Michael Oher was born on May 28, 1986 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he negotiated a perilous paththrough the foster care system, experiencing periods of homelessness.  He eventually attended Briarcrest Christian School and met Sean and Leigh-Anne Tuohy, who became his adoptive parents. His inspirational story is the subject of Michael Lewis’ book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, which was adapted to the screen in 2009 as The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock in an Oscar-winning performance.

Oher currently lives in Maryland where he is an offensive lineman for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. After playing college football at the University of Mississippi for the Ole Miss Rebels, he was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

Following his first year in the league, he was named to both the Pro Football Weekly All-Rookie team and the USA Today All-Joe Team. He also earned NFL Rookie of the Month honors for December and recently completed a second successful season with the Ravens, making the playoffs.

Here, Michael talks about his new autobiography, I beat the odds.

Brooklyn Sudano is an ingénue with the beauty, pedigree and versatility which makes her one of Hollywood’s emerging stars to be reckoned with. Born in Los Angeles, she’s the daughter of disco diva Donna Summer and singer/songwriter Bruce Sudano.

She and her two sisters were raised by her protective parents far from the public eye. While Brooklyn was in her early teens, the family moved to Nashville, Tennessee, where she began to blossom creatively singing in a gospel choir, writing songs and appearing in all of her high school’s theater productions.

During the summer, she and her sisters would tour with their mother, performing as backup singers, dancing in stage productions, even doing some duets, often in some of the world’s largest venues. Not one to worry about getting her hands dirty, Brooklyn willingly pitched in to help with the crew behind-the-scenes before and after shows.

But in the Fall, she always turned her attention back to academics, excelling to the point where she was valedictorian of her graduating class. Though she was accepted to Brown, Duke and Georgetown Universities, in the end she decided to stay close to home and attended nearby Vanderbilt University, for what turned out to be a short stay.

Her passion for performing led her to the famed Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York, to study a full curriculum of method acting, dance, musical production, movement, stage, film and television. While in that program, Brooklyn was spotted by a booker from Ford Modeling Agency, who signed her on the spot.

She immediately landed major print ad campaigns and TV commercials for Clairol, Burger King, K-Mart and Clean & Clear. And she later made her television debut as Vanessa on ABC-TV’s hit show `"My Wife and Kids".  

When Newsweek contributing editor Ellis Cose released his ground-breaking book, The Rage of A Privileged Class: Why Are Middle-Class Blacks Angry, in 1993, it shocked many Americans to know that upwardly mobile African Americans felt frustrated, dissatisfied and well, outright angry with the system that had provided them with post graduate degrees, big houses and cars, and entrance into the middle class. Over fifteen years later, Cose believes that racial progress has led blacks away from anger toward a new attitude—optimism.  In his new book, The End of Anger: A New Generation’s Take on Race and Rage, Cose surmises that blacks, particularly those from the younger generation have shed some of their previous ideas about race, and replaced anger with optimism.  Reniqua Allen for UPTOWN Magazine recently talked to Cose to figure out how racial attitudes are changing in America.   

Actress Pam Grier is best known for her roles in blaxploitation films in the 70s is back with a memo regarding advocacy, feminism, life, love, sexuality, and independence. These messages are written down in an easy vernacular for fans.  Her memoir, My Life in Three Acts: Foxy, takes an intriguing look at Grier’s life and legacy.  During the summer of 2010 she did her U.S. book tour.  For Grier, it was her  “Big Hug Healing Tour.”

The African-American actress was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Pam Grier’s mother was a nurse, and her father was a Technical Sergeant in the United States Air Force. She has one sister and one brother. As a result of living in a military family, the Griers moved around a lot. The book opens up with Pam Grier talking about having a keen instinct regarding African-Americans and white people not communicating with each other in the sixties.

