Posted on Sunday, November 4, 2018

Bebe Winans, Angie Stone & More Join Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Hosting Election Eve Prayer Rally!

Hello World,

Can you believe it? There are only two months left in 2018! But if you’re still hoping, wishing and praying for something to change before the year is over as I am, God says in 2 Peter 3:8 that “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” In other words, He sees time differently than we do and anything can change in an instant. It’s hard work having faith sometimes, but it’s worth it in the end.

Speaking of time, last month I pretty much only focused on OWN “Greenleaf” recaps in October, but now that I’ve met a writing deadline, I will be posting about twice a week unless life happens. Y’all know how that is. And for my new subscribers who read my recap each week, I hope you like my other content as well 🙂

So all of that aside and on to the topic of today’s post. Unless you don’t watch TV at all, you probably know that Election Day is THIS Tuesday! And if you didn’t vote early, Tuesday is the day to vote! I’m not sure where you live, but where I live, we have some pretty big issues to address in Tuesday’s election! And I’m proud to say that the first black woman to be the nominee of a major party for governor, Stacey Abrams, who is also PK as I am, is on the ballot! I won’t tell you whom to vote for, but I do think it’s important to vote!

Tomorrow night, Ebenezer Baptist Church, the church of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., is hosting an Election Eve Prayer Rally at 7 p.m. My father, pastor emeritus of Central Christian Church in Atlanta, likes to use this quote by Alfred Lord Tennyson in his sermons about prayer: “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” I truly believe that, and if that quote is too “high post” for you, this quote will do: “Prayer changes things.” I don’t know who said that first, but it is true…

Among luminaries who will be there include: Bebe Winans (uncle of Deborah Joy Winans who portrays Charity on OWN’s “Greenleaf”), Angie Stone, Congressman John Lewis and the Rev. Dr. William Barber II. The church is located at 101 Jackson St NE, Atlanta, GA 30312, but if you cannot make it, check out the church’s website for the livestream.

Also, Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, wrote a piece “Here Are the Chilling Tricks We’ve Caught Georgia Using to Disqualify Voters” for The Washington Post about voting issues here in Georgia. Here is an excerpt below:

A young woman learned her name was no longer on the voter rolls in Georgia. Ironically, she discovered this while training as a canvasser for new voters. Since registering and casting her first ballot in 2008, she hadn’t returned to the polls, and under the new “use it or lose it” rule, the system purged her registration.

A dentist in Macon received a letter from the secretary of state, warning him that he was at risk of being labeled an “inactive voter” for changing addresses, not voting or not responding to election-related mail. None of that was true, he said: He’d participated in every Georgia election in the past 40 years and had lived in his home for 30.

To read the entire piece, go to washingtonpost.com.

So my final plea on this Sunday, please VOTE!

Happy Sunday!

Any thoughts?

Posted on Friday, May 2, 2014

“Where’s The Love” Premieres THIS Saturday on UP!!!

Hello World,

Lanman Rucker & Denise Boutte…still working on my red carpet photo skills…

Happy Friday 🙂

As I’m still a newlywed (almost 9 months to be exact 🙂 ), all things love and marriage are very much on my radar…That’s why I was blessed last night to be able to attend a preview event at Aurum Lounge for “Where’s The Love,” a romantic drama featuring two popular, married TV talk show hosts, played by Lamman Rucker (UP’s Sugar Mommas, “Meet the Browns”) and Denise Boutte (“Meet the Browns,” “Days of Our Lives”), who dispense relationship advice even as their marriage starts to crumble…

It is the one-year anniversary of the talk show Where’s The Love?, hosted by married relationship experts and doctors Sebastian (Lamman Rucker) and Ryan Reid (Denise Boutte). They are in their mid-30s, great looking and have a successful counseling practice complete with best-selling books and an Emmy®-nominated TV show. Ryan and Sebastian seem to have it all, but secretly their relationship is falling apart. They’ve been keeping up appearances to Sebastian’s sister Kai (Terri J. Vaughn) and her husband Rod (Darian “Big Tigger” Morgan), Ryan’s best friend Sidney (David Banner), their producer Paige (Nicole Eggert), Ryan’s editor Dale (Karon Joseph Riley), their patients, their fans and the public to save their lucrative careers – until one day when it all comes out. Now, Ryan and Sebastian have to decide whether their own marriage can be saved…

The ensemble cast includes Terri J. Vaughn (UP’s In the Meantime, “Meet the Browns”), Karon Joseph Riley (UP’s Marry Me For Christmas, “Necessary Roughness”), David Banner (Lee Daniel’s The Butler, Ride Along), V103 host Darian “Big Tigger” Morgan (“106 & Park,” “Rap City”), Ahmed Lucan (Khazana, “Homeland”), Shirley Strawberry (co-host of “The Steve Harvey Show,” Madea Goes to Jail), Nicole Eggert (“Baywatch,” Charles in Charge”), and LeToya Luckett (“Single Ladies,” “Treme”). Kandi Burruss (“The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” “Let’s Stay Together”), Tommy Ford (“Martin,” “Basketball Wife”) and singer-songwriter/record producer/actress Angie Stone (Ride Along, Scary Movie 5) guest star.

