Posted on Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Why Is Tootie & Regine (aka Kim Fields) on Season 8 of ‘The Real Housewives of Atlanta?!!!’

Hello World,

I’m not going to be a hypocrite…I do watch “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” every season…Yes, I look forward to the rollicking ratchetness that is RHOA…But it not something that I brag about…And now that the Queen of RHOA aka NeNe Leakes is gone, I had wondered if there was a reason to watch at all this season…But the producers have done it again!!! They have found a way to get my eyeballs back on the screen. Kim Fields aka Tootie from “The Facts of Life” aka Regine from “Living Single” has joined the cast of RHOA for its latest season, which will debut on premiering Sunday, November 8 at 8/7c. If you are a ’70s baby, you know Kim Fields! She was one of the few people I saw on television who looked like me when I was growing up in the ’80s! Remember how cute she was whirling around the campus of Eastland School on her roller skates with her pressed pig tails and wide grin? And then in the ’90s, she was the lovable, wannabe bougie princess from the ghetto Regine on “Living Single?” And remember when Kim Fields was Nathan’s love interest on the Boyz II Men video for “On Bended Knee?” Most recently, she was a producer and lead director of Tyler Perry’s “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne.” And these are just a few of her accomplishments! So with a résumé like that, what does Kim Fields need with the ratchet RHOA?!!!

Kim Fields is also a friend to my blog! I interviewed her back in 2011 as she was promoting her Christmas television special “Holiday Love.” If you haven’t read the interview, please read “Check out Kim Fields in her TV Christmas Special ‘Holiday Love’ Airing on Christmas Day!!!” I asked her about how she became a Christian in Hollywood at age 14 and about being one of the few black people on television at that time particularly as a child star. But although she is a friend to this blog, and it was privilege to interview her, I have to be honest and say that I’m not sure if this show is the right move for her. First of all, reality TV has a way a ripping apart lives…If you don’t believe me, read my blog post “Why Mary Mary May Need To Get Off Reality TV…My Open Letter to Erica & Tina Campbell.” In the blog post, I referenced a New York Post article “Scott’s suicide reveals tragic side of city’s glitzy scene” by Maureen Callahan in which she reported that, “over the franchise’s eight-year lifespan, 12 Real Housewives have filed for bankruptcy, one has been evicted on camera, several have battled substance-abuse issues, one couple has pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court, one husband has been indicted for fraud and identity theft, and one husband has committed suicide.” I’m not saying that these types of tragedies will happen to Kim Fields (who is happily married with two sons), but why would you take the chance? And as a Christian, I just don’t know how she is going to resist being pulled down by some of the attention-seeking antics of her cast mates. I’m not saying that Christians have to cloister themselves in the church never to interact with others but RHOA is a cesspool…

And finally, I’m somewhat disappointed that Kim Fields is not reppin’ for the sisters with locs anymore? When I met Kim Fields back in 2011, she had long, beautiful, blonde locs. And now from the promotional shots for season 8 of RHOA that I’ve seen, she is no longer wearing them. Before anyone gets nasty, I think how a woman wears her hair is a personal choice. However, the woman of RHOA are known for being pretty much “unbeweavable” if you get my point, and it would have been nice to see a woman rocking her natural hair on “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”…It makes me wonder if Kim Fields did that just for the show…If that is the case, that just may be the harbinger of hell of what is to come this season…But I will be watching…Will you?

Any thoughts?

Posted on Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Saying Good-bye: 2014 in Posts…

Hello World,

I absolutely love this time of the year: the few days after Christmas just before the dawn of a brand New Year…Maybe it’s because it’s winter or maybe it’s just in my head, but somehow the air feels crisp with excitement as the world prepares to hit biggest reset button of them all…Whatever has happened in a year – good or bad, the beginning of a New Year is an opportunity to continue to greater heights or leave pain in the past…It’s a time to reflect on all that has transpired in 365 days and wonder about what is to come…And that sentiment brings me the point of today’s blog post…If you mind, let’s take a tour of 2014 via my this blog…

January 2014 – I admitted that I do watch “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” (hiding behind my computer since you probably want to throw rocks at me 🙂 ) and was fascinated by the storyline about Mama Joyce and how she couldn’t stand that her daughter Kandi Burruss, former Xscape songstress and current song-writing millionaire was engaged Todd Tucker, a production manager. (They are now married!) I was so fascinated with the storyline that I interviewed Mama Joyce: “Mama Joyce Gets Us Straight…And Steps Back…And Keeps Stepping…(MY INTERVIEW).”

