Big Boi “Sumthin’ Gotta Give” (Feat. Mary J. Blige)

LeBron James on the cover of Time Mag

A Battle in the Bronx Over HIV Testing

If you're over 18 and a resident of the Bronx, the city of New York wants you to get tested for HIV — sooner rather than later. The borough's death rate from AIDS is nearly 10 times the national average, which health officials attribute to the fact that about 25% of its residents only learn they are infected after the disease has progressed to full-blown AIDS. In an ambitious plan announced at the end of June, the New York City Department of Health hopes to make HIV testing a basic part of routine medical care —as standard as mammograms, cholesterol screenings and setting broken arms. "Wherever you encounter the health care system, if you're offered the HIV test as part of the routine, then many more people are likely to do it," explains Dr. Monica Sweeney, the Dept. of Health's assistant commissioner for HIV prevention and control. But in the South Bronx, a blighted part of this borough just north of Manhattan, the initiative is encountering resistance from some of the very people who have devoted their careers to fighting the disease and comforting the afflicted. source

Bush’s AIDS Program Ignores Epidemic in U.S. Blacks

President George W. Bush, whose international program has given $15 billion to combat AIDS in poor countries, is ignoring the growing epidemic in U.S. blacks, an advocacy group says.

More than 500,000 U.S. blacks carry HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, according to the report today from the Black AIDS Institute, based in Los Angeles. Seven of 15 poor countries served by Bush's $15-billion international treatment and prevention program have fewer infected people, the group said.

Blacks account for about half of new HIV infections in the U.S. each year, even though they represent 13 percent of the population, government figures show. The virus has become the leading cause of death in black women ages 25 to 34 years, and the second-leading cause for men 35 to 44, said Phill Wilson, the institute's chief executive officer. While Bush requires that countries have a national AIDS plan to get funds for HIV treatment, the U.S. has no plan of its own, Wilson said.

``The lack of a comprehensive AIDS strategy is devastating,'' Wilson said in a telephone interview yesterday. ``We continue to work in this environment of `Alice in Wonderland' HIV prevention, where what is, isn't, and what isn't, is.'' source

Angela Simmons “Center Of Attention”

Lyrics of The Day: Lauryn Hill Lost Ones

This is one of my fav songs, decipher the lyrics:

It's funny how money change a situation
Miscommunication leads to complication
My emancipation don't fit your equation
I was on the humble, you - on every station
Some wan' play young Lauryn like she dumb
But remember not a game new under the sun
Everything you did has already been done
I know all the tricks from Bricks to Kingston
My ting done made your kingdom wan' run
Now understand L. Boogie's non violent
But if a thing test me, run for mi gun
Can't take a threat to mi newborn son
L's been this way since creation
A groupie call, you fall from temptation
Now you wanna bawl over separation
Tarnish my image in your conversation
Who you gon' scrimmage, like you the champion
You might win some but you just lost one

You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one

Now, now how come your talk turn cold
Gained the whole world for the price of your soul
Tryin' to grab hold of what you can't control
Now you're all floss, what a sight to behold
Wisdom is better than silver and gold
I was hopeless now I'm on Hope road
Every man want to act like he's exempt
When him need to get down on his knees and repent
Can't slick talk on the day of judgment
Your movement's similar to a serpent
Tried to play straight, how your whole style bent?
Consequence is no coincidence
Hypocrites always want to play innocent
Always want to take it to the full out extent
Always want to make it seem like good intent
Never want to face it when it's time for punishment
I know that you don't wanna hear my opinion
But there come many paths and you must choose one
And if you don't change then the rain soon come
See you might win some but you just lost one

You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one

You might win some but you really lost one
You just lost one, it's so silly how come
When it's all done did you really gain from
What you done done, it's so silly how come
You just lost one

Now don't you understand man universal law
What you throw out comes back to you, star
Never underestimate those who you scar
Cause karma, karma, karma comes back to you hard
You can't hold God's people back that long
The chain of Shatan wasn't made that strong
Trying to pretend like your word is your bond
But until you do right, all you do will go wrong
Now some might mistake this for just a simple song
And some don't know what they have 'til it's gone
Now even when you're gone you can still be reborn
And, from the night can arrive the sweet dawn
Now, some might listen and some might shun
And some may think that they've reached perfection
If you look closely you'll see what you've become
Cause you might win some but you just lost one

You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one
You might win some but you just lost one

You might win some but you really lost one
You just lost one, it's so silly how come
When it's all done did you really gain from
What you done done, it so silly how come

Danny Glover's Haiti film lacked 'white heroes', producers said

US actor Danny Glover, who plans an epic next year on Haitian independence hero Toussaint-Louverture, said he slaved to raise funds for the movie because financiers complained there were no white heroes.

