( Photos by: Splash News & Matthew Stockman/Getty Images )
Venus & Serena Williams put their game faces on at Opening Night of the US Open, held at the Arthur Ashe Stadium last night. There was a special guest performance by Aretha Franklin and a pre-game ceremony honoring black women in history including Althea Gibson, the first African-American woman to be a competitor on a world tennis tour. Also honored was the first black female astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison, Olympic medalists Debi Thomas, Jackie Joyner Kersee and more.
The Williams sisters went on to win their matches and are advancing to the next round. I recommend that everyone read these great articles at yahoo.com & newsday.com about the event. Black Star Power at its finest!
Venus and Serena look awfully skinny. Everyone else looks peachy except for Star’s husband. Boy, I didn’t notice how nerdy he looked.
You obviously are very young people who have no respect for those who have paved the way and worked hard in the industry in the midst of impossible odds.
Kudos go to you Ms. Franklin and you are looking good to me because you are still here and you deserve RESPECT!!!! Which these young folk seem not to have any awareness of what it is or what it means, I am glad they are not my children.
They probably talk a lot of trash to their parents if they are not orphans, I wonder what their Moms, Aunts look like ( I guess they all black women size 4 looking like Twiggy).
BLACK STAR POWER…..I LOVE IT
Janet please come up with something new. The baggy pants look is tired, perhaps she wore them to smuggle JD into the ceremony.
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LMAO!!
#32
BWAHAHHAHHHAHHAHHAHHHAHHAHHHAHHHHHAHHHAHHHAA
We look great!!! Congrats to the WIlliams sisters. Everybody looks pretty decent. Ummmmm, has Aretha lost some weight?
I watched last night and Serena’s outfit was too cute!
Janet looked fab!
Felicia Rashad doesn’t age at all – she looks good!
Heck, errybody looked good!
Someone needs to help Aretha out , her hair is a mess. I love Roberta flack her and Donny made great hits together .
One more thing, the picture of Janet goes to show she hasn’t gained all the weight they claimed she had gained. My girl still looks good!
Okay, i know people are going to jump on me, but dammit, i have to ask this question. Why does Janet, at age what, 40, 41, body looks 200% better than beyonce’s body who’s said to be 25! They both claim to work out faithfully, people have accused them both of lipo, but i don’t care what you say, i believe Janet works for hers because while lipo can remove fat, you have to work to get definition like she has, that’s hard work and denying herself a bunch of fat and calories. But i just don’t get it. Beyonce claims to work out very hard, yet her stomach always seem just one step up beyond flab, her stomach be kind of sort of flat, but never really flat. Plus it looks jiggly looking, like’s she’s had a baby, and trying to bounce back, and i might add it appears she holds her stomach in when she’s in bathing suits, i could be wrong on this though, but it just looks like it. And i believe her, i believe she works out hard, so i really just dont it. Most women i know that work out religiously are very defined, not manly, but very feminine and just well toned.
But to Janet, get it ma. Bitch is always bangin.
Awww, look at the star power, i wonder how much money in that room if you added it all up.
Sidebar: I really don’t understand star jones school marm look.
Star Jones School Marm look is better than that look she had before, not the weight, no problem, but the whole Star Jones Wig thang you feel me. She has a more classy look to her, (Hubby look “How You Doin”) though.
ok guys , Aretha is our history!!! We all got some big folks at the house stop trippin…. Gladys Knight looks wonderful. As does the rest of our folks!!!!
#70- While Janet does look fabulous when she’s adhering to a strict diet and exercise program, her face always suffers the most.
She looks like Pennywise the clown in these pics. (Steven King’s “IT”)
Also, you CAN get that “ripped” definition in your stomach from the liposculpting procedure, though i think Janet just has a tendency to lose fat there the most.
Bey IMO, does have fabulous abs, and a TINY waist to hip ratio. I prefer her look over Janet’s.
