It was reported this week that actress Juanita Moore passed away at age 99.
She was the fifth African American to be nominated for an Academy Award in any category, and the third in the Supporting Actress category at a time when only a single African American had won an Oscar. Her most famous role was as Annie Johnson in the movie Imitation of Life (1959).
Born in Los Angeles in 1914, Moore was a chorus girl at the Cotton Club before becoming a film extra while working in theater. After making her film debut in Pinky (1949), she had a number of bit parts and supporting roles in motion pictures through the 1950s and 1960s. However, her role in Imitation of Life (1959), a remake, as housekeeper Annie Johnson, whose daughter Sarah Jane (Susan Kohner) passes for white, won her a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture for the role.
When the two versions of Imitation of Life were released together on DVD, the earlier film was released in 1934, one of the bonus features was a new interview with Juanita Moore.
Moore continued to perform in front of the camera, with a role in the movie Disney's The Kid (2000) and guest-starring roles on television shows Dragnet, Marcus Welby, M.D., ER and Judging Amy.
On April 23, 2010, a new print of Imitation of Life (1959) was screened at the TCM Film Festival in Los Angeles, to which Moore and co-star Kohner were invited. After the screening, the two women appeared on stage for a question-and-answer session hosted by TCM's Robert Osborne. Moore and Kohner received standing ovations.
We here at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to the family of Juanita Moore.
Rapper 2 Chainz will be on CBS comedy 2 Broke Girls. Kat Dennings (left) and Beth Behrs (right) play two women who struggles for the day to own their own business.
CBS confirms that the Monday episode of the hit comedy 2 Broke Girls will have 2 Chainz as a featured guest on the program.
2 Chainz appears on Def Jam Records.
Last year, Tauheed Epps had a great year. His successful album Based On A T.R.U. Story help push the rapper into a mainstream field. The rapper appeared frequently with rappers such as Lil' Wayne, Game, Chris Brown, Drake, Gucci Mane and his friend Ludacris.
Previously known as Tity Boi, the rapper started the hip hop duo Playaz Circle (the word "Playaz" being a bacronym for Preparing Legal Assets for Years from A to Z) in College Park, Georgia in 1997 with his high school friend Earl Conyers (known as Dolla Boy) while Epps adopted "Tity Boi" as his stage name.
Epps was introduced to fellow Atlanta rapper Ludacris, when he moved into their College Park apartment complex whilst he was acting as a DJ. After taking interest in Playaz Circle, Ludacris began to record several songs with the group, playing some of them on his radio station.
Ludacris soon become one of the highest-selling rappers in the South of the United States. After hearing of their situation, Ludacris requested of Epps that the duo join his newly formed record label Disturbing Tha Peace, a subsidiary of Def Jam Recordings.
Throughout Epps' career, critics and fans alike have speculated the name "Tity Boi" was meant to be derogatory towards women, although he repeatedly denied such accusations. So in order to appeal to a broader audience, the rapper changed the name to 2 Chainz and the rest is history.
The rapper started to appear on singles with Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Young Jeezy, Gucci Mane, Kreayshawn, DJ Drama and Lil' Wayne.
2 Chainz smash single No Lie with Drake helped propel him into the mainstream.
Now as a reward for his contribution he will appear with Beth Behrs and Kat Dennings on their sitcom.
The show follows two women who struggle in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood. And for each of their misadventures, they try to find ways to earn money for their startup business. Each of them struggle to find love, success and fun at the expense of one another.
Max (Dennings), who comes from a poor working-class family, and Caroline (Behrs), who was born rich but is now disgraced and penniless due to her father, Martin Channing, getting caught operating a Bernard Madoff-esque Ponzi scheme—working together at a Brooklyn restaurant. The two become friends and build toward their dream of one day opening a cupcake shop.
The episode will star the two actresses going to the Grammy's Awards and they eventually end up meeting the rapper on a flight.
Matt McQuinn was a victim of the tragic Aurora shooting. He sacrificed his life to protect his girlfriend Samantha Yowler. The young couple were watching the Batman movie when the gunman James Holmes attacked the moviegoers.
The Aurora tragedy has been in the news and stories of heroism keep our spirits up. The shooter, James Holmes is a 24 year old former medical student who opened fire on moviegoers at the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises, the last installment of the Batman franchise.
James Holmes appears in court in a state of daze and confusion. The judge in this case ordered Holmes held in custody under protective watch and solitary confinement. The charges are state and federal. The federal charges are for the shooting of three military officers. The nine that were killed were either protecting their girlfriends or the random person that Holmes shot as they fled the movie theater.
We at Journal de la Reyna send our condolences to those lost in this horrible tragedy. Due to all the media coverage, it's unlikely Holmes will get a fair trial. The media is fully covering this tragedy and I am guessing most of the world is focused on this tragedy.
President Barack Obama went out to Colorado to comfort the families of the victims lost this weekend. The political warfare continues when conservatives online agitate the debate over how Americans are to mourn the lost of people. The political debate over guns will be front and center again. The National Rifle Association and gun shops are going to milk this for a profit. The NRA will send newsletters to emails saying that this tragedy is not the fault of the firearms, but a deranged individual. [Liberal] leaders like President Barack Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi are going to find ways to take away [our] guns. With the debate over firearms comes the debate over the way the president handles tragedies. Anything the president does will rile up conservatives. No matter what he does, they'll complain.
