Allison Samuels

Mario van Peebles is a man with an identity crisis. Deep in thought as he sits by the pool at the W hotel in Los Angeles, the handsome character actor is getting those quizzical "aren't you somebody?" stares from sunbathers.

Mario Van Peebles is a man with an identity crisis. Deep in thought as he sits by the pool at the W hotel in Los Angeles, the handsome character actor is getting those quizzical "aren't you somebody?" stares from sunbathers.

Damon Dash doesn't look like a CEO this morning. He's sparring with his trainer in the courtyard of his Spanish-style Beverly Hills home, high above Hollywood's canyons , and trash talking all the while. "I ain't goin' down--I can hang as long you can," he pants. "Don't let my heavy breathin' fool ya." You may not recognize Damon Dash's name, but you've probably seen him in his business partner Jay-Z's rap videos--he's the one in the background, dancing with a bottle of vodka in his hand.

Put the sweaters in moth-balls. It's time to show some skin! We all know bronzers and pedicures. Here are a few other items that any self-respecting diva should add to her list.

Has Justin Timberlake's all-access pass to the black entertainment universe been revoked? Few white artists have enjoyed as much support among African- Americans as Timberlake, thanks to a debut solo CD jammed with classic R&B and tracks produced by the likes of hip-hop maestro Timbaland.

Tyra Banks has obviously forgotten she's a supermodel. For one thing, she agrees to have lunch at a Hollywood joint called Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles, where she arrives wearing blue jeans, a red sweat shirt and just a hint of blush.

Generally speaking, it's impolite to weep after sex. But if anyone's earned the right, it's Kim Cattrall, because this time was one for the ages. It lasted six years, she gave an award-worthy performance and, as Cattrall herself knows all too well, she may never have it this good again.

Everyone's happy when he's winning, and Latrell Sprewell's no exception. After a sometimes turbulent time in New York, Sprewell tells NEWSWEEK he's been "reborn" on the Minnesota Timberwolves, who have the second best record in the Western Conference. "They make it fun to play again," says Spree.

It's all the stuff your mom didn't teach you because she was more concerned that you become a credit to the race. That's how author Jenyne Raines introduces "Beautylicious!

Farther and Farther Off the WallIt's a shame this page doesn't bestow a Newsmaker of the Year award, because Michael Jackson deserves some kind of recognition for keeping our staff fully employed.

Simon Says: No More MooreEverybody complains about how nasty New York theater critics are, but what about the playwrights themselves? Last week Neil Simon decided he didn't like the performance of the star in his new off-Broadway play, "Rose's Dilemma," so he sent her a letter telling her off. "Learn your lines," he wrote, according to one published account, "or get out of my play." Never mind that the recipient of these encouraging words was one of America's longest-running sweethearts, Mary...

"Please be patient with me," a frail-looking Afeni Shakur tells the crowd inside the Cinerama Dome on Sunset Boulevard. She's just flown in from her farm in North Carolina for the premiere of "Tupac: Resurrection," the documentary she produced about her only son, the rapper and actor Tupac Shakur.

Imagine for a moment that Cliff Huxtable has been possessed by the ghost of Fred Sanford. That's the first thing that comes to mind when Bill Cosby greets you at 3 in the afternoon in his palatial Manhattan brownstone, still puttering around in red-plaid flannel pajamas on an unusually warm fall day.

It's His Defining Feature: An Intense Focus On Basketball That Has Made Kobe Bryant One Of The Game's Greatest, But Left Him Self-Absorbed And Socially Stunted. Now He's On Trial For Rape. The Book On Kobe.

Yes, we're open," the phone message at Morris Brown College greets callers. You'd barely know it, walking around the Atlanta campus of this 122-year-old institution.

Andre Benjamin--you know him as Andre 3000, of the rap duo Outkast--is in daddy mode today. He and his 5-year-old son, Seven (so named because it's a divine and indivisible number), are just back from the Magic Mountain amusement park, and Seven's now zooming around the Hollywood studio where Benjamin's trying to work on a new track and do an interview.

Tracy Reese knows how cut-throat couture can get. Fresh from Parsons School of Design, Reese expected to storm the runways. "I was only 23 years old, and I thought I knew everything," she says."It didn't take long to realize I didn't know much at all." Her business flopped.Sixteen years later, her designs are on the racks at Bergdorf's and Saks and on the backs of Julia and that other Reese.

MARKET WATCHDefying GravityThe world's markets have been going gangbusters of late. The Dow is up 24 percent since March. Tokyo's Nikkei has surged 30 percent over the same time period.

When Kobe Bryant was arrested two weeks ago after a 19-year-old Colorado woman accused him of sexual assault, the reaction from friends and fans was almost universal: that's just not like Kobe.

Kobe Bryant thought his summer could get no worse. His L.A. Lakers had been knocked out of the playoffs, they were about to sign Utah's superstar Karl Malone (who could cut into Bryant's fan base) and he had to have shoulder surgery.

Knight's Bad DaySuge Knight was arrested--again--last week, and may return to jail for violating the terms of his parole. The man who put the likes of Snoop Dogg on the hip-hop map allegedly hit a valet-parking attendant at an L.A.

Bonnie, We Hardly Knew YeNot even the Us Weekly staff saw it coming. All Thursday morning, editor Bonnie Fuller had been working the magic that had turned the magazine around in 16 months (with help from Ben, J.

In his trailer behind the MTV studios, Snoop Dogg is winding down after filming an episode of his new comedy show. The Lakers are on the big-screen TV, and his boys--DJ Pooh (who co-wrote the film "Friday"), ex-Laker Isaiah Rider, a gang of Snoop's grade-school pals from Long Beach--are passing around a blunt whose haze cuts off most of the oxygen.

A New RacketAt this point, Venus Williams is used to being overshadowed by her younger sister, Serena, but at least for this week's Wimbledon she'll be better dressed.

We're sick of her, too, at this point, but wait till you hear the latest. Jennifer Lopez is cleaning house--not the zillion-dollar one she bought with her beau, Ben Affleck, but metaphorically.

Dancer in the DarkLuther Vandross's 15th album, "Dance With My Father," is already gold with a million copies presold--and it doesn't even hit stores until Tuesday.

Just last month, when Michael Jordan walked off the court forever, Washington Wizards owner Abe Pollin paid him the usual greatest-player-ever tribute. But last week he told Jordan he wasn't welcome back as president of basketball operations, the job he'd held before returning to play in 2001.

Desmond James, 16, and two of his buddies were in the mood for a good laugh. So they decided to catch "Malibu's Most Wanted,'' the new movie in which a superrich white kid (Jamie Kennedy) is so obsessed with hip-hop that his parents have him kidnapped and taken to the 'hood to "scare the black out of him.'' When the friends left the theater, they couldn't tell if they'd been amused, offended--or both. "It was sort of funny,'' says James, a junior at Los Angeles's Dorsey High School, who's...

People who know R. Kelly tend to use the same word to describe him: unflappable. Last June, the Chicago-based R&B singer was arrested and indicted on 21 counts of possession of child pornography, after a copy of tapes allegedly showing him having sex with a young girl was sent to the Chicago Sun-Times.

We wanted to hear directly from black women about the challenges in their lives--the feelings and frustrations they share regardless of profession, education, class or skin color.