It's that time again. Due to the success of last year's inaugural #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay series during Black History Month, we're bringing you another round of 28 winners that deserve an extra bit of shine. Check back and/or be sure to follow us on Instagram or Twitter and like us on Facebook so you don't miss out any Extraordinary goodness.
PAST EXTRAORDINARY NEGROES:
2018 EXTRAORDINARY NEGROES OF THE DAY:
Anchored with the strength of 1001 ancestors, our first Extraordinary Negro of the Day was engineered to withstand the coldest winter ever. Sister Souljah's Side Ponytail gave the speaker/activist/rapper/author strength to battle the most dastardly foot-faced racist goblins and heal the most tapdancingest wayward Blacks. Mighty like an oak tree and packed with wisdom, it is moisturized by Blue Magic and white tears and, legend has it, bulletproof. On this first day of Black Folks Month, we raise a fist to the loyalest, sturdiest ponytail in all the land. May our commitment to excellence be just as steadfast.
Today’s Extraordinary Negroes of The Day are none other than the heart and soul of NBC’s smash hit #ThisIsUs, #BlackLove incarnate Beth “Don’t You Dare Touch Deja’s Hair” and Randall “Kevin’s Punk Ass Could Never” Pearson. He of forced jokes, otherworldly tolerance for his obnoxious siblings, and otherwise human embodiment of pigmented perfection. She of sound judgement, headscarves and coconut oil, and snatcher of souls and wigs if you dare risk life and limb to come for her husband. Thank you for not only providing us with #RelationshipGoals to aspire to, but for your much needed positive portrayal of three dimensional Black families. Hallowed be thy names.
Today's Extraordinary Negro Of the Day is the Beyoncé of the Forgettable Black Sibling community. Judy Winslow, the youngest of Carl and Harriette's three chilluns, walked up the stairs for the last time in the middle of Season 4 of "Family Matters" and hasn't seen daylight since. Cast aside like Miley's Wigger Barbie costume after she vultured enough culture from her New Black Friends, her family went on as if she never existed. Word on the curb is she was a ghostwriter for Lumidee and Adina Howard and has miraculously survived on spider webs, crickets, and glitter scraped from old Christmas ornaments in the attic. Overshadowed by 3J and Steve Urkel, but not forgotten. We speak your name.
Today’s #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay is none other than Cardi B’s ghostwriter and future Roc Nation signee Blue Ivy Carter. When she’s not preoccupied with slamming shots of Capri Sun at the Grammys, you can find her babysitting Memphis Bleek or going upside Kanye’s head with a fistfull of Kim K's “Bo Derek braids”. So in celebration of her diminutive brand of #BlackGirlMagic, we tip our hat (and toy box) to the incomparable Blue Ivy.
Today's #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay is much more than Oprah's purse holder and common law Spades partner. A grandpappy and accomplished speaker and educator, Stedman Graham's life extends far beyond making Kool-Aid pops and refilling Appletinis during Oprah and Gayle's Girl's Nights. When not encouraging Oprah to run for president, he is the founder of the Leadership Institute of Chicago and runs a management and marketing consulting firm. Of his 11 books, two were bestsellers, and zero featured Oprah on the cover. Back in '86, the former basketball player successfully pitched woo at Madame Winfrey, and has been the head of her fan club and the fatback to her collard greens ever since.
Now Mother Oprah, I’m really happy for you and Imma let you finish, but BETs Teen Summit was the greatest talk show of all-time. OF ALL TIME. Hosted by Ananda Lewis' poise and Prince DuJour's immaculate conk, Teen Summit was a Saturday morning sanctuary for Black teenagers to explore the challenges that forged our turbulent Cross Colored youth. Part talent show, part panel, part fashion faux pas, Teen Summit gave us a unpolished quintet named Xscape, courageously (and routinely) pressed rappers about the responsibility of their lyrical content, and scared every last one of us (but DMX) into practicing safe sex. But most importantly, it provided us with agency when no other platform cared to do so. All while creating a platform for a posse of brilliant teenagers who would go on to conquer politics, Hollywood, and The Running Man. So for all it did to kick the truth to the young Black youth, BET’s Teen Summit is our Extraordinary Negro of The Day.
