April 2008 Archives

This was spotted on SoulBounce.com and singer Ne-Yo will perform at Angie and Jesse's wedding. Both actors have been absent from the show for about 20 years. As I mentioned before, I have never watched this soap opera, but I think those two look so great after all of these years. Life seems to be treating them well. His guest appearance will air on May 21st and May 22nd. READ MORE...

Photo Credit:
USA Today

The Foundation for Health Coverage Education provides a free resource where the uninsured can search for low cost private, publicly subsidized, or free health insurance. According to a recent study 7.7 million African Americans are uninsured and about 1.6 million are children.

You will need to answer five simple questions on their site so that they may customize a list specific to your needs and locate plans in your state. They have downloadable enrollment applicationsfor specific plans. There is an 800 number customer service or you can email them with questions. This is not an ad and I don't make a nickel off of passing along this information.

Black Star News has a good interview with financial guru, motivational speaker, entrepreneur Byron W. Perry. Perry conducts seminars and workshops which teach children about money, wealth creation, and entrepreneurialism.

BSN: Please share with us a bit about the experience working with children on this subject.

BP: The general age range is between 8 and 14. I give workshops on “Too Young to Get Hired? Hire Yourself,” “Buy Your Own Bicycle,” “Don’t Eat Cookies – Sell Them.” I open with a question to get them engaged. I ask them, “Who wants to make money?” All of their hands go up. READ MORE...

Reference:
Black Star News
www.ThePowerOfPerry.com/

Take Care Down There is a contraceptive education website created by Planned Parenthood. I have not fully formed my opinion on it, but it is an interactive website on contraception, and features video skits which are used as an educational tool.

In the skits, a health teacher walks in on sex sessions and educates the parties. The content is R-rated for sexually suggestive content. Interesting. Is it educational, entertaining, or neither? Take Care Down There

Brazil's Missing Millions

One year ago, pilots were transporting cash for a bank when their fatal plane crash in a Brazilian village, Maracangalha, caused a scatter of over $3 Million dollars, which was stolen on the ground. Some locals took the money, and only 10 percent of the money has been recovered.

The money brought much trouble to the local residents prompting thugs to come looking for some of the recipients, to extort money. One person was killed.

Today, almost a year after the incident, a man interviewed in the film, said the money was a curse on the village, because of all of the trouble it created. Would you have taken any of the money?

Umoja- The Spirit Of Together Part 1

Umoja is a South African dance musical that tours internationally. Some of the women are topless in some of the performances. This looks like a phenomenal show. Check out their site for more information: Umoja Africa: The Spirit of Togetherness

This person claims he infected 15,000 girls with AIDS. Who knows whether it is true, but someone should be able to recognize this character. 15,000 is a high number, and he could mean the pyramid effect of his partners passing it to others, then those partners passing along, and so on. Could he have meant 1500? It may be a "chronic" error. I am angered after watching this, and filled with all kinds of thoughts.




A poor job was done at disguising his face. Perhaps he wanted his identity to be known. He chose to announce it to the world on YouTube. Whether truth or not, it is a stark reminder that there are people knowingly, on purpose, infecting someone (without informing the partner) with the disease, while you read this.



The YouTube channel lists an urban adult site, so if this is fake and done for publicity, it is a disturbing unconscionable act for website promotion.

Follow the jump to watch the video.

Madonna adopted an African baby boy, David, from Malawi back in 2006 and the adoption has not been finalized. She says the government is still not used to the concept of adoption. Madonna embarks on a journey exploring the lives of children who have been orphaned by AIDS. This 85 minute film is being shown at the Tribeca Film Festival, and will be available on DVD.

Follow the jump to see the film trailer.

According to this Washington Post article, the video game Grand Theft Auto is about to be released and this will be the 4th product release. The violence promoting video game has an "M" rating which means "Mature," and can be sold to customers over 16 years of age. But the game Grand Theft Auto (GTA IV) is more popular than before with kids in the 12-14 year old age group.

The article also notes: "The game, to be released Tuesday for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, hits all the hot buttons: It contains "blood," "intense violence," "partial nudity," "strong language," "strong sexual content" and "use of drugs and alcohol." " READ MORE...

Do parents who harbor these games in their homes, think this is just innocent entertainment? It would be interesting to get a comment from someone with children in this age group who actually has this game at home. We know you're out here on the web. Do they just bury there head in the sand and think: It's just fun and it keeps them busy? I wonder what parents think about this or do they think at all?

This was spotted on Vivica Fox's website. Is somebody gettin' called out...lol? Well, I was enjoying my visit until the R.Kelly "go getter" song started playing...then I promptly exited the site.

I guess folks can follow up with www.imreadyproductions.com for more information on the play.

I AM WHITE "PARODY"

He called it a parody. But he is way too much into character for a parody. Must be some of his sentiment in there...somewhere. It is hard to tell whether he is trying to be funny, or trying to get away with faking funny. Mr. Pregnant can be found on YouTube. Do you think this is a parody? Most of his videos fall under comedy.

Last weekend there were three dozens shootings which left 9 people dead. On Friday, Mayor Richard Daley called on a meeting with police department officials, schools, social service agencies and religious groups for a City Hall summit on the violence. He chastised the gun industry and called for parents and adults to step up their role.

After the meeting he spoke on how to combat violent crime. Sounds like a the govt needs to declare a State of Emergency.

The mayor says:
"I don't know why people think you're going to end something with a lot of police ... end something with a lot of guns, you don't. You have to have a combination of prevention and intervention and yes, yes, enforcement, but they all go hand-in-hand."

Officers are going to start carrying M4 carbines.

According to CBS 4 News:

"Meanwhile, it was announced yesterday that Weis plans to arm and train the city's 13,500 officers with more powerful weapons, including equipping many with M4 carbines to match the firepower of the street gangs they have to face.

The M4 is a short assault rifle used by the Marine Corps, and it fires more shots in less time than most handguns. The fully automatic version can fire up to 1,000 rounds a minute, although the magazines only hold from 20 to 30 shots." Read More...

Last night Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright sat down for an interview on the PBS Bill Moyers Journal television show. It was a pretty generically bland interview, lacking detailed explanations and all of the charisma, as noted in THOSE sound bytes we've been bombarded with, and I am not certain whether the timing was good in doing this interview.

At this point, anything he says is sure to be scrutinized, from "he didn't say this" to "he didn't say that" or "why didn't he act like he did on the videos." So, I don't know what to make of the video. However, I read two good blog posts relating to this inteview, and it's not the articles which make for the most interesting reads, it's the commentary in comments parts.

I have been thinking lately, and some random thoughts have crossed my mind. Here is one: The American public and media have been on this trend to reward bad behavior. Many people have become more famous, richer, and revered for "bad behavior." How is this guy any different for those who consider him to be a bad person? Is a book deal soon to come?

Read John Ridley's post on Huffington Post, which was published before the airing of the show: The Undeniable Virtue of Jeremiah Wright's Pro-Blackness (and the Problem with Pro-Whiteness)

Read Bill Moyer's blog entry which was posted after the interview: The Controversy Over Wright

If you missed the show, you can watch it or read the transcript here.

On May 1st and 2nd, 40 year old Gary Coleman and his 22 year old wife, Shannon Price will appear on tv's "Divorce Court," and I sensed it would not be long before they appeared on sort of reality show. I just not had expected a divorce court show. This is sure to be a high ratings series. Is May a sweeps month...lol? They met last year on a movie set.

