We all know Jennifer Hudson.

Upon the cusp of her rise to a superstardom she earned, I celebrated with glee, remembering how, many years ago, some of us engaged in a campaign to get “the girl who was unfairly cut on American Idol, one of the three divas” to be cast as “Effie” in the film version of “Dreamgirls.” As we all know by now, Jennifer Hudson made history as the breakout star in a film that was filled with superstars, including Jamie Foxx and Beyonce. And on February 25, 2007, she won the Oscar in Los Angeles while her family members, including brother-in-law, William Balfour, celebrated at their Chicago home.

She must have been so elated about how her career was about to skyrocket in ways unimaginable!

That is why I, along with millions of others, sat in shock at hearing how her mother, brother and nephew had been callously murdered. It’s such unspeakable evil, on so many levels and for so many reasons.

So, when she emerged to sing the National Anthem for the Superbowl game on February 1, 2009, I held my breath as she took the stage. And when she finished, through tears and gasps for air, I penned this poem for her:

A Poem for Jennifer Hudson on Superbowl Sunday

You

Baptized me

in the Hudson River of Hope

Like New York’s plane crash survivors

You grabbed it and held on

To Audacity

You Have

Even more than Obama

And that’s a lot of Hope

Babygirl

You had me

At your first step

Really, when they pronounced your name

The tears came

And I saw you with my soul

When you took that deep breath

Or was that a sigh I saw in your eyes?

As you stepped upon the platform

And stole the game and the halftime show even before it came

You stood there

Just Singing

Back to your Mama

Like the millions of people watching

Were not there

Back to your brother

proving you were the prettiest one of the other

Back to your nephew

A sleeping lullaby

And that’s why I cried

So hard

It had to be so hard

To take that call

And make that first step

And take that deep breath

Switch that mic from your left

Yet you stood

Legs straight and upright

You proved

You were the flag that was still there, scarred, yet unchanged

You were the brave about which you sang

And you inspired me

You retired my excuses and fear

In two minutes

You healed us with your courage

And I want to thank you

Ms. Jennifer

For taking all of our prayers

And hopes

And dreams

For you

Soul-mixing

And singing

A most popular song

Like no one ever has before

Or ever will

When you sang

The Star Spangled Banner

Time stood still

and I . . .

am still . . .

catching my breath

You proved

It was a

Super

Sunday

after all

© Dr. Goddess February 1, 2009 All Rights Reserved

Please feel free to share this with whomever you would like. Professional publishers, please do not reproduce this poem without the explicit, written permission from Dr. Kimberly C. Ellis aka Dr. Goddess (drgoddessarts (at) gmail.com).

After I wrote this poem, I posted it on my Facebook Fan page and a lot of folks seemed to feel what I felt. I am grateful. I forgot that I published this poem last year on my blog, too.

When she sang, “You Pulled Me Through” at the Grammys and was hugged by Whitney Houston, it was yet another moving moment where we could see faith and strength, personified.

I don’t know how Jennifer made it. I admire her strength. My heart leapt with joy when I learned she was pregnant and engaged to David Otunga. This picture helped me see exactly how she made it through:

I love this picture of Jennifer and her newborn baby, David Jr.

Jennifer also lost a lot of weight (literally and figuratively) and is now the spokesperson for Weight Watchers. Her life has been such a lesson on faith and family.

Today is Thursday, May 10, 2012 and over ten hours and counting that the jury has been deliberating the fate of William Balfour, the 31 year old man accusing of slaughtering her family members. Jennifer Hudson has been sitting in on the trial everyday and gave tearful testimony as she recounted her experiences. She left the room or turned her head when the more gruesome photos of the autopsy were shown in the courtroom and sobbed when her ex-boyfriend provided his own tearful testimony. Perhaps, soon, the Hudson family will finally have some sense of closure for this tragedy. I am not sure what to think of the Balfour family but I am sure this has been a tragedy for them, as well. Who would want to think that their family member committed such unspeakable evil upon other human beings and even a child?