Today's #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay is a Soul Train Music Award-winner and a five-time Baby Hair All-Star MVP. Elgin Lumpkin, better known as Ginuwine, first bodyrolled his way onto the charts back in 1996 with the equestrian-themed freaky deaky jammy jam "Pony," and had a generation of floor humpers grinding on broomsticks, ripping shirts open, and embracing S-curls. To the delight of panty-throwers everywhere, Mr. Wine, Tank, and your special cousin Tyrese eventually combined their superhuman yearning abilities to form a hip thrusting, crime fighting smedium shirt trifecta, the Grammy nominated TGT. And as creator of nine albums and nine children, he was single-handedly responsible for a decade-long spike in both carpet burn injuries and clear gel sales. Iconic.
If you thought "don't touch my hair" only applied to Black women, you're sadly mistaken. Every nap shall bow and every wave brush shall confess that our durag is our salvation. The secret weapon of pretty niggas everywhere, rumor has it they're solely responsible for the Light Skinned Renaissance that extinguished Aaron Hall's career. Even fitted caps woke up to an eviction notice when #50Cent ushered in a new era of tacky ass niggas color coordinating their durags to match their girl's purse or Phat Farm polos. A Myspace Top 8 staple, it's natural habitat is soaked in coconut oil while peacefully fucking up your pillows. Thank you for conquering our kinks with your unwavering commitment to the cause.
Whereas most of us seek to avoid tragedy, April Ryan laces up her British Knights and faces it head on as the lone Black female White House Correspondent and Omarosa's BFF. April bravely fights to make sense of the doings, screwings, and daily disasters of the Gargoyle-In-Chief and his gang of dumpsterhearted, foot-faced troglodytes. Though the author, CNN contributor, and 2017 National Association of Black Journalists Journalist of the Year has covered four presidential administrations, today's #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay has been a headline fixture primarily for challenging and irritating beleaguered presidential spokesdonkeys Sean "Patient Zero" Spicer and Sarah "Sourpuss" Sanders with her pesky truthseeking. May we all be as unwavering as in the face of aggressive idiocy.
In 1977, Frankie Beverly burst on the scene with a dollar and a white linen dream and cookouts ain't been the same since. As the architect of the official soundtrack to leather sandals and Bluetooth earpieces, this dance floor dynamo's only verified weaknesses are coleslaw and White folks with no rhythm. His treasure trove of Essence Music Festival-approved hits include "Golden Time of Day", roller rink mainstay "Joy and Pain", "We Are One", and the greatest break up song of all-time, "Before I Let Go". Can you think of another song where a nigga kicks you to the same curb you'll do the Electric Slide on every time the shit comes on? Nope. Me neither. Which is exactly why he (and his ever-present chest hair taco meat) is our #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay.
Today's #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay is one of the most underrated R&B acts from the Age of Comicview. Armed with majestic voice-amplifying black lip liner and the combined vocal strength to repel an army of 1001 ashy infidels, the world's first three-woman mass choir signed to Michael Joseph Jackson's MJJ label in 1994 and released its debut album, "From The Bottom Up," in 1995, proving that the only thing you need to break the sound barrier is a microphone. Nothing was the same. Before disappearing into the night, Billboard Music Award-winners Nichole "Nicci" Gilbert, Monica "Mimi" Doby, Charmayne Maxena "Maxee" Maxwell (and later Kina Cosper & a handful of others), better known as the Brownstone Mass Choir, blessed us with a string of soulful, stadium-filling, sultry choral bops, including "If You Love Me," "Grapevyne," and "5 Miles To Empty." All while executing 87-part harmonies on three microphones. Legends.
Black people have a long, storied past with yard bird. This eternal struggle for the biggest piece in the bucket has been known to start brawls and transform brunches into battlefields, complete with complimentary bullet holes and contempt. The championship belt of Black households everywhere, The Big Piece of Chicken is not a birthright. Be it Popeye's, Harold's, or KFC (AKA the Kellyanne Conway of chicken), the stakes are motherfucking high once the bucket's cracked open, the draft order is announced, and the selection process begins. Will you go to bed hungry? Do you get to pick twice if you take a wing? IS THERE ANY MORE SPICY LEFT? Whether you're a lover of dark meat or prefer your breasts White and perky like Tiger Woods, The Big Piece of Chicken is our culinary crown jewel and today's #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay.
