Black Sorority Members of Sigma Gamma Rho Charged With Beating 7 Rutgers Pledges

It has long been a tradition within Black collegiate life. A young pledge is told the beatings would "humble" her, that each flesh-rending strike with a wooden paddle would build love and trust between sorority sisters. It wasn’t hazing, the young African American coed said they told her. The women of Sigma Gamma Rho at Rutgers University didn’t condone hazing.

For seven nights the beatings went on, she said. In all, she was struck 201 times. On the eighth day — unable to sit, her buttocks covered with blood clots and welts — she went to the hospital. Then she reported it to the university.

Today, Rutgers police said they had arrested six members of the sorority on charges of aggravated hazing, alleging they repeatedly beat at least three pledges between Jan. 18 and Jan. 25. A university official, vice president of student affairs Greg Blimling, and the pledge who spoke to The Star-Ledger put the number of victims at seven.

The university immediately suspended the Rutgers chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho, as did the sorority’s national organization, headquartered in North Carolina.

"The local chapter was doing this on its own, not with the sanction of either the university or the national organization," Blimling said, noting Rutgers has a clear anti-hazing policy that includes workshops for all fraternities and sororities.

He said the university moved aggressively against Sigma Gamma Rho, which has operated for "many years" on the New Brunswick campus but does not have a dedicated sorority house, after learning another hazing session had been scheduled for Tuesday night. The first arrests took place before it could happen.

Charged Tuesday were Vanessa Adegbite, 21, of Jersey City; Joana Bernard, 21, of West Orange; Kesha Cheron, 20, of Newark; and Llana Warner, 20 of the Bronx. Each was charged with aggravated hazing, a felony that carries up to 18 months in prison. All four were later released from the Middlesex County jail on $1,500 bail.

Today, police arrested Shawna Ebanks, 21, of East Orange, and Marie Charles, also 21, of West Orange, on the same charges.

Charles and Cheron are public health majors. Ebanks is a political science major.

Authorities said the beatings took place at Rockoff Hall, a student apartment building on George Street, and at private homes in Newark and West Orange. In addition to the paddling, police said, the pledges were in some cases denied food.

The pledge who spoke to The Star-Ledger did so on condition of anonymity, saying she feared retaliation. Her cousin, Khalilh Anthony, accompanied her to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, along with the pledge’s mother, saying she was appalled when she saw the injuries caused by the repeated beatings.

"I wanted to beat them back," said Anthony, who has a different last name. "Maybe if they got hit, they wouldn’t hit others. They’d know what it felt like."

The pledge said she was eager to join Sigma Gamma Rho, an African-American sorority founded in 1922, because of its history of community service. On Jan. 18, eight pledges gathered in an apartment in Rockoff Hall, she said.

"They told us there was no hazing, that they didn’t believe in it," she said.

Then the paddles came out. The pledges, clad in sweat pants, were instructed to wrap blue and gold tape around the wooden paddles, each a foot long and 6 inches wide, she said.

She was struck 19 times that night, she said. Four sorority members delivered the blows, the pledge said, while two others supervised. She said the group was told the beatings would "humble" them and would get them to rely upon one another.

"At the end, we were supposed to be helping each other," she said.

One pledge stopped attending after a few nights, she said. Another began to bleed freely at one point. The pain, she said, grew worse by the day. By Monday, unable even to lie down without pain, she called her cousin and mother and went to the hospital.

Colleges across the country have cracked down on hazing, but incidents continue to crop up. In 2008, a Sigma Gamma Rho chapter at the University of Texas in Austin was sanctioned. A year earlier, A Rider University freshman died after drinking nearly two-third of a bottle of vodka during an initiation ritual at the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.

By Sue Epstein and Tom Haydon/The Star-Ledger

Staff writers Mark Mueller, Karen Keller and James Queally contributed to this report.

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The Net Neutrality Arguement - Where Do You Stand?

Are Open Internet Policies Essential to Minorities?

FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn told a minority media conference audience Jan. 22 that network neutrality is not a threat to minority advancement but smart regulation that will help avoid the "damage" done to diversity by radio and TV deregulation. But is that actually true?

The FCC's Democratic majority is backing a proposal to expand and codify the FCC's Internet openness principles. Since the Democrats have a 3-2 edge, some version of that proposal is likely to pass.

The minority community has been divided over the issue of network neutrality, with a number of groups cautioning the FCC, and more recently the White House and Congress, that network neutrality rules could widen the digital divide by discouraging the private investment necessary to get broadband to the poorer and minority communities that are currently unserved and underserved.

Clyburn made it clear she sided with those who saw the rules instead as a way to prevent "[ceding] control of the most significant communications advancement in our lifetimes."

"Together we must ensure that people of color--and all Americans--can 'participate as owners, employees, and suppliers' on-line," she said. "That cannot happen, however, if we passively permit a new set of gatekeepers to erect yet another set of barriers to entry."

Of course, there are many who disagree with Clyburn, arguing that net neutrality is not all proponents are making it out to be. And given the White House push for a National Broadband Plan, economic realities may trump the impassioned pleas of those sitting on the FCC.

While broadband adoption has been the focus of much attention in terms of enfranchising the minority community, Clyburn said closing the digital divide was about more than that.

"[W]hen it comes to communities of color--and other traditionally underrepresented groups--the broadband story does not and cannot end with adoption. Broadband is not simply a one-way challenge limited to finding ways in which individuals can obtain meaningful high-speed Internet access."

While network neutrality proponents like Clyburn want a fairly narrow definition of acceptable network management, others are arguing just the opposite.

Comcast, fresh off a strong performance challenging the FCC's network management finding against it in Federal Court (the BitTorrent case), echoed its arguments there by telling the FCC late Thursday that it must compile evidence and establish statutory authority before it adopts any rules.

While Comcast maintained it shares the goal of an open Internet and applauds a fact-based approach to the rulemaking, it also said that evidence collected by the FCC for its broadband plan raises "serious concerns" that the network neutrality regulations as currently constituted "would put at risk the continued investment and innovation in broadband networks needed to meet those goals."

The nation's largest cable operator noted that rules should only be adopted based on real "not conjectural" harms and benefits, and only if addressing both outweighs the risks to innovation and investment. Comcast added: "To date, there is no such record."