#62
No need to get heated. Let’s face the facts, obesity in the Black community is a problem. Ignoring that fact will not change it. It’s time we stop dancing around the issues and using the cop out of cultural differences as a way for us not to address the fact that too many of our people are gaining weight at an alarming rate. Having a great voice and being a legend does not change the fact that Ms. Franklin is slowly killing herself with the folk. No one is saying she isn’t the Queen of Soul and is not worthy of respect, but some of us are saying that she clearly is not attempting to get things under control. No one is asking her to be a size 4 but rather to get her weight into a healthy range so that she will still be here in the next 15 years. There are alot of Soul divas who are not as obese like Ms. Franklin (Glaydis Knight, Diana Ross, Patti Labelle who openly talks about her struggles to maintain good health). There is an elephant in the room and I’m sorry to say that it is Ms. Franklin.
Oh, and I think 32 (not 25) is more like it, lol!
Love Black star power…these the types of things we need to support…Phylicia Rashad looks remarkably beautiful…in fact she always has been.
@71 i feel you, star’s new look is definitely an upgrade, but still, damn, take them glasses off at least. The hair is cool.
@73
The last time i checked, while you can get lipo and they can remove fat and repair lose muscles, nothing can make you look like you actually work out every day, with a six pack (they can paint it on, but surgery cannot accomplish this)…no, this is hard work from janet. I think she’s a perfectionist when she knows she dropping a album. I think beyond the lipo, she actually puts in the work. Besides, if what you say is true, hollywood would never work out, they’d just get the procedure you described, and to my knowledge, there is no such procedure.
I’d prefer Janet’s toned look to beyonce’s body structure. Janet has a better body in my opinion, a truly flat stomach with a real butt, not a small waist with wide hips, big thighs, and a sometimes non-existent butt. But i guess we just disagree here. Plus, this woman is 40! I dont know many women her age with a body even close, working out or with plastic surgery, cause a lot of ordinary women getting lipo and titties and everything, and they still don’t look like janet. So i give girly her props.
And janet’s face looks like that cause she’s aging. She’s a aging woman, but to me, she still has a babyface. The camera just caught her with a weird surprised look here. If you go on other blogs, they show some more pictures taken of her on this day and it shows her face in a normal way, and not with the surprised look on her face. The flash of the bulb is so quick, it catches every expression, even mid-expression. So sometimes the celebrities will look a little crazy.
@natural mystique
I actually believe beyonce is only 25. Cause that star search thing she was on, she really was just a little girl. But then again that passport said 32. I get confused on that one. Though i wouldn’t put it pass the knowles to lie about something like that for marketing reasons.
I meant to say this too earlier, it’s so cute how Gladys knight still has a baby face. She is too cute, it’s weird, her face looks the same, and never changes.
I love Phylicia R’s hair, but i really wish she put the biscuits down. She is moving in the weight danger zone.
the action stills of the sisters are awesome. I love mrs Huxtable(?). Janet is looking hot and Common is so FIne.
I love this BLACK STAR POWER!
Janet is rockin Venus’ new clothing line. I see ya Jan….get it ma!
#77- Believe it or not, many people are opting for a procedure that actually sculpts 6-pack abs–its called high definition lipo-selection.
But yes, Janet’s abs ARE probably just a result of really hard work though (and lots of deprivation).
JSCENE, okay on point with the eyewear, “take em off “like Teddy P said
It’s nice to read about our black people supporting each other.
@81 natural mystique
Thanks, i didn’t know that. Damn, i need to go back to school to be a plastic surgeon, dem bastards making money hand over fist with all these new procedures.
Everybody looking up and together with it.
Janet was looking good, but them pictures here don’t do her any Justice (pun intended). I don’t know what happened to her weave game, because she ALWAYS had the best ones, competition, bar, none. BRING IT BACK J!
Jscene, TRUST me–I’ve thought the same thing. They are getting PAID!
Aretha Franklin needs to get her big ass on that tennis court….she could use some exercise……Do some pilates or something!!!!!!
