By Angela Bronner, BlackVoices.com

CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O'Brien spent more than a year tracking the stories of black men and women from all walks of life in America for the groundbreaking documentary series 'Black In America.'

This week premieres 'Black in America: The Black Woman & Family' (Wednesday, July 23 at 9 p.m. and 12 a.m.) and 'Black in America: The Black Man' (Thursday, July 24 at 9 p.m. and 12 a.m.)

O'Brien speaks candidly with BlackVoices.com about the series.

I know this was probably envisioned and put together some time ago, but why now?

About 18 months ago I was brought in because [CNN] had been exploring stories on Black Americans and how to do them and it became clear that it needed to be more of a documentary, it wasn't a number of 2 or 3 minute stories, you just couldn't do it justice. And then we were looking at Martin Luther King's assassination and so when people ask, why now? Well, literally it's the 40th anniversary of the assassination. And so the real answer to why now is because our three parts were: part one, King's assassination and this is the 40th anniversary year. [Parts two and three look at being black in America since that time.]

We had no idea 18 months ago when we began, we had no idea that Barack Obama would have the prominence that he has, we had no idea that so many race issues would be capturing the nation's attention.

By Angela Bronner, BlackVoices.com

Respected beauty diva Mikki Taylor has teamed up with the good folks at TV One for a new show which transforms people's lives -- Makeover Manor. On Makeover Manor, Taylor oversees a team of style, beauty and spiritual experts to assist with the transformations of those profiled on the show.

Some of the experts include health/nutrition guru Dr. Ro (Rovenia Brock); celebrity fashion and wardrobe stylists Carlton Jones and Pamela Macklin; top make-up artists Sam Fine and Eric Ferrell; and Emmy Award-winning hair stylist Lawrence Davis. Some of those to be profiled include a 32-year-old police officer who's back on the dating scene after a seven year relationship; an overworked father of three who is tired of being overlooked and underpaid; and a courageous woman who battled chemotherapy and won, all the while raising her young son as a single mother.

By Angela Bronner, BlackVoices.com

Shelley Davis lost her cosmetic case when traveling to her homeland of St. Vincent one summer. She was stranded with no product so she had someone cook her up some "roots" with aloe to wash and style her hair. Upon her return to the U.S., everyone told her how beautiful her hair looked and she shared the recipes with family, friends and co-workers. In the summer of 2003, Kinky-Curly was born for those who crave good product for natural hair.

Hair Apparent: What are the top three things that those with natural hair can do for their tresses?

Shelley Davis: Moisturizing is the most important thing you can do for natural hair. Thick, curly hair is very prone to dryness and adding moisture is key to a healthy head of hair. Taking care when combing and detangling is also important. Use a good detangler such as my Knot Today Detangling Conditioner with a wide tooth comb and take your time when combing or it can lead to breakage. And stay away/limit your use of heated styling tools. The pulling and stretching combined with the heat of a blow dryer can ruin the elasticity of your hair. A flat iron or hot comb that is too hot can cause your curls not to revert and permanently straighten your hair. No heat protectant can protect against a 450-degree iron. The cuticle layer burns at about 150 degrees. Twist outs and braid outs are wonderful styles that produce a lovely crinkly/wavy look. When you want a straighter look roller set and then 'doobie' wrap.

By Linda Villarosa, Special to BlackVoices.com

Several years ago, I sat in front of my computer and began writing a novel. The theme was "passing." In college, I devoured novels by Charles Chesnutt, Nella Larsen and James Weldon Johnson. I was intrigued by the so-called tragic mulattoes of the 19^th and early 20^th century who were forced, in Larsen's words, to leave their blackness behind to enter the "hazardous business of 'passing,' thus breaking away from all that was familiar and friendly to take one's chances in another environment."

Because my novel is set in the here and now, a time when passing is passé, I needed to give my theme a contemporary spin. So I took the theme of passing and gave it a gay twist.

By Angela Bronner, BlackVoices.com

The indomitable Jenifer Lewis –one for whom the word diva is made -- has been a formidable force in the world of drama and song for almost 30 years.