Comcast also said that since there is no express grant of Congressional authority the FCC is relying on the ancillary authority it says must be tied to specific statutory provisions, with a justification for why it is "reasonably ancillary" to that authority.

Taking a far more proactive regulatory stance was the American Cable Association, which represents over 900 smaller and medium-sized cable operators. "The proposed regulations do not go far enough."

ACA asked the FCC to extend the open Internet regs to "all providers" of broadband content, applications, services and devices." ACA said that all those play a key role in either shaping or distorting "the internet experience." ACA took the opportunity to continue its campaign against ESPN360, saying it was one of those content providers blocking access.

As the debates rages on over the extremely important issue, we'll keep you informed!

America I AM Exhibit Makes The Case About The Importance of Black History And Culture

By Sandy Banks (LA Times)

An exhibit at the California Science Center in Los Angeles marks nearly 500 years of African American contributions to the U.S.

My visit to the California Science Center's black history exhibit this week was intended as rainy day relief; an emotional lift and respite for me from those relentless images of Haitian grief.

I hauled my college daughter along because it seemed a fitting way to celebrate the holiday honoring Martin Luther King. She had just wrapped up a freshman "ethnic studies" course where the historical narrative seemed to be WASPs against the rest of us.

It reminded me that history depends on who's doing the telling. When I was her age, people of color were asterisks, not narrators. Tomorrow's version will depend on today's storytellers.

This exhibit -- "American I AM: The African American Imprint" -- leaves no doubt about its vision: to "celebrate nearly 500 years of African American contributions to the U.S."

So I wasn't surprised by the visitors wending their way through the gallery:

The trio of elderly black women, trading recollections before a display of Jim Crow-era "White Ladies" and "Colored Women" markers. The teenagers in hip-hop gear crowding around a glass case featuring Tupac Shakur's handwritten lyrics. A family of five from Inglewood, wearing designer jeans and Barack Obama T-shirts.

I noticed the slight, bespectacled white man who studied the giant slave trade diagram for 20 minutes before moving on. The silver-haired woman talking in Spanish to her bored young grandson about Rosa Parks. The young Asian woman in a UC Davis hoodie, who listened dutifully at every exhibit to the narrated monologue on her rented headset.

And the pretty blond woman explaining the horrors of the Middle Passage -- the torturous voyage of enslaved Africans across the Atlantic -- to her wide-eyed, auburn-haired daughter.

In Los Angeles, at least, American WE ARE ALL, it seems.

::

The exhibit, created by broadcaster Tavis Smiley, is on its third stop in a 10-city, four-year tour. It opened in Exposition Park in October and runs through April. On Monday, the day I visited, more than 700 people bought tickets to see it.

It has gotten off to a slow start in Los Angeles, where the black population is not as concentrated or politically active as the cities of its previous stops, Philadelphia and Atlanta.

"The challenge here is we crave entertainment . . . but we have a problem appreciating culture," Smiley said.

But the upside of Los Angeles, he told me, is the diversity it offers. "L.A. is truly a microcosm of the world. So there's no better place to introduce Americans to each other."

Field trips from local schools come during the week, while weekend visitors tend to be families, church groups and history buffs, said Tamika Lamison, who coordinates the exhibit's docents.

The journey begins with an explanation of slavery -- complete with artifacts like a slave ship manifest and ancient shackles and chains.

The docents keep a box of tissues on hand, "because some people get pretty worked up about it," Lamison said. "You look at these things, and you can imagine the pain."

"It's not just black people," she said. "The little children are bothered by it. . . . They don't understand, how could people be so mean. And we get a very visceral reaction from Jewish people. They feel a connection to us because of their history; of what's been done to their people."

I understood what she meant as I watched my own daughter wrestling with a new awareness of things she's already learned in school.

The slave trade looks different when, instead of reading a textbook about the Civil War or the importance of the cotton gin, you are staring at a life-size image of Africans shackled and stacked like cordwood on a slave ship.

::

The exhibition starts on a somber note, but it ends with a triumphal tone, chronicling the influence of black culture on this country's politics and pulpits, stages and sports.

Still, it was sobering to me to watch the young people in the gallery struggling to absorb what they heard and saw.

How does a young girl reconcile the promise of the 1776 Declaration of Independence, on exhibit in one glass case, with the receipt in another from the 1776 sale of slaves, $100 for a Negro woman and her child? I understand those parents who -- like me -- try to tie their children to our history, even though we cannot know what images they will remember in this sweep from slavery to the presidency.

The snapshot I choose from my exhibit visit is quintessential Los Angeles:

A rambunctious little boy named Josh, brown curls bouncing as he mimics Michael Jackson.

His African American father leaning against the wall, absently fiddling with his iPhone.

And his young, blond mother explaining to his brown-skinned sister why Rosa Parks refused to stand and Martin Luther King was behind bars.

sandy.banks@latimes.com

Happy Birthday Cassius Marcellus Clay

Muhammad Ali (born January 17, 1942) is a retired American boxer and three-time World Heavyweight Champion, who is widely considered one of the greatest heavyweight championship boxers of all time.

As an amateur, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. After turning professional, he went on to become the first boxer to win the lineal heavyweight championship three times.



Ali, Bumaye!

If Only 30% of Blacks Read Black Press And Web Sites, Who's Checking Out Concrete Loop and Necole Bitchie?

Few Differences Among African Americans Study Finds

"A majority of blacks say they regularly listen to black news or talk shows on the radio (62%) and a similar percentage say they regularly read Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise or Jet (60%)," according to a new nationwide Pew Research Center survey on race.

"Black newspapers and black-oriented websites and blogs are far less commonly read within the black community; only about three-in-ten blacks say they regularly read a black newspaper (28%) or read black websites and blogs (30%)."

Richard Prince of Journal-isms reports that the media findings come in the same report that found that "a year after Barack Obama’s election, blacks’ assessments about the state of black progress in America have improved more dramatically than at any time in the last quarter century. The poll finds an upbeat set of black views on a wide range of matters, including race relations, local community satisfaction and expectations for future black progress.

