Entertainment
Reel-ality TV Talk
By Marquesa LaDawn
NNPA Columnist
It was opening night for NeNe on Broadway and not a RHOA was in sight. Not surprised! Still, it looks like she had a ball! From the Gossip Department, the shell may finally get cracked open revealing the source of Nene’s pain, which makes it difficult for her to connect with others long term. But, we love our Nene! With her new show with Kim Zolciak, and her rumored big raise, she’s alright.
I can’t say the same about housewives husband Apollo Nida. He shared with Peter and Cynthia that Phaedra refuses to let his kids visit. Based on this week episode, she does have a lot of excuses.
Peter is not shade free this week. He purchased another business again without talking to his life partner, Cynthia. She expected him to put his energy into re-opening Bar One. Let’s face it, he’s an entrepreneur with ADD.
We had more good news this week, Ms. Kenya debuted her pilot that she plans to shop to TV networks. It was wedding themed and the parts they showed were pretty interesting. I just hope the rumors aren’t true about her not paying her actors. On another note, it was nice seeing the ladies get along, if only for one night. No shading, no insults, just glam and fun! I think they are getting us ready for the biggest housewife reunion on the planet.
One more thing, Mama Joyce finally apologized to Todd, Kandi’s husband. It wasn’t heartfelt, but still big for Mama Joyce. Looks like next week we will have a chance to get the full story via another Kandi spinoff premiering. I’m so happy Bravo got smart and realized her spinoffs only work when the family is involved, especially the explosive Mama Joyce. I will be tuning in!
Not sure when Nene and Kim’s show will debut hopefully not right away – we can only take Atlanta in doses…
I have to say, my housewives in NYC are killing it (RHONY). These women are well, very New York, meaning short patience mixed in with a sense of entitlement. Let’s start with Ms. Emotional Hurricane herself, Ramona, I know she’s going thru a hard time healing from the failure of a 25-year marriage. But let’s be honest, she still out there and giving it to us big time after Bethenny’s arrival. In this week’s episode she had a breakthough moment with Luann of all people. The woman who lives in denial, finally acknowledged her marriage and the pain it’s caused her. My heart melted for her in that brief moment.
I felt bad for new NY housewife Dorinda, who wasn’t invited since she’s in a relationship; but her boyfriend showed up and got interrogated. Dorinda was extremely rude to him this week for little things, but next week, she will blow a gasket, just watch. I’m not feeling Dorinda right now. She shows a major sense of entitlement. For example, assuming a Black man was an employee and a handicapped man was homeless. Really? She started off kinda boring but I can see, she’s got issues, which means great TV.
As the episode progressed, Romana’s behavior was being discussed, I loved how the ladies excused Romana’s behavior but B said – I don’t want to deal with her.
B is sooo bold. She shut down Heather from talking about Romana. Why?
“I refuse to let this scene be about Ramona.”
Heather was on WWHL later that evening with a fake smile pasted to her face, you could see the disdain she had for B and others. This is going to be a great season.
Over in Beverly Hills, I know it’s over, but they showed a special “Secrets Revealed” episode.
I love Lisa V’s style. I was not surprised to see her beautiful Rolls Royce, with fur in the back seat. She picked up Kyle and headed to the mansion of Camille Grammer. It was fun seeing the housewives play tennis in their fancy clothes with Chanel tennis rackets. Oh the life…
It wasn’t all roses. We finally see Kim Richards confronting Lisa Rinna about her mean text. OMG, Lisa could not get a word in edgewise; Kim shut her down and blamed everything on her. But, this scene is now haunting Kim, Why? Lisa said in the scene, eventually you will have to take responsibility for your actions. Her words rang true when Kim got arrested last weekend.
I have to say Kim was not the only one to provide shock in this episode, Lisa Rinna did as well by admitting to posing nude in Playboy. After seeing some of the housewives look at the picture and giggle up a storm, I had to see. OMG, she showed it, in her words.
I will miss you ladies until you return next season.
I have some bad news and good news related about RHONJ. My girl Teresa is getting out two months early. The bad news? They are losing their beautiful home through foreclosure. Still waiting to see if Joe and the kids get their own show. Obviously, they could use the money.
Marquesa LaDawn is a professional businesswoman who escapes the pressures of living in New York City by retreating into the real world of reality TV. Follow me on twitter @realityshowgirl and subscribe to her podcast at www.RealitytvGirl.com.
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Arts and Culture
In ‘Affrilachia: Testimonies,’ Puts Blacks in Appalacia on the Map
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez
An average oak tree is bigger around than two people together can reach.
That mighty tree starts out with an acorn the size of a nickel, ultimately growing to some 80 feet tall, with a canopy of a hundred feet or more across.
And like the new book, “Affrilachia” by Chris Aluka Berry (with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam), its roots spread wide and wider.
Affriclachia is a term a Kentucky poet coined in the 1990s referring to the Black communities in Appalachia who are similarly referred to as Affrilachians.
In 2016, “on a foggy Sunday morning in March,” Berry visited Affrilachia for the first time by going the Mount Zion AME Zion Church in Cullowhee, North Carolina. The congregation was tiny; just a handful of people were there that day, but a pair of siblings stood out to him.
According to Berry, Ann Rogers and Mae Louise Allen lived on opposite sides of town, and neither had a driver’s license. He surmised that church was the only time the elderly sisters were together then, but their devotion to one another was clear.
As the service ended, he asked Allen if he could visit her. Was she willing to talk about her life in the Appalachians, her parents, her town?
