First Lady to Visit Gulf on Monday

July 9, 2010 at 04:01 am

*The White House seems to be doing, well, nothing really about the oil spill in the Gulf. Maybe a few visits here and there from vice president, other officials, and now from the first lady.

Critics, consumers, and heck … America are peeved of the lack of action the government has made on behalf of the oil spill. BP has been doing nothing but covering up the situation and polluting everything. What exactly is going on?

Michelle Obama will be visiting the Gulf Coast to express her concern and support for the people, but that just won’t take away the devastation, unfortunately.

Mrs. Obama “will begin her visit with a briefing by officials and local leaders,” the announcement said. She also plans to speak with local residents at a community event.

She heads to the Gulf Coast after a speech Monday to the NAACP convention in Kansas City, Mo.

Video: King James Has Decided. He’s Going to … Miami!

July 8, 2010 at 06:32 pm

*OK, finally the drama is over. In front of a national and international audience of millions, Lebron James has decided he will … take his game to Miami as had been speculated and reported. There he will join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in search of an NBA championship.

In the hours before his choice was revealed, the sports world spun out of control with speculation and rumors, including some reports that he had told his inner circle he is leaning toward the Heat.

James, Bosh and Wade entered the pros in the same year, the respective Nos. 1, 4 and 5 picks in the 2003 draft. They went their separate ways: James to Cleveland, Bosh to Toronto and Wade to Miami, where he won a championship partnered with center Shaquille O’Neal in 2006. That year, James, Bosh and Wade all signed matching contracts to make sure they were all unrestricted free agents at the same time. They also won gold medals together at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Season-ticket sales for the Heat’s coming 41-game season were suspended Thursday afternoon after the entire supply of available seats were sold out. Not every seat has been released for sale yet and some will be held back for single-game purchases at the 19,600-capacity arena.

ESPN televised James’ decision live from a Boys & Girls Club in Greenwich, Conn., a group with which James has a relationship. Frank Sanchez, the vice president for corporate and partner relationships for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, said James approached the organization last weekend about using its location for his big show, titled The Decision.

Michael Steele: ‘I Ain’t Going Anywhere’

July 8, 2010 at 03:09 pm  

*RNC chairman Michael Steele has made his first public comments since his wildly erroneous statement that the war in Afghanistan is “of Obama’s choosing,” and “not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.”

Two Republican lawmakers and several prominent conservative media figures called on Steele to leave his post for raising doubts about the Afghanistan war that the GOP supports.

“Every time something happens, people say ‘he should step down,” Steele said at an appearance with the Colorado Republican Party.

“The reality is that’s not happening, so stop the noise on that,” he said. “You don’t need the distraction. We’re focused on winning. I ain’t going anywhere. I’m here, I’m here. Look, we have too much work to do.”

Despite the pressure to step down, Steele earlier this week was seen as likely to survive the outrage. Observers said it would be almost impossible to force a party chairman out just four months before the midterm elections.

7 Businesses That Went From Black-Owned To Corporate Entities

July 07, 2010 07:11 AM

by Anton Polouektov

Black-owned businesses have not fared particularly well as independent actors in this age of consolidation, having suffered heavy attrition rates due to a surge of mergers and buy-outs over the course of the last two decades. Many of these companies had long histories within the African-American community, becoming household names associated with the fulfillment of black Americans’ business ambitions.

Changing economic conditions, however, prompted business owners across the United States to realign their resources and consolidate their efforts in a drive to increase efficiency and competitiveness. Black-owned businesses could not sit idly by in the face of this profound change overtaking American business – they had to act or risk being left behind.

The Atlanta Post has compiled a list detailing some of the most high-profile acquisitions of black-owned businesses by larger companies during the latest wave of consolidation ventures. Ranging from clothing companies to advertising agencies and everything in between, these enterprises have undoubtedly left a lasting imprint on the modern business landscape.

Rocawear – Bought by Iconix in 2007 for $204 million

Rocawear, a well-established clothing brand belonging to rapper Jay-Z, was bringing in an impressive $700 million a year in sales when it was purchased by Iconix Brand Group in 2007. Jay-Z retained his role in product development, licensing, and marketing. In addition to the $204 million doled out by Iconix, the acquisition contract stipulated that Jay-Z would be paid an additional $35 million if the brand met its targeted sales figures for the next year under his leadership.  Iconix aimed to generate $1 billion in sales from the company following the acquisition.

Phat Fashions – bought by Kellwood in 2004 for $140 million

hat Fashions was founded in 1992 by Russell Simmons as an urban fashion brand with Phat Farm, a men’s urban apparel line, as its flagship venture and expanded to include the Baby Phat women’s clothing line by Simmons’ then wife, Kimora, in 1999. The company’s annual revenue was approximated to be $200 million at the time of the merger. Russell and Kimora Simmons continued in their leading roles at the company following its acquisition by Kellwood. According to Kellwood CEO Hal Upbin, the company had been interested in expanding into the urban apparel market since the late 1990s, but was not convinced of its long-term viability until shortly before the Phat Fashions acquisition.

Soft Sheen – acquired by L’Oreal in 1998 for an unreported sum, estimated to be around $160 million

A household name in ethnic hair-care, Soft Sheen was acquired by L’Oreal USA – the American division of French cosmetics giant L’Oreal – in July of 1998 for an undisclosed sum. At the time of acquisition, Soft Sheen boasted annual sales figures of close to $95 million.

While the financial details of the deal remained elusive, L’Oreal’s interest in the ethnic hair-care market was readily apparent – in the wake of the acquisition, L’Oreal sought to expand the Soft Sheen product line and increase funding for research and development projects.

Burrell Communications Group – merged with Publicis Groupe in 1999

Specializing in marketing aimed at the African-American demographic, Burrell Communications Group had ample experience in urban and youth marketing to bring to the plate. In the late 1990s, however, the company was facing pressure to expand into the general advertising market in order to stay competitive. It elected to use an alliance with French advertising giant Publicis Groupe as the vehicle to carry it towards that goal, setting up a merger with the company in 1999. As a result of the deal, Publicis Groupe acquired 49% of Burrell Communications’ stock for an undisclosed sum.

Translation Consulting and Brand Imaging – acquired by Interpublic Group in 2007 for a reported sum of between $10 and $15 million

Owned by marketing heavyweight Steve Stoute, Translation Consulting and Brand Imaging was an agency that specialized in helping celebrities partner up with major corporate sponsors and launch joint marketing campaigns aimed at the urban and youth demographics.  Translation’s clients included numerous celebrities, such as Jay-Z, Beyonce, and T.I. and the company was responsible for several highly successful advertising campaigns. In late 2007, Translation Consulting was acquired by Interpublic Group – a massive media and marketing conglomerate with offices in over 100 countries – for an undisclosed sum, thought to be between $10 and $15 million. Following the sale, Translation continued to operate as an independent unit and Stoute went on to start Translation Advertising with Jay-Z in 2008.

BET – acquired by Viacom for $2.34 billion in 2000

Mass media giant BET, a cable channel catering to the African-American audience with a focus on hip-hop and urban culture,was one of the nation’s largest black-owned companies. BET Holdings, the owner of BET, reported $225 million in revenue in 1999, the year before the company’s purchase by Viacom for close to $2.4 billion. Viacom also assumed BET Holdings’ $570 million debt as part of the sale agreement. The deal, which greatly increased BET’s advertising revenues, reflected positively on the value of Viacom’s stock.

Essence Communications Partners – acquired by Time Inc. in 2005 in a transaction reported to be valued $170 million

Essence Magazine, a major publication targeted at African-American women, was for a long time the premier success story amongst black-owned businesses – its 35-year publishing history standing as a stark testament of the perseverance of its creators and the relevance of its material. With a circulation figure of 1.1 million and a well-established reader base, Essence Magazine was an appealing acquisition option for media conglomerate Time Warner as it was increasingly trying to court minority demographics. In 2000, Time Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner, secured a major stake in Essence magazine by purchasing 49% of Essence Communications, the magazine’s parent company. However, the acquisition was not complete until 2005, when Time Inc. obtained the remaining 51% in a deal reportedly valued at around $170 million.

Zimbabweans wash dirty US dollars with soap, water

By ANGUS SHAW (AP) – 3 days ago

HARARE, Zimbabwe — The washing machine cycle takes about 45 minutes — and George Washington comes out much cleaner in the Zimbabwe-style laundering of dirty money.

Low-denomination U.S bank notes change hands until they fall apart here in Africa, and the bills are routinely carried in underwear and shoes through crime-ridden slums.

Some have become almost too smelly to handle, so Zimbabweans have taken to putting their $1 bills through the spin cycle and hanging them up to dry with clothes pins alongside sheets and items of clothing.

It's the best solution — apart from rubber gloves or disinfectant wipes — in a continent where the U.S. dollar has long been the currency of choice and where the lifespan of a dollar far exceeds what the U.S. Federal Reserve intends.

Zimbabwe's coalition government officially declared the U.S. dollar legal tender last year to eradicate world record inflation of billions of percent in the local Zimbabwe dollar as the economy collapsed.

The U.S. Federal Reserve destroys about 7,000 tons of worn-out money every year. It says the average $1 bill circulates in the United States for about 20 months — nowhere near its African life span of many years.

Larger denominations coming in through banks and formal import and export trade are less soiled.

But among Africa's poor, the $1, $2, $5 and $10 bills are the most sought after. Dirty $1 bills can remain in circulation at rural markets, bus parks and beer halls almost indefinitely, or at least until they finally disintegrate.

Still, banks and most businesses in Zimbabwe do not accept torn, Scotch-taped, scorched, defaced, exceptionally dirty or otherwise damaged U.S. notes.

Zimbabweans say the U.S. notes do best with gentle hand-washing in warm water. But at a laundry and dry cleaner in eastern Harare, a machine cycle does little harm either to the cotton-weave type of paper. Locals say chemical "dry cleaning" is not recommended — it fades the color of the famed greenback.

Laundry worker Alex Mupondi said customers asked him to try machine-washing a selection of bills and the result impressed him.

But storekeeper Jackie Dube hasn't yet taken up advice of friends to cleanse the often damp and stinking U.S. dollars she receives for the garments and cheap Chinese consumer goods she sells in Harare. It's time-consuming, she says, adding that stinky, unhygienic bills are a problem.

"I get rid of the worst of the notes as soon as I can in change," she said.

The First African-focused Mutual Fund

Larry Seruma creates the first actively managed mutual fund focusing exclusively on the motherland

Article written by John Simons.

• Posted in B.E. Exclusives, Investing, Personal Finance on Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 15:24

Larry Seruma, founder of Nile Capital Management L.L.C., takes global investing beyond BRIC

By now, nearly every American investor knows about the potential opportunities in the emerging markets of BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) and Latin America. What’s driving the growth potential, economists argue, is that countries with large populations and abundant natural resources are generating economic growth and nurturing consumer advancement toward the middle class. That movement, in turn, feeds outsized economic expansion.

The very same dynamics are unfolding on the African continent, but rarely—if ever—are African countries mentioned as a place for U.S. investment. Larry Seruma wants to change that.

Earlier this year, Seruma, chief investment officer, managing principal, and founder of New York-based Nile Capital Management L.L.C., unveiled the Nile Pan Africa Fund (NAFAX), the world’s first actively managed mutual fund to focus exclusively on Africa-based investments.

“The fund invests across the entire continent from Cairo to Cape Town, and in all industries, including basic materials, technology, utilities, and consumer goods,” says Seruma, who serves as the fund’s portfolio manager.

