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Newlyweds Swizz Beatz & Alicia Keys left the bambino at home and chilled courtside last night (January 27, 2011) at the Miami Heat vs New York Knicks game held at Madison Square Garden in NYC.
They’re starting to look alike…
In addition to the happy couple, Kanye West was all smiles as he sat solo while others spotted included NBA legend Magic Johnson, Spike Lee and more.
Photos below: Continue Reading…
Director Spike Lee was spotted court side at the Washington Wizards vs New York Knicks game last night (January 24, 2011) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Morehouse alum is an avid basketball fan and rarely misses a Knicks game, but it’s education and minority teachers that currently top his priority list.
Spike will join U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan in Atlanta for a town hall meeting at Morehouse College on January 31st to encourage more African-American males to go into teaching.
The meeting is one of a series of events designed to recruit diverse and highly qualified teachers.? And Morehouse, the country’s only all-male historically black college, is part of a plan by Duncan and others to recruit, train and place at least 80,000 male African-American teachers by 2015.
Lee, a Morehouse graduate, is scheduled to share his experiences and explain why more male minority teachers are needed in schools.
(source)
Another “final” send off tribute to Michael Jackson has just been released.? A video for the legendary singer’s graceful, posthumous single, “This Is It,” directed by filmmaker Spike Lee hit the net and is presented as a loving scrapbook of Jackson’s life.
Starting with slow-mo close-ups of his childhood home, then ballooning through his massive, worldwide fame, the video received flack for not featuring any shots of Michael’s brothers. However there’s a small section of footage of Jackson with his mother, Katherine.
Lee devoted over half of the 4-plus minute clip to footage shot since Jackson’s death. Capturing thousands of fans in mourning and awe, from footage near the Apollo Theatre and all across the world.
In classic Spike Lee fashion, the director focuses several times on a sign that says “Stop The Hatin’,” referring to the coverage of the controversies in Jackson’s life.
Watch the full “This is It” video directed by Spike Lee below: Continue Reading…
Dr. Cornel West addressed the Tyler Perry vs. Spike Lee controversy during his book tour in Atlanta last week. In case you’ve missed all the hoopla, Tyler Perry has been facing extreme criticism over his portrayal of Black America in his films and plays. Spike Lee was even quoted comparing Tyler’s Meet The Browns characters to a modern day Amos & Andy:
‘I think there’s a lot of stuff out today that is coonery and buffoonery. I see ads for ‘Meet the Browns’ and ‘House of Payne’ and I’m scratching my head. We’ve got a black president and we’re going back. The image is troubling and it harkens back to Amos ‘n’ Andy.”
Tyler responded via a 60 minutes interview where he was visibly upset about the comment and stated that he uses the characters as “bait” to draw in White America then hits them with storylines consisting of God, love, faith, forgiveness and family. Dr. West, in addressing the “beef” between the two filmmakers made a few comparisons as to why each approaches their subject matter differently.? The well-known public intellectual spoke of Lee’s background as a well-to-do Morehouse Grad versus Tyler’s abusive childhood and life on the streets.? He goes on to explain how Spike Lee is a GREAT filmmaker while Tyler Perry is a GOOD filmmaker and although Spike’s comments may have been based with good intentions, the delivery could have been better.
You’ll have to watch the video to understand but West didn’t diss Tyler, he actually gave him props. He does, however state that if Tyler’s still doing Madea at 65 THEN he has a problem.? I guess that gives us about 25 more years of Madea since TP just turned 40.
Video below: Continue Reading…
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