yakeema

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Damn this hit me hard , I needed this talk as a little girl. s/o to her mom for destroying the self hate in such a great way

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Alek Wek, Betsey Johnson Fall/Winter 1998

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King of the Blues

B.B. King, whose scorching guitar licks and heartfelt vocals made him the idol of generations of musicians and fans while earning him the nickname King of the Blues, died late Thursday at home in Las Vegas. He was 89.

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"Who’s influenced you the most in your life?" “My principal, Ms. Lopez.” “How has she influenced you?” “When we get in trouble, she doesn’t suspend us. She calls us to her office and explains to us how society was built down around us. And she tells us that each time somebody fails out of school, a new jail cell gets built. And one time she made every student stand up, one at a time, and she told each one of us that we matter.”

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After a 20-minute flight over the city of New York, Stephen Wiltshire, diagnosed with autism, draws the whole town with only his memory.

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Robert Hayden (1913-1980)

Nikki Giovanni (1943- )

Amiri Leroi Jones Baraka (1934-2014)

Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917-2000)

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

Rita Dove (1952- )

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Two girls playing with yarn and knitting needle at Harlem playground, ca. 1950-1970, by Florence Ward

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Missy Elliott’s Super Bowl takeover reminded me of this: If she acts, this could be a great role for her. Gladys Bentley (1907-1960) is in the “Scandalous Glamour” chapter in my book, Vintage Black Glamour. She was born in Philadelphia and ostracized by family, friends and even doctors early in her life because they wanted to “cure” her of homosexuality. She was a 16-year-old renegade when she arrived in Harlem and was an immediate success singing at rent parties and clubs. Unapologetically masculine onstage, she was known for her signature top hat and tails and her gleefully obscene set drew large crowds to her shows at The Clam House, the famous gay club, and other hot Harlem venues of the day. She recorded for Okeh records in the 1920s and was the model for a blues performer in “Parties” a novel by Carl Van Vechten, the Harlem Renaissance legend who took this picture. In the 1950s, Ms. Bentley would denounce everything about her notorious career and declare that she was no longer a lesbian - thanks to female hormone treatments. She continued to perform, but her career waned and, just before she was to be ordained as a minister, she died of influenza at the age of 52 in 1960.

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Nat “King” Cole and Harry Belafonte were apparently moved to sing a song after signing formal contracts to create their business partnership, Cole-Belafonte Enterprises on February 19, 1960. The venture was formed to produce projects for the stage, film and television. Photo: Bettmann/CORBIS

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In a nutshell. #staywoke

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On June 30th, 1973, Alberta Williams King was gunned down while she played the organ for the “Lord’s Prayer” at Ebenezer Baptist Church. As a Christian civil rights activist, she was assassinated…just like her son, Martin Luther King, Jr. But most people remember only one. Until a month ago, I was one of those people.

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"African American Scientist ‘George Carruthers’ created inventions, such as the ultraviolet camera, or spectograph, which was used by NASA in the 1972 Apollo 16 flight, revealing the mysteries of space and the Earth’s atmosphere. Born on October 1, 1939, in Cincinnati, Ohio, scientist George Carruthers built his first telescope at the age of 10. He earned his Ph.D. in aeronautical and astronautical engineering at the University of Illinois in 1964 and began working at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. His telescope and image converter was used to identify molecular hydrogen in space and his ultraviolet camera/spectograph was used by Apollo 16 during the flight to the moon. Today, Carruthers teaches at Howard University."

Source

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descendants-of-brown-royalty.tumblr.com/archive

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Ken Page is probably best know for voicing the character “Oogie Boogie” from Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas

 Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Page attended Bishop DuBourg High School and in 1973 he received a full scholarship to Fontbonne College where he majored in Theatre.

Page made his Broadway debut in 1976 starring in an all black revival of Guys and Dolls.  He later went on to play he played the role of the Lion in the hit musical The Wiz in 1997. the following year, he would later go on to be featured as an original cast member in the Fats Waller musical revue Ain’t Misbehavin’ and was subsequently awarded the Drama Desk Award for his performance.In 1982, Page originated the role of Old Deuteronomy in the Broadway production of Cats.  In 2000, Page starred in the Broadway show Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues.

his other theatre credits include:

Louis as Joe “King” Olivor

 Call Me Madam as Senator Gallagher

 Out of this World as Jupiter

 The Wizard of Oz as Cowardly Lion

 The Pajama Game as Mr. Hassler

Oliver! as Mr. Bumble

Aida as Amonasro

Les Miserables as Thenardier

My One and Only as Rt. Rev. J.D. Montgomery

90 Years of Muny Magic as principal

Beauty and the Beast as Maurice/Narrator

Little Shop of Horror voice of Audrey II

 Aladdin as Sultan

West Side Story as Doc