Mr T: Treat Your Mother Right Video

Well, since it's Mother's Day and I'm going to be spending it with my mother and grandmother, definitely thought this is the day this video needed to be posted.

It's Mr. T doing his 'Treat Your Mother Right' video from the 80's.  (God I miss that decade and the 70's).

 

Phil Donahue Trans Shows

Phil Donahue's talk show based out of Chicago started in 1970 and was the gold standard in that genre for years.  Phil had the number one rated talk show in the 80's and early 90's before Oprah took that title away and his show canceled in 1996. 

He was one of the first talk show hosts to discuss trans issues and for the most part did so without sensationalizing it. 

These shows were a huge assist in terms of me and other trans people during that time trying to gather information on trans issues during the pre-Internet era.   However, watching them with our second decade of the 21st century evolution on these issues and terms we use in the community now can be grating on your nerves at times.

But peeps, this is what we had to work with at the time  .

This show on trans people and their families was broadcast in 1987



One with trans teen Angie Roberts



Phil's 20th anniversary show with clips starting at the :25 mark of transpeople being interviews.

25th Anniversary of 'School Daze'

25 years ago on this date in 1988 Spike Lee's widely anticipated second feature movie release after his sleeper hit She's Gotta Have It hit the multiplexes.

It's one of my favorite movies, and School Daze starred a few people who have since gone on after filming this movie to be breakout movie and television stars such as Laurence Fishbourne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Jasmine Guy, Bill Nunn and Samuel L Jackson.

It featured a homecoming dance scene in which Phyllis Hyman sang, and a rousing halftime speech by the Mission College football coach played by Ossie Davis.

School Daze was set on a fictional HBCU college campus and tackled many of the issues of Black middle class life.   It took on colorism in our community.  It tackled hazing in the pledging process and the tensions on campus between Greek and non-Greek folks that in this movie exploded into an unscripted fight.in the step show scene.

The movie also explored the conflict between Black people getting their college educations and the townspeople who didn't have that opportunity for various reasons and are resentful of it.

That was illustrated in the scene with Fishbourne's and Jackson's characters outside the KFC.

It touched on the politics of hair between the folks who like to wear it natural vs. the peeps who perm and straighten it.  And yeah, had some interesting musical numbers in it for good measure.

Hard to believe that 25 years has blown by since it was first released.   Definitely going to have to pull out my School Daze DVD and watch it again.
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Trans History-Roberta Close

Contrary to this article implying that trans models like Lea T, Felipa Torres and Carol Marra are some 21st century twist to the Brazilian modeling scene, that isn't the case.  There was a trans woman strutting the catwalks in Brazil and elsewhere in the world back in the 80's.

This latest group of twentysomething Brazilian models need to bow down and recognize their trans sister who paved the way for them to be able to strut those catwalks in Rio, New York, Milan and Paris.

The pioneering transwoman in question is Roberta Gambine Moreira, who was born on this date in 1964 in Rio de Janiero.  

Known professionally as Roberta Close, she started surreptitiously taking hormones in her teens and began her modeling and film career at age 17.

The 5'10 1/2" beauty won the Miss Gay Brazil pageant at age 20, appeared in a popular Brazilian soap opera and print ads. 

She was the first trans woman to appear on the cover of Brazilian Playboy (while preoperative), and hosted a late night talk show in her homeland.  Even though she was comfortable with her pre-op status during that time period, she eventually had SRS in Britain in 1989, appeared in a post-operative photo spread in the  Brazilian mens magazine Sexy and was voted the 'Most Beautiful Woman In Brazil'.

In 1993 she married her Swiss manager, Roland Granacher, in Europe since in Roman Catholic Brazil she wasn't able to do so.



She also fought a lengthy legal battle in the Brazilian court system to challenge the laws that refused to recognize her femininity in her documentation.  She lost an initial round in 1997 and another in 2003, but eventually won her case to have her birth documentation changed.

On March 4, 2005, Roberta Close acquired legal status as a female in Brazil after Judge Leise Rodrigues de Lima Espiritu Santo of the 9th Family Court of Rio de Janeiro legally recognized her as a woman.

Roberta Close is the reason that the current crop of Brazilian trans models have their opportunities to make it in the fashion world today, and hope these 21st century ladies appreciate the barriers Roberta broke down for them.