Trey Haley (The Man in 3B, Note To Self) directs the film from a script by Cas Sigers-Beedles (UP’s Sugar Mommas, Love Will Keep Us Together). Filmed in Atlanta, “Where’s The Love?” will premiere exclusively on UP on Saturday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Below are a few pics and impromptu interview snippets from the preview event…

Terri J. Vaughn gets my Cutest Red Carpet Appearance Award…At four months pregnant with her third child with hubby Karon Riley, she looked fabulous…In addition to acting, she and her business partner Cas Sigers-Beedles continue to make moves with their production company Nina Holiday Entertainment, she is an acting coach and mother…AND she is about about to shoot a new movie with her business partner in Trinidad while pregnant…Her secret to balancing it all: “I have an amazing husband, and he’s in the movie too!”

Some may know David Banner primarily from his rapping career, but he’s becoming a well-versed actor as well. “This is my 15th movie. I took a break from music. Sometimes you do stuff for so long, you have to recalibrate and remember why you are doing it in the first place.”

Shirley Strawberry, who is probably best known as the co-host of the “The Steve Harvey Morning Show” is also featured in the movie…She revealed that she was recruited to be on the show to help “balance” Steve…”He’s crazy but a lot of fun. It’s been fun and a blessing to work with him.”

Everyone remembers Tommy Ford from “Martin!” But since then, he has moved into directing and producing…Currently, he is directing a new film “Switching Lanes,” a story about race relations between two high schools students, one who is white and one who is black, running track…The movie is in post-production…

Ahmed Lucan portrays Ryan’s agent in the film….”It’s a blessing that Terri Vaughn gave me an opportunity to be in this film. She is my acting coach actually.”

David Banner’s selfie with the cast and others affiliated in the movie 🙂

Below is a snippet of the film….

Any thoughts?

Posted on Friday, February 17, 2012

Powerhouse Performers Partner in New GMC TV Film “A Cross to Bear!”

Hello World,

Terri J. Vaughn, Danielle Deadwyler & Tandria Potts, director of the film

On Wednesday night, I was blessed to attend a screening of the new GMC TV film “A Cross to Bear” at Midtown Arts Cinema. Based on an original screenplay written by Cas Sigers Beedles and Terri J. Vaughn (Remember Lovita Alizé Jenkins-Robinson from “The Steve Harvey Show” back in the day?), director-actor Kim Fields returns to the front of the camera in a heartwarming story of redemption.

I must admit I was expecting a kind of cheesy, melodramatic, fluffy film, but I was truly taken in by the film. And judging by the audience that I sat with, I was not the only one inspired. A woman behind me cried throughout the screening, and a young woman in front of me swayed and cooed at the tender love story that was a subplot in the film. The movie will air on GMC TV tomorrow (Feb. 18) at 7 p.m. EST with encore telecasts at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Tandria Potts and Kim Fields

“A Cross to Bear” tells the unflinching and inspiring story of Erica Moses, a would-be dancer with no family connections who finds herself fighting alcoholism and living on the streets with her newborn child after being left by her boyfriend. One ill-fated night, she takes refuge from the cold in an empty building with a handful of other homeless people and her life is shattered. Traumatized and now living at the home of Joan (who is portrayed by Fields), a former nurse who has dedicated her life to helping woman like Erica and other women in transition get back on their feet. As the cause of Erica’s personal hell is revealed, slowly, with the help of Joan’s unique brand of tough love and the friendship of Tina, a former crack baby who also lives in Joan’s house, and the guidance of other women who have found new beginnings at Joan’s House, Erica finds the will to live and learns the redemptive power of forgiveness.

I was able to speak to some of the actors in the film, many of whom will be making their television debut such as Danielle Deadwyler, whose stage credits include a performance in Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre productions of “for colored girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enough” and “The Colored Museum” under the direction of Jasmine Guy, portrayed Erica Moses. Deadwyler, who grew up in Capitol View Homes, attended Grady High School and graduated from Spelman College, identifed with Erica’s struggle to escape her circumstances and achieve her dreams. (And the film was shot in the A!)

“If you are steadfast, do the work, continuously, your dreams will manifest,” said Deadwyler.

A critical scene at the beginning of the film shows Erica as a child watching her mother, who seems to be an alcoholic, use her feminine wiles to secure the money and affection of a man despite the cost to her self-esteem and her child. Years later, Erica has not learned from her mother’s mistakes and finds herself in a similar precarious position.

When the film was originally conceived about six years ago, Vaughn was slated to portray Erica. However, once the film was backed by GMC TV after years of false starts and setbacks, Vaughn felt it would be best to be a producer on the film instead. “This film means a lot to me. I’m a huge advocate for creating projects for television that my nieces can see,” said Vaughn, whose husband Karon Riley is in the film. Vaughn’s producing partner Sigers Beedles was inspired to write this film based on her experiences volunteering in a homeless shelter. “I’m fascinated with people who are at the lowest of their low points and how they are able to come out of that because some don’t.”

“A Cross to Bear” also features performances by Malinda Williams (“The Wood,” “Soul Food”), Jackie Long (“ATL,” “Idlewild”) vocalists Angie Stone and Kenny Lattimore, and and Christian hip hop artist Lecrae Moore.