Category Archives: Mothers

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Kirk Franklin’s Son Caziah Franklin & ‘War Room’ Actress Alena Pitts Are ENGAGED!!!

Hello World,

When I saw this on my IG timeline last night, I need I had to share it with my After the Altar Call fam! Kirk Franklin’s son Caziah Franklin proposed to his girlfriend Alena Pitts, who starred in the blockbuster movie War Room, when she was a little girl. Obviously she is now a young woman. See the beach proposal photos below…

I actually interviewed Alena and her mother Wynter Pitts back in 2017 when she was 12 years old (so according to my math, she is now 19).  Below is a snippet of the interview…

1. How does it feel to be the youngest, African- American female author to be represented by a major book publisher?

Alena: Kind of surreal still. Like it hasn’t really hit me. So it’s crazy. I’m just grateful that it happened to me! And then I’m like, ‘Thank you God!’

And how did you get a book deal for Hello Stars?

Alena: So, my mom was like, ‘Hey Alena, do you want to write a book together?’ I was like, ‘Sure.’ My mom was like, ‘That would be so fun!’ I really didn’t think that was going to happen, but she was like, ‘Let’s just pray about it.’  So I prayed about it not really expecting anything to happen. So like two weeks later, we got an e-mail from Zondervan asking if we wanted to write a book for them. So I was like, ‘Wow, this must be God’s plan!’ (Laughter)

Wynter: It literally happened just like that! It was just this random thought I had one day, and I just looked at her and said, ‘It would be so fun if we wrote a book together.’ And that was it. And then, a few weeks later, we got an e-mail from Faithgirlz saying they wanted to talk to us about the project. It was so bizarre. Because of my ministry with girls, I had done some Faithgirlz product giveaways and helped them promote some things so I had a relationship with the publicist there. Since then, I found out the publicist mentioned our names to their team over the last year or so, but I didn’t know anyone else on the team!

See the remainder of the interview at ‘War Room’ 12-Year-Old Actress Alena Pitts & Mother Pen Children’s Book ‘Hello Stars!’ (INTERVIEW).

When I heard about Wynter’s death the next year following my interview with her and her daughter in 2017, I was stunned and saddened, but I believe Alena’s mother is with the Father in Heaven where we all aspire to go some day. And obviously, our Father is still leading Alena today. May God bless Caziah and Alena on their new journey together!

Any thoughts?

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‘Unsung’ Returns with Donald Lawrence & ‘Uncensored’ with Tamela Mann TONIGHT at 9/8c

Hello World,

After you’ve celebrated Easter with your church family, check out UNSUNG and UNCENSORED Tonight on TV One!

The seven-time NAACP Image Award-winning series UNSUNG, spotlights entertainment’s most talented, versatile, and influential music artists. This week’s episode highlights Donald Lawrence. He has left a legacy as one of the most important figures in contemporary gospel music, but success has not come without its share of struggles. Donald has faced criticism for infusing secular music into faith-based music and has been transparent about his battle with cancer. Catch his episode tonight at 9 p.m. Below is a clip from tonight’s episode!

UNCENSORED, which airs at 10 p.m., explores the lives of some of today’s most notable personalities as they provide first-hand accounts of their success and the obstacles they faced throughout their careers. This week’s episode highlights talented Gospel singer and actress Tamela Mann. Known for her soul-stirring performances and uplifting spirit, Tamela gets uncensored as she shares her journey from humble beginnings to Grammy-winning success. Below is a clip from tonight’s episode!

Any thoughts?

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Why Mo’Nique Is Wrong To STILL Be Seeking an Apology From Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey AND For How She Has Treated Her Son Publicly…

A Black History Month Post...

Hello World,

In the past, I had been a fan of  Mo’Nique for quite some time. I think she is a talented comedian AND actress. One of my favorite Mo’Nique movies is Phat Girlz, and  I wrote one of my favorite blog posts ever Why I Have A Dead Spiritual Mentor Like Mo’Nique Does In Hattie McDaniel… based on something she said. And she rightfully won an the Best Supporting Actress Award Oscar for the role of Mary in Precious in 2010! She was simply magnificent in that role. She didn’t play Mary. She embodied her…

And speaking of Precious, which came out in 2009, and since this is still Black History Month, I hope that somehow Mo’Nique sees this post and decides to relegate her feud with Tyler Perry and Oprah regarding Precious to black history where it belongs a whole 15 years after the fact! If you’re not familiar with the feud, the Daily Mail did a good job summarizing it in an article written by Carly Johnson …Here is the summary below…

Her feud with Winfrey and Perry dates back to 2009. She previously claimed that her refusal to promote their film Precious for ‘free’ as well as omitting Perry, Winfrey and director Lee Daniels from her 2010 Oscars speech resulted in her being ‘blacklisted.’

Mo’Nique is now claiming that she has audio of Perry confessing to her over the phone that he was the one who started the rumor that she’s ‘difficult to work with.’

She also alleged that Perry admitted he was ‘wrong’ and told her that he planned to vindicate her publicly after his 2016 film Boo hit theaters.

The reason why I’m referencing this feud is because earlier in the month, Mo’Nique sat down with Shannon Sharpe on his popular podcast Club Shay Shay and rehashed the entire feud as if she hasn’t been talking about it any time she can in any interview/conversation she can since 2009.  If you want to see the podcast conversation, it is below. (NOTE: If you’re offended by explicit language, please don’t partake in the conversation…)

And now she is not only mad at Tyler Perry and Oprah, she has added others including to her lengthy grievance list including fellow comedian D.L. Hughley and filmmaker Will Packer. The thing about Mo’Nique is that she is a compelling speaker (which is probably one of the reasons why she is a gifted comedian and actress), and if you’re not careful, you can find yourself siding with her against all of these people until you sit back and say to yourself: If she is the common denominator in all of these situations, how is it always not her fault particularly when other people aren’t saying similar things about these specific people?  Still, that being noted, some of these people may have wronged her but to collect this list of injustices like beads in a necklace she wears around her neck is only choking her at this point. Have you heard the statement, “Resentment is like drinking poison expecting the other person to die?” The vitriol with which she speaks about all of these people has clearly poisoned her and her perspective. Meanwhile, these people are living their lives like Mo’Nique doesn’t matter.

I also found it interesting that in all of these scenarios, she is not at fault for anything, according to her. In fact, the only accountability she had was when she mentioned her relationship with her eldest son. She told Unc aka Shannon Sharpe that when he was a child she was more interested in being famous than being his mother. Shortly after the podcast interview aired, her eldest son, whom I never heard speak about his relationship with his mother in public before, made a TikTok video about this mother and shared how the fractured relationship came to be. As you could expect, Mo’Nique and her husband whom she refers to as “Daddy” went on the defensive and called her son mentally ill AND now she is skewering him in her comedy routines!!! What mother does that to a son especially since she shared in the podcast interview that she hoped her relationship with her son could be repaired?

Sadly, unless Monique observes spiritual laws such as:

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Luke 6:37

or

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12

she will be in the exact same place 15 years from now…At the very least, if she wants forgiveness from her son, she needs to forgive others whom she thinks wronged her…

If God can forgive us for our sins and even allowed His son to die on the cross for them, how in the world can we justify not forgiving others no matter what has been done?

Mo’Nique, please let this mess be official black history after this month…If God is on your side, nobody can truly “blacklist” you…

Any thoughts?