Entries Tagged 'Arts and Entertainment' ↓

Over the next few weeks, Karibu Books will close all five of its Washington, DC, metro area stores after 15 years of service.

This is very sad news for me. I first met Simba Sana, founder of Karibu Books, when his only location was a kiosk at a mall in Maryland and I watched with pride as he expanded to multiple locations throughout the area. I had some of my biggest and most enthusiastic crowds at the various Karibu branches. Sana and his staff were the best, and he and I often reminisced about how we started and grew together in this business.

Other African-American owned bookstores have closed over the past several years. This one truly feels like the passing of an era.

You can read Sana’s note to the public about the closing as well as the discounts on his inventory on the website.

When I met B. Smith at her restaurant at Union Station in Washington, DC, my first novel, Sisters and Lovers, had recently been published and her cookbook, B. Smith’s Entertaining and Cooking for Friends, had just come out. We exchanged books and signatures as well as pleasant chat over drinks at her restaurant bar. Little did I know that I would end up spending so much time with my nose buried in the pages of her cookbook.

More than ten years after that meeting, Barbara Smith’s cookbook is still one of my all-time favorites. The recipes are memorable and delicious yet fairly easy to prepare. That’s very important for someone like me, who generally wants to get in and out of the kitchen with as little fuss as possible. I don’t mind cooking, but I don’t want to spend hours preparing a good meal.

The recipe for Cajun Catfish Fingers has become a favorite in our home. I like that I can prepare it and let it marinade in the refrigerator and then come back and cook it later. I’ve prepared it with catfish fingers and fillets and it’s always scrumptious. Guests rave about it.

For more soul satisfying recipes prepared with style, check out B. Smith’s Entertaining and Cooking For Friends at Amazon.

The movie adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” will air on ABC on February 25, 2008. The smashing cast includes Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, Sanaa Lathan and John Stamos.

The film has also been selected to be screened at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2008. According to ABC, this will be the first time that a broadcast network film will be featured at the festival. Talk about stellar! This film has blockbuster written all over it.

According the ABC Television Network, the special three-hour television drama portrays a brief period of time in the life of the Younger family, living and struggling on Chicago ’s South Side in the 1950s, as they anxiously await the arrival of a $10,000 life insurance check made out to Lena Younger (Phylicia Rashad, “The Cosby Show”), the family matriarch, from the estate of her late husband, Walter Lee. Everyone in the family has their own ideas about how they plan to use their new-found wealth and are eager for their new lives to start.

Now for a bit of history about this groundbreaking production: “A Raisin in the Sun” was the first play written by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway. It premiered in 1959 with a cast that included Sidney Poitier, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Ruby Dee and Louis Gossett Jr. A Columbia Pictures feature with the same cast followed in 1961.

In a later stage adaptation, Phylicia Rashad won the Best Actress Tony Award, becoming the first African American actress to ever win the Tony in this category. Audra McDonald won the Best Featured Actress Tony Award for her role in the play, and Sanaa Lathan was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress for her performance.

Sean Combs appeared opposite Halle Berry in “Monster’s Ball” and made his acting debut in the film “Made.”

The modern popular cast and early acclaim should bring this long-lived production to a whole new generation.

“A Raisin in the Sun” Movie Trailer

Illustration credit: phi2/iStockphoto

I love discovering good websites for authors and book lovers. I found Overbooked.org a few days ago while browsing–a favorite pastime of mine–and I’m still exploring it. Whenever I visit this quirky site I find a new little gem. It’s a cool website for authors and book lovers alike and features both fiction and nonfiction titles as well as old and new titles. It’s got special sections for Christian Fiction, Romance, African-American Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult Fiction and more.

One of the more interesting features for authors–although any book lover can get into this–is Author Connections, where you can list your own book titles with descriptions and post a link to your website or blog. I listed Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50 (my latest book) and it worked like a charm. This section is shaping into an interesting database and you can even download it. Yep, for free. The database is small now but could be really cool as more people add to it. I haven’t tried to download yet so I can’t say how well that part works. If anyone does try it out, let us know how it goes.

At times, Overbooked seems a bit clunky and outdated, and the navigation can get downright confusing (part of its charm?). Some of the links don’t work properly–for example the link to the “form” that you reach from the Author Connections link in the left-hand menu. Fortunately there’s another way to reach Author Connections, which I posted below.

To its credit, Overbooked does say that the site is under development and that parts of it are experimental–and I gather that you–the visitor–are a part of the experiment. What will you like? What will you avoid like the plague? How will you use it all? To me, Overbooked is an example of both the beauty and the curse of the web. You get to help shape the content but you gotta put up with something a little less than polished–usable certainly but… well, experimental.

