September 13, 2018

Aries 

MAR 21 - APR 19 

You are back on track, Aries, in every possible way! Mars, your ruler, is finally regulating his orbit in forward motion, and this week will move into your friendship sector. If single, you'll have so many opportunities to get out there and mingle with new, fascinating, and even eccentric people. You're ready to get your freak on in more ways than one, so you'll definitely be open to the possibilities. Attached? There could be a sudden change in finances between you and your mate. There might be a need to rebalance your relationship checkbook in more ways than one. You've got this!

 

Taurus 

APR 20 - MAY 20 

Expect a definite curveball this week in your love life. Definite. Uranus, the planet of sudden change, is still moving through your sign, leading you down paths you never even knew were possible. The entire game of life is shifting before your very eyes, Taurus, and yes, this includes your love life. New, dramatic possibilities are available, but for some, the only way to get there is to get out of an existing relationship that has gone stale. This Wednesday Venus in your partnership sector will oppose Uranus. Something will give. Even if it's a break it will lead you to a breakthrough.

  

Gemini 

MAY 21 - JUN 20 

You're all over the place this week when it comes to your work life -- especially if you're tangled up in some kind of office romance. You and the other person might have been trying to keep things between you a secret for a variety of reasons. Maybe you just don't want to deal with being the center of water cooler gossip. Or, maybe it's a truly sticky situation where you are not supposed to be dating anyone at the office. Either way, this week the cat is out of the bag. Somehow the news will spill and yes, it might lead to some instability. Keep perspective: it's a temporary tornado.

  

Cancer 

JUN 21 - JUL 22 

There are definite happenings in your love life, Cancer. Even though you're typically a traditional, emotional-security seeking sign, there is every possibility that you'll be invited to dance with the devil this week in some way. You might receive an offer to participate in an experimental, taboo sexual practice -- whether you're single or attached. This can be anything from an invitation to a swinger's party to your partner asking you if you'd be willing to try an open relationship. If single, you might find yourself attracted to someone who is into some 50 Shades of Grey activities. Believe it or not ... all of this might turn you on.

 

Leo 

JUL 23 - AUG 22 

There has been an elephant in the room of your relationship for months, Leo. And even though you are typically not the type who shies away from calling out any problems, the recent past has left you weary and unable to fight any kind of fight necessary to change and ultimately improve your love life. Fortunately, this week you'll suddenly muster up the courage, will, and stamina to call out the elephant and stop pretending that nothing is wrong. The good news is that your partner will have the motivation to go the distance with you.

 

Virgo 

AUG 23 - SEP 22 

This might be a good week for you and your significant other to have that conversation about your relationship status. This is when you might feel an urgency to define what you are exactly and where this connection is going. The trouble with this need for definition is the fact that you might be the one who is totally confused. You see all of the amazing qualities that this person has and you know that this is good for you. At the same time, however, you wonder if this is what you really want. Virgo, figure it out. Another person's emotions are in the picture. It isn't just about you.

 

Libra 

SEP 23 - OCT 22 

You've got quite the sexy week ahead! Mars, the planet of assertive drive, libido, and overall "oomph" is about to throttle forward into your 5th House of Pleasure and Romance. As a result, you can anticipate prioritizing fun, love, dating, and maybe even baby-making from now through November 15. If you've had any major blocks in your sex and love life or have dealt with a frustrating fertility issue over the last couple of months, then you'll now feel like you can get over any hurdles and find enjoyment once more.

  

Scorpio 

OCT 23 - NOV 21 

Uranus has been moving through your partnership sector since May 15, shaking things up between you and your mate. This doesn't have to be negative -- in fact you and your partner might feel more excited to be together than ever before. It could be a time of rediscovering each other. On the flip side however, if you have grown restless in your current scenario, then this energy might bring a sudden break, or you and your lover might go through a rubber-band phase in your relationship. This week, Venus in your sign will oppose Uranus. That will absolutely stimulate something major in your love life that will wake you up. For better or worse.

