5/22/18 O&A NYC DIVA ALERT!: Janet Jackson Billboard Icon Award 2018 Performance

Janet Jackson graced the Billboard Music Awards stage to receive the prestigious Icon Award on Sunday in Las Vegas. Not only was the moment her first television performance in nine years, but it was also the first time she has performed as a mom. Continue reading

5/21/18 O&A NYC SONG OF THE DAY: Andrea Bocelli – Besame Mucho – Live From Lake Las Vegas Resort, USA / 2006

Music video by Andrea Bocelli performing Besame Mucho live from Lake Las Vegas Resort (2006). Continue reading

5/17/18 O&A NYC THROWBACK THURSDAY: Sir Mix-a-Lot- Baby Got Back

Baby Got Back“, also known as “I Like Big Butts“, the hit song written and recorded by rapper Sir Mix-a-Lot from his album Mack Daddy.  The song samples the 1986 Detroit techno single “Technicolor” by  Channel One. Continue reading

5/17/18 O&A NYC WILDIN OUT WEDNESDAY- ON THURSDAY: Spike Lee calls Trump, “That motherfucker” at Cannes Film Festival

Film director Spike Lee has lashed out at President Donald Trump calling him a ‘mother -fucker’ during an expletive-ridden rant at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. The 61-year-old director, who refused to call Trump by his name, lambasted the President for his response to last year’s violent white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Virginia. Continue reading

5/17/18 O&A NYC THE MORNING FUNNIES: Betty Boop- Snow White featuring Cab Calloway in St. James Infirmary Blue)

Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer with contributions from animator Grim Natwick among others. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop series of films which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in comic strips and mass merchandising. Continue reading

5/15/18 O&A NYC INSPIRATIONAL TUESDAY: Chadwick Boseman’s Howard University 2018 Commencement Speech

Howard University alumnus Chadwick Boseman provides words of inspiration to the Class of 2018 during Howard University’s 150th Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 12 in Washington, D.C. Continue reading

5/13/18 O&A NYC DANCE: Mother (Isadora Duncan c. 1923)

Loretta Thomas performs Mother featuring choreography by Isadora Duncan (c. 1923) with music by Alexander Scriabin. Duncan bore two children, both out of wedlock. The first, Deirdre Beatrice (born September 24, 1906), by theatre designer Gordon Craig and the second, Patrick Augustus (born May 1, 1910),by Paris Singer, one of the many sons of sewing machine magnate Isaac Singer. Both children drowned in the care of their nanny in 1913 when their runaway car went into the Seine River in Paris.

Mother (Isadora Duncan c. 1923)

In her autobiography, Duncan relates that she begged a young Italian stranger, the sculptor Romano Romanelli, to sleep with her because she was desperate for another baby. She became pregnant by him, and gave birth to a son on August 13, 1914; the infant died shortly after birth.

 

5/13/18 O&A NYC GOSPEL SUNDAY: Shirley Caesar- I Remember Mama

GOSPEL SUNDAY04-ShirleyCaesarAtProspectPark_V1_460x285

Shirley Ann Caesar-Williams, known professionally as Shirley Caesar is considered the First Lady of Gospel Music. The singer, songwriter and recording artist career has spanned over six decades. Caesar is a multi-award winning artist, with eleven Grammy Awards and seven Dove Awards to her credit. 

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