Kanye West - All Falls Down (2004)

Is that Gabrielle Union as a flight attendant or are my eyes fooling me?

Eric Maynor Beats Duke

Late March is the time of college basketball's annual March Madness, as the country becomes enthralled with upsets and bracket busters. In 2007 upstart VCU upended Duke in a classic game where Eric Maynor hit the deciding basket. Take a look below.

 

Sarah Jones Will Not Be Forgotten

Every year the Oscars host their In Memoriam section which showcases a montage of all the people within the film industry who've passed within the last year. Though she wasn't featured in that section, the fact that The Academy did not forget about Sarah Jones is a testament to the many people who made sure it was important that she was remembered.

Sarah Jones was a 27-year-old second camera assistant who was killed by an oncoming train while filming on the tracks for a movie entitled "Midnight Rider." Several other crew members were injured but she was the only fatality. Questions were raised as to whether producers of the film had the necessary permits to even be filming on the tracks. Considering what happened, I highly doubt it.

Sarah Jones' death brings up a complex issue of crew safety on set and wanting to prove yourself in the film industry. As a person starting out in the film industry, you are eager to prove yourself, even many times at the cost of your own safety, with the belief that your team would never put you in any immediate danger. Unfortunately for Sarah, her producers were more worried about shooting a scene (while ignoring the necessary rules and regulations in the process) than ensuring the safety of the crew. Now they have to explain to her family why their daughter is gone.

Spreading Awareness at Harvard

Earlier this month I came across a project at Harvard University called the "I, Too, Am Harvard," campaign. Using a series of photos, each participant holds up a whiteboard with some message detailing a particular phrase or question they've been asked as a student of color at Harvard. The people involved make it known just how much ignorance they routinely deal with in school from their peers. This project really is bringing awareness to what many students at Harvard (and I'm sure at other predominately white institutions) have had to put up with on a consistent basis. The project has been so successful that students of color at Oxford University have made a similar montage of messages as well. Take a look below.




http://itooamharvard.tumblr.com/

http://itooamoxford.tumblr.com/

Shad - Rose Garden (2010)

Terry Crews on Giving It Your All

"You've gotta go. And when it's time to go, go. And I took that whole thing into entertainment, where you don't know when your next opportunity is going to come. You can't say I'm gonna be here forever. Because there are guys who've said that. And they're not here anymore. You just gotta go. When you get your shot, you give it everything you have."

                                                                   - Terry Crews

From FastCompany

Where Does Lupita Go From Here?

"No matter where you're from, your dreams are valid."

On Sunday night my Twitter timeline was flooded with positive emotions and well wishing on behalf of Lupita Nyong'o who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Patsey in "12 Years A Slave." It wasn't the only award "12 Years" would win on the night however, as the film also won for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Lupita has come a long way in just a few short months. If you had asked anyone just last summer about who Lupita Nyong'o was, most people would probably give you a quizzical response. But then "12 Years A Slave" began premiering -- and winning -- at various film festivals picking up momentum into its eventual theatrical release in October. The film's director, Steve McQueen, and star, Chiwetel Ejiofor, weren't exactly household names prior to "12 Years A Slave," but they had worked on other projects in the past. "12 Years A Slave" introduced Lupita Nyong'o to world and the Oscars were just the crescendo to her months long coming out party.

Dorothy Dandridge Presents at The Oscars