#StraightHairDontCare

Hey Everybody!!   My last post about hair, #BlackWomenLoveHair, surprisingly got a lot of views.  Well, since that post I have been thinking there are few blogs or websites that give tips on how to have healthy relaxed hair.  If you think about it, there are hundreds of blogs and websites for women with natural hair.  I think I speak for all women with relaxed hair when I say that we want to make sure that we know how to take care of our hair too.  Relaxer along with color and heat can be torture on the black woman's hair.  It is safe to say that we, creamy crackheads, want to make sure that we are using the best products and doing what we can to take the best care of our hair.

At least once a month, I will try to post about a product or tips for healthy relaxed hair.  Also, if there is anything you would like me to do a review on concerning relaxed hair, please feel free to leave your suggestions in the comment box.  You can also tweet me at @EbonyMarieRe with any ideas on healthy relaxed hair.  Also, if you know of any blogs that discuss how to have healthy relaxed hair please let me know so I can share with others.  One that I found while doing this post is Just Grow Already!  Hope to hear from you all soon!

By the way, for all my readers on the east coast please stay safe!

#SteelMagnoliasGoesBlack

Lifetime Channel premiered the tear jerker movie Steel Magnolias but with a twist…an all black cast. When I first heard about the cast change, I was excited mainly because it is one of my fav movies.  I can remember watching Steel Magnolias as a little girl not always understanding the little jokes but still being able to understand that this was a great movie.  All the performers which included Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton, and Shirley MacLaine gave stellar performances.  So when I heard that this movie was being redone with an all black cast including strong performers Queen Latifah, Jill Scott, Phylicia Rashad, and Alfre Woodard I knew it was going to be good.  Well at least made-for-TV good. 

Honestly, I am always a little leery of any remakes and sequels regardless of who is in the cast, especially if the original was already an outstanding movie.  Most of the time the remake is nowhere near as good as the original. And unfortunately, the newest version of Steel Magnolias fell short of the original.  First, I felt like Condola Rashad (who by the way is the daughter of Phylicia Rashad AKA Claire Huxtable) played the role of Shelby a little too aggressive for me.  Now yes the character of Shelby is a strong minded women but she wasn’t that aggressive. 

I was not a fan of certain scenes being cut including the Christmas carnival, Clairee and Ouiser in the football locker room, and the Easter scene at the end.  I know that they were trying to make this version its own but these scenes are what made the very sad movie upbeat.  I am not going to bash the acting because truthfully it was not that bad but the southern accents were a bit annoying.  I have lived in the south pretty much my whole life so I know I have become immune to the dialect down here.  But when people who do not have a natural southern drawl try to sound like they have one the results most of the time are tragic.  In the case of some of the actresses  that was the case.  The accents were coming in and out or some were trying too hard.  It came to a point where I just wanted them to give up and talk in their regular voices. 

I give the Black Steel Magnolias a B+, mostly because of effort.  Like the original, the movie captured how strong we as women have to be during the most difficult situations.  But where it lacked was moving the  story way too fast.  We didn’t really get to see the characters develop like we did in the original.  If you saw the original, you remember Annelle and getting to see her grow into her own person.  The remake mostly concentrated on M’Lynn and Shelby.  Again I’m not knocking it but felt it could have been better.  If you have not seen it check out your Lifetime, I'm sure they will be playing it again. 

If you have not seen it, please check out the latest video of Through EBONY Eyes.  I have a special cohost in this video. 

#2012VMAs

Hey everybody!! Check out my latest video where I discuss this year's VMAs!

I am also going to include the other videos of Through EBONY Eyes. Enjoy!!

#ChavisCarter:TragedyInMyHomeState

Hey everybody!! Let me start off by saying that I hope that you enjoyed my last video. Make sure that you leave me a comment and give me some feedback.

