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This Reggaeton Cover Of Selena's 'Si Una Vez' With Wisin Is OMFG Good

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For proof of how timeless Selena Quintanilla’s music is, look no further than Play-N-Skillz’s recent reggaeton cover of her 1994 Mariachi-style hit “Si Una Vez.” 


The Texas duo are joined in their new music video by singers Leslie Grace and Frankie J, who was formerly a part of A.B. Quintanilla’s Kumbia Kings. Reggaeton star Wisin also dropped a few verses in the cover that honors “la reina, Selena.”


And it’s not the only new Selena-related cover to hit YouTube this year. The late singer’s brother posted a video of the Queen of Tejano music singing Debbie Gibson’s hit “Only In My Dreams” on Jan. 16.

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14 Times Beyoncé Captured The Power Of Motherhood

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The internet is reeling following Beyoncé’s announcement that she is pregnant with twins.


The singer shared the news on Wednesday with an artful Instagram post showing off her belly.







Beyoncé and her husband, Jay Z, welcomed their daughter Blue Ivy on January 7, 2012, after suffering a miscarriage in 2011. Over the past five years, the icon has opened up about the experience of becoming a parent in several interviews.


In honor of the Queen Bey’s latest news, here are some of her best quotes about pregnancy, birth and motherhood.


1. “I think just like any mother, I just want my child to be happy and healthy and have the opportunity to realize her dreams.”



A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on




2. “[Having a daughter] just gives you purpose and all of the things that my self-esteem was associated with, it’s all completely different. I realized why I was born and more than anything all of the things I want to pass onto my child and the best way of doing that is not by preaching or telling her but showing her by example, which is one of the reasons I’m here.”


3. “Out of everything I’ve accomplished, my proudest moment hands down was when I gave birth to my daughter Blue.”



A video posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on




4. “At some point it’s very important to me that my daughter is able to experience life and run through the sprinklers and have slumber parties and trust and live and do all the things that any child should be able to do.”


5. “The best thing about having a daughter is having a true legacy. The word ‘love’ means something completely different now.”


6. “We both [change diapers]. I love changing diapers, I love it. I love every moment of it, it’s so beautiful. I love it all.”



A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on




7. “I have a lot of awards, and I have a lot of these things. And they’re amazing, and I worked my ass off. I worked harder than probably everybody I know to get those things. But nothing feels like my child saying, ‘Mommy!’ Nothing feels like when I look my husband in the eyes.”


8. “Being pregnant was very much like falling in love. You are so open. You are so overjoyed. There’s no words that can express having a baby growing inside of you, so of course you want to scream it out and tell everyone.”



A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on




9. “My family and my closest people were there when I gave birth. Everything that scared me just was not present in that room. So for me to really let go and really appreciate every contraction ... it was the best day of my life.”


10. “I felt very maternal around eight months. And I thought I couldn’t become any more until I saw the baby ... But it happened during my labor because I had a very strong connection with my child. I felt like when I was having contractions, I envisioned my child pushing through a very heavy door. And I imagined this tiny infant doing all the work, so I couldn’t think about my own pain ... We were talking. I know it sounds crazy, but I felt a communication.”



The real cover girl My delicious Blue Blue at 11 months.

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on




11. “About two years ago, I was pregnant for the first time. And I heard the heartbeat, which was the most beautiful music I ever heard in my life. I envisioned what my child would look like ... I flew back to New York to get my check up ― and no heartbeat. Literally the week before I went to the doctor, everything was fine, but there was no heartbeat.”


12. “I hope I can create art that helps people heal. Art that makes people feel proud of their struggle. Everyone experiences pain, but sometimes you need to be uncomfortable to transform. Pain is not pretty, but I wasn’t able to hold my daughter in my arms until I experienced the pain of childbirth!”



Blue kisses

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beyonce) on




13. “Right now, after giving birth, I really understand the power of my body. I just feel my body means something completely different. I feel a lot more confident about it. Even being heavier, thinner, whatever. I feel a lot more like a woman. More feminine, more sensual. And no shame.”


14. “She’s my road dog. She’s my homey, my best friend.”

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Kim Kardashian And Chrissy Teigen Want You To Join Their Book Club

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If you like to read books recommended by celebrities, boy, do we have some good news for you.


Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen are starting their own club with celebrity hairstylist Jen Atkin. The three will, from the sound of it, pass the honor of choosing a title between them, although how often they’ll do this is unclear.


In any case, Kardashian is up first. She’s chosen Embraced by the Light by Betty Eadie, a 1992 book that hit The New York Times best-seller list for several weeks in the early ‘90s. It chronicles Eadie’s experience of her Nov. 19, 1973, hysterectomy, when the 31-year-old grief counselor died and met Jesus in heaven before doctors brought her back to life.


The book ― the author’s first of several on near-death experiences ― offers “astonishing proof of life after physical death,” according to publisher Penguin Random House. The New York Times noted in a 1993 piece that although the topic “initially seemed a bit far out to many members of Manhattan’s decidedly cynical publishing world,” it became a rousing success through word of mouth, and Eadie’s personal appearances in some places drew “crowds so large that the traffic clogged the highways for miles around.”


Kardashian broke the news over Twitter, between tweets sharing crowdfunding pages for critically injured or deceased children.














And yes, everyone is invited, the reality star added


Teigen stepped in to clarify that all you have to do to take part is read the book. 