Here are some Yahoo! News quotes from the show:

"If he doesn't get his way, he throws a temper tantrum like a five-year-old does," Price says, according to a transcript of the show obtained by The Associated Press. "He like stomps the floor and yells, 'Meehhhh,' and starts throwing stuff around. He bashes his head in the wall, too."

"The justice system let me down." ---- Nicole Paultre Bell.

I can't say that I am shocked. I wonder if holy hell is going to break loose. Read More...

Reference:

New York Post

There are reports with the source stemming from Fashionista, that top photographer Steven Meisel wrapped up photo shoots for the rumored issue. It sounds like there may be an all black model issue of Vogue Italia in the making. If true, this issue is sure to break barriers and fuel further discussion on discrimination and diversity within the fashion industry.

Out of curiosity I would probably buy a copy. It would most likely become a collector's item. And I HOPE this won't be a case of "we gave them what they want, now let them shut up," then carry on business as usual, with very little representation of black models in their publications. At best, this will be a signal of change. Therefore, I will risk betting on the side of optimism.

Fashionista reports:

This just in from a source:

xoxo.

Reference:
Fashionista
Black is finally in fashion at Vogue

On Monarch magazine's site, there is a cover story (must be previous issue) on Angela Bassett speaking on her acting journey and family. She is in Tyler Perry's "Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns." READ MORE...

Bill Cosby, Chris Tucker, and Fulton County Superior court Judge Marvin Fulton (the judge who ordered whites out of the court, so that he could lecture black defendants) participated in the "Up the Path of Success" discussion Thursday at Benjamin E. Mays High School in Georgia. They stressed the value of personal responsibility.

All three have pledged to set up a mentoring program for the 600 students who attended the forum.

Cosby quotes from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution :

“I'm blunt, and I'm going to stay blunt," he said, drawing cheers from the crowd. Cosby's approach has its critics, but he's unbowed.

Barack Obama says "Yes, we can." Cosby's message: "Yes we should."

"The man from Nigeria comes here, he's here two months, and what does he do?" he asked. "He goes to community college. He's learning a second language while he drives the cab. What are our children doing? Practicing a first language that only they can understand." READ MORE...

Judge criticized for ordering white lawyers out of courtroom VIDEO

Reference:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

I can't wait for this thing to be over. I think all of the energy has evaporated from these primaries. People seem to be tired, and don't readily strike up conversations on the Democratic primaries anymore.

Hattie Hart was a solo performer back in the twenties who also did lead vocals for the Memphis Jug Band. Will Shade on harp, Tee Wee Blackman on guitar, Ben Ramey on kazoo, and Ham Lewis on the jug along with Hattie made up the band. They made this song about cocaine, and I didn't even know people used cocaine back then, and was SHOCKED to hear this song.

According to a MemphisHistory.com site her songs were provacatively risque and she wrote songs about love, sex, cocaine, and voodoo. MemphisHistory.com says her voice was considered "one of the best, employeeing a high vibrato and a range of emotions." She had a brief recording career after traveling to Chicago during the Depression, and disappeared into obscurity. Well, if she wrote and sang songs about cocaine, one could only imagine how life wound up for her. Here is their song, Listen to Cocaine Habit Blues .

There must have been a lot of hatred and self hatred. Check out this next title by the folk band: A Black Woman Is Like A Black Snake. It is true, we must know our past to understand the present.

Here are the lyrics:

A Black Woman Is Like A Black Snake

A black woman's like a black snake, she will strike and run,
A black woman's like a black snake, she will strike and run
...

...

I wouldn't marry a black woman, I'll tell you the reason why,
I wouldn't marry a black woman, I'll tell you the reason why,
She's so black and evil she won't look in your eye

...

Oh fish are swimming, they come into the net,
Oh fish are swimming, they come into the net,
... try to do the best they can, they do the best they can

Follow the jump to get the Cocaine Habit Blues Lyrics

Are you fed up with the content on BET and MTV? If so, you can participate in letting major advertiser Proctor and Gamble know what you think. Here is YOUR chance to ACT rather than sit around and complain. All of the contact info is right here for you, just let your fingers do the dialing and speak up!

Anyway, Proctor and Gamble created a new, toll free hotline in response to the study of violence and sexual content on BET and MTV by the Parents Television Council, and the Enough is Enough campaign.

Following the jump to get dialing instructions and don't forget to pass the information along. Our power is in numbers.

The Fort Wayne, Indiana company settled an U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) age, race, and retaliation lawsuit. The company will have to pay total of $580,000 and up to $5,000 in settlement administrative expenses. It doesn’t pay to discriminate, IF you get caught.

According to the EEOC: “Renhill Services, Inc. violated federal law by failing to refer African American applicants and applicants age 40 for work assignments. Further, the EEOC said, Renhill unlawfully retaliated against employees who objected to these referral practices.” READ MORE...

HOW IRONIC? As soon as you click on Renhill's website there is a large image of a BLACK woman on the homepage, then photos of others flash. She's the first face you see.

Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is featured in two EEOC Anti-Discrimination PSA. Follow the jump to see the video.

USA Today and other websites have reported that actress, Lisa-Raye’s husband the Turks & Caicos Islands Premier Michael Misick, was accused of sexually assaulting a woman, and they write “The FBI were on the T&C to investigate, and they've been in contact with the local po-po as the probe has progressed. Meanwhile, the police tell TMZ that Misick has been "cooperative."" READ MORE...

Anthony Hall is a lawyer, syndicated columnist, and the author of The Ipinions Journal wrote an open letter, dated March 8, 2008, addressed to The Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minister regarding an “inquiry into good governance in the Turks and Caicos Islands”. He wrote on behalf of the people of T & C on concerns over Premier Misick whom he characterized as an “incompetent, autocratic and kleptocratic” ruler.

"Can a man so weak in the war on gangs be trusted in the War on Terror?" This is asked at the conclusion of the ad.

This ad is being coined at Barack Obama’s “Willie Horton” ad. This latest anti-Obama ad is put out by The National Campaign Fund, a political action committee, which shows Obama’s record on Illinois gang violence, and reports that Obama voted against increasing the death penalty for gang murders, when Chicago was experiencing a rash of gang murders.

This is a fun, feature of this blog. Five random celebrity websites will be selected and rated and the results will be listed. We will try this whenever and see how it goes. The website must be an official website and not a MySpace type page. This is a review of the website only.

Scorecard max points= 65
Scale from 0-5 with 0=worst & 5=outstanding

Numeric Score:

59-65= A
52-58= B
46-57= C
39-45= D
0-44= F

Celebrity websites rated: Legendary Jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald, actor-musician Malcolm Jamal Warner, Queen Latifah, Professor-Author Dr. Cornel West, Will Smith

RESULTS

1. www.Malcolm-JamalWarner.com 60

2. www.CornelWest.com 57

3. www.QueenLatifah.com 56

4. www.EllaFitzgerald.com 55

5. www.WillSmith.com 49

Get a full breakdown of each site's score.

This man, Nicholas White, was stuck in an elevator for 41 hours, the video is edited down to a several minutes. I was wondering how he relieved himself.

I was stuck on an elevator for about 3 minutes last year and it was somewhat frightening. Back in the late 90s I worked with a woman who was permanently disabled, because she was in an elevator that dropped, I believed at least five floors. She was mentally and physically scarred for life. She seemed to be sort of shell shocked.

The company where this took place was global corporation. She unsuccessfully sued the company. You would think it would be an open and closed case, but without sparing details, the court found the company was not at fault. WATCH TRAPPED What would you do besides pray?