February 2014 – I celebrated my first Valentine’s Day as a married woman in my blog post “Lovapalooza: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Love on Valentine’s Day.” Also, if you live in Georgia, remember this was the second time in just a couple of weeks that we were snowed and iced in…and this particular snowstorm/ice storm happened to fall on Valentine’s Day week…

March 2014 – Although I am a reality television show fan, I pleaded with gospel duo Mary Mary to rethink their reality show in “Why Mary Mary May Need To Get Off Reality TV…My Open Letter to Erica & Tina Campbell” as their lives seem to have unraveled for all the world to see…

April 2014 – I shared that I FINALLY completed the rough draft of my first novel in “This Novel That I’m Writing…My Modified NaNoWriMo Challenge…”

May 2014– With my husband’s permission, I shared some of his testimony in “Delay is NOT denial…Celebrating My Hubby’s College Graduation!!!”

June 2014– Although the world lost “Phenomenal Woman,” Dr. Maya Angelou on May 28, I wrote about her in my June 1 blog post “Remembering The Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou…” The example of her life is a beacon that anything is possible for a black girl, a girl who once thought of herself as “a too-big Negro girl with nappy black hair, broad feet and a space between my teeth that would hold a No. 2 pencil” – her words…

July 2014 – I wrote the blog post “Young Pastors Vs. Old Churches…” that generated a great discussion…This post was inspired by this article “Young Pastor Voted Out By Veteran Members Of Historic Baptist Church In Philadelphia” by Cherri Gregg on CBS Philly’s website.

August 2014 – My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary as marrieds and I wrote about our journey together thus far in “7 Lessons Learned: Going From ‘Single Lady’ to ‘Smug Married.'” It was the third in series of three posts I wrote about being married for a year 🙂 To read my first post, go to “Couples’ Night – Going From ‘Single Lady’ to ‘Smug Married’”… and my second post was “Cooking & Cleaning Oh My! – Going From ‘Single Lady’ to ‘Smug Married.’”

September 2014 – During this month, I met newly minted Soror Suzan Johnson Cook, who is not only a former pastor and current author, she also served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Her book “A New Dating Attitude” made me know that I know that I know that I truly know my husband was and is God’s best for me…I wrote about our meeting in “Making Your Divine Appointment…”

October 2014 – I explored my fear of Ebola in my blog post “Seven Scriptures to Dispel F.E.A.R. About Ebola…”

November 2014 – I forced myself to separate Dr. Heathcliff “Cliff” Huxtable, America’s favorite dad, from Bill Cosby in “What Would Jesus Do About Bill Cosby?” I still don’t know what to do about these allegations…This ranks up there with finding out there is no Santa Claus and the chocolate factory in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” is not real…

December 2014 – Ever since I got engaged during the Christmas season two years ago, I see Christmas as a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and celebrate the beginning of my new life with my hubby…So I was especially elated to interview Malinda Williams, who starred in the movie “Marry Us For Christmas,” which premiered on UP. Check out “‘Watch ‘Marry Us For Christmas’ Tonight/My Interview With Malinda Williams.”

One last thing:

I’ve found the best way to bring in the New Year is in church where I will be tonight…And what better way to prepare for Watch Night Service and the whole year than to pray? Join Girlfriends Pray as they begin a Pray-A-Thon today at noon EST….Details below…

Any thoughts?

