On Set...

Here's a few pics from a shoot I did last week for a group of film students at Hunter College the experience was great, I love not only meeting new people but having the opportunity to display my craft in font of them is amazing.... Hey its all in a days work, directed by Ama Korankyi the piece is not yet titled...

PLEASE HELP SAVE JASMINA!!!

Saturday March 7, 2009 New York, NY

Why:
Jasmina is a beautiful, truly special little five-year old girl. Her world changed drastically on January 20. That was the day that she found out she was suffering from acute leukemia. Jasmina needs a bone marrow transplant in order to survive. She desperately needs to find her match. YOU can be her match! Please come out and register and you can be the one that saves her life!

Posing a Threat...

Maybe some of you females today are sitting back listen to many SEX WITH MY EX tracks... But this morning I would like to pose a question "HOW DO YOU THINK YOU MAKE YOURSELF LOOK WHEN YOU ARE CONSTANTLY COMPLAINING TO YOUR MAN ABOUT HIS EX" I mean if you have never caught him with her, caught them on the phone, If she lives in another state and the most contact they might have is over myspace, then don't you think he most likely has moved on. I mean to each relationship I guess its a different scenario, so tell me this WHEN SHOULD THE PRESENT DAY CHICK BE WORRIED ABOUT HER MAN & HIS EX.... In my personal opinion if you know what you and your man have then no female should be able to make you feel insecure about your relationship. Furthermore if you do feel threatened NEVER NEVER NEVER LET YOUR MAN KNOW YOU FEEL THREATENED. His phone is his phone, his email is his email, his myspace is his myspace along with his facebook, his wallet, his twitter. You always want to give your man enough room to breath, always make him feel like you trust him even if you have a thought in the back of your mind. AND TRUST IF THE EX IS AN EX SHE'S AN EX FOR A REASON... GIVE IT A REST...
THIS IS JUST MY OPINION AND YOU ARE ENTITLED TO YOURS, FEEL FREE TO LEAVE A COMMENT...

Leah Janell: In My Shoes

Still a Teen Movie...

Saturday Night, My partners and I joined My sister Shyah (The Publicist), Brandi Womack (The Socialite), Taylor Cook (The Stylist), Moe Johnson (The Model), and THE REAL YOUNG HARLEM LOL... For the Still a Teen Movie Press Event... As I arrived at Kaufman Furs I realized I was in the same exact fur show room that 50 Cent to Rick Ross's baby's mother to purchase her fur coat. As the D.J. played endless 50 Cent tracks I was expecting 50 to jump out at any time screaming YOU GET A FUR, AND YOU GET A FUR ,AND YOU GET A FUR, LOL JOKES... Though this was a press event for a movie I felt like I was trapped in a music video as countless video model, after video mode,l after video model, entered the room. The main reason my partners and I attended was to meet and shake hands with new budding actor Jason Hurt which is the lead in the film. Over all the event was great, I am highly anticipating the film it should be a Block Buster hit.

The DJ

Moe Johnson (The Model) & Lito (My Partner)

Taylor Cook (The Stylist)

Shyah Shaday Dickerson (The Publicist)

Shyah (The Publicist) & Brandi Womack (The Socialite)

Jason Hurt (The Actor)

Leah Janell: In My Shoes

SHE NEEDS OUR HELP...

Jasmina Anema must get bone marrow soon to survive.

Everything became surreal because she's always been so healthy and so wonderful,' said Theodora Anema, Jasmina's mother.