She was, and arrangements were made, but before Barry could get back to Cullowhee, he learned that Allen had died. Saddened, he wondered how many stories are lost each day in mountain communities where African Americans have lived for more than a century.
“I couldn’t make photographs of the past,” he says, “but I could document the people and places living now.”
In doing so he also offers photographs that he collected from people he met in ‘Affrilachia,’ in North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, at a rustic “camp” that was likely created by enslaved people, at churches, and in modest houses along highways.
The people he interviewed recalled family tales and community stories of support, hardship, and home.
Says coauthor Navies, “These images shout without making a sound.”
If it’s true what they say about a picture being worth 1,000 words, then “Affrilachia,” as packed with photos as it is, is worth a million.
With that in mind, there’s not a lot of narrative inside this book, just a few poems, a small number of very brief interviews, a handful of memories passed down, and some background stories from author Berry and his co-authors. The tales are interesting but scant.
For most readers, though, that lack of narrative isn’t going to matter much. The photographs are the reason why you’d have this book.
Here are pictures of life as it was 50 years or a century ago: group photos, pictures taken of proud moments, worn pews, and happy children. Some of the modern pictures may make you wonder why they’re included, but they set a tone and tell a tale.
This is the kind of book you’ll take off the shelf, and notice something different every time you do. “Affrilachia” doesn’t contain a lot of words, but it’s a good choice when it’s time to branch out in your reading.
“Affrilachia: Testimonies,” by Chris Aluka Berry with Kelly Elaine Navies and Maia A. Surdam
c.2024, University of Kentucky Press, $50.00.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of December 18 – 24, 2024
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Arts and Culture
Promise Marks Performs Songs of Etta James in One-Woman Show, “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley
“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.” Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”
Special to the Post
It was “A Sunday Kind of Love” at the Black Repertory Group Theater in Berkeley on Saturday night, Dec. 7. The one-woman musical based on the music of Etta James featured the multi-talented singer Promise Marks
Marks, who wrote and directed the musical, also owns PM Productions.
“The (show) is a fictional story about a character named Etta, aka Lady Peaches,” said Marks. “She falls in love with Johnny Rhythm, leader of the Rhythm Players Band and headliners of Madam G’s Glitta Lounge.”
Marks channeled the essence of Etta James, singing favorites such as “Sugar on the Floor” and “At Last.”
In between her soulful songs, Marks narrated impactful moments of the love story and journey of blues and forgiveness.
Marks sultry voice carried the audience back to an era that echoed with the power of Black music and a time of great change.
Marks said James shared love for the Black community by singing at gatherings during the Civil Rights Movement uplifting the people.
“She spoke to the movement, spoke to the people, and let her music speak for itself,” Marks said.
Backing the musical’s monologues, images and videos of Etta James are projected for the audience to view. While the production is fictional, Marks infused script with the unfairness and heartbreak James experienced while performing.
Marks performed gospel artist Donnie McClurkin’s “We Fall Down” as she narrated acts of reconciliation and forgiveness among the characters at Johnny Rhythm’s deathbed.
Marks, who regularly sings for the Miss America Pageant, was asked to perform as Etta James last year. “(At the event) a lady yelled out to me: ‘You’re Etta James!’ And then the audience went crazy. I said to myself, ‘I may have something here,’” she said.
Within 12 months, Marks created the musical production, which featured a dozen songs honoring “the great legacy of Etta James,” she said.
Marks says she was saddened to see how Etta James was often judged by the struggles in her life and wanted to offer attendees a more layered view.
“Etta’s life was so big. I want people to know that she was more than her drug addiction,” said Marks. “We can’t make that her legacy. Her catalog is too amazing. You can’t just be that and have the catalog that she (created). I don’t want the addiction to be the focus: I want her music, her element, her sassiness, and what she brought to be the focus – her woman-ness, that she was strong, and I wanted to honor that.”
Set Designer Nora Burnette says she created the set segments to mirror James’ life story. A set designer for BRG since 2016, she explained that her process of researching the scenario and the character serve as her inspiration for her design.
“I try to design a set as close to real life as possible so that the actress can deliver the performance sincerely,” said Burnette. “By creating the right setting, it helps the actors release the true essence of a character.”
The set brought the story to life and absolutely floored Marks. “Once Promise (Marks) saw the actual set, she understood my vision: ‘Wow, you get me. You get it,'” Marks told the designer.
Born Jamesetta Hawkins, Etta James, began her career in 1954 and gained fame with hits such “At Last” and “I’d Rather Go Blind.” She faced a number of personal problems, before making a musical comeback in the late 1980s with the album “Seven Year Itch.”
Co-producer and BRG Development Director, Sean Vaughn Scott, works with Overseer Production. According to producer Pamela Spikes, “Marks talent truly does Etta’s life story justice.”
Pam Jacobs of Hercules, a friend of Marks’ mom, Jackie Smith, said, Marks “was fabulous and sang all of those songs flawlessly.”
“I’m so proud of my daughter,” said Smith.
Marks, who has served as an instructor for BRG, will return on Feb. 21- 23 for an encore run of the musical.
“It’s an honor to be a part of the BRG (Black Repertory Group) family and continue our executive director Dr. Mona Vaughn Scott’s vision for the Black Repertory Group theater,” said Marks.
The Black Repertory Group Theatre is located at 3201 Adeline St., Berkeley, CA 94703. For information, visit: BlackRepertoryGroup.com
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