In another finding, Obama's racial identity was viewed differently, based on the race of the respondent. "A majority of whites (53%) say Obama is mixed race; a similar majority of blacks (55%) say he is black. Most Hispanic respondents (61%) say Obama is mixed race."

On black-media consumption, the study said that patterns among African Americans show few demographic differences.

"Black women are more likely than black men to regularly read black magazines such as Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise or Jet (65% of women, 54% of men).

And, not surprisingly, the relatively young (ages 18-29) are the most likely to frequently read black-oriented websites and blogs (48% do so, compared with only 28% of 30-49 year olds and 22% of older African Americans).

Black-oriented blog sites like Bossip, Media Takeout and YBF (recently, CEO Natasha Eubanks was on the cover of Black Enterprise) are also more frequently read by those with at least some college education than those who have not attended college (36% vs. 26%).

Virtually no differences in media consumption are seen across income groups among blacks.

"Although there is little difference in views of most of the major problems facing black families today between those who get news from black media sources and those who do not, the lack of decently-paid jobs is viewed as a big problem by a greater proportion of those who regularly read or listen to black media."

Two African American Brothers, Both Distinguished Judges, Honored In Pittsburgh

The occasion was a ceremony recognizing brothers Livingstone and Justin Johnson's induction into Wilkinsburg High School's Wall of Fame. But then the conversation quickly switched to the changes seen in the Pittsburgh area over the years, especially for the Black community.

The other members of this first class of inductees at Wilkinsburg are his elder brother, Judge Livingstone Johnson, 82; Wilkinsburg Mayor John Thompson; Carnegie Mellon University music professor Thomas Douglas; Valerie McDonald Roberts, manager of Allegheny County's Department of Real Estate; and James Richard, Wilkinsburg's tax collector from 1954 to 1986.

Judge Justin Johnson, 76, served on Pennsylvania Superior Court from 1980 to 2007. He received his doctorate from the University of Chicago and achieved the rank of major during his service in the U.S. Air Force, from 1956 to 1959 and 1963 to 1973. He graduated from Wilkinsburg High in 1951.

Back then, he was one of only three black students in the school; when Livingstone Johnson graduated in 1945, he was the only black student.

Livingstone Johnson, who served on the Court of Common Pleas from 1982 to 2007, said his parents, Oliver Livingstone and Irene Marsh Johnson, had to use a third-party buyer, or "straw man," to purchase their home on Ross Avenue in Wilkinsburg.

"The KKK had marches in front of the house when they found out," he said, adding that a group of his father's friends would stand armed guard on the ground floor so that his parents could get some sleep.

Livingstone Johnson graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1957 and received the Distinguished Flying Cross for flying 58 combat missions over Korea.

He noted that when his father became Allegheny County's first black district attorney in 1942, he also became its first black prosecuting attorney, a distinction that was important at that time.

"It was thought unseemly for a black man to be permitted to go into court and prosecute both black and white," Livingstone Johnson said, adding that some people were uncomfortable with a black man questioning white women on the stand, especially in cases involving sexual assault.

Livingstone Johnson pointed out that his father, who graduated from Braddock High School in 1916, attended Harvard Law School but was drafted to fight in World War I and finished his law degree at the University of Pittsburgh. He died in 1971.

Livingstone Johnson said he will always remember what one of his history teachers once told his class.

"He said that black people ought to be grateful for slavery, since they were fed and supported all that time," he said. "When I told my mother what he'd said, she said he was wrong, that I couldn't listen to things like that."

In the six decades since the brothers attended Wilkinsburg High, they agree that a lot has changed.

The story continues...

Haiti Remains In A State of Shock! Huffington Post Provides Great Coverage

Live Twitter Updates / How You Can Help

Obama Taps Bill Clinton, George W. Bush For Relief Outreach... 200 UN Staff Still Missing... New Video Shows Earthquake Toppling Buildings... PHOTOS: Quake Damage Seen From Space... Red Cross Raises $3 Million From Text Messages

Pants On The Ground? Tell 'Em Larry What Time It Is!

The "American Idol" contestant who stole the Atlanta round definitely has his pants hiked up. The guy is crazy -- like a fox!

He's 62-year-old "General" Larry Platt, whose original composition, "Pants on the Ground," had the judges, his fellow contestants (and anyone else who saw the conclusion of Wednesday night) completely in stitches.

And as it turns out, creating an instant "Idol" and Twitter sensation isn't even close to the coolet thing Platt's ever done.

As USA Today reported, Platt is an African American community activist with real cred. He participated in some of the seminal moments of the Civil Rights Movement, organizing sit-ins in the South as part of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Georgia.

Platt was beaten during the Bloody Sunday march -- led by Rev. Hosea Williams and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery.

But for the moment, Platt is known as the old school brother who instantaneously put #pantsontheground on the Twitter trending-topic queue to the delight of millions.

And if Black men get the true message, even better!

Source

Black R&B Crooner Teddy Pendergrass Dead at 59

A Legend Falls

3BAAS Media Group is so sad to report that the incomparable 70's balladeer Teddy Pendergrass passed away today from complications following surgery for colon cancer.

With hits such as "Turn Off The Light", "Come Go With Me", "Love TKO" and "You Got What I Need", Pendergrass was definitely a legend of music in his own right.

He blessed us with his soulful voice, there will only be duplicates never another original like Mr. Teddy Pendergrass.

The singer's son, Teddy Pendergrass II, said his father died at a hospital in suburban Philadelphia. The singer underwent colon cancer surgery eight months ago and had "a difficult recovery," his son said.

"To all his fans who loved his music, thank you," his son said. "He will live on through his music."

Pendergrass suffered a spinal cord injury and was paralyzed from the waist down in the 1982 car accident. He spent six months in a hospital but returned to recording the next year with the album "Love Language."

He returned to the stage at the Live Aid concert in 1985, performing from his wheelchair.

Pendergrass later founded the Teddy Pendergrass Alliance, an organization whose mission is to encourage and help people with spinal cord injuries achieve their maximum potential in education, employment, housing, productivity and independence, according to its Web site.

Pendergrass, who was born in Philadelphia on March 26, 1950, gained popularity first as a member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. The smooth velvet sounds that came out his mouth instantly won over black audiences.