After you've lived 84 years, collected 28 Grammys, humped countless women, and helped countless careers, keeping (other people's) secrets becomes pointless. Enter today's #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay, a legendary musician, film/television/music producer, actor, composer, arranger, lover, astronaut, biochemist, and gymnast who's been crafting timeless soundscapes for over six decades. Brazilian music enthusiast and Chatty Patty Extraordinaire Quincy Delight Jones, Jr. played the trumpet with Dizzy Gillespie, crafted MJ's Thriller & Off The Wall, and, if asked, can give you a detailed oral history of every orgasm and overdose that took place in Hollywood between 1962 and 1992. He's who you want to score your next movie, but not who you want observing your Easter Sunday orgy. Remember, what happens at Q's Jook Joint (or anywhere, really) will likely end up publicized in an interview or book. All bets are off when you're dead.
Aside from making a mean pot of neck bones, today's #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay is a Professor of Law at both Columbia Law School and UCLA, an accomplished author and civil rights advocate, and is responsible for the introduction (and subsequent development) of the theory of intersectionality in 1987. Inspired by the race and gender dynamics she experienced as a college student, Kimberle' raised both middle fingers to the sky and exclaimed "Fuck that!" before devoting the rest of her life to demolishing structures of oppression and championing intersectional feminism. The bane of 53% of Trump voters and pink pussyhat purveyors everywhere, she was recruited onto Anita Hill's legal team in 1991 after Uncle Ruckus ass Clarence Thomas was slapped with sexual harassment allegations. As the legal proceedings ensued, Kimberle' noted that Hill was expected to sacrifice her voice as a Black woman and excuse Thomas' behavior; as not to soil his opportunity to become only the second African-American Supreme Court justice. You know. Because Black women are always expected to carry the cross. 🙄 Even at their own expense. 👎🏾 So for all she's contributed to our collective progress, Kimberle' is our #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay.
On the day after #ValentimesDay, we celebrate a Utica, New York-born reality television pioneer most known for being a human GIF and for looking for love in all the wrongest of places. Tiffany "New York" Pollard first insulted her way to notoriety during two unsuccessful battles for the honor of joining timekeeping Hip-Hop Hobbit Flavor Flav in holy matrimony on VH1's "Flavor of Love." Those rejections only fueled the self-proclaimed "Head Bitch in Charge," whose cactus-like charm has earned her a handful of TV shows, a massive following, and the contempt and saliva globs of former cast mate and dejected gout-stricken big toe, "Pumkin." Whether righting past plastic surgery wrongs on "Botched," going through it with her special mama Sister Patterson on "Family Therapy," or raising hell in the "Celebrity Big Brother" house, Tiffany is proof that being your whole, ridiculous-ass self at all times pays off in the end. Even if you think you look like Beyoncé but actually look like Luther Vandross.
After playing historical figures such as Thurgood Marshall, The Godfather of Soul himself James Brown, and civil rights icon Jackie Robinson, Chadwick and his impeccable widow's peak relinquished his mortality and ascended into Godhood after accepting the titular role of "Black Panther" in the first ever big budget feature film comprised of a predominately Black cast. Did you see us all showing out in the theaters last night?! NIGGA, WE MADE IT. Ahem. Because of this unparalleled feat, he joins a pantheon of Black legends that include barrettes, Fred "Rerun" Berry, and '79 Cadillacs. So for welcoming each of us to Wakanda and cementing his place on church fans every where, Chadwick Boseman is our #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay.
Today's #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay is a 24-year-old Guyanese scene stealer and the only Disney princess we'd want as a Spades partner and/or ally in a Waffle House brawl. After a string of memorable roles in British TV and film, including "Black Mirror," "Top Boy," and "Urban Hymn," Letitia Wright was already popping. Then she leveled up and joined a squad of gracefully aging winners in Ryan Coogler's cinematic Blackstravaganza #BlackPanther as inventor and technological genius Princess Shuri, King T'Challa's brilliant younger sister, described, to the dismay of some ashy-hearted comic book enthusiasts, as the smartest person in the world. And Letitia is just getting started. Next month, she who played a convincing 16-year-old thanks to melanin and boundless talent joins another cast of winners in Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One" and will help rid the world of murderous hateration in the dancerie yet again in May in "The Avengers: Infinity War." Colonizers and wack actors beware.
