2018

Writer: Ta-Nehisi Coates / Artist: Leinil Francis Yu / Marvel Comics

Captain America’s best adventures mostly fall into one of two buckets—a thinly veiled criticism of U.S. politics or a spy-movie where he gets to investigate and beat up foreign threats. The first few issues of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ run with the character blends both.

Issue #5 picks up in what would essentially be the climax of a James Bond movie. The only thing keeping the hero from saving the girl who’s strapped down to a table is a foe who’s got him in the corner. In this instance, “the girl” is Peggy Carter and the foe is Taskmaster.

The first few pages of the issue are devoted to a fight between Cap and Taskmaster and it handled masterfully. It shows Cap’s wealth of combat knowledge against a capable opponent and lays out just how unlikely is it that he always finds a way to win while still making it understood that he will.

After handling Taskmaster, Steve makes his way to the lab where he rescues Peggy. This is when the story appears to zoom out and go back to a wider lens by focusing on the context surrounding the latest events. The smear campaign against Captain America is full effect and an ill-intentioned foreign power has managed to get its claws deep into the minds of both the most vulnerable and most powerful of citizens.

We’ve gotten to see Steve get his hands dirty—literally, he was in a cave—but it appears that the future is ripe for a political thriller. If you’re a fan of Coates’ previous work, in or out of comics, this should give you a smile as you’re fully aware of the depth of knowledge and specificity of speculation he can bring to the arena.

It’s also appreciated that this issue got the story moving. A new arc should be on the horizon soon and it’ll be a good opportunity to reset the game board and introduce some big pieces to shake things up.

8.2 out of 10

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The STARZ Original Series Counterpart season 2 is coming to the STARZ network and promises to be just as explosive as last season. There are new characters, some familiar faces, and a mission to get to the bottom of the whole “interloper from the other side” business before it blows both worlds apart.

Betty Gabriel joins the cast as Naya Temple, the badass investigator who seems part Amanda Waller from Suicide Squad (the Viola Davis version from the movie) and a dash of Angela Bassett from Mission Impossible: Fallout. She is a seasoned investigator who the Office of Interchange hired to sniff out the plot and the players. It doesn’t seem to take her long to get on the trail of our favorite office stiff turned spy Howard, played by J.K. Simmons.

Here’s an exclusive clip that you will see first on BGN. Watch and tell us what you think of the new investigator Naya, and what you think will happen this season.

Counterpart returns December 9th on STARZ and the STARZ app.

The post Exclusive: ‘Counterpart’ Season 2 Clip with Betty Gabriel as Interchange Investigator appeared first on Black Girl Nerds.

Model and beauty entrepreneur Tatiana Elizabeth Price created skinBUTTR out of the comfort of her home. Coming to the conclusion that she wasn’t the only person dealing with skin issues, she leaped into action and turned her passion into a business. After investing $100 into a Shopify account, she created a product, posted it on the site, and started generating revenue. The skincare line has now grown to include multiple products that consist of toners, facial masks, cleansers, exfoliators, and moisturizers.

“I started skinBUTTR about four years ago,” said Price. “I figured these products might help other people as well, so I went to school for esthetics and I figured how I could make my products appeal to more people than just myself.”

(Image: skinBUTTR)

What was once a hobby quickly became a fully-fledged business for the young entrepreneur. She now balances her business with her modeling career—she is currently signed to State Management—and her day-to-day activities as a beauty influencer.

“As easy as it looks, it’s not that simple being an influencer,” said Price. “You have to conform to deadlines, make sure that your content is consistent, and make sure that your audience is actually relating to your content, all while making sure that you are staying true to who you are.”

Watch the full episode of Price’s inspiring journey and witness what one of her days consists of as she takes over the MGM properties with three other notable influencers: food stylist and blogger Megan Hysaw; model and actor Keith Carlos; and model, rapper, and actor Don Benjamin.

The Takeover is a web series that gives you a bird’s eye view into the life of four influencers and the BLACK ENTERPRISE team as they take over the MGM properties exploring all the amazing attractions that the resort has to offer. This series is powered by MGM Resorts. 

The post Beauty Entrepreneur turned $100 into a Fully-Fledged Business [Video] appeared first on Black Enterprise.

There were two big revelations from First Lady Michelle Obama’s new memoir, Becoming Michelle Obama (Crown; $19.48). First, is her revealing her miscarriage. The second is her daughters, Sasha and Malia, were conceived by IVF (in-vitro fertilization).

It’s this candor that makes Michelle Obama so beloved and such an inspiring figure particularly for women of color. Throughout the book, Obama shares insights of a life of pomp and circumstance as a first lady, yet one also filled with the everyday worries, anxieties, and self-doubts of so many women who hold it down as mothers and working professionals face. Obama’s balancing acts are just as commonplace and practical as many women charged with managing both worlds and realities.

From her new memoir, here are seven ‘real-life’ moments Obama shares to which so many black women can relate:

Her husband’s great idea didn’t seem so great to her as a wife – which speaks to the pragmatism of many black women.

When the opportunity arose for Barack Obama to run for Illinois Senate, she “didn’t think it was a great idea,” and thought her affable husband would “get eaten alive” by the political world. “But maybe I can do some good,” he said with a “bemused shrug.”

Barack Obama, perhaps as many wives and partners complain, was reluctant to try couples’ counseling after his entry into politics began to take a toll on their marriage.

“He was accustomed to throwing his mind at complicated problems and reasoning them out on his own…[]..Sitting down in front of a stranger struck him as uncomfortable, if not a tad dramatic.”

She felt uncomfortable in unfamiliar surroundings as a black woman.

In the book Obama writes Washington was confusing “with its decorous traditions and sober real-regard, its whiteness and maleness, its ladies having lunch off to one side.”

She wasn’t an instant cheerleader for her partners ambitions, but rather, a cautious pessimist.

Black women often show reserved caution toward loved ones’ ambitions, knowing how hard the world is on people of color. She thought Obama would not win the presidency. “Barack was a black man in America, after all. I didn’t really think he could win.”

As do many women, she placed blame on herself, even when not actually warranted.

For instance, she blamed herself for the ‘First time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country’ controversy. “In trying to speak casually, I’d forgotten how weighted each little phrase could be. Unwittingly, I’d given the haters a fourteen-word feast.”

She, as so many black women, had to deal with the “angry, black woman” stereotype.

“I was female, black, and strong, which to certain people, maintaining a certain mind-set, translated only to ‘angry.’..[]…I was now starting to actually feel a bit angry, which then made me feel worse, as if I were fulfilling some prophecy laid out for me by haters…”

She needed to stay connected with her sisterhood tribe.

On occasional retreats with her old girlfriends from her Chicago hood: “They gave me a lift anytime I felt down or frustrated or had les access to Barack. They grounded me when I felt the pressures of being judged, having everything from my nail-polish color to the size of my hips dissected and discussed publicly.”

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