Whether the trio will debut a website for the club or offer questions for readers to discuss among themselves (perhaps over Twitter?) is yet to be announced.


Embraced by the Light is available through Penguin Random House and Amazon.

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How Art Therapy Helps You De-Stress (Even If You Don't Think You Need It)

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2012-10-11-omaglogo.jpg



There were eight of us around the table. We’d signed up for a two-hour workshop with Madison, Wisconsin, art therapists Mary Williams and Kelly Toltzien, who together founded Madison Art Therapy in 2015. Our number included seven women and one man, mostly in our 30s and 40s. We were there to reconnect with our artistic sides—and our feelings.

Williams and Toltzien sat at either end of the table. Williams had silver bands on her fingers and a contagious grin. Toltzien’s blue eyes seemed to take in the entire room at once. The two have known each other since college, and they chatted easily like the friends they are.

First they spread postcards across the table, and we sifted through them to select one that introduced both ourself and our state of mind. Carrie considered a photo of a nude woman in a field, but instead chose an image of Yosemite’s rugged landscape. Ellen, fresh from work in a dress and a cardigan, chose a picture of children on bikes. “It’s been a shitty week in the news, and I chose this because it’s a happy image,” she said. I’d just returned from a long work trip and thrown a birthday party for my 5-year-old, and I was miffed at my husband for suggesting we keep it smaller next time. I picked two cards: a Picasso Mother and Child and a Cartier-Bresson photo of three people in Spain looking suspicious and defiant.

Sitting and talking may be the typical way of expressing your feelings, Williams said, but art therapy is built on the idea that using the creative process—and our physicality—in therapy is doubly effective. If you’re throwing paint at a canvas, she says, “that’s sending a message to your body and brain: ‘Okay, I just said this paint was going to represent my anger, and here I am letting go of it.’”

Once we’d used the images to read the mood in the room—mostly frazzled—we moved to our first project, which was sculpting clay into a depiction of something we were ready to part with. I hoped to release my habit of holding on to resentments (like those that arise in the wake of unappreciated birthday parties). How to embody that?

As I worked, I looked around the table and had my first therapeutic insight: I’m not a very good artist. At least not by comparison. Carrie’s flaring lily had a twisted stem, which, when turned, looked cunningly like a tornado. In Ellen’s diminutive clay wall, each brick was eerily uniform. Marianne, who talked of feeling fragmented in her job and homelife, made an open hand, placed a clock in its palm, then closed the fingers. Our therapists sculpted, too; Toltzien fashioned an impressive mountain peak, like a tiny Mordor.

I noodled with worms of oyster-colored clay before settling on my best representation of hidden resentments: a tentacled ingot trapped in a coiled vase. After we finished and described our sculptures, Williams and Toltzien revealed that the “letting go” was no metaphor. We fanned out into the night to find a place in the grass, trees, or bushes where our sculptures could return to the earth. (This being environmentally conscious Madison, we’d verified that our creations were toxic only in emotional terms.) Carrie and Marianne pitched theirs into the woods. Terry walked off, holding her sculpture in both hands, then returned without it. I wasn’t sure about hurling my resentment tentacles, so I set the sculpture behind some nettles.

Much of what happens in art therapy is beyond words, Toltzien told us. She and Williams offer a variety of media to help people reach that primal plane: collages, flowing watercolors, grid drawings to help with focus, even body movements. Next up for our group was stones. The idea was to fill the psychic space we’d cleared with something positive. Each of us chose a smooth rock to transform with paints and markers. Marianne adorned hers with looping rainbows; Carrie turned hers into a precise fairy garden of blooms. Anna painted a silhouetted rabbit (”my spirit animal”) within the borders of a snake eating its own tail. Layering paint on stone, I learned that to me positivity resembles a blurry Ukrainian Easter egg. Our group discussed kids and work, issues of middle age or middle-class life. But Madison Art Therapy also serves people grappling with trauma, grief, anxiety, depression. Whatever her malady, a client may not have held a paintbrush since childhood.

During the session, I’d had a glimpse of transformation. It didn’t really matter what I made; what was calming was the process of making—and of seeing what people struggle with and how they choose to express it. By the end of the session, my very posture had changed. I felt no need to fidget or speak—just an unfamiliar, welcome stillness. I wondered what I could create that would let me feel it again.

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Hillary And Bill Clinton's Date Night Is Making Our Hearts Swoon

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Hillary and Bill Clinton had a date night on Broadway Wednesday, and New Yorkers were loving it. 


The two made a surprise appearance at the a cappella musical In Transit directed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall at the Circle in the Square Theatre, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Not only was Hillary greeted by excitement, but she also got a standing ovation from her New York fans, who shouted chants of “Hillary!” 


(Rumor has it, she may be eyeing a run for mayor of NYC in November.) 







Can you handle it? 



The Clintons headed backstage after the show for a meet and greet with the cast of the show ― which is about the intertwining lives of 11 New Yorkers ― and also stopped to pose for photos with fans along the way. 




The cast of @InTransitBway welcomed @HillaryClinton and @BillClinton to the stage last night after the show!

A video posted by In Transit Broadway (@intransitbway) on





With Hillary

A photo posted by Rolmar Baldonado (@rolmarb) on





Work was crazy tonight. The Clinton's were kind and unbelievably gracious. God, I love that woman. #hillaryclinton

A photo posted by Jimmy Cochran (@itsjimmycochran) on





I tried to say "thank you for everything" but it came out as "thanxowbeka" #stillwithher

A photo posted by Catie DiVincenzo (@catiediv) on



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J.K. Rowling’s Responses To Fans Burning Her Books Are Pure Fire

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British author J.K. Rowling’s Twitter account has had a very specific theme as of late. A quick gander makes it pretty clear that she is not a fan of President Donald Trump or his policies.


And because of this, some Harry Potter fans have threatened to burn their wizarding merchandise if she doesn’t stay out of politics.


As for her response? Let’s just say that even the book-loving Hermione Granger would be proud.










Yet, not all fans are upset by her tweets. One actually came to Rowling’s defense, tweeting to the author, “I’ll buy 2 copies of every book to make up for this and I’ll donate the second copy to an interested reader. Takers?”


This allowed the author to inject some humor into the situation:






This is not the first time folks have felt compelled to destroy Harry Potter books. The beloved children’s series has rattled preachers, priests and religious fundamentalists for years because they feel the books encourage witchcraft, which has led to the series’ frequent banning, and even organized book burnings.


So, a few fans tweeting to Rowling to let her know about their arsonist activities probably doesn’t make her blood boil.


Especially since it seems like most of her fans are cool with her political views:






So, we suppose if you have issues with Rowling’s opinions and feel the need to tell her, go for it. Girlfriend is just going to hit you right back.






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A Theatrical Look At Gay Men Bound By Family, Divided By Politics

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From “Significant Other” to “The View UpStairs,” gay themes are turning out to be a cornerstone of the 2017 theater season in New York. However, a less-heralded, Off-Off-Broadway play will break fresh ground as an exploration of queer life under President Donald Trump


Boys of a Certain Age,” which opens Feb. 8 at New York’s Theaterlab, follows four gay Jewish men who are bound by identity and family, but nonetheless struggle to find a common ground. Directed by Dan Dinero, the play begins with a familiar conceit: a middle-aged gay man, Ira (played by R. Scott Williams), is hosting a weekend gathering at his beach home outside New York. On the guest list are childhood pal Larry (Joseph J. Menino) and son Bryan (Marc Sinoway), as well as a conservative nephew, Christopher (Brian Gilgor), who happens to be an ardent Trump supporter. Needless to say, what was intended as a retreat ends up being a comedic collision of personalities and politics, compounded by the fact that Ira and Larry used to be lovers. 


Watch Fingerman talk about his play below, then scroll down to keep reading. 





When “Boys of a Certain Age” premiered at the 2016 Fresh Fruit Festival last July, the prospects of Trump stepping foot into the White House seemed doubtful. In order to reflect a new and indeterminate reality for the LGBTQ community, playwright Dan Fingerman told The Huffington Post that he’s shifted the timeline of the piece to February 2017, just weeks after Trump’s inauguration. 


Even though the time period was changed, Dinero opted to keep its seaside setting intact. “We found that this idea of a beach in winter – stark, desolate, a bit ‘end of the world’ in feeling – somehow feels exactly right for where we, as a country, are right now,” Dinero, who also directed Fingerman’s previous play, “The Audacity of Hope,” said. “I hope this doesn’t sound callous, [but] if fascist regimes are a bitch to live in, their inherent conflict and uncertainty makes great fodder for dramatic conflict.” 


But both Dinero and Fingerman felt that “Boys of a Certain Age” should avoid an overtly partisan message. To that point, the gay Republican character “isn’t a villain, a capitalist pig, or an ignorant rube” but rather “someone who cares deeply for the world he lives in,” Dinero said. At its 2016 premiere, the show drew viewers from both sides of the political spectrum and, according to Fingerman, “both related to something and enjoyed it.” 



Although the political climate in the U.S. has arguably become even more divided since the election, Fingerman hopes those who see “Boys of a Certain Age” in its revised incarnation will appreciate the multiple perspectives the show presents. 


“I think it’s very important in this time of great uncertainty about our future to keep proudly telling gay stories,” he told HuffPost. “Even though there’s a lot of despair and hopelessness in our world, we’re not alone, we’re in this together, and any attempts to roll back our rights as gay people, or more broadly Americans are not going to go unnoticed. I feel like it’s very important to say that and remind people of this in these fraught times.”


“Boys of a Certain Age” begins previews Feb. 8 at Theaterlab in New York. Head here for more details. 


For the latest LGBTQ entertainment, check out the Queer Voices newsletter.

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Noted Police Aggressor Mel Gibson Will Star In A Movie About Police Brutality

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Here’s a Hollywood doozy for you: Known police aggressor Mel Gibson is set to star in a movie about police brutality called “Dragged Across Concrete.” Classy.


The news hit Wednesday afternoon in a press release announcing the project has secured financing from various production companies. “Dragged Across Concrete” will also feature Vince Vaughn, who starred in last year’s “Hacksaw Ridge,” for which Gibson recently earned a Best Director Oscar nomination. It’s being directed by S. Craig Zahler, who made 2015’s cannibalistic Kurt Russell western “Bone Tomahawk.” 


Here’s the plot synopsis, per the press release: “A stolid, old-guard policeman, Ridgeman (Gibson), and his volatile younger partner, Anthony (Vaughn), find themselves suspended when a video of their strong-arming tactics become the media’s special du jour. Low on cash and with no other options, these two embittered soldiers descend into the criminal underworld to gain their just due, but instead find far more than they wanted awaiting them in the shadows.” 


What people have apparently forgotten is that awaiting Gibson in the shadows is a verifiable history of aggression toward police officers, not to mention an undercurrent of homophobia, anti-Semitism, misogyny and racism. According to documents obtained by TMZ, Gibson, who has struggled with alcohol abuse, threatened to take revenge on an officer who arrested him for a DUI in 2006. “I’m going to fuck you,” Gibson yelled. He then called a female officer “sugar tits” and proceeded to ask whether the arresting officer was Jewish. “Fucking Jews,” Gibson said. “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” This was three years after the Anti-Defamation League accused Gibson of depicting Jews as “bloodthirsty” and “evil” in the hyper-violent blockbuster “The Passion of the Christ.”


As these things go for straight white men in Hollywood, Gibson’s PR crisis was relatively short-lived. Sony chief Amy Pascal vowed not to work with him again, and ABC dropped a Holocaust miniseries he was developing. But less than six months after the DUI incident, Disney released Gibson’s next violent directorial effort, “Apocalypto,” which some criticized for depicting the Mayan civilization solely as “bloodthirsty savages.” Even though it wasn’t a runaway hit, “Apocalypto” did all right at the box office. Gibson’s career slowed a bit, but he was still developing movies, including one about Viking warriors that Leonardo DiCaprio exited after RadarOnline published audio of Gibson roaring at his then-girlfriend. In the 2010 tapes, Gibson demanded oral sex, said it would be her fault if she’s “raped by a pack of n****rs” and declared she “fucking deserved” to be smacked. 







This was just a more publicized form of the invective Gibson had spewed since the early days of his career. Before saying he “want[ed] to kill” New York Times columnist Frank Rich over a negative “Passion of the Christ” review, Gibson had called a former female business partner a “cunt,” denounced feminism and told Playboy in 1995 that anyone who expected an apology for the homophobic remarks he’d made a few years prior could “fuck off.” 


With the RadarOnline evidence, Gibson’s head was again on the PR chopping block. That ended fairly quickly too. Factions of Hollywood reportedly blacklisted him, and Gibson didn’t land the sort of acclaimed roles that a so-called serious actor might pine for, but he nonetheless appeared in more movies, mostly violent ones like “Get the Gringo,” “The Expendables 3” and Robert Rodriguez’s “Machete Kills.” 


And now, here we are. In handing Gibson a Best Director nomination for “Hacksaw Ridge,” the Academy has effectively bankrolled his comeback. “I don’t understand why after 10 years it’s any kind of issue,” Gibson told Variety in October, referring to the DUI rant. “Surely if I was really what they say I was, some kind of hater, there’d be evidence of actions somewhere. There never has been. I’ve never discriminated against anyone or done anything that sort of supports that reputation. And for one episode in the back of a police car on eight double tequilas to sort of dictate all the work, life’s work and beliefs and everything else that I have and maintain for my life is really unfair.” 


This week alone, we’ve seen reports about Gibson eyeing a roll in “Daddy’s Home 2” and headlining a film about police brutality, one of the most fraught racial topics in America. Meanwhile, women directed only 7 percent of 2016’s highest-grossing movies and comprised a mere 22 percent of the protagonists in 2015’s highest grossers. Cool. Good job, Hollywood. 






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Even When Announcing Her Pregnancy, Beyoncé Gives Black Artists A Platform

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On Wednesday, Beyoncé informed her devoted disciples that she was growing not one, but two babies inside her. She announced the news by posting a stunning photo of her pregnant body on Instagram, soon shattering the standing record for most likes on the social media platform. It now has more than 8,500,000 nods of approval. 


The divine portrait of Bey shrouded in a pale, wispy veil is allegedly the work of photographer Awol Erizku. According to Artnews, Erizku confirmed his involvement over text. The Huffington Post has since reached out to Erizku to corroborate, but have yet to hear back. 




Born in Ethiopia and raised in the Bronx, the photographer has previously made his affection for the Carter family known ― in a sculpture of stacked basketball hoops titled “Oh what a feeling, aw, fuck it, I want a Trillion,” a line from Jay Z’s “Picasso Baby.” As further evidence of his involvement in Beyoncé’s pregnancy shoot, you can look to Erizku’s Instagram, which features staged portraits reminiscent of Bey’s, involving Day-Glo backdrops, fake flowers, ancient mythological vibes and all.


Beyoncé has since uploaded more images from the pregnancy series to her website, which also combine religious iconography with a highly staged and hyperartificial pop feel. They resemble Erizku’s distinctive aesthetic, which blends classical imagery with contemporary cultural markers and a kitsch sense of humor.  



#Beyonce #twins

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on




With her pregnancy announcement, Beyoncé singlehandedly beamed a ray of light into the depths of the internet, breaking the recent unending torrent of nightmarish news with a reminder that love is alive.


Bey also continued her legacy of using her massive platform to promote the work of black artists.


Beyoncé’s most recent visual album “Lemonade” showed the her commitment to highlighting the work of others and using her sweeping mainstream acclaim to promote work from lesser-celebrated fields like visual art, poetry and ballet. For example, she featured body paintings by the Nigerian artist Laolu Senbanjo, whose work is inspired by Yoruba culture. Senbanjo applied body paint he described as “the sacred art of the Ori” to women in the “Sorry” video, which has been viewed over 180,000,000 times on YouTube. After the video’s release, Senbanjo was interviewed by The New York Times, who attributed Beyonce’s video to the artist’s “own mainstream fame.”


