Lil Wayne Kicks Off Winter Tour

Critically acclaimed Cash Money/Universal Motown Records recording artist Lil Wayne announces the kickoff of the “I Am Music Tour” on December 14th in Miami. T-Pain, Keyshia Cole, Gym Class Heroes and Keri Hilson are scheduled to join him on the road.

Tha Carter III, Lil Wayne’s multi-platinum album continues to skyrocket with “Mrs. Officer” holding the #1 position on Mediabase Urban charts — the album’s fourth #1 and ninth hit single.

Lil Wayne’s growing list of accomplishments includes a shelf full of newly acquired trophies to add to his collection. Most recently, he won the highly coveted Artists Choice Award at the 2008 MTV Europe Music Awards, selected by hundreds of acts from around the world. Kelly Rowland presented Wayne with the award on Nov. 6 in Liverpool, England. Out of a dozen nominations, Lil Wayne took home 7 BET Hip -Hop Awards at the October ceremony. The accolades include Lyricist of the Year, Alltel Wireless People’s Champ and Track of the Year for “A Mill.” His track, “I’m So Hood” with DJ Khaled was awarded Best Collaboration. Lil Wayne also won Ringtone of the Year for “Lollipop.”

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Beyonce Knowles Performs On NBC’s “Today”

Singer Beyonce Knowles performs on NBC’s ‘Today’ at Rockefeller Center on November 26, 2008 in New York City.

Beyonce has recently entered Japan’s International Album chart at #1 with her new album, I Am… Sasha Fierce, the artist’s first-ever double-disc studio collection.

As well, she stars with Adrien Brody and Jeffrey Wright in the upcoming feature film, “Cadillac Records,” opening nationwide Friday, December 5.

(Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)

Kaiser Family Foundation to Address HIV/AIDS

For more than ten years, the Kaiser Family Foundation has partnered with leading media in the U.S. and abroad to reach the public with information about HIV/AIDS and related issues and to challenge the stigma surrounding the disease. The Foundation’s media partnerships leverage significant communications resources and provide partners with current research and guidance and public health communications expertise, among other assistance. This World AIDS Day (December 1), the Foundation announces several new productions developed with its media partners around the world:

• As part of It’s Your (Sex) Life (IYSL), MTV’s ongoing Emmy- and Peabody- Award winning campaign with the Foundation, MTV will dedicate all on air promotions time on the network from November 24 to December 1 to public service ads (PSAs) to promote using protection and getting tested. These spots feature a host of popular musicians including Wyclef Jean, The Bravery, Vampire Weekend, The Gossip!, Kenna, Boys Life Girls, Silversun Pickups, Tyga, Cornel West and others. Throughout the day on December 1st MTV will run on-screen takeovers during programming to direct viewers to IYSL informational resources, including a customized mobile texting service and toll-free hotline that provide information about local testing centers.

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Forest Whitaker in WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

Forest Whitaker is set to direct and star in “What a Wonderful World” – which is based on the life of Louis Armstrong.

It’s been twenty years since Forest Whitaker first got under the skin of a true jazz great, with his wonderful turn as Charlie Parker in Clint Eastwood’s “Bird.”

The film will be called “What a Wonderful World” based on Armstrong’s well known song and will chronicle the musician’s life from his impoverished early days in New Orleans to his death in 1971 following a long career over which he transformed jazz and popular music as a whole.

Whitaker’s last outing behind the camera was on the forgettable family comedy, “First Daughter.” That was before he won an Oscar for “The Last King Of Scotland,” of course – and it looks like he’s using his newfound clout well, by directing a true passion project. -FILMOFILIA.COM

PICTURED: Actor Forest Whitaker attends the GQ Magazine Gentlemen’s Ball at The Edison Ballroom on October 15, 2008 in New York City.

(Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images for GQ)

Katt Williams walks down a LONELY STREET

A private detective in New Mexico is hired by a man to bodyguard a visiting celebrity from an overzealous fan. The celebrity turns out to be Elvis–determined to keep a low profile–and the fan turns out to be a sleazy tabloid reporter–determined to break the story that the King is still alive.

