Parent Teacher Association, the students in each grade received and wore a different colored T-shirt - red, yellow, green, blue, orange and purple.

Like the first graders, the students in the other five grades at Lincoln Elementary sang or performed a skit representing the other five pillars: Caring, Responsibility, Fairness, Citizenship and Trustworthiness.

Parents and family members filled the Lincoln gym for the assembly.

Parent Kacy Magnett said the Character Counts program is great and "it teaches the kids important values."

Rob Vannett said he sees his first- and fourth-grade sons, demonstrating the traits of Character Counts.

"I can see it in their attitudes," Vannett said. "I think the program is very important. It is helping young people integrate into our community."

Parent volunteer Francine Hackerott organized the assembly.

"I think the students have really learned the pillars of Character Counts. They pay more attention to following the rules. The students are more responsible about being respectful," she said.

"Respect yourself if you would have others respect you."

- Baltasar Gracian

Hollywood Black Film Fest is Seeking Submissions for 2009 Event

Aspiring Film Makers Take Note:

HBFF SEEKING SUBMISSIONS FOR 2009 EVENT:

Final deadline Feb. 15 for features, short and student films, music videos and animation.

*The Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF) is accepting film and script submissions for the 10th Anniversary of its annual competitive festival for black filmmakers.

HBFF 2009 will be held June 2-7, 2009 in Beverly Hills. The festival will feature narrative and documentary features, short and student films, music videos and animation in its competitive program. HBFF also presents a separate Storyteller Competition for screenwriters.

The festival will be accepting submissions through Feb. 15. Films must have been completed since September 2007 and one of the film's creative principals (director, writer or producer) must be black or of African heritage.

Submission forms and guidelines can be obtained by visiting the official festival Web site at http://www.hbff.org.

The Hollywood Black Film Festival aims to enhance the careers of emerging and established Black North American filmmakers through a public exhibition and competition program, and bring independent works by black filmmakers to Southern California area audiences, thereby fostering a greater appreciation for black filmmaking. For more information, visit the official festival Web site at http://www.hbff.org.

“Perhaps it sounds ridiculous, but the best thing that young filmmakers should do is to get hold of a camera and some film and make a movie of any kind at all.” - Stanley Kubrick

Oprah Winfrey donates 1.5 Million to Newark Non Profit Organizations

From The Star Ledger.....

NEWARK, N.J. - Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is donating more than $1.5 million to several Newark nonprofits.

The contributions to five Newark nonprofit schools and organizations are among more than a dozen grants from the entertainer's foundation to education and community groups nationwide.

The grants will go to Newark's North Ward Center; St. Benedict's Preparatory School; the drug-rehabilitation center Integrity House; a shelter for women and children called Apostle House and the community organization Newark Now.

It's not the first donation Winfrey has made to the Garden State. In August, she pledged $1 million to an educational scholarship fund for students in the rural New Jersey town of Whitesboro, the hometown of her longtime boyfriend Stedman Graham.

"As the purse is emptied, the heart is filled." - Victor Hugo