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Black History Month is about learning the often lost or hidden history of peoples of African descent in America, both for the good and the bad. In that spirit, TomorrowPictures.tv feels obligated (but not necessarily proud) to present Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat, a 1941 Universal Pictures cartoon directed by Walter Lantz, the creator of Woody Woodpecker, and voiced by Mel Blanc, who would go on to great fame as the voice of Bugs Bunny. Essentially an early music video for the popular Andrews Sisters’ song of the same title, Scrub Me Mama takes the simple tale of the most popular washerwoman in Harlem and overlays it with practically every offensive, ignorant rural Southern black stereotype. The cartoon takes place in Lazytown (The laziest place on earth), which is populated solely by dark-skinned, bug-eyed characters straight from the minstrel show. And yes, that is a big, fat watermelon being eaten in the thumbnail. Show this cartoon to your friends, discuss it with your children, blog it around the web, just don’t let it disappear. Oppression thrives on ignorance, and freedom exists only with the exchange of information in the light of day. One Love…
Calvin and the Colonel was a short-lived 1961 ABC Saturday morning cartoon series. Featuring Montgomery J. Klaxon the fox and Calvin Burnside the bear, Calvin and the Colonel was a remake of Amos ‘n’ Andy and featured the voices of the original Amos (Freeman Gosden) and Andy (Charles Correll) from the A n’ A radio series. Apparently studio executives thought that recasting the show with animals would avoid the racial issues which had led to the cancellation of Amos ‘n’ Andy. It didn’t work- “Calvin and the Colonel” was canceled after one season. Tune in for more Black History Month entertainment on TomorrowPictures.tv!
As far as press conference drama goes, it didn’t have a thing on Evgeni Plushenko’s current Olympic figure skating meltdown, but Tiger Woods’ recent tightly scripted public apology was one of the most viewed mea culpas in television history. Fresh from his stint in sex addiction rehab (to which he plans to return), Woods took no questions, only read quietly and emotionlessly from a prepared statement, apologizing to his wife and family, his fans, and of course his corporate sponsors. While it seems a bit disingenuous to expect that the viewing public will be satisfied with the superstar golfer’s attempts to keep the clamps down on any further details of the night in November when he crashed his SUV outside his home (with or without the help of wife Elin and a handy Nine Iron), he did ask that the press leave his wife and children to their privacy. As to when he will return to the golf course, and the attendant media circus that will surround whichever tourney he enters, Woods would only say that golf is low on his to-do list. That, at least, is the right attitude, if he intends to continue reaping the benefits of his monstrous billion dollar marketing machine. Watch the Tiger Woods press conference in its entirety on TomorrowPictures.tv!
As Jackie Robinson’s smart, charming and humble integration of Major League Baseball won over an entire sporting world, his fame grew far beyond the baseball diamond. Robinson quickly became the biggest multi-media star of his time, equaling the popularity of the legendary Babe Ruth a generation before. His smiling face could be seen on billboards and in magazine advertisements, he pitched products on radio, and eventually starred in his own feature-film life story! Here, in a classic television appearance, Jackie Robinson goes toe-to-toe with the heavyweight champion of comedy, Jackie Gleason! The Cavalcade of Stars, which aired Live on the DuMont Network, was a true variety show, with music, drama, comedy sketches, magic, and acrobats! Celebrate Black History Month with TomorrowPictures.tv!
The place of Historically Black Colleges and Universities is a special one in American Culture. Originally created out of stark necessity due to the segregated conditions in nearly all American institutes of higher learning, these HBCUs were vital in educating a nascent black middle class in the early part of the 20th Century. Today’s video, entitled Negro Colleges in Wartime, was produced in 1943 by the United States Government as a World War 2 propaganda film. Featuring an appearance by legendary African-American Scientist George Washington Carver, this short gives an atypically sunshiney view of wartime preparations taking place at Tuskeegee Institute (home of the famed Tuskeegee Airmen) in Alabama and Hampton Institute in Virginia. As you watch this film, keep in mind the implicit promise being made - “Once we win this war against tyranny, everyone will be free and equal.” As history tells us, that promise would be another 20 years in the keeping… Celebrate Black History Month all year long with TomorrowPictures.tv!
Hip Hop is Dead! Long Live Hip Hop! In Episode Two of Hip Hop World, L.A. Sunshine, one of the founders of the seminal rap group the Treacherous Three, takes you on a musical tour of Harlem. Learn about the 1970s roots of Hip Hop as an Art form, when youths in the Bronx and Harlem created their own music as an alternative to Disco. They weren’t looking for money, just an escape, but they unknowingly threw the pebble in the pond that would become the tidal wave of Hip Hop. Because it’s Black History Month and we love our American music with a dash of black culture (big ups to Jazz, Soul and New Jack Swing!), TomorrowPictures.tv is taking a raw, no-bling look at the life and times of Hip Hop! This special episodic series will feature some of the biggest names in the business talking frankly and honestly about the art, passion and commerce of catching the break.
With a voice as smooth and smokey as fine Scotch whiskey, Eddie Wakes is turning heads and raising temperatures all over the world. His mastery of the Great American Songbook has garnered comparisons with contemporary crooners like Michael Buble and Harry Connick, Jr., as well as members of the all-time pantheon like Nat King Cole, Jimmy Rushing, Frank Sinatra, and Mel Torme. We absolutely agree that the man is swoon-worthy, but you should let Mr. Wakes take your heart for a test drive and hear for yourself. Here, in a tomorrowpictures.TV exclusive, is Eddie Wakes performing the Nat King Cole Classic “L.O.V.E” with a Japanese twist. Sit back, relax, and snuggle up to someone you l.o.v.e…
Who's the Master Chef cooking up Hip Hop, House and Funk into a Soulful Stew just for You? Who's the Mixologist with something different to drop in your thirsty ears? Who's the most Uniek Brotha in tha game today? That's right, peoples, it's your man DJ Uniek ...
WARNING: The following video is shocking. It may upset some viewers. Tune in at your own risk.The Iraqis placed a rope around Saddam Hussein's neck and hung him until he was dead. That deed should've caused great celebration, not only in Iraq and America, but in most places where liberty shines i...
Mukuru is a Slum Village in Kenya, just outside the east African nation's capital city of Nairobi. They call it a "Slum Village" with no sense of irony, and to the outsider, the emphasis would seem firmly on Slum. The statistics are so wretched as to become ...
Hip Hop is Dead! Long Live Hip Hop! In Episode Three of Hip Hop World, we profile young up and comer Xxtra tha Yung Eagle! Born and raised on the east side of Chicago, Michael Anderson Jr, aka Xxtra, is a born performer, showcasing his ta...
