Ebony Soul 2013-2014 19-Month Wall Calendar; Photographer Anthony Ragland PUSHES The Envelope, Yet Still Maintains A Sexy, Stylish and Succulent Multi-Hued Portrait of Black Men

                                               

Official Website: EbonySoul.net

FINALLY!!!! It's been a looooong minute since photographer Anthony Ragland has released a new calendar of sexy Black men. His last and previous calendar was the 2010-2011 edition!

Unlike most calendars, Anthony takes a different approach by creating calendars that typically overlap from one year and into the next - generally he creates TRUE 18th-month calendars. And by "TRUE" I mean you get to flip to a new model once a month for 18 months!! There's none of that bullshit where some calendars CHEAT by condensing the last 4 months of the current selling year onto 1 page and then turn around and call it a 16-month calendar when it is not, as an example.

I had met up with Anthony (for the first time) and we had lunch at Grand Central Station back in May 2012. He showed me the new calendar, and of course, it was off the chain!! And being a fan of Anthony's work you know I had him sign the cover to my copy of the calendar...

  

Now that we are in calendar season, and the NEW EbonySoul.net website is up and running, I wanted to do this blog entry on the calendar.

As usual, and as I have been saying for many, many years now, Ebony Soul is the PRE-EMINENT top of the line producer of Black male calendars. I like other calendars such as Spirit of Black Men (which is published by the Shades of Color company which, by the way, also produced the previously awesome and now defunct ONYX calendar), Black Men and City Gym Boys, but this time around he really pushed the envelope by having some of the models pose nude -- and no there's no private parts revealed -- yet Anthony's photography once again TASTEFULLY shows his VISION of Black men as sexy, stylish and very succulent! There are too many calendars out there that are really just boring and ordinary especially the nude ones -- NOT EBONY SOUL! Ebony Soul, in my mind,  continues to be the KING of Black male calendar for 10 YEARS NOW!

For the record, Anthony does not pay me to do this, nor do I endorse something that I don't like or not passionate about (especially to my Nubian Knights Network readers)... with that said, out of the 19 models this time around there are a few models with a photographic look by Anthony that exceptionally exude  sexy, stylish and succulence...

ROD's Top 7 Favorites Bruthaz Are: 

RONNIE (January 2013)

I Made This Image Garayscale (Black & White)

But It Is A Color Image In The Calendar

 ARTHUR (August 2013)

The Loose Belt, Shirt & Blue Sky

Really Make This Image Stand Out

 WALT (September 2013)

What Can I Say? - WALT Is Just Exuding Succulence...

 CROSS (October 2013) 

WOW! Can I Have a Pair Of Those Plum Colored Undies???

 WILSON (December 2013)

Wilson Is Tied With Dwight As My TOP, TOP Favorite.
AAAHHHHH!!! Book Reading...

 KENIKA (April 2014)
This Image Was More About The Photography For Me

Than The Model Because of The Sepia Tone Look

And The Water Streaming From The Showerhead

And The Streams & Beads Of Water On KENIKA's Body

DWIGHT (July 2014)

 IF I Had To Make A Hard Choice

DWIGHT Would Be The Top Winner Here

ULTRA SEXY & SUCCULENT

The Ebony Soul 2013-2014 19-Month Wall Calendar

is 12" x 12" in size and is available for $19.99 by clicking below at

 

OR

++++++++++++++++++++++

Other Black Male Calendar Considerations...

Spirit of Black Men 2013 Wall Calendar 

(12" x 12" - 12-Month) 

 

Click Image To Purchase

 

Black Men 2013 Wall Calender
(12" x 12" - 12-Month)

Click Image To Purchase

City Gym Boys 2013 Wall Calendar

(12" x 12" - 12-Month)

Click Image To Purchase

 

END OF AN ERA - Hue-Man Bookstore and Café In Harlem Is Closing :-(((

              

JULY 2012

Our Final  Month of Fabulous Events in Our Old Home and An Open Letter to the Harlem Community

Greetings!

As Carol (my middle name) Burnette would say, 'we're so glad we had this time together, but now it's time for us to say so long'. Ten years of amazing friendship and camaraderie have gone by way too soon. On July 31, 2012, Hue- Man will close its current location. We all know that there is a season for everything under heaven and the season of "traditional book" selling has come to a close.