In 1971, the group signed a record deal with the legendary writer/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The group released it first single, "I Miss You," in 1972 and then released "If You Don't Know Me by Now," which was nominated for a Grammy Award.



Pendergrass quit the group in 1975 and embarked on a solo career in 1976. It was his solo hits that brought him his greatest fame. He came to define a new era of black male singers with his powerful, aggressive vocals that spoke to virility, not vulnerability.

His lyrics were never coarse, as those of later male R&B stars would be, but they had a sensual nature that bordered on erotic without being explicit.

Source

Sexy Actor Boris Kodjoe & Hot Brit Gugu Mbatha-Raw Paired To Star In NBC Pilot "Undercovers"

According to a report in the 'Hollywood Reporter', writer-producer extraordinaire J.J. Abrams has found a leading man and lady for his new television project, 'Undercovers'. And with a nod to the growing importance of the international market, neither of these black actors were born in the US.

British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw will star opposite Boris Kodjoe in the upcoming pilot for NBC, which will be directed by Abrams.

The plot of 'Undercovers' revolves "around a domesticated husband (Kodjoe) and wife (Mbatha-Raw) who are re-activated as CIA agents after years of retirement."

Kodjoe is an Austrian-American actor best known for his role as courier-turned-sports agent Damon Carter on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food. It was there where he met co-star Nicole Ari-Parker. Soon, their on-screen chemistry spilled over into reality and now the married couple of two are one of Black Hollywood's most successful couples.

Mbatha-Raw, who is a graduate of London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, came to the attention of the public eye when she was cast as Ophelia opposite Jude Law's 'Hamlet' in the Donmar Warehouse production's of 'Hamlet' which ran in the West End, followed by a successful run on Broadway.

Source

Derrick Ashong, From Youtube Obama Supporter, To Talk Radio Host On Oprah's Sirius Network

Black Harvard Graduate Gets His Own Gig

It turns out that Derrick Ashong, 34, was not just some random brother on the street waving a Vote For Change placard during the historical 2008 presidential election. The eloquent intellectual has been doing speaking engagements all over the world, Youtube just provided the platform.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Also known as DNA, Ashong has spoke at the London School of Economics, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the United Kingdom’s Parliament. His subject of choice has been the passion of Barack Obama’s young supporters.



But it was his knowledge of now President Barack Obama's position on health care reform during the campaign that resulted in Ashong receiving over 1 million viewers that made the world take note.

Enter the queen of all media Oprah Winfrey

His new show on Oprah Radio will debut at 10:00 a.m. on January 23; after the premiere, the show will move to noon EST on Saturdays. Subjects will include politics, pop culture, music, the arts and — here it is — social media. He plans to answer questions received via social media channels, although it’s not clear yet which services he’ll use and in what ways.

Source

Message From God: After You Pray For The People of Haiti, Do Something To Help Them!

As Many As 500,000 May Have Been Killed

Haiti Earthquake Relief - How You Can Help
Who's Heading To Haiti: Rescue Efforts
France Fears Everyone Inside UN Office Is Dead
Aftershocks Continue As Picture of Country Unfolds
Support Temporary Protective Status For Haitians

Updated Information On Haiti In Real Time
Scammer Alert: Be Careful of People Asking For Money
Twitter Offers Glimpses of Hope/ Major Info Source
Why Black America Owes Haiti A Debt of Gratitude
U.S. Debt Policies Left The Impoverished Country Vunerable
Haiti Punished? Pat Robertson Has Lost His Mind

13-Year-Old Stephen Stafford II Wows Morehouse Students Who Want To Be Like Him When They Grow Up

You Can Always Tell A Morehouse Man -- But You Can't Tell Him Much

As a 13-year-old, Lithonia resident Stephen Stafford II can usually be found sitting in front of the television playing video games or playing his drum set.

But Stafford is no typical 13-year old – he’s a college student. The triple-major child prodigy is becoming a sensation at Morehouse College.

“I’ve never taught a student as young as Stephen, and it’s been amazing,” said computer science professor Sonya Dennis. “He’s motivating other students to do better and makes them want to step up their game.”

“When I saw how much knowledge Stephen has at such a young age, I wondered what I had been doing with my life,” laughed third-year student, Eric Crawford. A psychology major and computer science minor, Crawford wanted to step up his game so much that he got Stephen to tutor him. “Even though I’m older, Stephen is like a mentor and my elder in computer science,” said Crawford.

“Eric’s a really fun person to be around, and we have a good time together,” said Stafford.

Crawford added, “Stephen has a lot of patience with me. I got a 95 in the class because of Stephen.”

The Story Continues...

Shaquille O'Neal: Does This Swedish Blonde Belong To You?

Is Shaq Turning Into Tiger? / Alleged Mistress Files Lawsuit

Fantasia Breaks Out On New VH1 Show
Sharpton: Clinton 'Coffee' Remark About Obama 'Disturbing'
African American Male Teens Crushed By Unemployment

Keyshia Coles Spills the Tea On All The Family Drama

NFL's Jonathan Baldwin Cleared Of Butt Groping Charge
Hepatitis B and C Often Ignored As Health Threat To Blacks
Let's Talk about Pep: Watch The Debut Episode

Sex Rehab Good Start For Tiger Woods

Black Coalition Pushes For 'Unified' 2010 Census Tally
Sade Premieres 'Soldier of Love' Video
Zimbabwe Gold Production up 35%
Ex-NBA star Jayson Williams makes plea deal
'Team in Africa' program connects students a continent apart

New Report: Blacks More Surburban And Well Off

PBS To Explore African American Contributions

Comedian Turned NYC Radio Personality DL Hughley Owed Big Bank From WRKS

Pay Dispute Makes For One Unhappy Camper

Threatening to walk, DL Hughley’s lawyers claim radio station WRKS, 98.7 KISS-FM, owes him hundreds of thousands of dollars for his successful 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekday show, launched in July 2009 after his controversial CNN show 'DL Hughley Breaks The News' was cancelled last March.

As Radio Facts Kevin Ross (the other one) opined... why would DL go 7 months without getting paid, especially $359,000?

Radio Facts provide additional info on this strange situation. [source]

Green-Eyed Hollywood Hunk Terrence Howard Kicks Colombian Actress Zulay Henao To The Curb

It Was Fun While It Lasted, Si?