I glanced over at the #HudsonTrial hashtag on Twitter for updates on the case and the Chicago Sun Times and NBC Chicago seem to have the most accurate information, including the 911 call Julia Hudson made when she initially found her mother lying on the floor. There is no good ending here. Jennifer and the Hudson family know they will mourn for the rest of their lives. I just hope the joys of life come to outweigh the pain.

Stay strong, Jennifer and the Hudson Family. We are so sorry for your loss and we love you.

This weekend, I had the great honor of being invited to present at “Black Thought 2.0: New Media and the Future of Black Studies” at Duke University, hosted by the African and African American Studies Department, in the John Hope Franklin Center and curated by the inestimable Dr. Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan).

Deep, right?

Well, it got even deeper because the stellar array of panelists Dr. Neal curated was simply fabulous and an embarrassment of riches.

Prior to the conference, Dr. Neal and I (the Dr. Kimberly C. Ellis side) did an interview on NPR for “The State of Things,” discussing the State of Black Studies and what to expect from Black Thought 2.0. You can listen here while you visit Dr. Neal’s site.

I am still processing Black Thought 2.0 but, for now, here are the full array and collection of tweets from the afternoon panels, which included mine on From Jena to Tahrir: Online Activism in the Age of Social Media and then The Twitterati: Public Intellectuals in the Age of Social Media. The News Observer immediately published an article after our panel entitled, “Political Power of Social Media Extolled at Duke.”

The night before, myself, Moyaz B from Crunk Feminists Collective and Alexis Pauline devised the lovely scheme of singing a freedom song before our panel. We decided to sing Sweet Honey in the Rock’s (@SHoney73) “Ella’s Song,” (a song Bernice Johnson Reagan wrote in tribute to Ella Baker) which maintains:

We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest
We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest Until It Comes

Until the killing of Black men and Black mother’s sons
Is as important as the killing of White men and White mother’s sons

We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest
We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest Until It Comes

It was beautiful. Take a gander!

Along with @Moyazb and @AlexisPauline, I shared the panel with my Pittsburgh homeslizzle, @Jasiri_x and Dr. (@Salamishah) Tillet via Skype and it was moderated by former Duke Univ. grad and now Univ. of Missouri Assistant Professor, Treva Lindsey @DivaFeminist.

I’m @DrGoddess and I spoke about my relationship with social media and activism, starting from my protests at St. Paul’s Cathedral High School over Black History Month, to the All Eyes on Tulsa Campaign, to the Black Radical Congress, to the Raise Your Hand! No Casino on the Hill Campaign, to my engagement with popular culture from touring Dr. Goddess!: A One Woman Show to the casino battle, which led to Dr. Goddess Goes to Jail, a spoken word, musical comedy (unfortunately) based on a true story to my open letters to Chris Rock, Wendy Williams and the crowd favorite post on Antoine Dodson. Here’s the record of tweets (below) that you can read. Click here if you can’t see the tweets. You can watch it below or here at DukeLive on Ustream.

Thank you Dr. Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan), @JHFCenter, @DukeAAAS, @DukeBlkThought, Stacy-Nicole Robinson, Katherine and Laura for all of your hard work!

Black Thought 2.0 was curated by Dr. Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) via Duke University’s AAAS Program, the John Hope Franklin Center and More! It features @LeftOfBlack, @SCraigWatkins, @ProfBlmkelley, @SandyDarity, @ImaniPerry, @DrGoddess, @Jasiri_X and more!

I’ll be giving a presentation on Online Activism in the 21st Century with the homie, Jasiri X and others. We hope you will all tune in or review later!

I love the idea of Black Thought, love being a scholar of Africana Studies and a Social Media Guru. It’s Everything!

This Chirpstory shows the precursor to the conference and the tweets from S. Craig Watkins keynote:

Go Head With All of That!

As I say in one of my tweets, this is just two pots calling each other’s kettles black. And it’s embarrassing.

And, yeah, Toure, the story IS important for America and even moreso for Black America but, as usual, your ego and desire for attention are more important than #Justice4Trayvon

Remember Me? I'm Trayvon Martin.

You both need Yankee Stadium seats. Just shameful.

Read the Twitter exchange below, which includes links for the television antics:

Dear Wendy Williams,

I’m days late with this and, in the Twitter world, nearly a year late but the Goddess Sekhmet is seething and I have to let you know what is on her (i.e. my) mind.

Warrior Goddess Sekhmet h/t Sodahead.com

I just caught wind of what you said about Viola Davis wearing her hair natural on the red carpet for the Oscars and such (thanks to Madame Noire and MzPaparazzi for the photo!). Apparently, you thought she looked “like room 222″ (i.e. like a man) and did not like her style. So, you felt the need to open your ignorant, self-hating mouth and express yourself. Did you REALLY say that natural hair is “not formal?” I’m aware you spend most of your time putting other people down, Wendy. And I’m aware that the reason why you even have a career is because you trade on negativity, you spent much of your time trying to forcibly out gay members of the hip hop community with your consummate “How you doin’?” references and, of course, your greatest (and worst) hit, the one that gave you the crossover attention and acceptance you were looking for—your interview with Whitney Houston.

I saw you crying, Wendy, and I found your tears and your discussion largely inauthentic. I mean, I believed your tears; but I felt that you were crying more for yourself than for Whitney or her family. You thought you two would be chopping it up later on in life, eh? If you felt so bad about what happened with her and you could relate so well because you are a recovering cocaine / crack addict yourself, why not just apologize to Whitney Houston and her family members after you inked that contract for your new TV show? If you had any integrity, whatsoever, that is what you would have done. But you don’t, which leads me to your next shameful act—shading Viola Davis.

Is This You THEN, Wendy? Do you have any idea how beautiful you USED to be?

Is This You NOW, Wendy?!!

Are Those Real, Wendy??!!

How About Those, Wendy? Real?! And the Hair?

From Afar You Look "Okay," Wendy

Take a look in the mirror, Wendy. I mean, really. From your fake teeth to your fake breasts to your apparently liposuctioned belly to your hideous, tumbleweed horsehairhat that sits atop your head, what made you think you had even the inkling of space to speak negatively about Viola Davis on the red carpet for the Academy Awards? Or ever in life?

You've got to be Seen in Green!

I mean, really, there she is with her body, chiseled, glowing, bright, brown and beautiful. A smile that makes the sun jealous. A dress borne of the fabulousness of The Wiz. And hair. Hair just as beautiful and curly and fine and nappy and wonderful. Viola Davis was THE Emerald City, bejeweled and just as fine as can be. You were supposed to look upon her and be renewed, as Mari Evans would say. You should have seen her and felt your soul jump. I mean, so many other people did, why not you, Wendy?

I’ll tell you why… because you are a bastion of self-hatred, that’s why, and it shows itself in every way on you, physically, spiritually, emotionally. I’m rarely tuned into you but I have seen your show a few times and, according to those who watch more regularly, you don’t ever compliment a Black woman’s natural beauty. You are always fawning over some White woman. How very telling, Wendy. They say you are ageist, you are constantly body-shaming people and frequently have something negative to say about women, in particular.

Viola, Gorgeous!

You set folks back, Wendy. You should really be ashamed of yourself. YOU are just like that one or two family members that tells a Black women who JUST went natural something negative about her hair, trying to draw in her horizon and send her back to the depths of perm hell and financial instability. We’re not here for your self-hatred, Wendy.

If you didn’t like Viola Davis’s hair, you should have just complimented her flawless style and said nothing about her hair. Your silence should have been the minimal amount you could have done simply for being a Black woman growing up in a society that is constantly telling us we are not beautiful “enough,” our bodies are not thin “enough” and our hair is not long or shiny or straight “enough.” You know better. I’m not gonna let you front. I’m not gonna let you cook on that one.

I did call you a “stupid ass” on my Twitter page but I apologize for that because you are not stupid. I mean, you say stupid things (like “natural is not formal”) and you most certainly act like an ass, quite often; but when it’s all said and done, you’re not stupid. However, PERHAPS you are unaware of the damage you’ve done, so let me share with you:

Gorgeous Girls. All Natural.

