1. Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose Begin Shooting Half a Yellow Sun
The film adaptation of prize-winning novel Half a Yellow Sun is underway in Calabar, Nigeria. Thandie Newton, Anika Noni Rose, Attack the Block breakout star John Boyega and Chiwetel Ejiofor will star in the epic love story. [MORE]

2. Alicia Keys Dishes on Traveling Alone, Breastfeeding, and Body Image
During an intimate interview on Lifetime’s new show The Conversation, Alicia Keys opened up about raising her son Egypt with husband Swizz Beatz, the pains of breastfeeding, sex, and body image.

“I think that we as females are like the most beautiful, gorgeous creatures on the world and I think that we’re gorgeous no matter what size that we are. In fact, I personally think that we are more beautiful when we are a bit thicker, bigger and more robust. I just think it’s gorgeous,” Keys said. [MORE]

3. Five Diseases Doctors Misdiagnose in Blacks
Millions of Americans spend years suffering from unexplained health problems. Sometimes even the best doctors miss the mark: About 40 percent of all mistakes that doctors make are misdiagnoses, says the National Patient Safety Foundation. That’s because many ailments have similar symptoms or can be detected only with tests that your physician might consider unnecessary if he’s confident in his verdict.

If you’re in the know about often-confused conditions, though, you can ask the right questions to prevent or fix an error — and even save your life. [MORE]

4. Michelle Obama Calls on Women to Take Charge of Their Health
Ever since Michelle Obama first came into the public spotlight, her famously toned arms have been the envy of women across the nation. In an article the first lady penned for Women’s Health magazine, she urges women to stop making excuses and get routine physicals and screenings. [MORE]

1. Jada Pinkett-Smith Talks Parenting, Fame, and Drugs with Mom and Willow
The first episode of Jada Pinkett-Smith’s new web series Red Table Talks has been released and in it she sits with her mom, Adrienne Banfield Jones, and daughter Willow to talk candidly about good parenting, Adrienne’s past drug use and how Willow feels about fame. To spark topics of conversation and promote open communication between them, the three wrote down questions that were then dropped into a bowl for them to pick from as well as a few must-have questions that Jada jotted into her notebook. [MORE]

2. White Women More Likely Than Black Women to Smoke Cigarettes While Pregnant
Twelve percent of all American babies are born premature — before 37 weeks — which translates into roughly half a million babies a year. And while lack of access to quality prenatal care, obesity, stress and other diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes play a role in those numbers, so does substance abuse. A recent report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) highlights just how common and serious smoking, drinking alcohol and abusing drugs are among expectant mothers. And what they found is eye-opening. [MORE]

3. Newsweek Cover Heralds Obama as “First Gay President”
President Obama has been named the “first gay president” on the cover of the just released Newsweek issue, which features the president with a rainbow halo over his head. The cover comes a week after the president publicly supported the legalization of same-sex marriage. In the cover story, Andrew Sullivan, who is gay, says that as the offspring of a white American woman and an African man Obama grew up understanding what it’s like to be different. [MORE]

4. Trayvon Martin’s Mother Gets Donated Vacation Time
Employees of the Miami-Dade County housing authority have pooled together eight months of paid leave to support Sybrina Fulton’s fight to see justice served in the death of her son. [MORE]

1. WEtv Renews Mary Mary for Second Season
Gospel fans everywhere can say “Hallelujah!”

WEtv has renewed Mary Mary, the reality show about gospel sisters Erica and Tina Campbell, for a second season. The network has ordered ten hour-long episodes to begin airing in early 2013. [MORE]

2. Essence Magazine Honors Beauty Professionals and Top Products
This week, Essence magazine celebrated its second annual “Best in Black Beauty Awards” in New York City. The event, which was hosted by Essence’s beauty director, Corynne Corbett, and celeb stylist June Ambrose, highlighted the best beauty products as well as the top professionals in the field.