Black megastar Terrence Howard, 40, has split from his fiancee Zulay Henao.

The Academy Award actor began dating the Colombian actress - his co-star in 2009 movie Fighting - in 2007 and proposed to Henao last May in Prague, Czech Republic.

The couple has never confirmed its relationship until now, but Howard reveals he's no longer with the 30 year old.

When asked if he's set to wed Henao, Howard tells Sister 2 Sister magazine, "No, that didn't work out."

Henao helped Howard recover from the heartbreaking death of his beloved mother Anita to cancer in 2008. Howard, star of "Hustle & Flow" and "Ironman" broke the news of his engagement to WENN in a Prague bar.

Alleged to have been interested in becoming a Jehovah's Witness at one point, Howard was previously romantically linked to his ex-wife Lori McCommas (who converted to the faith). They ended their 14 year marriage in 2003, but the actor successfully wooed her back and they remarried, only to split for good soon after. The couple have three children.

Okay ladies, the line starts to the left -- to the left!

Source

Black White House Party Crasher Maintains He Was Invited... But Do We REALLY Believe Him?

Carlos Allen Goes On GMA To Defend Himself

Obama Seeks New Bank Fees To Recoup Bailout Money

Disgraced Ill. Gov. Blago: "I'm Blacker Than Barack"

'Obama The Musical' Debuts in Germany

Kelli Goff On Senator Reid's 'Negro' Problem

John Edwards's Fall, Pleaded To Be Obama's VP Or AG

Bill Clinton Wanted Barack To Fetch His Coffee

Hillary Planned To Push BO's Admitted Drug Past

Steele Flip Flops - GOP Now Ready To Leave/Harry Reid

Egypt tombs suggest pyramids not built by slaves
Utah's first Black woman mayor
Race riots grip Italian town, and Mafia is suspected
Will Smith and family auction art to help hungry in Haiti
Law school admissions lag among minorities
Idlewild, Black resort from segregation era, seeks comeback
BART officer charged with murder appears in L.A. court

Black Brit Jailed 4 Yrs For Speck of Weed Under Shoe

Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Believes Privacy Is Over

Joseph M. Wilcots, Acclaimed 'Roots' Cinematographer And Michael Jackson Collaborator, Dead At 70

The first African American in 1967 to join the International Cinematographers Guild, celebrated filmmaker Joseph M. Wilcots initially worked on camera crews for TV series such as "Mission: Impossible" and on films such as "The Last Picture Show," "The Cowboys" and "Lady Sings the Blues."

The trailblazer died Dec. 30 of complications from a stroke he suffered in 2008.

Clearly one of those incredible talents who the average person would never know, Wilcots contributions will be forever felt. In addition to being the cinematographer for 'Roots' and “Roots: The Next Generations," he also worked for 15 years in various capacities on Michael Jackson's music videos, tours and other projects.

Joseph Wilcots, 70, was highly praised for his cinematography and his sensitivity to those he worked with.

As a director of photography, he achieved his greatest acclaim for "Roots," the 1977 ratings phenomenon based on Alex Haley’s bestselling epic family saga.

"Joseph Wilcots could be considered the Jackie Robinson of cinematography," Steven Poster, president of the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600, said in a statement.

In 1977, Wilcots received a national Emmy nomination for "outstanding cinematography in entertainment programming for a series" for Part Seven of "Roots." His work on "Roots" also earned him a local Emmy nomination.

"In doing a picture called 'Roots,' we felt it important that we should have an African American cinematographer," "Roots" executive producer David L. Wolper told The Times this week.

"It's extremely difficult to photograph African Americans," Wolper said, "because when you shoot a scene with an African American and a white person standing next to each other, the lighting is so complex, and he was an expert in that."

Louis Gossett Jr., who played Fiddler in "Roots," agreed.

"As the cinematographer, Joe said, 'This is going to take some time if this is going to look good,' " said Gossett. "It was a challenge for him to balance in the same scene those colors and the different gradations of skin."

As for the result, Gossett said, "We all loved it. It had to be very difficult for that man with that time frame and time pressure, but he did it."

Said LeVar Burton, who played Kunta Kinte, the African who is abducted, taken to America via slave ship and sold to a Virginia planter in the 1700s: "What stands out immediately is that the look and feel of 'Roots' holds up today, in 2010; it does not feel dated at all."

Burton said Stevan Larner was the director of photography on the first three hours of "Roots."

"Joe started in hour four and took it the rest of the way," he said. "What I remember about Joe on that shoot is that he's a very gentle, gentle soul, as well as a very talented man."

For Burton, who remains a popular figure on tv and on Twitter, the "compassion of the man" was evident while shooting the final scene in hour four in which Kunta Kinte is whipped and forced to take the name Toby.

"For me, the challenge was standing still while this guy with a whip was letting it go behind me at 120 miles an hour," recalled Burton. "We rehearsed it, Joe lit it, they gathered all the extras, [but] it wasn't working. I was way too skittish.

"He and the director, John Ermin, recognized this was a very important scene, and I needed to get comfortable with my back to the whip. Joe was very supportive, [saying], 'Let's go to something else; let's put this back on the schedule for another day.' "

In the early part of "Roots" when he was shooting Burton, Wilcots said in a 2007 interview with the Archive of American Television, "I wanted to make the audience smell the dirt and to create such an atmosphere that the dirt was the second part of the picture.



"And I was able to accomplish that by whenever I had the opportunity I would either start on the dirt or shoot something of dirt around and so there was like a hidden meaning, and it was the dirt and the earth."

Among Wilcots' other credits as a cinematographerare " Bill Cosby: Himself," "Where the Red Fern Grows: Part 2" and the TV series "Matlock," "Palmerstown, U.S.A." and "Brewster Place."

Wilcots was born Feb. 1, 1939, in Des Moines.

After a four-year stint in the Navy as a photographer, he worked four and a half years at Westheimer Co., a Hollywood optical house for which he was involved in providing visual effects for "Star Trek" and other TV series and commercials.

A celebration of Wilcots' life is pending. He passed away at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California.

Rest in peace Mr. Wilcots. Job well done!

Source

Should A Black Man Dating A White Woman Grace The Cover of A Black Woman's Magazine?