Fortunately, there are some really nice features that make it worth the time and a little frustration–such as the many interactive areas, one of which takes you to Yahoo Groups, where you can post comments about books, although most of the comments at present seem to be authors hawking their latest titles. Another interactive area is the Overbooked Wiki, where anyone can post book related info. Again, this is just getting started and few items are listed now but it looks interesting so get on over there and add to it if you’ve got something to share.

A third interactive area looks especially promising and is called a “social network” or “social site.” This is billed as “a new social space for the chronically overbooked” and seems like a place where you can create your own book related group and comment and add photos and videos. How rich is that? I’ll definitely be digging more deeply into this area as it appears to be rather well done.

Overbooked is a volunteer project run by a librarian and it shows. The site was obviously created by someone with a love of books, and it’s a fun site to browse. I’d get in on some of its features now while it’s still young and growing, especially if you’re an author.

Overbooked Main Page

Overbook Author Connections

Overbooked Social Site

Overbooked Wiki

Many of you are aware by now that starting this year Essence magazine will give out literary awards in several categories. What you might not know is that my latest title Jewels, a photo-essay book coauthored with photographer Michael Cunningham, was nominated in the category of photography. Yeah!

OK, so I had little to do with the photos in Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over 50, but my name is still on the book jacket. Close enough. And I helped all the classy women in Jewels with their essays. And I can cheer on Michael, who knows a thing or two when it comes to photographing women. The photo of Ruby Dee on the book jacket is just one example of the many stunning photos in the book. A lot of you will know Michael’s work from his earlier titles like Crowns: Portraits of Black Women in Church Hats and Queens: Portraits of Black Women and Their Glorious Hair. Check out his portfolio, especially his work from Jewels. Michael is the hottest photographer out there today.

The public can vote on the top five finalists in the Storyteller of the Year category at Essence.com until January 15. Winners in the other categories will be selected by a panel of publishing experts and all will be announced at an awards ceremony, emceed by Hoda Kotb and Dr. Ian Smith in New York City on February 7, 2008. Terry McMillan will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Countee Cullen Regional Library in Harlem, a branch of the New York City Public Library system, will be the first recipient of the Save Our Libraries campaign.

2008 ESSENCE LITERARY AWARDS FINALISTS
FICTION
Red River by Lalita Tademy/Grand Central Publishing
Casanegra by Blair Underwood, Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due/Atria
The Pirate’s Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson/Unbridled Books
New England White by Stephen L. Carter/Knopf
Knots by Nuruddin Farah/Riverhead

MEMOIR
Brother, I’m Dying by Edwidge Danticat/Knopf
The Women Who Raised Me by Victoria Rowell/William Morrow
Alek by Alek Wek/Amistad
One Drop by Bliss Broyard/Little, Brown and Co.
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah/Farrar, Straus and Giroux

INSPIRATION
Reposition Yourself by TD Jakes/Atria
From the Heart by Robin Roberts/Hyperion
Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy/Tyndale
Do You! by Russell Simmons/Penguin
How Strong Women Pray by Bonnie St. John/Faith Words

NONFICTION
The Bond by Sampson Davis, George Jenkins and Rameck Hunt/Riverhead
Friends: A Love Story by Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance/Harlequin
I Got Your Back by Eddie and Gerald Levert/Harlem Moon
Foreigners by Caryl Phillips/Knopf
Supreme Discomfort by Michael Fletcher and Kevin Merida/Doubleday

CURRENT AFFAIRS
Come on People by Bill Cosby/Thomas Nelson
The Covenant in Action by Tavis Smiley/Smiley Books
An Unbroken Agony by Randall Robinson/Basic Civitas
Know What I Mean? By Michael Eric Dyson/Perseus Books Group
Twice As Good by Marcus Mabry/Modern Times

PHOTOGRAPHY
Daufuskie Island by Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe/University of South Carolina Press
Pop by Carol Ross/Stewart, Tabori & Chang
Jimi Hendrix by Janie Hendrix/Atria
Let Your Motto Be Resistance edited by Deborah Willis/Smithsonian Press
Jewels by Michael Cunningham and Connie Briscoe/Little, Brown and Co.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS
Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine illustrated by Kadir Nelson/Scholastic
Sugar Cane: A Caribbean Rapunzel by Patricia Storace and Raul Colon/Jump at the Sun
Marvelous World by Troy Cle/Simon & Schuster’s Children’s Publishing
The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu/Jump at the Sun
Sallie Gal and the Wall-a-Kee Man by Shelia P. Moses and Niki Daly/Scholastic

POETRY
Duende by Tracy K. Smith/Graywolf Press
Acolytes by Nikki Giovanni/William Morrow
Totem by Gregory Pardlo/American Poetry Review

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Terry McMillan

STORYTELLER OF THE YEAR
Eric Jerome Dickey
Lori Bryant-Woolridge
Trisha R. Thomas
L.A. Banks
Tananarive Due

CRITERIA
* Eligible titles were published in 2007
* Finalists illuminate the African-American experience throughout the Diaspora while provoking discussion about the human condition
* Demonstrates excellence and originality in concept, content and execution
* Recommended by Essence readers and Essence Book Club members

I’ve been keeping my eyes on the WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike for personal reasons explained below. Now it seems that many actors nominated for the Golden Globe Award will refuse to cross the picket lines for the televised ceremony on January 13, in support of striking writers. Unless, of course, they can strike some kind of deal beforehand. This is huge. Can you imagine television and film with no Golden Globe ceremony? And think of all the money that will be lost–or never earned. But that’s exactly what the striking writers had in mind, no doubt. Hit ‘em where it hurts–the wallet. No pain, no gain.