 

Sagittarius 

NOV 22 - DEC 21 

This will be a week where your love life situation can definitely affect your emotional or physical health, so be sure to get extra rest. If you're in a place of not knowing where you stand with someone, this is more likely to be the case. Or, if you have found yourself in a situation where you and your partner are going through an issue you can't resolve without outside help, this will be a great time to seek out couple's counseling in order to help you two reach a necessary breakthrough. Either way, it's coming.

  

Capricorn 

DEC 22 - JAN 19 

Hold on, Capricorn -- your love life might leave you feeling a bit unsteady this week. There could be a sudden opportunity to hook up with someone you meet out of the blue. This will feel exhilarating, but you may also find yourself completely frazzled at how this happened. The truth is you'll be overstimulated, so there might be too much of a good thing going on in your body. This person can take you to new heights, that's for sure! But he or she might not stay forever, and that is not something you'll be happy about. Let your friends help you gain perspective on your love life this week. They will keep you grounded.

  

Aquarius 

JAN 20 - FEB 18 

You are finally coming back into your power, Aquarius! Mars traveled retrograde for all of July and August, leaving you feeling completely winded and unable to move forward the way you want to. You might have also felt a complete level of sexual frustration where you either were unable to get your needs met or have been going through a dry spell with no sexual partner. This week, Mars will re-enter your sign and is moving in the right direction: forward. It's "all systems go" again when it comes to getting what you want. You've got game!

 

Pisces 

FEB 19 - MAR 20 

You might have a conversation with your sweetheart this week that goes in a direction you aren't happy about. Although you might be the one who initiates this, you may not like the fact that once you open your mouth, you'll have absolutely no control over how your partner receives the information you spit out. Also, you might find yourself saying something you never even intended, and it might have drastic consequences. Be aware.

September 13, 2018 

By Lapacazo Sandoval 

Contributing Writer 

 

The definition of the word, legend,  that you find inside a dictionary describes “an extremely famous or notorious person, especially in a particular field. ‘The man was a living legend’”—that definition does not even close to describing the 85 years-young [old], Quincy Jones. He is without a single doubt one of the influential people in the history of recorded music. 

 

In the last six decades, you will find his (aka “Q”) musical fingerprints somewhere on the soundtrack of our lives.  He’s been in the cut-throat music world for 60 years, having worked with and befriended other giants—legends starting with Ray Charles whom he met, as a teenager and both men shared a strong backbone and unwavering confidence that never depended on being accepted by the white establishment.  Along the way, Jones has written major chart-toppers, arranged music for Frank Sinatra, whom he called a friend, produced Michael Jackson’s epic album “Thriller,” and launched the careers of Will Smith, Oprah Winfrey, and Whoopi Goldberg, and that’s just naming a few 

 

A proud Black man, a groovy cat, his name is forever linked with the very best of black culture, music, and giving back to those less fortunate.

 

In the new documentary “Quincy” directed by Alan Hicks and co-directed by Quincy’s daughter, actress/filmmaker Rashida Jones together these directors take us into his fascinating world. 

 

Shot over the last five years, together, the filmmakers create a stirring portrait of a living legend.

 

What’s brilliant is that we learn about Jones’ early life, and what a life  He grew up on the South Side of Chicago in 1933 when lynching Black people was so common that, while later on tour in Texas, a dummy of a Black person hanging in front of a Texas church said it all. His mother suffered from mental illness, a diagnosed schizophrenic and he remembers her being taken away in a straitjacket. This early loss of having a mother has impacted his entire life. Drawn to music early, he met Ray Charles when Jones was 14 years old, and Charles was 16-years,

 

and they became as tight as brothers. 

 

Racism in America was ugly in the ’30's so when the opportunity arose to travel to Europe, at 18 years old, with the legendary bandleader Lionel Hampton, Jones jumped at the opportunity.  Like so many Black people before and after him, he blossomed while living in Paris, in 1957, studying classical music with “the” Nadia Boulanger, who had taught Igor Stravinsky.  There Jones finally felt alive saying that “France made me feel free as an artist and as a black man.”