The lifeblood of #Wakanda, the envy of colonizers everywhere, and the Michael Jackson to Katherine's magical womb, Vibranium is a rare metallic substance of extraterrestrial origin found in weapons, the skulls of hard headed children, and hot combs. Deposited into the Earth over 10,000 years ago by a big ass meteorite, citizens of Wakanda had to settle for the technological advantages Vibranium provides since White Privilege was already taken when God was handing out super powers. Additionally, radiation from Vibranium is responsible for not only mutating Wakanda's fauna and flora, such as the Heart-Shaped Herb that gives T’Challa his enhanced strength and agility, but is rumored to be the secret ingredient in their world class jollof. So for it’s various contributions to the culture, Vibranium is our #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay.
He'll keep you cold in the winter, thirsty in the morning, and powerless in the heat of the night. And he'll still expedite your extraction if your rent is an hour late. Today, we honor the legacy of a Shiftless Superintendent Extraordinaire and proud Master of None known for iconic jumpsuits and selective compassion. A ruiner of "Good Times" and dog food connoisseur with bisonly charm and unshakeable dedication to the "less is more" lifestyle. When not fixing Florida's faucets or repairing holes in the wall caused by Wilona's sexcapades, Sir Nathan Francisco Delorean Jeremiah "Mookie" Juan Bookman, was writing letters to the future, requesting votes toward becoming our #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay. And so here we are. Oh, beloved Buffalo Butt, we offer our unanswered repair requests and praise unto thee.
This ensemble cast of well moisturized undergraduate students, cosmetologists, and expendable Blackstreet members are best remembered for keeping coffee tables gainfully employed with their voluptuous figures and ever-present Kool-Aid smiles. Enthusiasts of riveting pastimes like Kung Fu and reciting MC Skat Kat’s verse from “Opposites Attract", their esteemed alumni includes Thelma from “Good Times” and even CeeLo’s frog-faced ass (no really). But as the precursor to the Instagram models we love and loathe today, we celebrate each of these lovely ladies for not only keeping us company in every hair salon, bathroom, and barbershop, but for teaching us an invaluable lesson in the importance of never trusting a big butt and a smile. And for that, they are our #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay.
Today's #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay is the quick-witted dispenser of quips, gossip, and ancestral wisdom often seen sipping Paul Masson-spiked Metamucil smoothies while perched in her window. As Vice President of Washington D.C.'s Chatty Patty Action Network, the all-knowing matriarch of building 227 took pride in knowing who went broke, who forgot to wash their collards, and where all the bodies were buried. In addition to raising her special grandson, Calvin, Pearl Shay was a trusted source of advice, condescension, and intel for Rose, Mary, and former #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay Sandra Clark. We shall remember her as a respected pillar of the community and one-woman bulletin board with minute-by-minute updates on the comings, goings, doings, and screwings of every human within a one mile radius. Today, let us each strive tell somebody's business in honor of she who taught Quincy Jones to spill tea.
He gave us “The Five Heartbeats”, he gave us “Cooley High”, he gave us US when production studios would barely even entertain the thought. As the forefather of the Will Packers, the Malcolm D. Lees, and the Ryan Cooglers of the world, Robert Townsend, AKA Zaria’s daddy, carried the cross and plowed through countless barriers in an unseasoned entertainment industry rife with Owen Wilson’s nose and garbage ass Robocop sequels. His commitment to conquering new ground and extinguishing negative stereotypes introduced "Hollywood Shuffle”, a semi-autobiographical account of the rampant misrepresentation of people of color in the entertainment industry, "Meteor Man”, the first Black superhero film to feature a predominantly Black cast, and Eddie King Jr, who can’t NOBODY sang like. So thank you Robert for sowing the seeds that have since blossomed and continue to challenge the status quo to this very day.
Today's #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay has more talent in her cheekbones than the entire cast of "Friends" and an arena of Adam Sandlers combined. Whether contending with wayward white witches as Voodoo queen Marie Laveau or stealing scenes as Katherine "DJ Wonder Womb" Jackson, the dynamic Angela Bassett's effortless excellence is always a joy to behold on screen. On this day we salute she who refused to eat the cake and channeled ancestral bicep strength in her masterful portrayal of bionic river-rolling superstar Tina Turner and famously burnt all of John's shit up in his BMW after she got tired of being the dream-deferring lover and the unappreciated secretary. In addition to starring as Sergeant Athena Grant on FOX's 9-1-1, the former Coretta Scott King and Betty Shabazz currently reigns as the Queen Mother of Wakanda while also giving a daily masterclass in graceful aging. Bow down.
