Big Sole Blog (BSB)

I just learned through a friend on Facebook that The Famous Jett Jackson actor Lee Thompson Young is dead at age 29. According reports from TMZ and hard news organizations such as ABC and the Chicago Tribune, Jackson committed suicide. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Young didn't show up for work today, say sources. His landlord discovered his body after someone on staff with

Phenomenal movie critic Roger Ebert passed away today. I knew he had cancer and had been suffering with the disease for years and that he was older than I am, so perhaps I should have perceived that he may pass away soon. Yet even when I saw in my news feed yesterday a headline saying that his cancer had returned, I did not expect only two days later to hear of his death. Why would I expect to

What can I say about the death of Rodney King at age 47 but R.I.P., accidental and imperfect icon. I wish I could say that his death represents the end of an era, but with the Trayvon Martin case, the Darius Simmons case (not his murder as much as how the police treated the family while his body lay on the sidewalk) and other similar cases, I know any announcement of an end to police officers

Via YouTube, "Whitney Houston's mentor Clive Davis pays tribute to the singer just hours after her death at his pre-Grammy party. Report by Mark Morris." You may also appreciate BlogHer's tribute to the star, and more tributes and news at CNN.

The first video in this post shows a scene from a 1974 Soul Train episode in which Soul Train creator Don Cornelius interviews the Godfather of Soul James Brown, and the clip includes a young Al Sharpton presenting Brown with an award. I thought this clip would be appropriate upon hearing that Don Cornelius has passed away at age of 75. Soul Train did so much more for the black community than

This story reminds me of Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw's movie, Love Story, but this story is true and the people are African-American.I discovered this true love story through a friend who shared it on Facebook via Clutch Magazine. LaKeasha Monique Rutledge-Draft and NFL free agent Chris Draft, the couple in a very moving weding video, were married on November 27, 2011, and one month later,

When I first heard four hours ago that Steve Jobs died today, I couldn't take in the information. And I still can't take it in even though I knew about his battle against pancreatic cancer and his liver transplant. I figured when he resigned from Apple in August that his health was an issue. So, I'll just place a few links here.Steve Jobs's Stanford speechMy Neighbor, Steve JobsGoodnight, Steve

I am saddened to report that author Leslie Esdaile Banks has passed away. You may recognize her under the name L. A. Banks. I learned of this news through Tananarive Due's Facebook page, but I have confirmed it through other sources. Ms. Banks wrote the The Vampire Huntress Legend series, and I first discussed her fiction in a piece called "The Indisputably Black Vampires of Jewelle Gomez, L.A.

The L.A. Times and other news sources report that singer Phoebe Snow has died from complications due to a stroke suffered in January 2010. I love her music, which was a large part of my youth in the 1970s. I am saddened at this news. She was 60 years old.The video up top is Snow singing "Poetry Man," and the one below is "Love Makes A Woman" with dancers on Soul Train. A DJ played the latter at

CNN is reporting that R&B singer Teena Marie, known for singing with the late Rick James and also having a powerhouse voice, has died in her sleep at age 54. Her manager says she suffered a grand mal seizure earlier this year. The video below is the original recording of "Fire and Desire," her most famous duet with James and the version I bought when I was a 19 or 20 and it was new. I bought it