In my opinion, Coko was the vocal powerhouse with the model looks behind SWV. As a group, I really liked them, and now that she is a solo gospel artist, it is a welcomed treat to hear her sing again. I read a revealing 2006 interview she did with Vibe on skin color and the industry.

To me, she was the most beautiful, and her dark brown skin was an enhancer, and still is. She talked about the industry's preference for the lighter toned singers and how it affected her self-image. This is the first time I have heard this testimony from someone directly affected by racism and bias in the music industry.

Here are excerpts:

Coko: I don’t even think I knew what happiness was in the 90s. I was feeling my way. I’ve always asked myself about that. But I’m very happy right now with the woman that I’ve become. I love who God has created me to be and I’ve learned to accept who I am. I’ve always had a problem with just being who I was. I had issues with my skin color and all of that.

While I was standing behind the tape watching the marathon, there was this young girl, I'd say she was about 11 years old. Just swearing up a storm. She was with an adult whom clearly was within earshot of what she was saying. She learned it from someone.

Perhaps not her parents, but I thought about this commercial. Children don't always adopt their parent's habit or behavior, but it reminds us how parents' behavior can negatively influence their children. Some of us know a parent or are like a parent in this commercial. It has a powerful message. This commercial is from a Child Friendly Australia ad campaign.

Reference:
Child Friendly Australia

What a wonderfully exciting experience it is to watch almost 25,000 people run past me. My hands became numb from the cool air, and red from clapping so much. The temperature is 54 degrees. I took pictures with the camera phone, but I am still trying to figure how to email them to myself…lol. I look out the window and people are still running. There were wheelchair racers, very old seniors, blind runners, and thousands of people of all races, ages, and nationalities.

There were quite a few participants wearing prosthetic devices, and I saw a woman running with a cane. I saw many people of color and there were more black men than women runners, during the time I watched. Lance Armstrong is running, and he was all muscled up, looking very fit, and running for his Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Today marks Marathon Monday 2008 Boston Marathon, the course runs past my house and I can see the runners through my window, so I wanted to create this health related post, then I am going out to go and get an up close look at the runners. Will try to take a picture or two with my new phone. Still learning all the features, so I hope I can capture one moment of this spectacular event.

Over 20, 000 people will be running, many for charitable causes and most to achieve a personal accomplishment. God bless them. I run around the track one lap, and it feels like my lungs and shins are on fire…lol. I just need more conditioning.

Fast food consumption is related to obesity in many African Americans. A typical favorite combo or extra value meal items can set you back 2-3,000 calories or more. That is a TON of calories at one mealtime. If you are trying to modify your diet and lose weight, check with your family physician or get a referral for a dietician consultation.

Many parents let their young children eat entire adult sized packaged value meals, without realizing the long-term effect of feeding them excessive amounts of high caloric food. Fast food is loaded in salt and fat, in addition, a sugary beverage alone can have 300+ calories. If the recommended daily caloric intake is somewhere around 2000, and you have already used 300 calories on a soda during one meal, how do you think you will keep your weight under control? Magic?

Some of the most serious health problems in the black community include diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and more cardiac related problems. This is an informational post, I do not want to sound preachy, but I care. Here are links to nutritional data to some of the most popular fast food restaurants. Find out how many calories you are putting in your body, your child’s body, and the rest of your family. Fast food is okay in moderation, but consumption on a daily basis is detrimental to anyone's health.

After the jump, I have added height weight charts, which some say are not realistic. Okay. If it is not realistic, add 5 or 10 pounds to the range.

This morning I was leaving out to take a drive to the park and walk around the track and hit a few tennis balls. Before I left, I grabbed two empty Sprite cans from last night and thought I put them in the recycle bin next to the dumpster. Grabbed my racket, the cans, and head for the dumpster.

There is this old Asian guy with blue surgical gloves on with items laid out, outside of the dumpster and it looked a like a garage sale. As I approach him, I thought how convenient, he had his stainless steel grocery shopping cart, and several cans and bottles sorted. So I extend out my hand to give him the two cans, his face lit up in joy, he was smiling, laughing, positive gesturing, and joyfully took the two cans. At the same time, I am thinking: I hope his hands don’t touch mine with those gloves. After all, he was digging into garbage. Sure enough, his fingertips touched my hand during the exchange. So all I could think was I have to get to my car to that hand sanitizer.

He couldn’t speak a lick of English, not enough to even say “Thank You,” but his facial expressions and body language said “Thank You” and much more. I hand off the cans and proceed to back off with a good feeling, and walking away.

Last year, I posted on the story about the white Canadian dancer, MoMo who won the 2007 Jamaican Dancehall Queen contest. When she went to take her victory skip-to-mah-loo dance down the runway, bottles were thrown at her, and everyone ran for cover, but there was no posted video footage back then. MoMo is still dancing, so I guess that incident didn't stop her determination. I meant to post this early, but forgot about it. Without further adieu, here is the video clip. WATCH VIDEO Here is the story: White Canadian wins Miss Dancehall Queen 2K7…guess what happens?

Photo Credit:

Jamaica Observer

prices keep goin' up. I go to Connnecticut often, and their prices are always 20-25 cents more than Massachusetts. So now our regular is now $3.35 and their cheapest gas is $3.55-$3.60.

I wonder how poor people are making it, especially home health aides who have to drive from one client to the next, and if their employers reimburse them, it's often not enough to cover the fuel expenses. Here are the average gas prices in the U.S. I posted this chart once last year.

Reference:
Consumer Reports

Free Rice is a charitable organization that has a vocabulary game on the main page of its website. You will be given vocabulary word, and have to select the definition. For each correct word your get, Free Rice will donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program. Rice is a main staple, and sometimes the only staple for many people in poor and developing countries.

Just thinking about the recent events over rice in Haiti alone, and the droughts in Australia, are enough to make me want to donate daily by playing. I just donated 100 grains. It is totally free. You don't have to provide any information or sign up for anything. Too good to be true right? It's true. Play the game, and you give to a needy person as a result. Plus you might learn a few new vocabulary words. You can play as often as you wish.

Reference:

www.FreeRice.com

If you have a crappy website design or are thinking about starting a website or blog, take some lessons from this web design "consultant." He lays out the instructions on a hip hop beat. This info is very important so search engines can find your website, and bring visitors.

This Web Design 101 lesson is by The Poetic Prophet (AKA The SEO Rapper). This consultation is free...lol. He has more rap videos related to websites. Nice video in a nerdy gangsta sorta way. WATCH VIDEO

Afterthought: Wondering if this was used as a Biggie biopic audition tape.

Any plausible arguments on this life expectancy chart? Agree with it? Disagree?

Reference:

Wall Street Journal blog

Natasha Kelly, a 34-year-old doctoral student, says she was evicted from an apartment in Osnabrueck, Germany, because the neighbors objected to her being black and single parent. She has a 12 year old daughter, was given an eviction notice in December and is suing her landlord for discrimination and €10,000 ($15,800) in damages.

Boy did her landlord put a foot in his mouth and was quoted in the Tageszeitung newspaper: "Some of the other tenants are unhappy about the colour of your skin and your personal situation as a single mother. Some of the elderly ones have been here for 40 years and I cannot ask them to leave."

Kelly, a British woman who grew up Germany told tthe same newspaper: "I have been turned away before when I tried to rent an apartment because I am black, but I have never been thrown out because of it afterwards. If it were just me, I would have stayed and seen this out to the bitter end, but I do not want my child to grow up in a racist environment." READ MORE...