Since the fund’s inception last April, it’s become available on four major brokerage platforms: Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, and Scottrade. Seruma spoke to Black Enterprise about Africa’s emergence and how African American investors can take part.

Should Africa be on every investor’s radar screen?
We believe so. Here’s the reason: Brazil, Russia, India, and China were once where Africa is now. A lot of investors who may have missed out on the opportunity to invest in those countries 10 years ago are beginning to realize this is the time to do it for Africa. It’s the last frontier in terms of investment destinations. We believe that investors can look at Africa as a way to deepen their emerging market allocations without increasing risk.

What’s the best case for investing in Africa now?
Look at returns. Over the last 10 years, the returns for emerging markets have been about 7.3%. If you look at Africa, the returns have been 13.8%. African markets have performed just as well as other emerging markets. In the first quarter of 2010, Africa’s return has been between 20% and 25%. When you look at developed markets in the first quarter, they were about 4.87% (S&P 500).

What are your criteria for the African companies you look to invest in?
We look for good corporate governance, dominant market share, good solid management, the ability to execute, companies that have a good shareholder base. When we invest in local companies, we like those that have multinational shareholders. We also like companies that have access to cheaper capital.

Aside from that, there are three important factors I look for. The first is consumer growth. Africa is urbanizing. We’re looking for companies that are exploiting this huge market opportunity in the urban areas. The second thing is infrastructure, companies that provide infrastructure services to the big urban centers—not only roads, but also technology infrastructure such as telephone and Internet. Many African countries are spending a lot of money to fund this infrastructure. Finally, there are many companies that are part of Africa’s commodity story.

Most people, when they think about Africa, think of its abundant natural resources. We look at companies thriving in that space. Big multinational companies are beginning to invest in Africa to increase their oil and gas resources.

What’s your favorite commodity-based African company right now?
Tullow Oil plc. (TUWOY)--they have been the most successful oil and gas exploration business in Africa. The investment thesis for this stock is based on the company’s assets in Ghana and Uganda, where the most recent oil discoveries in Africa have been made. The market potential is about $7 billion in oil.

The Ghana discovery is jointly owned by three companies: Tullow Oil, Kosmos Energy, and Anadarko Petroleum. They each currently own one-third of the discovery. Additionally, Tullow Oil has another recent discovery in Uganda. It owns 50% of that asset with a company called Heritage Oil.  Now Heritage Oil has recently decided to sell its 50% stake to Tullow, making it the sole owner of that asset. In Ghana they are looking to start pumping out oil by the end of this year. In Uganda it’s going to be 2011. Tullow is positioned to benefit from that given the fact that they are a large holder of those two assets. Their stock price right now does not reflect the value of those two assets.

So as a long-term call, it’s a very good company to own. In addition to that, Tullow continues to explore oil on the rest of the continent. Our 12-month price target is $11.

What’s a good way to capitalize on consumer growth on the continent?
SABMiller plc. (SBMRY) is a South African brewery company that started out in Cape Town and grew its business across the entire continent. It has been very successful at doing that and has since expanded outside Africa—with assets in Europe, the U.S., and Latin America. After this summer, the company is looking to benefit from the World Cup because it sells 90% of all beer in South Africa.

The company is looking to capitalize on it in order to expand in other African countries. It owns the largest brewer, for example, in Zimbabwe. And they’re pursuing the same strategy in the rest of Africa. So if you go to Kenya or Uganda or any of these countries, they own some of the largest local brewers. They are looking to use their infrastructure in a way to expand their business. So it has good exposure to Africa, Latin America, and Europe. It’s an African company that has really gone global.

Owning a piece of this company gives an investor exposure to Africa but also other emerging markets. My 12-month price target for SABMiller is $35.

So, we have both commodity and consumer-based picks. Do you have an infrastructure play for us?
Yes. My final pick is MTN Group Ltd. (MTNOY), the largest telecommunications operator in Africa. Based in South Africa, they operate in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Their two largest markets are South Africa and Nigeria.

Their main source of future growth will come from all the untapped markets in Africa. Telecommunications penetration among consumers on the continent is under 15%. That presents an opportunity—a lot of growth possibilities. Another growth opportunity for the company is in the data market. In Africa there is only about 2% penetration in the data market.

Our 12-month price target for this stock is $18.

Beyonce Avoids Injury as Car Door Is Ripped Off in London

Beyonce suffered a pretty serious scare in London's Knightsbridge neighborhood the other night during a momentary stop that took place during an evening out on the town with Jay-Z. Apparently, she requested a quick detour to shop at U.K. luxury department store Harrods while on the way to a Japanese dinner at local hotspot Zuma and opened her door only to have a speeding black taxi cab drive by and rip it clear off the body of her Mercedes S-Class. Witnesses are saying that Bey and Jay were both clearly freaked out by the incident.

"It was terrifying to watch," a witness told The Sun. "It all happened quickly. The taxi came out of nowhere. She seemed very shaken and was lucky to be alive. A couple of seconds difference and God knows what could have happened."

The fluke accident reportedly spooked her out enough that the shopping trip was canceled and the power couple received a new ride before continuing on to their dinner date. Bey has been in England for the last few days as Jay-Z performed at London's Wireless Festival in Hyde Park. She's been seen driving around, partying backstage with friend Gwyneth Paltrow and doing tons of shopping at various chic boutiques across the country's capital.

Serena Williams Discusses 'Massive Butt' In Harper's Bazaar

By Quibian Salazar-Moreno on Jul 6th 2010 11:19AM

In Harper's Bazaar, tennis star Serena Williams talked about accepting her body.

In the August issue, Serena says that growing up, she always wanted to have a body like her sister, Venus, but is now happy about what she has:

"I'm supercurvy. I have big boobs and this massive butt. She's [Venus] tall and she's like a model and she fits everything. I was always fitting in her clothes, but then one day I couldn't."

She admits that she's never dieted but is constantly working out, hoping to trim some of her thickness.

"I've been doing Pilates and yoga, trying to lean out my body so I won't be bulky," she said.

Isn't the "bulkiness" what we love about Serena?

As for what she is accomplishing on the court, over the holiday weekend, it was just another day at the office for Serena.

Williams easily swept Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2, on Saturday to win her fourth Wimbledon title. The match took 67 minutes, and Williams continued to prove that she's one of the greatest tennis players of all time.

"My dream was able to come true," Serena said after the match. "Everyone's dream can come true if you just stick to it and work hard. This one is very special."

To put it in perspective, of the last 11 Wimbledon tournaments, the Williams sisters own nine of the titles. This was the first Wimbledon final that Serena did not have to face Venus.

China signs major deal to build Nigeria refinery

(AFP) – 23 hours ago

LAGOS — China has signed a deal to build an eight-billion-dollar refinery in Nigeria, a government official said on Tuesday, in a fresh example of Beijing's aggressive investment in Africa.

The agreement also highlights Nigeria's lack of fuel and electricity despite being one of the world's largest oil producers, with the country's refineries malfunctioning and having been hampered by corruption.

China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) signed the deal with Nigeria to build the refinery in the commercial hub of Lagos, a sprawling city of some 15 million people that experiences regular power outages.

"The deal is a three-way thing between Lagos State, NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) and a consortium of Chinese investors under the aegis of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Limited," Lagos state government spokesman Hakeem Bello told AFP.

Bello said the refinery, to be located in Lagos' Lekki free trade zone, will have the capacity to refine 300,000 barrels of oil per day and 500,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas per year.

The Chinese state firm will contribute 80 percent of the capital while the NNPC will take care of the remaining 20 percent, he said.

Lagos state government will provide the land and infrastructure.

The Lagos refinery is part of a huge 23-billion-dollar deal to build three refineries and a petrochemical complex in one of Africa's biggest tie-ups with China.

The new refineries are expected to add some 750,000 barrels per day capacity in Nigeria, according to NNPC.

The west African country, a member of OPEC, relies on crude exports for more than 95 percent of its foreign exchange earnings but imports about 60 percent of its local fuel needs because state refineries are barely functional.

Nigeria's four refineries -- with total capacity of 445,000 barrels per day -- are using less than 30 percent of their installed capacity, according to official figures.

Corruption and poor maintenance have undermined their performance.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.

The Buzz

Tyler Perry on “Boondocks” rumors

10:45 am July 6, 2010, by Jennifer Brett

A clip from "Pause," the "Boondocks" episode that spoofed Perry.

The Straight from the A web site nabbed a few minutes with Tyler Perry at the Essence Music Festival in Louisiana over the weekend, and posed questions about that recent “Boondocks” episode that satirized Perry and his “Madea” character.

Perry didn’t want to go into details but did tell Straight from the A, “there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that I’m suing The Boondocks. Those are all lies. I’m not suing anybody over that.”

Perry also said he hasn’t fired anyone on his staff over the numerous rumors floating around since the episode aired.

” I don’t know where all that came from,” he told Straight from the A.

“Boondocks,” created by Aaron McGruder, airs on Adult Swim, while Perry projects “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns” air on TBS.

Following the episode, titled “Pause,” Turner execs reportedly were busy trying to smooth things over with Perry.

Jul 06, 2010

Tiger Woods: 'Everything's working itself out'

03:40 PM

Tiger Woods speaks at a press conference at the end of his second round of The JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am event at the Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort on July 6, 2010 in Limerick, Ireland.

CAPTION

By Patrick Bolger, Getty Images

Tiger Woods wasn't happy about his golf or the line of questions that followed his final round of the J.P. McManus Invitational Pro-Am today in Adare, Ireland, his first foreign appearance since his marital troubles last year. He landed near the bottom of the field of 54 pro players.

When asked whether his liaisons with other women had been "worth it" since it cost him his marriage and commercial endorsements, Woods replied, "I think you're looking too deep into this,".

Woods said he was going "home" to Florida, rather than rather than heading to Scotland to prepare for next week's British Open at St. Andrews.

Why not try and play some links golf in Scotland beforehand? "I need to get home."

Why? "See my kids."

When asked again whether he was finding personal worries overshadowing his game, Woods had clearly had enough, reports AP.

"Everything's working itself out," was all he would say.

The Return of 'Sundown' Towns?

A tough law against illegal immigrants in Nebraska could revive the whites-only-at-night towns of our Jim Crow past.

By: Afi-Odelia Scruggs | Posted: July 5, 2010 at 6:54

Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. Perhaps that’s the reason 57 percent of voters in Fremont, Neb., passed a controversial law that prohibits "harboring or hiring illegal aliens."

The ordinance requires employers to check the residency status of each potential hire on the E-Verify database, a voluntary program run by the Department of Homeland Security. The law is stronger than federal policy, which allows employers to voluntarily subscribe to the database.

When it comes to renting, though, the ordinance is downright tough. A prospective tenant must buy a $5 occupancy license from the police and present it to the landlord. However, one license won’t do. A new move now requires a new license. And every person over 18 who lives in the household must get one. Hotels, dormitories and the city’s one homeless shelter are exempt from the law. So are folks hiring day laborers, janitors or domestics. The law has no force outside the city limits. That loophole excludes the two meatpacking plants that provide jobs to area Hispanics.

So guess where undocumented workers--or folks who could be mistaken for them--are probably going to stay? And that’s why the vote in Fremont harks to an unsavory past. The town has mimicked a method that thousands of American municipalities used in the past to keep their populations as white as possible.

There’s a name for such places. They’re called "sundown towns," as in a warning to African Americans, Chinese, Jews and other undesirables to be out of town before dusk. Sociologist James W. Loewen wrote the book on the phenomenon. That book is called, appropriately enough, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension in American Racism. "Between 1890 and continuing until 1968, white Americans established thousands of towns for whites only," he writes. "Many towns drove out their black populations then posted sundown signs. Other towns passed ordinances barring African Americans after dark, or prohibiting them from owning or renting property. ... Some sundown towns similarly kept out Jews, Chinese Mexicans...or other groups."

