The Beauty that is MAYA ANGELOU R.I.P.

My Tribute to Maya: My Sheroe has left us behind to conquer even more.
So, I Weep, I Sigh and Flicker with Pain. But. Knowing that Maya’s greatness has reached so many, soothes my Soul with Joy not Pain. I Celebrate with Maya….God’s Gift to Her as to us ALL, Eternal Peace! The Peace Maya earned by Her Grace & ways with Her God. Dr. Angelou Triumphed in Life because of Her Dignity, Kindness & Love of Self & Humanity. May Dr. Maya Angelou R.I.P. Forever & Ever, Amen.

Time to ‘chill’ with Aretha !!

©ourtesy of eatcakey: dc-via-chicago & mekhismind

Aretha Louise Franklin: The Queen of Soul (..love this pic)

Aretha Louise Franklin was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Barbara (née) Siggers and Clarence LaVaughn Franklin. Her father, who went by the nickname, “C. L.”, was an itinerant preacher originally from Shelby, Mississippi, while her mother was an accomplished piano player and vocalist. Alongside Aretha, her parents had three other children while both C. L. and Barbara had children from outside their marriage. The family relocated to Buffalo, New York when Aretha was two. Prior to her fifth birthday, C. L. Franklin permanently relocated the family to Detroit, Michigan where he founded the Baptist church, New Bethel. Franklin’s parents had a troubled marriage due to stories of C. L. Franklin’s philandering and in 1948, they separated, with Barbara relocating back to

The Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s-30s.

©ourtesy of newmanology: & mekhismind

newmodelminority:

newmanology:

Aaron Douglas was an artist and muralist who came to fame during the years of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s-30s. Although he’s most known today for his paintings, he did a lot of illustration work back in the day for various book covers and magazines, especially The Crisis and Opportunity, as well as the cover of the 1926 publication of Fire!!. (You can get a full-sized reproduction of Fire!! here.) Here are some favorite Aaron Douglas magazine covers (and one playbill cover).

Because I just saw the top one @ the Shomberg, I bought it. It feels peculiar to have Zora Neal Hurston’s words in my hands in this form. – –

Memorable Days of U.S. Black History

©ourtesy of Vy Higginsen shared For Harriet

Sheroes: In Celebration of These Women who were Former Slaves

#BlackHerstory: This photo was taken in Washington, D.C. in 1916 at the “Convention of Former Slaves.”

Pictured from left to right: Annie Parram, age 104; Anna Angales, age 105; Elizabeth Berkeley, 125; Sadie Thompson, 110.©ourtesy of National Photo Company Collection glass negative. (Shorpy)

– – “The First Decoration Day” by David W. Blight, Yale University

Religious fortune: How does one Seperate?

©ourtesy of citizensofculture

The ASIAN Persuasion of the 60s

©ourtesy of vintagegal, rihannonn, bbook

Japanese Youth in Revolt, 1964

Photos by Michael Rougier for Life Magazine (via)

Casa Susanna: Photos of a 1950s Transvestite Hideaway

©ourtesy of DarkSilenceinSuburbia, damnitamber, mydarling

The Ladies All Gathered for Dinner & this photo opt.

Cross-dressing refers to the act of wearing clothing and other accoutrements commonly associated with the opposite sex within a particular society. Cross-dressing has been used for purposes of disguise, comfort, and as a literary trope in modern times and throughout history. It does not, however, necessarily indicate transgender identity.

Nearly every human society throughout history has expected distinctions to be made between males and females by the style, color, or type of clothing they are expected to wear, and likewise most societies have had a set of social norms, views, guidelines, or even laws defining what type of clothing is appropriate for each gender.

The term “cross-dressing” denotes an action or a behavior without attributing or implying any specific causes for that behavior. Some people automatically connect cross-dressing behavior to transgender identity or sexual, fetishist, and homosexual behavior, but the term itself does not imply any motives. – – continued on Wikipedia

Three gallant freedom fighters join the ancestors

©ourtesy of  Herb Boyd of AmsterdamNews

Elombe Brath, Vincent Harding and Sam Greenlee join the ancestors

I was still reeling from the news that one of Detroit’s most remarkable freedom fighters, General Gordon Baker Jr., had joined the ancestors when in rapid succession, like a machine gun of sorrow, word came that the author Sam Greenlee had expired and that the uncompromising voice of Vincent Harding was stilled. Then, as if there was no end to the sadness, the phone was alive with messages that the beloved Elombe Brath was no longer a breathing icon of commitment—and all of them departed as we celebrated the birthday of Malcolm X.