“We are in the business of celebrating Black beauty and the brands that get it right,” Corbett told the Huffington Post. “What better way to not only recognize those brands but also the people who are creating the products behind the scenes, in the studios, in the labs and beyond.” [MORE]

3. The 411 on Black Girls and Eating Disorders
Recently on VH1’s Behind the Music, singer and star of Moesha and BET’s The Game Brandy admitted that at the age of 19 she developed an eating disorder. It’s important to note that Brandy is not alone.

According to the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, up to 24 million people of all ages and genders suffer from an eating disorder (anorexia, bulimia and binge eating disorder). Yet only one in 10 men and women with eating disorders receive treatment. Also, 50 percent of people with eating disorders are considered depressed and eating disorders have the highest death rate of any mental illness. [MORE]

4. Cissy Houston: Reality Show Could Launch Bobbi Kristina’s Career
Bobbi Kristina’s move into reality television has the blessing of her grandmother Cissy Houston.

TMZ reports the Houston family matriarch is telling friends she fully supports plans for her granddaughter, along with Whitney Houston’s brother Gary, his wife Pat and their daughter Rayah, to appear in their own reality show. The family signed the deal for the 10-part docu-series, which will begin airing later this year, with the Lifetime network last week. [MORE]

5. Rev. Jesse Jackson: Push for Gay Marriage Rights Like Slavery Abolition
As the flurry of reactions to President Obama’s declaration in support of gay marriage continues to swirl, Rev. Jesse Jackson added his opinion to the mix, lauding Obama for taking the bold step, but also calling for the president to take an even stronger stance. On Thursday, Jackson said President Obama should throw his weight behind federal freedom of marriage legislation in the same way abolitionists sought federal laws banning slavery. [MORE]

1. Michael Ealy: “I’m Trying to Diversify”
Michael Ealy has been on quite a roll lately with the box office blockbuster Think Like a Man, cult hit Underworld: Awakening and recent recurring runs on Californication and The Good Wife. This week, he returns to TV in the USA Network series Common Law, playing LAPD Robbery-Homicide detective Travis Marks in a lighthearted series about partners who don’t exactly get along. In fact, they’re at each other’s throats most of the time. Ealy gave us the scoop about it and discusses his career so far. [MORE]

2. “Black Owned Business Directory” Launches Online
A website aimed at funneling more dollars to the nation’s Black-owned businesses has recently opened its virtual doors and hopes that making Black spending options a mere click away will encourage consumers to keep it in the community.

The Black Owned Business Directory’s new website, www.BlackOwnedBiz.com, provides consumers with listings of Black-owned enterprises from around the country and also offers support for business owners such as business tips, continuing education and general information about the Black community. [MORE]

3. Will Same-Sex Marriage Divide Obama and Black Voters?
Opposition to same-sex marriage is one of those so-called social values that Republicans like to boast they have in common with African-Americans. But, as polls show, it’s not quite that simple. And, like President Obama before his evolution on the issue was complete, Blacks are divided. [MORE]

4. Commentary: Miss Black France Haters, Your Racism Is Showing
This weekend, riot police stood on guard outside a small beauty pageant in France to keep a group of white protesters at bay.

What were they angry about? All of the pageant’s contestants were Black.

What did they want? A pageant of their own. [MORE]

When you think whiskey, you probably don’t think refreshing. But, such is not the case. The next time you and your co-workers meet for Happy Hour, or you invite friends to your home for a drink, make them a Whiskey Splash.

It’s tangy, sweet, and you can barely taste the depth of the whiskey.

The Crown Royal Whiskey Splash
Serves 1 glass

1.5 ounces Crown Royal®
1 ounce Sweet and Sour Mix
1 teaspoon Grenadine
3 ounces Club Soda

Combine Crown Royal whiskey, sweet and sour mix, and grenadine over ice in an Old Fashioned glass (reference picture above). Top with club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge.