I am truly proud of this event…makes me proud to be an African American!!!!
She and her man are ate up. He threw and she should be stuck under the bus with her pancake flat face. They made for each other!!!
Wow! venus really brought out the black star power……Janet looks great…..everytime i see her, i am more and more amazed. Its good to see black folks out supporting each other….
see shit like diz make me so proud to see us go out and support each other , thats right black ppl stand up !!!!!!
common u r sooo fine!
venus has such a long,lean body. she makes me want to be tall
Phylicia Rashad is so pretty she ages very well love her hair
OMG I sooooo saw Venus and Serena whip them girls new assholes last night. It as sad……dont mess with a Williams sister!
@wipe me down
watch ‘em do it through the whole tournament
unless one gets hurt.
J.Lewis shut the door u stupid lmao
Wow there was a weave store near by that was probably barren from all the chicks at the stadium. But seriously everyone looks nice and im starting to understand why all the ladies are hot for Common
Gotta love the FAMU alumni ALTHEA GIBSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Black Star Power Indeed!
i wish i could have been there i’m a tennis fan and i love the williams sisters and have followed tennis since before zina retired chris evert. nice to see the sisters coming out to support each other. nice tribute.
but beyonce out of shape? SMH………….
@ 85 Warrior Princess
janet hasn’t being wearing any weaves lately…just wigs. I guess she is trying to maintain her natural hair from all the damage of weaves, lights, curlers, and etc.
but that chick did always have that fiyah weave! hahaha
lol @ the dads shorts.
At least daddy williams is not wearing socks and sandals again.
This is a good look for the black race. I commend everybody involved for the great work.
Common is that dude, he never disappoints with his style. I like his look here, always simple and effective.
Damn Roberta Flack, I didn’t realise it was her until I saw the captions.
Gladys Knight is like in her mid-60′s and she looks that good. She could be Kelly’s mother. They have a resemblance.
I see Janet is a fan of the Williams sisters, she’s even wearing Venus’ Elevent gear.
That’s Great both of them are holding it down for the sistas.
Aretha has lost sum weight…But i’m upset she cancelled the Castain park concert… I bought tickets for mah moms and she was really trying to see her…Oh well I guess Mr. Wonder will do..lol
Why does Richard Williams have on dem DAMN shorts again….lookin like a damn runaway slave….Ah yes a master…(old time slave voice).. lol
Roberta Flack might want to lay off the Botox too… she is so tight in the face..lol
Gladys Knight looks great…
And What is wrong with Al’s eyes in those glasses….lol
OK IM DONE..lol Everybody looks great ….Got to love our black people.
I WISH WE COULD’VE SEEN PHYLICIA RESHAD WITHOUT THE WIND BLOWING, AWW HELL SHE STILL LOOKS FAB!
I love this support goin on. These women all look beautiful. Of course we wouldn’t see this on tv, they just wanna show us killin and beatin up eachother. Not showin love
ARIES YOU ARE A DUMB BITCH WITH YOUR NEGATIVE ASS. YOU HAD TO BE THE FIRST PERSON TO SAY SOMETHING NEGATIVE. YOU ARE A MISERABLE ASS WHORE MUNGER “BIIIIATCH”.
get it janet lookin hella hot in white, venus and serena you 2 are da bomb
#74 in other words as quoted by the great paul mooney
“that b*tch is as big as a duplex….” lol…
phylicia looks very elegant and beautiful… aged gracefully… she lifted the beauty bar for black women in the 80s i dont know what yall gonna do with her now… if you look half as attractive as she is at her age that would be a compliment….
zina garrison doesnt look like a tennis player anymore… she was fine though back in the day when watching her at wimbledon on nbc when i was much younger and just starting noticing the curves of women… between her janet and tuty my night were filled with dreams lol….
But seriously everyone looks nice and im starting to understand why all the ladies are hot for Common
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You are not alone. I don’t think he is the least bit attractive. Seems like a punk too.