Another creative whose reputation was bolstered by Beyonce’s support is Warsan Shire, the London-based Somali poet whose words were adapted for “Lemonade.” The poet was known prior to the album, for writing phrases like “Give your daughters difficult names. Give your daughters names that command the full use of tongue.” However, “Lemonade” catapulted Shire to a new level of prominence. Within hours of the film’s release, Amazon sold out of her paperback books. 


Shire also wrote a poem to accompany Bey’s pregnancy announcement, featured below.




#Beyonce #Blue

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on




It’s not that artists like Erizku, Shire and Senbanjo were unknown before Beyonce highlighted their work. Even the term “emerging” seems to minimize the respect they’d previously earned in their respective fields. It is widespread acclaim that Beyoncé’s following affords, acknowledgement that is nearly impossible for a poet or visual artist to attain. The Beyhive is real. 


The list of artists of color supported by Beyoncé goes on and on. The video for “Freedom” features 22-year-old Michaela DePrince, a Sierra Leonean-American ballerina, dancing on stage. A later scene includes shots of actress and activist Amandla Stenberg and French-Cuban sisters Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi Diaz of the musical duo Ibeyi. There are also cameos by Zendaya and Quvenzhané Wallis. 


With her music, films, and even her baby announcements, Beyoncé shines her light on the many other artists working to imagine a different and more beautiful world. Bey uses her queenly powers to amplify voices aside from her own, thereby providing an unmatchable platform that for many young artists, changes the course of their lives and careers. 


So, yeah, that’s how you tell people you’re having twins. 



#Beyonce

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#Beyonce

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





❤️

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#Beyonce

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#Twins

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#Blue

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#Stunning

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#Beyonce #Stunning

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#Stunning

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#Stunning

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on





#beyonce

A photo posted by Beyoncé (@beylite) on



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14 Iranian Artists Explore Just How Complex Immigration And Identity Can Be

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Featured below are 14 portraits of women by contemporary artists of Iranian descent. Many, however, conceal as much as they reveal, whether they are depicting veiled subjects, using purposefully obscure photographic techniques, or painting in an abstract language. The works mirror the fragmentation and fluidity that defines so many individuals’ identities today, Iranian or not. 


An exhibition called “The (Un) Draped Woman” features contemporary representations of Iranian women, rendered through the lenses of memory, experience, myth, tradition, religion, immigration, fantasy, preconceptions and the many other filters that affect one’s perspective. Navigating the relationship between art and meaning, appearance and identity, the artists communicate the complexity involved in creating a portrait ― or in comporting oneself. 


As Sandra Williams, assistant curator in LACMA’s Art of the Middle East department, explained in a statement: “The work of the 14 artists in this exhibition, who are all of Iranian origin, depict women in various states of cover, yet as all their works show, external appearances, whether fully exposed or not, are rarely a gateway to comprehending female identity. Instead, these artists seek to capture a deeper truth: that identity is ever changing and what is publicly presented is only a partial expression, if that, of each woman (or man’s) true sense of self.”


The group show is especially timely given President Donald Trump’s recent executive order temporarily halting visas for individuals from Muslim-majority nations, including Iran. Many of the featured artists migrated from their native country abroad, many to the United States. Their work draws from the hostilities they encountered, the assumptions they defied, and the hurdles they overcame to forge a life in a new country. 


The images touch on the immense struggle of living between places, cultures and eras, offering an unorthodox angle through which to view Iranian life today. Artists like Shadi Yousefian, Firouz Farman-Farmaian, Simin Keramati and Kamran Taherimoghaddam show just show complex Iranian identity truly is.


 


1. Shadi Yousefian


Born in Tehran and based in San Francisco, California, Yousefian draws from her individual experience as an immigrant to touch on universal feelings of alienation and fragmentation. Her practice consists of destroying materials like photographs and letters, only to then rebuild them anew.



2. Gohar Dashti


Dashti, born in Tehran, uses photography to explore the world around her from the vantage point of her memory and personal experience. She captures traditional landscapes sprinkled with identifiable markers of modern life, visualizing the lived tension of a space caught between conventions and progress. 



3. Firouz Farman-Farmaian


Farman-Farmaian ― who was born in Tehran and now lives and works in Tarifa, Spain, and Paris, France ― works in a wide range of materials including canvas, nylon, cotton, vinyl, paper, metal, oil sticks, wax crayons, sand and cement. His multimedia works revolve around the ideas of movement and memory as they apply to the life and consciousness of a self-identified nomad. 



4. Hadi Salehi


Salehi, born in Shahsavar and based in Los Angeles, acclimated to life in the United States by photographing fellow outsiders ― punks, surfers and Chicano activists in LA. He has since developed a unique method of experimental photography ― taking apart cameras and disrupting the development process ― to produce analog photographs of human beings that illuminate their depth and complexity with haunting potency. 



5. Afsoon


Afsoon was raised in Iran, moved to San Francisco as a teen, and now resides in London, where he channels his collaged identity into humorous yet impactful works. Working in linocut, photography, collage and etching, the artist combines Eastern and Western traditions to tell the story of his life, at once unique and universal. 



6. Sepideh Salehi


Salehi, born in Tehran and based in New York, creates videos, collages, drawings, photographs and paintings, most of which reflect an appreciation for the delicate power of paper. Her subject matter toys with the poetics of the veil ― specifically the ritual item’s ability to conceal and reveal women’s identities. 