Reference:

The Local

This fashion show features africanwear fashions from eight different countries: Algeria, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Mozambique, Sudan, Zambia

According to an LA Times article:

"The new comedy's characters include a sex-crazed black man, a drunken Latino gardener and a grumpy Asian housekeeper who speaks in heavily accented broken English. "It is difficult to do much except watch, wide-eyed with disbelief," writes Times television critic Mary McNamara, who was able to see an episode despite the network's withholding of screeners, "as terrible jokes are made at the expense of just about every racial and socioeconomic group in America."" Why am I not surprised?
Do we need another show like this? I know he has mouths to feed, but still. Why can't they produce a "Friends" type show? READ MORE...

This new "comedy" show (and yes comedy, because once again, the joke is on us) is a product of the young network called MyNetwork TV.

If you check out the show and are disgusted, here is their contact form if you want to express wishes for better portrayal of blacks on their network. Contact My Network TV

According to Wikipedia (hopefully, this info is accurate): "MyNetworkTV (sometimes written My Network TV, and unofficially abbreviated MyNet, MyTV, MYN-TV, MNT, or MNTV) is a television network in the United States, owned by the Fox Television Stations Group to fill the void left on their UPN affiliates after the WB and UPN merged to form The CW Television Network on January 24, 2006. MNTV was then announced on February 22 of that year."

Reference:
LA Times

Photo Credit:
Getty Images

I know that's a stereotype, but summer and vacations are right around the corner for many of us, and I ran into this article addressing black folks and swimming. Last year I created a post on black people learning to swim. This article was interesting, in a sense that it revealed some stereotypes about black people and swimming. Here is an unproven stereotype in the article: "blacks couldn't swim because of a "lack of buoyancy."

The CDC statistics on drownings are still alarming: "blacks are more likely to drown - three times more so for children between the ages of 5 and 14 - than whites" READ MORE...

Bottom line: Learn to swim or invest in a good life preserver/jacket...both are invaluable. No one is too old or too young to wear one.

Reference:
HamptonRoads.com

Photo Credit:
Steve Earley | The Virginian-Pilot

4/18/8 Update: You know. I had a day to think about this, AGAIN. And I put myself in the other couples' position. I would be pissssed...lol, if I knew Serena Williams sent out mass emails on behalf of my competitor in a contest trip to Jamaica. Who knows how many thousands of people she has on her mailing list...?? I felt kind of guilty, after I posted this post, but I left it up. I guess that's the softy in me. Steve should just send them all, and give the top winner the honeymoon suite. *sniff.sniff*

This is an e-mail from 'Serena Williams Official Site' Message: Hello All, Now you know I love to write on my blog about relationships. I know of this couple that truly embodies love, devotion, and respect for one another. The guy in the relationship name is James. He does everything in his power to make sure Kimdra is undyingly pleased with him and their relationship. Kimdra as most of us women gives James the utmost respect and relishes his love for her. This is the type of relationship we all wish for and one day we all will have! I received word today that James and Kimdra are in a contest to win a wedding and reception in Jamaica!!!! This would be the ultimate gift to a couple that works diligently to uphold openness, thoughtfulness, love, and respect throughout their relationship. So, please go read Kimdra P. and James A.’s relationship story and vote for them to win the Ultimate Jamaica Wedding Contest via the link below. http://www.steveharvey.com/weddingcontestvote Xoxo, Serena

Here are current results:

Kimdra P. age 23 and James A. age 25
Farmington Hills, MI

Votes:6492

Chidonna B. age 36 & Larry W. age 35
Columbia, SC

Votes:5394

Melissa W. age 27 & Lester J. age 29
Kansas City, MO

Votes:2791

Looks like they're going to have to name their first born after Serena if they win this honeymoon to Jamaica...lol

Follow the jump to read their contest profile, and go to the site to vote for then at the link if you are touched by their love story.

The Black Female Agenda has its own radio show called The Queen's Council, and it had its first airing last night. The call in talk radio formatted show airs every Tuesday night at 11 pm est. If that is not a good time for you download the program. It's great to listen to while you exercise, go for a walk, work on the computer, or whenever. When you miss a segment, you can find it at www.blogtalkradio.com/thequeenscouncil

If someone knows of a good men's focused show on BlogTalkRadio, let me know. Thanks!

UPDATE: Billie has been found. According to KTVU news: " A 12-year-old girl is safe at home Thursday morning and is believed to have been with friends since she was reported missing Monday after she failed to show up at school in San Francisco, police said." READ MORE...

This past Monday, Billie McGee never made it to S.R. Martin College Preparatory School, where she is in the seventh grade and on the honor roll.

Her mother Tina Brown says Billie has never runaway from home and that "someone took her." Her mom was working the night shift and was stuck at work and could not leave to take her to school, so she told her to take the bus instead. Apparently, Billie never made it to the bus.

Billie is described as 5-foot-5, African American and weighs 140 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a black and white jacket with a white collared shirt and black jeans, according to police. WATCH VIDEO

Anyone with information is asked to contact the San Francisco Police Department's Missing Persons Unit at (415) 558-5508. READ MORE...

Cable channel MSNBC aired this story this morning.

Please spread the word, and pray that Billie makes it safely home to her family.

U.S. prosecutors recommended Snipes should serve a maximum three-year prison term and pay a $5 million fine for failing to file his income taxes.

According to Reuters:

""Making an example of Snipes, after years of "brazen defiance" of U.S. tax laws aimed at cheating the government of $41 million, would help deter other tax avoiders, U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill of Florida wrote in a court document." READ MORE...

Real life examples:

Trash hauler with no savings was given four no-money-down mortgages worth $800,000

28-year-old white-collar renter from Arlington acquired mortgages worth $1.3 million with no collateral or money down

According to Boston Herald, Jenkins through networking, would meet young inexperienced local investors who had excellent credit ratings. He’d sell them the promise of a business relationship where they would not have to do anything, except lend their credit, name, and perhaps down payments on loans for cheap investment property. He would take care of the business side including financing, paperwork, collecting rents, maintenance, renovations, etc., and after one year the homes would be sold for a quick profit.

The investors say they were often promised $20,000 at the time of closing in exchange for their good name and credit rating for these real estate transactions. They would receive half of the money at closing and half at resale. Jenkins is reported to have collected some rent, but reneged on many promises.

The Boston Herald has been doing a special report for the past few days, dedicating two to three full pages on this story, I had barely scratched the surface with details. Jenkins maintains he did nothing wrong, all parties were fully aware of the risks. In many cases the investors did not receive copies of any agreements, and Jenkins liked to meet them in Dunkin Donuts.

He also claims he learned his methods from Get Rich Quick Real Estate Infomercial Guru John Alexander. If you aren’t familiar with this specific program, you are familiar with the pitch. Investors will give testimonials on how they made x-amount of thousands of dollars in one month.

I guess it is really true, because Jenkins appeared in his testimonials as a million dollar money maker. Alexander runs a program called : John Alexander’s Real Estate Riches In 14 Days, and appears in the ad below. I often wondered how these people made that kind of money, just read up on this series by the Boston Herald, and your eyes will be opened. Follow the jump to read the series.

If it smells like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, then...

Chinese woman: (parents from Singapore)
My mother said, "When you choose a marriage partner, first choice is white, 2nd choice is Asian, but never black or Mexican!"

Chinese woman born in USA: (parents born in China)
My mother said, "You can marry anyone of any race except black or Mexican."

Chinese American man born in Hong Kong:(parents from HK)
My brother's wife is Swedish American... My mother has no problems with that... What will she think of me dating a non-Chinese woman of color? Native American may be ok, but definitely not black.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I saw this on a website called ColorQ World, a "space where people of color and friends share perspectives and exchange experiences." This topic was opened by someone, it looked like in the 1990s, and it just reminded me of conversation I had with someone from Vietnam who told me similar things about their culture. I wonder if much has changed?

