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Queen Latifah Recites The Maya Angelou Poem ‘We Had Him’

It's Trent, Bitch! — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:10:28 +0000

Altho I had planned on posting no Michael Jackson stories today (in the hopes that I could move on from his death after attending his memorial service at the Staples Center here in Los Angeles, CA earlier this week), I ended up posting the coverphoto of the new issue of Q magazine (which, it seems, is the last magazine photoshoot that MJ did before his death) earlier today because I felt it was worth sharing. But, since I already posted one MJ story, I figured it’d be appropriate to post another more positive blogpost. A few Pink readers asked me for the text of the Maya Angelou poem that Queen Latifah read aloud at the Michael Jackson Memorial Service so I will pass that along now, in full, here:

We Had Him

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.

In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.

Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.

He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.

Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.

We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.

His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.

And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana’s Black Star Square.

In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England

We are missing Michael.

But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

What a beautiful, touching and very fitting tribute. I do love this poem, as I love all of Dr. Angelou’s poetry. After the jump, watch video of Queen Latifah reading the last portion of this poem on stage at the Staples Center during the Michael Jackson Memorial Service earlier this week …

Just beautiful.

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Zac Efron Invites You To His Pool Party

It's Trent, Bitch! — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:01:42 +0000

So … what do Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Thomas Lennon (Reno 911), Nicole Ritchie, Joel Madden, Lance Bass, Justin Long, Carmen Electra, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Jessica Stroup, Brody Jenner, Nicole Sullivan and Jessica Rose (lonelygirl15) all have in common? Why, they are all featured in the latest video offering from FunnyorDie.com … which you can watch below:

I mean, I get what they are going for with this vid (the funny) but in the end, I think they missed the mark (hence, they all must die?). I must admit that I did laugh out loud when Lance Bass got confused for Lance Armstrong … that was kinda funny. And to be totally honest, there were a few LOL-worthy jokes but I’m afraid the vid is just way too corny overall. What do y’all think … do you dig it?

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Queen Latifah Celebrates Her 39th Birthday With Friends

It's Trent, Bitch! — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:43:11 +0000

Queen Latifah, née Dana Elaine Owens, may have turned 39 back on March 18 but she decided to celebrate her birthday this past Saturday March 28 … with a few close personal friends. Here are a few photos of the Queen whooping it up at her belated birthday party at Club Light here in LA:

Queen Latifah celebrated her birthday by putting on a special live performance of tracks off her new album Persona which is due in stores this July. Latifah was joined on stage by Lady of Rage, Lil Kim, MC Lyte, Missy Elliott and Yo-Yo for parts of the performance … which sounds too damn cool for words. Ladies First, indeed. Queen Latifah has been killing it for decades now. As much as I like her acting, I really love her for her music. It sounds like it was Queen Latifah’s guests who got the best present of all. Happy Birthday, Dana!! You’ve never looked better :)

[Photo credit: Splash News]

‘SNL’ Presents: The Vice Presidential Debate

It's Trent, Bitch! — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:31:49 +0000

Saturday Night Live opened last night’s episode with a skit parodying the Vice Presidential debate that took place between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin at Washington University in St. Louis, MO earlier this week. Here, for your viewing pleasure, is the SNL skit in full which featured Jason Sudeikis as Biden and the AMAZING Tina Fey as Palin. Do try and keep from LOLing yourself to death:

I mean, Tina Fey killed it — again! At this point, she doesn’t even have to try anymore … she just … is. Hahahahhaha. This is an absolutely hilarious skit, hitting all the high (and low) points of the debate that we got to see earlier this week (and Queen Latifah really held her own as Gwen Ifill, well done). If Fey does not win some sort of award for her Palin portrayal, then there is really no justice in the world. I absolutely loved this skit, what did y’all think?

