TYT Talks About Mike Wallace and the Passing of Hard-Hitting Journalism

As you probably know, legendary journalist Mike Wallace died last weekend at the age of 93. In the clip below, Cenk and Ana of The Young Turks talk about Wallace and how today's media fails to emulate the hard-hitting style of interviewing he used during his illustrious career.

Conspiracy Theorists Implicate the Obama Administration In Andrew Breitbart's Death

In the aftermath of the death of conservative activist Andrew Breitbart (who passed away on Thursday due to natural causes at the age of 43), conspiracy theorists believe the Obama administration is responsible. Come on... seriously?! Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian of the Young Turks give their thoughts on this nonsense.



25 People Who Think Obama Killed Breitbart

Teena Marie: The Vanilla Child

Soul singer Teena Marie was found dead at age 54 by her daughter the morning after Christmas. The official cause of death according to her manager Mike Gardner was a heart attack, although she had suffered a grand mal seizure a month prior to her death. I am writing this piece for a couple of reasons: 1) She was one of my all time favorite singers; and 2) She is the only Caucasian singer I know of who had to cross over to the pop charts, which makes her an anomaly of sorts. I had the pleasure of attending her concerts on several occasions and the crowd was always a sea of people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds. Her music brought all types of people together, if only for one night, making her an example of diversity and harmony.

Teena Marie was best known for the song "Lovergirl", which peaked at #4 on the Hot 100 Chart. She had numerous R&B hits, including #1 "Ooh La La La". She began her career in the early 1960's with an appearance on "The Beverly Hillbillies" credited as Tina Marie Brockert. At the age of 10 she sang at the wedding of entertainer Jerry Lewis's son. She was signed to Motown in 1976 at the age of 20, but her career did not take off until she was paired with singer/songwriter/producer Rick James on her debut album "Wild and Peaceful" in 1979. Motown realized that her voice and singing style would appeal to an African American audience, so they purposely did not include a photo of Marie on the album. Motown albums that follow included "Lady T", "Irons in the Fire", and "It Must Be Magic".

Marie remained at Motown until 1982, when she became enthralled in a bitter legal battle with the label, which resulted in what became known as the "Brockert Initiative". The initiative made it illegal for a record label to keep an artist under contract and not release new material on the artist. Artists Luther Vandross and The Mary Jane Girls benefited from this lawsuit because they were able to void their recording contracts. She signed with Epic Records and it was there that she released her biggest selling album to date, "Starchild". By the early 90's Marie found herself without a recording contract, so she recorded independently on her Sarai label.

After a long hiatus, Marie had a resurgence with her 2004 cd entitled "La Dona" and in 2005 she was nominated for a Grammy Award. Two more albums followed, including the acclaimed 2009 "Congo Square". She maintained a level of excellence in her performances that kept her in heavy demand. She was set to go on tour in January 2011 according to those close to her. Marie inspired many of today's female artist (Mary J. Blige, Faith Evans, Lauryn Hill, Lisa Stansfield) and she will be sadly missed by her family, friends, and fans. Listen to the clip below and you will understand why she was so special and adored by many. Rest In Peace Teena Marie (03/05/56 - 12/26/10).

Michael Jackson: An Icon of Diversity

Note: To commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson (who passed away on June 25, 2009), I am re-posting the following. This was originally posted on July 3, 2009

Although I wrote about Michael Jackson over at my pop culture blog on the day he died (which you can read by clicking here), I had been meaning to put together a separate post about MJ for Diversity Ink. For various reasons, I was unable to get one up until now.

The day after Michael's death, I was preparing for my radio show that night which was a tribute to him. As I was getting ready to head to the radio station, I was pondering Michael's place among the greats of popular music. To me, Michael is in that exclusive club of ultra-megastars (along with Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and The Beatles). The criteria I used for inclusion is: name recognition on a global level, influence on performing styles and fashion/pop culture (not only on other artists, but the general public), the power to create fan hysteria, and the ability to maintain all of these factors over a long period of time. There are others who come close to this status, but they aren't quite there in my opinion. As a sidebar, I think that Prince could have achieved ultra-megastar status if he wanted it; Madonna would probably sell her soul for entry into that club.

