A year ago today I hadn’t thought much about what happens when you die, or even what could happen when millions of people who feel a connection to a man like Michael Jackson suddenly lose him.

In what can only be considered continued monkey business on the part of La Toya “Least Talented Jackson” Jackson, Animal Planet arranged a reunion between her and Bubbles and she was all in. Yes a reunion with Michael’s boo Bubbles The Chimp. That’s why I called it monkey business. Get it?

I am not in the business of disrespecting legends. I swear I’m not. But Aretha Franklin is really starting to try my patience.

This is a very grown black lady look – her blonde highlighted wig is tossed to the side and she is wearing it like she’s got some business. As usual, her bountiful breasts are howling out less so for R-E-S-P-E-C-T and more for S-U-P-P-O-R-T. I mean, I just

I love black sitcoms. You all know this. So even when a new black sitcom is sandwiched between that which I can barely tolerate (House of Payne) and that which I despise (Meet The Browns), I will try it. Around 8:58 PM I hoped that the worst of this endeavor would be catching the last few minutes of House of Payne, during which Big Mama Payne explains how much she loves Big Papa Payne even though he made her miss the gospel revival. Although Are We There Yet? is leaps and bounds better than the other two black sitcoms on TBS, the…

I’ve been, to say the least, a bad blogger lately. It’s easy to lose track of things and who I’ve told about what between the Facebook fan page, Twitter, and the podcasts. So let me update you all so that I don’t start getting “where the heck you been at, Thembi?” messages and everyone can bear with me during this frantic time.

About a year ago I put up a post with this same title. At the time, I’d just been accepted into the University of Southern California’s Specialized Journalism Master’s program, so I was like wow y’all I’m…

I initially intended to do a “soft launch,” and quietly premiere my podcast to whomever caught wind of it on the Facebook fanpage or twitter. You see, as much as I’ve wanted to do a podcast for years and have guest hosted a bunch of shows, I don’t exactly know what I’m doing. There is so much to laugh and talk about that I was feeling shy about the inevitably imperfect first episode.

Then I said “eff it!”

This was the longest Black History Month ever. This year’s quiz was close, but without further ado here are this year’s prize winners:

1. Reads 4 Pleasure – 300 points, WINNER $50 Gift Card

2. Mr Smart Guy – 295 points, $25 Gift Card

3. Lola AM – 266 pooints, $10 Gift Card.

Congratulations to all of the winners! Here are the answers:

1. Name the group pictured below. (10 points)

Troop.

2. Sitcom Hangouts. Every gang has a hangout spot! Can

In case you missed it, Gary Coleman has been on a rough and ashy road lately. Instead of laying low and letting us forget about his domestic abuse charge from late January, Gary appeared on The Insider this Wednesday to…well, I don’t know exactly what he intended to do. After explaining why he looked like a Madball in his mugshot and that contrary to the opinion of law enforcement his marriage is not abusive, the “hard-hitting journalists” on the panel decided that just wasn’t enough and asked a brother the same question one too many…

Let’s just say that the first round of scores were great, and that with enough luck and brainpower anyone can still take the lead or certainly place. I’m going to have to make these questions harder!

I almost didn’t bring back the Black History Month Pop Culture Challenge this year. To be honest, I’ve been hit with a wave of winter malaise that’s kept me from being as enviably sharp as my usual quick-witted pop culture genius self. There’s still just enough random trivia floating around in my head to make this fun, so here goes nothin’…

I started the Black History Month Pop Culture Challenge in 2009 as a way to shake some of the staleness off of February. Sure black cultural phenomena from 100 years ago and history makers that live today are…