   

The Second Annual TransGriot 'A Different World Trivia Quiz-The Answers

Okay TransGriot readers, did you have fun racking your brains trying to find the answers to this year's edition of the TransGriot A Different World Quiz or did you wimp out and wait for me to post the answers?  If you did, shame on you.

Here's the answers to those questions I posted Monday as promised. 

1. Name the artists who sang the theme songs for 'A Different World'.
Phoebe Snow, Aretha Franklin, and Boys II Men

2.What was the name of Whitley and Kim's sorority on the show?
Alpha Delta Rho 

3.What year did Kim pledge under Whitley?
1991

4. What state was Jaleesa from?
New Jersey

5. What was the name of Whitley's therapist who always urged her clients to 'Relax, relate & release? (extra credit point if you can name who played her).
Dr. Langhorne and Debbie Allen played her

6.How long did Kinu and Dwayne date before their break up?
six months

7.True or False. Colonel Taylor was chairman of the math department at Hillman
True

8.What were the nicknames Adele Wayne had for her husband and son Dwayne?
Woodchuck and Chipmunk

9 What was the name of the dream man Dwayne created for his radio shows leading up to Valentine's Day?
Darrell Walker

10. True or False.  Before Ron O'Neal began playing Whitley's father Judge Mercer Gilbert, he played a dean in season one. 
True

11.Who was the Gilbert Hall dorm director in Season 1?
 Stevie Rallen

12.Dwayne spent the summer working as an intern for Kinishewa Electronics in what Canadian cities?
Toronto and Montreal  

13.What city was Lena James from?
A Philadelphia B New York  C Washington DC  D Baltimore

14. True or False.  Whitley won the Miss Hillman title.
False

15.Which one of these is NOT a Hillman college dorm?
A Libbey Hall, B Gilbert Hall, C Douglass Hall, D Height Hall

16. What was the name of Ron Johnson's baby sister?
Rachel, played by Senait Ashenafi

17.True or False.  A Different World was the number one rated show among African-American viewers in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 television seasons.
True

18. What was the name of Walter's charitable foundation that he founded? 
Operation Outreach
 
19.  Which one of these actors or actresses did NOT play a Hillman College professor on the show? 
A Whoopi Goldberg    B. Keenen Ivory Wayans    C. Leslie Uggams   D. Clifton Davis

20  What was the full name of the club that Ron and Mr. Gaines co-owned?
The Place Where The Blues Shall Be Played.

21. What was Terrence's line name when he pledged Kappa Lambda Nu under Ron?
Little Brother No Play

22. What political office was Byron Douglas running for in Virginia? 
state senator

23. What historical event coincided with Whitley and Dwayne's honeymoon?
The 1992 LA riots

24  In addition to his son Terrence, Colonel Taylor had another child who attended Hillman.  Who was she?.
His daughter Suzanne

25  What was Adele Wayne's favorite dessert she loved to cook for Dwayne?
prune cobbler

Now that you've taken the test, how did you do?

0-5     Hillman freshman
6-10   Hillman sophomore
11-14 Hillman junior
15-18 Hillman senior
19-21 Hillman BA
22-23 Hillman Masters
24-25 Hillman PhD

The Second Annual TransGriot 'A Different World' Trivia Quiz

Today is the 25th anniversary of the first broadcast of A Different World on this date in 1987.   Some interesting news is developing about this groundbreaking show in terms of the fact that Debbie Allen is interested in rebooting it and putting it back on the air.  

And naw Carsey-Werner, I still haven't forgotten along with the legions of fans of this show that you haven't released Seasons 2-6 of A Different World to DVD.   What's up with that?

While we're waiting for the outcome of that and Debbie Allen's effort to revive the show, I'm going to give you loyal TransGriot readers an opportunity to tackle the second annual edition of my TransGriot 'A Different World' Trivia Quiz.   If you want to try to tackle last year's quiz, here it is.   I'll give y'all three days like last year to ponder it before I publish the answers in a separate blog post.

Have fun and note it's an open book Internet test.

1. Name the artists who sang the theme song for 'A Different World'.


2.What was the name of Whitley and Kim's sorority on the show?


3.What year did Kim pledge under Whitley?


