Sesame Street has been a tremendous influence on my life, and throughout the history of this blog I’ve celebrated the series on several occasions. Today I take special pleasure in giving tribute to the Children’s Television Workshop, Jim Henson’s genius, and Sesame Street. Today the legendary program turns 40 years old.

That’s HUGE!

Sesame Street taught me my alphabet, it taught me how to count, how to share with others, and that natural hair and brown skin is just as beautiful as any other kind. Allow me to share some Afrobella highlights from the last 40 years of arguably the best children’s TV show of all time!
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When I saw the photos of Sammy Sosa that have been circulating online, one dancehall classic came immediately to mind.

There’s a few more photos on Huffington Post that show the sharp difference in his pigmentation.

The story Mr. Sosa is sticking to is that a skin rejuvenation procedure has made his skin appear lighter, and besides that the lighting made him appear significantly fairer skinned than normal.

If that’s true, then it’s a shame that Mr. Sosa had a facial treatment that resulted in such marked discoloration. Any technician worth their salt will tell you, laser treatments can be very problematic for black skin, and deep chemical peels can damage black skin. So I’m curious as to what kind of treatment Mr. Sosa may have had, so I can make sure not to ever get it myself.
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Bellas, I am so tardy to the Melanie Fiona party!

I’ve been watching this beautiful young singer on the rise, but I guess I wasn’t paying close enough attention. All of a sudden, my mind connected the dots. The chick I’d seen on VH1 Soul with Questlove, was the vocalist behind that version of Sam Cooke’s Cupid that I heard at Starbucks! And the same artist I’d been reading about on Soulbounce forever! OH! This is Melanie Fiona!

It took me a while, but now I’m head over heels for her sound and her style.

Melanie Fiona hails from Toronto, but — according to Wikipedia – has parents from Guyana. Which perhaps explains the Caribbean influence that comes through loud and clear in her Subway Series. In this awesome clip, she performs her songs “Sad Songs,” “Please Don’t Go” and “Bang Bang” on the streets and in the subway stations of New York City.

So. Amazing. The sounds of steelpan gave me chills – such an amazing and underused instrument.

Melanie’s album, The Bridge, is available for sale right now. Show a real singer some love, if you’re feeling this!

How cool is it to have a first lady who seems so accessible and fun to hang out with? Michelle makes me want to step my hula hoop game up!

Love her!

(first seen via The Feminista Files — check our my girl Erica’s awesome blog!)

Originally posted at BVHairTalk.com.

Can I be real with y’all? I’m kinda sick of Chris Rock’s Good Hair. Raise your hand if you’re with me.

The endless media tour. The premature outrage. The trailer, which showed all of the docucomedy’s best clips. To paraphrase Chris Rock himself, I’m tired, tired, tired of Good Hair.

So I’m gonna conclude writing about it once and for all with this review.

I hate going into a movie when I already know too much about it. And I already knew WAY too much about Good Hair. And to be honest, I didn’t quite understand the controversy and call for boycotting the film. As I said in the Black Voices podcast: it’s important to remember who’s making this movie. It’s Chris Rock, the man who brought us Pootie Tang! The comedian who continually courts controversy. What did we REALLY expect from Chris Rock besides comedy? Social commentary? A historical perspective? Sorry — wrong filmmaker. Wrong film. For more informed views on black hair, see some of the documentaries I mentioned in my previous post, Before Chris Rock’s Good Hair.

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This is the beginning of something new: The Afrobella Review! I know I’ve got a whole category devoted to product reviews, but I’m expanding my repertoire to include films, music, and books that move me. And the whole thing was inspired by this movie.

Precious. You need to go see it.

I tend to avoid sad movies, which is a shame and something I’m trying to change. There’s so much to be learned from movies that bring you down, and often so little to be gained from movies that are pure escapism. I’d always justify it by saying: I watch the news, and that’s sad enough.

But Precious is the kind of film that needs our support. It’s a film that reveals a slice of American life that we too often close our eyes to. Because we don’t want to see.

All of the rumors about Precious are true. It’s unbearably sad. At times it’s hard to watch. If you’ve read Push by Sapphire — upon which this film is based — you already know that.

What you may not know about the film — Mariah Carey is GREAT in it. Lenny Kravitz is unexpected and WONDERFUL. Paula Patton is awesome. And Mo’Nique? Deserves an Academy Award. Seriously. She. Is. That. Good. Scarier than any horror movie villain. Uncomfortably intense. She is broken and damaged and frightening and so, so real.

I don’t know where Mo’Nique found the inspiration for her character. You can see the passion and fury in her eyes, this came from the depths of her soul. And the film’s star — Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe — I honestly hope she doesn’t get typecast by this role. Because she is so incredibly convincing as Precious, that I can understand why she’s giving interviews explaining — “I’m actually not her.”

Gabby Sidibe isn’t Precious, but for sure there are Precious girls out there. I see them every day, here in Chicago. They’re the girls standing in the background while the news anchor reports about yet another murder in their neighborhood. They’re the girls fidgeting anxiously while sitting on the el, or the bus. They’re the girls who are typically shouldering the burdens of poverty in the shadows, while the boys get put in the uncomfortable spotlight. They are the girls who are raising the next generation.
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