NOMINEES FOR 41st NAACP IMAGE AWARDS ANNOUNCED

NOMINEES FOR 41st NAACP IMAGE AWARDS ANNOUNCED LIVE AT PRESS CONFERENCE BY TAYE DIGGS, MICHAEL STRAHAN, WANDA SYKES, KYLE MASSEY, CHRIS MASSEY, TATYANA ALI AND NAACP EXECUTIVES



The 41st NAACP IMAGE AWARDS Airs Live Friday, February 26 On FOX

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., (January 6, 2010) -- The 41st NAACP Image Awards nominees were announced today during a press conference at The SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills. Taye Diggs (“Private Practice” - ABC), Michael Strahan (“Brothers” - FOX) and “FOX NFL Sunday”), Wanda Sykes (“The Wanda Sykes Show” - FOX), Kyle Massey (“That's So Raven,” “Cory in the House” - Disney Channel), Chris Massey (“Zoey 101” - Nickelodeon) and Tatyana Ali (Young and the Restless – CBS) joined NAACP Image Awards Committee Chair, Clayola Brown, and Vicangelo Bulluck, Executive Producer of the telecast, to announce the categories and nominees. The 41st NAACP Image Awards will air live on Friday, February 26 (8:00 – 10:00 PM ET/PT Tape-Delayed) on FOX.


This year, over 1,200 entries were received. From those entries, a special committee of 300 industry professionals and NAACP leaders from across the country selected five nominees in each of the 53 categories. Any artist, manager, publicist, production company, record label, studio, network or publishing house could submit an entry to the NAACP Image Awards. The final selections are voted on by NAACP members, and winners will be announced during the live airing of the 41st NAACP Image Awards.


The ABC network leads with a total of 22 nominations, followed by NBC with 13, CBS with 12, and FOX, Lifetime and TNT with 9 each. “Grey’s Anatomy” received 6 nominations, followed by “Everybody Hates Chris” and "Tyler Perry's House of Payne" both receiving 4 nominations, followed by "Ugly Betty" with 3.


In the Recording Category, Columbia Records leads with 7 nominations, followed by Atlantic Records and Def Jam both with 5 nominations. J Records/MBK Entertainment received 4, and Interscope Records with 3. Jay-Z and Maxwell both received 5 nominations, followed by Alicia Keys with 3 and Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, and Rihanna with 2 each.


In the Motion Picture category, Lionsgate received 13 nominations. Warner Bros. Pictures follows with 7 nominations, Columbia Pictures with 4, and Overture Films with 3.


Returning event sponsors for the 41st NAACP Image Awards include Ford Motor Company, UAW/Chrysler, Sprint, and FedEx.

Founded on February 12, 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, and monitor equal opportunity in the public and private sectors. For more information on the NAACP IMAGE AWARDS, please visit naacpimageawards.net.



NOW . . .  this is not the entire category and nominee list, but for purposes of sharing my hopefuls in the literary category, here are the nominees and my personal faves are bolded.



LITERATURE CATEGORIES


Outstanding Literary Work – Fiction

•“Basketball Jones” – E. Lynn Harris (deceased) (Doubleday)


•“Before I Forget” – Leonard Pitts, Jr. (Agate Bolden)


•“Life is Short But Wide” – J. California Cooper (Doubleday)


•“The Book of Night Women” – Marlon James Riverhead Books)


•“The Long Fall” – Walter Mosley (Riverhead Books)


Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction


•“Brain Surgeon”: A Doctor’s Inspiring Encounters With Mortality and Miracles – Arnold Mann with Keith Black, MD (Grand Central Publishing)


•“Family Affair: What It Means to be African American Today” – Gil L. Robertson, IV (Agate Bolden)


•“Freedom in My Heart: Voices From the United States National Slavery Museum” – Cynthia Jacobs Carter (National Geographic Books)


•“In Search of Our Roots: How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past” – Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (Crown)


•“Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis” – Al Gore (Rodale Inc.)


Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author


•“3rd Generation Country” – BeNeca Ward (Xlibris Corporation)


• “A Question of Freedom” – R. Dwayne Betts (Avery Books)


•“Black Water Rising” – Attica Locke (Harper)


•“Kiss the Sky: A Novel” – Farai Chideya (Atria Books)


• “Lime Tree Can’t Bear Orange” – Amanda Smyth (Three Rivers Press)


Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Auto-Biography

•“Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud” – Dr. Cornel West (SmileyBooks)


•“Michelle Obama” – Deborah Willis (W. W. Norton)


•“POPS: A Life of Louis” – Terry Teachout (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)


•“Shooting Stars” – LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger (The Penguin Press)


•“Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne” – James Gavin (Atria Books)


Outstanding Literary Work – Instructional


•“Act Like A Lady, Think Like A Man” – Steve Harvey (Amistad)


•“The Conversation: How Black Men & Women Can Build Loving, Trusting Relationships” – Hill Harper (Gotham Books)


•“Down to Business” – Clara Villarosa with Alicia Villarosa (Avery Books)


•“Start Where You Are” – Chris Gardner (Amistad)


•“Your Money or Your Life” – Alvin Hall (Atria Books)


Outstanding Literary Work – Poetry

•“Bicycles” – Nikki Giovanni (William Morrow)


•“Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry” – Camille Dungy (The University of Georgia Press)


•“Cooling Board: A Long-Playing Poem” – Mitchell L. H. Douglas (Red Hen Press)


•“Mixology: National Poetry Series” – Adrian Matejka (Penguin Group [USA])


•“Roses and Revolutions: The Selected Writings of Dudley Randall” – Melba Joyce Boyd (Wayne State University Press)


Outstanding Literary Work – Children

•“Child of the Civil Rights Movement” – Paula Young Shelton (Random House Children’s Books)


•“Negro Speaks of Rivers” – Langston Hughes (Author), E.B. Lewis (Illustrator) (Disney-Jump at the Sun/Disney Book Group)


•“Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, and the Pioneers of Change” – Michelle Cook (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)


•“Peeny Butter Fudge” – Toni Morrison and Slade Morrison (Paula Wiseman Books/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)


•“Sugar Plum Ballerinas: Toeshoe Trouble” – Whoopi Goldberg (Disney-Jump at the Sun/Disney Book Group)


Outstanding Literary Work – Youth/Teens

•“Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice” – Phillip Hoose (Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group/Farrar Straus and Giroux)


•“Just Another Hero” – Sharon Draper (Atheneum/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)


•“Mare’s War” – Tanita S. Davis (Random House Children’s Books)


•“Michelle Obama: Meet the First Lady” – David Bergen Brophy (Collins-An Imprint of HarperCollins Children’s Books)


•“Rock and the River” – Kekla Magoon (Aladdin/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)

Follow Him!

I'd like to share today's devotional from God's Daily Word Ministries, as it speaks volumes to me and I hope it does the same for all of us :-) . . . Happy New Year!

 

Soon after entering the promised land of Canaan, the children of Israel forgot about God and all He had done.  They soon began to worship the false gods of Baal and the love-goddess, Asherah.  It seemed like every generation from that time forward was tempted into worshipping these false gods.

About five hundred years later, God rose up Elijah to be His chosen spokesman - His prophet.  The Israelites were still being enticed to worship other gods, and the time had come for a direct confrontation between Elijah and the many false prophets of Baal: "Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal" (1 Kings 18:19).

Elijah and the false prophets were to pray to their respective gods, with the "winner" determined by how the prayers were answered: "You call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire - He is God" (1 Kings 18:24).  But prior to calling on the Lord, Elijah gave a challenge for the people of Israel to make a commitment.

1 Kings 18:21
"How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him."

Elijah prayed, and God answered with enough fire to remove any and all doubt.  The people clearly saw the hand of the Lord and readily made their choice: "The Lord - He is God!  The Lord - He is God!" (1 Kings 18:39).

We face the same challenge today.  However, instead of two or three choices, we now have many gods which continually entice us into worship - many gods who desire our time and energy.  The world offers a long list of "worthy" candidates - television, money, power, prestige, sex, drugs, food, sports, internet, education...the list goes on; "These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens" (Jeremiah 10:11).  Who (or what) is truly worthy of our worship?

The challenge today is simple.  If the Lord is God - follow Him.  If we have recognized our sinful condition, repented of our sin and asked Jesus to be our Savior, then we must continue by being transformed into His likeness - we must follow Him.  We cannot allow the "distractions" in life to become our god.  We must devote our heart, soul, mind and strength to loving our Heavenly Father, and commit ourselves to whatever tasks He has given us to accomplish.  Our choice is clear, and our response must be boldly decisive.  The Lord is God - Follow Him!