1. Obama Says He Supports Same-Sex Marriage
Facing mounting pressure to make a commitment one way or another on same-sex marriage, President Obama came out in support of the controversial issue Wednesday afternoon. He is the first president to support the issue.

“I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together; when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married,” Obama told ABC News Wednesday. [MORE]

2. Sponsors Back Out of Basketball Wives
Forget cat fights and bullying, VH1’s Basketball Wives may have a real problem on its hands. After a petition to boycott the controversial reality show, backed by Star Jones, started gaining steam, the hit franchise has lost its first sponsor. [MORE]

3. Doctors’ Attitudes About Race Can Affect Your Health
Over the years there have been an abundance of studies that have exposed how physicians‘ own racism plays out in the examination room. A recent study adds more fuel to the fire. [MORE]

4. Facebook Helps Veterans, Military Families Prevent Suicide
With a staggering 800 million active users sharing all manner of intimate details about their lives, Facebook is taking the opportunity to do more than provide users with updates on the latest lunch selections of friends and family — they’re saving lives. In an effort to augment the social media hub’s existing suicide prevention tools available to all users, Facebook is rolling out additional assistance for military families, active service members and veterans who may be in need of help. [MORE]

1. Black Women Bear the Brunt of Premature Births in the U.S.
Findings from a new international report may startle you: The U.S. has a higher rate of premature births, ranking above 125 countries such as Rwanda, Uzbekistan and China.

Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth arrives after an exhaustive joint effort from about 50 lead international, regional and national organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the March of Dimes, Save the Children, and The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health. Twelve percent of all American babies are born premature — before 37 weeks — and that translates into roughly half a million babies a year. [MORE]

2. Report: Kenya Moore to Join Real Housewives of Atlanta
Does Atlanta have a new resident housewife? RadarOnline.com reports that former Miss USA Kenya Moore could be the latest diva to hold a peach in Bravo’s hit series Real Housewives of Atlanta. Moore would fill the slot recently emptied by Sheree Whitfield, who quit (or was fired, depending on who you ask) the reality show last month. [MORE]

3. Obama’s Silence on Gay Marriage Is Not Golden
Vice President Joe Biden put his foot in President Obama’s mouth on Sunday when he said, “I am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women, and heterosexual men and women marrying another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties,” on this week’s edition of Meet the Press. It’s not the fact that he announced support for same-sex marriage that has tongues wagging, but how his remarks have drawn attention to the fact that the president has not. In addition Education Secretary Arne Duncan also declared his support during a Monday morning interview on MSNBC. [MORE]

4. Taking Trayvon Martin’s Name in Vain
Is Trayvon Martin’s name the new N-word?

According to reports, people at the Sigma Pi fraternity house at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, racially taunted Black students as they walked past the frat house early Sunday morning, calling a woman “Trayvon” in an insulting manner.

Cornell Chief of Police Kathy Zoner said “people were reportedly making racial references,” writes the Cornell Daily Sun, and throwing objects at pedestrians from the roof of the house. [MORE]

1. Box Office: Avengers Makes History
Disney and Marvel Studios’ The Avengers made history this weekend, scoring the biggest opening of any film ever. Period. End of story. The comic hero bonanza earned a record-setting $200.1 million at the box office in its first three days of release, easily beating the previous record held by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 ($169.2 million). [MORE]

2. Shaquille O’Neal Graduates With Doctorate Degree
You can now call him Dr. O’Neal.

NBA icon and four-time champion Shaquille O’Neal received his doctoral degree in Education from Barry University Saturday morning along with another 1,100 students. Expressing his enthusiasm in his own playful way, the 7-foot-1 inch O’Neal lifted his professor into the air. [MORE]

3. Surprising Health Dangers of Fast Food
Though we may like to suspend belief, recent headlines have once again shed some light on serious risks that fast food can pose to your health.