Even within the ultra-megastar club, Michael Jackson rises above the others in one regard: the ability to obliterate racial lines in a way that was unprecedented and has never been duplicated. Just to be clear, I am not saying that the appeal of Sinatra, Elvis, and The Beatles was strictly a "white thing" because I enjoy all of them as I am sure others do too who aren't white. Still, Michael Jackson's crossover appeal puts him in a class by himself.

There have been countless black artists who've had racially diverse fan bases (for example, James Brown, Aretha, and artists on the Motown roster). Having said that, the era's social climate dictated that there were certain boundaries that weren't to be crossed. If Suzie from the suburbs let it be known that she was madly in love with "The Godfather of Soul" after seeing his dazzling performance in Ski Party, I doubt that it would have went over well with her parents. Even though by the 1980s, race relations had improved to a point where it was possible for Michael Jackson to have the type of crossover appeal he had, there were likely non-black parents who weren't thrilled that their kids' bedroom walls were covered with images of "The Gloved One". Still, it was something about Michael Jackson that made it OK for people of all races to scream in delight at the very sight of him. Consider this... if New Edition had the massive crossover appeal of Michael Jackson, do you think Maurice Starr would have found it necessary to create New Kids On the Block?

Over the past week while pondering Michael Jackson's diverse appeal, I thought to myself, "How did he do it?" Although I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, I have a couple of theories. I feel that the grooming Michael received during his years at Motown helped lay the groundwork for his later solo success. I think he also appealed to the kid in us with his Peter Pan persona and ability to do things on stage that appeared magical. Whatever the reasons for Michael Jackson's global appeal, we will never see an artist achieve that level of fame again.

Below is one of my favorite Michael Jackson performances and one that really illustrates the title of this post. It's from one of two 30th anniversary concerts that Michael did at Madison Square Garden in 2001. These are the last shows he ever did.

Michael Jackson 30th Anniversary Billie Jean
Uploaded by Tandem93zoo - News videos hot off the press.

TCM Remembers Lena Horne

As a tribute to the legendary Lena Horne (who passed away on May 14th at the age of 92), Turner Classic Movies will be airing a 3 film salute starting at 8 pm EST on Friday, May 21st.

Making her film debut in the 1938 musical The Duke Is Tops, Lena became the first black performer to sign a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio when she joined MGM in the early 1940s. For the most part, Lena's film appearances during the 30s and 40s were in "specialty" roles in which she'd perform a song that wasn't essential to the film's plot. This allowed her appearances to be easily edited out when the movies aired in Southern states. This tactic is deftly illustrated during the outstanding 1998 documentary Melvin Van Peebles' Classified X, which explores the portrayal of blacks in American films throughout the 20th century. The two exceptions during this period where Lena had substantial film roles were Cabin In the Sky and Stormy Weather (which ironically was produced by one of MGM's rivals, 20th Century Fox).

Although Hollywood rarely made proper use of Lena Horne's talents, she was a trailblazer in the truest sense. Every black actress from Dorothy Dandridge to Gabourey Sidibe owes Ms. Horne a debt of gratitude.

Below is the lineup of Lena Horne films that TCM will air on Friday, May 21st:

8:00 PM ET The Duke is Tops

9:30 PM ET Cabin in the Sky

11:15 PM ET Panama Hattie



You can read TCM's article on the career of Lena Horne by visiting the following link:



TCM Remembers Lena Horne

Shortly after Lena's death, I was contacted by someone at Newsy.com who wanted to know if I'd be interested in sharing the following short video with my readers. The video is a tribute to Lena's career that showcases the media response to her death and her comments on racial identity. If you have problems watching the embedded video, please click here.

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

Edward (The Lion) Kennedy

Senator Teddy Kennedy passed away last night and the disenfranchised lost a hero and champion. His leadership, his vision, and his passion will never be forgotten. As we grieve, we must honor his memory and continue his fight for equality for all.

This is the cause of my life. It is a key reason that I defied my illness last summer to speak at the Democratic convention in Denver—to support Barack Obama, but also to make sure, as I said, "that we will break the old gridlock and guarantee that every American...will have decent, quality health care as a fundamental right and not just a privilege." For four decades I have carried this cause—from the floor of the United States Senate to every part of this country. It has never been merely a question of policy; it goes to the heart of my belief in a just society. Now the issue has more meaning for me—and more urgency—than ever before. But it's always been deeply personal, because the importance of health care has been a recurrent lesson throughout most of my 77 years.

— Ted Kennedy

Let's listen to his words at last year's Democrat Convention.