When you do something for five hundred years and it works why change? But change has happened and the publishing industry is experiencing a new reality. Faced with tremendous social pressures to deliver the next big idea, celebrity books have become the interim hype, yet even that is not a sustainable model for an industry in turmoil. As stop gap measures run out, the industry will be forced to reconcile the future place of "real books" in their business models and with continuous rumble and tumult, new ideas will percolate on how to deliver that new experience to the new consumer of books. No matter how apocalyptic the predictions are for the industry, it is my belief that books are here to stay in one iteration or the other.
 
Closing the existing format of Hue-Man is forward thinking on our part and as we take pause to re-imagine the future of books and how to ensure that their purpose of entertaining, imparting knowledge and honing creativity is preserved, we find no viable alternative but to go back to the drawing board.  Closing our beloved bookstore, I assure you was a very hard decision for us. Yet, the confluence of events, changing landscape, the end of our lease and the international expansion of our vision, closing our physical location was the only sensible decision we could make. There is no way to re-imagine the bookstore of the future in our current space. To try to do so would be a stop gap and a waste of resources. 
 
In making this monumental decision we gave significant consideration to the community, and to each and every one of you. Loyal customers such as Ms. Phoebe, Ms. Campbell, Valarie, Saida, Brenda, Joe Morgan, Elinor Campbell and our sweet Jayden, kept surfacing in our hearts. After all, isn't community what a neighborhood bookstore is all about?  Suffice it to say we took solace in the gift we were able to give.  We will cherish the up close and personal experiences with so many amazing people, some of them no longer with us. People such as Erica Kennedy, Rodney King, E. Lynn, Slade Morrison, L.A Banks and veterans such as LeRoy Neiman, Rosa Guy, Manning Marable and Professor Derrick Bell are gone but gave us memories not soon forgotten. What a time we had!  What an amazing journey! 
 
So what next?  While we are figuring out our amazing bookstore of the future, I will be working on several projects which will focus on giving ethnic writers an advantage in the marketplace. We will continue to be involved in the publishing of books and will ramp up our agency services to writers and publishers alike.  Though we can not give you the future in a nutshell, we can tell you that on September 6th 2012 at 7:30Pm we will launch our new event format with Miami Heat Dwayne Wade.  Partnering with a state of the art facility we can begin to create the kind of multi-platform customer experience we've always imagined.   Stay tuned!
 
What you will be able to do Once We Close the Doors:

    You can continue to buy online.....In fact,  for 3 months beginning Aug 1, 2012 we will be discounting our entire website offerings 30% or better.
    You can still reach us through facebook and twitter.
    You can continue to reach us at the same phone number and at the same website and e-mail address.
    You will hear from us though our usual methods of communication.
    You may continue to call us about hosting your events in new and exciting ways.
    You can hope we get the Chase Grant you so generously voted for us to win so that we can hasten our physical return.
    YOU CAN GET DEEP DISCOUNTS ON OUR EXISTING INVENTORY WHICH WE NEED TO LIQUIDATE.

 What you will not be able to do:
    Walk into Hue-Man and see our smiling faces...but you can smile at us when you do see us on the streets of Harlem and I'm sure you will hear our smiles through the telephone line.

So, above are two quite distinct ideas of book delivery. One is a re-imagined library in Columbia and the other, a bookstore of the future in Rome, Italy. Guess what we are doing later this August....taking a jaunt to see them both?  Maybe. In the meantime join us for our signature July Signings, with a wonderful  line up...Susan Fales-Hill, The Vice President of Ghana, and a spectacular closing event with the Cast of FELA! etc.....You know we had to have some light...camera...action. If you are in St Louis Aug 4 and 5 come see us at the St. Louis Expo and, if you are in the Vineyard, join Professor Ogletree's Charles Hamilton Institute event on Aug 15.
 
In the meantime the re-imagined book art below reminds us that all greatness and creativity comes from knowledge often found in books.  We leave you with light and love.
 
Click the link below and travel with us down memory lane.   Until we meet again...you have all our love and respect,
 
The Partners and Staff of Hue-Man Bookstore & Cafe

ROD's Summer Trip To Michigan (2011) - Part V DAY 6: "Hotter Than July" Black Pride/An Almost Visit To The Shrine of The Black Madonna /Sat Nite

This entry (Part V) is by far the biggest with a lot of pics because it was a really busy day in Detroit. I went from Detroit's "Hotter Than July" Black Pride celebration to a Black bookstore to a house party that evening...

