All of these juicy details and more are revealed in 'The Big Payback: The History of The Business of Hip-Hop' by Dan Charnas, who began his career as one of the first writers for 'The Source' M=magazine. He also worked as a talent scout and promoter for Profile Records, the legendary rap label.

'The Big Payback' delves deep into the history of the multi-million-dollar industry that sprung up a housing project in the South Bronx and Harlem. Today, its influence spans across the globe from Africa to China to Japan.

In case you didn't know, it's rude to use your cell phone at the movies, at a play and over a meal. And while we're at it, uhm, thank you for not texting during the family dinner.

This sage and obvious advice is available in 'Is it Just Me? Or is it Nuts Out There,' a new book by Whoopi Goldberg, the Academy Award-winning actress and co-host of 'The View.'

Goldberg packs a wallop of observations in this hilarious and concise must-read, which also talks about how politics has turned nasty, how complaining should be outlawed if you're not going to do anything to change the problem and how coworkers should think twice about flashing their fashion-police badge.

"What makes somebody get up in morning and think they can criticize what clothes you put on that day?'' Goldberg writes. "I mean, really. Why do casual coworkers think you and I are fair game for their fashion assessment? 'Hey, second time I've seen those pants this week.' 'That sweater has an interesting texture. What is it, ShamWow?' 'Helen, is that blouse a little young for you?' What?''

In '100 Best African American Poems,' Nikki Giovanni, the award-winning poet and writer, selected more than 200 classic and contemporary pieces and compiled them in a compelling work of art. The book also includes a collectible CD of readings by luminaries such as Rita Dove, Sonia Sanchez, Richard Wright and Mari Evans.

Giovanni, a native of Knoxville, Tenn., who is a distinguished professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently took time from her busy schedule to discuss the project with BlackVoices.com

Excerpts of the interview are below.

Ntozake Shange, best known for her award-winning play 'For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf,' is back with a sublime epic that runs parallel to American history, from slavery to present day.

In 'Some Sing, Some Cry,' written with her sister Ifa Bayeza, also an award-winning playwright, Shange spins pure harmony with this enthralling tale. It begins with Bette Mayfield, who, along with her granddaughter Eudora, has been recently freed from Sweet Tamarind, a rice and cotton plantation on an island off South Carolina's coast. They land in Charleston, where they make lives for themselves as a fortune-teller and a seamstress. From there, the matriarchal lineage goes on to create music for future and past generations.

Shange's speech is halting, caused by a series of minor strokes, but the 61-year-old literary icon who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., is no less spirited. She recently took time from her busy schedule to speak with BlackVoices.com. Excerpts of the conversation are below.

Girls, if you have ever wondered if your man is cheating, or if you should leave the house wearing that outfit, or if you are in desperate need of some strong spiritual advice, Terrance Dean has written just the book for you,'Straight From Your Gay Best Friend: The Straight-Up Truth About Relationships, Work, And Having A Fabulous Life.'

Dean, bestselling author of 'Hiding in Hip Hop,' doles out sage and sassy advice for women on some of life's most challenging issues, including when to leave a relationship, how to stay in the dating game and how to realize that you may not be that into him.

'Straight From Your Gay Best Friend' is a must read for any woman looking for a different perspective on love, life and spirituality.

Dean, who moved to Los Angeles from New York last spring, is happily dating and working on his juicy debut novel, 'Mogul,' about the life of one of New York City's most beloved hip hop producers that is due out in June. BlackVoices.com caught up with the former MTV staffer. Excerpts of the conversation are below.

If you have ever listened to National Public Radio's flagship program 'All Things Considered,' you are familiar with co-host Michele Norris's calm and steady voice. It comes easy for her; she has been a journalist for years, serving as a correspondent for ABC News, and reporting for the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times newspapers. Last year, she was named "Journalist of the Year'' by the National Association of Black Journalists.

She is known for always asking the hard questions. But now, her voice is amplified as she turns the spotlight on herself in 'The Grace of Silence: A Memoir,' a poignant portrait of her family, where she eloquently uncovers long buried secrets. She learns, for example, that her maternal grandmother, Ione Brown, worked as Minnesota's version of "Aunt Jemima,'' serving up hundreds of pancakes on the road.

And in a recurring narrative of the memoir, she learns that her father, Belvin Norris, was shot by a white police officer in Birmingham, Alabama, shortly after being honorably discharged from service in World War II. It happened during his second week home. He and two friends were waiting in a lobby to attend a get-together when suddenly a policeman showed up and tried to prevent them from going to the party. A struggle ensued, the officer seized his weapon and a bullet grazed Norris's leg.