I am dying in laughter right now, because I am thinking about years ago at a time when I worked with this little Chinese lady, and several of my co-workers were from different countries, and a Ugandan jokester type guy used to always tease her about her daughter. Her daughter was an adult child still living at home and studying for a masters degree. She was very proud of her daughter and talked about how she only went to school, came straight home and studied. The girl had to be at least 26 years old.

I saw this video a couple of years ago and it's still going strong on the Internet. The kid must be much older now. It looks like a sketch of a little boy trying to get his change back from the Japanese store clerk. Sadly, a lot of kids use this kind of foul language everyday. That's what can happen when you don't have a strong vocabulary or can't put together enough complete sentences. The cashier drops a thickly accented slur. WATCH VIDEO

Caution: Expletives used in every sentence. Who lets their kid do this kind of comedy skit?

CNN is on a tour of several historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), surveying students on the question of what it means to be black in America. They have three schools left to tour, but it is not too late for students who attend these schools, to enter the iReporter Campus Contest on what their blackness in America means to them. CNN has a new black portal which can be found at www.cnn.com/blackinamerica. Watch Black in America Tour Contest Videos

Follow the jump for more information on the iReporter Campus Contest.

I used to love this guy when he was the other half of the music group Wham. He was and still is one of those naturally gorgeous guys. Quite sure he was a fantasy thought for many women until we found out about his same sex rest stop romps. lol, well, now that he's no longer locked up in that closet to the public, especially the women who just looooovvee him, in that way, he expresses that freedom of being out in this song. George looks great, and it looks like life is treating him well. And he does address the "haters" in this tune...lol. All that finest just gone to waste...

An Easier Affair

Some lyrics:

Here comes one for the ladies
For the ones who love me
To think I thought I could be some kind of family man
I told myself I was straight
But I shouldn’t have worried
‘Cos my Maker had a better plan for me

Well let me tell you people
It’s an easier affair
Not living my life with other people on my mind
No, got nothing to hide from anyone
Yes, I’m walking on new air
Just living my life
Better believe I'm gonna get what’s mine
See I don’t have the time
For the haters

He's going on tour and just released an album, follow the jumps for more news.

I haven't really liked a Madonna song since the late 80's, but I really like this song. I heard it once and liked it instantly. And this looks like a Timbaland production, since his mug surfaces early on in the video. She is too old to be dancing in granny corsets and lingerie. Just looking at her, I wanted to throw a walker at the screen. She still has the moves, but at what age will she stop "flaunting it" in these videos? We know you're toned, buffed, workout daily, eat healthy, and look good for you age. Congratulations. We know.

The song sells on its own merit for my personal taste. It's a sexy song. But her and Mariah, I don't know why they think they can't sell music without being half naked or performing in undies. It's funny how Justin pulls off a waist garment with a quick snap ala nipplegate fashion sans wardrobe malfunction. sol

I was joking with someone a couple of days ago saying it would cost about $1,000 per hour to dig it up. What a publicity stunt on the part of the Yankees. Now, I still have a tiny bit of love for the Yankees, as I grew up a die hard Yankees fan, at the same time, I still admire and cheer for the Red Sox. How could I not? I would be risking limbs or injury in this environment over here...lol.

So the Yankees believe in voodoo, roots, science, huh? LOL. I can't believe they spent five hours digging up that #34 David Ortiz Boston Red Sox shirt up to reverse a curse or remove a hex? Can you see the multi-denominational exorcism taking place-the priest, nun, rabbi, preacher, etc? It's just crazy. The shirt can probably fetch at least $1 Million on auction, I am guessing. READ MORE...

Tonight, Boston's 96.9 WTKK talk radio host, Michelle McPhee interviewed the mason, union guy Gino Castignoli , who buried the shirt. The story is, he may be getting sued by the Yankees to pay for excavation of the jersey. Get Audio

UPDATE 5/6/8: The shirt sold for over $175,000 on eBay.

This is a reprint from Essence.com of Tavis Smiley's statement on his recent resignation from the Tom Joyner Morning radio show:

"There is no way to put into words the love and respect that Tom Joyner and I have for each other, or the love affair that I've had with TJMS listeners for almost 12 years now.

Due to the overwhelming amount of phone calls and e-mails I have received from listeners and other media, I wanted to briefly clarify a few issues that I will address more fully in my regular TJMS commentary on Tuesday morning, April 15, at 8:20 a.m. ET.

I did not "quit" the Tom Joyner Morning Show effective immediately. In July I will celebrate my 12th anniversary with the show, and as I discussed with Tom, it is my intention to take on the issues of the day in my commentary twice every week with the same energy, passion and commitment until the end of June.

Contrary to what has been suggested, I have decided to clear some things off my plate so that I can devote my time and attention to some exciting and empowering projects that The Smiley Group, Inc. and other divisions of my company have underway this summer, this fall and beyond.

I look forward to continuing the dialogue on Tuesday and in the coming months."

Jacki-O will be a special guest author during the 1st "Hiphop & Books" Rally that will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2008 in Jackson, MS. She is pictured in the center with students of Crystal Springs High School in March 2008.

The event will kickoff the "Hiphop & Books" tour that will crisscross the nation during the year, with the hope of encouraging lovers of hiphop to spread the addiction of staying in school and literacy.

visit www.hiphopandbooks.com

“Framed” Video is presented by Reebok Entertainment, where a celebrity directs an unscripted short film about certain aspects of sports celebrity life, with intent on delivering an inspirational message. There are actually three clips. This is the full episode. The 2nd and 3rd outtakes are entitled “family man” and “spades.” I know Nelly and Iverson fans will love this...I can’t say that I am a fan of either, but I like this unscripted short film concept. I ran across this while checking out a tennis player’s Framed video.

Other celebrities who get “Framed”: Baron Davis (in his short shorts) gets "Framed" by Emmanuelle Chriqui, Regina King “Frames” Vince Young, Thierry Henry gets "Framed" by Paz Vega, Jelena Jankovic gets "Framed" by Brittany Snow.

If you can’t stomach Nelly and Allen, the other films are very good.

Personally I would like to see Boston Red Sox Manny Ramirez "Framed" by Kerry Washington and Tiger Woods "Framed" by LisaRaye. Now, those would be interesting films.

Reference:
Reebok Framed

A sludge recipe can be a mix of human, commercial, animal, industrial, and hospital waste. This story is just disgusting.

Poor, black neighborhood families were given food coupons and free lawns, as compensation for letting researchers spread fertilizers in their yards and lawns, to take part in a two-year federally funded research project. They thought they were getting a lead poisoning remedy, and I think if people where fully educated about what was being spread on their lawns and potential side effects, the outcome would have been different. Who knows what the long-term effects are?

There is a debate on usefulness of sludge. Proponents cite the beneficial minerals and nutrients, which can be extracted. Those opposed raise health care concerns disease causing bacteria and virus, and the harmful effects of chemicals and pharmaceutical drugs. READ MORE...

Reference:
Washington Post, CBS News KPIC 4

Photo Credit:
CBS News KPIC 4

Former football star Deion Sanders was tired of the stereotypical images of African Americans on television, so he pitched a reality show which would portray African American family life without all of the stereotypical predictions.

Sanders spoke during a press conference to reporters about the eight episode series, which was shot last summer. The cast includes his wife and their three children together plus Sanders’ two from a previous marriage.

