[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mf0eOhNCjg&w=560&h=315]
Hair envy is a serious matter. The intense emotion has made droves of women fry, dye and cut their hair to replicate fabulously coifed notables (see: FLOTUS and Kate Middleton) or that woman (or man) in your office who looks like they just stepped off the set of a hair commercial. We’ve even contemplated going green (and we’re not talking about recycling).
And with the natural hair movement well underway, many ladies are coveting curl patterns that aren’t their own. Isn’t that the opposite of embracing your natural hair? Actress and curly girl, Tracee Ellis Ross, is addressing this unfortunate trend by launching the “Hair Love” Campaign–a call to action for women to start loving their hair, as-is.
Prompted by an Instagram meme from AroundTheWayCurls showing a little girl crying with a caption reading, “That moment you realize you don’t have Tracee Ellis Ross’s hair,” the 40-year-old star created a video response to express her gratitude–but to also explain her views on the matter.
“I don’t want you to want my hair. The reason I don’t want you to want my hair is I’m of the school of love what you got. For me, the reason my hair was such a battle was because I was trying to make it something it wasn’t. I wanted the hair that somebody else had,” Tracee says in the video.
She goes on to say: “I love that you love my hair but I only love that you love my hair if it’s an inspiration for you to love your hair.”
What a fabulous sentiment. We love that Tracee’s speaking out about this and hope it encourages others to really start embracing their own hair.
article by Julee Wilson via huffingtonpost.com
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Dave Chappelle is back in the spotlight and reclaiming his title as one of America’s favorite comedians. The stand-up legend is co-headlining Funny or Die Presents The Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival, a comedy tour launching late this summer. The comedy duo and music band Flight of the Conchords will join him in hosting and performing throughout the tour.
“The Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival w/ Dave Chappelle & Flight of the Conchords is going to destroy your funny bone this summer!” says a descriptor on the tour’s official site. The 5-weekend tour will kick off its first show in Austin, Texas on August 23rd and will appear in 12 other cities through Sept. 20.
Although Chappelle has performed stand-up across the country over the years, his recent series of gigs with comedian Chris Rock had many speculating his big return to the limelight. Now, the tour marks the funnyman’s high-profile return to the center stage since his abrupt departure from Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show in 2003.
Tickets go on sale Friday, June 21.
article by Lilly Workneh via thegrio.com
For a lot of men, being a father can be a daunting task. Some are unemployed. Many have poor relationships with the mother of their children. In the worst of circumstances, some are even in prison. But Steven Dandridge and his Detroit-based group, New Young Fathers, is working to help men learn how to be better men to their children–regardless of how rough their circumstances are.
“If you want to be a father, this is what it entails,” Dandridge told Fox 2 News Detroit. “You always have to be able to take care of your children, so you have to find employment. In order to do that, you have to be qualified for something. In order to do that, you also need to be able to get along with the mother of your children, whether you’re with her or not. You have to work together. You have to be on one accord when it comes to raising children.”
This morning, President Barack Obama hosted a special Father’s Day Luncheon inside the White House’s State Dining Room as part of his ongoing commitment to fatherhood and families. Joining the president at the lunch were fathers and their children, along with students and officials from the Becoming A Man (BAM) program in Chicago.
Stressing a message regarding the importance of strong families bonds and the value of mentorship, Obama has made fatherhood a focal point of conservation since his first term. Today’s lunch was an informal affair, and served as an unofficial follow-up from the president after a February visit to Chicago’s Hyde Park Academy High School. From the BAM program, 14 students and five chaperones were present to partake of simple fare such as burgers, fries, salads, and other snacks.
“It is good to see all of you here, so many young people, so many outstanding dads, a few moms chaperoning,” said Obama to his guests, according to a Chicago Tribune report. “Obviously, this is a great way for us to celebrate Father’s Day and just to remind ourselves, those of us who are fathers, how lucky we are.” After lunch, Obama gave his visitors a quick tour of the Oval Office before breaking with the group who went on to participate in a roundtable discussion focused on mentoring with White House officials.
Obama, a father of two daughters, 14-year-old Malia, and 12-year-old Sasha, said at the event that fatherhood is “the best job I’ve got.”
article by D.L. Chandler via newsone.com
NEW YORK (AP) — Soledad O’Brien is joining her former “Today” show colleague Bryant Gumbel at HBO’s “Real Sports.” HBO said Wednesday that O’Brien will be a reporter on the monthly magazine show. Her first story, due later this month, is about war veterans who use martial arts to help them cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.