Giancarli for News
Jasmina was diagnosed with NK cell Leukemia on Jan. 20.
Jasmina Anema turns 6 years old Wednesday, and the birthday party planned for her - with a fashion show, cake and an appearance by singer Kelly Rowland - is a dream come true.
But the celebration could be Jasmina's last.
The bubbly Greenwich Village kindergartner is suffering from a rare and especially fatal form of leukemia that doctors fear will take her life within two months unless she receives a bone-marrow transplant.
Jasmina's family - and celebrities like Rihanna and NBA star Paul Pierce, who were touched by her plight - hope a donor drive Saturday will produce the match needed to save her.
"I need thousands of people to come," Jasmina's mother, Theodora Anema, said Tuesday at NYU Medical Center as her ailing child clung to her neck.
"She's the love of my life."
Jasmina's life was turned upside down on Jan. 20 when a doctor informed her she was suffering from NK cell Leukemia.
The news was crushing. Anema had no idea the minor infection on her daughter's toe was a sign of something so sinister.
"Everything became surreal because she's always been so healthy and so wonderful," said Anema, a fashion designer and single mom.
Suddenly, Jasmina was in a fight for her life.
Daily bouts of radiation and chemotherapy began and quickly took their toll.
Her long locks are now gone. Her mouth is riddled with sores, sometimes so painful she cannot speak. And her immune system has become dangerously weakened.
Worse still, Jasmina's leukemia is proving especially difficult to treat.
"The leukemia is growing faster than the chemo can kill it," Anema said.
Even before the start of her daughter's treatment, Anema knew the battle would be fierce.
Because Jasmina is adopted and has no sibling, finding a donor match - which would most likely come from an African- American - is especially difficult.
Further complicating the search is that African-Americans are underrepresented in the national donor network and their DNA tends to be more varied.
"It's one in a million," Anema said. "We really need the African-American community to step up."
Some big names have already joined the cause.
Moved by a video a family friend made, pop sensation Rihanna has made a public plea for people to sign up as bone- marrow donors - done with a simple cheek swab.
Pierce and fellow NBA star Christopher Wilcox also have also helped get the word out.
Still, a match has yet to be found. For Anema, the waiting and worrying is something she says no one should ever endure.
"I don't want anyone in this world to ever have to wait for a bone-marrow donor, or even to have the uncertainty of finding someone," Anema said. "It's the worst situation to be in."
Jasmina's donor drive will be held Saturday at Public School 41 (116 W. 11Th St.) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, contact DKMS, a nonprofit marrow donor center: (866)-340-3567.

Rare Sighting...

This was a first for me, while in a park on 124Th Street and 5Th Ave in Harlem I noticed this little creature running around...



The black squirrel is a melanistic subgroup of the eastern grey squirrel. They are common in Midwestern North America and, in some places, outnumber the grey squirrels by a ratio of about ten to one.

Leah Janell: In My Shoes

The Voice of Reason

We all have an opinion and some things we would just like the world to hear, well In My Shoes has added a new column THE VOICE OF REASON where you my readers will be able to email me anything that is resting on your mind... Email me at elegant718@aol.com, Here is one of my readers out of North Carolina. Make sure you leave a comment and let him know what you think about his opinion....

Have we as a people become so emerged in the American fabric that we gleefully copy the same actions of our white counterparts. Take the Rihanna-Chris Brown situation. The black station airwaves are inundated with latest rumor of hearsay masquerading as truth. Have lessons not been learned of past celebrities whose lives become fishbowls. Seemingly, their every movement and syllable open to be scrutinized, opined, and critiqued. Forced into a life of fake names, dark glasses, and flashbulb breakfast. We heard about Marilyn and we sat and watched Princess Di's demise. But that was them, white press feeding a voracious public starving for star-news. But this one is on us! These young black celebs with their whole lives ahead of them are really just people like you and me. How about this for change, lets try staying out of it and not feeding into it (black press) and let the folks figure out what the should do about their situation. Of course we have our opinions based on what we think we know. But just reading that sentence alone should light a light in your mind. Its not your business!

Written By: Eric Wilkins of North Carolina

Leah Janell: In My Shoes

Society

In the brew of all the hype about Harlem Heights, myself and a few friends decided to grab a bite to eat at a local eatery in Harlem "Society"... "Society" is on 114Th and Fredrick Douglass Blvd. the one thing about Society that some may love or hate is that its family styled dining. So if you are not with a large party you can almost expect someone you don't know to be dining with you. The food was great my sister Shyah and I ordered the crab cake sandwich.

My Partners Ola and Lito joined us

and the REAL YOUNG HARLEM graced us with his presence as well...


ON THAT NOTE HARLEM STAND UP...

Leah Janell: In My Shoes

Harlem Heights

Just like most of urban American, I stayed up last night to watch BETs highly anticipated new show "HARLEM HEIGHTS"... Harlem Height's had everyone buzzing we wanted to know if Brooke would mention her past relationship with Kanye West, we wondered why the fellas were wearing suits on a Thursday afternoon and eating lunch by the street side. HARLEM HEIGHTS had us all wondering what would this show be about. As I tuned in, my Twitter was flooded with positive and negative feedback about the show, most of the comments I agreed with and others just made me laugh.

I appreciate the element that Brooke adds to the show it is obvious that she is being true to whom she is with the exception of her June Ambrose styled wardrobe.

Pierre is a cutie and because of him I will continue to tune in. Most of the viewers are hoping that the show will grasp the cultural aspect of what Harlem is.

While others are hoping that JASON reveals his true identity as opposed to the swag he jacked from the Real Young Harlem. Overall I would rate the first two episode at an 8 and I will be tuning in next week as the rest of you should. Lets show support and keep this Black Star Power progressing...

Leah Janell: In My Shoes