Chavis Carter

Have you ever heard a snippet of a news story and said to yourself “Well, that was a sad incident.”  but then you keep going with your day.  Well, not too long ago that happened to me.  I first heard about Chavis Carter about a week ago.  When I first heard the story of a handcuffed man shooting himself in the back of a police car it made me raise an eyebrow.   Then I eventually forgot about the story.  While having a conversation with a friend about the bizarre mishap it made me want to do more reading on the story.

The long short of it is that Chavis Carter and two other passengers were pulled over in Jonesboro, AR for driving suspiciously.  During the first search, marijuana and small plastic bags were found on Carter. Carter was put in the back of the police car.  Carter was not handcuffed at this point.  The other passengers were questioned and let go.  The police searched the car and found other drug paraphernalia in the car.  The police did a second body search and then put Carter in the police car this time handcuffed. 

Even though the policemen were about a car’s  length from the car, they do not know when the fatal shot was fired.  One of the policemen smelled smoke and noticed that Carter was slumped over and bloodied.

For me there are a lot of unanswered questions. First, how is that you are a car's length away and you could not hear a gun go off?  A gun shot is is not the quietest sound, yet it wasn't until one of the cops smelled smoke that made the cop go to the car.  Second, another part of this story is that the cops' cars were parked trunk to trunk so none of this was caught on the dashboard cameras.  As many times as I have seen two or more cops pulled over on the side of the street I have never seen police cars parked this way.  The whole point of these cameras is to protect the cop from being accused of something criminal but none of this is on camera.  Lastly, the mother of Chavis said that he was left handed but the shot on the right side of his head.  This would have been difficult for him to do if his left hand is his dominate hand.

Without all these other facts, the main question is how can someone shoot themselves handcuffed?  The Jonesboro Police Department has made a reenactment video showing how this is possible.  The police chief admits that this is bizzare but also says that the average person might think this is impossible.  Even with this video, I still can't understand why this young man would shoot himself over weed possession. 

This case leaves us with more questions than answers.  I will be following this story and will provide updates as this story unfolds. 

Through EBONY Eyes Ep 2 Meek Mill and Aretha Franklin

Hey everybody!! If you have not watched it yet below is my views on a couple of medium size controversies including Meek Mill's song "Amen" and Kathy Lee Gifford come the Queen of Soul Feel free to leave a comment and give me some feedback.  Check out the video below:

#BlackWomenLoveHair

My quick weave!!

Hey everyone!! I hope this post finds you in a cool spot (especially if you live in the south)  considering how crazy hot it has been.  As much as I love summer (the swimming, BBQs, and just overall being outdoors)  I cannot say that my hair will say the same about the hot season.  Considering the fact that I have frizzy hair and sweat profusely in my head, I am constantly trying to figure out what to do with my thick hair.  So I have decided to try to put in my own quick weave.  As I was doing my hair it made me think of all the cool (and sometimes crazy) things black women can do with their hair.

The Natural: I am always hearing about someone taking the BIG CHOP.  For any Caucasian, Asian, or Latina women that might read my blog, this is when a black woman cuts all the straight hair off to the curl or natural part of the hair.  Women who are tired of getting the creamy crack (relaxer) take this route.  This style has actually caused a lot of debate in the black women community.  Those who choose to take the clippers to their head might berate us who choose to continue to use the creamy crack because of how much damage it causes the scalp.  I agree the natural might be whole lot healthier but for the time being I like my hair straight and will continue to take the risk.  Regardless of my stance on the natural, I think this hair style can be very pretty.  I love to see women with different braid styles with it or just wear picked out. 

Such a pretty natural look

The Weave: This is actually a style I am working right now (the quick weave).  Black women have gotten the weave down to a science.  There is the sew-in, quick weave, clip-ins, microbraids, twists, lacefronts, and many other styles.  The thing about the weave is that it can go one of two ways: very nice or very bad.  I believe that if you are not a performer of some sort then leave the lacefronts alone.  I also believe that you should not go to every one's kitchen to get your hair done.  I can understand not wanting to pay hundreds of dollars to get a weave but still use caution when picking a kitchen beautician.  Even though black women get teased a lot for wearing weaves I believe that if done correctly it can actually be healthy for the hair.  I like not constantly putting heat on my hair.

