The song says it�s hard to say goodbye�humph, not when the guests have overstayed their welcome it ain�t. At that time, saying goodbye is the easiest thing in the world to do. A House Is Not a Home is the final novel of James Earl Hardy�s B-Boy Blues series. While E. Lynn Harris is credited, deservedly so, with making novels about the lives of gay African American characters popular and profitable; it has always been my contention that Hardy�s B-Boy Blues series was the more interesting and entertaining literary series. The last few installments of the B-Boy Blues series have been less than stellar. While it is true that all good things must come to an end, the adventures in love of Pookie and Lil� Bit should have ended sooner rather than later.  �Read the rest of Thumper's Book Review

50 Years after Brown: The State of Black Equality in America by Anthony Asadullah Samad

Professor Samad, who teaches political science at East Los Angeles College, is the author of the critically-acclaimed Souls for Sale: The Diary of an Ex-Colored Man. As highly-regarded as that revealing memoir of a politically-committed brother coming of age on the front lines of the Civil Rights struggle, his latest tome offers an even more educational, thought-provoking, and compelling reading experience. �Read the rest of Kam William's Book Review

Is gangsta' rap a black thing which can only be fully appreciated by African-Americans? Are most hip-hop fans white? What about its message appeals to them? Why did the music catch on in suburbia? Is the industry fated to be dominated by white artists? Is hip-hop just a mass media phenomenon? Has the political perspective of young Americans been influenced by rap? How do they think about race, reparations and affirmative action?

These are some of the questions addressed by Bakari Kitwana in Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop: Wankstas, Wiggers, Wannabes, and the New Reality of Race in America. Mr. Kitwana comes to the subject with what one would presume to be a world of experience, having served as the executive editor of The Source, a popular hip-hop magazine. He has also taught political science at Kent State, served as a music critic on National Public Radio, written for the New York Times and The Village Voice and co-founded the first National Hip-Hop Political Convention. �Read the rest of Kam William's Book Review

I have no idea what Dr. Cosby did to tick Dr. Dyson off this badly. And while I may be the first to admit that this sort of invasion of privacy makes for a fascinating read, it by no means settles the debate about any of the social issues it pretends to address. For in a most infuriating fashion it simply scratches the surface again and again, only to uncover more surface in each instance. A book you can't put down, but for all the wrong reasons.  �Read the rest of Kam William's Book Review

Now, just in time for Father's Day, Kofi and company have published Real Men Cook, a smorgasbord of recipes created by unsung heroes not only from the Windy City, but from African-American neighborhoods all over the country. But as important as the succulent treats featured in this coffee table book's glossy, full-page photos are the corresponding tributes to the chefs shown sharing their culinary secrets.  �Read the rest of Kam William's Book Review

Back then, Reverend Ike was one of a kind. Today, apparently, his money-oriented interpretation of the Gospels have spawned a host of imitators, inspiring Milmon F. Harrison to write Righteous Riches: The Word of Faith Movement in Contemporary African-American Religion. The author knows his subject matter intimately, for he spent many years and even met his wife in just such a church after being "born again" in 1987. �Read the rest of Kam William's Book Review

"Everybody gotta have a dream." That such a banal statement at face value can come to mean something far more profound and inspiring is reflective of the feat writer-director Craig Brewer achieves with Hustle & Flow. In fact, the title pretty well sums up the contradictions that he somehow makes fully functional in his Sundance sensation: taking ideas and material that seem rather forced and contrived on paper and make them flow into a naturally cohesive, rousing, and surprisingly moving whole.

Anyone expecting this adaptation to measure up to the classic television series might want to consider passing on this unrecognizable overhaul designed with a fresh, young audience in mind. For long gone are any of the elements which made the first so memorable: the poignant thread of social realism running through the core of the story, the witty repartee among the characters, and the intangible of chemistry which rendered the program timeless.

Cedric the Entertainer - Interview by Kam Williams
http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/cedric_the_entertainer.htm

Cedric Kyles was born in Jefferson City, Missouri on April 24, 1964 (the same day and year of actor Djimon Hounsou's birth). Before he found his true calling, he majored in communications at S.E. Missouri State and whiled away his days gainfully employed by State Farm Insurance. But after several years trying his hand on the stand-up circuit, he finally quit his day job in 1992, after landing a job hosting BET's Comicview as Cedric the Entertainer.

Native New Yorker Perry (Anthony Mackie) is �young, gifted and black.� Oh, and �gay,� too. And when his homophobic father catches him in a compromising position with another guy, the promising fine artist gets the boot and has to add "struggling" to that string of descriptive adjectives.

