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This past week has been nothing but uneventful; I received a copy of Randy Kearse's book, "Changin' Your Game Plan" for my viewing; I am interested in selling his books in the area generating interest. Randy has been in jail and now writes books helping others who have been to jail to stay out of jail. I did my grocery shopping earlier this week and now it's friday and another week is gone. There is one thing that has me interested though. About a month ago, a book came out about a woman who died of cervical cancer yet, somehow, her cells which they took were found to have generated and regenerated so much, a first for the medical research industry at the time because up until then, cells outside the body didn't thrive yet somehow hers did; So, because of them regenerating, the whole medical industry have gone on to do plenty good in the name of medical research. Sadly, the Lack family stayed poor and lacking health coverage. Rebecca Skloot has now written an account of this in the book,The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which sheds some light as to how this came to be and of the woman herself. I cannot even begin to think of how the family can feel much less grasp what was happening. From what I am hearing, the book is a bestseller and I plan to get a copy as soon as able. If you can, get a copy today. Another book that just came out today and surprising a bunch of us is Bernice McFadden's "Glorious" from the little I read, it spans from the early 1910s until the Civil Rights era about a young African American woman who becomes a part of the Harlem Renaissance. Although a grand era, there were not many women who were a part of that time. Zora Neale Hurston, Dorothy West, Nella Larsen,Jessie Redmon Fauset, Georgia Douglas Johnson and Alice Dunbar Nelson. I believe I just named all the female writers. When rap emerged in the late 70s and 80s,how many women emerged as well? we can name a handful and that adage of if you don't learn from the first time, you bound to repeat it rings true here.
However, I applaud all the African American writers, male and female who are out there; Most I applaud, some I don't. E.Lynn Harris, who passed from us last summer, was a great supporter of his peers and his absence is still felt by the AA as well as GLBT communities. We need to support our African American writers, singers, etc. For example, I have heard of Raheem Devaughn, but had no interest in what he put out. But his latest single, "Bulletproof" that I was fortunate enough to witness on the Mo'nique show is nothing short of beautiful and sometimes I feel that he has a hint of Marvin in him; check him out.
Well, I am done, may your day be a peaceful yet happy one.

Kudos to Mo' and other thoughts.

Yeah!! Mo'nique got that Oscar baby. She won it and just like I predicted because she got all them awards and in spite of the grumbling(You can't ignore talent), the girl went out there and pulled it off. She got a flower by the family of the late Hattie McDaniel for the ceremony; To hear tell, it's the same flower worn by Ms McDaniel when she won, she wore it on her dress. Mo' wore it on her hair. She donned a lovely blue gown and God bless her, she remembered this woman all but forgotten from black cinema history; Twitter trended Ms McDaniel all that night; I was so happy to see that. to know that even though a person lived and died, they still live on and Monique did that when she remembered her in her speech.
Now granted, we have had MORE people in THIS decade to win the Oscars than in all the decades before, but perhaps in our own way, with a black President and all, things are changing. I hope so. I truly do. God bless us all.