LL Cool J’s Sears Line Folding?
April 30, 2009
The manufacturers of LL Cool J’s high end fashion line have dismissed reports the rapper’s clothing label is set to fold.
The hip-hop star’s luxury clothing brand was launched in department store Sears in May 2008 but the signature apparel range had reportedly failed to sell as well as intended, prompting reports it was to be removed from shelves and hangers.
But a spokesman for Sears insists there is no truth to the allegations.
Pictured: Rapper LL Cool J arrives at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on February 8, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Sojourner Truth’s Memorial Bust Is Unveiled In The US Capitol
April 30, 2009
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), (L) and first lady Michelle Obama applaud after the unveiling of the bust of Sojourner Truth in the U.S. Captiol Visitors Center April 28, 2009 in Washington, DC. Sojourner Truth was a 19th century American slave, abolitionist and womens’ rights activist who is best known for her speech, ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’
After a nearly decade-long effort, the National Congress of Black Women on Tuesday honored Sojourner Truth by making her the first African-American woman to have a memorial bust in the U.S. Capitol.
Truth, whose given name was Isabella Baumfree, was a slave who became one of the most respected abolitionists and women’s rights activists.
“One could only imagine what Sojourner Truth, an outspoken, tell-it-like-it-is kind of woman … what she would have to say about this incredible gathering,” first lady Michelle Obama said at the Celebration of Truth ceremony. “We are all here because, as my husband says time and time again, we stand on the shoulders of giants like Sojourner Truth.”
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Obama Seeks To Equalize Drug Related Sentences
April 30, 2009
The Obama administration joined a federal judge Wednesday in urging Congress to end a racial disparity by equalizing prison sentences for dealing and using crack versus powdered cocaine.
“Jails are loaded with people who look like me,” U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, an African-American, told a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing.
Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer said the administration believes Congress’ goal “should be to completely eliminate the disparity” between the two forms of cocaine. “A growing number of citizens view it as fundamentally unfair,” Breuer testified.
PICTURED: US President Barack Obama speaks during a town hall meeting at Fox Senior High School in Arnold, Missouri, April 29, 2009. Obama marked his 100th day in office Wednesday with a trip to the US heartland ahead of a prime-time press conference to reflect on the turbulent start of a presidency most Americans see as a success. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
Americans Anxious Over Swine Flu
April 30, 2009
Americans are expressing anxiety about swine flu, and the sale of flu medication and items such as protective face masks are up in some places where cases have been confirmed.
“It’s a weird situation right now,” said Aaron Armelin, a telecommunications technician in Los Angeles.
“Everyone’s a little leery of anyone coughing. Even though the news makes it seem really, really bad, it doesn’t seem like it’s actually that much of a concern,” Armelin added.
Interviews with people around the United States indicated few signs of panic or wholesale changes in behavior due to an outbreak of a new virus that has sickened people in several U.S. states and killed up to 149 people in neighboring Mexico.
For Two Black Golfers, Path to PGA Tour is Rocky
April 30, 2009
Tim O’Neal watched carefully, head down, as his pitch from just off the green rolled perfectly into the cup on the ninth green at Tradition National Golf Course last month.
“T-O. That was great,” cheered playing partner David Robinson at the eGolf Professional Tour event.
O’Neal smiled back, a nice shot on a good day. There just haven’t been enough of those moments for O’Neal to reach his ultimate goal.
Tiger Woods’ phenomenal rise and accomplishments seemed destined to lead to a wave of talented minority golfers, a new generation topping leaderboards throughout the country.
O’Neal and Stephen Reed, two African American pros, can tell you how tough it is just to break onto the PGA Tour.
“I’m the youngest out of probably about five or six good minority players in this country,” the 27-year-old Reed said after playing a group behind O’Neal at Tradition National. “And they’re all struggling.”
A Fraternity For Those Who Need One
April 30, 2009
The story from the White House is that President Obama has asked that each day 10 of the thousands of letters he receives are selected and brought to his attention. With this device he wants to know, to the extent that he can, how his correspondents regard his administration.
One letter he is sure to read, or at any rate should without question read, is dated April 17, 2009, and signed by Herman “Skip” Mason, who is general president of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
It’s a 200,000-member group of African-American men at American universities that has churned out members of the American elite–both the light- and dark-skinned varieties. Its roster includes Martin Luther King, John Hope Franklin, Edward Brooke, Thurgood Marshall and Adam Clayton Powell, among many others.
African-American Teens’ Perceptions Of Racial Discrimination
April 30, 2009
A three-year study of African American youths’ perceptions of racial discrimination has found that many Black teens consider themselves victims of racial discrimination, and these perceptions are linked to how they feel about being Black, particularly their views of how the broader society sees African Americans.
The study, by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Fordham University, and the University of Michigan, can be found in the March/April 2009 issue of the journal Child Development.
In an attempt to further our understanding of racial identity among African Americans, the researchers studied more than 200 Black teens ages 14 to 18 who lived and went to school in racially heterogeneous parts of the midwestern United States. Based on the adolescents’ responses to questions about racial group membership, the researchers found that age played a factor in the young people’s perceptions: Older teens who had experienced more racial bias felt less positive about being Black. Teens who felt more racial discrimination were more likely to say that society viewed African Americans negatively.
