It was a Precious Night For Mo’Nique 5th African American Woman to Win an OSCAR

I was so happy that Mo’Nique WON an Academy Award an “Oscar” for her role in Precious. She was truly amazing portraying the role as Mary Lee Johnston. Dreams can come true! So, I was wondering if I can win an Oscar too.

I am Black, talented; however, realized I am not a comedian or a singer. Would this hurt my chances of being an Academy Award winner? CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE WINNERS!!!

Whoopie Goldberg: Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress in 1991 for Ghost

Jaime Fox: Oscar winner for Best Actor in 2004 for Ray

Cuba Gooding Jr: (Best Supporting Actor in 1996 for Jerry Maguire) - He was a popular winner at the time for a ferocious performance as egomaniacal but insecure Rod Tidwell ("Show me the money!"). Unfortunately, his CV since then is littered with material of dubious quality; he's either a poor judge of scripts, or he should get rid of his agent.

Jennifer Hudson: Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress in 2006 for Dreamgirls

Halle Berry: Oscar winner for Best Actress in 2001 for Monster Ball

Morgan Freeman: After nominations for Driving Miss Daisy and the Shawshank Redemption, won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2004 for Million Dollar Baby

Louis Gossett, Jr: (Best Supporting Actor in 1982 for An Officer and a Gentleman) - A charismatic and extremely talented actor with a flair for projecting authority. Louis Gossett was a popular Oscar winner, but he was unable to build on his success and carve out the kind of movie career that he deserved. Today, he is bigger on TV than in the movies.

Sidney Poitier: Oscar winner for Best Actor in 1963 for Lilies of the Field

Denzel Washington: Oscar winner for Best Actor in 2001 for Training Day and Best Supporting Actor in 1989 for Glory

Forest Whitaker: Oscar winner for Best Actor in 2006 for The Last King of Scotland

Hattie McDaniel: Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress in 1939 for Gone with the Wind

Best Original Score
1984 Prince Purple Rain Winner
1986 Herbie Hancock Round Midnight Winner

Best Original Song
1971 Isaac Hayes Shaft "Theme from Shaft" Winner
1983 Irene Cara Flashdance "Flashdance (What a Feeling)" Winner
1984 Stevie Wonder The Woman in Red "I Just Called to Say I Love You" Winner
1985 Lionel Richie White Nights "Say You, Say Me" Winner
1989 Carly Simon Working Girl "Let the River Run" Winner
2005 Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman, Paul Beauregard (Houston and Beauregard are the music group Three 6 Mafia) Hustle & Flow "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" Winner

Who's a Superfreak?

This ad launched a couple of months ago, and never fails to make me smile. Visa launched "Music," a feel-good commercial promoting the use of Visa Debit as a secure way to make online purchases. Athletes, businessmen, bikers, prom-goers and cowboys sing a line from Rick James' "Superfreak." The spot ends with a woman using her Visa Debit card to purchase the song online. "Who isn't a little freaky," asks voiceover actor Morgan Freeman. See the ad here, created by TBWA/Chiat/Day:

Rick James, Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, will forever be remembered as the King of Funk. Rick James entered the world as James Ambrose Johnson Jr. on February 1, 1948 in Buffalo, N.Y., the third oldest child in a family of eight. He broke many cultural taboos by flaunting his extravagant lifestyle. As an icon of drug use and eroticism, Rick James went further than anyone had gone before. But before long, his lifestyle started to catch up with him.

"Superfreak" was a 1981 hit single produced and performed by

Rick James for the Motown label. The song was a big hit for James, charting on the pop, R&B and dance charts in the U.S. On the Billboard Hot 100 chart, the song peaked at #16 in the fall of 1981 and spent 10 weeks in the top 40. The term superfreak (and the term freak from which it descended) is slang. Freak and super freak are both references to a woman who enjoys sex, perhaps (but not necessarily) a woman who is promiscuous, is willing to experiment sexually, or is hyper-sexualized. In common use either term can simply refer to a woman. The slang term get freaky (to act sexually) derives from the same root as well.