4. What state was Jaleesa from?


5. What was the name of Whitley's therapist who always urged her clients to 'Relax, relate & release? (extra credit point if you can name who played her).


6.How long did Kinu and Dwayne date before their break up?

7.True or False. Colonel Taylor was chairman of the math department at Hillman


8.What were the nicknames Adele Wayne had for her husband and son Dwayne?


9 What was the name of the dream man Dwayne created for his radio shows leading up to Valentine's Day?


10. True or False.  Before Ron O'Neal began playing Whitley's father Judge Mercer Gilbert, he played a dean in season one. 


11.Who was the Gilbert Hall dorm director in Season 1?

12.Dwayne spent the summer working in an internship for Kinishewa Electronics in what Canadian cities?


13.What city was Lena James from?
A Philadelphia B. New York  C. Washington DC  D. Baltimore

14. True or False.  Whitley won the Miss Hillman title.


15.Which one of these is NOT a Hillman college dorm?
A Libbey Hall, B Gilbert Hall, C. Douglass Hall, D. Height Hall

16. What was the name of Ron Johnson's baby sister?


17.True or False.  A Different World was the number one rated show among African-American viewers in the 1990-91 and 1991-92 television seasons.


18. What was the name of Walter's charitable foundation that he founded? 


19.  Which one of these actors or actresses did NOT play a Hillman College professor on the show? 

A Whoopi Goldberg    B. Keenen Ivory Wayans    C. Leslie Uggams   D. Clifton Davis

20  What was the full name of the club that Ron and Mr. Gaines co-owned?


21. What was Terrence's line name when he pledged Kappa Lambda Nu under Ron?

22. What political office was Byron Douglas running for in Virginia? 


23. What historical event coincided with Whitley and Dwayne's honeymoon?


24  In addition to his son Terrence, Colonel Taylor had another child who attended Hillman.  Who was she?.


25  What was Adele Wayne's favorite dessert she loved to cook for Dwayne?
.

****

You may start the quiz.  I'll give y'all until midnight CDT on the 27th to come up with the answers on your own..


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Black Trans History-Ajita Wilson

Stumbled across an interesting piece of Black trans history while searching for something trans related to write about.   It concerns the surprising note that cult film actress Ajita Wilson was a trans woman.   But then again, why should I be surprised about what I discover when it comes to women like us?

It's simply another fascinating piece of Black trans history that I'm bringing to your attention.     

She was born in Brooklyn, New York around 1950 and started out as a female illusionist and entertainer in New York's red light district   She had her sex realignment surgery in the mid 1970's and not long after that occurred began appearing in underground adult films being produced in the New York area. 

She was discovered by a European film producer who got her roles in French, Italian, Greek and Spanish films.  By 1978 Wilson had built up quite a following and name recognition in doing so.  
She appeared in a seemingly nonstop series of films during the 1970s and 1980's that ranged from soft and hardcore porn films to mainstream horror, light comedy, anachronistic historical epics and espionage thrillers.  

Interestingly enough one of the people she worked with during her film career was The Exorcist actress Linda Blair in the movie Savage Island.

To add another interesting note to this post about her, she was a Jet Magazine pin up girl.  Ajita Wilson appeared in the August 20, 1981 issue of the iconic Jet Magazine as their Beauty of The Week    That may make her possibly the first trans woman to hold that distinction.

While her acting career was still going strong and in a positive direction for her she was involved in a horrific automobile accident in Rome, Italy.   She passed away from a brain hemorrhage on May 26, 1987 that resulted from that accident.

After Wilson's death, speculation about her trans status began to emerge.  When director Carlos Aured was asked to comment on it, he said this in reply.to the interviewer's question.

"She was charming, beautiful and very professional. The rest is not important." he said. 

Indeed.  Ajita Wilson was as director Aured said, charming, beautiful and professional as an actress.  But I'd disagree about the second part of his comment.  

In that time period there were very few out Black transfeminine role models.  While I understand what the transition protocols were at that time and she was a product of that era, it sure would have been nice to know that Ajita Wilson was also a girl like us, too.

Bennigan's Is Back In H-town!

One of my fondest memories of the 80's and 90's was hanging out at Bennigan's.   When I wasn't scarfing up their food and having drinks there as well, I was soaking up the atmosphere.  