 

Jones credits Dinah Washington for giving him is his first big break where she insisted that her label —Mercury Records—hire him to arrange her album which later,  became a hit.  To his surprise, but mostly to get out of debt that he incurred from a failed European tour, he took a “real job” as a music executive at the label. There he discovered Lesley Gore, then a 16-year-old kid from New Jersey with a voice. And in 1963 singing “It’s My Party” this song became Quincy’s first hit single, and with Gore, they had more.  A year later the call from the “Chairman of the Board” aka Frank Sinatra came and his life would never be the same.

 

His period with Sinatra is fascinating and Jones recalls that like he had with Ray Charles, the two men of music never had a paper contract, just their word solidified by a firm handshake.  Together they made many hits including the classic “Fly Me To The Moon” which was played during the space flight of Apollo 11.

 

Time waits for no man and in the 1970s, he was officially a super-producer and proven hitmaker and the man everyone wanted to work within music. In 1978 Jones wrote the music for “The Wiz” and got a good look at a very young Michael Jackson. Game recognizes game and he talked Jackson into making his first solo record, Off The Wall. Their collaboration continued to take them to even more dizzying heights and in 1982 they made the album Thriller—the most commercially successful album ever made.

 

Jones’ illness is present in the documentary and his zeal for life is evident with each brush with death.

 

The documentary interweaves the story with voice-over–driven narration mostly provided by Jones himself, along with his ex-wives Jeri Caldwell and Peggy Lipton. The list of luminaries that chime in includes Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Tom Hanks, Oprah, Bono, Kendrick Lamar, Will Smith, and  Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.  What also makes the film so interesting are the vintage photographs and clips of Jones with Ray Charles, Nelson Mandela, and Frank Sinatra.   As “Quincy” comes to the third act, he’s facing his health scares, head on, traveling the world and consuming—life.

 

Quincy Jones, the legend is a composer/film and television producer/performer/magazine founder— a living legend.

 

“Quincy” on Netflix September 21.

September 13, 2018 

By Stacy M. Brown 

NNPA Newswire 

 

The genius, intelligence, beauty and spirit of Black women, which continues to transform the world, shined brightly again Sunday as Nia Franklin became the first Miss America in the post-swimsuit era.

 

“It took a lot of perseverance to get here,” Franklin, the freshly crowned beauty queen, said after her win. “I want to thank my beautiful family, my mom and my dad, who is a survivor of cancer.”

 

An opera singer, Franklin is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and earned her master’s degree in music composition from UNC School of the Arts, according to her biography as reported by CNN.

 

She moved to New York after being accepted at the Kenan Fellow program at Lincoln Center Education in Manhattan.

 

During the competition, Franklin described how music helped her find her identity.

 

“I grew up at a predominately Caucasian school and there was only five percent minority, and I felt out of place so much because of the color of my skin,” Franklin said. “But growing up, I found my love of arts, and through music that helped me to feel positive about myself and about who I was.”

 

Her win set Twitter and all of social media ablaze.

 

“Congratulations to our new Miss America,” famed radio and television personality Donnie Simpson said. “Nia Franklin represented New York and won the crown last night. She’s obviously very smart, very talented and absolutely stunning. I’m so proud.”

 

Another popular radio show host, Michael Lyle, Jr., also couldn’t contain his joy for Franklin.

 

“Huge congratulations. Well-deserved and another reason why Black Girls Rock,” Lyle said.

 

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr., the president and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association – the trade organization that represents 220 African American-owned newspapers across the country – said Franklin’s win is just another statement on the outstanding achievements of Black women today.

 

“The NNPA Congratulates 2018 Miss America, Nia Franklin. The genius, intelligence, beauty and spirit of Black women impact and transform the world,” Chavis tweeted.

 

Franklin, who plans to advocate for the arts during her tenure as Miss America, told reporters that she was also happy that the swimsuit competition – which had been part of the overall contest throughout its 92-year history – had been discontinued.

 

“I’m happy I didn’t have to wear a swimsuit,” she said. “I’m more than just that.”