Madame Noire | Black Women's Lifestyle Guide | Black Hair | Black Love

Anybody else missing “Awkward Black Girl” these days? Well, if you are, there’s a new web series that brings the laughs and is chock full of talented black actors and actresses. It’s called “Black and Single,” and if you’re one or both of those things, I’m sure you’re low-key very much interested. Don’t get it twisted though, “ABG” and “Black and Single” don’t have much in common other than the fact that they’re both hilarious.

“Black and Single” follows young men and women trying to navigate the dating scene in Atlanta. In fact, here’s the actual premise:

“Black & Single is a web-series that follows the lives of Oni and Jesse. Two young, single and black professionals that work in the same office building and are seemingly perfect for each other. There is one problem. They never meet. They intersect each others lives at hilarious and various moments while searching for love when true love passes them by every day unwittingly. Will they ever meet? Only time will tell.”

Both characters encounter real issues with their prospects just like everyday people (this guy’s crazy, that guy lied about how he looks, this one’s already got a woman…make that a crazy baby mother) that makes the results all the more hilarious. There are two episodes right now, new ones drop bi-weekly and the third premieres on May 21 if you’re interested in continuing to follow the series. Each episode is less than 15 minutes so far so it will be a great watch for that late lunch break…or if you’re just really feeling ratchet about your workday, you can just watch them now.

Just don’t tell anybody I said that.

But seriously, I was pretty impressed and it takes a lot for me to find something funny. Plus, the writing was actually very well done. Check out episode one here and the other via their YouTube channel and let us know your thoughts!

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Source: Usatoday.com

Last night a massive fire went through Tyler Perry’s studios causing one of the buildings to partially collapse at the multi-million dollar locale where a fundraiser was just held for President Obama in March.

The fire started around 9 pm and was put out about an hour later. Luckily there were no injuries but fire officials said it’s too soon to tell just how much damage was done to the 60-acre complex or what caused the fire. The 200,000 square-foot Atlanta studio includes five sound stages, a 5-acre pond, a 400-seat theater, a chapel, a commissary, a gymnasium, his office, an art department where sets are designed, hair and makeup facilities, a wardrobe department, set decoration, a post-production facility and a backlot named 34th Street, after Miracle on 34th Street, according to the studio website.

Hopefully no film was lost in the fire as Tyler prepares to release two more movies this year. His second release, “Madea’s Witness Protection” is due in theaters June 29. So far, he hasn’t released a statement on the incident.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Women are steadily taking over the professional world and turning traditional gender roles on its head. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, single women from ages 22-30 with no children are earning more than men in 147 out of 150 US cities and Atlanta is number one on the list.

Although men still out-earn women nationwide, single young women earn 21 percent more than men in Atlanta. That’s not to say that the men haven’t been trying. Atlanta men saw a 48 percent increase in median earning from 2000 to 2010. But the ladies still beat their rise with a 71 percent increase.

It’s a pattern that author and journalist Liza Mundy, “The Richer Sex” has noted. Mundy believes that within a generation, more household will be supported by women than men.

“Women are still getting their minds around their new bread-winning status,” she told AJC. “Women are proud of their earnings … but they are still struggling to embrace the idea that they are providing not only for themselves but for others.”

Kristin Klingshirn, a cast member on Q100′s “The Bert Show,” in Atlanta is one of those proud and vocal top earning Atlanta women. She constantly discusses how she supports her live-in boyfriend on the show and engages the audience in gender role discussions.

“It makes [women] more attractive,” she said to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “By being able to take care of yourself and by being self-sufficient, it shows that you’re a hard worker. Reverse the roles, and that’s the way it’s been for decades. But all of the sudden, I pay the mortgage, and he’s a moocher.”

Part of the jump in women’s earnings is due to the amount of women getting degrees. The National Center for Education observed that 51 percent of doctoral degrees, 57 percent of all bachelor’s degrees and 60 percent of all master’s degrees were earned by women.

In addition, Sheryl Connelly, the manager of Global Trends and Futuring at Ford Motor Co. notes that the economy is changing “from a manufacturing economy to a knowledge economy, which requires skills that women are generally recognized for having great capacity.”

But this trend isn’t simply a US accomplishment. Although Atlanta may be on top, the US is in fact lagging behind other countries in terms of women employment gains.

“This is not a Western or an American phenomenon,” Connelly said to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “It’s truly global. Fifty percent of all companies in Europe have women in senior management. … In China, 31 percent of their top executives are female, and that’s compared to only 20 percent in the U.S.”

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“They say” if you have a dream you should chase it by any means necessary. But does that still ring true if you’re a single mother who just received her last paycheck? For Racquel Bailey, that’s exactly what it meant. This 23 year old aspiring actress from New Jersey spent her last paycheck on a billboard placed in Atlanta that she hopes will be noticed by…Tyler Perry.