Sanders: “We don’t really see that many shows that really depict African-American families in a bright light or in a great manner,” she said. “Many of the shows that are on now bring much dissatisfaction to the African-American community. I think we offer a wonderful balance of conflict, but it’s never conflict that we cannot recover from. It’s never something that goes beyond the boundaries.” READ MORE...

There are two situations I am familiar with the grandmas acting as enablers to grown boys who should voluntarily be taking care of their children. In addition, the women (kid’s mothers) bear responsibility to in their choices, but the children are ALREADY here. Both women are in there mid twenties and the two men are in their mid to late twenties. I will refer to the guys as deadbeat dad (dbd).

Case #1
One man. One woman. One child together. Their only child. After the baby was born, dbd contributed little to nothing. Mom #1 gave him 6-7months after the child was born, to see what his financial involvement would be, if he would do the right thing. He would not help with anything; in fact, he made himself scarce for during this time. The letters from family court started coming in. He must have complained to grandmama. The grandma was babysitting for her, but decided she did not want to babysit any further, because she did not want to get involved. What? Did I miss something here? At some point, she started babysitting again. Anyway, dbd received letters, but immediately said he was not going to pay child support.

Here we are a little over a year later. Last week, dbd was speeding to get back to work, was pulled over by a cop, and ran through the system, vehicle towed, missed work, hauled off to jail due to driving with a suspended license, and failure to pay child support. Guess whom he calls first? Dbd. Guess who call child’s mother second? Grandmama. Grandmama calls and mentioned how hard things are for him. To try to justify why he has not paid child support. His weekly payment is equivalent to 2 hours pay. He has been sitting in jail all weekend, so I am certain he has had plenty of time to think.

This panel met at Howard University to discuss the black doll - white doll test. For those who are unfamiliar, the famous doll test was a survey taken years ago, where black school age children where asked positive and negative questions about black and white dolls. To sum things up, the kids overwhelmingly preferred the white dolls. The test was run again recently with the same results.

Panelist joining Brian Williams included: radio host Tom Joyner, author Michael Eric Dyson, entrepreneur Malaak Compton-Rock, screenwriter Kriss Turner, writer Kevin Powell, and columnist Mike Barnicle. Tim Wise, the Director of the Association for White Anti-Racist Education (AWARE) and Rev. Buster Soaries.

Reference:

A CONVERSATION ABOUT RACE

The 14 year old, James Rosemond, who said 50 Cent’s friends assaulted him is suing the rapper, Universal Music Group, and several of its record labels. The suit claims Rosemond's attack was intended to "promote and maintain Yayo (G-Unit rapper) and 50 Cent's "gangsta' image," which was "promoted, marketed and advertised" by record labels.

The lawsuit also contends, "the members of G-Unit, including defendants Yayo and 50 Cent, encouraged, sanctioned, approved and condoned its members threatening violence, and or engaging in violent acts in furtherance of its business".

Rosemond claims he was assaulted last year by four men including Yayo, and one of Yayo's employees for wearing a t-shirt by Czar Entertainment. Czar Entertainment represents The Game, an ex-G-Unit rapper who had a falling out with a rival rapper.

What a bunch of silliness. Grown @$$ men having altercations with kids. Does the kid have a good case?

Reference:

Boston Herald

David Murphy including 26 other students was on a Cleveland, Ohio school bus, when the bus driver stopped to get fuel, left the bus parked and running. The bus driver went to use the restroom and the bus started to roll about 300 feet down the street headed for a head on collision with a semi-tractor trailer truck.

He appeared on Good Morning America with his mother and their attorney. David quickly took control of the steering wheel and steered the runaway bus to safety, crashing it into a bridge’s concrete support pillar. David said when the bus started rolling the kids were “freaking out” and “I took the wheel and had to turn the wheel on the sidewalk.”

What a brave act. Now this is the time when those manual dexterity, visual acuity, precision, and timing skills acquired from video games really paid off. Nintendo sponsors, where are you? Of course, I am assuming he plays video games. There aren't too many children who don't in this country. WATCH VIDEO

It is just really weird where we live in a society, where a hooker can get caught with a famous person, and companies fall over themselves trying to sign the first contracts, let's hope when something positive happens, they can learn to show the same vigor of pursuit.

Reference:

Boston Herald
Good Morning America

His sister, Maya Ng-Soetoro, talks about her upbringing with her big brother. There is an interesting lengthy piece on the Time website about the life his deceased mother, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro. The Story of Barack Obama's Mother

Do you have a child support story that needs to be told? Mother or Father--Need to put a deadbeat on notice? Want to help in getting some new child support legislation? Child Support Tv is a site I heard about on The Warren Ballentine Show yesterday. He had a congressman on there and they were discussing child support legislation.

I think Warren is behind this site or at least supports it, but they are looking to have 1 Million stories told. Therefore, you can make a video of your story and upload it to the site. You know. Like YouTube, only difference is, this isn't for fun.

Here is a random video from the site. Nice story to send to a deadbeat parent, whether that person is a man OR woman.

Reference: www.childsupporttv.com

U.S. Secretary of the State Condoleeza Rice is featured in May's Fitness magazine. Readers can check out her 30 minute routine to see how she stays in shape. She gets up every morning at 4:30 am and treats herself to a bagel on the weekends. LOL, if I woke up every morning at 4:30 am to exercise, afterwards, that bagel treat would be waiting for me on every day of the week. She surprised me, because she doesn't seem like the type that exercises or needs to exercise. She is constantly on the go travelling. That would be enough exercise for me. Learn Condi's workout routine, READ MORE...

Reference: Fitness Magazine & photo credits

Finally!!! Thanks to the skillfully, professional expertise of the people at my web hosting company!!! :)

The comment posting system has been corrected and now Captcha is working. So for the non-technical people it means when you post a comment, you will need to type in the letters on the image you see at the end of your comments. An email address is required to post a comment. For me, this means I won't have to babysit the comments too much, and moderation is kept to a minimum. I was getting way too much comment spam messages on drugs and casinos. I will try this system on a trial basis, and if I find I am babysitting comments too much, I may have to resort to requiring registration.

So for now, anyone should be able to post a comment. But I can tell you, spam comments will be deleted, slurs, expletives/curse/cuss words, will be deleted also. If I have to deal with problem posters, they will banned. This is not a full-time job or part-time job for me, so I don't expect to let a few knuckleheads hire me for that job. So please try to communicate without them. So far, I can say, this has not been a problem. So it ain't going to become one. At least, not for me. But unmoderated comments bring certain people out from under their rocks, and at the same time, it promotes consistent dialogue and maintains the flow of communication, which I am sure many people can appreciate.

So with this all said-- Welcome. Feel free to jump in and leave a comment on anything. Any problems with posting, let me know. Just be respectful folks ;)!

The 53 year old former Today show weather man is taking over television and is turning into a mini media mogul. Don't worry, Al is not planning on giving up his current day job at the Today show, as he tells USA Today, "I love the weather thing and hosting."

Here are some of the television shows and specials the Al Roker Entertainment company has a hand in:

DEA, Spike TV
Heavyweights, Food Network
First Ladies series, WE TV channel, premieres in November
Armed in America, MSNBC special about the federal Alcohol and Tobacco Firearms agnecy.
Monthly health specials, NBC, starts in September
Untitled series, Food Network, starting at the end of 2008

Reference:
USA Today

Tonight American Masters profiles writer and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston on PBS. Don't miss it. READ MORE...

