Posted on Sunday, July 10, 2016

Check Out ReShonda Tate Billingsley’s Movie ‘The Secret She Kept’ TONIGHT & Book Signing TOMORROW!

Hello World,

First of all, my prayers and condolences are with the families of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and the Dallas police officers. Honestly, I’m still processing it all…More on that later…But if you’re home tonight and need a diversion, this is a pleasant option…

TV One is shedding light on mental health in the Black community during National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month with the premiere of its original movie, The Secret She Kept, this Sunday, July 10 at 7 p.m. ET (encore at 9 p.m. ET). Inspired by the best-selling novel of the same name by NAACP Image Award-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, TV One’s original feature film, The Secret She Kept, immerses viewers in the story of a prominent family that lets shame, confusion and misunderstandings about mental illness send them down a tragic path.

Kyla Pratt (Recovery Road, One on One, The Proud Family, Dr. Doolittle) stars as beautiful, high-powered attorney Tia Jiles, who has just married the man of her dreams, successful magazine executive Lance Kingston (Gavin Houston, The Haves and the Have Nots, Guiding Light), and is on the brink of launching a major political campaign when a pattern of erratic behavior uncovers her secret: she suffers from mental illness.

“So often, we trivialize that someone is just ‘crazy’ and we don’t recognize that mental illness is real and relevant. I wanted to show not only was this something that deserved our attention, but that we shouldn’t be ashamed to seek help. If our bodies are sick, we get help. I wanted to de-stigmatize the shame that often keeps us from seeking treatment when our minds are sick,” said Billingsley. “I am grateful The Secret She Kept has been turned into a movie. While the book did exceptionally well, the platform TV One provides will hopefully get more people talking about what so many people see as a dirty little secret.“

The Secret She Kept is an exploration of the impact of mental illness on families, which is far too often closeted in the African-American community and provides a thought- provoking and inspirational story which addresses how far to go to save a loved one when they’ve kept a dangerous secret for years. It’s a question facing Lance (Houston) whose recent marriage to Tia (Pratt) seemed to promise a bright future for both of them. But under the surface, a fierce and frightening storm was brewing. That’s because Tia never revealed to Lance what she and her family, especially her mother Virginia Scroggins Jiles played by Kellita Smith (Z Nation, The Bernie Mac Show, The First Family), have known since Tia was seventeen: she has an illness that takes over her mind, transforming her into a woman struggling with bi-polar and schizoaffective disorder both privately and publicly. Determined to end the cycle of secrecy, Lance, along with his sister Beverly Kingston (Vanessa A. Williams, Soul Food, Melrose Place), set out to convince Tia to resume her medication and enter treatment.

reshonda Viewers are encouraged to participate in a nationwide Twitter Party with Billingsley during the movie’s premiere on TONIGHT July 10, 7-9 p.m. ET using the hashtag #SecretSheKept.

The Bebe Moore Campbell National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month (July) was announced in May 2008 by the U.S. House of Representatives to enhance public awareness of mental illness and mental illness among minorities. The resolution was sponsored by Rep. Albert Wynn (D-MD) and cosponsored by a large bipartisan group, to also improve access to mental health treatment and s ervic es , and pro mo te public awarenes s o f mental illness. More information is available on the National Alliance of Mental Illness website.

Below is the trailer for the movie…

AND

If you’re in Atlanta, join ReShonda on the 3rd stop of her The Perfect Mistress/RTBWrites Book Tour! She will be at the East Point Branch of the Atlanta-Fulton County Library System, 2757 Main Street, East Point, GA 30344 (404-762-4842) from 6:30pm – 8:00pm on Monday, July 11, 2016!

book signing

Any thoughts?

Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Mama Se, Mama Sa, Mama Coosa: ‘Born Again Virgin’ Season 2 Episode 5 Recap…(Premiere Pics!!!)

Hello World,

After a brief hiatus during January, “Born Again Virgin” is back with new episodes! And in this episode, we get to meet Jenna’s mama! It has been said if you want to know a woman’s future, meet her mama! Jenna’s mama is cuckoo crazy – which explains why Jenna is on the cuckoo for cocoa puffs spectrum herself. And that is why I decided to name this post “Mama Se, Mama Sa, Mama Coosa!” Remember Michael Jackson’s song “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin?” He’s all jammin’ and then he breaks out into “Mama Se, Mama Sa, Mama Coosa,” and you’re like, “Whut? Is that his prayer language? Where did that come from?”

Well, when we first see Monica, Jenna’s mama, she wanna be starting somethin’ with the doorman of Jenna’s building. She basically cusses the man out for asking to carry her bags, which Jenna gets to see as Donovan is showing her a video of the random crazy woman downstairs in the lobby…Unfortunately, that’s no arbitrary crazy woman, that’s Monica, Jenna’s “Mama Se, Mama Sa, Mama Coosa!”

Just when Jenna thinks she is going to have a weekend free of writing deadlines, all the way from Colorado here come Monica, who announces she is dying…(I’ll get back to that in just a sec…So as a writer, I LIVE for weekends when I don’t have any pending writing deadlines…but I digress….) The relationship between Monica and Jenna reminds me of the relationship between the free-spirited Freddie and her equally free-spirited mother Joni from “A Different World.” Like Freddie, Jenna is biracial with a white mama and a black father. And the two also have very similar qualities. Monica refers to Jenna as the “ex-whore who is now celibate,” but Jenna comes back with,”the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree!” Monica precedes to praise Tara for being Tara and Jenna checks her mama again, reminding her that Tara is the product of a two-parent household. Rather than participate in the Monica v. Jenna madness, Tara and Kelly sequester themselves to Donovan’s apartment to “help” him prepare for a trial. And speaking of two parents, Jenna then calls her father, who is glad his baby mama who he is divorced from is not bugging him for once. Jenna asks her father about her mother’s health to which he responds, “She’s not dying. She’s dramatic. She’s menopausal.”