To hell with those killer abs! When Essence editors chose to put NFL baller Reggie Bush on the cover of their February 2010 “Black Men, Love & Relationships” issue, all hell broke loose! Why?

Well, let's just say sistas are not feeling the same kisses and hugs Kim Kardashian is clearly receiving!

Here’s a sample of the backlash:

“Why is there a white supremacist on the cover of Essence magazine? Because any person who thinks white women are better is indeed a white supremacists. Having this man on the cover is beyond offensive to me as an African American woman. He is just another crude reminder of all the black men who perpetuate racism against black women, by rejecting them and showing the utmost disrespect by choosing to date non-black women, Reggie Bush is even more offensive since his mate is nothing but some white trashy woman. I suspect those of you you do agree with this mess are either Aunt Jemima’s or products of an interracial relationship.”

"This Brotha don’t dig us, so why, pray tell, do we have to see his face staring back at us, on a magazine that celebrates US? This isappoints me. It’s an insult! Later for Reggie Bush and all the other Brothas who turn their back on the black woman once they are successful.”

“Why put a man who clearly prefers the bottom of the barrel of white women than a good black woman on your cover? Clearly, he has no love for the sisters. This magazine is supposed to empower black women not remind us of the disadvantages that we face in today’s society. Please don’t insult our intelligence.”

The February issue featured 10 black men, including Idris Elba, LL Cool J and Lance Gross in the cover story (LL and Lance both have black women on their arms) so they could’ve easily picked another one of those men as the first image you see on their Black love issue.

Is this just silliness, or is this simply another example of Why Black Women Are Angry?



What say you?

When Talking About Sexy Men, It Don't Matter If It's Black & White!

Fairly new to the modeling game, 6ft tall Michael Reid is a former military guy who is very physically fit.

Maybe because the 27 year-old North Carolina native is also a personal trainer.

So ladies, are we ready to sign up?

Senate Leader Harry Reid Confesses It Was Obama's Light Skin And "Non-Negro" Dialect That Won Him Over!

Dirty Harry Gets Put On Blast

Embattled Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada apologized today for making stupid, idiotic remarks about Barack Obama during the presidential campaign. And you thought only Republicans say ignorant things.

Journalists Mark Halperin and John Heilemann reported the disparaging remarks in their new book "Game Change," which is scheduled to be in bookstores Tuesday.

The authors quote Reid as saying privately that Obama, as a black candidate, could be successful thanks, in part, to his "light-skinned" appearance and speaking patterns "with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one."

"He [Reid] was wowed by Obama's oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama -- a 'light-skinned' African American 'with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one,' " Halperin and Heilemann say.

"Reid was convinced, in fact, that Obama's race would help him more than hurt him in a bid for the Democratic nomination," they write.

In a statement to CNN, Reid said, "I deeply regret using such a poor choice of words."

"I sincerely apologize for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans for my improper comments.

"I was a proud and enthusiastic supporter of Barack Obama during the campaign and have worked as hard as I can to advance President Obama's legislative agenda," the senator from Nevada said.

Reid pointed to his efforts to integrate the Las Vegas Strip and the gaming industry, among other legislation favored by African-American voters.

"I have worked hard to advance issues important to the African American community."

Reid, who waited to formally endorse Obama until after the tough presidential primary battle ended in 2008, is facing an uphill re-election fight this year in his home state.

Source

South LA Barber Elvie Lewis Still Hookin' Brothers Up... At 94!

Local Black-Owned Shop Has Quite A History

Past the iron-mesh security door and the empty, 20-foot-long vinyl waiting bench, Elvie Lewis gives his ancient barber's chair a slap with a striped towel to dust off the last stray wisps of hair from the customer he has just finished.

With a weary grin, Lewis plops down in the ornate chair and tugs a lever to make it recline. With his head back and his feet up, he closes his eyes.

"It isn't like it used to be. You couldn't even sit down, it was so busy. We kept this place full when I was in my prime," he says softly.

If business is a bit slow, Lewis has earned a break. He has been cutting hair for 62 years. At the age of 94, he likes to call himself Los Angeles' oldest barber.

These days, he still has a steady hand -- and an even steadier clientele. Longtime customers trickle in Tuesdays through Thursdays; a steady stream comes Fridays and Saturdays.

His regulars travel from as far as Palmdale to the three-chair shop on South Normandie Avenue that Lewis has operated since 1952. He started cutting hair in 1947.

Longtime customers praise his $15 haircuts and his upbeat attitude.

Through the years, Lewis mastered each new style that came along. There was the buzz cut of the 1950s, the bushy Afro of the '60s, the dreadlocks and cornrows of the '70s, the 1980s' mullet, the high-top fade of the '90s and today's high-and-tight.

"My favorite style is what they ask for," he says with a grin. In his zip-up barber's smock, the short, cheerful-looking Lewis favors his own receding gray hairline cropped short.

Customers say it's his smile and encouraging outlook on life -- just as much as the haircut he gives -- that keeps them coming back.

"He started doing this the same year that Jackie Robinson broke into the majors," says Derrick Blakey, 50, who has frequented the shop for 22 years.

For much of that time, Lewis has allowed Blakey to sell T-shirts embossed with uplifting sayings such as "Wealth Is Good Health" and "Think Positive" in the shop. "Mr. Lewis is more than a hairstylist. He's an artist," Blakey says. "And he's an encourager. He's supported everything I've done."

Luvert Pineset, a 73-year-old retired high-rise maintenance worker who travels from Palmdale for his trims, appreciates Lewis' old-school, gentlemanly manner. "He's a nice man," Pineset explains.

"He's still got a steady hand," adds Robert Hunter, 76, a former steelworker from South Los Angeles who has been going to Lewis for more than a decade.

Lewis puts in a 7 a.m.-to-5 p.m workday Tuesdays through Saturdays. He's on his feet whenever he's cutting hair, despite the aches and pains that come from living nine decades.

He walks with a cane now, and four years ago he turned in his driver's license, swapping it for a simple ID card from the state.

Why didn't he retire 30 years ago?

"Everybody I know who retires goes out and gets another job. I already have a job," he says. "I'm not a 'honey do' man, you know, 'Honey do this, honey do that.' If I'm going to work at home, I may as well be working here."

