Don Cornelius, the creator and longtime host of the groundbreaking music show ‘Soul Train,’ has died. He was 75.
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According to the New York Times, the police responded to reports of gunshots at Cornelius’s Sherman Oaks home. They found Cornelius with a gunshot wound to the head that appeared to be self-inflicted, according to the Los Angeles County coroner.
A radio news announcer by trade, Cornelius began moonlighting at WCIU-TV in the 1960s. While there, he toyed with the idea of creating an African-American version of “American Bandstand,” Dick Clark’s influential music show, with live dancing five days a week. On August 17, 1970, the first episode of Soul Train premiered on the station, and by the following year, it was being syndicated in other markets.
“If I saw `American Bandstand’ and I saw dancing and I knew black kids can dance better; and I saw white artists and I knew black artists make better music; and if I saw a white host and I knew a black host could project a hipper line of speech – and I did know all these things [then it was reasonable to try],” he told the Associated Press in 1995.
Dr. Sharon Malone speaks during the ‘Slavery By Another Name’ panel during the PBS portion of the 2012 Winter TCA Tour held at The Langham Huntington Hotel and Spa on Jan. 4, 2012 in Pasadena , Calif.
*Imagine this…
You do some research into your family tree and discover that your uncle, who was born nearly 30 years after slavery, was one of thousands of black men pulled back into a forced labor system in which they were arrested – largely on trumped up charges – and compelled to work without pay as prisoners.
Imagine that this “convict leasing” system saw the groups of prisoners sold to private parties – like plantation owners or corporations – and that it was not only tolerated by both the North and South, but largely ignored by the U.S. Justice Department.
Now, imagine that nearly a century after your uncle served 366 days in this penal labor system, you find yourself married to the head of the U.S. Justice Department, who, ironically, just so happens to be the first African American in the position.
Dr. Sharon Malone, wife of U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, tells the heartbreaking story of her uncle Henry in the upcoming 90-minute PBS documentary “Slavery by Another Name.” The film is based on the eye-opening book by Douglas A. Blackmon, which exposes a part of American history that most folks either had no clue existed, or didn’t know existed to the extent that it did.
“I want people to understand that this is not something that’s divorced and separate, and this doesn’t have anything to do with them,” Dr. Malone told EURweb exclusively at the Television Critics Association press tour last week. “If you were a black person who grew up in the South, some way or the other – whether or not you were directly involved in the system as my uncle was – you knew somebody who was, or your daily lives were circumscribed by those circumstances.”
History has repeated itself with the rate of incarcerations of this century!
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.Click link below for Promo: The 90 minute documentary aired on PBS
This link below came from a friend. It is a follow up to the movie ‘Red Tails’ post. This story is featured in a CNN Profile.
Herbert Carter, 94, one of the original 33 Tuskegee Airmen pilots, holds a portrait of his wife, Mildred Hemmon Carter, in her flight uniform. She was the first black female pilot in Alabama and is counted among the history-making Tuskegee Airmen, too. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Married nearly 70 years, the two were known as Tuskegee’s “first couple.”
I received this in an email from a friend. This post might help in the battle against fat:
Click link below pictures for health video
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What A Unique Way To Present The Sugar content in different items
4.2 grams = 1 teaspoon of sugar = 1 cube !
Someone ought to get an award for this.We know the facts, but this
brings it into perspective quickly, doesn’t it?
Each cube is a teaspoonful.
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.Click a picture below for picture gallery (click Xin upper left of gallery to return here):
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The following video comes from AOL Video Health. Maybe this post helps those fighting the battle of the bulge like me. I like what she says about purchasing foods that are boxed or bagged.
Etta you will always be remembered! I have included the 3 renditions of ‘At Last’ by Etta at different times in her life. 2 other songs and photos. R.I.P. Etta. All of these pulled from tweets by various celebrities after her death.
Researcher, explorer and author Dan Buettner has worked for years identifying Blue Zones, areas where people live markedly longer than average, and what’s behind these pockets of longevity.
Warren Buffett wants everyone on Facebook to share this idea, or to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around. _*Congressional Reform Act of 2011-12*_
Click link below trailer for George Lucas’ comments
I received this important email from a friend. I believe ‘Red Tails’ is a film worth watching.
All, thanks to a friend who won tickets, I was fortunate to see an advanced viewing of Red Tails. As you may know, it’s George Lucas’ version of the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, > 20 years in the making, and has a predominantly Black cast, certainly all the main actors are Black.
As it goes, when the movie was finally ready for production, no production company would take it, so George Lucas had to write a check. After production completed, no distribution company would take it. So, George Lucas had to write another check. The advanced viewing sponsored by Wells Fargo and the Museum for Black History Diaspora (not sure of the exact name).
The movie is intriguing and has edge-of-your-seat action. It’s well done, and certainly worth the look.
I’m urging all of you to see this movie, and tell others about it as well. Anything we can do to ensure large numbers of viewers in the first few days of release, scheduled for 20 Jan 2012, will make a statement to the production and distribution companies that were not interested in this film for whatever reasons, that they made a miscalculation.
If each of you tells as many people about this as you can, and attempts to take 4 or 5 people with you to see the film, that will be like a geometric progression, and could potentially push the numbers off the chart.
And . . . George can get his money back!
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.For more info on ‘Red Tails’ Click link below to watch George Lucas on ‘the Daily Show with Jon Stewart:
Film and Writing Festival for Comedy. Showcasing best of comedy short films at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Plus, showcasing best of comedy novels, short stories, poems, screenplays (TV, short, feature) at the festival performed by professional actors.
coroner.
James' World 2 