Note: This documentary was excellent. If you can catch a rerun, it will be worth your time. I especially enjoyed seeing the historical footage of Florida and the people. Florida holds a special place in my heart.

Reference:
PBS.org

Photo Credit: Institute for Intercultural Studies /Library of Congress

Angry, hungry poor Haitians stormed the presidential palace yesterday demanding that President Rene Preval resign. UN peacekeepers battled rock throwing rioters, with tear gas and rubber bullets. People have resorted to eating dirt. According to NY Daily news people were shouting, "We are hungry! He must go!" Prices have risen 40% since the middle of last year. I don't understand all of the problems of Haiti, but with all of the resources we have in this world, no one should have to resort to eating mud pies to quell a hunger paining belly.

I wonder how well that sort of activity would go over here in the U.S. with the way gas prices are going, can anyone image a mass of people storming the big house down in Washington, D.C. over gas prices? I mean, what is your limit? People moan over gas prices, but the prices have not reached a critical max that puts people in incontrollable panics. Say if gas prices reached umm...$10/gallon, would that be enough for the masses to want to storm their governor's mansions, or fill up at the gas station and drive off without paying in record numbers? Fuel and food seem to go hand in hand in this country. Because for many of us, if we have not fuel, it's tough for us to have food.

Back in December of last year, many people may recall the story of the missing pregnant Ohio Attorney. I remember hearing about her faking her abduction, but I was on break from the blog, and did not follow up any further. Well, attorney, Karyn McConnell, former city councilwoman from Toledo, is going to be sentenced on a misdemeanor charge for faking the whole kidnapped at gunpoint story.

According to USA, she later said she was tired and needed to get away. How do you like them apples? Do you think she will get a slap on the wrist? Read December Post

Mrs. Smith sat down for an interview with BeE Magazine for its Spring 2008 Hollywood Issue. The multiple threat, Pinkett Smith is about to wrap up a 28 day shoot in the film The Human Contract, where she makes her directorial debut. She is quite busy these days being mom, wife, and running her production company, 100% Womon.

She credits Debbie Allen as her role model. Pinkett says, “Debbie was one of the first women who set a benchmark for me. She produced, directed, danced, sang, acted and wore all those hats. She made me realize as a young woman that I could do the same---be a multiple threat.” Jada will continue to work on producing her new television project, MILF & Cookies, and she is developing a film adaptation of the book, The Secret Life of Bees. She has clearly evolved.

Yesterday, “Nancy Grace” did a segment on former NBA player Jason Caffey and his child support suits and bankruptcy. The report is Caffey owes over $400,000 in child support payments for 10 children by 8 different women in 5 different states. And I guess these are the ones, as Nancy put it "that we know about." According to Grace, bankruptcy doesn't exempt a parent from paying child support.

They reported that he claims $11,000 as his monthly income and pays out almost $7,000 per month. Caffey, over the span of his eight-year career played professional basketball for the Chicago Bulls, the Bucks, and Warriors, they estimated his annual salary to be at least $5 Million per year, and he retired five years ago.

His college sweetheart and mother of his first child was on the show. It looks as if she has moved on, because she was photo’d in what appeared to be a wedding gown with a man, and perhaps a family photo with the guy, and a young boy. She reported when he worked, he paid his child support. After he retired, payments were inconsistent. This is one mother. He claims after retirement, he does not make the same income, and should not have to make the same payments.

Nancy gets into what she calls his string of businesses that he is reported to have, and one of her guests talks about him having had supposedly having a history of a "mental illness—social anxiety disorder." What it has to do with payments, who knows? Several obvious issues are in play, besides the one of responsibility. However, is this too logical---when you are changing jobs or moving from a certain income level to a lesser level, doesn’t the parent go into court and say in the beginning, “I can’t afford these payments?” I don't know what his situation was, because I have not followed his story.

No one knows all the financial details, but they had some of his financial information on supersoakerstyle blast. It looked like snippets of an annual report statement up on the screen. I mean WOW. I must really be out of the loop, because I thought people stopped having so many kids-here-there-everywhere. Anyway, a whole lotta dynamics are working this issue. Listen to audio clip

I was listening to this gospel song and instantly I knew it was Kelly Price. What a beautiful, beautiful voice. She looks fly on her website too. Looking awesome. According to her website, she is releasing an album this year. Her last album "This Is Who I Am" had that song that I heard called Healing? What a meaningful song.

So will her next release be gospel or R&B? Beats me. I thought she switched strictly to gospel, but according to her site she has not closed the doors on R&B. Here is a comment from her official website. Oh yeah, if you were trying to become a "friend" on her MySpace page in the past, it wasn't her. In order to become a friend you must join the VIP platinum Cub listed at the website below. And her OFFICIAL MySpace page is: MySpace.com/KellyPriceMusic.

Are you gospel or are you R&B?

Kelly Price: "I consider myself neither one nor the other. I am a singer blessed with the ability to effectively reach multitudes through the gift of song. I'm simply following in the tradition of great singers before me like the legendary Aretha Franklin. If hearing me sing Amazing Grace blesses you than I've done my job just as if singing Soul of A Woman or It Will Rain (Life Soundtrack) blesses you than I have also done my job. There are many sides to the musical gift that God gave me as a writer and a singer. To deny any of it would essentially be to deny a part of who He made me to be."

Reference:

www.KellyPrice.com

I was listening to a local talk show last week and there was a man on by the name of John Rosenthal from an organization called Stop Hand Gun Violence, and I don't remember the exact figure, but he mentioned the fact that at least 85% of the people killed by handguns are African American.  Absolutely stunning.  So if you are black, watch your back.  He talked about the gun industry, particular guns, how guns are marketed, and the government's sort of chummy relationship with the gun industry.  

 Check out these guns from The Bloomberg Collection.  They almost look like fashion accessories, ones you'd pick out to match your outfit or you can have a different color for the day of the week.  How fashionable.  If you are going to kill, why not do it in style?  Just what our impressionable young people need--matching guns and outfits.

According to Serf City, the gun manufacturerseller and marketer of this line, "Wisconsin-based Lauer Custom Weaponry is honoring our hoplophobic mayor with a line of brightly colored paints for each of the 5 boroughs — Manhattan red, Bronx rose, Brooklyn blue, Queens green, and Staten Island orange. They even include a stencil of Mayor Mike’s face for the barrel of the gun."

According to The Coalition To Stop Gun Violence, assault rifles can be purchased at gun tradeshows without background checks. One more interesting point made during the interview was the fact that there used to be more gas stations than gun dealers. Now this fact is only true for five states: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Wyoming. Highly black populated states?

We have the right to bear arms, but arms continue to get into the wrongs hands. What is the problem with this picture and how can we fix it? I know-- guns don't kill. People kill.

If you ever take the time to watch the A & E weekly crime documentary First 48, and you will notice a predominate number of black murder gunshot victims cases, with some hispanics too, and most of the alleged perpetrators are black males, in poor black neighborhoods. Yes, crime occurs everywhere. But much of the black on black gun violent crime is occurring in these places. I don't know what kind of contracts these jursidictions enter into with the cable show for actual filming.

Some people don't like negative statistics, and some quickly dismiss them as conspiracies, inaccuracies, etc., but until I seem evidence to counter them, I will have to take what I see as fact. With this said, follow the jump for the rest of the gun violence stats affecting the black community.

I was flipping through channels and landed on VH1 and heard this song which caught my attention. Is this the NEW neosoul sound? It's called Mercy. I am not too fond of the singer's voice, but I like the song. Is the 60's music (my mother's era) back in style again. I know Amy Winehouse's sound kinda helped to fuel the resurgence of this sound, a bit, but is this the new trend, since the general music listeners are tired of the bubble gum pop sound. I don't know how long this video will be available on YouTube for embedding.