This was my first time at Detroit's "Hotter Than July" Black Pride celebration at Palmer Park and it was nice; it was cute. Detroit was interestingly different from NYC's, DC's and Atlanta's Black Prides (though I haven' been to Atlanta since 2002) because there was a significant amount of sistah's out there (I'd say about half -- 50%) and a very young and dominating 17 to 24 crowd with an over 25+ crowd filling out the rest...

All Photography

Copyright © 2011 ROD PATRICK RISBROOK

My Friend Yes Checking Out The Black Gay Men's Network Table

My Friends Nsilo, Yes and Curtis

T.J. and Curtis
-
My Friend Curtis Lipscomb Is The Executive Director of
KICK
The Agency for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender
African-Americans in Metropolitan Detroit
A Michigan Non-Profit 501(c)(3) Organization
Serving the metro Detroit community since 1994

41 Burroughs Street
(between Woodward Avenue and Cass Avenue)
Suite 109
Detroit, Michigan 48202
GOOGLE MAPS

Phone: (313) 285-9733 | E-mail: info[at]e-kick.org
Official Website: e-kick.org

Mission Statement
To increase awareness of and support to Detroit's dynamic lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, culture through education and advocacy with integrity and pride. KICK

Curtis And His Team Do Some Really Excellent, Excellent Work
In Detroit And They Are The Largest Black Same Gender Loving
Organization In The State of Michigan.
-
Official Website: e-kick.org

The Hosting MC

My Friends Wesley And Nsilo

Two Beautiful Girls

Grillin' Some Smoked Meat In Palmer Park

I Never Though I'd Ever Say This,
But I Actually Bought My First Sarong At This Vendor's Tent

Wes, Calvin and Charles

This Brutha Gave Yes And I Some Much Needed
Cold Spring Water

Calvin And Yes

And Yes,
You Can Get Your Late Night Entertainment Videos, Too!...

This Sistah Was Really Pretty
And I Asked Her If I Could Take Her Picture

After Detroit's Black Pride We Stopped By The Shrine Of The Black Madonna Bookstore And Cultural Center At 6:15PM. THEY CLOSE AT 6:00PM!!...

I'll Have To Catch This Black-owned Establishment
On The Rebound Next Time...

Official Website: shrinebookstore.com

Detroit Information:
13535 Livernois Avenue
(@ Clements Street)
Detroit, Michigan 48238
Phone: 313-491-0777
Fax: 313-491-1320
GOOGLE MAPS

Detroit Store Hours:
Thursday-Saturday:
12:00 Noon-6:00 PM
Only Open For Special Reserved Events Sunday - Wednesday.

Some Bruthaz Ballin' On The Basketball Court

A Black Biker Boy On Da Streets Of Detroit

Later in the evening we went to a mansion house in Detroit for an annual house party event...

Bruthaz Chillin' At The Back Of The House Outside

This was a QOOL, QOOL opportunity to shoot some nice low light photography...

A Torch Lamp

A Light Lantern
(Nah! Not Green Lantern! LOL!)

The Torch Lit Back Lawn

My Friend Sangoma Has Such A Presence

The Bar Outside

My Friend Keith

All My Friends Chillin' On The Grass Lawn

My Friend Nsilo And I (BIG ROD)
Having a Laughing Moment

Nsilo And Charles

SEE PREVIOUSLY
ROD's Summer Trip To Michigan (2011) - Part I
DAY 1: 1917 American Bistro /
Dabl's African Bead Gallery / Ruth Ellis Center



SEE PREVIOUSLY
ROD's Summer Trip To Michigan (2011) - Part II
DAY 4: The Charles H. Wright African American Museum /
Traffic Jam Restaurant



SEE PREVIOUSLY
ROD's Summer Trip To Michigan (2011) - Part III
DAY 4: The Charles H. Wright African American Museum /
Traffic Jam Restaurant



SEE PREVIOUSLY
ROD's Summer Trip To Michigan (2011) - Part IV
DAY 5: A Little BBQ / Friday Night Roller Skating



SEE NEXT
ROD's Summer Trip To Michigan (2011) - Part VI
DAY 7: Sunday Musings / More Detroit Streets /
Canton Kids & Detroit Kids Are A Treasure!!!