After his book was published in 2005, Loewen created a website to collect comments and stories about sundown towns. One comment claimed that Fremont had a sundown sign warning African Americans to keep moving. Of course, a less welcoming term was used. Whether Fremont had a sundown sign is still open to debate. It's undeniable, however, that the town is going brown.

While the African American population is minuscule--only .2 percent of the city’s 26,000 residents--Hispanics are 7.8 percent of the population, according to the last U.S. Census Bureau estimates from 2008. Non-Hispanic whites made up 93 percent of the population; in 2000, they were 95 percent of residents. The town is still white. Apparently the majority of Fremont voters want to make sure it stays that way.

Those who support the law, like Trevor McClurg, say the ordinance is fair because undocumented immigrants are breaking the law. "I don't think it's right to be able to rent to them or hire them," McClurg told a reporter for Associated Press. "They shouldn't be here in the first place."

But how will folks know who is here legally and who isn’t? Race is going to play a role, and that’s why anyone who resembles a so-called illegal is right to worry. Euro-Americans don’t have a good track record when it comes to distinguishing people of color. The late David Mills wrote a biting commentary on the tendency on his blog, Undercover Blackman. But the consequences were tragic for Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh from India, and Vincent Chen, who was Chinese. Sodhi was killed by a white man angry about 9/11. Chen was beaten by an autoworker with a vendetta against Japanese carmakers.

Linda Nafziger voted for the ordinance even though she didn’t believe it would stanch illegal immigration. "They'll just move somewhere else and be somebody else's problem," she told the AP reporter. And that’s the point, right? "They" can go anywhere they want. "They" just have to get out of Fremont--preferably before the sun goes down.

Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs writes regularly on race and identity issues for The Root.

The Meaning of the Fourth of July Now

What would Frederick Douglass have to say about being black and American today?

By: Jack White | Posted: July 3, 2010 at 11:47 PM

What, to a black American in the age of Barack Obama, is the Fourth of July? I answer: the day that reveals to him, more than any other, how much America owes to blacks and their struggle for freedom. If it hadn't been for people like Frederick Douglass, this would not be a country worth living in. The lofty ideals of the Founding Fathers would have been no more than stirring but empty rhetoric.

I know that such sentiments go against the grain on a holiday dedicated to ritualized celebrations of the Declaration of Independence.  But let's not kid ourselves. That stuff about all men being created equal was not meant to apply to people like us. If it had been, Douglass would never have had to ask the electrifying question in the famous speech he delivered in 1852: "What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July?"  If the founders had really meant what they said, there would not have been any slaves.

A century and a half after Douglass' speech , there is much to celebrate because blacks and their allies took the  Founders' words seriously and tried to make them real. Thanks to the centuries-long freedom struggle in which Douglass played such a key part, blacks--and other minorities and women--are no longer second-class citizens. One of us leads the nation, doing his best to resolve the manifold woes inherited from his feckless predecessors, all of them white males, like the Founding Fathers. The hopeful trope that got him elected is that these are the United States of America--one nation, one people, unified by a collective pursuit of a common dream.

But while the vibrant, multicolored, more mature and just society that Obama evokes has been born, it could still be choked in its cradle. Every stride toward freedom America has taken was against determined opposition. Even today, you can still get in trouble for criticizing America for not living up to its promises. (Think Jeremiah Wright or Thurgood Marshall.) One of our great political parties still bases much of its appeal on the age-old racial resentment of whites unnerved by the political emergence of people like us. Too many of our white fellow Americans still regard us as inferior and illegitimate. They don't want to share the nation's rewards and responsibilities with us. They want it back.

Most of us, on the other hand, yearn for the day when July Fourth does not invite the ambivalence we are feeling this weekend. We long for the day when we can cherish the country we love without feeling torn by the two-ness W.E.B. DuBois wrote about in The Souls of Black Folk. And just as Douglass accurately prophesied the death of slavery in his famous speech, that day is coming. It's coming because of the determination of true patriots, of all races, who believe in the Founding Fathers' beautiful promises more than the Founding Fathers did. It will be our birthday present to America.

Jack White is a regular contributor to The Root.

It's Time for African Americans to Lock and Load

Justice Thomas made it clear in his fiery opinion in the Supreme Court's gun control decision this week that the right to bear arms is inextricably intertwined with black freedom. We need a new organization to make it happen.

·                                 By: Joel Dreyfuss | Posted: July 3, 2010 at 6:16 AM

ThinkStock.com

I'm starting a new organization, and I'm inviting all African Americans to join. It will be called the American Rifle Association. Yes, it will be an organization for all blacks who love guns and all those opposed to gun control. (And of course, to avoid any accusations of discrimination, the organization will be open to people of all races who want to hang out with a lot of African Americans who carry guns.)

I'm calling it the ARA because the National Rifle Association already exists. Traditionally, black organizations called themselves "National" when a white-only "American" equivalent existed. For example, there's the black National Medical Association and the formerly white-only American Medical Association. But we also switched up if the mainstream group was already "National," like the black American Tennis Association, formed when the National Lawn Tennis Association was segregated. You get the idea.

I've been inspired by U.S. Supreme Court Clarence Thomas' spirited defense of the right of African Americans to own guns. That's right: Justice Thomas, who rarely has much to say in predictably joining the court's conservative majority, came out, ahem, guns blazing on the importance of guaranteeing black Americans the right to bear arms in the recent decision in McDonald v. City of Chicago. As Courtland Milloy noted in his Washington Post column earlier this week, Justice Thomas sounds almost like a Black Panther. In his separate concurring opinion in the case, Justice Thomas listed (pdf) efforts before the Civil War to deny slaves and free blacks the right to bear arms. He even makes the point that an opponent of the 14th Amendment warned that to "[m]ake a colored man a citizen of the United States" would guarantee to him, inter alia, "a defined status ... a right to defend himself and his wife and children; a right to bear arms."

Someone less kindly than I am would say that Justice Thomas played the race card on this one, but that wouldn't be fair. After all, the last time he referred to race at all was during his confirmation hearings in 1991, when he fended off the accusations of sexual harassment and charges that he was obsessed with pornography. At that time, the future Justice Thomas famously -- and brilliantly -- declared that he was being subjected to a "high-tech lynching," effectively shutting down that embarrassing line of inquiry.

But let's put all that aside for now. I don't want to upset Justice Thomas. I'm hoping he'll agree to be the honorary chairman of the American Rifle Association. I can see him joining a stellar board of directors made up of distinguished African Americans who have been unfairly persecuted because of unduly restrictive and discriminatory gun laws. My next target for the board is P Diddy, who was accused of pulling a gun in a nightclub when he was still hanging out with Jennifer Lopez under his old Puff Daddy alias. Then there's Gilbert Arenas, the former Washington Wizards star, who did 30 days for waving guns around in the team locker room. Just waving them around, for gosh sake. I would want Lil Wayne to sit on the board too. Showing the injustice of making a rapper at the peak of his career serve a one-year sentence just for carrying a gun could do wonders for our fundraising abilities. Maybe that would inspire rapper Ja Rule to join as well; in August he goes to trial on felony gun-possession charges. Think of the rap song they could collaborate on, with P Diddy producing, to help us raise money.

I'm also thinking about former New York Giants star Plaxico Burress for the board. Yeah, I know, he shot himself in the leg with his own gun. But that's exactly why we need the American Rifle Association. All those accidental shootings and drive-bys are the result of a lack of weapons discipline. The black community used to get proper training in the use of guns by being in the military. But with today's all-volunteer army, African Americans are less likely to get that valuable training. And I think that has a lot to do with why guns keep going off and innocent children get shot so often.

My dream is to set up ARA chapters in every large and small city across the country with a significant black population. We will offer African Americans proper training in buying and using guns. I think the possibilities for growth are great. We can add shooting activities to black family reunions, where dads and moms and kids can learn the safe way to care for and handle AR-15s, Uzis, AK-47s and other weapons that already widely available in America. And think of the deterrence value when thugs, muggers and petty criminals who normally prey on our community have to worry that Grandma or the old man who used to be such an easy target might be "carrying."

I think that once the heads of the NAACP and the National Urban League read Justice Thomas' stirring language tying black freedom to gun ownership, it's likely that we can get those organizations to add some red-blooded American activities to their annual conventions, like a deer hunt or a visit to a firing range to shoot off machine guns. Maybe we can do it right after the Sunday-morning prayer breakfast.

Now, I remember comedian Dick Gregory suggesting in the 1960s that the only way to get gun control in America was to start forming NRA chapters in the ghetto. But we're post-racial, aren't we? I can't see the NRA, GOP or the Tea Party opposing the American Rifle Association. We'll adopt a logo with an Uzi against a red-black-and-green background and an American flag. I can even see President Obama appearing at the first ARA convention, lifting that MAC-10 above his head and declaring, "They'll have to take this out of my cold, dead hands!"

Joel Dreyfuss is managing editor of The Root. Follow him on Twitter.

Don't Blame Ghana!

Commentators are unfair when they say African teams failed at the World Cup. A lot of perennial soccer powers left the tournament long before the Black Stars.

By: Edwin Okong'o | Posted: July 2, 2010 at 11:28 PM

Sports commentators and pundits would like us to think that Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan went from hero to villain in a second, when he missed a last-minute penalty against Uruguay Friday and his team lost. You might think everything Gyan did for Ghana and Africa in this World Cup -- including scoring the goal that eliminated the United States -- went down the drain in an instant.

Ghana's loss wasn't the worst of the tournament so far. Brazil, the five-time World Cup champions and tournament favorites, began their samba dance back to Rio De Janeiro only a couple of hours earlier. And former world champions France and England and defending champions Italy didn't make it as far as Ghana. Yet sports commentators want us to believe that Ghana's exit from South Africa was more devastating than that of the soccer powerhouses.

"Devastation for Ghana's Gyan," a Wall Street Journal headline proclaimed. (Compare that to "Dutch Mount Historic Comeback Against Brazil," the headline that followed the tournament's greatest upset earlier in the day).

Throughout the tournament, pundits kept reminding us that Africa had "a disappointing performance." Ghana, they said over and over again, was Africa's only hope. And why was it important to keep hope alive? Because this was the first time Africa has hosted the World Cup, and, for reasons unknown to me, a country from the continent was supposed to win the cup. "A great disappointment for the continent," ESPN commentator Ian Darke said after Ghana's loss. "What a heartbreak for Asamoah Gyan, Ghana and Africa."

But was this really supposed to be Africa's World Cup?

Although we Africans were elated when FIFA announced that the World Cup was coming to our soil, very few of us expected any of our teams to be among the last four, let alone win the tournament. Of course we're proud and ambitious. We went into the tourney just like every one of the other 31 teams, promising to give it our best and hoping for a miracle. But most of us were realistic. We knew that even with divine intervention, we'd still need more help. In fact, I know many Africans who supported African teams but put their money on foreign teams.

Pundits might say that we had a mediocre performance but we Africans know that our players put up a great fight against elite soccer nations. Our boys beat Serbia, and held Portugal and Mexico. Samuel Eto'o scored against the Netherlands, who decapitated Brazil. And, oh, it's our Bafana Bafana (South Africa) that sent France packing! And Ghana put up biggest World Cup fight we've seen so far.