Kent Paul was born in the eastern Caribbean on the island of St. Lucia. He comes from a family of teachers and other professionals where education was valued. He attended Colleges in Texas as well as in St. Lucia. He now lives in the United States with his wife and three children. In his first book Making history with Crosswords and Prozac, he shares his journey from his island to the U.S. The book covers many topics: migration, the glass ceiling in the job market, racial discrimination, the insidious impact of psychological violence on an individual and his family, economic violence and iniquity, devastating deprivation (loss of property, income…) with its financial and social mobility difficulties, legal barriers, mental health problems (caused by the racial harassment in his work place), marital difficulties, etc. In his book, Paul is sending the message that it is fine to ask for help. The author demystifies what is related to mental health issues. Mainly, in his book Paul exposes the ordeal he went through in 2005 with other African-American colleagues at his work place. For years, he faced racial discrimination with a Toyota dealership in Gladstone (Oregon), the Thomason AutoGroup .

Kent Paul could easily be a bitter, angry black man given what he’s been through, but it is not the case. Making history is the true story of his first real encounter with racial hostility and his multi-million dollar courtroom battle. In 2006, the salesmen Kent Paul, Marcus Arnold, Carlos Barfield and Jahaeel Hardy filed a lawsuit against Asbury Automotive Group, which owned Thomason Toyota during their employment . The suit claimed that they lost car deals because they were black. Paul and the three other African-American men plaintiffs won the race discrimination lawsuit against Thomason AutoGroup. The verdict of a $19 million settlement was handed down by a federal jury in 2008. The jury awarded $1.9 million to Hardy and Paul for emotional distress and $2.75 million in punitive damages; $2.1 million to Arnold and Barfield for emotional distress and another $2.75 million in punitive damages. However, it is important to note that a final confidential settlement was done with the judge. Mr. Paul and the other plaintiffs are satisfied with the definitive compensation.

Through the metaphor of a crossword puzzle, one of Paul’s favourite hobbies, he philosophically reviews the events of his life. His journey takes him from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia to the U.S., into a huge car dealership lawsuit and eventually to victory and vindication with the jury verdict. Paul expressed to the media that many concerned American citizens care about the downward spiral race relations have taken, and felt the need to tell his story to inspire people to take bolder and wiser steps in dealing with this issue. Despite the financial and emotional toll the trial took on Paul and his family, he has become a charismatic and positive man – all with the help of crosswords and Prozac. 

Winner of the 2005 NAACP Image Award as the “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” for Ray, Kerry Washington is a versatile, talented and fearless actress who has built an impressive list of credits over the course of her relatively brief career. She has also garnered critical acclaim for recent roles in Mother and Child, The Last King of Scotland, The Dead Girl and Lakeview Terrace.  Kerry Washington made her feature film debut in Our Song in 2000, and has since co-starred in Fantastic Four and its sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer, I Think I Love My Wife, Little Man, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, She Hate Me, Against the Ropes, The Human Stain, and Save the Last Dance for which she received a "Teen Choice Award" for Best Breakout Performance.  She will soon be seen opposite Eddie Murphy in A Thousand Words and then in We the Peeples, an ensemble comedy featuring Craig Robinson, David Alan Grier, Tyler James Williams and S. Epatha Merkerson. She currently has two films in theaters, For Colored Girls and Night Catches Us.  Kerry is an active member on the Board of Directors for "The Creative Coalition", a group dedicated to raising awareness of First Amendment Rights and to the support of the arts in education. Plus, she’s a member of the "V-Counsel", a group of advisors to "V-Day", the global movement to end violence against women and girls (www.vday.org). As for endorsement deals, Washington is a spokesperson for both "L’Oreal Paris" and "Movado".  In addition, she co-directed and appeared in the music video for hip-hop artist Common's song, "I Want You", the fourth single off of his album Finding Forever.  She also appears in Maxwell's "Bad Habits" video. In 2009, Washington performed in The People Speak a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's "A People's History of the United States”.   Washington went on to earn a Presidential Arts Scholarship to attend The George Washington University, graduating in 1998. She also studied at Michael Howard Studios in New York City.  Here, Washington talks about her involvement in the movie For Colored Girls. The following interview was conducted in Fall 2010.

KW: Very well, thanks. My son said he came to see your lecture at Princeton University last semester. He’s a junior there now.

Kerry W.: Cool! Congratulations! That’s exciting.