Admit it. You have just been dying to put an actual voice to these words you read everyday. Good news: I was a guest on NPR today. Bad news: it’s not such a great voice, and I’m going to need to retire “you know” from my repertoire.

I was joined on News & Notes‘ weekly blogger’s roundtable by Shay Riley of and Brandon Whitney of Homeland Colors. Today’s topics were the Jena Six’s BET Hip Hop Awards cameo, Bill Cosby’s Meet the Press appearance, and the acquittal of the defendants in the boot camp death case, all of which are things you pretty much know my opinions (which I’m much better at expressing in written form, unfortunately) on if you read the blog. Still, it’s fun to listen. Click here to check it out.

Carolivia Herron wrote the children’s book Nappy Hair expecting a little bit of controversy. You see, the lead character, a child named Brenda, had “the nappiest, fuzziest, the most screwed up, squeezed up, knotted hair.” Brenda was special. Unique. Herron figured parents might not like that she was putting this young character on a pedestal.

“I was claiming uniqueness for my character,” Herron told Stereohyped, “rather than claiming that this child represented African American people as a whole.”

But the controversy Herron got was of an entirely different sort. In 1998, a white elementary school teacher in the predominately black and Hispanic Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY, infuriated parents after she read the book to her class and sent students home with copies. They considered Nappy Hair to be a racial slur. The administration eventually backed the book and the teacher’s decision to read it in class, but it was too late. The teacher had to request a transfer because she feared for her safety.

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It’s quite a rarity to have so many hip hop luminaries in one room, or one (Hammerstein) ballroom, as it was. But VH1 managed to cram as much talent as possible into their Hip Hop Honors show, which taped last night but airs Monday at 10 pm. Yes, there was a lot of talent there, but I don’t count Tracy Morgan, who hosted the awards and couldn’t quite get that teleprompter thing down. Could his SCRAM have been going off right about that time? No worries, I’m sure they’ll have that all cleaned up by Monday.

I had the pleasure of spending the evening in the press room, where the honorees and presenters came back to chat. In fact, so many VIPs were in attendance, I decided to write up my experiences in a handy superlative format. Check out the Best and Worst, plus lots and lots of pictures, after the jump.

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This clip from 1995’s Waiting to Exhale is in honor of writer Terry McMillan, who was kind enough to grace the pages of Stereohyped with her side of the book drama involving her ex. Depending on where you are in life (and who you are) you might like this clip or you might not. Either way, try to enjoy. For Terry!

• TV One’s on the come-up. Watch your back, BET. []

• Advertisements, shmadvertisements, or so we say. [MD]

• South Carolina blacks may vote for the Dems, but they aren’t very liberal. [MBP]

• The Jena Six case is like 2007’s version of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Although no one has to give up anything to say, “Free the Jena Six!” [USAT]

• My name and OJ Simpson’s mentioned in the text of the same article? A dubious distinction, at best. []

You’ve seen Zulema Griffin on Project Runway, ordering her weepy fellow contestant to “cry and cut” or ruthlessly taking someone else’s model. But you probably haven’t seen her like this: beaming over the successful presentation of her Spring ‘08 line and posing for pictures with fans — fans of Zulema Griffin, the designer, not the reality television star.

Eschewing the traditional, and often boring, runway show, Griffin presented her collection yesterday at an art gallery. Inspired by the Nigerian musician Fela and his 27 wives, Griffin used 27 black models, who walked through the crowd or lounged lazily on sofas. The clothes — African-inspired dresses, blouses, skirts and pants — will be available in a boutiques next year, if all goes as planned.

_{Models lounging at Griffin’s show}

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• What’s the hand doing, Janet? [MG]

• African American is a perfectly nice thing to be, in my opinion, but Beyonce (who shouts her Creole heritage from the damn mountaintops at every opportunity) kind of wishes she had been born a Latina. Maybe in the next lifetime, chica. [Latina]

• Can a black women’s magazine besides Essence get a foothold in the market, please? [Jezebel]

• Jamaica’s not the most gay-friendly country? I never would have known… [QT]

• Thanks to everyone who came to Full Throttle Fashion on Saturday to celebrate The Fashion Bomb’s anniversary with yours truly, The B-Life, Hourglass Events, Pieces Boutique, and the JI Group (phew). Plus, a special thanks to Boutique Finesse and the Rum Cake Fairy (for the insanely delicious and much-needed late-night dessert)!

As controversy swirls around VH1 for capitalizing off of the worst stereotypes of black women on shows Flavor of Love and Charm School, JanJay Sherman efficiently does her work as a public relations assistant at Flirt! Cosmetics, socializes with friends, and enjoys New York City life like any normal, 22-year-old college grad.

What does one thing have to do with the other? I should mention JanJay manages to do all of this while cameras record her every move for Soapnet’s reality hit, Fashionista Diaries. But the only thing Janjay has in common with a Flavor of Love girl is starring on a cable television show. And skin color, of course.

“There is like this stigma now that [black women] argue and we’re ghetto,” Janjay told Stereohyped. “For me, being a part of corporate America, I make it point to be articulate and classy, and I don’t feel like how [the FOL girls] act affects me at all.”

On the Fashionista Diaries, which follows several other young assistants trying to make it in the NYC fashion world, it’s not all serious. JanJay, a Minnesota native and former Zac Posen intern, tries to find a balance between doing her job (and she really does public relations for Flirt!) and not being a boring working drone in front of the cameras.

It was hard initially because you have to find an equal balance between meeting your deadlines and being entertaining and making sure your producers are getting the shot that they need,” she said. “It’s work, but at the same time it is a show, and you can’t be sitting at your desk typing away.”

After the jump, the burgeoning fashionista answers a few of Stereohyped’s questions in honor of fashion week. Beyonce haters, take heed! Also, the good publicist gives us her favorite Flirt! products for brown girls.

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• Yes, we get it. Lauryn Hill is crazy. Can Wyclef and Pras stop talking about it, please? [DL]

• Chico DeBarge apparently has not learned his lesson yet. Hey, maybe we’ll get another album out of this. [C&D]

• At some point, every single man in the entertainment industry will have to field gay rumors. It’s part of the business, obviously. [SR]

• A match made in heaven? Was that in poor taste? [TAN]

• If you live in NYC, I expect to see you and your friends at Katra tomorrow night, because who doesn’t want to party with Stereohyped, The Fashion Bomb, and The B-Life? [FT]

You like me! You really like me! Well, the Black Weblog Award judges do, anyway. And, thankfully, that was all it took for me to win a Black Weblog Award for Best New Blog.

I would say more, but I’m busy poppin’ bottles in my mind right now. Pardon me if the rest of the day’s posts come off a little loopy.

Check out the rest of the winners .