Film Explores Term ‘Gay For Stay’ & Risky Behavior of Black Men Post-Prison

by Drew-Shane Daniels

for musedmagonline.com

There’s a video that has been circulating on the web discussing black men and their behavior post-prison. Throughout the short film called Earl’s Post-Prison Playdate, the director exploits the downlow lifestyle, breaks down the unstable black family dynamics and educates viewers on the risky behaviors men learn from being in jail.

Earl’s Post-Prison Playdate was written, directed, and produced by award-winning NYC filmmaker, Rod Gailes OBC. Richard S. Carroll Jr., Pernell Walker from the Sundance-Hit, Pariah, and Iris Wilson of Broadway’s FELA star in the short.

Most of the controversy from blogs and critics overshadow the real meaning of the film. The film was created as part of an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign addressing lifestyle issues affecting our community. HIV/AIDS is a huge epidemic in our community- no matter the sexuality. Even though I felt I was watching a script full of stereotypes, I know this is real life for many people in our community (or at least some variation). The message still remains the same: go get tested!

Please check out the video below and share with your friends:

Earl's Post-Prison Playdate: Feature from OBC DreamTheatre on Vimeo.

We Love Michelle & Barack!!! WHAT?!

THE ROAD WE'VE TRAVELED
Remember how far we've come. From Academy Award®-winning director Davis Guggenheim: "The Road We've Traveled".

This film gives an inside look at some of the tough calls President Obama made to get our country back on track. Featuring interviews from President Bill Clinton, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Elizabeth Warren, David Axelrod, Austan Goolsbee, and more. It's a film everyone should see.

Friendship or True Love? Which One Is More Important?

There is a new romantic comedy film coming out entitled "Something Borrowed." It's based on the bestselling novel by Emily Giffin. The trailer was just released not too long ago. I have been replaying the trailer for so long right now, it inspired me to write this post and friendships and relationships.

This novel tells the story of two friends named Rachel and Darcey. They have been friends since childhood, but they are both different in many ways. Rachel has been the good girl and best friend of Darcey since childhood. She does anything for Darcey, but has been her shadow for quite some time now.

When it comes to Darcey, she has been the person in center staged almost her whole life. Between the two of them, Darcey always gets what she wants and Rachel just goes with the flow.

Rachel turns thirty and ends up completely drunk. It results in Rachel sleeping with Darcey's fiance, Dexter, who Rachel had a crush on back when they were in law school. The fling turns into an affair, and Rachel has to choose which one is more important to her, friendship or true love.

The entire description of the story made me run out and get this novel. Not only because it's a romantic comedy story, but it's number one theme is friendship. Most people don't realize that friends go through alot more than what couples go through. I hope this novel and the movie will make people want to write more stories about friendships.

There comes a time in each of our lives when we each have to choose between friendship and love. Our friends are people that we treasure most dearly. Your friends have known you for years. They know you inside and out the same way you do when it comes to them. Then love comes into your life and it starts raising alot of questions. Will this relationship change the dynamic of your relationship with your friends.

Will you find a way to balance everything together and still maintain a successful friendship while having a wonderful relationship? Or will you up having to choose which one is more important to you.

When it comes to friendships, which one is more important. Friendship or True Love?

Below is the trailer for "Something Borrowed." The movie comes out May 6.

Oprah Winfrey reveals she has a long-lost half-sister

By Anne Lu
CNS


Oprah Winfrey has discovered she has a half-sister. The queen of talk announced on her eponymous show on Monday that she has learned just in November that she has a half-sister named Patricia, who was secretly given up for adoption in 1963.

When the media mogul was just nine years old in 1963, she had no idea her mother was pregnant. And because Vermita Lee couldn’t afford to keep Patricia, Oprah’s sister was secretly put up for adoption.

Oprah told her audience how Patricia, whose last name was not mentioned, learned of their connection and how they finally made contact. Their first meeting was recorded on home video in Milwaukee. She thanked her newly found sister for not going to the media with this news.

She said on her talk show that the news “literally shook me to my core.”

Coincidentally, Oprah also had another half-sister named Patricia, who passed away in 2003.

Real Open Talk For Life with WJC

The Hand…
By: Rev. W. Jeffrey Campbell, Houston, TX

As I sit and prepare for today’s article I feel the need to take a break from the Nehemiah messages and speak candidly about a topic that has taken root in my life since July 2003.