The irrational comments from those in the right wing are outrageous and callous at best. It's like the type of stuff that creates people like this James Holmes. Whether he done it or not, conservatives will continue their reactionary outrage over things that don't affect their lives.
Today we will talk about an Ohio man who sacrificed his own life to protect his girlfriend and her brother.
Matt McQuinn was a resident of Springfield, Ohio a city 20 miles east of Dayton. He and his girlfriend Samantha Yowler and brother Nick were attending the premiere of the blockbuster movie The Dark Knight Rises, unaware of the young man who came into the theater. The young man who was apparently wearing a tear gas mask and armed with multiple firearms including an AR 47 with heavy magazine shooting at the crowd.
Matt McQuinn was killed protecting his girlfriend.
As he was shooting into the moviegoers, Samantha was struck two times. Matt reacted like most people and took cover trying to protect her. He was shot three times. He was one of the many victims still in the movie theater after the injured and surviving escaped Holmes.
Matt was a 27 year old man who grew up in Dayton, Ohio lived in Springfield. He then moved out to the Denver area with his girlfriend Samantha. They were employed at Target Supercenter in Denver. According to family members, the two were in love and were planning on getting married in the future.
As reported by The Denver Post and Dayton Daily News, Matt McQuinn died protecting his girlfriend.
As a gunman calmly walked up the aisle of an Aurora movie theater Friday firing at moviegoers, the 27 year old Ohio native dived on top of Samantha Yowler. Her brother Nick, 32, also tried to shield her, said Robert L. Scott, attorney for the McQuinn and Yowler families.
Samantha Yowler, 27, was shot in the knee. Her brother escaped without injury. But McQuinn, from St. Paris, Ohio, was not as fortunate.
McQuinn's mother, Jeri Jackson, flew to Colorado on Friday as family members in Springfield tried to get information about what happened to McQuinn, according to the Dayton Daily News.
McQuinn's stepmother, Stacie McQuinn, said the hospital would not tell Yowler, who underwent surgery Friday, about her boyfriend's condition because the two were not related.
Matt McQuinn graduated from Vandalia-Butler High School in 2004. He met Yowler while the two were working at a Target store in Springfield, the Dayton Daily News reported. In November, the couple transferred to a Target store in Denver, joining Yowler's brother, who had lived in Colorado for the past few years.
I'm sure by now must have heard the story of Michael Oher who was adopted by a white family and made it to the NFL beacuse of the blockbuster movie "The Blind Side". But how many know that one time NFL star Daunte Culpepper was also adopted? How many know that his adoptive mother was black? Her name was Emma Culepper. Read an article from 1999 about this amazing woman that passed away in 2007 by using the link below:
This weekend The Princess and the Frog opens in movie theaters across the nation and should do very well. I urge everyone to go see the movie to show that animated movies with black leads can do well.At the same time there is some controversy over where Disney's idea for Princess Tiana came from. In 2003 the character of Princess Briana was created by authur Yara Baker. There is some debate over whether Disney "borrowed" from the Princess Briana character. ( Read more on that HERE )
While most of us will never know what really happened I think we need to look at the glass as half full. There are two black princesses for our little girls to read or watch. I'm sure there is room for two black princesses and many more to boot.I have brought a copy of the Princess Briana book myself and I urge you to do the same. There is a link to the book on Amazon at the end of this article.
Here is a brief synopsis of the Princess Briana Book.Princess Briana is a wonderful story for children which teaches that beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, and colors. Princess Briana is a beautiful, African princess who has the opportunity to attend the School of Elite's summer camp in Spain. She has never been to Spain and is very excited about the people she will meet and the things she will learn. Upon arriving, she saw many other princesses, but none who looked like her. Though questioning whether or not she belonged at the school, she continued to her classes, excited to meet her instructors. Shortly after, Briana wasn't too sure of herself, her beauty, or if she deserved to be a princess, so she tried to make herself fit in by changing her outside appearance. Young girls today are bombarded with media images, which imply they must fit society's idea of physical perfection. The messages from magazine covers, music videos, and movies train young girls to think that everyone must have flawless skin, be a certain weight, and size to be considered beautiful. Princess Briana gives an encouraging message to young ladies about loving themselves. Reading this book to young girls will enlighten and empower them to be confident in their unique physical attributes.
So let's go see The Princess and the Frog and buy the Princess Briana Book to help support author Yara Baker and her efforts to also make her book into a movie. Like I wrote earlier I have already brought the book and my daughter will drag me to the movie...LOL.
Disney now has a new black princess which seems much more important to adults than little girls of all races. They are just happy to have a new princess regardless of color. Maybe this is an instance where adults can learn from our little ones. Read the a great story on this by using the link below:
Use the link below to listen to Chris Rock discuss the negative reaction to his documentary Good Hair.He discusses the postings on black web sites and message boards. He also wonders out loud why it is okay to display black men in the worst light but why we can't even discuss black women's hair.
Check out this great movie trailers for the movie The Great Debaters starring Academy Award Winners Denzel Washington and Forrest Whittaker ( Denzel also directed ) The movie is based on the true story of Mel Tolson, considered one of the great African American poets and in the 1930's a professor at the historically black Wiley College in Texas. Washington will also play Tolson, who inspired his students to form the college's first debating team, which went on to defeat Harvard in national championships. Click the link below to watch:
