Whitney Elizabeth Houston

Whitney

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve just been in a state of shock this past week. Music’s most talented angel has been called home. May she rest in peace.

You’ll never be forgotten.

WTA PLAYER OF THE YEAR

the color of happiness

As twilight fades, I’m still remembering the previous night when Rafael Nadal won the U.S Open for the first time. It was a sweet victory shared by so many of us who have followed his career and seem to live and die by each match. People tweeted through tears and blogged with huge grins on their faces over the fact that their hero made the final transition from great player to Legend.

It wasn’t easy. There were rain delays and worries about his opponent, Novak Djokovic. There was frustration about the jumping bean television coverage. All that seemed to fade away after match point. What was left was sheer unmitigated joy. A dream fulfilled. Critics silenced. History rewritten. It was Rafa’s party and everyone was invited.

Nadal was asked a question on his blog for the Times of London about what color did he want the star on his tennis bag to be if he won the Open. He said, “I don’t know. The color of happiness?” It leads to the question then, what is the color of happiness? Is it red mixed with white and blue floating above an ebony sky hovering over  tanned caramel draped in black, gray, and neon yellow? Could it be gleaming silver?

It could be so much and if asked, anyone who experienced it that night would be hard pressed to describe it. But what we all know is that we saw it.

Congratulations Rafa. May you always see the color of happiness.

i could but i won’t

Go over the whole Shirley Sherrod fiasco. It was probably the most ridiculous and shameful political display this year. I was hoping that the media would find some more foolishness to latch onto, but nooooo. They have to wring out the last bit of crap like water from a dirty ass rag. Just stop already.

1. We know racism still exists. (Duh!)
2. We know that both The Right and The Left like to stir up the deepest fears of the masses in order to get votes.     The Right : Black People; The Left: Black people who don’t do what they want.
3. Fox News is a propaganda channel. They wouldn’t know real journalism if it came up and kicked them in the  crack of their ass.
4. Somebody’s going to get paid some big bucks from all of this. My guess is Sherrod. “Next on Lifetime, The Shirley Sherrod Story: Slander and Guilt and How I Made it Over!”
5. We’ve got other things to worry about.

So don’t fear. I will not be pontificating about Andrew Breitbart’s assholery. I don’t want to dirty up my blog with that. I’m so over it. I prefer some real outrage over some that’s manufactured.

*drops mic and walks away*

dummy of the day

Poor Mark Williams. In his attempt to defend the Tea Party Movement against charges of racism from the NAACP, he writes what he claims is a satirical letter on his blog that is nothing short of racist. As a result, the Tea Party Federation expelled Williams today calling the letter, “offensive”.

Williams isn’t new to controversy. He once called President Obama a , “Muslim Welfare Thug”. He also called said that Muslims worship a , “Monkey God”. However, instead of embracing his inner racist, Williams would rationalize it and claim that his critics were overly sensitive or racists themselves.

Looks like Williams just rationalized himself out of a job now. The thing is, while Williams was the tone deaf and  culturally insensitive public face of the Tea Party, there are many more Mark Williams’ behind the scenes and in the ranks. We’ve seen the signs. We’ve heard the comments. We’ve seen the pictures. It says a lot about the organization that claimed it wasn’t racist by having this man speak on their behalf time and time again.

His ousting is just symbolic and way too late. Although it took the NAACP months to finally criticize the Tea Party, anyone who’s been paying attention to politics knew long before what exactly the Tea Party is all about. Better late than never? Not a chance.

waiting for the hammer to drop

For the past 18 months or so, R&B singer Chris Brown has been criticized, shunned, ignored, called out, critiqued, and laughed at because of his conviction for physically assaulting his girlfriend, Pop music star Rhianna. Rightly so, I say. He did it, people didn’t appreciate it, and he served his punishment (what little they gave him). With many stumbles along the way, he’s trying to repair his reputation. Not to rub salt, but remember the public outcry and the incessant attention his case generated? You couldn’t turn on the television or get on the internet without having some headline blare at you about it.

Fast forward and another celebrity is involved in a domestic dispute. Movie star Mel Gibson has been accused of attacking his girlfriend and abusing her over the phone. About a week ago, a transcript of the phone conversation was leaked and good lord almighty was it awful. Sprinkled in with some old-fashioned crazy hate, Mel managed to spice up things with some racism, violence, and all around psychopathology. He was already in career crisis after he was arrested for drunk driving  in 2006 and abused the officers with anti-Semitic rants and sexually inappropriate comments. Just yesterday, the audio of his lovely conversation with his child’s mother was released and it was even worse than the transcript. One would think that the calls for his head would be heard far and wide…

Well, his talent agency dropped him. “Showbiz Tonight ” talked about it a bit,  Some interviews with people on the street were done by the local news and some of them said they would boycott his movies, but where is the serious condemnation? None of his peers have said anything, not even Danny Glover. Looking..looking..where’s the outrage folks?