On July 24, 2003 my mother passed away at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Mama had battled cancer courageously for over 3 years, always determined to live and not die. It was not until the last two months of her journey that she became unable to work or drive…it all hit like a ton of bricks. During those two months I cared for her in my home and spent many days and nights with her at the hospital until she transitioned. Since that time the holiday season has changed quite drastically for me.

During my mother’s lifetime the only thing that really had to be discussed was where we would spend the holidays. We both knew that wherever one was the other would be. Those days were simple but wonderful and unforgettable, even the year that we had the big fight because I didn’t wake her to go to a Christmas Sunrise Service. She later shared with me that the holidays become very difficult for her since her mother’s passing in 1980. I completely understand that now.

Since my mother’s passing I have to actually think about where I’m going to spend the big days like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each year has been a little bit different but, I’m grateful for the family and friends that have opened their homes and hearts to me during those significant and often difficult times. My Aunt Boyce, Aunt Nellie and Earline, my best friends Gary and Charlotte, Kevin and David, the Materre’s, my church friends James and Kathy, Ira, Jerry and Jacque (I finally made their Christmas Brunch last year) and the Brown Family in Cuero.

The truth is that although each of those homes is filled with love, great food and great company, there will always be a void in my life that is clearly present during this season. It begins with Thanksgiving. After our meal my mother and I would pack up plates of food and take them to different elderly friends in my home community. My mother taught me how to be a servant. Christmas comes next…no matter how old I got, my mother always put up a Christmas tree for me. She taught me the importance of family tradition. Then there’s New Year’s. No matter where I was in the world at the stroke of midnight, I would always pause to call mama and we would wish each other a “Happy New Year!” My birthday is January 4th….a Mexican dinner cooked by my mom. The last birthday we spent together was in 2003. She treated me to dinner at Spanish Flowers on North Main. Our favorite restaurant! Her birthday is January 13th…I loved to give her fresh flowers…they were a symbol of how beautiful she was both inside and out.

I have worked diligently to conquer the grief that was thrust upon me on July 24, 2003. I still remember the words of my grief counselor who defined grief as, “a hand that starts out right in your face and as the years go by the hand moves farther away but never quite disappears.” It is during this season from November through January that the hand seemingly sneaks back into plain sight and has to be dealt with one significant day at a time. The presence of the hand causes me to feel like I’m on the periphery of every family event and gathering of friends that I attend instead of being in the center of celebratory activities. The presence of the hand makes me plan early for this season in an effort to not be left scrambling just a few days before a big day trying to determine what I will do or where I will be. The presence of the hand draws me to a solemn place to remember the days when my mother stood in those prayer circles as we prepared as a family to dine. The presence of the hand drives me to visit her gravesite one more time to look down on the headstone and see her name and those dates so clearly. As I stand there I hear my voice speaking the last words of her Eulogy saying, “Farewell my love! I’ll see you in the morning!” And even with the presence of the hand it still does not seem real or right that I am spending another holiday and birthday season without her.

Someone reading this today has a heavy heart because the hand is present in your life. If there was a cure that I could give you that would help your heart be lighter, that cure would be written in this space on today. I realize that the grief that we feel often propels us to unhealthy acts in an effort to fill the void. Today I encourage you not to rush back to that last person, place or thing that bred an unhealthy situation for you. He, she or it is still not the answer. I encourage you to hold on to the good memories of your loved one(s), trust God, acknowledge the grief but don’t allow it to overtake you. Soon the hand will be in the distance again and you will be stronger.

Much love and Happy Holidays!


Until next week…ROTFL with WJC!

Please contact me at realopentalkforlife@yahoo.com for further discussion.

Arts.Advocacy+Wellness: "Love is..."

“…a combination of care, knowledge, responsibility, respect, trust, commitment.”
-bell hooks

Love is….

Love is…
Self, within, one, communal.
A mystery, unknown, hidden.
What one makes of it
Or how one defines it for self.
Love is peaceful. Not oppressive.
Supportive

Or

Is it just a word that we place too much attachment to?
Is it a feeling that we give too much power?
Is it a chase for a feeling so close but so far away from us…like a dog chasing his tail
That he’ll never capture?

Love is...complex.

Love is all these things
That’s why we love and never give up on love
The constant search, renewing, redefining…

Love is…

“Love takes off the masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.”

-James Baldwin

“…love does not bring an end to difficulties, it gives us the strength to cope with difficulties in a constructive way…”

-bell hooks

And what is Love for you?