The P.I.’s predicament grows darker when the reporter winds up dead in a motel room, and he becomes the number one suspect after Elvis and the man who hired him skip town.

PICTURED: Comedian Katt Williams poses at the ‘Comic Relief 2006′ show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace November 18, 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The benefit was held to help families in the Gulf Coast affected by Hurricane Katrina.

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

ON DVD: Fred Claus

Fred Claus has lived his entire life in his brother’s very large shadow. Fred tried, but could hardly live up to the example set by the younger Nicholas, who was just a perfect, well, saint. True to form, Nicholas (a.k.a Santa Claus) grew up to be the model of giving, while Fred became the polar opposite: a fast-talking repo man who’s run out of luck and money. Eventually Fred’s bad behavior catches up with him and he is sent to jail. His only recourse is to turn to his brother.

Over Mrs. Claus’ objections, Nicholas agrees to help his brother on one condition: that he come to the North Pole and earn the money he needs by working in Santa’s Toy Shop. The trouble is that Fred isn’t exactly elf material and cut out for creating toys and spreading good cheer. With Christmas fast approaching, Fred could jeopardize the jolliest holiday of the year and ruin Christmas.

Harlem Globetrotters Team up With NBA to Reach Fans

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Harlem Globetrotters today announced a strategic international partnership that will give fans around the world more access to high-quality basketball entertainment.

This partnership combines the extensive global reach of the NBA with the dynamic entertainment product of the Globetrotters. The NBA and Harlem Globetrotters will work together in planning and promoting the Globetrotters’ international slate of games and events. The partnership will debut this February when the Globetrotters take part in a number of activities during NBA All-Star 2009, which is the NBA’s global showcase with the game and events televised around the world.

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West Virginia Man Indicted on Federal Civil Rights Charges

Daryl Lee Fierce, 69, of Charleston, W.Va., was indicted by a federal grand jury for using fire to intimidate and interfere with a person’s housing rights because African-American and biracial individuals visited the person in her home. The indictment, which was unsealed today, also charges Fierce with using fire to commit a felony.

According to the indictment, on or about July 16, 2007, Fierce set fire to a home located on Noyes Avenue in Charleston because the tenant occupying the home, a white woman, associated with persons of another race and color. Fierce’s alleged objective was to injure, intimidate and interfere with the woman in the occupancy of the home, a violation of her housing rights.

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BET Joins International Call to Stop Spread of HIV

Of the more than one million people in the United States that are living with HIV/AIDS, nearly half are African American. OnMonday, December 1 at 6:00 p.m.*, World AIDS Day, BET shines a bright light on these alarming statistics by dedicating a full episode of the network’s hit music countdown show, 106 & PARK, to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic, followed by the premiere of ARE YOU POSITIVE?, a half hour special that addresses the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS at 7:30 p.m.* ARE YOU POSITIVE? is part of BET Networks and the Kaiser Family Foundation’s longstanding partnership and Emmy Award-winning public education campaign, “Rap-It-Up”.

In addition to being the most energetic music countdown show on the planet with exciting show elements and superstar guests, 106 & PARK is also known for providing viewers with the latest news affecting the urban community – and the topic of HIV/AIDS is no exception. During this year’s World AIDS Day, hosts Terrence and Rocsi, along with surprise celebrity guests and HIV/AIDS experts will sound off about the nation’s leading killer of African Americans and encourage viewers to know the facts and their status surrounding the deadly disease.

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Alabama’s First African American Librarian Dies

Bertha Pleasant Williams was a pioneering Alabamian, becoming the first African American in state history to become a librarian.

Ms. Williams died Monday. She was 85-years-old.

Willams was also a long-time educator and Civil Rights activist.

She was the first librarian in the state with a masters degree in library science, and went on to open the first library for blacks in Montgomery in 1948.

