The WWTD Dinner and a Movie Event was so much fun that I’ll definitely have more in the future – the people who read this blog are fun and cool with sick senses of humor and an appreciation good times, so I want to thank everyone who came out! The real star of the event, of course, was Michael Jackson.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what qualities I find attractive in the opposite sex and realized that above all else dudes who remind me of Gerald Levert have an automatic edge. This oldies tribute performance by Levert and Boyz II Men from the 1992 NAACP awards will have to do for today, though.

I just caught a screening of the Michael Jai White blaxploitation spoof Black Dynamite, which hits theaters October 16 (I will provide a full review next week). Before I even got to the theater the cast list had my toes tingling with my usual passion for the Black C-Lister. Tommy Davidson and Arsenio Hall are well-known actors who’ve been hard to find in recent years, and I’ve already written about the exhibits of wackness that are Bokeem Woodbine and Miguel Nunez, but almost everyone else in the cast has been on my obscure actor radar since I started featuring the lesser known and praised black actor, so let’s go!

Obba Babatunde is

“In tight jeans, Chinese eyes/Indian hair/Black girl a**/let me pour you a glass of Belvi” – Memphis Bleek, “Do My”

I have a close friend who is half Japanese and half Ethiopian. I have another who is half Panamanian and half Filipino. Both of these women expect to hear a common catcall in the street “Hey Indian Hair! What’s good?” Neither one of them as a single drop of Indian blood, so what gives?

Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas from TLC is of both Indian and Native American descent, and her baby hair game is notorious.

Google “Indian hair” and your search will yield page after page of hair from the Asian subcontinent

Everyone you’ve ever heard of died this summer, but so did someone you probably recognize by face but not by name. Zakes Mokae almost fits into the Obscure Black C-Lister category, and sadly instead of a timely post celebrating his career I have to write about him in memoriam after his passing last week.

Zakes Mokae was the African dude – Father Kani in Cry Freedom, Lettie’s South African old flame on A Different World, Dr. Zeko in A Vampire In Brooklyn, and Big Kathy in A Rage In Harlem. Mokae had a recurring role on Oz and guest spots on Law & Order, Monk, and The X-Files. If you saw the extremely creepy Wes Craven movie The Serpent

Why is it that the older I get the more I sweat Diana Ross? I always thought she was so gorgeous and glamorous but now that I know what a *diva* is I’m in awe of the career she’s had.…

“Time flies,” is one of those cliches that becomes truer as I age and quite admittedly become my mother. Case in point: she and I went to see the film Soul Power and realized that we have many common musical…

Aisha Hinds is striking: brown, bald-headed, and full-lipped, with a deep, crystal clear voice and black and beautiful features. My “a-ha!” moment with Ms. Hinds came courtesy of HBO’s True Blood in her role as voodoo lady/drugstore clerk Ms. Jeanette (a character that was meant to be a good twenty years older than Ms. Hinds, who is thirty-five). Aside from her commanding screen presence, the true pleasure in her performance is her voice.

Oh, Google Reader, thank you for the share function and for friends like Mr. Smart Guy who share things with me that no one should see, like this “back boobage/diminished glutes,” tragedy posted by Saney Sane over at In Hood Terms. Now I get to share it with you but still pretend that I had nothing to do with spreading it across the Internet. Figuring out this woman’s body is a Rubix Cube level endeavor, so good luck.

On Saturday, August 1, the “first black Cover Girl” Naomi Sims passed away at the age of sixty-one. Naomi Sims was born in Mississippi but grew up in Pittsburgh, enduring foster care life in poor white neighborhoods after her mother became ill. She credited her rough upbringing for inspiring her to become somebody, and as a pretty, but brown and lanky teen she earned a scholarship from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. It was still 1966, and as much as the “Black Is Beautiful” movement had taken root there was still so little interest in black models that Naomi had to get creative…

I’ve never needed to repeat a Black C-Lister profile because there are still dozens of random actors I need to point out and discuss. But thanks to VH-1′s recent heavy rotation of 1992′s The Jacksons: An American Dream I’ve caught a glimpse or two of the TV movie with fresh eyes lately. In fact don’t get me to lyin’ – I squeal with anticipation whenever it comes on.

In the traditional sense, bargaining means making a “deal” with a higher power – for example, I’ll be a better person, I’ll trade XYZ, just let me live or bring my loved one back. In this case I’m sure we all agree that we’d ante up a few bucks for the Resurrect Michael Jackson Fund. As far as still-living pop singer currency I’d be willing to put up, say, FIFTYLEVEN Chris Browns and a bucket of R. Kellys for just one Michael Jackson. Since the weight of Michael’s contributions is heavier than most of what we could possibly

I’m Angry at the Media.

I consider myself a McNugget-sized part of the media but the coverage of Michael Jackson’s death and its aftermath has done nothing more for journalism than demonstrate what low standards news outlets will set just to drive viewership. I’m still miffed at CNN for its faux-journalistic integrity on June 25, reporting that “other news outlets say Jackson has died,” but speaking of him in the past tense for hours beforehand while not bothering to have a single reporter at the actual hospital

The entire world was shocked by the premature death of Michael Jackson. Sure, we all knew that the man was under stress. The intense scrutiny at the hands of the media, which was essentially fueled by our own obsession with celebrity, took a visible toll on Michael; the recurring allegations of child abuse and financial debt of an unimaginable magnitude made him even more of a recluse; his varying health problems that were always hard to separate from his general weirdness undoubtedly contributed to his early passing. Still, it’s hard to believe that any combination of these factors could lead to death at age fifty. But we tend to forget that we’re average, and the average person (who, mind you, can only hold a tune in the shower) only worries about the neighborhood busy-body, overdue student loans, and pretty bad allergies every spring. By comparison Michael’s life should be as unimaginable as the science behind evolution or The Big Bang – it’s just too large and far-out a process for our personal experience to let us believe he’s really gone. This, my friends, is why I am choosing not to. That’s right, I’m too sad believing it, so I’ve decided that Michael Jackson isn’t really dead, and I have five supporting reasons.

This clip from a 1969 episode of the ABC variety show The Hollywood Palace featuring Diahann Carroll and Stevie Wonder chased my blues right away this morning! The song is “Pretty World,” and was originally recorded in 1966 by bossa nova master Sergio Mendes. Enjoy!