1. Black GIRLS still feel very unpretty and uncomfortable about their hair because of the entire industry. I know you didn’t create this mess but you DO perpetuate it. As gorgeous as Beyonce and Tyra and so many other Sistas are, they are constantly sending bad messages about Black hair to Black girls and women because they are rarely seen with their natural, God-given hair. This needs to change. You know why? Because self-esteem matters. You know this, Wendy, as you are lacking so much of it. Tyra did give us a glimpse one day, remember?

After many years, here I am!

2. Black girls tend not to swim or participate in sports or physical education at school because of their hair. They’re missing out on all of the FUN they could be having, too!

Having Fun, Swimming!

Black women tend to do the same. This means they don’t get to release endorphins and get that euphoric feeling to deal with their daily stressors in life. It means the cortisol builds up in their bellies and they find themselves overweight. It leads to us having disproportionate amounts of diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease and more—and we die, Wendy. We die. Disproportionately. Were you unaware? Are you that ignorant, Wendy? You an accomplice, Wendy?

Whatchu Talmbout, Wendy?

Some of my favorite bloggers, like Erika Kendal from A Black Girl’s Guide to Weight Loss have addressed this issue, as has Afrobella, Black Girls Run and many, many more.

Black Girls Run Who Choose Health Over Hair!

Scholars have addressed this issue, specifically about Black girls and “minority women.” Did you know that less than 30% of us exercise enough due to issues around our hair?

"You getting in?" "Oh yeah, girl!" I'm not allowed to listen to Miss Wendy's Show!

Even the U.S. Surgeon General (a Black woman, by the way) has weighed-in on it, telling us not to let hair keep us from getting to the gym.

The culture that perpetuates our need to have hair a certain way and not to “sweat it out” (i.e. let it get nappy) is the type of negative attitude you perpetuated. What are you going to do, Wendy? You have perm juice and Mr. Ed shavings on your hands.

"Your hair is like Cheetos!" --- @ChescaLeigh

3. Black girls who decide to go natural years later in life, have to combat decades worth of negative talk (such as yours) and imagery. It takes a lot to “go natural,” as they say. The last thing a Sista needs is someone like you (or an ignorant family member) to hear some negative comment about themselves or, in turn, about Viola Davis when she hits the red carpet—as SOON as they decide to take a leap of faith to showcase their natural hair and just be more comfortable in their own skin. This was a journey for Viola and it’s a journey for many women. Had they listened to you and those who think like you, they may have never taken the leap. Thankfully, Viola Davis has a wonderful husband (named Julius) who not only supported her decision but encouraged it. He’s a man. He thought she looked like one thousand rays of sunshine!

The Emerald City

Kudos to him. Shame on you, Wendy!

Now, if you were that ignorant, now you know. And I’m certainly not the only one to say these things to you or your team over there. Get it together. You owe Black girls and women and any girl who struggles with not being the (white) standard of beauty an apology. You owe reparations, Wendy, so here’s what I want you to do:

1. APOLOGIZE to Viola Davis and anyone within earshot. Viola Davis did not and does not look like a man. I know women who are TOTALLY BALD and who are so BAD and BEAUTIFUL, they would put you to shame, Wendy.

WENDYYYY!!! Don't make my cheek bones slice you!

What, Wendy? My hair's shorter than my man's, so what do you mean?

Whatchu Say, Mrs. Williams?!

I'm White, Bald & Still Beautiful, Wendy. SMH.

TO. SHAME. So, you should apologize for using your bully pulpit to express your ignorant, self-hating opinion when you could have kept quiet or just said, “Wow, Viola Davis is brave for showcasing her natural hair.” Even that would have been okay. But that’s not you, is it?

"Ladies, you are beautiful in ANY style!"

2. SHOWCASE some gorgeous, natural hairstyles and stylists on your show. Help to heal and encourage millions of teens and women who watch your show. Nobody’s hating on your right to wear what you want; but the fact that you felt the need to be negative about a Black woman wearing her God-given hair and skin is just ridiculous. I’m so mad at you while I’m still writing this but I’m gonna give you a chance to redeem yourself.