7. Dana Nehdaran


Nehdaran, born in Chahar Bagh and now based in New York, uses the language of contemporary painting to address themes very much bound up in the past, including tradition, memory, nostalgia and his own family legacy. 



8. Simin Keramati


Keramati, who was born in Tehran and now lives in Toronto, is a multidisciplinary artist who often paints portraits of women that investigate the relationship between appearance, expression and identity. Oftentimes, the paintings challenge the traditional understanding of masks, revealing the other insidious ways society encourages women to hide or conform. 



9. Shilla Shakoori


Shakoori, born in Tehran and based in Los Angeles, is an artist and illustrator who incorporates Iranian philosophy, poetry and mythology into her dreamlike images, which address the influence of native and adopted cultures on a person’s psyche and performance of self.  



10. Amir H. Fallah


Fallah, born in Tehran, raised in Fairfax, Virginia, and based in Los Angeles, crafts electric canvasses that revel in the magnetic power of color, texture, pattern and form. Depicting neon jungles or overcrowded interiors, Fallah drafts impossible spaces that can only exist on paper or in the wilds of the imagination. 



11. Tahmineh Monzavi


Monzavi, born and based in Tehran, is a documentary photographer drawn to archiving what she calls “social contradictions” ― the underbellies of Iranian life that are often forbidden and thus cloaked in secrecy. Much of her work chronicles Iran’s younger generation and the subcultures they have established on the outskirts of mainstream society. 



12. Kamran Taherimoghaddam


Born in Tehran and based in New York, Taherimoghaddam works in media including painting, drawing, installation and video art, visualizing the personal effects of growing up in a homeland characterized by uncertainty, repression and violence. Through abstraction, he alludes to the inexpressible psychological and emotional residue of his tumultuous early life. 



13. Farzad Kohan


Kohan, born in Tehran and currently living in Los Angeles, uses multi-stage artistic processes to mirror the gradualness and heterogeneity of the diaspora life. Using layered abstract imagery as well as text written in Farsi and Arabic, he visualizes complex experiences like love and migration that defy verbal explanation. 



14. Shadi Ghadirian


Ghadirian, who is based in her native Tehran, takes photographs inspired, in part, by her life as a modern woman living among religious dictates, outdated traditions, stereotypical assumptions and gendered prejudice. The artist toys with the preconceptions Middle Eastern women face from both their homelands and abroad, providing complex portraits of contemporary women defying expectations. 



Advocartsy Presents | “Art Brief III: The (Un)Draped Woman” runs Feb. 10 through 18 at Arena 1 Gallery in Los Angeles, California. 


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Jimmy Fallon, Judd Apatow And Keanu Reeves Perform Stand-Up Written By Kids

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Kids say the darndest things ... and they write the darndest jokes too.


On Wednesday’s episode of “The Tonight Show,” Jimmy Fallon invited guests Keanu Reeves and Judd Apatow onstage for a special segment called “Kid Standup.”


For the segment, each performer did a comedy routine consisting of jokes written by elementary school students. Watch the video above for some real kid-worthy puns and zingers.


The HuffPost Parents newsletter offers a daily dose of personal stories, helpful advice and comedic takes on what it’s like to raise kids today. Sign up here.

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Kids Shut Down 'Alternative Facts' About Black History

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When it comes to black history, these kids have no tolerance for “alternative facts.”


In honor of Black History Month, the “Because of Them We Can” campaign put together a video about Kellyanne Conway’s Orwellian term, and the false narratives people spread about the black experience. 


“Black girl magic is real. Black boy joy is real,” the kids say. “Black support is real. Black excellence is real. Black love, that’s real.”


Responding to more “alternative facts,” they also note, “Black history didn’t begin with slavery, and it doesn’t end with the Obamas.”


Watch the full video above or on the Facebook page, “Because of Them We Can by Eunique Jones.”


The HuffPost Parents newsletter offers a daily dose of personal stories, helpful advice and comedic takes on what it’s like to raise kids today. Sign up here.

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10 Throwback Photos Of Hillary Clinton You’ve Probably Never Seen

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Robert McNeely began his career as a political photojournalist in 1972, following the presidential race between Richard Nixon and George McGovern. Over two decades later, in 1993, Hillary Clinton asked McNeely to be the official White House photographer during former President Bill Clinton’s administration. 


For the next six years, McNeely photographed the Clintons on the campaign trail, attending state dinners, and in official White House meetings. In addition to photographing the administration, McNeely also beautifully captured the more intimate moments between a husband, wife and daughter. 


Recently, McNeely published his own book titled The Making of Hillary Clinton: The White House Years showcasing some of these never-before-seen photos of the Clintons, focusing on Hillary Clinton herself.


“The woman who left the White House in the early days of 2001 was very different from the one who was swept in on a tide of hope with her husband in 1992. The tough, savvy, and polished two-time candidate for president had begun to emerge,” McNeely explained in the introduction. “Yet, despite having been in the public eye for so long, Hillary Clinton is often described as the least-known, least-understood famous person in America. I hope that in taking readers behind the scenes and showing her from new angles, these photographs might provide greater insight into the making of this extraordinary woman.”


Scroll below to see 10 never-before-seen photos of Clinton from McNeely’s new book. 



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How 'Moonlight' Director Barry Jenkins Cast Chiron

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One hallmark of “Moonlight” is the casting of three different actors to play Chiron, a black latchkey kid struggling with his sexuality in the Miami projects. On the heels of the movie’s eight Oscar nominations, A24 has released a featurette in which writer/director Barry Jenkins describes the gravity of depicting the environment in which he grew up and the process of casting three young men to capture the story’s heartfelt tone. 