Lewis' wife of 56 years, Mary, drives him to and from the shop from their home on West 66th Street, about a mile away.

"About the only places I go are to church, this barbershop and the VA hospital," he says. "For 45 years, I went on vacation all over the United States and to places like the Bahamas. Now my favorite place is here."

The story continues...

Tavis Smiley Ends C-Span's State of the Black Union

Is This A Good or Bad Thing?

African American activist and PBS television host Tavis Smiley is ending his annual State of the Black Union conference after an incredibly successful 10 year run.

What will the black blogosphere talk about now?

Smiley, who got his start in politics working for the late Los Angles Mayor Tom Bradley before unsuccessfully running for a seat of the LA City Council, says he was inspired to start the event because black issues were rarely addressed in the president's State of the Union speech or in the national media.

The conference averaged 7,000 to 10,000 participants each year, was broadcast on C-SPAN and drew speakers ranging from President Barack Obama to basketball great Magic Johnson.

In 2009, the event included for the first time a blogger's panel that included Carmen Dixon of All About Race, Roy Sekoff of the Huffington Post, and Kevin Ross of 3BAAS Media Group. It was streamed online and was watched by so many viewers that it subsequently crashed the website.

The televised chatfest drew millions to C-Span and was consistently it's highest-rated program EVERY year.

Smiley says he's ending the event because he needs time to focus on other projects, such as his four PBS prime-time specials this year, his weekly radio broadcast on PRI, and the outstanding America I AM: The African American Imprint exhibit currently on display at the California Science Center. He also says black issues now are being addressed by numerous other media outlets, commentators and bloggers.

And of course many of these individuals have not been shy about voicing their displeasure about Smiley's business dealings, such as Wells Fargo Bank being a sponsor of the annual event and publishing singer R Kelly's upcoming biographical tomb.

For fans and collectors, the State of the Black Union: 10-Year Conversation Box Set Collection, which includes all 10 symposia on 23 separate discs on DVD, is now available.

Smiley tells The Associated Press the series "doesn't have the premium that it used to have - and that's a good thing."

Source (AP)

Never Mind Halle Berry, Zoe Saldana Is Jockeying To Be The Black Kate Winslet

How Does James Cameron's 'Avatar' Compare to the 'Titanic' Star?

With box-office receipts soaring, the love story and special effects fueling repeat views, and Oscar-buzz building, the 3-D blockbuster 'Avatar' is unlike anything we've seen since ... well, the last James Cameron feature film, 1997's "Titanic."

But this time, the leading lady is Black.

In the 12 years following that movie's release, stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet have made good on their promise, racking up instant classics and awards nods with equal aplomb. So lets compare Cameron's leading ladies and look at why Zoe Saldana could become the next Winslet — or why such comparisons could leave the actress feeling as blue as her "Avatar" character.

What They Have in Common

The Breakthrough: Although Saldana seems like a fresh face, the 31-year-old actress is the latest example of Hollywood's "work for years to become an overnight success" reality.

Her real breakthrough came in the 2000 dance film "Center Stage," a minor hit that led to solid work in everything from "Guess Who" to "The Terminal" to the infamous Britney Spears flick "Crossroads."

Of course who could forget her turn as the sexy black greek coed that dazzled on the field as well alongside Nick Cannon in the movie Drumline.



Similarly, Winslet had a substantial back catalog before she became a household name — having raised eyebrows in Ang Lee's "Sense and Sensibility," Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" and, most notably, Peter Jackson's excellent "Heavenly Creatures."

Unlikely Beauties: Think of the words "Hollywood starlet," and you're unlikely to picture either Saldana or Winslet. Both have a unique beauty, which perhaps makes them more memorable. In "Titanic" and during the years since, Winslet has never been shy about showing her body — and defending its ample curves and fluctuating weight.

Zoe Yadira Zaldaña Nazario, meanwhile, was born in New Jersey to a Dominican father and a Puerto Rican mother and grew up in the Dominican Republic. Much like Jessica Alba and Vin Diesel, she has an exotic, intriguing and almost indefinable look.

To white people that is. For Black folks, she's a sistah -- straight out!

Nice Girls Finish First: If you've seen enough of their interviews, you may have figured out the same thing as those of us who've been lucky enough to meet both ladies: In real life, they're exceedingly gracious, polite and eager to please.

What They Don't Have in Common

A Blockbuster Mentality: Saldana is an unabashed geek who found her back-to-back roles in "Avatar" and "Star Trek" to be a dream come true. Coupled with work in big films like "Pirates of the Caribbean," don't be surprised if her career path looks increasingly more like Rosario Dawson's or Kate Beckinsale's — respectable, fun and with a healthy dose of genre films.

Winslet, meanwhile, has avoided action flicks, superhero films and geek-friendly franchises so effectively that the decision must be intentional. Instead, she prefers original scripts (does it get any more outside-the-box than "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?") and conflicted housewives ("Little Children," "Revolutionary Road") whose feet are firmly planted in tragic realities.

Oscar Awesomeness: Often called the best actress of her generation, Winslet has been nominated for six Oscars and finally took home the little gold guy last year for "The Reader." But while "Titanic" earned her one of those nominations, it wasn't the first time she displayed impressive acting skills; "Sensibility" earned Oscar and Golden Globe noms and a BAFTA win, and her "Creatures" performance blew critics away.

Will Saldana — who has never received a major award nomination — prove herself to be as prolific a thespian? Only time will tell.

Main Source

Looks Like Congressman Harold Ford Jr. Is Determined To Be A U.S. Senator, Even If He Has To Represent New York

Black Pol From Southern Red State Exploring Options

Talk about an "Empire State of Mind." First it was the Sex And The City sequel movie trailer. Now, after losing a race for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee, Harold Ford Jr. is eyeing a similar race in New York.

Ford, an African-American Blue Dog Democrat with a family deeply rooted in Tennessee politics, lost a hard-fought campaign to Bob Corker in 2006. Now, he's considering running against incumbent Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in this fall’s Democratic primary.

Having moved to New York only three years ago, the 39-year-old former House member has told friends that he will decide in the next 45 days whether to run, the NY Times is reporting.