What the pundits don't know is that, unlike their opponents, many African players in the World Cup did not grow up in heavily-funded soccer academies. For instance, Didier Drogba, the Ivory Coast striker and one of the world's best, did not start playing professionally until he was 21. Despite playing with a fractured arm, Drogba scored against Brazil. (Talk about the fighting spirit of a wounded lion).  African teams are full of such late bloomers.

But the world expects them to compete with the best and shine. That's an African story that goes beyond sports. African countries, the few that have been independent for a little over half a century and are struggling with major hardships, are expected to be at par economically, democratically -- and now athletically -- with older, wealthier nations.

Few critics ever look at the progress Africa has made. Many African countries have shoestring budgets but have churned out millions of highly educated people who can't find jobs. For example, Kenya, my country of birth, had a severe shortage of teachers fifty years ago. (My father was hired to teach in the 1960s, even though he dropped out of high school after one year). But today, less than 50 years after independence, Kenya exports teachers. And those like me who left Africa to study abroad have gone on to compete and excel in countries where children have more educational resources than we had growing up.

Could we look at where the U.S. was 50 years after independence? I'm not suggesting that we should wait 200-plus years. I'm just as frustrated as the next guy by Africa's governance issues, but I know it will take more than 50 years to keep clean a house that has been inundated for centuries. And as the continent grows, so will its soccer.

African players are already so important to European clubs that managers wish the Africa Cup of Nations tournament (our continent's "World Cup") would move to the summer so powerful European teams would not lose key players during the winter, the beginning of the second and most important phase of European soccer.

Asamoah Gyan and Ghana showed the resilience of the Africans. He and other African players will continue to flourish in European leagues. They will come back to once again carry the weight of Africa on their shoulders. They will show the world that an African heart is hard to break.

Edwin Okong'o is a Kenyan-born writer and stand-up comedian who lives in Oakland, California.

At Essence, Bill Cosby Speaks on Education, Responsibility

July 4, 2010 at 10:58 am 

Bill Cosby (Photo courtesy Susan Poag/The Times-Picayune)

*Bill Cosby used his trademark humor and storytelling style to chide hundreds gathered Saturday at the Essence Music Festival’s empowerment seminars into talking to their children about real life and, in the process, keeping it simple.

“We’ve got to lay it out for them,” Cosby said when asked about how to help cut the rate of teen pregnancies in America. “Let’s tell them about life. You’re 14 and having sex. OK. So, what kind of job do you have?”

Cosby, who received a standing ovation when he walked on stage, said the African-American community must get involved if change is going to occur in any area.

“Apathy is strangling you to death,” he said, to rousing applause and a few ‘Amens’ from the crowd.

“Get up. Stay on the scene. Be a studying machine,” he said, drawing from soul singer James Brown’s lyrics.

“We need to start getting into people’s business. We need to say, ‘Hey, I’m your cousin man, I’m your brother, I’m your sister and I don’t care if you don’t talk to me anymore but your teenage daughter ain’t got no business dressing like that!’ Tell them.”

Timothy G. Simmons, of Houston, said he enjoyed Cosby's talk.

"That's what we need to hear, plain, straight talk. We need to remember that children are just that - children. And we need to stop treating them as equals," said Simmons, whose five children range in age from 40 to 19.

"I never thought that I'd need to teach them about earning a living," he said. "But if you don't teach them about money, about careers, how do they know? I'm going to pass that on to my grandchildren. Dr. Cosby did an excellent job on bringing that idea home."

Cosby, whose support of education is well-known, asked what it is going to take to get people to reclaim their communities. "How long do we wait? When are you going to wake up? We can't keep blaming people and expecting people to fix it. This has to stop."

The moderator asked Cosby how to keep children out of harm's way after reeling off a string of statistics, such as the thousands of young people killed by gun violence.

"Look under the mattress," he said of hiding places for guns. "He don't pay rent. Treat them as a child and remind them that you're the one raising them."

He then told the story of how a woman asked her son one day where he had been. "The boy said 'uh, uh, no where.' She asked him again, where he'd been. Again, he said, 'uh, uh, no where. I ain't doing nothing.' She said, boy, where you been? Finally, he told her he was on the corner, hanging out.

"The woman looked at him and told him, 'If you're not in the picture, you can't be framed."

Cosby appeared during an all-day summit on education .

"He broke it down in layman's terms in a very funny way about a call to action," said Joy McKenzie of Los Angeles. "I'm definitely going to talk to my nieces and nephews about some of the things he discussed."

The Rev. Al Sharpton addressed the audience earlier in the day, telling them that a 50 percent dropout rate in other communities would not be tolerated. "We need to stop playing games with education in our communities," he said.

Sharpton said a new racism harming African-Americans "is the racism of low expectations."

"Quit telling a child what not to expect and expect them to be everything that we want them to be," he said. "We must tell our children that they are not responsible for the environment they were born in, but they have the ability to reach whatever goal they set and we must give them the tools to get there."

Tiger Bogeys Way to 7-Over-Par Round at Pro-Am in Ireland

7/05/2010 5:37 PM ET By FanHouse Newswire

Tiger Woods' Wife Lands a Cool $100 Million: What's the Real Price?

By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 2nd 2010 5:00PM

Damon Evans: Anti-Drunk Driving Spokesman Charged With DUI

By Paul Shepard on Jul 2nd 2010 11:38AM

"Do as I say, not as I do."

The real hypocrites oath will forever be linked to University of Georgia Athletic Director Damon Evans, who got busted for drunk driving after cutting an anti-drunk-driving public service announcement for the university.

In the videotaped message, Evans tells fans who attend Georgia Bulldog football games, "Don't drink and drive and don't let your friends drink and drive, because if you drink and drive, you lose."

Evans was pulled over in his BMW earlier this week and arrested for DUI. He refused to take a breathalyzer test.

A female companion was also taken into custody and arrested for disorderly conduct. Evans apologized to the university for bringing "a black cloud" over the program, but he might have to save his most heartfelt mea culpa for his wife, Kerri.

Evans recently signed a five-year contract that increased his annual salary to $550,000. My guess is that unless he has serious alcohol problems, he is going to fly the straight and narrow path from now on.

Pregnant Alicia Keys falls on stage during concert

July 4, 3:49 PM Cleveland Celebrity Headlines Examiner Amanda Scheffler

Pregnant Alicia Keys falls on stage at Essence Music Festival.

AP

Alicia Keys who has recently confirmed her pregnancy fell while on stage in New Orleans this week. According to online reports Keys fell while singing and dancing on stage wearing four inch heels.

Alicia Keys reportedly fell while performing at the Essence Music Festival in Louisiana. A witness told Media Takeout that Keys had been wearing high heels and had trouble keeping her balance through the duration of the performance.

"She had on high heels and never seemed to have her balance all night. And as she was walking across the stage she slipped and fell," revealed the insider.

It was confirmed that Alicia Keys fall wasn't a hard one, thankfully since the singer has confirmed that she is expecting a child with her boyfriend Swizz Beatz. Keys is five months pregnant.

According to offbeat.com: "Keys took an awkward tumble during her opening "Love Is Blind" song. She stumbled backwards, then fell head over heels with her legs in the air. Though she bounced right back up, the crowd let out an audible gasp and the Superdome became full of concern for the rest of her set."

Proud Ghana welcomes Black Stars home

Mon Jul 5, 2010 8:40pm EDT

By Kwasi Kpodo

ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghanaians turned out in their thousands to cheer their soccer team's arrival home late on Monday, spraying their jet with water cannons and rolling out the red carpet for the World Cup's surprise quarter-finalists.

The 'Black Stars' matched pioneers Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002) in reaching the last eight, but spurned a golden chance to become Africa's first semi-finalists when they squandered a last-minute spot-kick against Uruguay.

Striker Asamoah Gyan's missed penalty after a handball on the line denied Ghana a goal with both teams tied at 1-1, sending the match into a penalty shoot-out which Uruguay won 4-2.

There was little bitterness among the revelers at the airport, however, many of whom had draped themselves in the country's national colors of green, gold and red.

"The Stars fought gallantly, not only making Ghana proud, but the entire African continent," said Felicia Acheampong, a 53-year-old teacher who was part of the celebration.

Huge crowds had flooded the airport hours before the team landed, blasting vuvuzelas, singing and drumming in a carnival atmosphere.

Tony Bakah, a 42-year-old man blowing a red, gold and green vuvuzela, had nicknamed his newborn baby 'Olele', Ghanaians' affectionate tag for goalkeeper Richard Kingson.

"It's a way of remembering the performance of the Stars," he said.   Continued...

Ghana, whose chutzpah at the continent's first World Cup won many admirers, were Africa's sole hope after Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria and hosts South Africa were knocked out in the group stage.

"We did our best for Ghana and Africa, but luck was not on our side," team captain Stephen Appiah told well-wishers at the airport.

"I am not a prophet, but I want to say that that we will qualify for the next World Cup in 2014.

"We will be battle-ready as title contenders."

Former Justice Attorney Set to Testify in New Black Panther Case

By Eric Shawn

Published July 05, 2010

A former Justice official who claims the administration backed off a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party for racial reasons is set to testify Tuesday before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. 

The testimony from J. Christian Adams, who resigned from the Justice Department last month in protest of the administration's handling of the case, comes after he made a series of explosive allegations during an interview with Fox News last week. He said the administration abandoned an open-and-shut case of voter intimidation and that Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez gave false testimony before the commission in May. 

Adams claims the administration has failed to prosecute non-whites when it comes to voting intimidation cases and that the New Black Panther incident demonstrates that. 

"I don't think the department or the fine people who work there are corrupt, but in this particular instance, to abandon law-abiding citizens and abet wrongdoers constitutes corruption," Adams told Fox News. 

The case stems from an incident on Election Day in 2008 in Philadelphia, where members of the New Black Panther Party were videotaped in front of a polling place, dressed in military-style uniforms and allegedly hurling racial slurs while one brandished a night stick. 

The Bush Justice Department brought the first case against three members of the group, accusing them in a civil complaint of violating the Voter Rights Act. The Obama administration initially pursued the case, winning a default judgment in federal court in April 2009 when the Black Panther members did not appear in court. But then the administration moved to dismiss the charges the following month after getting one of the New Black Panther members to agree to not carry a "deadly weapon" near a polling place until 2012. The department boasted that justice had been served. 

But Adams, the former administration lawyer, accused the Justice Department of not continuing the case for political and racial reasons. 

Adams called the case "a slam dunk," telling Fox News that "nobody thought there was any doubt that this was the clearest case of voter intimidation that I've seen since I've been practicing law." 

The Justice Department disagrees, saying it enforces voting rights laws equally. In a written statement, the department questioned the motives of Adams, now an attorney in Virginia and a blogger for Pajamas Media. 

"It is not uncommon for attorneys with the department to have good faith disagreements about the appropriate course of action in a particular case, although it is regrettable when a former department attorney distorts the facts and makes baseless allegations to promote his or her agenda," the statement said. 

But Bartle Bull, who was a poll watcher in Philadelphia in 2008, doesn't buy the Justice Department denials. 

"I find it deeply offensive," Bull said. "I know people who died over these issues, like Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. If we can't defend their legacy, it's shameful to us and this administration." 

Bull is a prominent New York Democrat and longtime political adviser. He was Robert F. Kennedy's New York campaign manager, went to the south in the 1960s to protect the voting rights of black voters and just came back from Afghanistan where he traveled with the troops. 

He says the administration's actions amount to protecting the New Black Panthers. 

"If Americans can't vote honestly, and the government doesn't protect their right to vote, we don't live in a democracy. Last year Obama complained when the government in Afghanistan did not run the election properly. What about Pennsylvania?" he said, claiming the president "violated his oath of office."