Yes, we’re all reading it correctly – the girl spent her last dollars trying to become the “next big thing.” ESSENCE caught up with her to discuss this bold move and she explained it by saying that she wanted to find a way to stand out. She, like many of us, knows that casting directors see hundreds of faces on a daily basis and this was the best idea.  Racquel said the ad company laughed at first but agreed that it was a great idea.  Many others agree but the one person who matters – Tyler Perry – has yet to contact her. She said the last time she checked his office had not commented.

Now on one hand, maybe we should give Racquel a round of applause for trying a different approach and attempting to get Perry’s attention since she loves and respects his work. But on the other hand, let’s get real: you have a child and you spent your last check (the theater company she owns works with Newark Public Schools and since summer is coming, the program will not be running) on the hope that Tyler or someone in his camp will see the billboard. By the way, Racquel hasn’t even seen the billboard so she’ll be scraping up her pennies to take her family to Atlanta this summer to see it.

What do you think? Considering your own responsibilities, how far are you willing to go to chase a dream?

Source: The Urban Daily

You know how they say people only curse because they lack the necessary communication skills to get their point across articulately? Well that’s how I feel about people who flip people off, and consequently now Cee Lo, after learning about his actions at Obama’s Presidential Fundraiser this weekend.

On Friday, Tyler Perry hosted an event in Atlanta to raise funds for President Obama’s reelection and Cee Lo Green was one of the performers. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say there were either no pre-approved rehearsals for this fundraiser or someone has since lost their job, since Cee Lo lost his mind on stage. Not only did “The Voice” judge decide that the best song to sing would be an unedited version of “F*** You,” he also brought along hand gestures to symbolize his eff you to the world when he opted not to say the actual words. Thankfully President Obama and The First Lady were attending other events while this man was on stage, and while I’m sure Cee Lo isn’t the least bit embarrassed at his performance, he should be.

I can’t remember the last time I even thought to flip someone off. It was probably somewhere around never. Despite road rage, commuter rage, I have to go to work today rage, this man is getting on my nerves right now rage, it’s just not something I do. If I want to express something, I’ll do so verbally not with an immature gesture. And that is what bothers me so much about what Cee Lo did. It was a childish stunt that barely has a place in day-to-day life, let alone in front of a crowd for what you would think would be a dignified event on some level if people are donating thousands of dollars to support the leader of the country, not to mention paying $500/plate to even attend. What part about that made him think, “hmmm, I know. I’ll offend the audience with a great big eff you, that will make them want to give.”

I won’t even make this about the fact that if you’re purpose is to support the president: 1) why are you making this about you, 2) did you not notice that he probably doesn’t need any additional negative press, 3) you’re not helping his reputation of being a celebrity president supported by hip hop thugs, as some of the right-wing would say. This is about more than that. It’s about having some level of respect for where you are and the purpose you’re serving and realizing there’s nothing about flipping the bird that says “I’m cool.” His stunt puts me back in the frame of mind of M.I.A. at the Super Bowl when she thought the best way to get her shine on was to flip the audience off to create media buzz around her. Won’t you get the same reaction by just singing/raping /performing well? I mean that’s how it used to work in the old days isn’t it?

It’s fine if you want to be an edgy artist, but do that at your own concert when it’s about you, not when you’re trying to rally support for the person directing the future of the country. I bet he wouldn’t hop on stage during a recording of “The Voice” singing F*** You because he knows NBC would pull the plug quicker than he could crank his little middle finger in the air. So why, I ask, is it OK here? Why doesn’t he have enough respect for his surroundings and his purpose performing to care more? Not to mention the fact that he’s too old to act like he doesn’t know any better.

A follower called Cee Lo out for his behavior quickly after his performance, writing: ”You have no class at all, very disrespectful tonight. #TheVoice should be ashamed of you right now.” Cee Lo’s response: “Well (they’re) not! It was a mistake sir.” Apparently that’s all the remorse we’re going to get out of him because he added, “All of you heard the song a thousand times so don’t get all saint on me.”

Yes, some people have heard it a thousand times—in the privacy of their homes or cars, without hand gestures. No one’s getting saint on Cee Lo, we’re getting sophisticated. Something he should have tried that night.

Check out Cee Lo’s performance here. Do you think he was out of line or was his performance no big deal?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Source: Project Q Atlanta

We know black women don’t play when it comes to their hair, but apparently stylists don’t play when someone questions their designs either. Derek J, the “Real Housewives of Atlanta’s” favorite hair dresser and a judge on Oxygen’s “Hair Battle Spectacular” learned that lesson the hard way yesterday when a stylist across town pulled a gun out on him in his shop.

What had happened was (sorry, just feels appropriate here), Keyshia Cole’s sister Neffe (yes, I know) had gotten her hair done by a stylist across town and didn’t like the style so she came to Derek J to see if he could fix it. Derek told her he couldn’t help her at the moment and asked her to reach out to the stylist to see what all he had done to her hair so he could try to fix it.  Neffe left, presumably to follow up with the original stylist, but a few hours later, the hairdresser barged into Derek’s Atlanta salon and started firing shots. Derek J told Chanel 2 news he is not happy:

“I’m upset because my floor is messed up now. [Neffe's hair was] messed up to the point we didn’t know what to do. So I was just like, reach out to the stylist and say, ‘Hey, what did you use, what did you do?’ and it turned from a professional conversation to more of an argument, but we thought it was done.