"Producers said 'It's a nice project, a great project... where are the white heroes?'" he told AFP during a stay in Paris this month for a seminar on film.

"I couldn't get the money here, I couldn't get the money in Britain. I went to everybody. You wouldn't believe the number of producers based in Europe, and in the States, that I went to," he said.

Danny Glover takes part in a ceremony in Dakar AFP PHOTO

"The first question you get, is 'Is it a black film?' All of them agree, it's not going to do good in Europe, it's not going to do good in Japan.

"Toussaint," Glover's first project as film director, is about Francois Dominique Toussaint Louverture (1743-1803), a former slave and one of the fathers of Haiti's independence from France in 1804, making it the first black nation to throw off imperial rule and become a republic.

The uprising he led was bloodily put down in 1802 by 20,000 soldiers dispatched to the Caribbean by Napoleon Bonaparte, who then re-established slavery after its ban by the leaders of the French Revolution.

Due to be shot in Venezuela early next year, the film will star Don Cheadle, Mos Def, Wesley Snipes and Angela Bassett. source

House apologizes for slavery, 'Jim Crow' injustices

Enough with the apologies give people back ownership to land and resources.

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a resolution apologizing to African-Americans for slavery and the era of Jim Crow.

The nonbinding resolution, which passed on a voice vote, was introduced by Rep. Steve Cohen, a white lawmaker who represents a majority black district in Memphis, Tennessee.

While many states have apologized for slavery, it is the first time a branch of the federal government has done so, an aide to Cohen said.

In passing the resolution, the House also acknowledged the "injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow."

"Jim Crow," or Jim Crow laws, were state and local laws enacted mostly in the Southern and border states of the United States between the 1870s and 1965, when African-Americans were denied the right to vote and other civil liberties and were legally segregated from whites.

The name "Jim Crow" came from a character played by T.D. "Daddy" Rice who portrayed a slave while in blackface during the mid-1800s.

The resolution states that "the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day."

"African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow -- long after both systems were formally abolished -- through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity," the resolution states.

The House also committed itself to stopping "the occurrence of human rights violations in the future." source

Celebrate Carnival 2009 in Trinidad & Tobago

You and a guest will travel to land of steel pan courtesy of Scotiabank to celebrate Trinidad & Tobago’s 2009 carnival. The trip includes round-trip airfare, 3 nights accommodation, transportation and $500 in spending money! Sign up now for your chance to win.

click here to enter the contest!

Confessions of a BET Producer

All-Black Italian Vogue: Sold Out

My copy is in the mail and on it's way to Toronto, I had to call the fams in NYC to grab me a copy...

"Italian Vogue has taken the fashion and publishing world by storm by featuring all black models in its July issue. Historically, the conventional wisdom among “those who know” about circulation and newsstands in consumer publishing issues is that putting a black model or celebrity on the cover of a fashion magazine means that it “just won’t sell” well.

But after a couple of New York newsstand sell-outs, reports of frenzied, cross-town searches for $16 to $20 copies and the accompanying hype, Condé Nast has decided to reprint the issue — 10,000 copies emblazoned with the tagline “Most Wanted Issue Ever” and “First Reprint” banded across the front.” source

Obama, Michelle & Kids on People Mag

Medical Group Apologizes to Black Doctors

Recently, the American Medical Association, the largest and most powerful association of doctors, apologized for the way it had shut out black doctors and refused to share information or resources with them. What information? I don't know. But the directors of the AMA believe this exclusion by the white medical establishment was serious enough that the practice of medicine in America was weakened. ... source

Quote of The Day

"I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don’t believe in brotherhood with anybody who doesn’t want brotherhood with me. I believe in treating people right, but I’m not going to waste my time trying to treat somebody right who doesn’t know how to return the treatment."