Tyra always has a pretty weave

This is a no no

The Famous Body Wrap: This is the first grown lady style every black woman learns as young teen.  It is very simple actually.  After getting a relaxer, the stylist will with put rollers in the hair or straighten it and then you literally wrap the hair around your head to keep the look sleek.  This style is very easy to keep up and also easy to sleep on.  I rock this style on a regular. 

Rihanna use to rock the body wrap before she became a red head

I love how creative we can get with our hair.  I also love how we can switch up our styles on a daily.  Monday we can have hair to our hips and Wednesday we can have short curly style.  Whatever the style, it all inspires me. 

#BETAWARDS2012

If you missed the BET Awards 2012 this past Sunday because you thought it was going to be ratchet, you actually missed a good show (Honestly, I do not blame you for your assumptions).  But this year the BET Awards redeemed themselves 100 fold! Like any award show, there were highs and lows but there were more highs than lows.  Kanye gave us freestyle, Chaka Khan showed us that you can still rock it at 60, Mindless Behavior dissed a legend, and even Mr. Al Sharpton gave us some freestyle (“This election is not about Obama, it’s about yo mama.” Lol, I guess). 

To start this review off, I am going to start with my fav performance: Melanie Fiona.  If you follow me on Twitter my last few tweets have been about how amazing Melanie Fiona is.  Everyone describes Melanie Fiona as the most underrated artist and last night Melanie showed everyone why to underrate her is a BIG mistake.  She killed on her performance.  She sang “Wrong Side of a Love Song” and it left me speechless.  She sang the song like the person that it was about was sitting on the first row.  Sidenote: I stan for any artist that can just stand in front of a mic and slay.  Melanie, girl, you have a fan for life.  And if you have not picked it up yet, get Melanie Fiona’s second album The MF Life. You will not be disappointed.

Another part of the show that I really enjoyed was Kevin Hart’s funny spoof of the Real Housewives series, The Real Husbands of Hollywood.  I freakin’ love Kevin Hart and the spoofs shows why.  This year he had Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Anderson, Fabolous, and Faizon Love in his miniseries and it was just as funny as last year.  My fav part was when Samuel L. Jackson called Soul Plane a “slave” movie.  Seriously, I was cracking up through each spoof.

Depending on your choice of sense of humor depends on if your think this was a low point.  When Mindless Behavior and Mike Epps were presenting the Best R&B category, Mindless Behavior said that Mike Epps singing was as bad as Lauryn Hill’s tax accountant.  After the comment a gasp could be heard from the audience.  Beyonce won the award and did a shoutout to Lauryn Hill in her acceptance speech.  Rumor has it that Beyonce vented backstage about how disrespectful the joke was but not quite sure how true it is.  Honestly, award shows always take jabs at celebrities.  I cannot say that I think this is the most disrespectful comment I have ever heard on an award show (Russel Brand and Ricky Gervais have said a lot worse about celebrities). 

I cannot end this post without talking about the Whitney Houston tribute.  BET Awards get an A+ for that tribute.  I was not looking forward to hearing another artist sing “I Will Always Love You”.  I understand that it was the main song that Whitney is known for but she had a slew of  other unforgettable hits.  Monica did a beautiful job.  And Brandy…wow, I am proud of you.  Brandy helped us remember that Whitney was not just a ballad singer.  Ms. Cissy Houston gave an emotional tribute to her baby girl that almost had me in tears.  And then Chaka Khan came out singing “I Am Every Woman” to show us how the legends do it. 

I could probably write 2 or 3 more paragraphs on this awards show but I am going to end it here.  If you missed it, I am pretty sure that BET is going to rerun it like 200 times before next year’s show.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @EbonyMarieRe