“We knew it wasn’t a good thing when he came but we thought it was going to be a quick exchange with words and then he was going to be gone. So, nobody really knew he would pull out a gun.”

Lisa McCall, the owner of the salon, said she asked the unnamed stylist to leave when he started walking around the shop waving the gun. Before shooting holes in the floor, she says he put the gun in her face.

“Before turning away, he waved the gun in my face and said, ‘You don’t think I will?’ And I backed up,” she said.

Considering Derek J knows who the stylist is, he shouldn’t get far from police. I don’t know why he thought pulling a gun out in broad daylight and shooting over a hairstyle was that serious anyway. Check out the clip of this ratchet news report below.

Source: TMZ

Unlike Ne-yo, Fab doesn’t bring his girl to the strip club with him when he wants to have a good time, and I’m sure he had an absolutely fantastic time spending $28,000 watching girls bend over and touch their toes.

That’s how much TMZ reports Fabolous dropped on lap dances and butt gyrations at a new strip joint in ATL called Diamonds Wednesday night. Just because Em wasn’t there doesn’t mean Fab was alone though, he also brought his boy with him, comedian Kevin Hart, who dropped another $7,000 to look but don’t touch.

As you can see from the pic, money was literally falling from the sky during the party hosted by radio personality Kenny Burns. In a slideshow of their night out, someone’s annual rent is stacked nicely on top of a chandelier, not to mention the amount of money covering the floor. What’s that saying again, it ain’t trickin’ if you go it? I guess.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Rates of HIV among black women in Baltimore, Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, NC, Washington, DC, Newark, and New York City have been found to be five times higher than previous CDC estimates, and the rate of infection is now equal to some African countries.

The latest data comes from the ISIS (Women’s HIV Seroincidence) Study which analyzes at-risk women in these six urban areas of the United States, which have some of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS. A total of 2,099 women ages 18 to 44 who had never had a positive HIV test were included in the study; 88 percent were black and 12 percent Latina. At the time of enrollment, researchers found that 32 women were infected with HIV but were unaware of their status.

Within one year of joining the study, 0.24 percent of the women tested positive for the disease. According to ABC, this number compares to HIV rates found in the general population of many sub-Saharan African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (0.28 percent) and Kenya (0.53 percent).

Dr. Carlos Del Rio, principal investigator for the Atlanta area of the study and professor of medicine and infectious disease at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, said “this epidemic is the face of the forgotten people.”

“This disease is alive and well in this country,” he added.

Dr. Del Rio said the “hot spots” for the disease are some of the most impoverished parts of the United States, which is bad from a social standpoint, but the centralization gives healthcare advocates specific targets for intervention efforts. According to Dr. Sally Hodder, lead author of the study and professor of medicine at New Jersey Medical School in Newark:

“Slightly more than 40 percent of the women did not know the HIV status of their last sexual partner. And more than 40 percent of our participants had an annual household income of $10,000 or less.”

Given that information, and the fact that after one-year of follow-up, 10 of the women included in the study died of causes unrelated to HIV, Dr. Del Rio said prevention efforts have to take a multi-pronged approach.

“We can’t just say, ‘Here’s some information on AIDS and here are some condoms. We’re talking about structural interventions that are needed. We need better access to medical care and screenings, substance abuse treatment, education, and job availability for these areas of the country.

“This is going to need some bold leadership and out-of-the-box thinking,” he added. “I do think it really can be stopped, though. It’s not beyond hope and I honestly don’t think it wouldn’t even take that long to eradicate the disease, it just needs a lot of imagination.”

Do you think there’s hope in the fight against HIV among black women? What do you think should be done?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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Source: madamenoire.com

It seems like everyone likes to blame the fact that women are single on women. Of course, the media would lead you to believe that  women are single because of  personal character flaws, negative behavior or just not being able to make it work, but sometimes  the reasons have nothing to do with them and everything to do with the extenuating circumstances.

Here are some reasons why a woman may be single beyond her control….

Read the rest of this entry »

BET seems determined to make it’s mark in the scripted sitcom genre with husband-and-wife team Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil. The network has given the couple the greenlight for a new pilot titled, “Single Black Female,” which is expected to air in August.

The premise of the show is a look at the work-family balance of a single, black woman who is the host of a popular Atlanta talk show, similar to The Ellen Degeneres show. There’s no word on who will play the role and what other aspects of the woman’s life will be featured, but from these details, it sounds so far, so good.

The series is a part of a major production deal Mara and Salim, who produce and direct ‘The Game,” signed with BET in May which includes several pilot commitments. Mara is also behind the recent remake of Sparkle, starting Whitney Houston and Jordin Sparks, and Salim directed “Jumping the Broom.”

I have to say with the way “The Game” has been going this season, I’m not super excited about this series, but with a new show comes the chance to learn from mistakes and approach things from a different angle, and hopefully they will.

What do you think about Mara and Salim’s work so far? Can they make a show on a single, black female a success?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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