Bull has already testified before the Civil Rights Commission, and the commissioners also want to hear from Christopher Coates, the former chief of the Justice Department's voting section who has since been transferred to the U.S. attorney's office in South Carolina. But the commission claims the Justice Department is blocking Coates from testifying about why the case was dropped. 

Bull said that in 2008, one of the Black Panthers turned to him and said "now you will know what it means to be ruled by the black man, cracker." 

Condoleeza Rice Backing Up Aretha Franklin on Piano for Philadelphia Gig

By Bridget Bland on Jun 30th 2010 8:08PM


A new meaning of R-E-S-P-E-C-T will take form as former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice starts gearing up for her next high-profile gig.

This time, she's out of the political realm and joining forces with the Queen of Soul.

Since serving under President George W. Bush and being succeeded by Hillary Clinton, the Birmingham, Ala., native has returned to Stanford University, where she is a professor and the Thomas and Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institute.

On July 27, Aretha Franklin will perform at Philadelphia's Mann Center for Performing Arts with the Philadelphia Orchestra. In addition to singing classical arias, she will be joined by Rice for two songs.

The classically trained pianist, who previously performed for Queen Elizabeth II and alongside famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, will join the internationally renowned soul diva for her staples 'Say a Little Prayer' and 'Natural Woman.'

Franklin, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, previously performed at President Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony but is reportedly eager for the chance to team up with Rice for the bipartisan event.

On working with Rice, the first black woman secretary of the state, Franklin, a 20-time Grammy Award winner said she "is a consummate classical pianist, and since I sing the arias, I thought that we could do something, a bipartisan effort for our favorite charities."

According to the Mann Center's website, the performance will benefit programs that support inner-city children, as well as its own education initiatives.

Janet Got Nasty at Essence & They Loved It!

Scroll down for video from her performance

July 3, 2010 at 11:55 am

Janet Jackson performing at the 2010 Essence Festival

*Janet Jackson enthralled the Essence Music Festival audience Friday, kept them on their feet for more than two hours and reminded fans why seeing her in concert was worth waiting two years.

From the opening notes of “The Pleasure Principle” to “Control” to “Rhythm Nation,” the Grammy Award-winning singer enticed, teased and brought her fans on a journey through her No. 1 hits.

“She was unbelievable,” said Ed Downs of Miami. “It was definitely worth the wait. I’m happy to see her make a comeback. It was impressive.”

Jackson marked her return by closing the festival’s first night inside the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. It was her first time at the festival, which runs through Sunday.

Former NBA player Anferenee Hardaway called Jackson’s performance “absolutely perfect,” and said no one could tell she had been off the concert circuit for any length of time.

“She definitely gets better with age,” he said, smiling.

Fans got a glimpse of Jackson’s new, sassy, short-cropped hair and her signature, shapely figure on the finale show of American Idol where she rocked classics like “Again” and “Nasty” and her latest release, “Nothing,” from the soundtrack of the movie, “Why Did I Get Married Too?,” which she also starred in.

But near the end of her show Friday, they were treated with even more as she depicted a risque, S&M scene with a male participant from the audience, whose hands and arms were strapped into a straight jacket as Jackson – in a flesh-toned body suit – worked him over, whip in hand.

He mouthed, “Thank you,” and couldn’t take his eyes off her, getting roars of approval, looks of envy and applause from the crowd.

"I loved it," said Rose Ellerbee of New York. "It was one of the hottest shows I've seen and then she brought back so many memories. She didn't lose a beat."

Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications Inc., was as excited as anyone to hear Jackson in person. She said festival organizers had invited Jackson numerous times during the last 15 years and this year she finally accepted.

"Prayer works," Ebanks said laughing.

The festival is celebrating the magazine's 40th anniversary this year and Ebanks said they wanted to do so by putting the spotlight on strong, powerful female artists. In addition to Jackson, the lineup includes Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige, Jill Scott, Alicia Keys, Monica, Keri Hilson, Chrisette Michele, Lalah Hathaway, Melanie Fiona, Estelle, Ledisi, Laura Izibor and New Orleans' own Irma Thomas.

"It means a great deal for me to be in the company of such wonderful women, women who I have the pleasure of knowing personally," Jackson said in an interview before her performance. "I'm especially honored to be able to play on a stage that also hosts Gladys Knight. She watched me grow up and I remember her being around the Motown family when I was a kid. It's definitely an honor."

Jackson, 44, said she has wanted to come to the festival previously but a jam-packed schedule didn't allow it.

"It didn't really permit me this time either, but because I really wanted to do it, we've worked it in," she said.

Jackson also is preparing for another movie collaboration with actor-director Tyler Perry, starring in his upcoming film adaptation, "For Colored Girls." She plays the "Red" character in the film, which is based on Ntozake Shange's 1975 Tony Award-nominated play, "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf."

"I'm finally living my dream of acting," said Jackson, who also starred in Perry's film, "Why Did I Get Married?".

"Don't get me wrong, I'm very thankful for all that God has bestowed upon me as far as singing is concerned, but I never thought I would be a singer," she said. "My father wanted me to sing. I wanted to act. And, now, I'm finally living that dream."

Still, Jackson said she has no plans to stop performing or making music but does see writing and developing scripts in her future. "I'm really drawn to the action stuff and I love sci-fi. That really drives me crazy," she said.

The role of "author" also soon will be attached to her name. "True You," a book chronicling Jackson's lifelong struggles with weight and self-esteem, is set for release this fall.

"It's not an autobiography, but I tell anecdotes about my life from when I was a kid to now," she said. "Things happen that can affect a child for the rest of their life and I didn't want to just speak to adults about these issues, so the book reflects that."

Source: AP News

Report: Tiger to Pay Record $750M Divorce Settlement

July 1, 2010 at 08:33 am

*Tiger Woods has just set another record, and it has nothing to do with golf.

The athlete now has the distinction of paying out the biggest divorce settlement ever seen in a celebrity split — as Elin Nordegren, 30, stands to pocket a record $750 million, The Sun reported Wednesday.

Also part of the deal…Tiger is banned from letting his future girlfriends near their two children, 3-year-old daughter Sam and 1-year-old Charlie. In return, Elin can never publicly speak out over his alleged flings with socialite Rachel Uchitel, reality star Jaimee Grubbs, porn queen Joslyn James and the countless others.

According to The Sun, Nordegren got the amount she originally sought after her lawyers proved Woods, 34, was worth much more than the $1billion she thought. Her friend explained: “Elin’s legal team have done a great job digging up all sorts of assets. The price of the huge sum is her silence: no interviews, tell-all books, or TV appearances about this for the rest of her life — even if Tiger dies first — or she’ll lose the lot.”

The friend continued: “Everything’s signed. Elin is ready to file for divorce at Orlando County Court. She expects to in the next seven days.”

According to The Sun, Nordegren gets sole physical custody of their kids but they will split legal custody. This means Woods will share decisions about their future — so Nordegren will not be able to permanently relocate them to her native Sweden. Woods will be allowed to see the kids for up to half of each week. He can renegotiate the custody agreement in five years.

Under the no-girlfriends deal, only married women not romantically linked to Woods will be allowed around the children — plus female members of staff known to Nordegren.

Video Refutes Vick’s Timeline in B’day Shooting; No Longer Ruled Out as Suspect

July 1, 2010 at 02:23 pm  

*Michael Vick has not been ruled out as a suspect or person of interest in the shooting at his birthday party last week — now that surveillance footage from the venue shows he was indeed in the vicinity at the time shots were fired.

Video from the Virginia Beach restaurant Guadalajara reportedly shows that the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback was not “long gone” before the shooting took place outside, as his lawyer had previously stated, but left the venue just three minutes before the shooting took place.

Guadalajara spokesman Allen Fabijan told ESPN’s Kelly Naqi that owners have given police video surveillance that shows Vick leaving the club three minutes before a gun sounded at about 2:10 a.m. last Friday.

Fabijan said police have asked the club not to release the video to media, but he allowed The Associated Press to view the grainy footage on Wednesday.

Per the AP…

Vick’s face is not discernible; a man wearing white that Fabijan said is Vick appears moving toward a parked car at 2:04 a.m. ET. A crowd quickly gathers, and Fabijan said Vick accommodated fans trying to get an autograph, to pose for a photo or to shake hands — so much so that a club security guard tried to disperse the crowd.

The waiting car pulls away at 2:07 a.m. in the direction of the eventual shooting. Numerous people are seen lingering in front of the club for several minutes until, at 2:10:55, they suddenly appear to duck for cover.

Police spokesman Adam Bernstein, who said authorities have a copy of the video, said the first 911 call was received at 2:11.

Bernstein had said previously that Vick wasn’t a suspect in the case. However, it appears the Virginia Beach police department is taking a new look at Vick after viewing the video and taking witness testimony, including Vick’s.

Fabijan said Vick was not involved in any altercations during the hour he was inside, or immediately outside, the restaurant/nightclub.

Vick, accompanied by his lawyer Larry Woodward, was interviewed by police on Monday. Police say Vick is not a suspect and have not identified the shooting victim. Woodward, however, told the AP that it was Quanis Phillips, a co-defendant in Vick’s dogfighting case.

Woodward said Vick left the restaurant at Town Center shopping center at least 10 minutes and perhaps as much as 20 minutes before the shooting.

Woodward stood by his timeline when contacted by the Daily Press.

Michael Jackson’s Eldest Son Has Dad’s Vitiligo?

July 1, 2010 at 09:26 am

*New paparazzi pics of Michael Jackson’s eldest son Prince Michael I are being touted as proof that he is indeed the King of Pop’s biological child.

The three Jackson kids were photographed on the beach during a recent trip to Hawaii and 13-year-old Prince Michael I appears to have white patches of skin under his arms.

Based on the photos alone, at least two British tabloids were the first to speculate that Prince Michael’s white patches are vitiligo, which his famous father has always claimed to have.

Although skeptics believed Michael Jackson was simply bleaching his skin through the years in an attempt to look white, the singer’s autopsy confirmed that he suffered from the hereditary condition, which causes the skin to lose pigment. In previous interviews, Jackson has said the disease was passed down from his father’s side of the family.

“I Love Being Black” Reaches 1 Million Facebook Fans

LOS ANGELES / The Black Report / – More than one million Facebook fans love being black and they are causing a web-frenzy over a popular Facebook page. On Sunday, June 27, the fans hit the one million mark.

The ilovebeingblack fan page on Facebook has reignited the Black is Beautiful movement like a virtual firestorm, taking its message of empowerment to the web. The site is devoted to cultural awareness through fashion, capturing the hearts of 1,001,010 Facebook fans worldwide.  With its I love being Black apparel line, the company brings a fresh meaning to James Brown’s I’m Black and I’m Proud anthem for a post-Civil Rights generation. The company’s positive motif is part of a larger movement to inspire and uplift the Black community.

Why Can't Black Writers Escape the Literary Ghetto?

While a few authors have made it into mainstream literature, many can't escape the publishing industry's narrow category of African-American literature.

By: Washington Post | Posted: July 1, 2010 at 6:44 AM

By Bernice L. McFadden

Kathryn Stockett's novel The Help, published by a Penguin Books imprint, sold 1 million books within a year of publication. Her novel has gained accolades and awards, including the prestigious South African Boeke Prize. The Help is being adapted for the screen; at the helm of production is the Academy Award-winning director and producer Steven Spielberg.