3. STOP saying ANYTHING negative about a Black woman who showcases her natural beauty, unless it’s to further increase her natural beauty better. For example, that wig that Gabby was wearing during the Oscars? No, Ma’am. Feel free to address that and refer her to a natural hair stylist. Don’t tell a Sista to get plastic surgery (like you), don’t tell her to change her hair (like you) and don’t tell her to change anything that would require more than a change of clothes or healthy eating. As a Black woman on television, that’s the least you can do is NOT say anything negative, whether you like it or not.

There’s a HUGE #NaturalHair community on Twitter, on Facebook, in the Blogs and on YouTube. Find them, Wendy. They will list themselves here as well. Look up Noliwe Rooks. Watch Chris Rock’s documentary on “Good Hair.” It has its issues but you are so far gone, it will help you.

When you know better, you do better, and NOW, you know.

But if you ever, EVER come at a Sista wearing her natural hair as her natural self again, you will incur my and many other person’s wrath, so be careful, as I’m not a fan of your industry, anyway.

Now, apologize to Viola Davis and Whitney Houston’s family and have a nice day. Tweet me and let me know when you’re having “Natural Hair Day” on your show, mm-kay?

Alright then.

Signed,

Naturally Yours,

@DrGoddess

p.s. This Sista put. it. DOWN! Beautiful!

Awkward. And Black.

Like you, I love The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl and, like you, I love its creators, Issa Rae and Tracy Oliver, with Shea Davenport as Director of Photography, Editing, etc.

Out of the blue, I saw a random tweet that Issa Rae would be at Chatham University here in Pittsburgh and flew over to meet her. We’d been corresponding for quite some time, as I put a panel together on Black Women’s Comedy: Onstage, Onscreen and Online for SXSW that didn’t make it (boo!) but Issa didn’t think I lived in Pittsburgh and I didn’t even know she was coming.

Near Epic Fail, right? Had I known, I could have made sure there were plenty more people in the room; but that’s another story. We have to do better, college campuses, and Pittsburgh, in general.

So, I find her, she’s speaking, I slip in, ask some questions during the Q & A and then… somebody asks her to rap. She says she needs a beat. I volunteer to beatbox because, well, it’s one of my special skills.

Issa beckons me to come up (mind you, she doesn’t know I’m Dr. Goddess yet LOL); but before I move a muscle, a sista starts beatboxing hardcore from behind me. OOOOohhh, I fall right into the beat. Her name is Amber. We all cheer for her to get up onstage! She jumps onstage, beatboxes, and Issa Rae starts freestyling, which includes the lyrics, “B*tch, back it up!” We all die laughing because, as you know, Awkward Black Girl raps, angrily, for psychic relief.

Issa Rae, Dr. Goddess, Shea Davenport I'm wearing my Awkward Black Girl button! They are wearing the WordPress pins I gave them. Yes, we are proud nerds!

Once everything is over, we’re in the front lobby just talking and taking pictures… and it happens all over again, except, this time, Issa Rae has a surprise for ME! And here it is:

Long Live Issa! Thank you, Amber!

Issa Rae is even MORE beautiful and funny in person! I love her laugh! Thanks for coming to Pittsburgh, Issa! I will cherish your freestyle, always, homegirl! xoxo

So…

What do you say, family? Should Issa Rae be signed to Young Money? Should she be doing the Diddy Bop by now? Will Jay Z come for his girl? Should Questlove pick up his next Okayplayer?

Let a Sista know how you feel about Issa’s skills!

And for those who want to know, the next season is on its way!

New T-Shirts are also available for order. Help a Sista out!

Follow @awkwardblkgrl on Twitter and at awkwardblackgirl.com

Nice Band, Problematic Name

Simply put, #BlackTwitter doesn’t like the name of the band, “Lady Antebellum.” We’ve complained about it but with the advent of more teachers using slavery in the classroom with ignorant mathematical equations and racist meanderings, not to mention the GOP’s hideous attempts to rewrite history, it was time to fight back.