Posted on Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Why Mary Mary May Need To Get Off Reality TV…My Open Letter to Erica & Tina Campbell

Dear Mary Mary,

I’m a big fan of reality TV…In fact, earlier this year, I interviewed Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Mama Joyce about her increasingly volatile relationship with her daughter Kandi Burruss over her her fiance’ Todd Tucker, a production manager, whom Kandi met on the show…

I’m a big fan of Mary Mary, I interviewed the two of you at the Atlanta premiere of your reality show when the show debuted in March 2012. After watching the first show at the premiere, I was excited to see what was going to unfold…During that first episode, the two of you questioned aloud if y’all could balance two husbands, six (now seven children as Tina was pregnant then) a thriving career in the spotlight and capture it all on your new reality show…

Two years later, we all know the answer to that question is a straight up “No!” In the beginning of the show, the drama was rather benign for a reality show – drama with your manager Mitchell Solarek and your sister (their stylist Goo-Goo Atkins) over a wardrobe choice and mommy guilt over opting to perform at Macy’s Great Christmas Tree Lighting concert on Thanksgiving Day in Atlanta rather than spend the holiday with your families…But now in this season, we have learned that your husband (Tina Campbell’s husband Teddy) cheated on you. However, you take some of the responsibility for his transgression and are committed to making you marriage work…

In an interview with CNikky.com, you said, “I Tina assume full responsibility for the issues that I contributed to the relationship. I was controlling, talked too much. And you can never be heard over me because when I wanna talk I got the floor and ain’t nobody gonna get it from me until I give it up. Real talk. That was the way it was and I have to work on myself. You know what I mean? I was selfish. When we started having children it’s like, I forget that I have a responsibility as a wife.”

I applaud you Tina for making that poignant statement because as I am learning as a new wife (seven months to be exact), you have to take care of your man and you can’t be loud-talking your man all of the time and expect him to stay around…I know some of my liberated lonely ladies are gonna show out when they read this…And if in fact, you were criticized for taking some of the responsibility for her husband’s cheating…But any woman who has been married for any length of time knows the truth I’m speaking or writing in this case…

But based on what is going to unfold in this week’s episode of “Mary Mary,” it seems that Teddy may be owning up to “countless affairs!” SCREECH…Hold up cuz I need to get off the bus…There is a difference between cheating and being a downright philanderer…And we’re supposed to watch the televised unraveling of your marriage all in the name of entertainment? Not to mention the fact that we learn in this season that you fire your manager on the show…And now he is actually suing you, claiming he is owed wages and commission…You (Erica) is recording on your own…And most grievous of all is the passing of the your father Eddie Atkins from cancer…Yes, this all makes for riveting reality television but reality TV is a ravenous beast eager to devour all in its path…sound familiar Christians? For my non-believers, check out 1 Peter 5:8…

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Yes, reality TV is a kind of devil…In the fascinating and illuminating article, “Scott’s suicide reveals tragic side of city’s glitzy scene” in the New York Post, Maureen Callahan writes about the recent suicide of Mick Jaggers’s girlfriend L’Wren Scott who was also a stylist to the stars but seemingly had no one to turn to in her despair despite the glamorous life she seemed to lead…Callahan blamed reality TV for glorifying wealth when many reality TV stars are actually struggling financially and destroying the personal lives of its stars…

“Over the franchise’s eight-year lifespan, 12 Real Housewives have filed for bankruptcy, one has been evicted on camera, several have battled substance-abuse issues, one couple has pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court, one husband has been indicted for fraud and identity theft, and one husband has committed suicide.”

Those numbers speak for themselves…As I watched the most recent episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” it was nearly painful to watch the strained relationship between Attorney Phaedra Parks and her husband Apollo Nida…She seemed to be tolerating him just for the sake of the cameras and his passive-aggressive behavior was embarrassing…Since this show was filmed before it was revealed that he was indicted for fraud and identity theft, that may have been the reason for their obvious disdain for one another… Yes, I know that reality television can provide an awesome platform…Kandi Burruss has reportedly said RHOA has enabled her to broaden her financial empire…But at what cost? Bottom line: As Christians, we cannot do things like the world and expect different results…That principle is made clear in Romans 12:2…

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you.

I’m sure you have your personal relationship with God so I’m sure that God is leading you where you should go in your lives, but as a fellow Christian on the journey to heaven, I’m just sayin’….Right now, you have something to save, but only God knows what will happen in another season…In fact, Tia and Tamara ended their reality show after three seasons…

And if you were wondering, I will always be a fan because God has obviously given you a beautiful music minstry…But I would prefer to only see Mary Mary, the gospel duo, rather than “Mary Mary,” the reality television casualty….

In Christian Love With Church Hugs 🙂 ,

Jackie