The day before, I had written the obituary of William Worthy, whose name I had not heard in years but whose radical journalism is forever remembered. I hope there’s space in these pages for readers to gather some notion of his courage and audacity in defiance of the restrictions imposed on his freedom of expression.

ART: Dreamy Portrait Series by Antonio Mora

©ourtesy of wetheurban

Photo Art by Antonio Mora

Spanish-based artist Antonio Mora, also known as #mylovt, uses the web to craft his surreal works. He looks through online databases and finds images that he later combines into unconventional portraits. – – Read More

Ernie Paniccioli – Graffiti and Hip Hop Photographer extraordinaire!

©ourtesy of  cultureunseen

Ernie Paniccioli is an American photographer of hip hop culture. A Cree Native American, he grew up in Brooklyn, New York.

His photography of hip hop began in the 1970s with shots of graffiti in New York.

The hip hop journalist Kevin Powell encouraged Paniccioli to make a book and in 2002, Who Shot Ya? : Three Decades of Hip-Hop Photography was published. — ©ourtesy of wikipedia

Richard Kern on Philip-Lorca diCorcia’s ‘Hustlers’

©ourtesy of  vicemag & mekhismind

Boys Working the Streets of Hollywood

To find subjects for his series Hustlers, Philip-Lorca diCorcia drove around Hollywood between 1990 and 1992 looking for male prostitutes. Although many of the photos look perfectly timed, off-the-hip candid photos of street hustlers, diCorcia pre-selected the locations and did lighting tests with an assistant before searching for a subject to put in each setting.

DiCorcia approached his subjects in LA’s “Boystown,” an area of West Hollywood where, in the 80s and 90s, a small fee would buy time with available young rent boys found hanging out on Santa Monica Boulevard. Instead of paying them for sex, he paid them to pose for a photo. The men he found came to LA from all OVER the country for a glamorous new life that they believed could be found in Hollywood. The titles of the photos included the subject’s name, age, hometown and the fee exchanged.

Longtime California black-owned bookstore closes

©ourtesy of  Associated Press | Terry Collins

SAN FRANCISCO — One of the oldest black-owned bookstores in the nation has been evicted from its longtime home in a historic San Francisco neighborhood. The co-owners of Marcus Book Stores in the Fillmore District said in an open letter this week that the property owner changed the locks after they fell behind on rent payments. The store has been shuttered since Tuesday. The bookstore, which emerged as a pillar in the black community since its opening in the area once nicknamed “The Harlem of the West,” celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2010. It was named after early 20th century black nationalist Marcus Garvey and has been at its current location since the early 1980s. The bookstore outlasted the uprooting of numerous black owned businesses in the area in the 1970s because of eminent domain, and it hosted celebrity authors, including Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou. Co-owners Tamiko, Greg and Karen Johnson have spent a year and half fundraising to buy the Victorian building where the store is located. Last year, they reached an agreement with the building’s owners to raise $2.6 million to buy the property.

The family fell about $750,000 short at a February deadline. “Though by any standards that would have been more than enough for a down payment, the (owners) refused the $1.85 million start and filed for eviction,” the family wrote. They also thought they would get a reprieve after city leaders designated the bookstore’s location a historic landmark earlier this year. Black community leaders say the city, which has seen nearly a 40 percent decrease in its African-American population between 1990 and 2010, should help. The Rev. Amos Brown, president of the San Francisco NAACP, told the San Francisco Examiner on Friday that it’s another example of how blacks are treated in the city. “You can’t deal with this bookstore without dealing with the bigger sickness,” Brown said. “So, you can’t deal with Marcus alone without looking at the conditions, the public policy that created the conditions for the black community to be torn asunder.” City Supervisor London Breed, who represents the district, said she is optimistic that the building’s owners will have a change of heart.

Money makers: Forbes’ top 10 Chinese celebrities of 2014

©ourtesy of  theSTAR online

1. Fan Bingbing

Chinese actress Fan Bingbing will be seen in ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past’, which opens May 22.

Actress Fan Bingbing has topped this year’s Forbes China Celebrity 100 List.

Released earlier this week, the Forbes list ranked Chinese actress Fan Bingbing at the top with an annual income of 122 million yuan (RM58.56mil). Joining her in the top 10 were familiar names like Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi and Jackie Chan. Celebrities were ranked based on their commercial value, which is calculated based on their income and exposure.

Here are the other top 10 Chinese celebritiess who made the cut.