You might not know the name, you probably don’t know the face, but you absolutely recognize the iconic Black Power fist he raised on the podium at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Dr. John Carlos, a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights, only attended the 1968 Olympics after his plan to galvanize support for a full-fledged boycott (stipulations included Muhammad Ali being reinstated as heavyweight champion) faltered. Instead, realizing he would have the eyes and ears of the entire world if he won a medal, he decided to participate. After placing third behind fellow American Tommie Smith in the 200, he not only raised a black-glove fist during the medal award ceremony, but rocked black socks without shoes in order to draw attention to the dearth of resources and poverty that African-Americans experience in the United States. Following his career as an Olympic athlete, he went on to become a counselor, in-school suspension supervisor, author, and civil rights advocate who still lectures and fights for our freedom to this day. "Raising my fist at the Olympics cost me friends and my marriage but I'd do it again". So for his lifelong commitment to injustice and equality, Dr. John Carlos is our #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay.
On today we honor a man whose pot liquor-soaked vocals have filled nine albums and brought success to folks like Jadakiss, Jill Scott, Nappy Roots, Angie Stone, and becornrowed recluse D'Angelo. Anthony Cornelius Hamilton, our BET Award- and Grammy-winning #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay, is a Charlotte, North Carolina-born father/sanger/songwriter and the undisputed Prince of Plantation Soul. Legend has it that playing "Charlene" with a ham hock in your back pocket while tilling soil will double your crop yield and keep weeds out of your garden or field and hateration out of your family for four generations. And watching him and the glorious HamilTones sing anything about anything has been proven to moisturize ashy ankles and spirits alike. Put some respeck on his name.
TSA agent by day, dog sitter by night, and the greatest friend in the history of the fucking universe somewhere in between, Rod Williams vaulted into the Spades Partner Hall of Fame when he put every last one of your "friends" to shame by risking life and limb to rescue W'Kabi from W'Becky. As the textbook definition of the exception not the rule, Rod's Black ass even personally delivered his Black Lives Matter mantra to Officer Do I Look Like I Give A Shit after his ominous warnings of "NIGGA, DON'T YOU GO IN THAT FUCKING HOUSE!" fell on deaf ears. And as much as we love and cherish our share of Black best friends in the pantheon of film and television, we all know that if Will got jammed up, Jazz wouldn't do shit but get face planted by Uncle Phil, Regine would glance at the phone and go right back to her to pedicure, and Denise massacred a Gordon Gatrelle shirt on Cockroach's watch. So for being the dude our mother's could only hope we would one day befriend, Rod "The Jack Pearson of Friendship" Williams is today's #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay.
Not content with spending her youth being demeaned for a living as an employee of dedicated ho-ass bamma Luther and Luther's Janitorial Services, our #ExtraordinaryNegrooftheDay opted for a bolder path to personal and community enrichment. Gun and 'gina enthusiast Cleopatra "Cleo" Sims motivated (and drove) Frankie, Stoney, and T.T., her sisters in the struggle, as they relieved various financial institutions of several thousand dollars to grow their skort set collections and get up out the hood. This legendary queer icon and beloved boopiece of Ursula the Unspoken was a thug misses 'til the end, perishing in a blaze of glory while on the hunt for luchini and a life of leisure. Since Cleo went to the big Ladies Night in the sky, we shall always remember her passion and bravery even in her final moments, driving through the fire with a rifle in the back, cornrowed top, fleeing the scene with the gangsta lean. We speak your name.
The 28th and final #ExtraordinaryNegroOfTheDay is none other than the mid-tempo marvel that is near and dear to our Black ass hearts, The Electric Slide. Created by cookout colonizer Richard L. Silver in 1976 as a natural remedy for "The Sugars" and hypertension, these eighteen steps to Heaven, consisting of twists, kicks, and your Auntie's hips, might’ve been created by a dude who looks like Ferris Bueller on his day off, but the exclusive rights to this soulful shimmy were traded to The Black Delegation in exchange for beer pong and OJ’s white Bronco. Part Black Bar Mitzvah, part mating dance, but all sanctified soul, never forget The Electric Slide’s standing as the original Wakandan handshake. It's strong enough for a Chad, but pH balanced for a M'Baku. And it's electric. Boogie woogie woogie.
In case you missed it, here's our first Extraordinary Kwanzaa celebration.