O’Brien most recently was a morning show host on CNN, but the news network has given the program an overhaul that will debut next week. HBO also agreed to a deal with O’Brien’s production company, Starfish Media Group. O’Brien played college rugby, but her experience covering sports is limited.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press
article via thegrio.com
NEW YORK (AP) — When Robert Battle first arrived at New York’s Lincoln Center years ago, he was a dance student with a scholarship to Juilliard. On his first day, he walked up to the building he thought was the school. It turned out to be the Metropolitan Opera House.
This past week, Battle arrived at Lincoln Center in a far different capacity — as artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the most-loved dance companies in the world. He was bringing the company to its first engagement at Lincoln Center — one of the premier dance addresses in the world — in 13 years.
“This time I’m pretty sure I’m in the right place,” Battle, always ready with a smile and a quip, told the opening-night audience Wednesday at the David H. Koch Theater. “I saw my name on the poster outside.”
Battle, appointed two years ago, has the tricky job of projecting the gravitas needed to follow his famous predecessor, Judith Jamison, who held the job for more than two decades and carved a place in dance history, and at the same time injecting fresh life into the company, via new works and ideas.
This past week, Battle arrived at Lincoln Center in a far different capacity — as artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the most-loved dance companies in the world. He was bringing the company to its first engagement at Lincoln Center — one of the premier dance addresses in the world — in 13 years.
“This time I’m pretty sure I’m in the right place,” Battle, always ready with a smile and a quip, told the opening-night audience Wednesday at the David H. Koch Theater. “I saw my name on the poster outside.”
Battle, appointed two years ago, has the tricky job of projecting the gravitas needed to follow his famous predecessor, Judith Jamison, who held the job for more than two decades and carved a place in dance history, and at the same time injecting fresh life into the company, via new works and ideas.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama honored the WNBA champion Indiana Fever on Friday, calling the players role models for young athletes — even those on his daughter Sasha’s basketball team. The team captured its first title last October, defeating the Minnesota Lynx 87-78 and bringing home Indiana’s first basketball title since 1973.
Obama said the Fever’s season was an inspiration for basketball fans everywhere, including his daughter, whose team he sometimes coaches. He pointed out that the Fever came into the playoffs as underdogs and had lost to the Lynx during the regular season, then rallied to take the championship.
“For her to have wonderful role models like this who work hard and know how to play like a team, are incredibly poised, are competitors but also show good sportsmanship, that’s the kind of models you want for your children,” Obama said.
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THE SOCIAL SERIES PROJECT is a series of online campaigns that promotes positive images in society through imagery. In a world filled with negative images, KUU photography wants to take responsibility and create balance through amazing visual arts. They present the first edition titled: “Fatherhood Is…”
The project includes a video and a Facebook page.
Sabrina Thompson, who created “Fatherhood Is…”, has the simple goal to photograph and share photos of black fathers interacting with their children. She herself compiled images of more than fifty fathers into the above video and encourages viewers to share and upload photographs of themselves with their African-American fathers via social media during the week leading up to Father’s Day.
To learn more about this project, click here.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
The prestigious American Ballet Theatre’s first black soloist in twenty years took the stage last week, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg in the unlikely, groundbreaking life of ballerina Misty Copeland. The 30-year-old beauty starred in ‘Le Corsaire’ at the Metropolitan Opera House from June 4-8, but her star turn is just one of a string of firsts and a fascinating life story she brings along with her.
For starters, Copeland, a native of San Pedro, California, grew up in extreme poverty. She didn’t even know what ballet was when she was spotted by an instructor at her local Boys and Girls Club at 13. Which brings up another unlikely fact in Copeland’s life—she didn’t even begin training in ballet until her early teen years.
‘I had no introduction to the arts in any way definitely not the fine arts,’ Copeland told the New York Post of her childhood, part of which was spent living out of a motel room with her mother. ‘Survival was our Number 1 priority, not extracurriculars, or a career,’ she said. ‘These were not things we thought about.’ She was destined, however, to think a lot about those things. In fact, she would soon be thinking of nothing but.
A ballet instructor named Cynthia Bradley spotted Copeland’s potential and told her she was ‘You are the most gifted dancer I’ve ever seen, and this could be a path to have a career.’ And that’s what it became. But at 13, Copeland was at a major disadvantage. Whereas most ballerinas start at the age of 5, with money and eager parents backing them. Copeland was not so lucky.