Have a Christ Centered Day!

Steve Troxel
God's Daily Word Ministries

Subscribe via web:    http://www.gdwm.org/subscribe.htm

Book Review: Secrets and Lies by Rhonda McKnight

Secrets and Lies by Rhonda McKnight
Reviewed by Tavares S. Carney
Amazon Rating: 4

Communication is Key

In author, Rhonda McKnight’s, debut novel, Secrets and Lies, Ms. McKnight does a superb job bringing readers into the lives of the Dr. Jonah and Faith Morgan, a well-to-do married couple that endures tribulations stemming from Faith’s perceived selfishness and Jonah’s work ethic and ailing heart.

This story is very interesting to me because not only does the author offer a real-world storyline suggestive of marital issues, she offers plausible solutions. The primary characters in this story, Jonah and Faith, face marital challenges such as inattentiveness, time management and lack of communication. Readers will learn firsthand what brings each of these characters to make the decisions they make and act in the ways that each does. I also appreciate Ms. McKnight touching upon the subject of sexual harassment in the workplace and how things are not always as they seem.

Through various scenarios set against a medical field back drop, Jonah and Faith are brought together to face and meet many challenges. Will their love survive?

I recommend this book to anyone experiencing marital issues. Reading it may give readers a glimmer of hope in learning and knowing that with God, all things are possible. I also recommend this book to married men and women, and even single individuals thinking of marriage not experiencing difficulty in their relationships. This selection is a reinforcement of the reality of the trials and tribulations of some marriages, as well as what it takes to sustain in a marriage.

I would definitely read another selection from Ms. McKnight.

For more on the author, please visit her @ RHONDA McKNIGHT.

Reviewed by Tavares S. Carney

Blog Tour Feature: Author and Marriage Coach, Jewell R. Powell

Meet Jewell Powell, author of Marriage 101

In July of 1992, Jewell met her Prince Charming at a Roy Rogers restaurant. When the couple decided to marry four years later, both were aware of the latest marriage statistics and the legacy of divorce that lay between them. Her parents divorced when she was four, after moving the family to Maryland, leaving her to be raised by a single mother. To circumvent the odds, they went through pre-marital counseling, attended church regularly and felt a strong love for one another. They believed they were ready for marriage.

While desiring to have a happily ever after, Jewell found life after marriage anything but a fairy tale. In 2001, she and her husband, Lewis, had been married for five years but were growing apart, after experiencing problems with infertility, sleeping in separate bedrooms and Lewis’s increasing disinterest in going to church. As she searched for answers to her marital troubles, Jewell found herself on a journey, seeking answers to save her marriage.

Despite a shaky beginning, the Powells now have a relationship with a strong foundation. After successfully resolving their marital problems, they started the Happily Ever After Marriage Ministry to help others do the same. Her new book, Marriage 101: Building a Life Together by Faith (Revell Books February 2009, ISBN 978-0-8007-3332-2, $13.99), offers hope and guidance to help transform broken relationships through the use of biblical wisdom in a simple workbook format.
Jewell serves as co-owner of Antiok Holdings, an emerging full-service management consulting firm, which she owns with her husband. She earned a Bachelor of Science in business from the University of Maryland and is pursuing a Master of Divinity. The Powells reside in southern Maryland with their two daughters.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Your marriage can be strong, healthy, happy, and blessed. Marriage coach Jewell Powell shows you how in this 8-week plan for marital success. She reveals how God’s truths can transform two individuals into the union he desires. Laying a spiritual foundation is crucial to your marriage. In Marriage 101: Building a Life Together by Faith, you will discover God’s purpose for marriage, how to develop godly character, how to communicate effectively, and much more. With biblical examples, study questions, and Scripture meditations perfect for individuals or couples, you will be challenged to examine areas in your life that may need change so that your marriage can thrive.

Read about Pursuing Your Mate, Effective Ways to Communicate, Pursuing The One You Love and more in Marriage 101.
For more information, please visit Marriage 101.