There were two of the then 20 locations in Houston that regularly got me to part with my money.  One of them was located on Loop 610 by the Astrodome and the other was by my old apartment on Bissonnet.   It was across the street from the Pappas Barbecue location I was on a first name basis with most of the staff who worked there during the 90's.  

That's another post.  This one's about my love affair with Bennigan's.

The Bennigan's on Loop 610 got the nickname of 'Black Bennigan's' by me and my friends at the time for an obvious reason.  It was a short drive from Third Ward, South Park and the nearby condo and apartment complex filled neighborhood chock full of Buppies and young professionals.  If you said you wanted to eat at Bennigan's and the answer to the 'which one?' question came back "Black Bennigan's", you knew immediately which direction to point the car and drive. 

That particular Bennigan's was more fun at times than paying $5 cover to go to any club and was always packed.  There were times when the restaurant would be closed at 2 AM and people would still be hanging out in the parking lot until 3 AM.

There were more than a few times I hung out at the 610 location with friends during the 80's.  When I moved to my new Bissonnet and Beltway 8 southwest Houston neighborhood in 1991, one of the reasons I picked it was because my apartment complex was less than two blocks walking distance from that Bissonnet Bennigan's location..

That particular location liked to put Rockets and later Comets games on their televisions, and when the Rockets won their 1994 NBA title I was sitting there cheering with everyone else when it happened. 

So when I moved back to Houston, I was shocked to learn that all 20 Houston Bennigan's locations closed when the chain went through bankruptcy in 2008.  I still get depressed when I pass by the old Loop 610 location that had been bought and remodeled into a Mexican food chain restaurant.  

Was estatic to learn that Bennigan's is reentering the Houston market and the new franchisee is planning to open up to 10 restaurants around the Houston area.  That's half of the total that were around prior to the 2008 bankruptcy, but it's better than not having any here at all  .   

And yes, for those of you who loved the Monte Cristo sandwich, it's still on the menu. 

Xtravaganza Powah!

It was two years before Paris Is Burning hit the theaters in 1990, but this photo of members of the House of Xtravaganza hit Vogue magazine in its December 1988 issue.

I not only saw Paris Is Burning at the River Oaks theater during its run, that movie is in my DVD collection 

That Jennie Livingston documentary led to the iconic ballroom community house became internationally famous, but as you can see, they were already starting to blow up and make a name for themselves in the New York area before that movie debuted.

Seeing the photo reminded me of this New York Times article discussing the recent 30th anniversary House of Xtravaganza Ball (yes, people they are still having balls).   It also remnded me there's a lot of history in the ballroom community, and sadly we've lost more than a few of the people that were chronicled in that 1990 film.

HT Koko and Karl Xtravaganza

Sherman Helmsley Moves To Deluxe Apartment In The Sky

Another one of the iconic actors of my youth has passed on.   I also had the pleasure of meeting him during my airline days, so I was doubly sad to hear this news.  

Actor Sherman Helmsley, who played George Jefferson on that iconic CBS show The Jeffersons, Deacon Ernest Fry on NBC's Amen and was the voice of Earl Sinclair's boss BP Richfield on the ABC animated series Dinosaurs was found dead in his El Paso, TX home at age 74. 

Helmsley's George Jefferson started out as the counterpart neighbor to Archie Bunker but moved on up to his own groundbreaking lead actor sitcom role in 1975 along with television wife Isabel Sanford who passed away in 2004.  The show earned Helmsley Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and The Jeffersons was the first show to feature an upscale African-American couple.  It was also the first to feature an episode with a Black trans character.  

When it was canceled ten years later, it not only at the time was the longest running sitcom on television, it led to his role on 'Amen' from 1986-1991 

Dinosaurs was a guilty pleasure for me when it was on, and I was pleased to discover that Helmsley was doing the voice of BP Richfield..  

Helmsley's death has also caused me to reflect on how much better television was in the 70's and 80's and early 90's in terms of not only entertaining you, but leaving you with a social message as well.  It's something we really need to get back to.   

Rest in peace Mr. Helmsley.  Thanks for the long career in which you made us laugh and entertained us.  Enjoy that rest you've earned in that deluxe apartment in the sky.

Happy Birthday, George!

The George I'm giving a TransGriot birthday shoutout to is probably looking for the Mothership to land instead of a birthday cake.   

