From Mediabistro:

Hip-hop artist Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson will write a semi-autobiographical novel called Playground. The young-adult book stars "a thirteen-year-old schoolyard bully who finds redemption as he faces what he's done."

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Add author to Jennifer Hudson's resume.

The Academy Award-winning actress and singer has inked a deal with Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Group, to pen a memoir detailing her struggles with weight.

From NewsOne:

The African-American presence in the technology space has been enhanced with the recent release of the first digital storybook for kids, "A Song for Miles." Written by Dr. Tiffany S. Russell, "A Song for Miles" uses black musical history to teach children important life lessons. Launched to coincide with the start of Black Music Month, "A Song for Miles" was conceived and produced by a 100% African-American team. Here's more:

From Philly.com:

If you've read anything by best-selling author J. California Cooper, you know that she would quickly tell you that basking in the spotlight is like making a direct call to the devil. Humans are their most foolish, she says, when they aren't humble.

Extolling these simple truths has made the 79-year-old California native a favorite among generations of readers. Her books, which include seven short-story collections and five novels, are all about learning life's obvious lessons.

Cooper's latest novel, 'Life Is Short but Wide' (Anchor Books, 2009), was on the New York Times best-seller list for weeks. Philadelphia singer Jill Scott refers to Cooper as "brilliant. One of the best writers of all times." She's also a favorite of Nikki Giovanni, Halle Berry, and former first lady Laura Bush. She has earned scores of accolades and literary awards including the American Book Award in 1989.

On Thursday, Cooper will add one more honor to her prestigious collection: a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philadelphia-based Art Sanctuary's 27th Annual Celebration of Black Writing. Past recipients include poet Sonia Sanchez and novelists Walter Mosley and Terry McMillan.

Read more here.

As a criminal attorney for 23 years, Muhammad Ibn Bashir has seen a lot, both in the courtroom and behind closed doors with clients, many of whom are young men of color.

"There are basically three things to consider when discussing the incarceration of young black men,'' he said in an e-mail interview. "They are as follows: your own actions, the actions of others and the perception that young black male equals criminal.''

'Raw Law: An Urban Guide to Criminal Justice' lays bare details behind America's criminal justice system. In 2009, 563,500 black men were housed in state and federal prisons, according to the Bureau of Justice's December 2010 report, the largest number were between the ages of 25 to 39.

Additionally, Bashir has dealt with some of the nation's most difficult cases, including serving as co-counsel in the World Trade Center bombing trial. He talks to BlackVoices.com about his new book and his thoughts on the criminal justice system.

BlackVoices.com: To what do you attribute the large number of incarcerated black men, and why is mass incarceration so prevalent within the black community?

Muhammad Ibn Bashir: Many of the young black males that I see in criminal justice are there based on their own foolish conduct. That conduct is usually based on their emotions and/or their ignorance of the system. No one is teaching our children to think critically, and thus, all they have as a frame of reference when confronted with a decision is emotion. Ignorance of your own plight and your surroundings is a recipe for disaster and since America has always fought against the education of young black males, incarceration is a disaster waiting to happen.

Mass incarceration is the product of a very American legal concept, which was articulated by the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case that "A black man has no right that a white man is bound to respect." Slavery as an institution meant that white males did not have to compete for jobs, homes, land or families with their black male counterparts. White America profited enormously from that peculiar institution. What would make them want to change it? Morality has never trumped capitalism and it still does not.

'Deep Throat Diva' is a game changer in the erotica book genre.

The novel, written by the author who writes under the nom de plume Cairo, ups the ante in the style that was popularized nearly 14 years ago by his publisher, Zane.

The book is a great and sexy read, but not in an Anaïs Nin sort of way. More in a leave nothing, like really nothing, to the imagination sort of way. And if that's your thing, you won't want to miss 'Deep Throat Diva.'

