Farewell.... Coretta Scott King

Still half asleep, I turned on the Today Show as I do every workday at 7:30am to hear that one of the most influential women of our times died this morning. Coretta Scott King, a human rights and civil rights activist, rose to the national stage with her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Coretta passed from complications from a stroke last August, her last public appearance was at a fundraiser during the King Holiday weekend.

Since her husband's assassination, Coretta Scott King worked to create Center for Nonviolent Social Change as a living memorial to her husband's life and dreamer . She also campaigned for the national holiday which she achieved that goal in 1986. In recent years, Mrs. King spoke out against racial profiling, mandatory minimum sentences and attacks on affirmative action. She was also a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq.

Ain't this About a Bitch

Former FEMA Director Michael Brown has finally accepted much of the blame for the Katrina catastrophe. As the keynote speaker for a conference for meteorologists at a ski resort in the Sierra Nevada, Brown is quoted as saying, "I should have asked for the military sooner. I should have demanded the military sooner." He goes on to state he fell short in conveying the magnitude of the disaster and calling for help.

In the Associated Press article, Brown gives a total 180 turn from his congressional testimony where he blamed everyone accept himself, FEMA, and good ole W. Michael Brown told The Associated Press: "I think it's important to realize that all of us made mistakes. ... After a while you get a different perspective." His new revelation just happens to come after his appearance before Congress.

As someone who has lost a family member and whose family lost absolutely everything there... I would love the opportunity to spit in his face and tell him what an incompetent piece of shit he and George W really are.

Some people you just love in spite of

It amazes me after 6 years of separation and so many trials and tribulations, how I can allow one person to have such a hold on me. As much as I would like to think that I am over that relationship and time in my life.... Mr. D pops up again and brings back memories of the good times. Yet I never seem to remember the bad times until he disappears again or does something asinine.

His career always came first... which was appealing to me at first. To see someone with focus and drive to achieve their goals and all at the same time he knew how to maneuver the system to make things happen. But the lonely nights and missed dates... ended that honeymoon quickly.

Well I try to call Mr. D every holiday and a couple times a month just to say hello and see what or who he is up to now. Christmas Day... no return call. New Years Eve... no return call. New Years Day... no return call. Which led me to believe ooooh we are in our "I am so busy even though I am off work for 2 weeks, and no I don't have time to visit you this month but maybe next." mood.

So I was on the phone with my good friend in Miami last night, listening to him rant and rave about how he can't get his ex out of his system. (they have dated off and on for the past 8 years, and not one single year has it been a healthy relationship) Of course I gave him my sure fire way of releasing those emotions. I mean take it from me I have had 3 relationships and seriously dated 2 other people... and I am completely over all of them. A few I look back at them now and wonder what the hell was I thinking? or they are with that now... what the hell did we have in common?

... But of course just like clock work guess who calls. He just wanted to verify my mailing address before he sends my belated Christmas gift. "Nothing big just wanted to let my boy know I was thinking about him."

Remembering the Dream of a King

"And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."

- taken from King's speech 'The Drum Major Instinct'

Help remember the dream by contributing to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, DC.

Is It Time for the Gay Pride Travel Tour Already???

Police Looking For Band Of Thieves
ATLANTA -- Police are calling the four men seen in surveillance video stealing thousands of dollars worth of clothes, brazen, bold and extremely quick.

Atlanta Police say four men broke into the Signature For Men Boutique on Lenox Road early Monday morning by breaking in through the back door of the business. Within minutes, the men had stolen thousands of dollars worth of clothing, including blue jeans and mink coats. Police believe the men seen breaking into the store, are the same men that had come in trying on clothes the day before.

"You can see by their build and so forth that these are the same four males that were there earlier," said Rick Anderson of the Atlanta Police Department. "...It wasn't by coincidence that everything they tried on earlier was stolen in the burglary."

A salesperson that works at the boutique said the four men had been in the store for almost an hour the day before trying on clothes. Atlanta Police are asking anyone who knows anything about Monday's robbery to call them at 404-816-7067.