Lewis currently tears up the stage of the Broadway production of 'Hairspray' as Motormouth Maybelle, mother of Seaweed J. Stubbs, played by singer Tevin Campbell. Her ovation at the end is always one of the longest.

Here, Lewis opens up about a very real, very pervasive issue in our country: bi polar disorder (formerly manic depression.) Lewis, who created a one woman show about the illness – "Bipolar, Bath and Beyond" -- shares with us her Testimony.

Can you explain what bi-polar is?

Bi-polar is a mood disorder, where people will experience extreme highs and extreme lows including anger all the time, irritability and reckless behavior. It's very serious to control that manic behavior. People who need drama in their lives all the time, you know complaining and coming in a room loud, and inappropriate.

By Krystal Freeman, Special to BlackVoices.com

I learned to sag my jeans just right by watching the men around me. I studied the way they rocked tilted fitted caps over crisp tapers and deep waves, eyeing my father most intently. He was so precise about matching his kicks with neatly creased jeans and "throwback" jerseys. By fifteen I'd nearly stolen his style and his swagger.

It never occurred to me that having such insider knowledge was enough to get me killed, until I read about the brutal murder of Sakia Gunn.

Five years ago, Sakia, a 15-year old girl who "dressed like a boy," was attacked while waiting for a Newark, New Jersey bus after a night out with friends. The girls were approached by two men in a car who made uninvited sexual advances. When the girls declined, stating that they were lesbians, 30-year old Richard McCullough fatally stabbed Sakia while shouting homophobic slurs. She bled out at the intersection of Broad and Market during the wee hours of Mother's Day morning.

This May is the fifth anniversary of the murder of Sakia Gunn. She would have just celebrated her 20th birthday.

Courtesy of StyleList.com

By Angela Bronner, BlackVoices.com

Bangs are big people.

Once the domain of pre-teens and Tyra Banks, nowadays everywhere you look, yet another person has picked up on this very trendy trend. The bangs that are "in" now are straight edged and not swept to the side. My stylist insists that "long" ones are the way to go, but it can be difficult with hair in your eyes.

A twist on the classic bob, bangs are a relatively easy way to change your look. Feast your eyes on these celebs who have picked up on the trend.

By Angela Bronner, BlackVoices.com

In 1999, a sensational story rocked the New York City area.

By TaraSimone, Special to BlackVoices.com

My infatuation with fragrance began as a young girl playing dress up at my mother's vanity. It was the mid 1980s and I danced in the mirror with a belted over sequin top and my mother's high heels sliding on and off my tiny feet. Sitting before her collection of crystal and bejeweled bottles containing elusive liquids ranging in shades from soft amethyst to deep amber, I would pretend to be grown and beautiful...just like her.

Delicate floral fragrances embody the many facets of motherhood...feminine, passionate, joyful, engaging and intriguing.

For those last minute shoppers, you can just grab the following scents -- and for all moms -- from the one who holds it down at work to the "fly" mom to the new mom to the grand dame of them all, the grandmom.

By Kiante 'The Sneaker Mann' Young, Special to BlackVoices.com

As young boys, men envision what adulthood will be like but once maturity is achieved many of us find it hard to allow our wardrobe to mature as well.

Sporting Adidas Superstars or Nike Air Force 1's may have been the key to dressing to impress but as you start your own family and your son's eye for fashion develops, changing of your style may be just what the doctor ordered.

A friend of mine has been dealing with this very situation stating, "I don't want to wear the same gear as my eighteen year old son but at the same time, I don't want to dress like an old man. How can I dress grown and sexy?"

By Angela Bronner, BlackVoices.com

LaJoyce Brookshire has certainly been through the fire, but thanks to her unrelenting faith, came out unscathed.

The former power publicist turned author (she novelized the black film classic Soul Food and also wrote Web of Deception), ordained minister and doctor of Naturopathy, recently released a powerful piece of non-fiction -- a deeply disturbing, though increasingly common story, about courage, AIDS, marriage, deception and ultimately, redemption.