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The 2008 BET Awards Are Handed Out

It's Trent, Bitch! — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:43:56 +0000

BET took over the Shrine Auditorium in LA last night to throw their biggest party of the year … The BET Awards. Covering a range of categories — from music to athletics to comedy to acting — the BET Awards honors the folks who gave us the best performances over the last year … you know, just like pretty much everyone else (from MTV to TV Land) does. Here are a few pics of some of the lovely ladies who made their way down the red carpet last night:

For the most part, all of the ladies who showed up for the BET Awards were lookin’ pretty hot … only Lil’ Kim looked a little peeved at something. She was throwin’ dagger with her eyes all over the place … dunno what her deal was. Nonetheless, there was a whole lotta pretty on the red carpet. Only the guys wore the ridiculous outfits (Chris Brown shopping with Michael Jackson? T-Pain shopping with a blind assistant?). But the BET Awards aren’t only about the fashions … they also had a few awards to hand out to some deserving folks …

Here are a few pics of some of the winners and live performances from last night’s show:

Kanye West, Chris Brown and Alicia Keys were big winners at Tuesday’s Black Entertainment Television Awards in Los Angeles. Kanye West, Chris Brown and Alicia Keys were big winners at Tuesday’s Black Entertainment Television Awards in Los Angeles. West came out a double winner, snagging awards for both Best Male Hip Hop Artist and Best Collaboration for his single “Good Life,” sharing the award with rapper-producer T-Pain. West brought Lil’ Wayne onstage when he accepted the for Best Male Hip Hop Artist, praising the fellow rapper for being his biggest competition. Lil’ Wayne, who sold one million copies of his recent album in its first week, returned the favor when he picked up the Viewers’ Choice Award for “Lollipop.” Brown took home the Best Male R&B Artist award at the star-studded event, hosted by DL Hughley, which boasted an opening performance of “Love In This Club” by Usher. Brown enlisted the help of Ciara for his “Take You Down” performance, while the crooner’s girlfriend Rihanna entertained the audience with her ballad “Take a Bow” … ill Scott, Anthony Hamilton and Maxwell paid a musical tribute to Al Green who received the Legendary Lifetime Award. Actress Queen Latifah presented Quincy Jones with the Humanitarian Award.

The performances were hot — I loved the Ciara and Chris Brown collabo (Ciara is actually one of my fave performers, she doesn’t get nearly as much love as she should). Quincy Jones is seriously the man … he is truly a legend and it’s wonderful that his humanitarian efforts were acknowledged by the folks at BET:

Queen Latifah introduced Humanitarian Award recipient Quincy Jones, calling him “an international artist, an innovator … and a leader.” “He showed us black entertainment is more than just a hustle,” she said. “It’s more than just selling albums. It’s about inspiration.” Jones said growing up on the south side of Chicago during the depression moved him to give back to people in need. “My piece of bread only belongs to me if everybody has a piece to eat,” he said. Receiving the award “is one of the very treasured moments of my life,” Jones said, “and I always hope to live up to this honor.”

Jennifer Hudson, who was in attendance last night, did not perform during the show but she did debut her new music video (her first) for her single Spotlight from her debut self-titled album which is due out in September … check it out:

And lastly, altho Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive presidential nominee for the Democratic Party, was not in the hiz at last night’s awards show, he was deffo the talk of pretty much everyone in attendance, as you may well imagine:

“If we all register and vote, we will have the first black president in the history of America,” Sean “Diddy” Combs told the crowd Tuesday at the Shrine Auditorium before chanting “Obama or Die” — a declarative remix of his neutral “Vote or Die” motto from the 2004 presidential election, when he attempted to boost the youth vote. Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, was just a few blocks away at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for a fundraiser with a Hollywood guest list that included supermodels Heidi Klum and Cindy Crawford, boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard and movie stars Samuel L. Jackson and John Malkovich. While Obama didn’t make an appearance at the BET Awards — either live or on tape — his presence was felt. As she picked up her award for best female R&B artist, Alicia Keys told the crowd that it’s time for black people to erase the word “can’t” from their vocabulary. “Together we can do anything,” she said, playing on the Democrat’s “Yes We Can” mantra before shouting: “Obama y’all!” The presumptive Republican presidential nominee, John McCain, failed to merit a shoutout by any of the BET presenters or performers.

LOL! No love for McCain at the BET Awards? I’m shocked. Hahahahaha! But anyways, the 2008 BET Awards went off without a hitch … and should tide us over until the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards, which will take place in Los Angeles, CA, go down on September 7. Click HERE for a full list of 2008 BET Award winners.

[Photo credit: Splash News, Wireimage; Source, Source, Source]