So much to write, so little time and willingness to hit the ‘publish’ button… in the meantime, check out some of my favorite stuff from other sites!

The photo above is from what Brokey McPoverty has named “possibly the most awesome book ever.” As usual she analyzes the pure crazy with panache, and even treats us to a mind-boggling excerpt from this wildly foolish example of misguided Negroness. Laugh riot.

“Underrated” is one of the more overused words on this blog but I have to fight the good fight and salute ridiculously underrated performers like T’Keyah Crystal Keymah. We know her best from television where she demonstrated her strength in comedic timing and impressions on sitcoms and sketch shows such as In Living Color, Cosby, and That’s So Raven. T’Keyah also has a particular talent for cartoon voices, which has led to her extensive voiceover career (Pinky and The Brain, Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child).

My take on this week in black pop culture!

Is this really necessary, T-Pain? I get so irritated at myself for paying this kind of mess any mind because that’s just what this autotunin’ fool wants, but to spend $410k on an almost-humorously redundant chain without it actually being funny? It may be the struggling writer in me talking but that really fries my rice! I haven’t seen anything this ridiculous in a long minute. Hate.

Baltimore native Anna Deavere Smith has the name recognition of a black c-lister but the accomplishments of a black American legend. You probably recognize her best from her recurring role as Nancy McNally on The West Wing, as Mrs. Silk in The Human Stain (the story of a young man, Coleman Silk, who passes for white his entire life), from last year’s Oscar-nominated Rachel Getting Married, or as the secretary in Philadelphia who testified that her earrings were considered “not American,” by the xenophobic/homophobic law firm…

If not for my chronic procrastination and Eartha Kitt’s obvious status as a Fresh Black Girl, I would have honored her well before her passing on Christmas Day at the age of 81. She’s always been one of my favorite entertainers because she seriously resembles my grandmother, whose non-celebrity freshness knows no bounds. But it’s particularly fitting that I never felt pressed to mention how much we should all kind of want to be like Eartha…

One of the most coveted natural talents is the gift of a dictinctive voice, and Loretta Devine’s high-pitched, breathy voice has just that kind of distinction I wish I was born with. She got her start in Broadway musicals, most notably originating the role of Lorell in Dreamgirls alongside Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jennifer Holiday. Her first major television role was as dorm directer Stevie Hallen on A Different World, a…

Bern Nadette Stanis. She was one of my first Fresh Black Girls and I have called out her extraness in the past. The thing about Thelma is that she rarely got the chance to really show her stuff, but when she did ol’ girl used to do SO MUCH. In fact, TOO MUCH. Poor thing. As pretty as she was her acting skills were always of the try-hard variety. I prove this to people by showing them snippets from 1977’s “Thelma’s Brief Encounter,” which I have stored on my home DVR. Luckily, it’s FINALLY online. Indulge me at…

My sister is getting married next year so my mother and I have been helping her get everything all organized. The resultant mother-daughter-daughter trio is what made me think of the Fields Girls – Chip, Kim, and Alexis Fields. All of us know Kim Fields from her fantastic turns as Tootie on The Facts of Life and Regine on Living Single – she’s always possessed a natural comedic ability that draws upon genuine self-awareness and down-home attitude. Alexis Fields was a regular cast-member…

Tisha Campbell is a perfect example of black entertainers not getting the praise that they deserve. As a veteran in the industry and one of the few triple threat entertainers of any color, Tisha should have an armful of Emmys and Oscars by now. BET and NAACP Awards are great to have, but her talent as a dancer, singer, and actress merits so much more opportunity to shine! While her 1993 debut album Push didn’t do a whole lot on the airwaves, Tisha Cambell can definitely sing, a fact…

Imagine having spent the majority of your short life watching your father campaign to be the first black president of the United States. Malia and Sasha Obama, at the ages of 10 and 7, are simply used to it by now. The Obama girls can’t possibly have any idea what a messed-world world their father is in the running to lead, they just know that, in Malia’s words “those people aren’t here to see me. I’m just a kid … They just think I’m cute. I wave and smile…