RIHANNA - “DISTURBIA”

Rihanna - Disturbia clip video ( New)
by rihanna-live

CNN Presents: Black in America

Each segment will focus on the struggles and stereotypes of the black community and how its relates to two particular themes: The Black Woman and Family, and The Black Man. Tune in to watch frank and honest dialogue on the plights of our community and its impact on the nation.

CNN Presents: Black in America

The Black Woman & Family; premieres Wednesday, July 23, 9 p.m. ET.

The Black Man; premieres Thursday, July 24, 9 p.m. ET.

For more information about Black in America please visit www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america

Source

Pam Grier: Ready To Tell All With New Memoir

Pam Grier has inked a deal with Grand Central Publishing to release an as-yet-untitled tell-all memoir.
Currently scheduled for a spring 2010 release, the book will be released via the company's Springboard Press imprint. With a career that spans almost 50 films and various TV programs, Grier is a Blaxploitation icon, who immortalized the character 'Foxy Brown' during the 1970s. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina native currently stars in the hit Showtime Network series 'The L Word,' and at 59, she is still considered one of the sexiest woman in the world.

In her memoir, Grier will reflect on the battles and the triumphs of her life and career, including the men she's dated (Richard Pryor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Freddie Prinze to name a few), her co-stars (Robert DeNiro, Samuel L. Jackson and the late Tamara Dobson), and singing back-up for Bobby Womack and Sly and the Family Stone.

She'll also recount inside stories about her films as well as the persecution she experienced as an African-American woman trying to make it in Hollywood.

“Golden Girls” Estelle Getty Dies at 84

We have all watched an episode or two of the classic show from the late ’80s, and Estelle’s character, Sophia, was easily the most likable of the bunch.

Getty passed away at the age of 84 on Thursday after a long battle with Lewy body dementia. source

Quote of the Day

"I've never seen a sincere white man, not when it comes to helping black people. Usually things like this are done by white people to benefit themselves. The white man's primary interest is not to elevate the thinking of black people, or to waken black people, or white people either. The white man is interested in the black man only to the extent that the black man is of use to him. The white man's interest is to make money, to exploit."

Malcolm X

Africans in Beijing harassed as Olympics approach

Chinese police officials have forced some Beijing bar owners to sign secret pledges promising to prohibit blacks from entering their bars during the Olympics next month, a Hong Kong newspaper says.

The police denied the report yesterday, and most bars denied any knowledge of the pledges. But many African residents of Beijing say they are facing harassment from police and discrimination from bars as the Olympics approach.

"Bar owners near the Workers Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises," the South China Morning Post reported yesterday.

It quoted the co-owner of a bar who said that a group of police had recently visited his establishment to order it "not to serve black people or Mongolians." source

I'm off to see "The Dark Knight"

R.I.P Heath Ledger

The follow-up to the action hit “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who once again embodies the man behind the mask. “The Dark Knight” takes Batman across the world in his quest to fight a growing criminal threat. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman has been making headway against local crime…until a rising criminal mastermind known as The Joker (Heath Ledger) unleashes a fresh reign of chaos across Gotham City. To stop this devious new menace-Batman’s most personal and vicious enemy yet-he will have to use every high-tech weapon in his arsenal and confront everything he believes.
click here for trailer nah!! go see the movie

Disney's 'subservient' black princess animates film critics

When Disney announced it was casting its first black princess for its latest animation film, the African-American heroine was hailed as a positive role model for little girls and an ambitious marketing ploy, not to mention an attempt to ward off the allegations of racism that have lurked since the heyday of Walt Disney Productions in the 1940s and 1950s. continue reading

Josephine Baker to be honored on U.S. stamp

Josephine Baker, the gorgeous Black singer/dancer whose beauty mesmerized France and the rest of Europe during the 1920s and ’30s, is the latest African American to be memorialized on a U.S. postage stamp. Baker’s movie, “Princess Tam-Tam,” is among the five images on the stamps to honor vintage Black cinema. New Jersey, the home of a Black film festival, will hold ceremonies marking to commemorate the sale of the stamps. “I guess that if she was with us today she would be very honored. At her death she was a French citizen, but she never forgot she was born in America,” her son, Jean-Claude Baker, told The Associated Press in an interview. “She would be delighted and very moved.” In addition to her acclaimed singing and dancing, Josephine Baker earned military honors as an undercover agent for the French resistance in World War II. During the 1950s and ’60s, she was active in the Civil Rights Movement, even making an appearance with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington. source

ScotiaBank Caribana Junior Carnival

This is my friends daughter in the pic above (Janelle)

Pictures from 2007

I won't be here to see the junior carnival parade, i'm going over the border on Saturday. But go check out the beautiful costumes and music and support the youth & children in the Junior Parade.
Shoreham Drive - Yorkgate Mall

Saturday, July 19, 2008: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Junior Carnival provides festival-goers and the surrounding community the opportunity to experience the thrills and joys as young masqueraders participate in their early festival years.