Don’t get us wrong. We actually tend to like the music of the band, Lady Antebellum, we just don’t like your name or the ways in which American pop culture and politics keeps trying to take us to pre-1865, ya dig? So, yeah…

Fresh off the shenanigans on Jaheim and Rihanna’s timelines, #ReparationBands were created for your listening pleasure.

Put on your headphones and enjoy! Special shoutout to the GOP!

Look at the People Behind Him (ht @FoxxFiles)

Honestly, all you have to know are three things:

The Place: Whitney Houston’s funeral

The Person: Jaheim

The Suit: Tailor Made

and

The Response: #BlackTwitter

There wasn’t even a hashtag created, it was all written to or about @OfficialJaheim

Come on, Jaheim...

What we learned: Not only does he have bad fashion sense and lacks decorum but, it’s official, he is nearly illiterate and tosses out homophobic insults at any male critic.

Bless his heart, the devil made him do it. We’re pulling for you, Jaheim!

*puts in new book order for immediately delivery*

UPDATE: Jaheim crashed the wedding and took pics in the sanctuary. @steenfox has the story, more pics and video on her Tumblr!

His Arms Are Too Short to Box with Goddesses and the Men Who Love Them

Once upon a time, a 45 year old “dirty rapper” named Too Short was being interviewed by XXL Magazine and asked to give advice to boys on getting a girl (to put it mildly), particularly after their tired attempts at “trying to get kisses” from them. So, he encouraged boys to push a girl up against the wall, put saliva on his finger and his hand down her pants and to “watch what happens.”

Alright.

So, there goes the wonderful first kiss, first touch, first song to capture the moment like in Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon in the Sky” where he sings, “If allowed, may I touch your hand? And if pleased, may I, once again? So that you, too, will understand, there’s a ribbon in the sky for our love…,”and there goes the first love scene from “Love and Basketball,”right along with an outwardly stated girls’ right to consent to being pushed against the way or any type of treatment, as well as the criminalizing of young boys. It may look something like this:

What Are Men Teaching Our Boys?

In this scenario, Too Short comes off as that creepy uncle that only tells you half of the information about sexual activity, just before you wind up expecting a child, flaming from an STD or in jail somewhere. He could have just said, “XXL, y’all know I’m a dirty rapper. I have ZERO place telling children anything at all. My music is for freaky grown folks who may like a little sadomasochism but, let the kids be great…” but no, that would be too much like right.

So, what did XXL Magazine do? They posted the video, of course. Vanessa Satten, the editor, claims she did not see the video, did not know it was being posted and that it doesn’t mesh with her core values but, come on, XXL Magazine seems to value their revenue, above all else.

Many persons have written about the incident thus far but I have some favorite articles you should read like this one on what all of the Hip Hop sites can learn about sexual violence, this one, in the form of a “Feminist Care Package” and, most importantly, this one, the organized effort of the “We Are the 44 % Coalition” to make both the individual (Too Short) and the corporate culture (XXL Magazine) held accountable for promoting rape culture.

Now, Too Short did apologize and say he was willing to take action, so we’ll see!

Sign the Petition.

Like the Facebook Page.

Plug into the Tweetchat: #WeAreThe44 and #ItsBiggerThan2Short

Related: #FireVanessaSatten #MenSpeak2Boys

Here’s Tweetchat #2, hosted by @DoctressStory

Tune In on MSNBC!

I wrote the article entitled, “A Black Woman’s Life of the Mind is Her Own” for Ebony.com and received a great deal of feedback. Thankfully, it was published on the same day that Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry engaged in a “Mad Free” curated event at the Brooklyn Museum by Michaela Angela Davis. Further, it was but one day prior to the debut of “Melissa Harris-Perry,” her new show on MSNBC.

The synergy led to a discussion on Twitter about the Ebony article, the live-tweeting of the #MadFree event at the Brooklyn Museum, a post-event discussion and a focused debate between myself (@DrGoddess) and Dr. Imani Perry (@ImaniPerry), a Princeton professor and a noted protege’ of Dr. Cornel West, as well as a scholar-activist in her own right.

Observe the discussion and enjoy…