Sue Monk Kidd's best-selling novel The Secret Life of Bees, also published by Penguin Books, is another story set in the South with African American characters. Kidd's novel garnered similar fame, fortune and recognition.

Kathryn Stockett and Sue Monk Kidd are living the dream of thousands of authors, myself included. But they are not the first white women to pen stories of the black American South and be lauded for their efforts. In 1928 Julia Peterkin wrote a novel, Scarlet Sister Mary, for which she received the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. Stockett's and Kidd's novels tackle racism and celebrate the power of friendship and acceptance. Both novels were given beautiful covers that did not reveal the race of the characters. Both books were marketed to black and white audiences.

Mel Gibson accused of racist, sexist rant against ex-girlfriend

Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva arrive at the "Edge Of Darkness" Premiere in Paris Thursday Feb. 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon) Source: Herald Sun

MEL Gibson is under pressure to apologise for reportedly branding black Americans "rapist ni*****" during an obscene attack on his ex-girlfriend.

In his latest vile outburst, the 54-year-old actor attacked his former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva's choice of clothes, saying: "if you get raped by a pack of niggers it will be your fault", according to US reports.

Two separate US celebrity websites claim to have knowledge of the tirade, contained on secret audio tapes that Grigorieva is said to have made as her three-year relationship with the superstar fell apart.

She and Gibson are fighting over the custody of their eight-month-old daughter Lucia, who was born just seven months after Gibson and his Australian wife of 28 years Robyn Moore filed for divorce.

Radaronline claims to have heard the tapes, which are expected to form part of the his and Grigorieva's secret custody battle.

"You're an embarrassment to me," Mel said."You look like a ... pig in heat and if you get raped by a pack of niggers it will be your fault."

TMZ claimed he also called her a string of insulting names on the tapes, which have been submitted to a court and sealed from the public.

Gibson's representative had no comment on the tapes, except to say he could not verify their authenticity.

The couple have filed restraining orders against one another as part of an increasingly hostile dispute over Gibson's access to his daughter.

Russian Grigorieva, 40, has accused Gibson of knocking out her teeth during an argument, a claim the actor denied.

Neither Gibson or Grigorieva have publicly addressed the allegations of violence or the reports of his racist attack, but Gibson's lawyer Stephen Kolodny has denied Grigorieva's claim that his mega star client was not doing enough to support his daughter financially.

The drama follows Gibson's 2006 rant against Jews.

When Malibu police arrested him for drink driving, Gibson said: "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.

The anti-Semitic comments were condemned by religious leaders and high-powered members of Hollywood, but in the years since, Gibson has worked hard to repair his battered reputation.

The latest tirade quickly drew fire from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

NAACP Los Angeles president Leon Jenkins said it was unfortunate Gibson "has made his millions off of women, African-Americans and Jews'', but harboured "such racist, sexist, and anti-Semitic feeling against people who have admired and respected him for decades''.

"An apology is insufficient given his history of racism, sexism and anti-Semitism.

"No amount of words will change his image as an out-of-date and out-of-control racist. ``Only by a sustained period of positive acts can his legacy be redeemed,'' he said.

Gibson's Australian wife of 30 years, Robyn Moore, filed for divorce in April last year citing irreconcilable differences.

Obama, the Ice Man

The president was cool rather than hot in dumping General McChrystal. Get used to it. It's his operating temperature.

By: Jack White | Posted: June 29, 2010 at 5:51 AM

Getty Images

I wish that last week Barack Obama had not accepted General Stanley McChrystal's resignation as commander of the war in Afghanistan.  I wish that instead the president had picked up the phone and unceremoniously fired the blabbermouth military man as soon as he digested the insulting and insubordinate comments uttered by McChrystal and his staff to a reporter from Rolling Stone. If ever a military man was asking to be given the boot, it was McChrystal.  If ever Obama needed to kick an ass it was his. If ever a politician needed to go with his gut, it was then.

Characteristically, though, Obama managed to turn a no-brainer into a brainer.  Instead of sending McChrystal packing, Obama announced accorded him the dignity of allowing him to resign, adding a statement so full of praise for the wayward commander that it almost sounded as if McChrystal was being promoted.  There wasn't a trace of the entirely justifiable righteous anger a commander-in-chief should have felt after a senior officer flouted a direct order to be keep his mouth shut, issued months  ago after a  previous bout of  verbal diarrhea.  Obama made the right decision, all right, but it was somehow emotionally unsatisfying.

But that's the way Obama rolls.  Not a trace of emotion. Not a trace of instinct.  Entirely rational.  Obama -- with due deference to Jerry Butler -- is truly the Ice Man.  Expecting him to make a gut decision is as ridiculous as asking a horse to defecate ice cream.  It's just not in his nature.  He comes across as all head and no heart.

Such dispassion is not what we expect from political leaders -- especially black ones who, no matter how brainy they actually may have been, have often based their public appeals on a churchy kind of charisma.  Obama's lack of fire helps to explain why leftist critics like Glen Ford of blackagenda.com get so worked up in their denunciations of him.  Ford wrote this not long ago about Obama's workmanlike response to the oil spill in the Gulf: "When history passes its verdict on the current era, she will not assign much import to the advent of the First Black President of the United States. Rather, history will mark 2010 as the year a servile political operative in the White House exposed the seabed to deep defilement by the oil colossus, from which the world never fully recovered."

I couldn't disagree more.  As I said in an essay for The Root on the occasion of Obama's first year in office: "Part of the frustration some of us feel is rooted in Obama's conciliatory approach to governing. He is the precise opposite of a traditional black leader -- a jelly-maker, not a tree-shaker, in Jesse Jackson's memorable phrase. His default stance is compromise, not confrontation. Such behavior makes Obama look both weak and cynical. We sometimes want him to be angry and unbending, not calm, cool and conniving. We want him to be a hero and, by his nature, he's anything but."

The need some of us feel for Obama to be a superhuman political force who can break the back of corporate power and deliver us into a post-corporate utopia  seems to underlie the creeping disappointment of  Obama critics like Ford.  This furious desire is both understandable and juvenile.  It matches up perfectly with the equally jejune demand from the right to "get our country back." Both sides are engaged in wish-fulfillment, not constructive politics.  Obama would be a fool to base his decisions on the mirror-image carping from the extremes.

Contrary to Ford's dire prediction, I think that when historians of the future assess Obama, they will not write him off as a servile collaborator with corporate power.  Nor will they define him as a revolutionary.  Instead they will see him as an unemotional incrementalist who, to modify a phrase, campaigned in poetry and governed not merely in prose, but in the fine print. I think they will see him as a leader who inherited a mess, who broke through on some issues such as health care  and long-overdue reforms of the financial system, but who, especially in foreign affairs,  was obliged to  carry  on many of the policies of his horrendous predecessor, albeit more  responsibly  and skillfully.  In short, Obama will be seen reformer who tried hard to rationalize   into reality the gauzy dreams that lofted him into the Oval Office and inevitably fell somewhat short.  A man, not a Superman. A good president, but not a great one.  And maybe, just maybe, the best we could do in these trying times.

Farrakhan Accuses Jews Of Hurting Blacks‎

By Paul Shepard on Jun 30th 2010 9:00PM

Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan has written to the leaders of several major U.S. Jewish institutions asking that they work to repair the damage he says they have done to black people for centuries.

The request is a return to Farrakhan's past public condemnations of Jewish people for what he has called long-standing crimes against black people.

But by writing to leading Jewish groups such as the Anti-Defamation League - which released copies of the letter to the news media - Farrakhan has turned up the volume in his decades-long crusade to confront Jewish leaders.

My question is exactly what Farrakhan hopes to accomplish with this latest move. He can't expect to win any reparations for what he believes are legitimate grievances against Jewish people.

Farrakhan also can't be looking to open any meaningful dialogue with Jewish leaders, who dismissed him as a raving anti-Semite a long time ago.

Perhaps Farrakhan, 77, who has been out of the mainstream media spotlight for years, simply felt the itch to galvanize his supporters and again confront a truth he believes has gone untold for too long.

Farrakhan has long ago cemented his place in our history as an intelligent, complex, fascinating and divisive leader of black people. His uncompromising messages of self-help and self-reliance are exactly the tonic for what ills black America. He is also right to point out that white racism has laid the groundwork for much of our suffering.

But it is every time he singles out and targets the Jewish community for his wrath, it leaves me screaming "WHY?"

Even if you accept every word of Farrakhan's version of how Jewish people have treated blacks, have no other people of the world treated blacks poorly? And don't we as black people bear some responsibility for our condition today?

Please excuse me if I choose to tune out. Anyone who has observed American race relations to any degree in the past years has seen this show before.

Farrakhan makes a statement attacking Jewish treatment of blacks, Jewish leaders angrily react and denounce Farrakhan as anti-Semitic. Then, after a brief stare-down both sides return to their corners until the next outbreak of hostilities.

Nothing accomplished - nothing gained.

Photographs reveal secret life of urban Africa

By Mark Tutton for CNN

June 11, 2010 -- Updated 0934 GMT (1734 HKT)

London, England (CNN) -- Most people are used to seeing images of African refugee camps or its sun-parched savannah. Far less common are sights of the continent's bustling cities or varied architecture.

But one architect is challenging the stereotypes with an exhibition showcasing the continent's diverse and often-ignored urban architecture.

David Adjaye -- a London-based architect, born in Tanzania -- has produced a collection of more than 3,000 photographs from 52 of Africa's 53 capitals. For those who haven't seen those cities first hand, his "Urban Africa" exhibition may come as something of a surprise.

The images show the sheer variety of building styles in Africa. Some cities' architecture is clearly influenced by their surroundings -- like the sand-colored houses in Mauritania's Saharan capital of Nouakchott.

Others are influenced more by history than geography. The Eritrean capital of Asmara features examples of art deco and fascist-influenced styles -- a hangover from years of Italian occupation.

I realized there was a cavity in the collective consciousness of urban life in Africa.
--David Adjaye, Architect

Politics also plays a part in Africa's architecture, with many capitals showing an explosion in modernist civic buildings and monuments in the years immediately following their independence.

Adjaye, who was recently commissioned to design the National Museum of African American History and Culture, in Washington D.C., said photographing African capitals was initially a way to get back a childhood spent traveling around the continent.

But it grew into a formalized project when it became apparent many Westerners knew little about African cities.

"I realized there was a cavity in the collective consciousness of urban life in Africa," he said.

"Of course Africans knew, and don't think anything of it, but maybe the rest of the planet didn't have the visual data."

The "Urban Africa" exhibition is at London's Design Museum until September 5.

It has its own Flickr group -- "Your Urban Africa" -- where members of the public are invited to post their own images of African cities.

Submissions show everything from splendid civic buildings in Lagos, Nigeria, to slums in Cape Coast, Ghana.

From the July 2010 Scientific American Mind

Color TV: Nonverbal Behavior Toward Characters of Different Races Affects Viewers' Prejudices

On-screen body language toward black characters can increase unconscious prejudice in viewers

By Valerie Ross   

Watching how black characters are treated on television can affect attitudes about race both consciously and unconsciously, new findings suggest. In a two-part study, researchers at Tufts University examined nonverbal behavior toward characters of different races on television shows, then tested how clips from these shows affected viewers’ prejudices.

First, the team found clips of mixed-race scenes from 11 popular TV shows with prominent black and white charac­ters. In each clip, they blocked out one character to hide his or her race, turned off the sound, then asked volunteers whether the blocked-out character was seen by the other characters in a positive or negative light. The researchers found that in nine of the 11 shows—Friday Night Lights, CSI, House, CSI: Miami, Scrubs, Greek, Heroes, Reno 911! and Grey’s Anatomy—viewers thought the actors’ body language and facial expressions were less favorable when they were responding to someone who was black. The only two shows without this bias were Bones and Rob and Big.