In Faith Under Fire: Betrayed By a Thing Called Love, Brookshire shares the riveting true-life account of marrying a man with full blown AIDS, and using her rock of Gibraltar faith to get through an ordeal which would have broken most. Brookshire opens up with BlackVoices.com.

What was your process in coming to write the memoir?

I wrote 'Faith Under Fire' primarily because the statistics for HIV infections were continuing to rise. And I heard my story over and over more times than I even cared to. So it was time that I broke the silence and stopped trying to keep the privacy of a dead man, and let people know some information that could possibly save their lives; because for the people who are most at risk, I have the most information.

And who are the people most at risk, black women, married?

Black women are highly at risk, yes . And heterosexual women of all walks of life are highly at risk.

How did you maintain your Christian faith when you knew that this man knowingly had AIDS and still slept with you?

The recent movie 'Run Fatboy Run' may be remarkable for the issue it doesn't focus on. Thandie Newton plays a pregnant bride who's jilted at the altar by Simon Pegg and later falls for Hank Azaria. While she's black and her two suitors are white, the story hardly mentions race and focuses on Pegg's need to run a marathon and prove that he can finish something, thereby winning back Newton's heart.

Is it possible that attitudes about interracial relationships have changed so much since the 2006 movie 'Something New,' and certainly since 1967's 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner' -- both of which were all about familial pressure to not date outside of your race -- that the subject doesn't warrant mention?

When we broached the topic around the AOL offices, we started discussing how tough it can still be to date interracially and focus on attitudes that can doom an interracial relationship.

Our conversation is just the beginning of the discussion, though. Let us know what drama you have to deal with dating outside your race. -- by Jennifer Fields, Ken Gibbs, Neil Gladstone and Alexis Stodghill

TOP 13 WAYS TO DOOM AN INTERRACIAL RELATIONSHIP

Being unprepared for how the families will react
Alexis: When I was in the fourth grade, one of my older relatives said to me, 'I hear you have a white boyfriend.' This wasn't a boyfriend, it was just a guy I sat near in class, but my cousin couldn't see that. She asked, 'Are you losing your identity?' And when that kind of thing happens, any kind of joy of bringing someone home to be with your family is somehow tainted.
Ken: Funny thing is that I think white families are more accepting because they view it as a "phase."

Not understanding of the physical and cultural differences of people of different races
Jennifer: If I have to explain over and over why I'm not getting into the ocean to swim because of my hair, over and over, it's like "Enough already, don't you get it?"
Ken: This might seem odd, but here's something that has stuck out to me when I've been dating interracially. With one out of every 10 black men being in jail, or damn close, it's impossible not to be familiar with the prison system and criminal culture, as a black man from a predominantly black working class neighborhood, it's strange to watch "The Wire" and have feelings of nostalgia while your significant other is watching with shock and awe.

Race is just a fetish
Jennifer: It's always a tip-off if he only dates black women.

By Marcia Cole, Special to BlackVoices.com

Model Chanel Iman sported a fuschia shade at Badgley Mischka. Narciso Rodriquez's models wore more subtle stains of pink. And who could forget Alicia Keys' perfect pink lips at this year's Grammy's? The season's hottest lipstick trend, is clearly about a pink pout.

Photograph by Keith Major/courtesy AMBERmag.com
Makeup by Karen Angus
Hair by Dana Gibbs/The Montgomery Group

By Marcia Cole, Special to BlackVoices.com

It's been a minute since I've written about my latest obsession. Sorry ladies, we've been knee-deep with mapping out new and exciting things for you to enjoy on the site.

More on that later on as I tell you about my newest (well, it's really not that new, but I think it's wonderful) obsession: YSL Lip Twins! It really is the cutest and most stylish lip presentation around.

Turn the YSL-initialed top one way and you'll get a rich lipstain: turn it the other and you'll see a lightweight gloss; turn it another way and you get a mirror ready to smile right back at you when you pop open the top and out comes a lip brush! Four-delightful treats in one. Now who can really ask for anything more? $32 available at Nordstrom.com