Michael Jai White Talks 'The Dark Knight' And Working With Heath Ledger

Long known for his role as 'Spawn' in the live action film, which was based on the comic book character, Michael Jai White has taken various roles since then from 'Undisputed 2' to most recently, the blockbuster hit 'Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?'. While still actively involved in the Spawn franchise with his work in the animated series, White has also done voicework on Justice League and Static Shock. He will also be featured in another comic book film as he's set to play the role of Gamble in 'The Dark Knight', the sequel to 'Batman Begins'. continue reading

Kelly Rowland AIDS ambassador

Kelly Rowland is the first ambassador for MTV's Staying Alive foundation.
Several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have the worst rates of HIV / AIDS in the world, and the stigma associated with the disease often hinders the effort to fight it. Singer Kelly Rowland is doing her part to change that. Rowland visited Kenya and got tested for HIV. CNN's David McKenzie sat down exclusively with the singer as she explained her work for MTV's "Staying Alive Foundation".
Click here to watch video

Rihanna Lands Gucci Campaign

The effort entitled “Tattoo Heart” will feature Rihanna in an assortment of major ads wearing limited edition Gucci for Unicef pieces. “We decided to dedicate a full ad campaign, more than just creating products, to really come out and show our commitment to UNICEF, we wanted someone with a strong personality….I felt a musician and a beautiful woman was the perfect icon for this campaign.” Said Frida Giannini, Gucci’s Creative Director. The ads will begin appearing this December. source

Black Woman Hit By Car Targeted

A woman riding her bike in Daytona Beach Monday night was hit by car driven by a man targeting African Americans, police said.Police believe Nekedia Cato, a 25-year-old African American woman, was hit by Thomas Cosby, of Port Orange. Police said Cosby, 56, slammed into Cato, took out a nearby porch, hit a tree and then rolled three times."He just hit me because I was black," Cato said.Cato was riding her bike home from the store on South Atlantic Avenue."I actually saw him coming toward me. I tried to move my bike as fast as I [could], but it wasn’t quick enough. He came straight for me," Cato said.Police reported that after Cosby crashed, he got out of his car, screaming racist remarks. Cosby repeatedly used the N-word and shouted he wanted to kill black people, authorities said."He was screaming out he had to kill all black people because one slept with his wife," Cato said.Cato recently moved to the Daytona Beach area with her boyfriend, D."If he could target me just because of the color of my skin, he could target anybody else," Cato said. source

Fonzworth Bentley: “Everybody” ft. Kanye, Andre 3000, and SA-RA

"The Women" Movie Trailer:Jada Pinkett Smith

Click here to check out the trailer for "The Women"
THE WOMEN

Release date: October 10, 2008
Distributor: Picturehouse
Directed by Diane English
Producers: Victoria Pearman, Mick Jagger, Bill Johnson and Diane English
Screenwriter: Diane English, based on the play by Clare Boothe Luce
Cast: Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Debra Messing, Bette Midler, Candice Bergen and Cloris Leachman.

Synopsis:
The Women is about friends and mothers and daughters. It's about breaking up and finding your way back. It's about reinventing yourself. It's about walking through fire for what you believe in. It's about Women.

McKinney running for president as Green candidate

The liberal environmentalist Green Party nominated former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney as its presidential candidate Saturday.

McKinney, 53, held off three rivals to win the party's nomination during its convention in Chicago, Illinois. She picked journalist and activist Rosa Clemente as her running mate.

Green Party spokeswoman Scott McLarty acknowledged McKinney was a "long shot" for the White House, but said, "Every vote that she gets helps the Green Party."

"The United States needs an alternative party," McLarty said. "The narrow two-party system we have right now has not served us very well."

