Queen Latifah
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30 Days of Iconic Music Video Blackness With VSB, Day 17: Queen Latifah, 'Ladies First'
Queen Latifah’s video for her single, “Ladies First,” has stayed with me since the first time I saw it, probably sometime in late 1989 or early 1990. The imagery in the song was so striking to me that even as a 10- or 11-year-old, I remember being mesmerized. The video clips, the way Queen Latifah…
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Queen Latifah Supports the Removal of Gone With the Wind From HBO Max
The new streaming service HBO Max been under fire (mostly by white film critics and white viewers) for the temporary removal of the 1939 Oscar-winning romantic drama, Gone With The Wind. Many believe that despite the fact that the film is still available to rent and buy, its removal from HBO Max will somehow erase…
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'Having One Is Not Progress': Janet Mock on Netflix's Hollywood and Industry Gatekeepers Celebrating Diversity
Hollywood has the best publicist in the game. For years, it has taken on the identity of a city with “streets paved with gold,” when the actual streets are paved with the dust of unrealized dreams, unbridled tourism, and, you know, rampant poverty. I’ve always been obsessed with Hollywood. As a child, I routinely shined…
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The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel Movie on Lifetime Brought the Sunshine. You Should Watch It. Amen.
The Lifetime network doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to black biopics. My life has never quite recovered from their attempt at the Aaliyah story. That particular movie was so bad in casting, thought, mind and deed that while watching the movie with all of social media, when Aaliyah showed up dating…
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Self-Made and Self-Heard: The Music in the Madam C.J. Walker-Inspired Series Is Entirely by Black Women
For centuries, if you wanted something to be done right, black women typically had to stand up and say, “I’ll do it.” Leading the charge is particularly significant when it comes to telling our own stories. Though writing and directing are routinely considered a form of storytelling, a film or television series’ music also can…
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BIST, or the 'Black EGOT': Celebrating the Elite Who've Won a BET Award, NAACP Image Award and Soul Train Award
Two—that’s the number of black people who have an EGOT, that is, at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. Whoopi Goldberg and John Legend are a part of that elite 15-member club. Cynthia Erivo, Billy Porter and Viola Davis are almost there. Unfortunately, we can’t count on irregular trends that may arise when…
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Black Movie Fridays: Just Wright Is a Fun Romantic Comedy But It Couldn’t Have Happened in Real Life
I’m one of those people who gets hung up on the little things in movies and television shows. Like, I’ll be sitting in a movie theater minding my business watching some varying level of black cinematic excellence set in 1980-whenever, and an era-specific song will come on to really give you a sense of time,…
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'It’s a Classic, Leave it Alone': Vivica A. Fox Isn't Feelin' Issa Rae's Upcoming Set It Off Remake
Vivica A. Fox has a strong opinion and she just—wait for it—set it off. In an exclusive interview with ET, Fox expressed her feelings about the in-development Set It Off remake (which has actually been referred to as a “reimagining”), which will be produced by Issa Rae. Rae is also reportedly set to star in…
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Queen Latifah Brought Looks, Her Pretty Face and Bawdy Language to The Little Mermaid Live!
It was sometime in the early ‘90s and my mommy and I were in Miami’s International Airport. I was an adventurous child with an infatuation with The Little Mermaid. There was a Disney store in this particular airport, and I figured they’d have Ariel and the homies, so I scurried my way into the store.…
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I Went To The Dress Rehearsal of The Little Mermaid Live! and Became Part of Its World
If I told Tiny Tonja that she’d be stepping onto the Walt Disney Studios lot so that she could watch a live performance of The Little Mermaid, she’d squee with absolute delight. That’s right, I was invited by the power of Disney magic (or their publicity team, same difference) to catch a dress rehearsal of The…