Fast food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken has been ordered to pay $8 million to an Australian girl who suffered severe brain damage and was paralyzed after eating a salmonella-infested Twister wrap. [MORE]

4. Black Women See Biggest Job Gains
While unemployment rates among African-Americans are still sky-high, Black women are inching toward closing the racial unemployment gap. [MORE]

1. BET.com Exclusive: Author Kimberla Lawson Roby Chats About The Reverend’s Wife
If the name Reverend Curtis Black means something to you, then you’ve probably been eagerly anticipating the next installment of Kimberla Lawson Roby’s popular series named after the novels’ lead character. This week, the New York Times bestselling author released The Reverend’s Wife, the ninth book in the series (and her 17th novel to date!), so we sat down with Roby to tap into the latest scandals in the reverend’s world, the role church has played in her writing and her advice for other aspiring authors struggling to get their voices heard. [MORE]

2. Unplanned Pregnancies Among 20-Year-Olds on the Rise
Last month, BET.com reported that teen pregnancies in the U.S. were down by a record rate — a whopping 44 percent decrease overall and a 9 percent drop among African-American female teens. But a new report states that unplanned pregnancies among women in their 20s have an opposite trend — they are going up.

Researchers from Guttmacher Institute found that 66 percent of all babies born to women in their 20s between the years 2001-2008 were unplanned. And poor women and women of color were especially at risk for unplanned pregnancies: The study found that Black women and Latinas had twice the rate of unplanned pregnancies as white women. Yet, Black women were the only group to see a decline in unplanned pregnancies during the years of 2001-2008. [MORE]

3. Obama Plunges Into Campaign, Tears Into Romney
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Plunging into his campaign for a new term, President Barack Obama tore into Mitt Romney on Saturday as eager to “rubber stamp” a conservative Republican congressional agenda to cut taxes for the rich, reduce spending on education and Medicare and enhance power that big banks and insurers hold over consumers. [MORE]

4. Black Unemployment Rate Dropped One Point in April
At 13 percent, down one point from 14 percent in March, the African-American unemployment rate showed the biggest improvement in April, Friday’s job report from the U.S. Labor Department showed. The national unemployment rate declined only slightly from 8.2 to 8.1 percent. [MORE]

1. Shaunie O’Neal to Co-Produce Basketball Wives-Inspired Film
Could a Basketball Wives-inspired film be hitting theaters some time in the future?

Shaunie O’Neal and Jumping the Broom producer Tracey Edmonds are teaming with Fox Searchlight to produce a film loosely drawn from the lives of O’Neal and some of her friends. The project will center on a young woman who follows her boyfriend to Miami after he’s drafted into the NBA. Once in the world of professional sports, she slowly becomes a part of a sisterhood of players’ wives, learning from their trials and tribulations. [MORE]

2. Report: Rihanna in Talks for Fast and the Furious 6 Role
Is Rihanna becoming the latest celeb to do double duty between the recording studio and the sound stage? After spending the spring on a world tour to promote her debut role in Battleship — which has already earned $170 million at the international box office ahead of its American debut — reports are floating that RiRi’s already landed her next role as a villain in The Fast and the Furious 6. [MORE]

3. Obama in Love
Before there was a Michelle, there was Genevieve and Alex and other young women who had intimate relationships with the man who would become president. They are the focus of the latest Internet titillation, following the release by Vanity Fair of an excerpt from the forthcoming biography Barack Obama: The Story.

Obama’s story, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss explains in an interview with the magazine, takes “him, me and the reader literally around the globe — to his even unlikelier rise. … The essence of this book is a search for home and identity.”[MORE]

4. Health Care Centers Get Needed Booster Shot
When people in many of our communities get sick, community health centers are the go-to resource. But as the Supreme Court considers the fate of the Affordable Health Care Act, these valuable gateways to care face an uncertain future.

But the Department of Health and Human Services is undaunted, announcing $728 million in grants to help community health centers to support 398 renovation and construction projects in addition to the 200 projects already completed. Also, nearly a million more patients will potentially be served once the expansion is finished. [MORE]