According to Rocky Mountain News:

Councilman Charlie Brown: “There is no substitute for the national anthem. Period…This is the State of the City address. It's not an NAACP convention."

The Mayor responded:
"I'm disappointed that this matter has been a distraction from the great work and significant accomplishments of our city employees over the past year and the many important initiatives on tap for the coming year.

She blended the two songs together. She was trying to make an artistic expression of her love for the country. She did not intend to make a political statement or anything."

Renee Marie said she was expressing her artistic expression:
"…I don't think it is necessary for an artist to ask permission to express themselves artistically…I would not change a thing…You have to risk things. You have to. Otherwise, you might of well live your life by a script."

Was she right to start singing the National Black Anthem when she was supposed to be singing the National Anthem? I think if she agreed to sing the “National Anthem,” then that is the song she should have committed to singing. Why do people have to send hate mail?

Reference:
Rocky Mountain News Article
Watch Entire Address

Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
Till earth and heaven ring.
Ring with the harmonies of Liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the list'ning skies,
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us;
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chastening rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn had died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet,
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered,
Out from the gloomy past,
Till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee,
Shadowed beneath thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.
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Star Spangled Banner lyrics:

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'T is the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us as a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Esmin Green, 49 year old black woman was reportedly involuntarily admitted into psychiatric emergency department of Kings County Hospital Center supposedly for "agitation and psychosis" behavior on June 18th. Very scary to SEE this happen in a hospital. WATCH VIDEO

In a CNN report:

“Upon her admission, Green waited nearly 24 hours for treatment, said the civil liberties union, which was among the groups filing suit against the facility last year seeking improved conditions for patients.

The surveillance camera video shows the woman rolling off a waiting room chair, landing face-down on the floor and convulsing. Her collapse came at 5:32 a.m. June 19, the NYCLU said, and she stopped moving at 6:07 a.m. During that time, the organization said, workers at the hospital ignored her.” READ MORE...

I have placed my votes. After a quick registration process (and I mean it took about 30 seconds) you can vote immediately. VOTE NOW

Here is the 2008 Nominee List

She does some "Sad and Lonely" acapella, and sounds just like the album. When I think Luster's the only thing I can think about is pink oil moisturizer. That stuff has been around forever.

Description of event from Rolling Out TV! YouTube:

"Tastemakers from across the country and Luster Products, Inc. employees celebrated last evening at the company's much anticipated launch of one of its latest product line, the Pink Brand Smooth Touch line of hair care products. The evening was highlighted by an impromptu performance by Luster's new celebrity endorser, Keyshia Cole, who personally unveiled Luster's Pink Brand Smooth Touch Limited Edition relaxer kits featuring her image in front of a crowd of several hundred guests.

Cole, a platinum-selling R&B recording artist and reality television star, has endeared herself to fans of all ages and resonates with the Pink® Brand Smooth Touch® target audience, women 16 to 24 years of age. "When we were thinking about the image and benefits of Smooth Touch®, Keyshia Cole was a perfect choice," said Jory Luster, president of Luster Products. "It was important to us to work with someone who already had success and visibility, but also could relate to our target and be someone they would want to emulate. Keyshia is young, talented, beautiful and has an electric personality. She's perfectly represents the woman who uses Smooth Touch® products." Luster's® Pink® Brand Smooth Touch® line of hair care products will arrive in stores this summer."

Reference:
RollingOut.com

The photos are pictures of actress, comedienne Mo’Nique and the other is supposedly someone, a young lady from a MySpace page. Both photos were spotted and mocked on other websites, for the God given hair one has on her legs and the other, her underarms.

This might be too much information, but I will put it this way, in general, I let all of my hair grow. I never shave my legs and could care less what someone thinks. I don’t have woolly mammoth legs so that could be a factor also, but I shave the hair under my arms only when I think it is too long, the outdoor temperatures are too hot or I begin to perspire enough. In addition, I don’t let it get long enough to braid…lol. But it is a personal choice. I shave, but I don’t shave due to any outside pressure. If I wear a tank top and have ¼ inch of hair under my arms (which I do right now, and just showered) and someone doesn’t like: Too Bad.

I did not know anything about shaving nor ever heard about shaving until I reached high school, and this is when I would hear fellow students grossed out over the sight of someone’s armpits. I think it is silly. This is the hair God gave us, and if someone does not want to trim or shave that is her perogative.

If you shave routinely, is it because you are worried about what others will think if they see some stubble or new growth?

Is it the media's fault as one woman suggested in the film?

I have been drinking this tea for a few years and had never seen any racially insensitive appearing images on the tea containers. With that person’s rants, there was a phone number to call the Arizona company and complain about the images.

It was a cause not worth my time, but it was a good time to acknowledge the fact that sometimes people try to make you see racial smoke where no fire exists. It is quite possible that many individuals took the bait, called this company, and fired off a few emails.

Okay I had not thought about that campaign until I was in the 7-Eleven last week and thought I would buy four 23 oz cans of this delicious Sweet Tea. When I reached into the cooler to load up, I noticed two different labels. I thought to myself, “whaaaattttt?” did that little campaign work?

The wording was the same: Original Brand, Arizona, Southern Style, Real Brewed, and Sweet Tea. However, on my left were about five cans of the old labeling with the plantation on it, and to my left were about 20 cans of the new labels with faded black and white images of two old steamships. Waiting for the next rumor of someone spotting slaves on these ships…

Maybe the company gave in and decided to phase out the plantation images due to the rumors. Again, time will tell.

