Source: WENN

From Essence

Each year the African-American Film Critics Association names its choices for the best faces in front of and behind the camera. This year, Denzel Washington has received one of the highest honors as Best Actor for his role as Whip Whitaker in Flight.

Alongside Washington, Emayatzy Corinealdi earned the Best Actress award for her work in Middle of Nowhere. The Ava DuVernay film was also was voted Best Screenplay and Best Independent Film.

“The selections made this year reflect the refreshing abundance of both studio and independent work that provided a stellar array of roles for both veteran actors and new faces,” said Gil Robertson IV, AAFCA’s president and founder.

Alright, Denzel! You can check out the rest of the honorees on Essence.

As elite members of human space programs, or one of the select few pilots working for the military, black women have been soaring above fruited plains and far-flung planets for the cause of space exploration and freedom since 1922. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, they have battled gender and racial biases to demonstrate – once again – the unstoppable power of a determined sister.

Image: Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

An avid student, Mae Jemison earned dual degrees in chemical engineering and African-American studies at Stanford University, while becoming fluent in Japanese, Russian and Swahili. She received a doctor of medicine degree from Cornell University and then served in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Upon her return to the United States, Jemison applied to the astronaut program at NASA.

Her original application was rejected, but the second time around, she was one of 15 candidates selected from a field of 2,000.  When Jemison concluded her training in 1988, she was the fifth black astronaut, and the first black female astronaut in the history of NASA. She completed her first flight in 1992. It was an eight-day mission, and she logged 190 hours, 30 minutes and 23 seconds on the space shuttle Endeavor as a mission specialist – making her the first black woman to go into space.

Source: Hair We Go Products

Everyone misses Tracee Ellis Ross as Joan on “Girlfriends,” but our favorite funny lady is back to star as another high-powered woman in a different kind of show about a group of women.

Tracee has just been cast as one of the leads in the NBC pilot for a new show called “Bad Girls.” The drama is adapted from the long-running UK series and it will follow the lives of a group of unlikely women in a federal prison. According to Deadline.com, Tracee will play Rachel, a high-powered business woman who is serving time for selling phony mortgages. Because her character delayed having kids to pursue her career, she’s now desperate to get pregnant, which is where the drama is sure to unfold as that’s not so likely to happen behind prison bars.

There’s no word on when filming is set to begin or when the series will make it’s debut, but Jurnee Smollett, Rick Gonzalez and Zoe Boyle, have also been cast in the new drama. The interesting plot definitely makes this sound like a show worth watching. I wonder what this new project means for “Reed Between the Lines?”

What do you think about this plot? Are you excited to see Tracee Ellis Ross in a serious role?

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

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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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While everyone’s antennas were tuned to VH1 and the potential Queen of Strip reality show no one wants to see come to fruition, the ATL got a leg up on the concept, and some of the city’s “finest” are said to be shooting a pilot for a new reality show called “Mistresses of Atlanta.”

The title says it all, I suppose, and according to reports and twitter chats over the weekend, the series will feature exotic dancers like Drake and Sean Kingston’s old boo, Malia Michele. Another dancer named Rosée, model Sarah Oliver, rapper M’Jae, another woman by the name of “Strings,” and an unnamed male are also said to be a part of the ratchet cast.

It goes without saying that fighting is expected, and it’s already been confirmed by tweets from Malia who said she was filming scenes for the pilot Saturday night:

“Damn they fighting already… Not me I’m a lover”

Unfortunately, that will probably be the factor that gets the show the green light.

Since I’m sure you won’t check for this show if it ever hits TV, what reality show concept would you like to see?

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

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In Sex and the City 2, we saw our favorite New York fashionistas finally get their happily ever afters, particularly Carrie, but what was the best-selling author like before she met Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte? If you haven’t already read the “Carrie Diaries” you may have a chance to see her in action because the CW has ordered a pilot for a show based on the book.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, “the Carrie Diaries” will focus on Carrie during her senior year of high school in the early 80s,  as she “asks her first questions about love, sex, friendship and family while navigating the worlds of high school and Manhattan.”

The first book in “The Carrie Diaries” series was published in 2010, and the sequel, “Summer and the City: A Carrie Diaries Novel,” came out last year. In the novels, Carrie is from a small town in New England, but the story line will be moved to New York to make for better television. Plus Amy B. Harris, who worked on the original “Sex and the City,” wrote the “Carrie Diaries” pilot and will serve as showrunner, so the series should be in good hands. There’s just one question, though, who should play the young Carrie Bradshaw? Something tells me Blake Lively will be all over this.

Are you excited for the “Carrie Diaries” to come to TV? Who do you think could pull off a young Carrie/Sarah Jessica Parker?

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

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You can thank Rick Ross for this one. The success of his song “BMF” which stood for Blowin’ Money Fast on his album “Teflon Don” was also an ode to the Black Mafia Family which Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory cofounded with his brother Terry “Southwest T” Flenory. Now that Meech has gotten a little shine, the ladies who have held these drug bosses down are hoping to get a litte bit of their own with a reality show.

According to Ozone Magazine, four ladies recently started shooting a reality show pilot with Strange Fruit Media, a production company that has produced content for BET and other networks, that they hope will turn into a TV deal.

Here’s the breakdown of the ladies:

• Tonesa Welch (far right), wife of Terry, who calls herself the “First Lady of BMF,”and hopes to help tell Terry’s side of the BMF story.
• Gricelda Chavez, who was involved with music producer Damon Thomas. Damon was a part of the BMF money-laundering scheme involving jewelry purchases and agreed to serve as a witness against Terry when he was caught. I have a feeling she’s not liked too well.
• Lisa Buford, girlfriend of “PJ,” a high-ranking BMF affiliate on Terry’s side of the organization.
• Tiffany Gloster who was indicted by the DEA on BMF-related charges with her man Jerry “J Rock” Davis in 2007. Tiffany served a two-year sentence for her part in helping to launder the fruits of J Rock’s cocaine labor and J Rock is currently serving a sentence of 39 years and 10 months in prison.

As crazy and ridiculously ratchet as this show sounds, I would not be surprised if it was picked up as a rival to Mob Wives. If producers think they have an audience for it, we can most definitely expect to catch the ladies of BMF on TV. So, would you watch?

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

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