Funkateers, raise those hands high and flash the P-funk sign in honor of George Clinton, who was born on this date back in 1941.

Couldn't let this day pass with giving a shout out to the man who kept me and my peers dancing through our  high school and college years. 

He also wrote some lyrics and songs that while sounding nonsensical to the peeps who were faking the funk, were dropping serious knowledge on those of us who knew how to spell psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop and were on the alert for any appearances of Sir Nose D'voidoffunk.

My high school class considers Parliament's Flash Light it's unofficial class song.

And I can't count how many step shows in the early 80's I attended that didn't have the local Omega Psi Phi chapter doing their step routine to the Que Dog National Anthem, AKA Atomic Dog.



Happy birthday, George.

Back To The Future II Day!

If you watched the Back To The Future trilogy of movies starring Michael J. Fox, remember the panel that was installed in the time traveling DeLorean that told you the departure time and the time you arrived?

Well, Back To The Future Part II was set in 2012 for most of it.  The time travel date that was selected was June 27, 2012 which is today.

While the imagined Back To The Future world of 2012 was on target in terms of the existence of the Miami Marlins and them being a championship caliber team, they have them placed in the wrong league.   And somebody was smoking some good Cali weed to think the Cubs would be World Series champions.

They also called it on multiple TV channels, video games you play without controllers, handled table computers, the plastic surgery explosion, wall mounted widescreen televisions, biofuels, security cameras everywhere, and video chats.

But it also missed on hoverboards, laser discs, fax machines being the preferred method of communication, or Pontiac dealerships still being around.

Another sad one was Queen Diana.  As we all painfully remember 'the People's Princess' died in a 1997 auto accident in Paris and as of yet we don't have a female US president but came close to making that one a reality.  

And yep, if we drive anywhere, we'll still need roads to do so since those cool flying cars we've seen in every sci-fi move since the 80's still have yet to be invented.

I Pity The Fool Who Isn't Celebrating Mr. T's 60th Birthday

Today happens to be Mr. T's milestone birthday and I could not let this day slide by without giving the inspiration for my weekly Shut Up Fool Awards a TransGriot birthday shoutout.  

Mr. T was born on this date in Chicago in 1952.  As he reminds us fools are everywhere, not just in the Republican Party and the conservafool movement..

But that's something the conservafools seem hellbent on proving on a depressingly regular basis in terms of their stranglehold on stupidity, but that's another post.

Happy birthday Mr. T, and may you have many more!
 .

Imagining 'A Different World' 2K12

With the 25th anniversary of the first episode of the groundbreaking show A Different World happening this September (and yes peeps, you will be getting another one of my A Different World trivia quizzes to ponder) , one of the things that has mystified me is why Carsey-Werner won't release Seasons 2-6 of A Different World on DVD, much less do a reunion show.

Is it because that show not only was talking about some groundbreaking subjects back in the day such as date rape, HIV/AIDS, and South African divestment to force the end of apartheid and the 1992 LA Riots, it was also one of the few that showed Black college students in a positive and intelligent light doing mundane things like going to class, intelligently discussing issues and falling in love with each other?

Surely that can't be the reason A Different World hasn't been released much less had a reunion show?

With the 25th anniversary coming up, it is unlikely a positive Black oriented show like that will see air time again since Hollywood is too 'scurred' (and racist) to greenlight it.  So I did some hard solid thinking and tried to imagine what an A Different World 2k12 would look like.

My vision of it is centered around Whitley and Dwayne Wayne's first born child who I've named Courtney Marion-Adele Wayne.   She's got her mom's looks and intelligence along with her dad's brains, and has to struggle with the expectations of being the daughter of Dwayne and Whitley and her parents competing visions for their firstborn child who is following in their Hillman footsteps.

Complicating Courtney's life is her freshman brother Dwayne C.Wayne, Jr. who while not as intelligent as his genius sister, has off the charts basketball talent his athletically challenged dad and godfather Ron Johnson never had.  He turned down several scholarships to collegiate basketball powerhouse schools in order to make his parents happy and attend their alma mater.  He is once again in his sister's and parents considerable shadows, wondering if he made a mistake in attending Hillman and is considering a transfer to another school. . 