See Jenkins describe his relationship to “Moonlight” in the above clip, exclusive to The Huffington Post. 


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Mike Pence Recognized Black History Month By Honoring A White Man

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Vice-President Mike Pence posted a tweet on Wednesday in which he recognized the beginning of Black History Month by honoring a white man.


The tweet acknowledged President Abraham Lincoln and his work around the abolishment of slavery, but fails to mention the contributions of any black trailblazer.   






Pence’s tribute to Lincoln didn’t sit well with many on Twitter, who called out the tone-deaf tweet and implored the vice president to become better acquainted with the achievements of black men and women. 


As kind Twitter users reminded our newbie vice president, Black History Month is a time to honor black people in American history.  


























Note to Pence: Two weeks ago the leader of the free world was black. 






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Bolshoi Prima Ballerina Describes The Emotional Intensity Of Dancing 'Swan Lake'

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For Bolshoi Ballet prima ballerina Svetlana Zakharova, dancing the roles of both Odette and Odile in “Swan Lake” was one of the most technically challenging experiences of her life. Aside from mastering the proper way to move her body like a hybrid creature ― part woman, part bird ― Zakharova had to communicate a complex range of emotions without ever saying a word. 


“Every ballerina that’s danced this ballet, and has danced it well, can say she’s made it,” Zakharova explains in the interview above. “Because this ballet is so difficult, not just technically, but also on an emotional level. It’s so complex. You need to be 100 percent sure that you have the full technique, that you will be interesting to the audience, that during the White Adagio, people won’t be able to tear their eyes away from you.”





In Bolshoi in Cinema’s production of “Swan Lake,” Zakharova stars as both Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer’s curse, and Odile, the princess’ dark mirror image, a tempting chimera born of the prince’s wicked imagination. The ballerina has performed in 12 different versions of the legendary Tchaikovsky ballet around the world; this round will feature choreography by Yuri Grigorovich.


For Zakharova, Odette ― or the White Swan ― is the more difficult role to dance. “The clean movements, the openness, the defenselessness is so much harder to perform than the drive, the kind of aggression, the vivacity of the black swan, where all the emotions are immediately clear,” she said. 


“But the White Swan ... there’s a constant quest. You’re always searching for the position of the arms, head. It’s always a duet with your partner, so many nuances, especially in the White Swan. And being so exposed, so that it really looks beautiful ― so that it touches the audience ― is the hardest thing to interpret.”


See Zakharova dance “Swan Lake” on Sunday, Feb. 5, at cinemas around North America. Find a theater near you here.  






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Teen Plans To Tell The Immigrant Stories Trump's Administration Never Would

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When Valeria Alvarado learned that President Donald Trump had called for a weekly list of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants, she took action.


The 19-year-old Villanova University student decided to create an organization that would fight Trump’s actions by highlighting positive immigrant stories. Alvarado recently started the Facebook page “We, Too, Are America,” a name she acknowledges has also been used by other pro-immigrant movements on Twitter and to celebrate Black History Month. 


“When I read [Trump’s executive] order, I knew it would unfairly define a community of over 11 million people by the actions of a few,” Alvarado told The Huffington Post on Thursday. “Being close to the community, I decided to do a counter-list where we would publish a weekly list of accomplishments by the undocumented community.”






The positive response she received over the initial idea prompted her to open up the platform to not only include stories about undocumented immigrants but also feature achievements by refugees and the immigrant community as a whole. The student says these groups are also negatively affected by Trump’s recent directives. 


Alvarado is an immigrant herself; she moved from Monterrey, Mexico to the United States at the age 4. The teen is currently spending a semester abroad in Rwanda studying post-genocide restoration.


“I could not believe my eyes when I first read Trump’s plan to publish this list,” Alvardo told Remezcla in a recent interview. “This ‘crime list’ idea is not new. The Nazis used to publish a list of Jewish crimes before the genocide started. The RTML radio in Rwanda used to convince people that Tutsis were to blame for the crimes of the few. I am not trying to homogenize these situations with each other, but it is unbelievable that we are repeating history’s same mistakes.” 


Alvarado, who is a U.S. citizen, recognizes that not all immigrants have the opportunity to become legal. 


“I was lucky enough to become a citizen in 2013,” she told HuffPost. “I use the word ‘luck’ because I believe the citizenship process requires more than just hard work, it requires luck. There are so many in our community still stuck in the process, after years and years of working hard towards becoming a citizen.”



The “We, Too, Are America” Facebook page has accrued more than 1,000 followers in its first six days. Alvarado and her small team plan to publish their first weekly list of immigrant stories on Monday, Feb. 6. 


“We, Too, Are America wants to publish stories from all walks of life and all professions,” she said. “Our goal is not to build the ‘model minority’ image, but instead, counter a false image with a positive and more diverse image of our community.”


The 2016 election was the first time Alvarado had the opportunity to vote for a presidential candidate, a privilege she took seriously. While the outcome was not what she expected, she intends to keep fighting for her ideals. 