Then the researchers showed clips from all the shows, with the images restored to normal, to a new group of viewers who had no idea the study was about race. After watching clips in which black characters were treated less favorably than whites, the viewers’ conscious attitudes about race did not change. But they were faster to associate white people with positive words such as “laughter” and black people with negative words such as “failure”—a sign that this implicit bias had found its way from the TV screen into people’s behavior, the researchers say. After watching clips in which black characters were treated better than whites, however, viewers not only displayed less implicit bias toward blacks, they also showed improved conscious attitudes toward blacks as measured by a questionnaire.

Tiger Woods-Elin Nordegren Divorce Settlement Reportedly Final

Tiger Woods has reached a record divorce settlement with Elin Nordegren, according to a report by the London Sun.

Woods will pay his former wife between $750 million and $833 million, the report says, which would be the biggest payout ever seen in a high-profile divorce. In return, Nordegren, 30, can never publicly speak about reported affairs he had while they were married.

According to the deal, which is expected to be finalized soon, Nordegren gets complete custody of their children (3-year old daughter Sam and 1-year old son Charlie), but Woods gets to share in making decisions in their life.

Woods also has to keep his children away from his girlfriends or any other unmarried women that Nordegren does not know.

Report: Dr. Gates Arrest at Home Avoidable

June 30, 2010 at 12:03 pm

*An independent review of the confrontation between Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and the police sergeant who ended up carting him away in handcuffs could have ended more calmly had both taken advantage of opportunities to “ratchet down” the situation.

The review said “misunderstandings and failed communications” and a “certain degree of fear” each man had for the other led to the six-minute dispute.

Sgt. James Crowley arrested Dr. Gates for disorderly conduct at his Cambridge home July 16 while investigating a possible burglary. Gates alleged he was a victim of racial profiling. Charges were later dropped.

The conflict sparked a national debate on race relations, particularly when President Barack Obama said in a nationally-televised speech that Cambridge police “acted stupidly” in arresting Gates. Obama invited both men to the White House for a “beer summit.”

The situation at Gates’ home quickly escalated when it shouldn’t have, according to the review put together by a 12-member panel assembled in September. The panel was made up of law enforcement personnel, academics, and experts on race relations and conflict resolution, none of whom had direct ties to the Cambridge Police Department.

The report suggests that Crowley could have more clearly explained what he was doing and why he was doing it, especially after being shown Gates’ license and university ID. For his part, Gates could have used a more respectful tone to address the officer, the report found.

Neither man, in interviews with the panel, said he would have acted differently. The incident was a “textbook example of how a police officer and a member of the community can clash if they do not share a sense of responsibility,” according to the report.

Gates’ lawyer and fellow Harvard professor Charles Ogletree said while the report contained some “impressive recommendations about going forward,” he was disappointed that it left out contradictions between the police accounts of the call they got from a passer-by to report the incident and the actual transcript of her call. For example, the passer-by never mentioned that the people she saw on the porch of the home were black and never made any assumptions of criminality, Ogletree said.

He said it also plays down the fact that Gates was arrested after showing Crowley his license, with his address, to prove his identity.

“(Police) put an unreasonable burden on a citizen in what he should have done. He did everything he could have done,” Ogletree said, adding later that “(Gates) was amazingly outraged that the officer didn’t believe he was who he said he was.”

The panel made 10 recommendations for avoiding similar incidents in the future, including better training for police in de-escalating conflicts, as well as more outreach to the public and academic community to teach understanding of the police department’s job.

Aretha and Condi Link up for Philly Benefit

July 1, 2010 at 04:32 am

*Look who’s joining forces. Non other than lady Soul and Condi Baby. That’s right, Aretha Franklin and former Secretary of State, and pianist, Condoleezza Rice, are hooking up to do some good in the hood.

The two will play at Philadelphia’s Mann Center for the Performing Arts on July 27 in show that will feature Franklin’s music and classical composers.

Specifically, former Secretary of State Rice will accompany Franklin on piano for “Say A Little Prayer,” “Natural Woman,” selections from Mozart and more.

“(Condoleezza) Rice is a consummate classical pianist,” Franklin says in a statement, “and that since I sing the arias, I thought that we could do something, a bipartisan effort for our favorite charities.”

The venue says the performance is a benefit for programs that support inner city children and its own education initiatives.

X-Ray Pin-Ups -- Is It Porn?

Jun 17th 2010 By Brian Fairbanks

Japanese medical imaging supplier EIZO is not the type of corporation you'd normally expect to feature nude models in its advertisements. But not only is EIZO using naked people to hawk its wares, but it's using their sexy skeletons for the ads.

On top of that, and here's where we come in, they've created a pin-up calendar out of the whole thing. Does anyone else think of Kristanna Loken's seductive hunk of metal in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"?

Your phantom boner will be thrilled by the photos we have here -- although only you can answer the classic question: Is it porn?

The Recession's Long-Term Impact on Black Kids

Our children may be most vulnerable to damage from the economic downturn.

·                                 By: Sheree Crute | Posted: June 30, 2010 at 6:22 AM

ThinkStock.com

As adults wrestle with rising foreclosure rates and disappearing jobs, child-development experts are reporting that children may end up shouldering some of the most severe, long-lasting consequences of the recession of 2008, according to the Foundation for Child Development (FCD). Working with an index of 28 indicators of quality of life called the Overall Composite Child Well-Being Index (CWI), the foundation looked at seven key areas to see how the nation's children are bearing up under the stress of the recession and how they will do in years to come. The results show that kids from preschool to age 19 may have to fight the detrimental impact of America's financial crisis for much of their lives. African-American kids will be "harder hit than their white counterparts because a larger proportion of children of color live in poverty," the report states.

The CWI reveals that "virtually all of the progress made in family economic well-being since 1975 will be wiped out for many," as individuals, organizations and governments trim budgets. Kenneth C. Land, Ph.D., a professor of sociology and demography at Duke who conducted the research and wrote the CWI report, explains, "In order to measure the full impact of the recession, we looked at trend data from 1975 to 2008, then projected what may happen through 2012." The survey numbers revealed a host of challenges for children in middle- and lower-income families, "but in each category, the risks would be 1.5 percent to 2 percent higher for African-American children," he says.

Children Adrift

In almost every area measured -- health, community and family life, emotional well-being -- children have lost ground. Only educational attainment remained the same: frozen at 1975 levels. The most stunning numbers in the CWI report are those that assess poverty. "The percentage of children living below the poverty line is expected to peak at 21 percent in 2010, the highest rate in 20 years -- nearly 16 million kids. The rate of children living in extreme poverty (50 percent below the poverty line) is projected to climb 10.1 percent in 2010 to 7.41 million children," according to CWI figures.

"This situation will be particularly hard on African-American children because they were already disproportionately affected by poverty before the recession began," says Alvin Poussaint, M.D., an expert on children's mental health and a professor at Harvard, after reviewing the CWI at The Root's request. "What we have here is a series of tragedies waiting to happen," he adds, noting that we have yet to see the full effects of the social and emotional problems that 2008's economic woes will bring.

While few would argue that children don't suffer greatly when their parents lose jobs, there is some question about whether the report paints the full picture of what kids are facing. The CWI states, for example, that the principal, recession-related health problem for children will be obesity, since the "public safety net" of government-sponsored children's health insurance will protect against other ills. (Nearly 90 percent of kids in the United States have medical coverage.)

No doubt that insurance is a great help, but "there are many other barriers, such as culture and caregiver-related issues, to consider," says Christel Brellochs, director of health and mental health for the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Columbia University. "In addition, there are health issues beyond obesity that disproportionately impact children in low-income families, including diabetes [type 2 is higher in African-American children] and low rates of immunization."

Obesity is certainly a critical health issue -- especially for black children, 20 percent of whom are considered obese -- but singling it out may divert attention from other important problems. "Focusing on a child's weight status misses the big picture of what's really happening with their health," says Diana Becker Cutts, M.D., a pediatrician at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota and a researcher for Children's HealthWatch. "Childhood obesity numbers have been used as a very effective tool for people who are against public food-assistance programs," she says. "Yet there's very good research that shows that families who get food stamps eat a higher-quality diet," which translates into lower rates of obesity and better health.

Medical insurance also "does not ensure that a child's basic health needs are met," she adds. "Asthma is very high among poor children [the rate is 15 percent for black children -- three times that of white kids]. Because they have insurance, I can prescribe medications to relax their lungs, but if their home environment is filled with allergens or their parents can't afford to fill their prescriptions, insurance will not solve the problem," says Becker Cutts. "We can't really look at the impact of the recession and isolate just one hardship."

"The CWI also does not look at a range of mental health issues," Poussaint says, even though African-American children are overrepresented in situations that raise the risk of mental health problems -- such as foster care -- but less likely to have access to counseling, according to the NCCP.

The Need for Anchors in the Community

One other deeply disturbing trend highlighted in the CWI is the increasing alienation of young people who see no clear path to economic advancement. African-American kids -- who, the CWI reports, will experience an unemployment rate near 40 percent -- are particularly vulnerable. "It starts with the cuts we are seeing in prekindergarten programs around the country and extends to adolescents," Land says. "We are picking up increases in detached youth, teens who are not enrolled in school or employed. Without these social bonds, we may see upticks in violence and risky behaviors."

There was one bright spot in the CWI data: the role of the church in black communities. "We found that African-American children with higher levels of involvement in religious institutions were better off emotionally. [That involvement] served as a buffer against depression," says Land, underscoring what may be the most important message to be gathered from the CWI.

"The report should be a rallying cry to people who may be able to mentor children, help support community health programs, boys' and girls' clubs, and other activities," Poussaint says, "as well as a [reason] to model positive examples in the community, such as single parents who do a wonderful job raising their children. Even in these times, engaging kids in constructive activities and simply spending time with them can make a difference." Social connectedness, nurtured by families and community organizations, is the one type of wealth we can always give our children to sustain them through tough economic times.

Sheree Crute is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, N.Y.

President Obama: The Nation's First Female President?

·                                  

·                                 By The Buzz | Posted: June 30, 2010

Remember when people were making jokes about Bill Clinton being the nation's first black president because of his most deplorable acts -- womanizing, lying under oath, being raked over the coals for reasons some thought were irrelevant to his presidency? Comedians, Toni Morrison and black intellectuals felt quite free to utter those words. Now a columnist has taken aim at President Obama, invoking that joke, and likening him to a woman. The Washington Post's Kathleen Parker says, "If Bill Clinton was our first black president, as Toni Morrison once proclaimed, then Barack Obama may be our first woman president." Why? Because he seems to be "suffering a rhetorical-testosterone deficit when it comes to dealing with crises, with which he has been richly endowed." See what happens when you attribute the most base, stereotypical attributes to someone even in jest? Now it's a black, male president. Is it still funny?

NYPD Officer Acquitted of Assaulting Unarmed Man

By Jam Donaldson on Jun 29th 2010 3:07PM

In a case eerily similar to the Rodney King trial of 1992, the Associated Press is reporting that the New York police officer seen on videotape repeatedly hitting an unarmed, handcuffed Iraq war veteran with a baton -- and accused of lying to cover it up =- was acquitted by a jury Monday of all charges.

While officer David London burst into tears upon the reading of the verdict; relatives of the Army veteran he beat stormed out of the courtroom outraged.