Book Review: Farther Than I Meant to Go Longer Than I Meant To Stay by Tiffany Warren

Review by Tavares S. Carney

Amazon Rating: 4

Warning Signs

Have you ever met an intelligent woman who carries herself with dignity and class, and who seemingly has it all but one piece of the puzzle - a man by her side? In Farther Than I Meant To Go, this woman is Charmayne Ellis, a successful banking executive who allows her impatience and insecurity with her appearance to alter her decision-making when it comes to Travis Moon. Travis is the polar opposite of Charmayne. However, the two still find themselves in a whirlwind romance.

This is the classic story of a woman settling and not listening to her inner spirit. Charmayne, being an active church member, deals with issues of spirituality and desperation in this novel. Supporting characters Travis, Lynette, First Lady Jenkins, Dr. King, Dayna and Charmayne's mother, offer readers a glimpse into and will cause them to evaluate how the people in Charmayne's life actions may have directly, or indirectly, influenced Charmayne's decisions. Pressure from friends to hurry and marry, to familial strains and being deceived, Charmayne grapples with relying on her faith for all the answers she needs.

This book did begin at a slower pace than my preference but midway through I became thoroughly engaged in Charmayne's story, yearning to know how she would rise again or even if she would. There are a lot of good lessons in this selection and I recommend this book to all women who feel like they have waited long enough. Patience is a virtue. You definitely do not want to go farther than you mean to or stay longer than you want to when it's something or someone not good for you.



For more on Tiffany Warren, click here.

Book Review: Watch Your Back by Lisa Watson

Review by Tavares S. Carney

Amazon Rating: 4

Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer

This is a story of money, power, love, trust, family and friends. Author, Lisa Watson, weaves a tale of deception from the very outset of the novel. The Mitchell family is loaded and it seems that more than one person is out to harm the heir to the Mitchell fortune. Through several events, Devon, the only male heir to the Mitchell fortune, will learn just who he can trust. Will Devon allow pains of the past to stop him from having a future?

After a tragic event, Devon leaves town and leads a life not his norm. In a town where he thought he could escape the pain of this tragic event, Devon encounters more drama than a little bit in new love interest, Jayde Seaton. As Devon tries to rid himself of guilt he has carried for a while, he is on a mission to figure out strange happenings around him. An emotional wreck, will Devon find new and lasting love amidst all the turmoil surrounding him?

Supporting characters, Candace, Devon's parents, Sterling and Avalon Mitchell, Uncle Henry and Xavier, offer readers good subplots that add to the main storyline. This selection is a good offering from Ms. Watson. The book did start a little slow for me but after the storyline accelerated, I did become more engaged, wanting to know how things panned out. Overall, it was a good read.



Click here for more on author, Lisa Watson.

Book Review: Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr.

Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr.
Review by Tavares S. Carney
Amazon rating: 5 stars
Before I Forget by Leonard Pitts, Jr. is a story about men, their relationships with each other, themselves and their sons, as well as how their past relationships affect their present relationships. This is a novel about James Moses Johnson II, a once famed crooner whose diminishing fame, along with a recent medical diagnosis that threatens his very livelihood, stabs at his ego. Now, James Moses Johnson II sets out on a journey to give much warranted attention to his own son, Trey, as well as his own father. Each of the men, in their own way, have faced or are facing life's challenges that have affected their relationships with each other. Pitts offers dramatic underlying subplots that add steam to the story and also helps readers understand the connection, or lack thereof, between each father and son pair. It is through the main character's recent diagnosis that the emphasis of the story turns to father and son relationships, and hopes of forgiveness and a better life for the future Johnson lineage emerge.

I liked how this story flowed and the awareness brought to the challenges people face as they age and the emotional turmoil a medical diagnosis can bring, not only to the individual but to their family and friends as well.

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTER by Maya Angelou

BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTER
By Maya Angelou

'A woman's heart should be so hidden in Christ
That a man should have to seek Him first to find her.'

When I say.... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting 'I'm clean living,'
I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...
I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say..... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow!

TODAY IS BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN SISTERS DAY - TAG; YOU'RE IT!
I'm supposed to send this to BEAUTIFUL WOMEN, and you are one!!! If you share this with other women, you will boost another woman's self esteem, And she will know that you care about her.

