Jack & Jill Politics

One of my favorite actors, Harry Lennix, got married.

Djena Graves and Harry Lennix III

Published: June 26, 2009

Djena Nichole Graves and Harry Joseph Lennix III were married Saturday. The Rev. Earl McClellan, a nondenominational Christian minister, officiated at the Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin, Tex.

Mrs. Lennix, 35, is the director of business development at ICV Capital Partners, an investment management company in New York. She is on the board of the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, a New York advocacy and support group for sexually exploited girls and women, and the Harlem Success Academy, a charter school. She graduated from Florida A&M University and received an M.B.A. from New York University.

She is a daughter of Barbara H. Graves of Missouri City, Tex., and Eric R. Graves Sr. of Austin. Her father, who is retired, worked in Houston as the senior vice president of corporate communications for a print and television subsidiary of Loomis Publishing Services, which publishes periodicals and produces videos for the energy industry. Her mother retired as a neurosurgical operating room nurse at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital in Houston. She is a stepdaughter of Patricia F. Graves.

Mr. Lennix, 44, is a television, film and theater actor. He currently has a principal role on “Dollhouse,” a Fox television series. In 2007, Mr. Lennix made his Broadway debut in August Wilson’s “Radio Golf.” He is a trustee of the Robey Theater Company in Los Angeles. He graduated from Northwestern.

He is a son of Lillian C. Lennix of Chicago and the late Mr. Lennix Jr. His father was a machinist at Taylor Forge & Pipe Works in Chicago.

The couple met through a friend after Ms. Graves attended a performance of “Radio Golf.”

A version of this article appeared in print on June 28, 2009, on page ST14 of the New York edition.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/fashion/weddi…

About 44, 45

i found this comment on balloonjuice.com on a post about the media coverage of MJ death. I know some people have been complaining about the amount of coverage, this comment attempts to address this, and I think it does so very well.

media coverage of MJ death

Brachiator

James Joyner thinks the coverage of MJ’s death is over the top, and I completely agree. I will, however, note that while the MJ coverage is over the top, it still pales in comparison to the three day self-absorbed wankfest that followed Tim Russert’s death.

I guess the reference to Russert confirms that the blogosphere is its own kind of Village. While NBC and some newspapers covered Russert, it didn’t have anywhere near the world-wide impact of Jackson’s death.

I mean, people were noting how they got a copy of Thriller when they were kids and wore it out. I don’t recall reading many talking about how they got a video of a Russert MTP episode and watched it all day and night for weeks.

And while I see that many people have some kind of magical internal grief monitor by which they calibrate appropriate levels of grief that other people should feel or express, you really should keep this narcissistic shit to yourselves.

As I walked along the streets of Southern California yesterday, I was struck by the number of foreign language newspapers that had MJ on the front page. And noodling a bit at work, I was struck by this photo montage from the Daily Mail (Shocked fans gathered around the world to mourn Michael Jackson).

On the way home, I was listening to LA Times reporter and talk show host Patt Morrison on public radio, asking for listener reaction to Jackson’s death. One woman, originally from Saudi Arabia, spoke about hearing MJ on pirate radio broadcasts and how his music was connected with her dreams of wanting something more in her life than was laid out for her by her society. Another listener, from Romania, spoke about being able to see Jackson during one of his world tours, noting how the concert was attached to his memories of unshackling from totalitarianism.

A music industry executive noted how Jackson’s albums Off the Wall and especially Thriller broke big worldwide, where the past model was for even the most well-known artist to break big in the US and maybe the UK, and then gradually roll out in other countries. The Wiki notes of Thriller:

Following the release of the album’s first single “The Girl Is Mine”, some observers assumed Thriller would only be a minor hit record. With the release of the second single “Billie Jean”, the album topped the charts in many countries. At its peak, the album was selling a million copies a week worldwide. In just over a year, Thriller became—and currently remains—the best-selling album of all time.

But again I note that Jackson, musically and culturally speaking, had been a part of people’s lives since first burst onto the scene with the Jackson 5. Many people grew up along with him.

ricky —Name one musical contribution Jackson made that has lasted beyond the MTV playlist change.

I don’t know. In my little universe, any time corporate racism is blasted is a good day. Before MJ, the assumption was that white people might explode—just freaking blow up in their living rooms—if they saw black performers showing up on their teevees.

burnspbesq—Coltrane died at age 39. That was a tragedy, and an incalcuable loss.

This is a pointless game of one-upsmanship. You might as well say something like “Franz Schubert died at age31. That was a tragedy, and an incalculable loss.”