Since Jay Z has been reported to have married a nice lil southern woman (or is Texas considered western, now?), this had me thinking this morning. Hhhmmm. A southern woman--what does that mean nowadays? When I was a kid and would spend my summers in Florida and return to New York state, I could definitely see the differences between southern blacks and northern black people that I encountered.

I see some subtle differences today, but I think mainly due to assimilation, thanks to television, migration, the Internet, and music, etc, we are more alike nowadays. Anyone still see differences in attitudes, customs or culture between northern and southern black women or men? When I go to Florida, it seems as if it's getting harder to hear a genuine Florida southern accent. What about east versus west?

Speaking of Beyonce...here is Ms. Triniti. Think of Beyonce with a Caribbean twist of lime. When I say think Beyonce, I don't imply vocally. But Triniti is versatile in her style.

According to People magazine, singer Beyonce, and her rapper beau, Jay Z have finally jumped the broom last evening in a very private ceremony. Congratulations to both.

One television news source reported tennis sensations, Serena and Venus Williams were supposed to be in attendance. I know Serena wasn't trying to be at no wedding party...lol, she has a tennis championship to play today at noon in Miami, and if she loses and was partying last night, I don't want to hear any excuses...lol, J and B could have at least waited until Sunday, until AFTER the Sony Ericsson Women's Tennis Finals...lol.

IF they did marry, this is such a good thing. But at the same time I say, it's about time, and perhaps other young people (as in those in the 20s and teens) will see that marriage is an okay commitment to make. Those two seem to be crazy in love.

Reference:

People Exclusive: Source: Beyoncé and Jay-Z Are Married

Photo Credit:

Getty Images

How brave are you? Would you jump in water to wrestle a crocodile to save your spouse's life? Be honest. Or would you run looking for a stick, piece of rope, or any object to extend out to her so you can pull her from the water? Are you the type whose first instinct is to go running for help?

She suffered hand and leg wounds and over 40 stitches. Wendy Petherick is indebted to her husband, Norm, for life. What a brave soul. READ MORE... WATCH VIDEO

Hey, it's never too late. So many people need to start over that it is not funny. In addition to that, schools need to abolish social promotion. If a kid isn't up to par, they need to stop passing them to the next grade. Political correctness is out of control, and has been for too long.

Watch the reason why...

Campbell was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport for allegedly assaulting a police officer.

The survey also revealed teens believe drinking Mountain Dew will prevent pregnancies. Do they have sex education classes in the schools? What about the parents? This ignorant thinking has prompted lawmakers to advocate for an overhaul in sex education in the state. READ MORE...

Right now, I just think this is unethical. Here is the story (link below), and one of the Times readers in favor of this type of research writes. :

"I find it funny that people call this kind of research "Monsterous" etc. etc. It just proves that you are narrow minded and have little to no understanding of biochemistry and your views are narrow minded. Did you read the article? It clearly states that all that is used from the animal cell is the cytoplasm. There is next to zero genetic material in a cytoplasm. As it states, clearly again, 99.9% of this hybrid (maybe it is that word you "don't like") is hum,an genetic material.

The fact of the matter is people clearly don't understand the scientific background and start whining about frankinstein. Sorry, no. It is really ignorant to simply write this research off. Suggestion: Read a book!"---Michael, London,

Reference:
UK Times Online Article

"Sophie gave me 13 years of unconditional love. She was a true love in my life," says Oprah.

Great timing on this story, because about a two weeks ago I was driving behind this huge BMV early in the morning down a long country road, and the entire rear window had a "Lost Dog" advertisement on the back instructing anyone who encountered this dog named "Henry" to call the police (number was posted) or to contact the owner. I thought to myself, d*&^^ covering up an entire window, what ever happened to the lost and found section in the newspaper. So we have to drive about 5 minutes down this road to get to the next traffic light, and the light on a pole on the driver side I noticed this enormous "Lost Dog" poster and who do I see...the yellow labs picture, Henry. The possible owner was in front of me at the stop light.

Fast forward ahead. Two days ago, someone reading the local section of the Boston Globe newspaper asked me, with an expression of total disbelief on her face- "Did you see this story about this dog?" I did not even see the story, but before I looked at the article, I said, "Is it about a dog named Henry?" I was just taking a wild guess. She said, "YES. $300 DOLLARS AN HOUR?!." So I grabbed the paper to see what she was talking about, and it was about that owner and the lost dog Henry on the main page on the local section.

Apparently, they paid for $300/hr helicopter to search for that dog, offered a $5000 reward, enlisted the help of others to perform searches, only later to find out the dog was on their premises all that time. It had drowned in a pool behind their home. The dog had become famous, as everyone was out looking for him. It was a sad ending, but an interesting sidenote to the story is how technology has enabled people to organize searches and seek the aide of others (including total strangers) to help them find lost animals. This includes text message alerts, creating websites, etc.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I don't know about Henry or the owner's relationship with the dog, putting aside the stories above, it seems as if so many pets are over socialized to a point that they don't know they are not humans. It is not their fault, as people insist upon treating them as if they are humans. We had an elderly neighbor back in the early 90s who called her dog "daughter." The dog had its own bedroom in the house and whenever it misbehaved, she'd yell at the dog, "Shut up! Go to your room!" It threw me for a loop the first time I heard it.

Reference:

www.missinghenry.com
Winfrey dedicates show to her late dog

Slain beautiful, talented Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, was a rising star before she was murdered by the president of her fan club, and the portrayal of her by Jennifer Lopez catapulted Lopez's career and put Jenny on the main, mainstream radar. I love and have all of her music, and she was destined for more than she experienced in the short life she lived.

Selena - Bidi Bidi Bom Bom Live

Reference:
Newsweek: Tejano Lives

Photo Credit:
Getty

Just listening to the story of the Georgia third graders who plotted to kill their teacher. Reports are they planned to harm her, because she scolded one of them for standing on a chair.

What has happened to American society? How can we change this, and why is the average person numb to this sort of news, until it hits home? We collectively, have an indifferent "not my problem" syndrome which is a major part of the problem. READ MORE...

Just a play on Obama's words, and I know providing comments makes for broad generalizations, but do you feel there is a typical black person, if so, what is or would your description be of one?

To a large segment of our population, marriage doesn't seem to matter any more, and I am not totally sure why this is so. Here is a marriage certificate from two former slaves who were determined to make their union legal. Their children are also listed on the certificate. I'll bet they saved and scraped to come up with marriage fees, if they were applicable back then, and today, we have so many excuses for not getting married. Yes, I know, I know, marriage isn't for everyone.

Benjamin Manson and Sarah White marriage certificate dated April 19, 1866. READ MORE...

Reference:

Freedmen's Bureau Marriage Records

Classic tune here...

Could you talk about race in an open forum such as on film or would you only be willing to talk about racial issues, in private, amongst people with whom are most close to your culture and ethnicity?

Even if you haven't had any training you can still save a life. The American Heart Association says some chest compressions (by an untrained person) are better than no compressions at all, with placing less emphasis on rescue breathing except in the case of children. If you don't know CPR and don't plan on taking a course, watch this video to have a basic idea of how to perform chest compressions. The chest compressions shown on this video are for adults.

So basically, if someone collapses and has no pulse remember to first call 911, then begin chest compressions until help arrives. CPR saves lives. How many of us know CPR?

Reference:

Hands-Only CPR