Music TV network Fuse is making its first foray into scripted programming with The Hustle, which will premiere June 19 at 11PM. The six episode, half-hour dramedy is in the vein of Entourage set in the hip hop world and centers on aspiring artists trying to break into the business. It is produced by Alloy Digital-owned Generate. The Hustle will be joined by a companion after-show, The Hustle After Party, which will be taped in front of a studio audience in Fuse’s street-front studio on 7th Avenue in New York City. Hosted by Esteban Serrano (host of Fuse’s Top 20 Countdown), The Hustle After Party will feature interviews and performances with hip hop stars, along with discussions with industry experts and appearances by the cast.
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Kerry Washington has landed the cover of Elle‘s June 2013 issue, making it the actress’ first major fashion mag cover. Washington poses in a sweet cardigan and plaid shorts by Marc Jacobs, with just a hint of a Carine Gilson Lingerie Couture bra peeking out. It shouldn’t be too surprising that Kerry’s scored a major cover — not only is she a Best-Dressed List regular with enviable red carpet style, but she also stars in TV’s hottest show, Scandal, and was part of the massively successful Django Unchained.
Yet with all that success, Kerry had yet to pose for a fashion magazine cover up till now. Women’s Health, Ebony, Essence, Vibe — plenty of non-fashion glossies have chosen Kerry for their covers. She even shared the cover of Elle‘s “Women in Hollywood” issue in December 2012. But the likes of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar eluded her. Until now.
article via huffingtonpost.com
In case you missed it last week, here is the inspiring story and performance of Camden, New Jersey’s drill team, the Camden Sophisticated Sisters, formed twenty-six years ago by Camden native and CNN Hero Tawanda “Wa-Wa” Jones, on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars”:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VARCjIF1zhY&w=560&h=315]If you’d like to help, donate or follow the Sophisticated Sisters, click here.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Bill Duke’s thought-provoking film, “Dark Girls” is headed to Oprah Winfrey’s OWN Network this June.
The documentary first emerged in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival and had great promise of becoming something bigger and better. But it never turned up as a national theater release and continued to tour across the country.
Duke announced in 2012 at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, that he was in the middle of developing two feature documentaries as follow ups to “Dark Girls.”
“Yellow Brick Road” will look at the ‘colorism’ issue from the perspective of light-skinned Black women. The other documentary, “What Is A Man?” will explore masculinity and manhood as it has transformed from the beginning of time to present day. Filming for the project has already begun and it turns out Duke has been interviewing people from all around the world.
Watch the trailer for “Dark Girls” below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXG38QxXY-s&w=560&h=315]
article by Brittney M. Walker via eurweb.com
Two short documentaries directed and produced by Barbara Rick about Daraja Academy in Kenya air back-to-back on PBS on May 9th, “Girls of Daraja” followed by “Schools of My Dreams.”
Girls of Daraja:
A boarding secondary school for Kenyan girls with top academic scores and exceptional leadership skills but no means to continue their education. The academy provides shelter, food, healthcare and counseling services which allows students to focus on their academic and personal potential, without being hindered by the everyday barriers of poverty.
School of My Dreams:
An engaging portrait of students of Daraja Academy, a free Kenyan boarding school for exceptional girls living in poverty. In their own words and art, Daraja’s first graduating class demonstrates how education is expanding their vision and unlocking their dreams. They commit to transforming their communities and the world. Watch the trailer below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfHTRrk8FEc&w=560&h=315]Click here for more info about Daraja Academy and the films.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
A boarding secondary school for Kenyan girls with top academic scores and exceptional leadership skills but no means to continue their education. The academy provides shelter, food, healthcare and counseling services which allows students to focus on their academic and personal potential, without being hindered by the everyday barriers of poverty.
School of My Dreams:
An engaging portrait of students of Daraja Academy, a free Kenyan boarding school for exceptional girls living in poverty. In their own words and art, Daraja’s first graduating class demonstrates how education is expanding their vision and unlocking their dreams. They commit to transforming their communities and the world. Watch the trailer below:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfHTRrk8FEc&w=560&h=315]Click here for more info about Daraja Academy and the films.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson
Tia and Tamera Mowry have both experienced the joys of motherhood and have teamed up to create an innovative herbal supplement to help new moms boost the quality and quantity of breast milk. The supplement is called Milky and the sisters recently celebrated the launch of their new brand at A Pea in the Pod in L.A.
Mom-to-be Tamar Braxton was just one of the famous faces who came out to support Milky at the VIP launch event.
There’s no word yet on when Milky will be available for purchase, but consumers can sign up for exclusive notices via the Milky website. If you’re wondering if the supplements really work, Tamera, mother of 6-month-old Aden Housley, uses them and gives them her stamp of approval.