DJ also inherited his godfather Ron's way with the ladies, but has become interested in an attractive half Black, half Japanese sophomore world history major named Midori.  His growing attraction to her has him shelving his plans to transfer and successfully concentrating on his academics and raising his GPA with her help.  Her mother is the top female VP at Konichiwa Electronics and when Midori tells her during a homecoming weekend visit to Hillman that she likes DJ, her mother frowns at the mention of his name.

DJ's best friend is teammate Marcus Heywood, who also shares the same drama of being the child of noted Hillman alums in that his father is Bishop Dorian Heywood and playwright and poet Lena James-Heywood.

Olivia Kendall is on the Hillman campus as well fulfilling a several generation family tradition on her mom's side of attending Hillman.  She's a prelaw student who has admired the legal career of Winifred Brooks, who is now teaching law on the Hillman campus.   She's a roommate of Kendra Boyle, the daughter of Dr. Kimberly Reese-Boyle who has her own career plans that do not involve following in her parent's medical footsteps, but her grandfather Clinton's law enforcement ones to her mom's displeasure.

The Pit is still around, but now run by a more mature and wiser Darnell Gaines or a totally new character.  .  

My imagining the show calls for it to focus like it did in the 80's and 90's on issues of importance to HBCU college students in the 2K10's.   Since the fictional Hillman campus is also in Virginia, it has a platform to comment on current Virginia state politics as well.

And yep, you know you'd have to have on A Different World 2k12 cameo appearances from Kadeem Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Karen Malina White, Dawnn Lewis, Darryl Bell and some of the other folks we know and love from the show..

I can also see grandmothers Patti LaBelle and Diahann Carroll (AKA Adele Wayne and Marion Gilbert) hilariously popping in on their grandbabies at Hillman when they least expected it, or Alisa Gyse Dickens reprising her Kinu role and visiting her daughter Midori on the same weekend Whitley is visiting her kids.
 
So will we see A Different World 2K12?    Probably only in our dreams.

'Soul Train' Creator Don Cornelius Dead

Feeling my age after hearing the news this morning that Soul Train creator Don Cornelius was found dead at his Sherman Oaks, CA home at 4 AM PST from what police and TMZ are reporting as a self inflicted gunshot wound.

The 75 year old Cornelius was a journalist who realized that there was no show like American Bandstand that featured the music of African-American artists and created the long running syndicated show in 1971.

Soul Train quickly became must see TV for African-Americans and an iconic part of my childhood and any other kid who grew up in the 70's, 80's, 90's and early 2K's and ran until 2006.

Soul Train was instrumental in getting wider television exposure to Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and The Jackson Five, and James Brown amongst many other acts in the R&B, and hip hop music world.

Soul Train was so popular that even Elton John and David Bowie made appearances on its stage and Spike Lee described the show as 'an urban music time capsule'.

That it is.  The TransGriot and more than a few other peeps learned the latest dances by parking ourselves in front of the TV and watching the multicultural and gracefully acrobatic Soul Train dancers execute their moves every Saturday.

And yeah, I'll admit was more than jealous of the sistahs that strutted their stuff on the show in the fashionable clothing and hairstyles of the day.

Soul Train is also responsible for something that is an iconic part of African-American culture, the Soul Train line that you see at every wedding, social gathering and party in ours and other communities..

I'm sure the story of what happened to Mr. Cornelius will continue to evolve and come out, but in the interim the only way to close this post about an iconic broadcasting pioneer is use his classic Soul Train show sign off line.

Wishing you love, peace and soul Mr. Cornelius.

Peaceful Journey Heavy D

In case you haven't heard the news, 44 year old pioneer rapper Dwight Arrington Myers, better known by Heavy D was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital at noon Pacific time from his Beverly Hills home.  He was conscious and complaining about shortness of breath.  

He was pronounced dead at 1:00 PM PST.

He was born in Mount Vernon, New York who produced a stream of hits and five Top 40 albums from the late 80s through the early 90's and a persona and flow that earned him guest appearances on Michale and Janet Jackson's albums and A Different World.

He also performed the theme song for the In Living Color comedy show on Fox.and just recently made his first television appearance in years by closing out the 2011 BET Awards with a medley of his many hits.



Peaceful Journey Heavy D.   You are loved and will be missed.