NBC plans to go ahead and air the ceremony and hope that enough actors will want the prestigious award badly enough to cross the picket lines, but it doesn’t look too cozy for the network at this point. Hollywood writers have been on strike since early November seeking better payment terms for shows that air on the internet, and the strike’s tentacles are reaching far and wide.

For some of us it’s not just having to put up with reruns of reruns and endless reality shows. (I happen to like some of the reality shows but enough is enough. Even I’m getting fed up with them.) But on top of all that, two of my novels–PG County and Can’t Get Enough–were optioned by a Hollywood production team and were being shopped around to actors and directors. Weeks before the strike, all activity ground to a halt as the strike seemed imminent.

Yeah, it’s frustrating. Painful, even. Still I support the writers. I understand where they’re coming from. All too often, we’re courted and treated like royalty when they need our creative talent and then given shaft when the money is passed out. And it’s not like the writers are asking for the moon. All they want is to ensure a cut of the profits when their work appears on the internet. So I’ll dig in and hope for a better day on this one. Hopefully soon.

A big question ahead is what does this mean for the Oscars, slated to air on February 24?

Photo credit: ©iStockphoto.com/Graffizone

Tavis Smiley Expanded Smiley Books

Good books. Thoughtful books. Intellectual books. We needed something to counter the smut and slut books out there like a hairy dog needs flea spray after a romp in the woods. Not that I think the books are completely horrible.

OK, so there’s more than a hint of what I really think about some of these books in the creative labels I’ve chosen. But seriously, I don’t think the books are wrong in themselves. I’ve met and admire some of the authors. They’re nice women and moms just like me. And there’s a time and place for everything.

But c’mon, people, do we have to have so many of them? I know that we’ve been denied the right to have our thoughts published for far too long but do we gotta air all our dirty laundry now just because we can?

OK, rant off. Now for the good stuff.

Tavis Smiley hosted a reception in October to announce the expansion of his book publishing company, Smiley Books, and to introduce new company president Cheryl Woodruff and a very impressive lineup of authors. Woodruff comes from a long line of publishing goodness including a stint at Random House, where she founded and headed up one of the first black imprints at a major publisher. Smiley Books’ new authors include luminaries Iyanla Vanzant and Dr. Cornell West. Others who attended the affair: Ruby Dee, Terry McMillan, Walter Mosley and Charlie Rose.

Top Photo: Connie Briscoe and Cheryl Woodruff
Mid Photo: Ruby Dee and Walter Mosley
Bottom Photo: Tavis Smiley, Ruby Dee, Unknown, Benilde Little, Connie Briscoe, Walter Mosley

Way Too Much Weight Snuck Up On Me

I finally quit smoking in late 2006, and 2007 was the year of weight gain. Every time I got on my scale I did a double take. I thought the thing was broken, so I secretly weighed myself on other people’s scales whenever I came across one. They were all broken, too. Or so I thought until my annual checkup rolled around and the doctor weighed me.

OKaaaay, so every scale in America isn’t broken.

Fortunately I was always a skinny thing and could afford to add a few pounds but I’m approaching the keep-this-up and you’ll-be-wobbling- around stage. Unfortunately, I now have to watch the pounds and I’m none too happy about that. I used to be able to eat anything anytime and now I’m paying a hefty price while I learn to count the calories….

So I Learned to Cook a New Low-Cal Pepper & Onion Dish

Two Red Bell Peppers
One Orange Bell Pepper
One Yellow Bell Pepper
One Package of Mushrooms, Sliced
One Red Onion
Kosher Salt
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Remove seeds and stem from the peppers and peel the onion. Cut peppers and onion into bite size pieces and place into a baking dish (I use a glass dish). Add sliced mushrooms and sprinkle with a dash of kosher salt. Dribble olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste (if desired). Stir it all up to coat the peppers with the olive oil.

Roast at 425 degrees for about 20-25 minutes depending on your preference for crispiness. Serves 4-5.

Delish!! And peppers are loaded with vitamin C.

Met Some Folks I Really Admire

Ruby Dee, Terry McMillan, Tavis Smiley, S. Epatha Merkerson, Marian Wright Edelman. OK, so I met some of them in 2006 but I didn’t have a blog then and couldn’t brag to y’all. Now I do.