More real is the tangible impact that a musician or performer has on those who listen to their work, or who have had the pleasure of actually seeing them perform at their creative peak. Their effect on people’s eyes, ears and hearts is so great that they can barely believe it when the artist dies, and perhaps explains why some semi-seriously (and others with an obsessive weirdness) maintain that Elvis is still alive. And it certainly explains this often noted reaction to the death of jazz musician—yes, Wile E. Quixote—jazz musician Charlie Parker:

Shortly after Parker died, graffiti began appearing around New York with the words ‘Bird Lives.’

there's talk of the company trying to convince his family to have him buried there and use the huge revenue stream that a graceland style attraction would undoubtedly generate to settle his estate etc. i get it, and i'm sure it could be a great place, but there's also something incredibly sad and disturbing about it all, and i almost hope they don't.
the man himself said that after the trial and having investigators comb through the place, that it felt violated and that's why he didn't go back and live there; the man deserves some peace in death and perhaps that's really not the best place for him to get it, for once he deserves to not be used in service of yet another spectacle. i just hope that in everything that happens from here on out, someone is actually thinking about what michael would've wanted; god knows not enough people did that when he was alive.

If they do that she won't want them. I think that maybe the nanny who has taken care of them all these years would probably be the better one to have them. Since Michael kept them away from his family they don't really know them and they don't know the gold digger who is the biological mother; at least they could continue their life with someone they know well and it would be less traumatic for them. Mrs Jackson certainly isn't well enough to care for them. This will be a real problem for those children; but I certainly don't think they should be given to the biological mother. She sold them to Michael twice and it seems the courts would take that into consideration.

Oh they are probably lying or made up something since that is usually what their news is made of. I wouldn't believe anything they say unless I was there and saw it myself.

Miranda: I 'on't know! :>) Parker 404 seems to B in the “ballpark.” I've looked at several “BIOS” –without AGES!.

+ Monica Conyers is Congressman John Conyers Wife

Meet Monica Conyers, Detroit City Councilwoman and Congressman John Conyers’ wife. She’s also facing federal corruption charges. Read about it below, read her biography and see photos and a some videos of some of her misbehavior.
Monica Conyers 1

Monica Conyers is nothing if not entertaining. Unfortunately as the Detroit City Council President Pro-Tempore and Congressman John Conyers wife, she wields a certain amount of power. She has a long history of being difficult. She’s the only Detroit City Council member to vote to keep Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in office, for instance. She has been known to threaten people with guns and get into shouting matches at city council meetings. You can enjoy some of her antics by viewing the videos below.

She is currently under indictment on corruption charges. She has ‘received a pre-indictment letter from federal authorities who have given her until the end of today to reach a plea deal or they will proceed with possible criminal charges against her.’ She’s resisting the plea deal and instead, went on her weekly Detroit television show and told Detroit citizens that they’d better pray for her and pray for her NOW, or else.

“I just want to say that first and foremost publicly that I am a child of God,” she said. “And that all these things that are going on right now that I believe in my heart that God will deliver me from them. And so I say to all of the people out there if you’re not praying for me, then you’re just adding to the problem. And I would just respectfully ask that you keep your comments to yourselves and if you’re going to speak about someone, speak the truth. If you don’t have the truth to say, then keep your comments to yourself. You can’t comment on me, my husband or my family because you don’t know us. And for those of you who do know us, you know how to speak appropriately about us. And so I just say for all of you who have kept me in your prayers, who continue to lift me up in Jesus’ name every day, I just want to say thank you.”

As if Detroit doesn’t have enough problems already. Classy lady.

Monica Conyers Biography

Monica Conyers received her Bachelors degree from Bennett College with a major in Secondary Education and Political Science. Her Masters Degree is in Public Administration from Central Michigan University. She earned a Juris Doctor from the Univeristy of District of Columbia School of Law. She is a member of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Order of the Easter Star and is on the Board of Directors of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation. She is co-chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Spouse’s Association.

Conyers served as an Intern in the Lyndon B. Johnson administration. She worked for 16 years in the Detroit Public School system as a teacher and administrator. She has been a member of the Detroit City Council and current serves as the Council President Pro Tempore.

As a child, Conyers worked as a papergirl, helping to support her family of seven. She has been married to U.S. Representative John Conyers for 17 years. They are the parents of two sons. John Conyers III is a student at the University of Georgia. Their other son, Carl, lives in Detroit.

There are PICS & VIDEOS in this article.

NO AGE! :>) :>)

She's YOUNGER than him! WE KNOW! :>)