Going into the 82nd Annual Academy Awards, I knew that we were probably going to have to play the game called “Can You Find the Black Folks?”. And because Halle and Denzel were among the missing and last year’s nominees (Taraji P. Henson and Viola Davis) weren’t there either, sisters in particular were in short supply. Thanks goodness  CCH Pounder and Zoe Saldana of “Avatar” were there along with all of the sisters from “Precious”. While Oprah and Forest Whitaker raised the percentage of black people that actually took the stage with their introductions of Gabourey Sidibe and Sandra Bullock in the Best Actress category. Anyway, besides “The Hurt Locker” taking Best Picture honors, there weren’t many surprises (at least when it came to who actually won awards). Read the full story

Pretty soon, we’ll know whether Mo’Nique will go home with an Oscar—giving her a clean sweep of the big awards. She’s already picked up a Golden Globe, a SAG award and most recently, a BAFTA. But through it all the sister has basically stayed on her grind—regularly hosting her nightly talk show on BET. It’s evident that Mo’Nique knows the reality many black actresses face: a beautiful statuette does guarantee a stellar career or a host of great parts. So instead of getting caught up in the hype, she’s decided to go back to her roots and will start the “Spread the Love” comedy tour on March 19th in New Orleans. Read the full story

If you ask me, Mo’Nique—who used to be known as one of The Queens of Comedy— has officially become a hyphenate with ‘actress’ coming first. For all those who doubted her, she proved herself worthy with a heartfelt, humble speech that brought tears to many eyes (including Drew Barrymore’s and mine). Of course her screaming out ‘BA-BY’ when I can only assume she thought a commercial was coming up also reminds us that she hasn’t strayed too far from her roots. But I’m giving her a pass on that because she was caught up in the moment. However, also in that one moment she silenced all those who thought her ‘difficult’ or ‘ungrateful’ for the opportunity given to her by director Lee Daniels and used that platform to deliver a message to all those who’ve suffered abuse. Read the full story

As I mentioned last month, Lee Daniels was shut out the Golden Globes directing category, but I wasn’t sure why. An article on THR.com opened my eyes to what’s going on and why Daniels has a slim chance of getting an Oscar nod for his work on “Precious”. Yes, this is true even though the Directors Guild of America (DGA )has deemed his work on the film worthy of a nomination this year. Turns out when it comes to the Oscars its still an old boys club where women and people of color are still fighting to get in. Read the full story

We’re in week two of our countdown of stories that shaped the images of black women in popular culture. We’ve chosen a dozen stories (the good, the bad and the ridiculous) that captured our attention in 2009. Here’s the story that made our hot list today:

#4: A Precious Year (aka “The Fat Black Girl Wins: “Push” Takes Sundance” originally published January 26, 2009) Read the full story

Okay ‘Awards Season’ is officially under way. The film critics have started naming their favorite films and performers. (This before all the top ten lists come out in the next few weeks) First up: The Los Angeles and Boston Film Critics who made their choices known this weekend.  From these a few frontrunners have emerged. One of them is “The Hurt Locker”  Kathryn Bigelow’s movie about an army bomb squad working in Iraq starring Jeremy Renner. (I will be taking their word for this one because I’ll be skipping it.) The second is…drumroll please…, Mo’Nique who plays one hellava mother in Lee Daniels “Precious”. In fact, the Boston critics cited the entire cast of “Precious” as the best ensemble (in a tie with the new “Star Trek”). If Mo’Nique wins over the Hollywood Foreign Press next with a Golden Globe nod then she’s got a strong chance for a run at Oscar.  Read the full story

As many of you already know I’ve been urging you to take your big girl pill and go out and see “Precious” which begins opening in select cities this Friday, November 6th (and will be in wide release November 20th). But may this contest will pique your interest. Read the full story

In a few weeks “Precious” will finally be in theaters. In the meantime, one of its stars Paula Patton has been making the rounds at a number events reminding us about this highly anticipated flick. Last night she had a heavenly assignment, hitting up Denise Rich’s Angel Ball which benefits Gabrielle’s Angel Foundation at Cipriani on Wall Street in New York City.

Yesterday was a big day for Mariah Carey. She took a field trip to Macy’s to show support for her new fragrance, “Forever”", while her newest project “Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel” hit the shelves. But this is just the beginning of Mariah’s busy fall between promoting her album, fragrance and her new movie, “Precious”, she’s going to be one busy woman.

BET had its day at the TCA (Television Critics Association) Fall Tour. Mo’Nique, one of the Queens of Comedy was on hand to hype her new talk show. Aligning herself to the network is a risky move but her other risky move, playing the unsympathetic mother in “Precious” has won her rave reviews and a special audience prize at Sundance.