History Making MovesTavis Smiley has made history. His new book
'The Covenant with Black America,' is currently Number One on 'New York Times' Best Seller list. And according to Third World Press, the book's publisher, the trade paperback's listing has made it the first African-American-owned publishing house to have a title listed on the coveted list.
'The Covenant,' a collection of essays offering a plan of action to address ten of the most important issues impacting black people today, entered the list five weeks ago. It also hit Number One on the 'Washington Post' and 'Publisher’s Weekly's Best Sellers lists, and has been rated the top seller on Amazon.com in all categories.
"Tavis Smiley has risen to the occasion in the marketing of the book,"
Haki Madhubuti, founder and president of the Chicago based publishing house, told Black Voices. "Without doubt or hesitation the success of 'The Covenant' must be contributed to a higher degree to his dedication to the project."
"Mainly, Black people are reading 'The Covenant,'" he added. "Most black people in America, most certainly after
Hurricane Katrina, realize there is something essential missing in their lives. And many of them understand that one element that they do not have direct access to is knowledge--knowledge about their lives that allows them to heal, to create and to understand wealth gathering, the importance of community and why education has not been number one on our list of priorities … it’s not a fluke. You’ve got readers and non-readers buying this book."
Madhubuti, a Chicago State University professor who contributed the book's afterword, also attributes an extensive marketing effort to the 'The Covenant's' success, and an aggressive push to have the book ready for release by this year’s State of the Black Union symposium, which was held in Houston Feb. 25. "Everyone here really came on board with this project," he explained. "With a window of less than three months, the book was not only ready on time; it was ready more than one month ahead of schedule. That’s almost unheard of in this industry."
The idea of 'The Covenant' came out of more than 3,500 responses to a poll that asked African Americans what issues they were most concerned about. The book sets out to identify ten of these issues and provide a blueprint for what individuals, public policymakers and corporate citizens can do to move the African American community forward, socially and economically.
"Tavis, whose idea for the book originated on his 2005 Town Hall Meeting, felt that in keeping with the principals and values of the idea, it was appropriate to come to a Black publishing company,'" Madhubuti added.
More Flavor To Savor
VH1 announced it has picked up ten more one-hour episodes of its wildly popular reality series
'Flavor of Love.' Currently searching for women who really want to be
Public Enemy hype-man
Flavor Flav's beloved in season two, the show will begin production in Los Angeles next month.
The new season will pick up after Flav and first season winner
Hoopz realize their relationship will not work out.
"After spending so much time with Flavor Flav on 'Surreal Life' and 'Flavor of Love,' we shared his frustration at not having found love," executive producers
Mark Cronin and
Chris Abrego said in a statement. "Thankfully, the success of the first season and Flav's popularity enables us to have a second chance at finding him the right woman."
During its first season, "Love" was the highest rated series in VH1 history, with three of its ten episodes making VH1's top ten rated commercial telecasts of all time. For its 90-minute season finale, the show again made VH1 history by becoming the network's top rated telecast of all time, garnering a rating of 3.51 among adults18 to 49.
Action JacksonNew music from
Janet Jackson is causing a buzz. But according to the platinum-selling entertainer, the so-called 'new music' that was reportedly leaked on the Internet isn't new at all. "A couple of years ago I recorded some tracks with
Rich Harrison. But none of that music will appear on my new album," Jackson said in a statement. "I have a tight rein on all of the music that has been recorded," she added. "So all of the websites or blogs hinting that these songs are from '20 Years Old’ are false."
Since the 2004 'Super Bowl' 'wardrobe malfunction' controversy, Jackson has kept a relatively low profile and has not made any public statements. According to her publicist, '20 Years Old' will be released later this year.
Hudlin, dead prez HonoredBlack Filmmaker Foundation President
Warrington Hudlin, rootsy rap duo
dead prez and filmmaker
Thomas Allen Harris will be honored at Imagenation's 2006 REVOLUTION! Awards at the Apollo Theater on June 2. Hosted by former 'Honey' magazine editor
Michaela angela Davis and
M1 of dead prez, the benefit event honors artists and industry leaders of color who use their works to inspire social change and help foster solidarity throughout the African Diaspora. Previous awards recipients include
Chuck D, Erykah Badu,
Roger Guenveur Smith, Talib Kweli and
Joe Brewster. The concert and award ceremony will feature performances from dead prez, and
Martin Luther. Proceeds from REVOLUTION! will go towards opening the Imagenation Soul Cinema; Harlem's first independent art house cinema and the nation's only cinema dedicated to films from the African Diaspora, scheduled to open later this year.