Feature Book and Author: Sins of the Father by Angela Benson

Successful media mogul Abraham Martin has great wealth, an elegant wife, Saralyn, and a rebellious son, Isaac. He also has a secret: a second family that no one knows about. Now, after thirty years—driven by the urging of his long dormant conscience—Abraham is determined to do the right thing by finally bringing his illegitimate children into the light…and into the family fold.
But beautiful, manipulative Saralyn will never accept the proof of her husband’s indiscretions. Isaac the heir, shaken by his father’s revelations, will fight mercilessly when his world is threatened, and may lose everything that matters as a result. And while Abraham’s forgotten daughter Deborah is open to the undreamed-of possibilities suddenly awaiting her, son Michael cannot forgive the man who cruelly abandoned them to near poverty. And he’s driven by only one desire: revenge!

Angela Benson’s Sins of the Father is a powerful story of a house bitterly divided—a rich, multilayered family saga of betrayal and redemption, rage and compassion, faith, forgiveness, and ultimately, of love.

Meet Angela Benson

Award-winning author, Angela Benson, has published many works including The Amen Sisters and Up Pops the Devil, published by HarperCollins (Avon A) in August 2008.

Angela's twelfth novel, Sins of the Father (Avon A), hits bookstores in September 2009.

Angela has a diverse education and work history. She majored in mathematics at Spelman College and Industrial Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), and worked for fifteen years as an engineer in the telecommunications industry. She holds Masters degrees in operations research and human resources development. Her most recent degree is a doctorate in instructional technology from the University of Georgia. Dr. Benson is now an associate professor of educational technology at The University of Alabama.

Follow the blog tour at http://bitly.com/SinsoftheFather.

Be sure to check back for my review!

For more on Angela Benson, please visit AngelaBenson.com.

Venus and Serena Williams join Miami Dolphins as Limited Partners

Stephen M. Ross, Owner and Managing General Partner of the Miami Dolphins, today announced that Venus and Serena Williams, who have 18 Grand Slam singles titles combined and are residents of Palm Beach Gardens, are joining the organization as limited partners of the franchise.

The Williams sisters are the first female African-Americans to hold an ownership stake in a NFL franchise and one of the few African-Americans league-wide to hold this unique distinction.

“We are thrilled to have Venus and Serena join the Dolphins as limited partners,” said Ross. “They are among the most admired athletes in the world and have become global ambassadors for the game of tennis. Their addition to our ownership group further reflects our commitment to connect with aggressively and embrace the great diversity that makes South Florida a multicultural gem,” added Ross.

"I am honored to be a partner in the Miami Dolphins franchise. I admire Stephen Ross' vision for the team and I am thankful to him for allowing Serena and I to be part of Miami Dolphins history,” said Venus.

"I am so excited to be part of such a renowned organization. Having spent so much of my childhood in the area, being involved with a staple of Miami culture is a huge honor. We look forward to many championships and much success together with the Miami Dolphins,” said Serena.

The Williams sisters are among the top professional athletes in the world. Between them, they have 18 Grand Slam singles titles, nine Grand Slam doubles titles, 62 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour titles and three Olympic gold medals. They have been credited with raising the profile of their sport and with bringing the women’s tennis game to a whole new level of power, athleticism and popularity. In addition, they are accomplished businesswomen.

Serena, currently ranked second in the world, has 11 Grand Slam singles titles, including her third Wimbledon title this past July, 28 Tour titles and two Olympic gold medals. She is a four-time ESPY Award winner, and in 2002 was named “Female Athlete of the Year” by the AP and one of People Magazine’s “25 Most Intriguing People.” Serena has her own accessories and clothing line, ANERES, and skin care line, MISSION Skin, which she co-founded. Her book, “On The Line” comes out September 1st.

Venus, currently ranked third in the world, has seven Grand Slam titles and 34 Tour titles. She now joins Marina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as the only ladies in the open era to have won five or more Wimbledon Championships. Venus is also a three-time Olympic gold medalist. She is the founding and global ambassador for the UNESCO/Tour partnership for Gender Equality, which raises awareness for gender equality issues and creates leadership opportunities for women and girls through programs in Camaroon, Liberia, China, Jordan, the Dominican Republic and the United States. In 2007, Venus launched a line of clothes named Eleven. She also owns an interior design company, V Starr Interiors.