The Urbane Urbanite

I must admit, 2010 was a banner year for film.  I highlighted a few of the standouts in my 2011 Oscar Watch Series:  Black Swan , The Kids Are All Right , 127 Hours .  And as predicted, all three went on to be nominated in multiple categories.  While millions of people are expected to tune in this Sunday to watch Hollywood's most famous self-celebrating gabfest, a chorus of grumblings will continue to reverberate on the Internet about how there are no Black films or actors nominated for an Oscar this year.  In fact, this is the first time in over ten years that there isn't one single Black Oscar nominee.  Sadly, this isn't the first time that this has happened and certainly won't be the last.  But while folks are harping on this year's white wash at the Oscars, I can't help but to remember the year Black folks dominated the podium.

Adele is all grown up. Already a hit in the UK,  21 , the follow up to her successful critically acclaimed 2008 debut 19 , is an open book full of brokenhearted memories and candid piano- driven ballads. 21  opens with two mid-tempo songs, the single “Rolling in the Deep” and the track “Rumour Has It,” which features a fiery Adele over a straight drum beat as she proclaims to a former lover that the new woman he's chosen for himself is not a good fit. “She, she ain’t real/she ain’t gone be able to love you like I will/she is a stranger, you and I have history or don’t you remember/sure she’s got it all but baby is that really what you want?” The 22-year-old Grammy winning singer/songwriter effortlessly croons about her life lessons and romantic past with neck-swiveling sass and heartfelt vulnerability. The most personal song on the album is the single “Someone Like You."  Backed by only a hypnotizing piano arrangement, Adele confesses her love to an old boyfriend a...

Less than a week into February, I stumbled upon a tweet from, Chris, one of my college friends on Twitter: "'Now everybody wanna focus on Black History. Y’all are so 'seasonal' .... SMH" We discuss (and often complain) about the fact that we celebrate Black History during the shortest month of the year, but has anyone ever taken the time to find out why? Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the founder of Black History month and the second African-American to receive a degree from Harvard University, believed in preserving one’s heritage. He wanted it to be in February to honor the birth of two men whose actions drastically altered the future of Black Americans, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. What started as just a week, eventually turned into a month. I attend an HBCU (Historically Black College/University), which happens to be the first university owned and operated by African-Americans. It was originally called Wilberforce College, and today is known as Centr...

Smack dead in the middle of Time Square, among the white lights of Broadway, gargantuan billboards, and throngs of camera-ready tourists is a cozy enclave called the Aspen Social Club. The decor is a mix of city sophistication and warm ski lodge comfort.  The foyer is dimly lit, the ceiling is made up of granular, wooden planks and along the way to the main dining room are small, intimate alcoves complete with a table and chairs for nibbling on appetizers and sipping cocktails. With a crackling fireplace playing on a flat screen, a mass of ivory antler shaped ornaments hanging from up above and tree barks bathed in fuchsia lights in glass casings, the main dining room of the Aspen Social Club is visually stunning with a laid back vibe.  It was service with a smile when the waitress, clad in a flannel shirt, daisy dukes and knee high boots came over to introduce herself and take my order.  Here's what I chose: Libation : A blood orange colored, acai berry margarita. I...

Only the sweet Lord up above knows how much I'm over this winter weather.  Over. It. The snow, the ice, the subzero temperatures, the blustery winds, the wintry mixes, the sleet and did I mention the snow?  Hate it.  And I swear fo' gawd that groundhog had better not be pulling my leg with this early spring stuff he predicting. While there are countless things I abhor about this depressing weather, I do enjoy dressing for it.  I previously wrote about my love of a good trench coat and layering .  But my favorite thing about suiting up for the winter is wearing a scarf.   I've got over 20 scarves in my closet.  Some long, some short.  Some thick, others thin.  Some are dark, while others are really bright.  But the alpha scarf, the scarf of all scarves in my wardrobe is, ironically, the cheapest one in my closet. I bought this scarf for 60 cents while thrifting in Queens.  It's thick, warm, handmade - and makes bracing t...

In 1992, John Singleton not only became the first African-American ever nominated for an Oscar for best director, but at the tender age of 23, he was also the youngest person ever to be nominated in that category. The film was Boyz N the Hood , a gritty, urban tale about friends growing up in the inner-city of South Central Los Angeles. Singleton, who penned the script and also scored an Oscar nod for best original screenplay, unabashedly put a lens on a particular Black experience that was often talked about in the news but rarely novelized on film for a mainstream audience to see. More than just a shoot 'em up bang bang hood flick, Boyz is a study on the power of confinement and what it takes to rise above the limitations of your environment. Singleton's audacious, groundbreaking debut boasts a cast of some of the most successful actors in Hollywood today - Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Regina King - and paved the way for similar flicks like Ju...

Tired of the same old mimosa? Check out the video below. I show you how to put a spin on the popular brunch beverage by swapping out champagne for sparkling wine and adding a splash of orange-flavored liqueur to give it an extra special kick! You can subscribe to my budding YouTube page here :

"I'd rather play a maid and make $700 a week than be one for $7."  - Hattie McDaniel The year was 1940. And Hollywood was all abuzz about Gone with The Wind , the 1939 epic film adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel of the same name that would go on to become a record breaking box office masterpiece. In it was Hollywood royalty - Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh - but the breakout performance came from Hattie McDaniel in the role of Mammy, a brass, no-nonsense tell-it-like-it-is maid and servant to Scarlett O'Hara, played by Leigh. Although McDaniel caught flack for perpetuating a stereotype by playing a maid in Wind (she carved both a lucrative and successful acting career for herself by playing servants and housekeepers in mainstream films) no one could deny the gravitas of her groundbreaking Academy Award win; the first African American to be nominated and win an Oscar.

A couple of months ago, I wrote a post about finding my very first best friend's mugshot on the New Jersey offender search website.  If you missed that post, you can read it here . He's in jail serving four to seven years for multiple counts of drug possession. I decided to write him a letter.   He responded. Twice! My first letter to him was a bit formal.  Remember, I hadn't seen or spoken to him in over 16 years.  I didn't know what kind of person he had become, what state of mind he was in or if he'd even remember me.  I wanted my first (and possibly last) letter to him to come off sincere, yet, respectful. Not only did he know who I was, but he seemed thrilled to have heard from me.  He thanked me a few times for taking the time to reach out to him.  And I was ecstatic to know that being in jail had not broken his spirit. In my reply, I went hard.  I asked him what happened and why he chose to m...

I had to give my Granny an edgy makeover while she was living at the nursing home. There's something about the fabric of a grandmother's love. It's warm and fuzzy like your favorite childhood teddy bear. Sweet and inviting like the smell of an apple pie baking in the oven. Tough and wise like an old hardcover book on the shelf at the library.... On January 21, my granny, Lula Saintainia, said deuces and went on home to Glory. I can't say that I blame her. She put in her time - and then some.