Surprisingly, getting kicked out of the house might be the best thing that ever happened to Perry because it serendipitously forces him to come to grips with his homosexuality. The man who happens to help him in this regard is Bruce Nugent, a hobo he meets at a homeless shelter.

If this country is as dysfunctional, divided and downright demented as suggested by the relentlessly unsettling Crash, then Heaven help us all. Leave it to a Canadian, recent Oscar-nominee Paul Haggis (for his screenplay adaptation of Million Dollar Baby), to shed some most-chilling light on how sub-cultures inter-relate across class and color lines in present-day America. Haggis makes an impressive enough directorial debut with this thought-provoking morality play to warrant serious consideration come Oscar season.

Terrence Howard - Interview by Kam Williams
http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/terrence_howard.htm

Terrence Dashon Howard was born in Chicago on March 11, 1969. He developed his interest in acting while spending summers with his late grandmother, the legendary stage diva Minnie Gentry. His own career began on The Cosby Show which led to appearances in such TV shows as Living Single, Coach, Family Matters, NYPD Blue, Soul Food and Picket Fences.

Thandie Newton - Interview by Kam Williams
http://www.aalbc.com/reviews/thandie_newton.htm

Thandiwe (pronounced 'Tan-dee') Adjewa Newton was born in Zambia on November 6, 1972, but was raised in Penzance, Cornwall by her parents, a Zimbabwean princess and a British subject. As a young girl, she studied dance, but any hopes for a career in that endeavor were dashed by an unfortunate back injury.

Instead, the delicate, wan-like beauty decided on acting. But when, as a teen, she first moved to Los Angeles, she failed to find work, ostensibly because of her English accent. So, she returned home and matriculated at Cambridge which is where she earned a degree in anthropology.

Videos and Photos from Book Expo American, New York City, June 2005  Watch Videos of Authors, Publishers and African-American publishing professionals

Including Videos of:

Thumper with Author Reginald Hall
Gregory S. Parks, Author & Ron Kavanaugh, Publisher Mosaic Magazine
Dr. Rosie Milligan, CEO Milligan Books
Tony Rose, Publisher, Amber Communications Group
jessica Care moore Poole, Poet, Author and Publisher More Black Press
Brandon Massey, Author Within the Shadows
Relentless, Author of "Push"
Susan McHenry, Founding Editor & Angela Dodson Executive Editor of Black Issues Book Review magazine
Felicia Hurst, President, Black Pearl Books Inc.
Wade Hudson, President & CEO, Just Us Books
Walter Mosley & Tonya Marie Evans founder of FYOS Entertainment, LLC
Anita Shari Peterson, President PCG Literary Marketing

I am weak when it comes to reading books on subjects off the normally beaten path of bestselling African-American novels. My ears perked up when I received a review copy of The Lion�s Brood: the Story of Hannibal by Rafael Scott. I have not read any works of fiction or any non fiction titles about Hannibal. I�m not saying that none have been written, just that I have not read any of them. Lion�s Brood held my interest right away. Regrettably, although the novel had an excellent beginning, I finished it with an empty feeling of a hope unrealized. �Read the rest of Thumper's Book Review

Before hip hop pioneers like the Sugar Hill Gang, Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel or Run DMC, there was The Last Poets. Called the "Godfathers of rap", for their performances which merged street smart poetry that rhymed, set to musical backgrounds, The Last Poets, a seven member group, was formed during the Civil Rights era on May 16, 1968, the anniversary of Malcolm X's birthday, as voices of Black consciousness. Known for political poetry, the Harlem based group, fused African drums and song with themes of Black Nationalism, "We were influenced by all the music of our people," says Oyewole, "... Spirituals, jazz, rhythm and blues and salsa."

Aminah Paden
http://authors.aalbc.com/aminah.htm

Author of Messages From The Holy Spirit: Reflections on my life as a Truth student; Aminah Paden began receiving messages from the Holy Spirit in 1993. For more than ten years, she has devoted herself to seeking the Truth about the inner self. Her journey has taken her through the physical, metaphysical, scientific, religious, and spiritual. She has learned how to apply the spiritual principles and techniques she�s learned in her business and personal life.

Karoline Bertha Jones
http://authors.aalbc.com/karoline.htm

Jones is author of Someone to Love.  Writing for over twenty five years, Someone to Love is the first published novel from Karoline Bethea-Jones. She has written a volume of poetry, a book of short stories, and is currently applying the finishing touches to her next two writing projects, Fragile Heart, and Deception which will complete the entire trilogy of Stephanie Collins.