Dana, the Queen's real name, don't worry about what many will think. You are an extremely talented sister. You can act, you are a singer, producer and writer. Let your light continue to shine, and yes, your light can still continue to burn bright, if and when, you let the world in and come out of the closet. Don't forget to invite me to the wedding.

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As life would have it, my mother passed away when my sister was only two years old and I was seventeen, and as the years passed by, one of the many questions that came up was, "why was I named Charisse?" My mother loved the named, of course, but also the classiness of Ms. Cyd Charisse. My mom was aware of Ms. Cyd Charisse's style and dance skills. She also appreciated the beauty of this gifted dancer and actress. Without going into too much history, my mother loved the arts and this seed was planted into my siblings as well as myself and we see this growth in the sons, daughters, nephews and nieces as they make their way thought this magical existence called life.

Ms. Cyd Charisse was one of the first to have her legs insured for one million dollars. Ms. Charisse was also a regular partner to dance with the great Mr. Gene Kelly and Mr. Fred Astaire. If you've have seen Mr. Kelly dancing in "Singing in the Rain", you also saw Ms. Charisse. She spent 87 years on this planet and her exit happened when she suffered a heart attack and did not recover.

She was born Tula Ellice Finkela in 1921 and she studied dancing as an exercise to recover from polio. When Cyd was born her brother couldn't pronoun the word, "sis" or "sister" and he called her Sid. In the following years her agent thought that it would be a great idea to change her name from Tula to Cyd Charisse.

Family was important to Ms. Charisse as she was offered roles during the height of her career but preferred to be a housewife and mother, as she was the wife of entertainer, Tony Martin.

In later years she took small parts, nothing over the top, which allowed her to be the best mother and wife that she could be.

Thank you Ms. Charisse for sharing your talent with us. I would imagine that you are dancing around heaven.

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The time has come for "YARDIES" to address this homophobic behavior, -whether perception or reality- in a more socially responsible manner. We all have the right to our opinions and choices; and rightfully so. But we do not have the right to harm anyone on the basis of his or her color, religion, race and sexual preference. Let's teardown some old traditional walls built on fear and ignorance and build some new ones built on education, tolerance and mutual respect. The gays and lesbians in Jamaica are not going anywhere, and they are interwoven into the black, green and gold fabric of our great Island, they are spread across the socioeconomic playfield of our culture and they are here to stay, like it or not.

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If nothing else, when the model diva decides to write her life story, she will have a lot to tell.

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By Joe Neumaier

In the arena of moviemaker battles, the current war of words between Clint Eastwood and Spike Lee is pretty ugly.

It started on May 20, when Lee held a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival following the premiere of a trailer for his new film "Miracle at St. Anna," a World War II epic about an all-black infantry division that fought in Italy.

Lee wondered from the dais why black soldiers weren't a part of Eastwood's 2006 drama "Flags of Our Fathers," which detailed the 1945 battle for Iwo Jima and its aftermath: "There were many African-Americans who survived that war and who were upset at Clint.... That was his version: the negro soldier did not exist. I have a different version.

"It's not like [Eastwood] could say he didn't know. It was a conscious decision not to have any black people."

A half-hour after the comments made by Lee, 51 — who's been a public and cinematic provocateur since his 1986 breakthrough, "She's Gotta Have It" — Eastwood, 78, was having his own press conference, for the Cannes screening of "Changeling," his upcoming Depression-set drama starring Angelina Jolie as a mother seeking her lost child.

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By Sheila Marikar

Some people might back down when Dirty Harry tells them to shut up. Not Spike Lee.

After Eastwood told him to "shut his face" and stop criticizing him about not including African-Americans in his 2006 Iwo Jima movies, "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima," Lee's lashing out.

"First of all, the man is not my father and we're not on a plantation either," he told ABCNEWS.com. "He's a great director. He makes his films, I make my films. The thing about it though, I didn't personally attack him. And a comment like 'a guy like that should shut his face' -- come on Clint, come on. He sounds like an angry old man right there."

Lee has a proposal for Eastwood:

"If he wishes, I could assemble African-American men who fought at Iwo Jima and I'd like him to tell these guys that what they did was insignificant and they did not exist," he said. "I'm not making this up. I know history. I'm a student of history. And I know the history of Hollywood and its omission of the one million African-American men and women who contributed to World War II."

"Not everything was John Wayne, baby," Lee added.

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Over the years, gay people of color have become accustom to poor results in such polls taken by the broader gay community. However, a significant sign that things may be changing is that AfterElton took note, attempted to explain the results but finally acknowledges racism as a potential factor.

In the magazines's own words:

The Oscar-nominated African-American director, one of the most influential figures in contemporary cinema, said that black soldiers were conspicuous by their absence from Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Hundreds took part in the battle for the Japanese island in 1945.

Lee said: “There were many African-Americans who survived that war and who were upset at Clint for not having one [in the films]. That was his version: the negro soldier did not exist. I have a different version.”

He was speaking at a press conference in Cannes, where he gave the world premiere of an eight-minute trailer for his latest feature film, a war drama with which he hopes to set the record straight.

Miracle at St Anna is an epic story about members of the all-black 92nd Buffalo Division, which fought the Germans in Italy.

While refraining from using the word “racist”, Lee said that rewriting Second World War history was typical of Hollywood. The Dirty Dozen was among the few films that showed the contribution made by African-American soldiers, he said. White heroes played by John Wayne and other Hollywood stars had until now overshadowed the sacrifice of brave heroes of colour who laid down their lives for their country, he added.

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By Violet Glaze

"I remember the first time I went to watch the male dancers," says Upper Marlboro attorney Jim Bell, talking about the conversation that convinced him watching pumped, oiled, and codpieced male exotic dancers undulating for dollars might not be such a bad idea. The club owner told him he needed to come down, that he was having a special show of about 20 male dancers. Bell, a sturdy, baldheaded 38-year-old with the no-nonsense mien of an amiable Rottweiler, replied that he was a guy--he didn't care if there were 100 dancers. What could this club owner tell him to make him want to watch men dancing?

"And he said, `There's going to be about four to five hundred women [in the audience].' I said, "Uh, what time does it begin?"

Bell's booming laughter fills the booth where he's seated, accompanied by his security detail, Darrell Johnson, inside the Sideline, a swanky sports bar located along the Capital Center retail boulevard in Largo. Despite the lighthearted moment, you get the feeling Bell isn't a man to be trifled with. After all, this is the guy who not only took on the Prince George's County legislature in 2006 and '07 when it tried to outlaw the traditional etiquette for tipping an exotic dancer, but also wrote, directed, and produced the documentary Don't Hate: Strippers Fight the Government, about the crux of his legal argument--with plenty of footage of his ripped and booty-shaking clients included, of course. PG County introduced the new ordinance in 2006, which stipulated that paper money could not be discreetly tucked somewhere on the dancer's person, such as inside the strap of a G-string, eliminating any contact, even as innocuous as a handshake, between the entertainer and the audience.

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The last film in the series was released in 1994. Altogether, the three films grossed $712.9m (£361m).

Jerry Bruckheimer, who produced the original Beverly Hills Cop trilogy with late partner Don Simpson, will not be actively involved in the new film, Variety says.

The announcement comes as the revived Indiana Jones franchise storms cinema box offices worldwide.

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