What can I say? I love Barbies. I don’t collect any, and most of the ones I held on to for dear life as a child are somewhere crying out for help in my parents’ garage, probably a nosy cat’s play thing, so I’m over the obsession I had with them for so many years as a young’n. But every now and then, when I see photos of elegantly dressed black Barbies, read about them being lauded in magazines overseas, or watch them become fun art exposes on different forms of black life, I can’t help but fall back in love. There were so many black Barbies back in the day and still today, and to take a walk down memory lane, I thought I’d show you some of the most popular ones and flyest ones from over the years. So yes, you can be a kid again–at least for a few minutes.

Source: jetmag.com

In 2008, the whole nation watched in shock and horror as details surrounding the deaths of Jennifer Hudson’s mother, brother and eventually nephew were revealed. Initially, everyone was hoping that the life of her seven year old nephew, Julian King, would have been spared. So it was especially tragic when his body was found three days later.

Just a few months ago, William Balfour, Hudson’s brother-in-law stood trial for the murders. While there was no doubt that he would eventually be brought to justice, (Balfour was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences.), still quite a few of us were still wondering, most likely in vain, how Julia, Jennifer’s sister, could have ever found herself with this type of man in the first place.

I remember this is the question my co-worker and I were discussing when the trial first started. Not only did we wonder how she ended up in this relationship, we questioned whether her family had warned her about him. We thought about the type of guilt she must have felt and probably still feels, knowing that the man she chose was responsible for taking the lives of the people she loved. We even wondered if Jennifer considered her sister somehow responsible for it. Then we pondered how we would respond if placed in that same situation. Both of us have younger sisters and we thought, if something like this happened in our family, would we blame them?

Well, leave it to Oprah to ask the questions we both wanted to know. In her interview with Jennifer Hudson, which aired on OWN this past Sunday, Oprah had a chance to speak with both Hudson sisters about the tragedy and their initial and present feelings towards each other because of it. I’ll include the full interview  below so you can watch for yourself; but essentially when Oprah asked Jennifer if she was ever mad at her sister, she said if she was ever mad, it was only for a brief period of time, because she doesn’t remember it. Julia, on the other hand, expected her sister to hate her. She revealed that Jennifer told Julia not to marry William, offering her a trip around the world, if she would leave him alone. If you’ve ever tried to stop someone in love from getting married, you know how challenging it can be. Julia married him anyway. When things went sour, she left and William would often threaten both she and her family. She never took him seriously, until it was too late.

Though Jennifer could have blamed her sister for the deaths of their family members, when her sister asked her if she hated her, she responded by saying she couldn’t hate her because she loved her. Instead of choosing to push away the family she had left, the two decided to cling to each other. And I’m sure it’s helped in the healing process they’re both still undergoing.

When something so tragic happens, even if it doesn’t happen to us personally, it’s human nature to try and figure out what exactly went wrong, how could we have changed it. Who’s to blame? But most of the time, it’s an exercise in futility. Tragedies remind us that no matter who we are or what we’ve achieved, there are just some things that are out of our control. What is in our control is the way we respond to it. Whether we choose to hang on to feelings of resentment and hatred or love and healing is completely up to us. I’m glad to hear that Jennifer and her sister were able to choose the latter.

Watch the full interview below

Oprah’s Next Chapter | Jennifer Hudson (FULL… by Ashley_Miller_3

More on Madame Noire!

• Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind The Making of “Do The Right Thing”
• It’s Not Right, But I Understand: Man Murders Girlfriend After She Tells Him She’s HIV Positive
• A Word On Chilli And The Princess Complex: Prince Charmings Only Exist In Fairy Tales
• Why I Had To Unfollow Some Annoying, Rant-a-Holic Friends On Social Media To Stay Sane
• Girl You Know It’s True: Girl Codes That You May Not Have Known About
• Aren’t They Adorable? Baby Photos of 15 Of Our Favorite Black Celebs
• We’re Listening! Oprah’s Mane Man Andre Walker Discusses The 10 Hair Products Every Woman Should Own

Source: flickr

Today marks the 77th birthday of one of our living legends, Diahann Carroll. With a career that spans over five decades, many of us don’t remember a time when the spry Carroll wasn’t on the stage or some type of screen. Whatever role she played, we could be sure that she would bring an air of class and dignity to the project and for that we’re thankful and are taking the time to celebrate her legacy through a series of pictures from her most memorable roles.

In honor of the pending holiday, Madame Noire is going to celebrate our favorite mothers throughout the week. To kick things off we’ll start with our favorite moms from our favorite sitcoms. (Ooo a rhyme!) While these women are very different from one another, they all possess qualities that made us believe them in the mother role. Maybe you even saw a little of your own moms in the following women. Check it out.