Ford is being encouraged by a group of very influential New York Democrats (as well as Republican New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg) who are dissatisfied with Gillibrand. Governor David Patterson appointed Gillibrand last year to fill the seat vacated by Hillary Clinton when she became Secretary of State.

Ford’s namesake, Harold Ford Sr., represented the 9th Congressional District for 22 years. Fresh out of law school, Ford Jr. was then elected to the same seat, serving from 1997 to 2007 before bowing out to run for the Senate. Despite the Ford family having its share of scandals and controversies, they remain very much beloved by the African American community -- particularly in Memphis.

The Senate race against Corker was particularly testy, with both campaigns battling to the end. Corker won by 49,935 votes in a race in which more than 1.8 million were cast.

Since that loss, Ford has taken a job as a vice chairman of Merrill Lynch; served as a television commentator; served as chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, a Democratic think tank; and, in 2008, married Emily Threlkeld, a public relations specialist.

Rep. Steve Cohen, who holds Ford’s old seat, said anyone with Memphis roots who gets elected to Congress can benefit the city.

“I wish him nothing but the best,” said Cohen, who has tangled with members of the Ford family over the years. “I think it’d be great if he was successful. He knows Memphis, loves Memphis. As a senator from New York who had Memphis ties, it’d be good for Memphis.”

According to the Times, Gillibrand has already raised at least $5.5 million, and will likely raise tens of millions more.

Ford raised about $20million during his last run, one-quarter of which came from New York, the Times reported.

“Senator Gillibrand is a voracious fundraiser. That’s something she’s well known for,” Cohen said. “She’s raised a lot of money and she’s got a lot of the establishment on her side. She’ll be a formidable opponent and a difficult opponent to beat.”

Cohen said Ford’s chances are aided by New Yorkers’ history of electing political outsiders to represent the state.

“New York has welcomed Robert Kennedy, who had limited contacts with (the state), Hillary Clinton and others over the years,” he said. “It’s kind of a melting-pot state. I think it’s up to the people of New York.”

Harlem Becoming Less Black Every Day - You Got A Problem With That?

672 Whites in 1990. Today It's Almost 14,000

For nearly a century, Harlem has been synonymous with black urban America. Given its magnetic and growing appeal to younger black professionals and its historic residential enclaves and cultural institutions, the neighborhood’s reputation as the capital of black America seems unlikely to change soon. With that said...

But the neighborhood is in the midst of a profound and accelerating shift. In greater Harlem, which runs river to river, and from East 96th Street and West 106th Street to West 155th Street, blacks are no longer a majority of the population — a shift that actually occurred a decade ago, but was largely overlooked.

By 2008, their share had declined to 4 in 10 residents. Since 2000, Harlem’s population has already grown more than in any decade since the 1940s, to 126,000 from 109,000, but its black population — about 77,000 in central Harlem and about twice that in greater Harlem — is smaller than at any time since the 1920s.

In 2008, 22 percent of the white households in Harlem had moved to their present homes within the previous year. By comparison, only 7 percent of the black households had.

“It was a combination of location and affordability,” said Laura Murray, a 31-year-old graduate student in medical anthropology at Columbia, who moved to Sugar Hill near City College about a year ago. “I feel a community here that I don’t feel in other parts of the city.”

Change has been even more pronounced in the narrow north-south corridor defined as central Harlem, which planners roughly define as north of 110th Street between Fifth and St. Nicholas Avenues.

There, blacks account for 6 in 10 residents, but native-born African-Americans born in the United States make up barely half of all residents. Since 2000, the proportion of whites living there has more than doubled, to more than one in 10 residents — the highest since the 1940s.

The Hispanic population, which was concentrated in East Harlem, is now at an all-time high in central Harlem, up 27 percent since 2000.

Harlem, said Michael Henry Adams, a historian of the neighborhood and a local resident, “is poised again at a point of pivotal transition.”

Harlem is hardly the only ethnic neighborhoods to have metamorphosed because of inroads by housing pioneers seeking bargains and more space — Little Italy, for instance, has been largely gobbled up by immigrants expanding the boundaries of Chinatown and by creeping gentrification from SoHo.

But Harlem has evolved uniquely.

Because so much of the community was devastated by demolition for urban renewal, arson and abandonment beginning in the 1960s, many newcomers have not so much dislodged existing residents as succeeded them. In the 1970s alone, the black population of central Harlem declined by more than 30 percent.

“This place was vacated,” said Howard Dodson, director of Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. “Gentrification is about displacement.”
Meanwhile, the influx of non-Hispanic whites has escalated.

The 1990 census counted only 672 whites in central Harlem. By 2000, there were 2,200. The latest count, in 2008, recorded nearly 13,800.

“There’s a lot of new housing to allow people to come into the area without displacing people there,” said Joshua S. Bauchner, who moved to a Harlem town house in 2007 and is the only white member of Community Board 10 in central Harlem. “In Manhattan, there are only so many directions you can go. North to Harlem is one of the last options.”

In 1910, blacks constituted about 10 percent of central Harlem’s population. By 1930, the beginnings of the great migration from the South and the influx from downtown Manhattan neighborhoods where blacks were feeling less welcome transformed them into a 70 percent majority. Their share of the population (98 percent) and total numbers (233,000) peaked in 1950.

In 2008, according to the census, the 77,000 blacks in central Harlem amounted to 62 percent of the population.

In greater Harlem, the population peaked at 341,000 in 1950. The black share hit a high of 64 percent in 1970. In 2008, the comparable figures were 153,000 and 41 percent, respectively.
About 15 percent of Harlem’s black population is foreign-born, mostly from the Caribbean, with a growing proportion from Africa.

Some experts say the decline in the black population may be overstated because poorer people are typically undercounted by the census, and Harlem has a disproportionate number of poor people.

Others warn that proposed development and higher property values may force poor people out and say that when the city was the neighborhood’s leading landlord it should have increased ownership opportunities for Harlem residents .

“Gentrification — the buying up and rehabilitation of land and buildings, whether by families or developers, occupied or abandoned —means a rising rent tide for all, leading inevitably to displacement next door, down the block, or two streets away,” said Neil Smith, director of the Center for Place, Culture and Politics at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

The story continues...

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