London, 45, sobbed and thanked God and his family as he left the New York City courtroom and hugged supporters with tears rolling down his cheeks. He had said that he used justifiable and necessary force to subdue Walter Harvin and never meant to misrepresent what happened during their July 2008 clash.

London's lawyers suggested the video didn't provide a full view of the provocation and imminent danger the officers faced.
Although Harvin's whereabouts are unknown, his family took the lead and blasted London's acquittal on assault and false-statement charges as evidence that police brutality and misconduct was running rampant in the city.

"They can do whatever they want and walk away," said Harvin's mother, Cora Page. She says her son has suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome since he returned from Iraq in 2005. "He served this country, and this is the justice he gets?" she asked.

London has been on the police force for 16 years. He says he confronted Harvin as the Army veteran walked into his mother's Manhattan apartment building without a key and allegedly declined to provide identification, the officer said.

Harvin shoved London, and the officer responded with pepper spray and several blows from his baton, according to his testimony and silent security-camera video from the building's lobby.

The video shows that after the first few hits knocked Harvin down, London continued hitting him as he covered his face and he was ultimately handcuffed. The video also shows Harvin moving his legs toward the officer at points.

London said Harvin kicked him and shouted threats that the officer said he feared would draw a hostile crowd:

"He was aggressive and violent," London testified. "I was trying to get him to comply."

Harvin was hit nearly 20 times, emerging with cuts and bruises, and was treated at a hospital for a back injury. Assault and other charges against Harvin were initially dismissed, but prosecutors said London went too far, attempting to cover up his behavior with lies. London signed court paperwork saying Harvin punched him, which is contradicted by the video. London testified that he didn't read the papers carefully.

Jurors declined to comment.

"Officer London beat on Walter Harvin far more than was necessary, and to then justify that beating, he made up facts," Assistant District Attorney David Drucker told jurors in his closing argument.

London still faces police department disciplinary charges stemming from the incident, and he remains restricted to administrative duties until they are resolved, police said.

Something has to be said about the rate of police brutality that has gripped this country for decades. Barring the Seattle cop who punched the teen (and I was quite clear that I thought she deserved it), there was the questionable shooting and murder of Detroit Muslim leader Iman Luqman Ameen Abdullah (pictured below) by FBI agents last fall.

In April, an officer was charged for beating a motorist (pictured below), after hitting the driver 15 times with his baton and firing a stun gun at his passengers.

Then there was the shooting and murder of 7-year-old Aiyana Jones (pictured below), also in Detroit, by a police who threw a flash grenade into the house during a homicide investigation.

And the five police officers who were recently charged with shooting innocent victims in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.

A 15-year-old kid who was beaten beyond recognition in Indianapolis, and a teen violinist who was also beaten so badly that the officer pulled his locks out of his head.

Then there is the ongoing trial of Jon Burge (pictured below), a former Chicago cop, who was just convicted on Tuesday lying about torturing dozens of black men (reports say 100) for decades.

I could go on, but the list would be endless. When is the legal system going to hold these cops responsible for their violent and abusive behavior?

As a matter of fact, what message does this send to our youth when they see so many being abused ON CAMERA but still not receiving any justice.

The system can continue to pretend that these are just unrelated misdeeds, but the abuse that is caught on video shows another side: Many police officers are recklessly drunk on their power.

Someone needs to bring the hammer down on these officers. Perhaps the conviction of former rogue cop Burge could be a start.

Revisiting Racially Offensive Book Characters in Children’s “Classics”

Article written by: Michael Mahon
Posted on: June 28, 2010

Before the world of television and the internet… before SpongeBob Squarepants, Facebook, and Twitter shaped our lives, there were things called “books” and they were arguably the most influential form of entertainment around. They taught children lifelong lessons about cultural mores, right and wrong and were one of the most important tools in shaping a young person’s mind.

But for all today’s handwringing of overexposure to violence and sex, we tend to ignore the amount of antiquated ignorance contained in books that are still categorized as classics and are still on current reading lists for young people.

Some racist depictions from the classics were included deliberately to evince outrage and empathy. But we’d argue that these characters, some over 100 years old, have since had the opposite effect on society of what the author intended and instead, are the inspiration for many of today’s stereotypes.

5. Little Black Sambo

Appears in: The Story of Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman

What’s the plot? A black-skinned little boy outwits a pack of tigers, and turns them into butter.

Why all the fuss? While the story isn’t overtly racist, the title character’s name “Sambo” was turned into a racial slur that many find just as offensive as the N-word.

The character is actually a dark-skinned Indian, not an African-American. However, the illustrations that accompanied the story looked a lot like blackface minstrel show performers. In 1932 Langston Hughes criticized Little Black Sambo as a typical “pickaninny ” storybook which was hurtful to black children.

4. N*gger Jim

Appears in: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

What’s the plot? Huck Finn runs away from home and befriends Jim, an escaped slave.

Why all the fuss? Well, Jim is sometimes called “N*gger Jim” in the book. While he is actually a well-formed character, some schools have banned the book for using the N-word.

“The people whom Huck and Jim encounter on the Mississippi” — Russell Baker wrote in the New York Times in 1982 — “are drunkards, murderers, bullies, swindlers, lynchers, thieves, liars, frauds, child abusers, numskulls, hypocrites, windbags and traders in human flesh. All are white. The one man of honor in this phantasmagoria is ‘Nigger Jim,’ as Twain called him, to emphasize the irony of a society in which the only true gentleman was held beneath contempt.”

3. The Africans

Appears in: Tintin in the Congo by Hergé

What’s the plot? Tintin, a young Belgian reporter, visits the Congo where he meets native Africans who are amazed by his “magical” powers. And then Tintin blows up a rhino with a stick of dynamite.

Why all the fuss? “It makes people think that blacks have not evolved,” said Bienvenu Mbutu, a Congolese man living in Belgium who wants the book to be banned in Belgium, home of Tintin’s creator. Meanwhile, English bookstores are required to sell the book with a warning sticker after the Commission for Racial Equality condemned the book.

In the book, Africans are depicted as monkey-like and are shown treating Tintin, who is white, like a god.

Tied for 1st place: The Uncle Tom, and The “Happy” (aka Lazy, Carefree) Darky

Both appear in: Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

What’s the plot? A long-suffering slave is sold, meets new people on his journey through life, and is savagely murdered. Basically one of the most depressing as well as offensive stories ever written.

Why all the fuss? Many people argue that nearly every negative black stereotype can be found in this book, and that it even was the original source for several of them.

Today, an Uncle Tom is now one of the most offensive terms you can call an African-American in today’s world. It implies that a person has no self-respect as they would do anything to get in the good graces of the white folks. The “happy darky” depiction of blacks being lazy and carefree has, in my opinion, done more damage to our race than any other stereotype that can be brought to mind.

Believing that a person is lazy and having no worries about the future is somehow due to the natural inclination of their culture or a race is nefarious. I have no doubt that it’s one of the single most damaging labels that have been put on black people. Even in “post-racial” 2010 and with a black US President, we still can’t seem to shed it fully. In the meantime, it can be argued that well-developed and fairly portrayed characters from African-American books abound but for whatever reason they have never reached cultural meme status. The old question, ironically, seems more pertinent than ever: When will we overcome?

Serena Williams in Wimbledon’s Final Four

June 29, 2010 at 02:14 pm

*Serena Williams reached her seventh Wimbledon semi-final today by beating China’s Na Li 7-5, 6-3.

The win on Centre Court came shortly after older sister Venus was knocked out earlier by Bulgaria’s Tsvetana Pironkova, spoiling chances of an all-Williams final.

Serena had 11 aces during the match, won 85 percent of her first-serve points and only double faulted once. She has now garnered more than double the amount of aces than any other female in the tournament.

Li, an accomplished player on grass, had 19 unforced errors in comparison to Serena’s six. Li also double faulted five times. Serena broke Li’s serve four times throughout the match.

With Venus and reigning U.S. Open champ Kim Clijsters having been eliminated Tuesday, Serena is the heavy favorite to win Wimbledon. Other than Serena, there are no players left in the Wimbledon field seeded in the top 20.

Photos: 2010 BET Awards Rocks Shrine Auditorium

June 29, 2010 at 05:50 am

Alicia Keys, despite being several months pregnant, climbs on top of her piano while singing the Prince classic "Adore"

The 2010 BET Awards that aired Sunday night was chock full of memorable moments, ranging from Trey Songz being one-upped when Patti Labelle also covered the Prince classic “Purple Rain”  to  actor Todd Bridges getting the audience to say, “Whatchu talkin’ about Willis” in a tribute to Gary Coleman.

Queen Latifah kept the the show running smoothly, entertaining and amusing the crowd while sporting the costumes of some of the characters she has played in the past – including those from her work in ‘Set If Off,” “Chicago” and “Hairspray.”

Above and below are more performances that had the audience buzzing:

Prince accepts his lifetime achievement award

Chris Brown pays tribute to Michael Jackson, moonwalk and all

Nia Long and Lorenz Tate from 1997's "Love Jones" reunite on stage

El DeBarge takes it back in his comeback performance when he sings his 1980's hit "Time Will Reveal"

Kanye West, donning an orange suit but no shirt, gave it his all on stage

Diddy, Dawn Richard and Nicki Minaj perform on stage enshrouded in smoke

The night was filled with tons of performances, tributes, honors, and of course, awards. Some of these include Serena Williams taking home sportswoman of the year and Prince is presented with Lifetime Achievement Award.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Video: GOP Using Kagan Hearings to Target Thurgood Marshall

June 29, 2010 at 07:53 am

US Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan is questioned by Sen. Jeff Sessions ,R-AL,(monitor) on the second day of her confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill on June 29, 2010 in Washington, DC.

*While Elena Kagan is expected to sail through her Supreme Court confirmation hearings without much Republican opposition, the GOP has apparently decided to use this opportunity to target Kagan’s mentor, former Justice Thurgood Marshall.

The civil rights pioneer and first African American to sit on the high court is one of Kagan’s self-avowed heroes, for whom she clerked early in her career. According to Talking Points Memo, Marshall’s name came up 35 times during the first day of Kagan’s confirmation hearings, compared to 14 mentions of President Obama.

There’s “no doubt he was an activist judge,” Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said of Marshall on MSNBC Monday. “Let’s admire the man for the great things he did, but let’s not walk over and wipe out the things that really didn’t make sense as an obedient student of the practice of law.”

After Monday’s hearing, the Salt Lake Tribune asked Hatch if he would have voted for Marshall, the man who successfully litigated Brown v. Board of Education not long before he joined the Supreme Court. “Well, it’s hard to say,” was Hatch’s response.

Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee, called Marshall “a well-known liberal activist judge” in his opening remarks during the hearing. Other GOP senators have sought to press Kagan on whether she believes that, as Marshall once said, “you do what you think is right and let the law catch up,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) decided to hit Marshall for “his unshakable determination to protect the underdog.”

“Perhaps because his first nominee failed to defend the judicial philosophy that he was promoting, the President has repackaged it. Now, he says that judges should have ‘a keen understanding of how the law affects the daily lives of the American people … and know that in a democracy, powerful interests must not be allowed to drown out the voices of ordinary citizens,’” Kyl complained. “Kagan wrote a tribute to Justice Marshall in which she said in his view it was the role of the courts and interpreting the Constitution to protect the people who went unprotected by every other organ of government. The court existed primarily to fulfill this mission. And later, when she was working in the Clinton administration, she encouraged a colleague working on a speech about Justice Marshall to emphasize his unshakable determination to protect the underdog.”

Below, Talking Points Memo edited together a video highlighting the GOP’s targeting of Justice Marshall from Monday’s hearing.

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