McKinney represented a suburban district of Atlanta, Georgia, as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives for six terms -- five consecutively. source

Sudan leader faces Darfur charges

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was expected by diplomats to seek the arrest on Monday of the Sudanese president on charges of genocide in a five-year campaign of violence in the country's Darfur region.

But the ruling National Congress Party of Omar Hassan al-Bashir has warned of "more violence and blood" in the huge western region of Darfur if the president is charged, state TV reported.

Al-Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 coup, got a show of support Sunday as he arrived for an emergency meeting of his cabinet. source

'The Secret Life Of Bees' To Premiere At Toronto Film Festival

If you are looking to be among the first people to 'The Secret Life of Bees', which stars Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning, Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo, you will have to get a ticket at the Toronto Film Festival, where it will make its world premiere.

Also featured in the film are Tristan Wilds, Nate Parker, Paul Bettany, and Hilarie Burton.

The festival will run from September 4 through September 13. Also showing there will be Spike Lee's 'Miracle at St. Anna', and Guy Ritchie's 'RocknRolla' with Idris Elba and Thandie Newton.

Directed by Gina Prince Bythewood, the film is based on a 2002 bestselling novel by American author Sue Monk Kidd. source

City Elects First Black Mayor

This Chesapeake Bay city of idled crab processing plants and costly vacation homes has had a not-too-distant history of racial strife. But when Cambridge elected its first black mayor this week, residents said their worries about joblessness and the economy were foremost on their minds — not the race or gender of the winning candidate.

Decades after the demise of segregation, this sleepy city on Maryland's Eastern Shore has elected not only its first black mayor but also its first woman to the post. For Cambridge, the choice of Victoria Jackson-Stanley signaled just how much times have changed. source

Speaking up versus talking down

Article by Lola Adesioye

The comments made by civil rights leader Jesse Jackson - uttered off-air before the start of an interview on Fox News - reveal a deep division that exists amongst black leaders who attempt to find solutions for resolving social problems within the African-American community.

Good common sense advice, one might think. However, it's advice that sits uncomfortably with some African Americans. There are those, particularly those who grew up in a segregated America and whose life experiences have been shaped by the fight for civil rights like Jesse Jackson, who believe that white American society is to blame for the problems facing black America: that institutional racism and structural inequalities are the root of the social ills that disproportionately and negatively affect African Americans. No doubt there is some truth to this: systematic inequalities within American society have had and still have a negative impact upon African American lives. continue reading

Alicia Keys "Keep a Child Alive Black Ball"

source:gettyimages

Venus Williams on the Cover of Shape Magazine

Venus and Serena are also featured in the August issue of Glamor Magazine as 2 of the greatest bodies on earth.!!

Vogue Italia: Toccara Jones

source

Nas "Hero" & N.E.R.D "My Drive Thru"

Usher and Son on Cover of Essence Mag

Usher and son are on the new cover of Essence Mag. Now these are the images I love to see.
Usher sat down with actor and author Hill Harper to talk about the ups and downs of being married, the choices he's made, putting God first, and his ultimate purpose: being the best father he can be to his baby boy, Usher Raymond V.
click here to read full interview
source

J-Hud's Album Cover

Jennifer Hudson's album is due out September 30 2008

Interview with Michelle & Obama's Children

source

Jay Z on the Vogue Italian Men's

source

South Africa releases Mandela 90th birthday coin

The South African Reserve Bank says 5 million coins featuring a smiling Nelson Mandela will go into circulation on July 18, the former president's 90th birthday. The new five rand coin is South Africa's largest coin, worth about 65 U.S. cents. It shows Mandela in one of his signature patterned shirts and is the latest in a series of events honoring the anti-apartheid activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner. source

Mattel Creates Limited-Edition AKA Centennial Barbie

The women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority really know how to get dolled up -- and focus on business.
They'll show that this week when they hit Washington, D.C., about 35,000 strong, for their biennial convention and get a look at one of their newest members: Barbie.

Mattel Inc. created the limited-edition AKA Centennial Barbie, the first Barbie based on any sorority.
The doll, outfitted in a pink and green evening gown, matching jeweled shoes and gold jewelry, honors the Chicago-headquartered sorority, the first established by black women . source

Serena and Venus Williams :Doubles Match

Serena and Venus also won the Wimbledon Doubles match by defeating Lisa Raymond of the U.S. and Samantha Stosur of Australia.

source