“Voting for the first time was a bittersweet moment,” she told HuffPost. “I was happy I was able to go in the voting booth to exercise my rights. I also had to think about the privilege I have as a citizen; our undocumented friends and family did not have an opportunity to vote in an election that would alter their lives. The three million more Americans and I that won the popular vote are disappointed in the outcome, pero como siempre me ha dicho mi papa: ‘es tiempo para ponerte las pilas’ (which translates to, ‘but like my dad always told me: ‘it’s time to get to work’’). A Trump presidency will not bring us down. We will not stand by silently.”

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Lin-Manuel Miranda Believes The Muslim Ban Is 'Deeply Un-American'

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“History has its eyes on you.” “You want a revolution? I want a revelation.” “Immigrants, we get the job done.” 


Lin-Manuel Miranda’s inspiring “Hamilton” lyrics are rising up throughout this current political moment, appearing on countless protest signs all over the world. President Donald Trump’s executive order, barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations and indefinitely blocking entry for Syrian refugees, has caused outrage ― and Miranda’s words are becoming phrases of hope and justice. This has made his heart swell.


“I keep seeing ‘Immigrants, We Get The Job Done’ on placards at every march, at every protest. I can’t tell you what that does to me as a writer to see a line [I wrote]. And what it means for the conversation, in this moment in history,” Miranda told The Huffington Post over the phone on Thursday.


Miranda, who earned an Oscar nod for his songwriting work on Disney’s “Moana,” believes Trump’s ban is “deeply un-American,” saying it’s “against the fundamental freedom of religion in our constitution.” So he wants everyone to take this time to fight back, and his lyrics are yours for the protesting.  


“There was an incredible protest sign that read ‘History Has Its Eyes On You’ and it had Carrie Fisher as Leia’s eyes over it, and I was so moved by the moment,” he said. “When you’re making something, you don’t control what happens [in response]. You can only control the thing you make. So to see it ripple back in that way, it’s very moving and very humbling.” 



In a time when “Hamilton” is reigning on Broadway and Trump is leading the country, Miranda is focused on taking the necessary steps to make sure his words, his fellow artists’ words, and the words of future generations are heard, read and felt. He believes that the only way to keep our minds moving is to make sure we protect and support the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which Trump reportedly plans to defund


“The importance of the NEA ― I can not tell you how many studies and findings find that arts lift up every other score in education,” he told HuffPost. “When you learn music, you use both hemispheres of your brain. It helps you with the math and it helps you with the arts. It’s so important that the arts have attention in our education. It certainly saved my life. I don’t know where I would be without the amazing arts education I got at a public school. I certainly wouldn’t be talking to you. So, we’re going to have to fight to protect it.” 





As for his own national program, #EduHam, which allows public school students to see his Tony-winning musical “Hamilton” for just $10 (a Ham for a “Ham,” as Miranda explains it), the project will continue to give kids the opportunity to take in a historic cultural moment. 


“We raised the money for #EduHam ourselves, that’s going to go on,” Miranda said, “that’s not getting affected by anyone who’s in charge in the government.”

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Sculptor Who Voluntarily Went To Japanese Prison Camp To Help Became Trapped Himself

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In 1941, the Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi was living in Los Angeles, angling for portrait commissions from Hollywood patrons. On December 7th, he was driving down the coast, on an errand to pick up art supplies, when he learned, from a news report on the radio, of the attack on Pearl Harbor. “With a flash I realized I was no longer the sculptor alone,” he recalled years later, in his autobiography. “I was not just American but Nisei. A Japanese-American.”

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How John Leguizamo Changed The Way Lin-Manuel Miranda Viewed Theater

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Lin-Manuel Miranda may now be the toast of the town, but he hasn’t forgotten the Latino star that showed him theater’s limitless possibilities.


In a Vanity Fair piece titled “How John Leguizamo Taught Lin-Manuel Miranda to Embrace Being ‘Young, Gifted, and Latino’,” the creator of “Hamilton” gives a personal account of the first time he saw “Spic-o-Rama,” the HBO one-man show Leguizamo wrote, produced and starred in. 


“I remember popping in the cassette and seeing John Leguizamo leap across the stage in orange baggy jeans and braces, playing the dorky, nine-year-old Miggy,” Miranda recounts in the piece. “Then he was Crazy Willie, a Persian Gulf War vet with serious relationship issues. Then Raffi, a flamboyant would-be Elizabethan actor in Jackson Heights. It slowly dawned on me that Leguizamo was playing every member of his hilarious, dysfunctional family, on his own electric terms.” 


Miranda, who is now one Oscar away from being a MacPEGOT winner, wrote the piece as Leguizamo prepares to return Off Broadway with his new one-man show Latin History for Morons.  


The Puerto Rican star is often described as a visionary for his smash hit “Hamilton: An American Musical,” but Miranda recognizes that Leguizamo opened a door for his own work on Broadway. 


“Spic-o-Rama hit me (and a generation of future Latino writers) like a thunderbolt,” Miranda writes. “As an erstwhile theater kid whose knowledge of it was strictly confined to traditional musicals such as Oklahoma! and Fiddler on the Roof, witnessing a Latino actor write and star in his own show, reveling in the specificities of our culture with brilliant, razor-sharp wit and a uniquely hip-hop energy, exploded my every notion of what theater could be.”


In a 2015 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Leguizamo said he felt the need to create and star in his own shows because of his experience being pigeonholed by Hollywood. 


“It was an antidote to the system, to the Hollywouldn’t-ness of it all, you know?,” he said. “And it was that, because I didn’t want to be a drug dealer or a murderer for the rest of my life. That’s not me, that’s not my people.”

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