Marley Movie Tralier (Video)

MARLEY will make its North American premiere at SXSW. Magnolia Pictures will release theatrically and on VOD on Friday, April 20th.

Miles "The Trumpet Man" Davis...

Miles Davis, one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, was born on this date in 1926 in Alton, Illinois. Davis was at the forefront of almost every major development in jazz from World War II to the 1990s. His sound was one only made by him and was constantly evolving.

The Galveston Giant

On this date in 1878 Jack Arthur Johnson was born in Galveston, Texas, the second child and first son of Henry and Tina "Tiny" Johnson who were former slaves. Henry Johnson was of pure African descent, and traced his ancestry back to the Coromantees who came from modern-day Ghana. Jack grew to become the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion from 1908–1915. In 1910 Johnson took part in what was considered "The Fight Of The Century" against James J. Jeffries. Jeffries was a white former champion who came out of retirement to "reclaim" the title. The fight took place on July 4, 1910 in front of 20,000 people. In the 15th round, after Jeffries had been knocked down twice for the first time in his career, his people called it quits to prevent Johnson from knocking him out. The "Fight of the Century" earned Johnson $65,000. Johnson was the original owner of the Harlem club that would later become The Cotton Club

Today In Black History: Toni Morrison

On this date in 1988 Ohio native Toni Morrison won the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Beloved. The book would later become a movie in 1998 staring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover.

"Black people are victims of an enormous amount of violence. None of those things can take place without the complicity of the people who run the schools and the city."
-Toni Morrison

Q-Tip's Beef With ATCQ Documentary [Video]

YEBies Birthday: Quincy Jones

On this date in 1933 Quincy Jones was born in Chicago’s South Side. He is arguably the most celebrated music composer and producer of the 20th century. He has be nominated for a record 79 Grammy Awards and has won 27 Grammys. Jones's career in music has lasted over five decades and has worked with many of the most accomplished musicians over this span.

YEBies Birthday: Jim Brown

On this date in 1936 Jim Brown was born on St. Simons's island, an all-black community off the coast of Georgia. At the age of 8 he moved to Manhasset, N.Y., to live with his mother after being raised by his grandmother. To most football historians Jim Brown is the greatest running back ever and in 2002 was named by Sporting News as the greatest professional football player ever.

The most impressive thing about Brown was success as a multi-sport athlete in college. In addition to his football accomplishments, he excelled in basketball, track, and especially lacrosse. As a sophomore, he was the second leading scorer for the basketball team (15 ppg), and earned a letter on the track team. His junior year, he averaged 11.3 points in basketball, and was named a second-team All-American in lacrosse. His senior year, he was named a first-team All-American in lacrosse (43 goals in 10 games to rank second in scoring nationally).

When Brown retired at the young age of 29, he was the all-time leading rusher in NFL history. He is now the league's eighth all-time leading rusher, and is still the Cleveland Browns all-time leading rusher.

Today In Black History: Thelonious Monk

On this date in 1982 the great Thelonious Monk passed away in New Jersey and went to be with the ancestors. Monk was 64 years young. Thelonious was a jazz pianist and composer who is considered one of the greatest musicians America has ever produced. Monk is the second most recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington. By many accounts he is the founder of bebop. He is one of five jazz musicians to have been featured on the cover of Time.

Today In Black History: Huey Newton

On this date in 1942 Huey Percy Newton was born in Monroe, Louisiana. Newton's family moved to California when he was three. Along with his friend Bobby Seale the Black Panther Party was created in 1966. The party's goals called for full employment, improved education and housing, an end to police brutality and the exemption of Blacks from military service. Newton became the Panther’s minister of defense. The Black Panther Party established free breakfast programs for children, ran free medical clinics, and gave away clothes and food.

U Street Music Hall Presents: Free James Brown 12-10-10

Like the flyer says this is an ALL James Brown affair from 5-10pm. If you are in the DMV area make sure you stop by for great music at one of the city's newest music only venues. My homie Jerome Baker 3rd will be one of the DJs along with Harry Hotter, Johnny Blaze, and James Nasty. U Street Music Hall is located at 1115A U Street NW Washington, DC 20009.

YEBies Birthday: Shawn Corey Carter aka Jay-Z

The Marcy projects, Brooklyn birthed MC turns 41 today.  He already told us how he came to be on the track December 4th off The Black Album, so in honor of the God MC send @yebies or @yebiesonline your favorite Hov tracks and lines so we can ReTweet you. 

A Tribe Called Quest Documentary Trailer- "Beats, Rhymes and Life" [Video]

Michael Rapaport has been working on a documentary about legendary hip-hop group, A Tribe Called Quest that will premiere at Sundance 2011. The film is entitled Beats Rhymes and Life, and will be competing with 15 other titles in the US Documentary category.

Blaxploitation Film Of The Week: Black Caesar

Black Caesar was a 1973 film based in Harlem, New York. James Brown did the musical score to this movie which is how he got the nickname "The Godfather of Soul".

Today In Black History: Paul Bogle

On this date in 1865 Paul Bogle lead a successful protest march to the Morant Bay Courthouse against the Colonial British rule and slavery in Jamaica. He would go on to be captured on October 24 and executed by the British. Years after his death he became a National hero in Jamaica for his actions against the British and fight for home rule.