Norris writes candidly about her family's history in this must-read memoir that she wrote in the wake of the election of President Barack Obama, which brought about America's so-called post-racial society.

Norris, who lives in Washington with her husband, talked candidly with BlackVoices.com. Excerpts are below.

In 'Stay in Your Lane: Judge Karen's Guide to Living Your Best Life,' Karen Mills-Francis, a Miami family court judge, writes a compendium of life lessons gleaned from more than 13 years of criminal court experience.

She is the star of the popular syndicated courtroom program 'Judge Karen.'

On Monday, she will launch a new nationally syndicated courtroom program, 'Judge Karen's Court,' produced by Litton Entertainment, which will air in all major markets.

BlackVoices.com caught up to the busy judge. Excerpts of the conversation are below.


BlackVoices: As the second African American woman elected as a judge in Miami, and as an officer of the law who has tried your share of criminal cases, you must have an opinion about what we're seeing in the headlines every day as it relates to celebrities and their brushes with the law. Do you believe that celebrities are treated differently or fairly within the judicial system?

Judge Karen Mills-Francis: As a judge handling a DUI calendar, I had a few cases of athletes charged with drunk driving. In each of the cases, I thought that the plea agreements reached by the prosecutor's office and the celebrity's attorneys often were more lenient than offers extended in other cases. Unfortunately, money can buy a person the best defense team possible, and that equates to better criminal sentencing.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to release a political paean for children on historical figures, 'Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters,' Nov. 16 -- just weeks after what is predicted to be a brutal midterm election season.

Of Thee I Sing' is a tribute to 13 historical Americans, who helped shape the nation, from the artist Georgia O'Keeffe to Jackie Robinson, the black first Major League Baseball player, to George Washington, the first president of the United States, said Chip Gibson, president and publisher of Random House Children's Books.

President Obama was inspired by his daughters Malia and Sasha to write the book to convey the importance of history. Images of the two and their dog Bo are colorfully displayed on the cover, skipping carefree across a green lawn beneath an azure sky. Loren Long, the award-winning and New York Times best-selling artist, illustrated the book.

'

The cold revelation that her husband has been visiting porn sites like a religious experience triggers a 50-something-year-old to file for divorce.

Well, there were other reasons, too.

Another well-heeled sister discovers that marital vows are inviolate when she learns that she married a polygamist.

Shopping becomes a substitute relationship for another woman whose only dream is to walk down the aisle in diaphanous wedding gown.

And another sister discovers that happiness should never be taken for granted.

No, these are not characters from a delicious Sunday afternoon movie on Lifetime Movie Network; they are members of the fabulous four from 'Waiting to Exhale,' albeit 15 years later. Savannah, Gloria, Bernadine and Robin are older, wiser and clearly have reached intersections in their lives. And their stories are just as juicy as the first time we met them.

In 'Getting to Happy,' the sequel to the best-selling novel, 'Waiting to Exhale,' Terry McMillan emits the same humor and verve that won the hearts and minds of readers of her groundbreaking masterpiece. She leans heavily on snappy dialogue, strong character development and colorful settings in Phoenix, Ariz.

But the four-some don't feel so invincible anymore.

The door is permanently closed on 40 and they are entrenched in their 50s as they set about rediscovering themselves as black women with grandchildren, mortgages, failed marriages and collapsed business ventures.

Award-winning novelist Pearl Cleage says she couldn't resist fictionalizing the 2008 presidential campaign season in 'Till You Hear From Me,' her latest release.

"The subject was all around me,'' she said in an email interview with BV on Books. "The 2008 campaign season was an amazing series of events that truly showcased the best and worst of country.''

The New York Times bestselling author has earned a reputation for her skillful of fictionalization of current events. She delved into the Iraq war in her last novel, 'Seen It All and Done The Rest.'

For her latest novel, she couldn't have picked a better issue than President Barack Obama, whose politics and personal beliefs command headlines. Cleage latched onto the story of the president's former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who was propelled into the spotlight after a television network reviewed his fiery sermons at Trinity United Church of Christ.

The character, Rev. Horace Dunbar, is based on Rev. Wright, she said. His daughter, Ida B. Wells Dunbar, who made it the West Wing after working on the presidential campaign only to find out that was the easy part!

Cleage talks about 'Till You Hear from Me,' post-Obama America and future projects with BV on Books: