Jimmy Cliff, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee

Jamaican artist-legend, Jimmy Cliff was inducted into The Rock and Roll hall of fame. Jimmy cliff found superstardom in 1960's and 1970's. He was responsible for hits, such as, The Harder the Come, I Can See Clearly Now, Many River to Cross, Reggae Night, amongst others. He star in the 1973 mega hit film, The Harder They Come,portraying his real life persona. This helped propell his career even furthur, and gave him world wide recognition. Congrates to Jimmy Cliff for his achievement.

Here is one of his most popular hits: You Can Get It If You Really Want

Is There Anything Kobe Bryant Can't Do?

I think this is the year of Kobe Bryant, the player of heroics. He has made some shots in the past, but this year he has taken it to a different level. Time after time, during the season, he has made some spectacular shots. Last night, basically summed up why he is considered the best player in the NBA, as he has demonstrated his greatness over and over again. After missing games with numerous injuries, Kobe Bryant return to the line up, and picked up where he left off, by leaving a dagger in the heart of the Memphis fans, hitting a three pointer, in the closing minutes to beat the Grizzles 99-98. Here is the recap incase you missed it.

Claude McKay

Claude McKay was born in Jamaica on 15th September, 1890. He began writing poetry as a schoolboy. He worked as a policeman in Spanish Town and when he was twenty-two had his first volume of poems, Songs of Jamaica (1912) published.

In 1912 McKay moved to the United States where he attended Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and Kansas State University. He continued to write poetry and in 1918 his work was praised by both Frank Harris and Max Eastman. The following year, his poem, If We Must Die, was published in Eastman's journal, The Liberator.

Frank Harris encouraged McKay to obtain writing experience in England. In 1919 McKay travelled to England where he met George Bernard Shaw who introduced him to influential left-wing figures in journalism. This included Sylvia Pankhurst, who recruited him to write for her trade union journal, Workers' Dreadnought. While in London McKay read the works of Karl Marx and becomes a committed socialist.

In 1921 McKay returned to New York and became associate editor of The Liberator. Over the next year the journal published articles by McKay such as How Black Sees Green and Red and He Who Gets Slapped. He also published his best known volume of verse, Harlem Shadows (1922).

In 1922 McKay went to Third International in Moscow where he represented the American Workers Party. He stayed in Europe where he wrote Trial by Lynching: Stories About Negro Life in America (1925) and Home to Harlem (1928), a novel about a disillusioned black soldier in the US Army who returns from the Western Front to live in a black ghetto. This was followed by other novels such as Banjo (1928), Gingertown (1932) and Banana Bottom (1933).

McKay gradually lost faith in communism and returned to the United States in 1934. Employment was difficult to find and for a while he worked for the Federal Writers' Project. McKay's published work during this period included his autobiography, A Long Way From Home (1937) and Harlem: Negro Metropolis (1940).

Unable to make a living from writing, McKay found work in a shipbuilding yard. In 1943 he suffers a stroke and the following year was baptized into the Roman Catholic faith. In 1945 his essay, On Becoming a Roman Catholic, was published. Claude McKay died in Chicago on 22nd May, 1948.

Who is the real Superman?

Who has the right to be called the man of steal? Is it Dwight Howard or Shaquille O'Neal? If you look at both players resumes, It’s impressive to see what they have done, and the impact that they have made this far. Especially Shaquille O'Neal, who has been in the league for 18 years, and has won 4 championships, as he is on his way to maybe winning his fifth. He has displayed superman like stats over the years, and he has been proclaimed the most dominant player in the history of the game. Just look at the monstrous numbers he has produced. He is in fifth place for the all-time scoring list. Dwight Howard, who is an upcoming big man, has distinguished himself from the other centers in the league. He has displayed some impressive numbers, and has been considered one of the best leapers in the game today. Dwight Howard under the guidance of Patrick Ewing, he has shown glimpses of what's about to come, not to consider he has not reached his prime. I feel that both extradinary centers, but its Shaquille O'Neal who has the right to claim the title as the original man of steal. For what he has done for the game of basketball already. If you ask me in twenty years, maybe my opinion will change, but for now, I am going with the Diesel. Shaquille O'Neal who has changed the game with his dominance during my generation. Who do you think has the right to be called the man of steal?

Aaron Douglas

born May 26, 1899, Topeka, Kan., U.S. — died Feb. 2, 1979, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. painter and graphic artist. In 1925 he moved to New York City, where he joined the burgeoning arts scene in Harlem that later became known as the Harlem Renaissance. In his magazine illustrations and murals, he synthesized Cubist forms with stylized and geometric shapes drawn from African art. Perhaps his most significant work was a series of four murals, collectively titled Aspects of Negro Life, for the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. His illustrations are widely known for their tonal gradations and Art Deco-style silhouettes. He taught at Fisk University from 1939 to 1966.

When the Sun Rises

When the sun rises, look to the sky,

If you stare long enough, it just might catch your eye,

Feel the warmth, the light, the joy, the comfort

When it makes you smile,

Trust me, when the sun rises,

The radiant light can make you blind

Because the feelings are unstable,

The emotions are unbearable,

When the sun rises,

Just keep hope alive,

Because when the sun sets,

It’s now or never, without any regrets.

Maya Angelou

Born Marguerite Johnson, Maya Angelou spent her formative years shuttling between St. Louis, Missouri, a tiny, totally segregated town in Arkansas, and San Francisco where she realized her ambition of becoming that city's first black streetcar conductor. During the 1950s, she studied dancing with Pearl Primus in New York, later appearing as a nightclub singer in New York and San Francisco. She worked as an editor for The Arab Observer, an English-language weekly published in Cairo; lived in Accra, Ghanna, where under the black nationalist regime of Kwame Nkrumah she taught music and drama; and studied cinematography in Sweden. She became a national celebrity in 1970 with the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, the first volume of her autobiography, which detailed her encounters with southern racism and a rape by her mother's lover.

In 1971, she produced Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie: The Poetry of Maya Angelou; in 1975, Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well; in 1979, And Still I Rise; and in 1983, Shaker Why Don't You Sing? In 1977, she was nominated for an Emmy award for her portrayal of Nyo Boto in the television adaptation of the best-selling novel "Roots."

Three more volumes of her autobiography have been published: Gather Together in My Name (1974); Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976); and The Heart of a Woman (1981). In 1986, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes was published. Angelou's other works include Mrs. Flowers: A Moment of Friendship, and Now Sheba Sings the Song.

On January 20, 1993, Angelou read her poem, "On the Pulse of Morning," during the inauguration of President Bill Clinton.