Well if the numerous calls this week of "Are you going back to Atlanta this weekend?" didn't clue me in, this article did. Happy New Year everyone and Happy MLK Weekend. For those who do not know this is the official kick off weekend to the Gay Pride National Tour. While Atlanta doesn't officially celebrate Gay Pride till Labor Day weekend in September, MLK weekend has become an official Kid's Weekend as well. While many people flock to Atlanta to visit Ebenezer Baptist Church and the King Center... just as many flock to celebrate the three day weekend at Lenox and the Lion's Den.

But anyway back to the news story... Signature 4 Men is a black owned boutique in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. On my last visit to Atlanta, I had the opportunity to stop in and check out their merchandise, running into Auburn alum and former classmate, Takeo Spikes of the Buffalo Bills. Other stars such as Usher and Jamal Lewis are mentioned to shop there. So for all you Atlanta bound people if you see a group of 4 men in Beau Goss pants with D&G shades and a Gaultier belt buckle... you may want to call the Fulton County police for possible suspects... LOL

The Color Purple, a musical... (a review)

As many of you know, the highlight of my New Years Eve were tickets to see the musical, The Color Purple, a full circle moment for me a true fan of this literary work and for my girl Oprah.
Brining The Color Purple to the stage, would be a quite a task. The 1982 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker is a blend of comedy and drama, while tackling women's rights and racial discrimination.

I will not recount the entire story for I am sure you have read the novel or at least seen the movie. However for those of you going to see the play and have only seen the movie... do not expect to see the movie. Which brings about my first critique. I do not understand how or why, Marsha Norman chose to blend the novel with inaccuracies of the movie, while creating some of her own inaccuracies. I believe Norman's rewriting of the novel, trivialized very poignant and important parts of the book that, which for me took away from the deepness of the story.

From the very first moment the curtains go up it is impossible to ignore how visually amazing and stunning the set is. You are instantly transported to a rural Georgia in 1909 with amazing skylines and breathtaking countryside's with golden fields of wheat. Set designer John Lee Beatty draws you inside the story and keeps your interest with every set change, which is seamless and quite accurately portrayed. While all of the Paul Tazewell's costumes were quite nice the colorful costumes for the segment in Africa were remarkable and quite reminiscent of the Broadway production of the Lion King.

Like I said before, do not expect to see the movie version of The Color Purple. And nothing says this more than the music of the show. Instead of Ms. Celie's blues, Shug Avery gives a semi burlesque number with “Push da Button,” an ode to orgasm. Sophia tell's Harpo, "Hell No", to obeying his rules. The musical features no music from the movie but will not leave you disappointed.

Most of the cast members are either new to or have limited experience on Broadway. While I have read much acclaim for LaChanze who plays Celie. For me she did just an ok job. While her voice was amazing she didn't nearly come close to Whoppie Goldberg's dramatic portrayal of Celie. While the character has the gift of being humorous and tragic at the same time... LaChanze didn't leave me feeling sympathetic for Celie. Elisabeth Withers-Mendes plays Shug Avery, masters the outspoken and decadent blues singer. Her vocal delivery was quite strong especially on the title song, “The Color Purple.” Felicia P. Fields probably has one of the hardest jobs in this musical. Playing the robust and fearless Sofia, which won Oprah a Oscar nomination had to be quite large shoes to fill. However Felicia does a superb job and has made this role her own. Kingsley Leggs, brilliantly plays Mister, the man everyone wants to hate. Kingsley’s powerful takes you on his journey from villain to redemption. I also enjoyed Brandon Victor Dixon as Harpo and Krisha Marcano as the ditzy and energetic Squak.

My overall thoughts:

Norman could have done a much better job writing the story from the novel and choosing which scenes to actually display. While I enjoyed her gossiping chorus of church ladies to move the story, reminiscent of a Greek chorus, I feel using the letters of the novel would have kept the audience who has never seen the movie or read the book caught up with the storyline. I think that if the show concentrated more on the deepness and drama of the original story, LaChanze might have been able to carry off the storyline better. I am happy to see that Norman explored the homosexual relationship between Celie and Shug a little deeper than the movie and that she tries to show the redemption of Mister at the end of the Musical. For those who read the book, you know that Mister actually comes to appreciate Celie and becomes friends with her, eventually asking her to really 'marry' him. The music and the set design are flawless and made up what the story lacked. I am a true fan of this novel and movie, so my critique may be a bit bias.