“Believe me — it works!” Tamera told People. The twins also dish on Milky and their adventures in motherhood on their blog, Tia and Tamera.
article by Nicole Marie Melton via essence.com
No, that’s not Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas and Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes as TLC circa 1992.
It’s Drew Sidora as T-Boz, Keke Palmer as Chilli, and Lil’ Mama as Left Eye in VH1’s upcoming TV movie about the 90s r&b/hip hop trio.
VH1 released this photo today as an official first photo from the upcoming biopic “Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story.”
“Drumline’s” Charles Stone III is directing from a screenplay by “What’s Love Got To Do With It’s” Kate Lanier.
The film started production in March in Atlanta where Chilli, Left Eye and T-Boz started their rise to multi-platinum fame as one of the most successful musical trios of all time.
The two surviving members of the group, Chilli and T-Boz, serve as consultants and executive producers on the movie. The pic is scheduled to premiere toward the end of the year.
article via eurweb.com
According to Huff Post Black Voices, Tyra Banks is expanding “Top Model” empire by producing “Africa’s Next Top Model” this fall. Africa is now the fourth continent to adopt ANTM’s highly successful model search-meets-reality show concept. Banks has tapped Nigerian model Oluchi Onweagba Orlandi (pictured above) to serve as the series’ host and co-producer.
“The African version of the franchise is long overdue and I expect the show to be a smashing success across the continent,” Oluchi said in a release. Twelve young women will be chosen from eight countries throughout Africa, and, like the U.S. version, the model hopefuls will compete in a number of photo shoots and challenges over the course of ten episodes to see who makes it to the top. No judges have been announced yet, but production will begin in August in Cape Town, South Africa.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson and Lesa Lakin
Adweek reports that Web portal AOL has 15 original projects slated to debut this fall, as it attempts to get advertisers to consider its original shows up against networks such as ABC and Fox. Among the shows in the works are Anthony Eats America, a food-centric travelogue starring comedian Anthony Anderson, Candidly Nicole, a series built around Nicole Richie’s Twitter account (#candidlynicole), along with Funded, a show that looks at crowdfunding business success stories hosted by author, entrepreneur and comedian Baratunde Thurston, and My Ink, a documentary focused on the back stories on sports stars tattoos.
“The main thing is AOL is positioned to bridge the gap between Web and TV,” Ran Harnevo, Senior Vice President of AOL Video, told Adweek. “We think we can show there is no substantial difference between the two media when it comes to quality and measurement.”
Comedian Sherri Shepherd, co-host of The View, says type 2 diabetes could have killed her, but instead it saved her life.
“If I didn’t have diabetes, I would probably be at the International House of Pancakes eating a stack of pancakes with butter and syrup,” says Shepherd, 46. “I would probably be 250 pounds. I would not be going to the doctor. I probably wouldn’t be married to my husband, Lamar Sally. I wouldn’t be healthy for my son, Jeffrey.”
At 5-foot-1, she now weighs 157 pounds, down from 197 pounds several years ago. Once she was taking three medications for diabetes, but now that she’s eating healthier, exercising regularly and keeping her blood sugar in the right range, the doctor has taken her off all medications for the disease.
Shepherd details her struggles with diabetes and the changes she made in her life in her new book, Plan D: How to Lose Weight and Beat Diabetes (Even If You Don’t Have It), written with Billie Fitzpatrick.
Almost 26 million U.S. adults and children have diabetes, in which the body does not make enough of the hormone insulin, or doesn’t use it properly. Insulin helps glucose (sugar) get into cells, where it is used for energy. If there’s an insulin problem, sugar builds up in the blood, damaging nerves and blood vessels. There are two major forms: type 1 and type 2. In adults, type 2 diabetes accounts for 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes include thirst, hunger, tiredness, blurry vision, tingling and numbness in the hands and feet, healing problems and frequent urination. The disease may lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, foot and leg amputations and blindness.
Shepherd has a family history of type 2 diabetes — both of her sisters have it and her mother died at age 41 from complications of the disease.
Shepherd says she was in denial after she was diagnosed with pre-diabetes. “That said to me I’m not diabetic so I can eat the way I want” including barbecue, mac and cheese, pasta, pancakes and waffles, she says.
But then in 2007, she was formally diagnosed. At the time, she says, she had no energy, had numbness in her feet, had blurred vision, was thirsty all the time and had to go to the bathroom frequently. Her blood sugar was way too high.
She says her doctor was blunt. “She said, ‘Sherri, you love wearing those shoes, don’t you?’ I said, ‘Yes, I do’. She said, ‘You won’t be wearing them with your foot cut off, because if you keep eating the way you are eating, that’s where you’re headed.’ “