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New Cancer Vaccine May Hold Promise For African-American Lung Patients

Lung cancer continues to be a most deadly enemy for African-Americans and other minorities. Despite recent improvements in diagnosis and treatment, lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death among African-Americans.

While for many patients the promise of a cure is still in the future, researchers are hopeful as they look to treating this difficult disease with a novel approach: an anti-cancer vaccine.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Nation’s foremost authority in research and part of the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Md., is currently in the middle stages of a clinical study for the effectiveness of a new vaccine, the HyperAcute® Lung Cancer Vaccine (HAL). The vaccine is being studied as a potential treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a disease that affects over 173,000 people a year in the U.S. The vaccine is being studied in patients whose lung cancers have recurred, or are growing, despite conventional treatments of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

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Roger R. Cross in THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL

RELEASE DATE: December 12, 2008

SYNOPSIS: “The Day the Earth Stood Still” is 20th Century Fox’s contemporary reinvention of its 1951 classic. Keanu Reeves portrays Klaatu, an alien whose arrival on our planet triggers a global upheaval.

As governments and scientists race to unravel the mystery behind the visitor’s appearance, a woman (Jennifer Connelly) and her young stepson get caught up in his mission – and come to understand the ramifications of his being a self-described “friend to the Earth.”

PICTURED: Actor Roger R. Cross arrives at 11th Annual Entertainment Tonight Party sponsored by People held at the Disney Concert Hall on September 16, 2007 in Los Angeles.

(Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

NY Giants Deliver Food To Community Kitchen Of West Harlem

(L-R) Mathias Kiwanuka, Justin Tuck, and Jeremy Clark of the New York Giants deliver turkeys and fixings to the Community Kitchen of West Harlem on November 25, 2008 in New York City.

The Community Kitchen of West Harlem operates a daily, 4-6 PM, dinner program at no cost to the 450 recipients. Through this dinner program they also provide over 200 meals to families that pick up prepared food to take home for their children and other members of their family. The dinner program also operates a Meals On Heels home delivery service to 120 home bound Seniors and people with HIV/AIDS.

They also have a Consumer Select style Food Pantry three days per week. Nearly 1000 individuals and families are now registered with our Pantry Service. They also have a Culinary Training Program to people of the community, 18 people per ten week class, five times a year. This program trains people for entry level positions in the institutional food service business (quantity cooking for hospitals, schools, colleges,universities and corporate settings.

(Photo by Scott Gries/Getty Images)

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Recieves Fulbright

Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Cape Town, South Africa listens during a ceremony presenting him with the William J. Fulbright Prize for International Understanding on November 21, 2008 at the US State Department in Washington, DC.

Created in 1993 by the Fulbright Association, the J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding honors individuals who have made extraordinary contributions toward bringing peoples, cultures, or nations to greater understanding of others.

The Prize carries a $50,000 award provided by The Coca-Cola Foundation.

(Photo by TIM SLOAN/AFP/Getty Images)

PREMIERE: Cadillac Records

Singer Etta James and singer/actress Beyonce arrive at the premiere of ‘Cadillac Records’ held at The Egyptian Theater on November 24, 2008 in Hollywood, California.

Cadillac Records chronicles the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists. In this tale of sex, violence, race and rock and roll in Chicago of the 1950s and 60s, the film follows the exciting but turbulent lives of some of America’s greatest musical legends.

The story of how the blues became popular and gave birth to rock and roll begins at a dingy bar on the rough South Side of Chicago in 1947, where an ambitious young Polish émigré, bar owner Leonard Chess (Academy Award-winner ADRIEN BRODY), hires a talented but undisciplined blues combo that includes quiet and thoughtful guitar prodigy Muddy Waters (JEFFREY WRIGHT) and impulsive and colorful harmonica player Little Walter (COLUMBUS SHORT). Fascinated by the sound of the music – and eager to cash in on the record burgeoning record business – Chess arranges a recording session for Waters. Waters’ early recordings start moving up the R+B charts and receiving heavy play.

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