It is the story of Pasha, a successful hairstylist who engages in online hook-ups with strangers while her fiancé, Jasper, is locked up in prison. Since she vowed not to have intercourse while he was gone, she justifies that having oral sex is still being faithful.

When her gangster fiancé returns home, her online life continues to beckon, forcing her to make serious choices.

Cairo chatted recently with BlackVoices.com.

BlackVoices: All of your books are sexually explicit, such as 'Daddy Long Stroke' and 'The Kat Trap.' Are you upping the ante for erotica? What does your publisher, Zane, the queen of erotica, have to say about all of this?

Cairo: Yes, in some ways, I believe I am most definitely upping the ante. But I also believe I'm writing things that many people already think about (or dream about) doing to their partners, but don't actually have the guts to. So, through my raw, raunchy writing, I'm allowing readers to live vicariously through all of my characters.

Truthfully, Zane has been one of my biggest supporters. She believes in me. And she believes in my ability to bring the heat.

"Why are you reading all them books? White man ain't gonna let you do anything in them books."
I heard these words from an older cousin who expressed his opinion that I wasn't normal.

I read constantly, anything I could get my hands on: comics, spy stories, boys' adventures. I even "borrowed" from my mother's bookshelf in the dead of night. And I read lots of science-fiction and fantasy. But at some point I noticed that none of the fantastic events in the stories I loved ever seemed to happen to black people. Nothing cool ever seemed to happen to us.

Some people might argue that words are just words, but if words don't matter, then writers don't matter – and if writers don't matter, neither do we.

Writers take us to different places and introduce us to all kinds of people throughout vast periods in time. In one story, we might travel from 1920s Harlem to Nigeria in the midst of terror during the Biafran War, and then on to the mystical Oguta Lake, all without ever having to set foot outside our door.

Words and writers should never be underestimated, and there are hundreds of brilliant authors who deserve our appreciation and respect.

To wrap up Women's History Month, BlackVoices.com put together a gallery of 40 influential black women authors. Some names you may know and others you may not. Their varied backgrounds give way to multi-faceted perspectives.

Before his untimely death in 1997, The Notorious B.I.G. frequently made headlines for his bad boy antics. Through his music and personae, he carefully cultivated a thug image born of the gritty streets of Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

He was not known as a man of compassion. That was until now. In 'The Last Listening Party of The Notorious B.I.G.,' LaJoyce Brookshire, the former publicist for Arista Records, his record label, and Elijah Muhammad, an entertainment photographer, show a different side of the artist during the listening party for the album 'Life After Death,' which was released 14 years ago today (March 25, 1997).

Thirty eight striking never-before-released images show him in repose, in pensive thought and laughing with friends, including Sean "Puffy" Combs. No one would have thought that two weeks later Biggie would be dead, murdered during a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.

Nigerian author Chika Unigwe marks her debut in the United States with 'On Black Sisters Street,' a masterful sketch of four women from Africa who make their way to Belgium in hopes of building better lives for themselves. Unfortunately, they end up working on Antwerp's Zwartezusterstraat as prostitutes, lured there by false promises and empty hopes.

Unigwe draws a rich tapestry of arresting characters that will remain with readers long after they cease reading the pages. One character, Sisi, was coaxed to Zwartezusterstraat, or Black Sisters Street, by a Belgian businessman who made her an offer she couldn't refuse. Full of hope and expectations, she leaves the dreary and destitute streets of Lagos only to find the same and worse in Antwerp.

Unigwe, who lives in Turnhout, Belgium, with her husband and four sons, spent years researching the novel and even dressed in skimpy clothes and thigh-high boot to gather details for this must-read story.

BV on Books caught up with Unigwe recently via e-mail to discuss her novel, what it was like to walk alongside the women on the cobblestone streets of the red-light district and what she's up to next.

BV: Are you excited about your U.S. debut novel?
Cnika Unigwe: I am very excited. America is an important market, and I feel very privileged to be published there and by Random House, no less.