This guy is a megastar. His movies have made millions of dollars. He’s won an Academy Award. He was one of “People’s Sexiest Men Alive”. He doesn’t get the same treatment as Chris Brown? Is he getting a pass because of his past success? If he is, let me remind you all that abuse is abuse. I don’t care how many gold statues you have won. Any man who puts his hands on a woman, or threatens her with bodily harm should be put to task, and arrested!

Oh and the racism..Remember Michael Richards being hounded and pummeled for his rant at a comedy club that was caught on tape? He had to give a tearful apology and we haven’t heard from that mofo since. Will the Hollywood establishment speak out against one of their own? Will they publicly disavow his statements? Black folks buy movie tickets too. They might want to remember that.

I’m still no fan of Chris Brown and I never will be, but I can understand if he isn’t saying to himself, “Wait just a damn minute here!”

not impossible because it happened

As spoken by Tomas Berdych the Wimbledon Men’s Singles Finalist. Berdych got to that lofty position by doing what was called by BBC Commentator Sue Barker as, “The Impossible”. He defeated Roger Federer in the quarterfinals. He then went on to defeat Novak Djokovic in the semi finals. I suppose the “impossible” was in reference to his defeat of Federer. Well considering how scratchy Roger’s play was during to the tournament, facing defeat early wasn’t that much of a surprise. Many thought when they saw the draw that Berdych had a chance. If not him, then Roddick ( oh wait, he went out early too), or Novak would have done the job. More than a few tennis writer’s hadn’t even bothered to pick Federer to win because of his erratic play throughout the Spring.

Maybe the “impossible” moniker should be given to John Isner and Nicholas Mahut who played the longest match in tennis history during the 1st round. It took 11 hours and 168 games before  John Isner earned the victory. For a few hours, attention was taken away from the World Cup and all eyes were focused on Court 18.  Each man looked utterly spent but unwilling to give up. After the match, both competitors (and the ref), were given their just props, along with some goodies to take home. Isner got a guest spot on Letterman and Mahut got to give up his shoe and racket to the Tennis Hall of Fame Museum in Newport. 70-68 in the 5th set? A tennis record never imagined ? Impossible, but it happened.

What else happened was that Justine Henin fell out of contention to win the title she covets the most. Meh. Personally I never thought is was a good idea to come back to competition in order to win a particular title. And since Wimbledon has become the rest haven for the Williams sisters, Henin winning the title might be impossible. Just saying.

But anyways,

Congrats to the Champs: Rafael Nadal (Men’s) Serena Williams (Women’s) Vania King (1/2 of Ladies Doubles).

condolences

Eunice Walker Johnson, widow of publishing magnate and entrepreneur John H. Johnson passed away today. Ebony and Jet magazine could be found in nearly every African-American home in the country, and the Ebony Fashion Fair was THE society event for decades.

Her enormous influence was equally matched by her generosity. Mrs. Johnson donated millions of dollars to various charitable organizations throughout the years and she inspired generations of authors, fashionistas, business owners, and educators.

My thoughts and prayers are with her family today.

Player of the Year-WTA

Her career has been made of equal parts overwhelming success and controversy. She is either loved or hated, but in 2009, Serena did the damn thing. She won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the WTA Year End Championships. She earned more money than any other woman on tour this year. She was also fined more than anyone on either the WTA and ATP as well. She’s a mixed bag of genius and “teh crazy”, and she’s the Number 1 tennis player in the world.

Next year the tennis establishment and the haters will be welcoming back a couple of Belgians. The Powers That Be will be keeping a close eye on her because she’s on probation now-like she boosted some bras from Victoria’s Secret or something. Never mind all that. Serena puts butts in the seats. Serena brings ratings. Serena loves to win. This past year, she has done more to lift the profile of women’s tennis than anyone else. No one can deny that.

While others faded and faltered, Serena kept her focus on winning the big ones.  She the victim of bullshit calls and politics. She was the best and that’s all there is to it.

Condolences

To the family of little Shaniya Davis. God rest her soul and help us all.