This photo of Vin Diesel was spotted on Monaga blog and was taken last week in the Dominican Republic. Lucky guy...lol. Wish I could be there. Anyway. Diesel is on location for a film there, and I wonder if it is for his "Fast and Furious" film due out next year. Diesel and his girlfriend model (had to be, right? couldn't have been former cashier or toll booth operator. let me get back to the story...) Paloma Jimenez welcomed a baby daughter on April 2nd. So now we have a baby Diesel. congrats to the couple

Has he lost some of his pizzazz. twinkle. star spark? It seems as if when he first came on the scene, women could not get enough of him-black-white-hispanic-Asian-whatever. It did not seem to matter. gugu gaga drool everywhere. Now I don't hear women talking about him anymore. It seems, the more the media pushed the race or racial makeup question on this guy, the less appealing he became.

I think people liked the ambiguity factor associated with him, and the mystery of not knowing his background made him more sexy and alluring. Once he had to make comments about his racial identity all of that mystique went away, and so did the fantasy for many women.

Photo Credit:
Remolacha.net

Watch Wedding Video Footage:

Ruben's Big Wedding
Newlyweds Ruben and Surata

Essence.com interviewed the happily wedded couple. Sounds like a true love story....awwwww. How sweet!

Essence: What made you fall in love with Zuri?
RS: She’s my best friend. I can talk to her about anything. When we go out, I just feel like I can always be myself. I never have to be anybody other than the real Ruben. Also, she’s the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever met. She loves God, and I love her for just being who she is.

Essence: What is it about Ruben that made you fall for him?
ZS: Before we really started dating, it was as if I’d known him forever. He was my homeboy. Then, after I visited him in Birmingham for the first time, I just looked at him differently and thought, Wow, I could really love this guy. He’s sweet and genuine. I knew I was in love when I started telling my friends about him, and I was like, Ruben this, Ruben that. READ MORE...

I did hear the audio and he said there was a You Tube video that was so bad, it received too many complaints, was flagged, or pulled by the person who posted it, and it is no longer available on YouTube for viewing.

This particular black woman in this video confronts them and uses a couple of expletives, and does not help the situation, but listen to what the men have to say about black women. The audio of the video I heard on Warren’s show did not sound like this one, because the one he played yesterday sounded like a group of men shouting those three words listed above repeatedly at people.

For those interested here is an in depth article on the Black Israelites from the Washington City paper. I don’t know enough about their beliefs to comment too much, but what I do know from the video is, that interaction with those two women is not a good representation of any religious beliefs. So I ask the question in the title of this post. The Real Jews: Socrates, Mozart, Queen Elizabeth, and these guys

This is a good documentary which I happened to see at the movie theatre a few years ago when it was released. You will really enjoy watching a group of New York City elementary kids who learn how to ballroom dance then enter a citywide competition. What a charming film and it is heartwarming to watch these kids evolve. WATCH FILM

I always thought this should be a program offered in every school including high school and recently ran into a news article on how the program may be going national. Kids really need their horizons expanded. READ ARTICLE...

Chiman Rai, 69 years old is on trial for the murder of his black step-daughter, Sparkle Reid, which took place eight years ago. He is accused of paying for a hit of $10,000 to have the then 22 year old mother of one killed. She was holding the couple's 7-month old baby when she answered a knock on the door, and was then stabbed 13 times. Cleveland Clark has been identified as the alleged hitman.

According to Ajc.com: "Rajeeve Rai told police his parents were a "little racist" and didn't approve of his relationship with Sparkle." READ MORE...

I guess being a "little racist" is like being a "little pregnant."

UPDATE 6/27/8: Indian man found guilty of killing son's black wife.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Follow the jump for a photo of Ricky Rai, the convicted murderer's son who was at the center of this marriage.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I was reading comments on this story over on BN Village and this post by the member amononi was one of the stronger responses to the story with a lot of truth to it.

"And this is why black people always getting f@cked. Black people always throwing their money and love to other people and think that these people are going to like us and respect us in return. That is nothing but pure ignorance and naive. That woman should have known that those people don't like us and it is agaisnt their culture to marry out of their class/status/tribe/culture/race. Race is a huge problem especially if they marry black. I wouldn't have gave that boy the time of day even if he did appeared "nice". Black people are the only people who want to marry and sleep with another race just because they seem to like us. The man was never cool with black people and it is black people fault for overlooking it or being unknowledgable of it."---amononi

"A recap. On Aug. 31, 2006, about 10 p.m., Johnson, his male friend and a woman -- all white -- were in the parking lot of the Ventana Apartments. A group of three blacks -- two men and a woman -- thought one of the white men yelled a racial slur.

This touched off a volley of words. Before fists flew, Drungo, who authorities say had no part in the initial dispute, approached the shouters. This was his nature. He liked to see people get along, as I learned when I wrote about him after his death, a death that initially elicited little more than a public shrug.

Drungo planned to go into law. He was a model product of a Seattle YMCA program for young people. He was beloved by parents at a Shoreline elementary school where he worked. In Seattle he also was known for being book smart, a peacemaker. His nickname: "Knowledge."" READ MORE...