Slideshow: Butt-kicking women of color on big screen
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Rihanna in ‘Battleship’
To coincide with the release of Rihanna’s new action film Battleship, theGrio has compiled a list of our favorite bada** big screen females. From the blaxploitation starlets Pam Grier and the late Tamara Dobson, to 80s icons Grace Jones and Tina Turner and finally we wind up with more modern personalities. Check out the slideshow before to see if your favorite made the list.
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Beyoncé in Obsessed
In this campy Fatal Attraction-style thriller, the pop star shows she’s not afraid to literally fight for her man.
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Queen Latifah in Set It Off
Before she graduated to light comedies and musicals, Latifah played a bada** bank robber in this hood classic.
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Vivica A. Fox in Kill Bill Vol. 1
Although her screen time was limited, Fox was unforgettable as a knife-wielding assassin in the first part of Quentin Tarrantino’s epic.
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Halle Berry in Die Another Day
The Oscar winner was not your average Bond girl in this blockbuster. As the feisty Jinx, she nearly stole the show from 007.
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Tina Turner in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
The soul music legend made a rare big screen appearance as the fearsome Aunty Entity in the final Mad Max film. She rules over Bartertown and makes the ‘two men enter, one man leaves’ rules of Thunderdome.
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Rosario Dawson in Sin City
This sexy star brought the comics to life as a gun toting prostitute in this offbeat noir based on a celebrated series of graphic novels by Frank Miller.
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Pam Grier in Coffy
The iconic blaxploitation star has been kicking butt for years (from Foxy Brown to Jackie Brown), but this is the hit film that started it all.
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Jada Pinkett Smith in The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions
The Matrix sequels may have been a disappointment for fans of the original, but Jada made an undeniably cool impression as the resourceful Niobe.
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Grace Jones in Conan the Destroyer
Avant garde pop star and ex-model Grace Jones made a splash in the 1980s as action hero — taking on the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger in this shot.
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Angela Bassett in Strange Days
After getting into tip-top shape for her Oscar-nominated role in What’s Love Got To Do With It_, Bassett’s ‘guns’ became legendary. She ably showed her action prowess in this sci-fi classic.
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Paula Patton in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
This sexy starlet teamed up with Tom Cruise’s masterspy Ethan Hunt in this franchise rebooting megahit.
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Tamara Dobson in Cleopatra Jones
Although not as well known as Pam Grier, Dobson was equally tough as this fashionista crime fighter from the 1970s.
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Zoe Saldana in Colombiana
This waif-like actress showed she could play tough too in this revenge thriller, which hit theaters last year.
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Eartha Kitt in Batman
Ok, so the late Kitt never actually played Catwoman on the big screen but she was so purrfect in the role we had to include her anyway.
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Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/slideshow-butt-kicking-women-of-color-on-big-screen.php
Bayard Rustin: Black Americans can’t ignore openly gay icon’s contribution to civil rights movement
President Obama’s announcement that he supports gay marriage has provoked a spirited debate about whether or not African-Americans will continue to support him this November. Some black clergy have openly denounced President Obama’s position. Maryland State Delegate and Baptist minister Emmett Burns has publicly gone on record declaring that Obama will lose his re-election bid, even accusing the president of turning his back on his black constituency.
On the other hand, Rev. Otis Moss, III, of Trinity Baptist Church in Chicago, the Obamas’ former church once headed by the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, wrote in an open letter in support of the president, saying, “There is no doubt people who are same-gender-loving who [sic] occupy prominent places in the body of Christ.”
In the midst of this contentious debate within the black community some have either ignored or forgotten the role some openly gay Americans played in fighting for the civil rights of all Americans regardless of race or sexual orientation. Most notable among them is Bayard Rustin.
A principal organizer of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Bayard Rustin, who had worked with the original March in 1941, was a constant and steady force during the influential civil rights activities of the early 20th century. He was also openly gay. Yet neither Martin Luther King, Jr. nor A. Philip Randolph, with whom he worked intimately, voiced any known concern about his sexuality.
It is even been reported that until Rustin reached out to Dr. King in the early stages of the pivotal Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. King was not completely committed to nonviolent direct action. Armed men guarded his home and he, himself, reportedly owned a handgun. A veteran civil rights and human activist as well as pacifist, Rustin schooled Dr. King in the tactics of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, having studied it himself with those who worked closely with Gandhi in 1948 at a conference in India organized prior to Gandhi’s assassination.
Prior to Rustin’s important role as a key adviser to Dr. King, he had worked extremely closely with A. Philip Randolph, who is credited with introducing him to Gandhi’s philosophy and its usefulness in the struggle for civil rights in the United States. Rustin was also a pivotal figure in the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the well-known peace organization, and helped guide the founding of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). In fact, he was a key organizer for the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947, which inspired the more well-known Freedom Rides of the 1960s.
Rustin, who walked the walk, took part in those rides, personally challenging segregated bus transportation. Prior to that formal action, Rustin had refused to sit in segregated bus seating in 1942 and accepted a severe beating in Nashville by four cops. His refusal to resist was so extraordinary that the assistant district attorney released him uncharged.
Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/bayard-rustin-black-americans-cant-ignore-openly-gay-icons-contribution-to-civil-rights-movement.php
Yvette Wilson, ex-’Moesha’ star, fights for her life against cervical cancer
NEWS ONE Comedienne and star of popular sitcom ’90s show “Moesha” Yvette Wilson, is determined to survive the battle of her life. Wilson, who played “Andell Wilkerson” on the hit starring Brandy, has Stage 4 cervical cancer and is in dire need of funds in order to pay her mounting medical bills.
Wilson, who also co-starred in such memorable films such as “House Party 2,” “House Party 3,” and “Friday,” is not only battling cancer but has also been plagued with kidney problems. Since Wilson’s kidneys are failing, she needs a kidney transplant as well.
Blacks have trouble clearing cervical cancer virus
Friend Jeffrey Pittle, a stage 4 cancer survivor himself, created a website for Wilson, so that folks can donate money that will not only help to cover her medical needs but also help with any transportation costs that are associated with her getting to various medical facilities.
Click here for the rest of the story.
Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/yvette-wilson-moesha-star-fights-for-her-life-against-cervical-cancer.php
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