Jill Scott in Allure

Jill Scott is one of five actresses (did I just call Jill Scott an actress?) who are posing nude for the May edition of Allure magazine. Now I don't even know if I had ever heard of Allure Magazine prior to 15 minutes ago but come tomorrow morning I'll be straight down to WHSmith to seek its april copy.

I must admit I'm no great fan of celebrity female nudity in film or print as I think it sets back the feminine movement about 20 years, but when it comes to my Jill all bets are out the window.

I watched the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency shown last month on the beeb and I was really impressed by her portrayal of the lead character Mma Ramostwe and I look forward to the sequels. I am still hoping to get tickets for her show in the Brixton Academy in July (hint, hint babe if you haven't got my birthday pressie yet). I'm her No1 fan (visions of Kathy Bates in Misery come to mind).

In the accompanying article Jill says "No, Naked? You mean 'naked' naked? No Way," she says. "It was a frightening concept, and I had to be convinced." At the shoot, the Grammy Award-winning singer and star of the upcoming movie and TV series, "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" (she plays the full-figured Mma Ramostwe) was apprehensive. "I didn't sleep the night before. I love to be naked when it's just me at home, but I had no idea what it would be like to take my clothes off for the camera," she says. Turns out, "it took a lot of stand there naked in front of strangers and try to be comfortable and carefree. But I did it - and I'd do it again." As for the picture, "I'm blowing it up and putting it in my house," she says. "Just not where the cable guy can see it."

Can Muslims trust Barack Obama?

The City Circle invites you to "Can Muslims Trust Barack Obama?", a conversation with Imam Johari Abdul-Malik, Blackamerican Muslim Leader and Chair of Government Relations at the Muslim Alliance of North America.

The event is organised with the Radical Middle Way.

Venue: Abrar House, 45 Crawford Place, off Edgware Rd, London W1H 4LP

Time/Date: 6.45-8.45pm, WEDNESDAY 16 April 2008.

"I have never been a Muslim... am not a Muslim." That's what Barack Obama had to say after the "Muslim Smear" campaign seemed to damage his campaign earlier this year. But what if he was a Muslim? Would that be so wrong? How have American Muslims, particularly Black American Muslims, responded to Obama? With his call for change, Obama has captured the imaginations of people the world over. Is he really the one who can set America on a progressive new path - at home and abroad? With the economy in decline, Iraq in flames and the "war on terror" becoming a "war without end", the eyes of Muslims the world over on the results of Election 2008. Imam JohariAbdul-Malik will discuss these issues and more.

Imam Johari Abdul-Malik is a scholar and Director of Outreach at the Dar AlHijrah Islamic Center near Washington, D.C and former Muslim Chaplain at Howard University. He is the Head of the National Association of Muslim Chaplains in Higher Education and chair of government relations for the Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA), an organisation committed to addressing the social, economic, political and spiritual needs that especially impact African American and indigenous Muslims. MANA has brought together for the first time the most influential Black American Muslim leaders, scholars and activists onto one platform.

Free entrance. All welcome.