Today In Black History: Toni Morrison

On this date in 1993 Toni Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature. She became the first black woman to win a Nobel Prize and first African American to win a Nobel Prize in a category other than Peace. Morrison is also the only woman to earn both the Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes. Some of her best known novels are The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon and Beloved.

“If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it”- Toni Morrison

YEBies Birthday: Amiri Baraka

On this date 1934 Amiri Baraka was born Everett LeRoy Jones in Newark, New Jersey. Baraka is arguably one of the greatest American poetics. He has always been controversial because of his content and unwillingness to tone down his stance on many taboo issues. He was named poet Laureate of New Jersey, but was later made to resign because of his poem "Somebody Blow Up America". Over the years he has changed his stance on many topics but one thing has remained the same with Baraka, he will always let you know how he feels regardless of how the masses and mainstream media portray him.

WRTN...."The Kid" aka "The Natural" aka "Junior"

As I woke up today, the TV was on watching me like most mornings and of course ESPN's Sports Center was on. Like every day of the past month, steroids was one of the lead stories. As more and more names are coming out about alleged use and positive tested players, it makes what Ken Griffey Jr did over most his great career even more remarkable. The numbers that he was able to put up in a era where field players and pitchers were using roids to get a added advantage seem to standout so much more now. The roids cut back recovery time as well as adding pure muscle without much effort. Now some people say that roids don't help hand and eye coordination which is true, but when the player does make enough contact where do you think that ball is going to land? Ding, ding, ding, you guessed correct. The ball is smashed out of the park. Baseball saw the rise in ticket sales and interest and didn't care about pointing out the dopers from the purest like Griffey.

In 1987 Griffrey was selected with the first overall pick of that year's amateur draft by the Seattle Mariners straight out of high school. He was up in the big leagues full time by the spring of 1989 and there was no looking back. Junior would go on to establish himself as arguably the best all around player of the 1990's. In his eleven seasons with Seattle Griffey accumulated 1,752 hits, 398 home runs, 1,152 RBIs, and 167 stolen bases. He led the American League in home runs four seasons (1994, 1997, 1998, and 1999), was voted the A.L. MVP in 1997. As good as he was on offense, it was his play in center field that put him head and shoulders above his peers. With his impressive range, Griffey frequently made spectacular diving plays, and he often dazzled fans by making over-the-shoulder basket catches and by robbing opposing hitters of home runs at the wall—leaping up and pulling them back into the field of play. His remarkable play in the field got him 10 gold gloves over his career. Griffey had everything you could look for in a baseball player. His swing was poetry in motion, never looking rushed. He made playing baseball look effortless.




Junior is the son of former player Ken Griffery Sr, so he was raised in the clubhouse so he was able to handle the media from a early age. Because of his great play, boyish looks, and youthfulness, Griffery had many endorsement deals but none were bigger than the one he had with Nike. His signature shoe line is still one of the highest selling ever.





After the 1999 season Griffey asked for and was granted a trade the Cincinnati Reds in a desire to live closer to his relatives in his hometown of Cincinnati. He was never the same on the Reds. Like so many great players before him, Griffey was plagued by a string of injuries, including season-ending injuries in 2002, 2003, and 2004. He showed signs of the old Griffey we all grew to love when he could stay healthy and even made the National League all-star teams in 2004 and 2007.



This off season as a free agent he decided to return to his baseball roots and signed with the Mariners. I'm happy to see he is still able to play because he is the definition of a baseball player. He never caused any problems off the field and came to the park everyday to give his fans a show. That's all us fans ever ask for, and Griffey always gave us that plus more. If the injuries had never occurred it would be Griffey not Bonds who would be the all-time home run leader. One thing that we do know for certain is that when Griffey hangs up his cleats, he will be a first ballot Hall of Famers. As we are finding out more and more each day many of his peers will never be able to say that and even fewer will be able to say they put up their numbers off pure talent, the right way.

Related: Heaven Cent

Update:  Ken Griffey Jr retired on June 2nd 2010 after 22 seasons with 630 home runs which is 5th all time and a numerous amount of awards and accolades.

Documentary of Fela Kuti: Music Is the Weapon [Video]

This documentary which profiles the life of composer, Afro-beat pioneer, and human rights activist Fela Kuti was shown at The National Museum of African Art this past Saturday. The film is a mixture of footage from Fela performing as well as glimpses of his life and interviews. The piece is a little under a hour and will be well worth your time.

Peace and ENJOY!!!!!

Today In Black History: Mary McLeod Bethune

On this date in 1985 the Mary McLeod Bethune commemorative stamp was issued by the U.S. Postal Service as the eighth stamp in its Black Heritage USA series. Over her life Bethune was a educator, civil rights leader, and founder of both Bethune-Cookman College and the National Council of Negro Women. She was also a advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was head of his "Black Cabinet".

Today In Black History: Crispus Attucks

On this date in 1770 Crispus Attucks became the first man killed during the Boston Massacre. Attucks was not only the first black, but first person to die in the cause of America's freedom from Britain. Cripus was the first of over 5,000 other blacks who also fought in the American Revolution on the colonists side.