Current State of Affairs

Today the man that created the Jet Beauty of the Week died. As much as I don’t check for Ebony or Jet, I can’t deny its staying power and shelf life. Every publicist knows that Ebony is one of the best outlets to secure because your clients feature will be lingering around forever in some office or in someone’s parents living room. You go to a doctor’s office or to the dentist and they will have the Ebony issue with Whitney Houston on the cover from 1992 on the coffee table in the waiting room.

Michael Eric Dyson is still raising hell about Cosby. For a minister he sure spends a lot of time criticizing a man who has done so much to promote positive images of Black folk. Why won’t Dyson speak out against R. Kelly or where’s his rage against the New Jersey machine that put a one million dollar bond on Assata Shakur’s head or what about the genocide in Sudan? I guess that type of radicalism won’t get you a book deal or the tons of publicity he’s reaping for blasting the Jell-O pudding pops man. I guess his next target will be BET for firing Free & AJ (thanks Kevin R. Scott)!

Talking about having time on their hands, Russell Simmons has found time from his yoga practice to create an accessory that I’m sure we won’t be able to live without. Not!

I was chasing my niece through the sprinklers and introducing her to mango street icees so I missed the rapping-sing-songy M.I.A. who I hear had the largest turnout so far this summer at Central Park’s Summerstage this past Sunday. It would seem that our favorite Sri Lankan has taken over the world with her pseudo militant stance and playfully smart jig. I haven’t heard the whole album yet but will get it this week and check her out. She already gets a gold star for having the guts to bring the noise in a different box.