Yes, Monica believes that menopause is synonymous with death. Now that Jenna knows the real reason her mama is cutting up, she tries to get her to see the positive side of menopause – “Hooray. No more periods.” Monica doesn’t quite buy into Jenna’s spin on menopause, but the two do make up – crazy recognizes crazy…

Also below are a few pics from the recent red carpet premiere for TV One’s new shows “Here We Go Again” and “The Next :15” and the season 2 return of “Born Again Virgin.”

From left to right: D’Angela Proctor, Sr. Vice President of Original Programming and Production for TV One; Ranada Shepard, Creator of Born Again Virgin; Danielle Nicolet, who portrays Jenna and Eva Marcille, who portrays Tara

Danielle Nicolet & Eva Marcille

Ranada Shepard, Danielle Nicolet & Eva Marcille on stage…

Any thoughts?

Posted on Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Future Shock: ‘Born Again Virgin’ Season 2 Episode 1 Recap (It’s BACK!!!)

Hello World,

“Born Again Virgin” AND my recaps are back!!! (Both are reasons to celebrate in my opinion 🙂 ) This episode is called “Home Sweet Old Folks Home” as Jenna, Kelly and Tara visit a senior center to help Kelly’s Aunt Maxine, who is turning 100, celebrate her milestone birthday. However, I also think this episode could be called “Future Shock” because the ladies meet women who could be older versions of themselves and it shocks them into taking action! The first shock of the visit happens when Kelly discovers that Rick’s mother is working there. For those who may not know or remember, Rick is Kelly’s secret sensation. She loves him but decides she has to break off their relationship because Rick lives with his mother and owes $200 to her. Yes, he’s that dude: the boy who hasn’t quite figured out how to become a man.

While Kelly sets up the party for her favorite aunt in a community room called the Boom Boom room (although Rick’s mother says the room’s name is a misnomer since the seniors prefer sneaking to a stairwell to have sex. Yes…apparently, sex still happens in senior centers!!!), Tara wanders off into another room where she sees Gigi Halston, an actress who lives at the senior center. Tara recognizes Ms. Gigi from a laxative commercial and is intrigued as the advanced age actress is entertaining some of the seniors with her singing.

Jenna encounters a woman named Eloise who is reading Zora Neale Huston’s classic “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Eloise, who is inspired by Teacake and Janie’s love, starts to tell her own love story to Jenna, who is wondering when her love will come along. (Earlier in the episode, she reveals she is looking for a man who has the character of President Obama, the humor of Kevin Hart and the soul of Bruno Mars!) Ms. Eloise, who looks to be a stately senior, surprises Jenna when she reveals that the love of her life was her lover on the side! Ms. Eloise was an adulteress who had an affair with a plumber named David. It was a winding story as David had a jail stint.

Meanwhile back at Aunt Maxine’s party, Rick shows up to Kelly’s surprise. He brings a cross heirloom piece to the birthday girl and charms all of her friends. In his conversation with the seniors, he reveals that he actually has a job as a manager at a sub shop AND he has a classic car, a Trans Am. One of the more spirited seniors says she got pregnant in a Trans Am back in the day. Kelly is starting to see that if her life continues as it has been, she may end up alone in a senior center herself. She also realizes that Rick is becoming more responsible even if for the time being, he still lives with his mother. “Baby steps,” his mother says to her, to describe Rick’s progress. She sneaks Rick into the stairwell for some senior center action and decides she will give him a second chance.

As Kelly and Rick get reacquainted, Ms. Gigi, who has unabashedly appeared in 78 Blaxploitation films, challenges Tara to take charge of her career and asks if she can sing and dance. After Tara tells Ms. Gigi that singing and dancing are not a part of her repertoire, Ms. Gigi challenges her to perform a monologue. Ms. Gigi performs “Desdamona” from “Othello” while Tara takes her on with “The Message” from Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five! Hilarious! By the end of the impromptu senior center showcase, Tara realizes that she has a ways to go to be a true thespian like Ms. Gigi.

Jenna was about to hear the end of Ms. Eloise’s story when the ladies have to be leave the senior center in a hurry after Rick gets into a fight while playing dice with one of the seniors. Apparently, one of the seniors presses the panic button and Rick’s mother tells them they have to leave before they are reprimanded for Rick’s shenanigans. So days later, Jenna returns to the senior center to visit Ms. Eloise and find out what happened to Ms. Eloise and David. However, she is shocked to discover that Ms. Eloise has since made her transition, but Rick’s mother tells her that Ms. Eloise did leave something that may comfort Jenna as she grieves her loss. She brings out Ms. Eloise’s son David Jr., who is the love child of Ms. Eloise and David Sr. and is at the senior center to get this mother’s things. David Jr. offers to tell Jenna the end of the story over lunch…

It’s true that wisdom is best acquired by age, and if you want to peak into the future, a senior center is a good place to start looking.

Any thoughts?