New Album from Maxwell To Be Released
April 30, 2009
Columbia Records is proud to announce the release of BLACKsummers’night, the heavily-anticipated new studio album from the groundbreaking modern soul artist Maxwell, on Tuesday, July 7.
BLACKsummers’night is the first full-length Maxwell release since Now, his critically-acclaimed third studio album, debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 in August 2001.
BLACKsummers’night is the sensuous opening installment of the artist’s monumental BLACKSUMMERS’NIGHT trilogy. (The trilogy’s subsequent chapters, blackSUMMERS’night and blacksummers’NIGHT, are slated for release in 2010 and 2011 respectively.)
“Pretty Wings,” the first single from BLACKsummers’night, will be available through digital service providers on Tuesday, April 28. A video for the song will premiere that same day on BET’s “106 & Park” and on musze.com, Maxwell’s website.
80-Year-Old Cleveland Activist Will Walk and ‘Tweet’ 250 Miles
April 29, 2009
On May 1, 80-year-old community activist Joan Southgate of Cleveland, Ohio, plans to “complete the circle” she began in 2002 by walking 250 miles from St. Catharines, Ontario, to Cleveland’s Cozad-Bates House.
In her journey to honor the conductors and fugitives brought together along the Underground Railroad, Southgate walked 519 miles in 2002 and 2003 from the one-time anti-slavery stronghold of Ripley in southern Ohio to Cleveland and on to Canada.
In May, Southgate will again take to the road to raise money for Restore Cleveland Hope Inc., a grassroots community group that grew out of the enthusiasm for her inspirational walk and has expanded into a non-profit organization that presents educational workshops and intergenerational programs. Since its founding in 2003, RCH has worked passionately to save the Cozad-Bates House, the only pre-Civil War-era building still standing in Cleveland’s cultural and educational district of University Circle. The group has been working to establish an Underground Railroad Education and Resource Center in the historic home. Read more
Candids: Biz Markie At PR/PR Launch Party
April 29, 2009
Rapper Biz Markie attends the PR/PR launch party at Red Bull Space on April 28, 2009 in New York City.
(Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for PR/PR)
Irv Gotti: ‘Gotti’s Way 2′
April 29, 2009
Irv Gotti and his family are back, and this time around it’s all about “breaking the cycle.” The first season of “Gotti’s Way” followed music mogul Irv Gotti in his efforts to resurrect his record label after being acquitted of money laundering charges in 2004. Now back for its second season, “Gotti’s Way 2″ finds Irv still trying to breathe new life into his label, The Inc., as well as also juggling his responsibilities as a husband and father of three.
Premiering on Monday, May 4 at 10:30 PM ET/PT, “Gotti’s Way 2″ provides an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Irv’s company and the music machine that he is, working with artists such as Ashanti, Lloyd, Ja Rule and more. Convinced that that hip-hop needs a shot in the arm and thinks he’s found what he’s looking for in his latest artist, Newz. The hip-hop mogul will pull out all of the stops to break Newz and halt the freefall of the suffering record industry.
Man Pleads Guilty To Violating Rights Of African-American Family
April 29, 2009
A 21-year-old Mason City man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to charges of interfering with the rights of an African-American family living in Mason City.
Justin Hanson was convicted in federal court in Cedar Rapids.
As part of a plea agreement, Hanson admitted that on May 9, 2008, he placed a racially offensive sign in the yard of an African-American family in Mason City. The next day he fired a BB gun into the victim’s home breaking a window.
The sign contained a swastika and the words “Hitler Lives” and “Give the whites their town and country back or it will be taken back by force.”
The federal trial information doesn’t identify the victim by name, but Hanson pleaded guilty in May 2008 to third-degree harassment charges in connection with an incident at the Mason City home of Margaret Foster.
Hennessy Teams With Swizz Beatz For ‘Black’ Cognac Debut
April 29, 2009
Rapper/producer Swizz Beatz has been tapped by Hennessy V.S. to help launch a new, limited line of cognac, called Hennessy Black.
The rapper will perform an original song, “When I Step Into the Club,” alongside the JabbaWockeez of “America’s Best Dance Crew” during a launch event in New York on May 5. An accompanying video by director Hype Williams will be revealed as well.
“Beatz is a long-time fan of the brand and approached us looking for ways we could work together. Since this product is all about having fun in the club, he suggested collaborating on a track that would be a hot dance song in the clubs,” Andy Glaser, senior VP of Hennessy Business, tells Billboard.
PICTURED: Producer Swizz Beats attends the ‘Edun And One: The Campaign To Make Poverty History Launch’ party at the Hudson Hotel during Olympus Fashion Week September 15, 2006 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for IMG)
Autistic Kids Have Altered Genes Controlling Brain Development
April 29, 2009
Autistic children have variations on genes that help neurons route themselves in the brain of a developing fetus, according to a new set of studies that provide evidence how the autistic mind’s structure may go awry.
One of the gene variants occurs 20 percent more often in autistic children and may play a role in 12 percent to 18 percent of cases of autism, according to a study published online today in the journal Nature. The altered DNA is found near a gene that is active in the development of the frontal cortex, a brain region necessary for language and judgment.
Previous studies of autistic twins suggested that genes played a major role in the disorder, according to the research report. The discovery gives scientists targets to perhaps begin developing treatments, said study author Gerard Schellenberg, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia.
Candids: Celebs Turn Out At Lakers Game
April 29, 2009
Sean Combs (L) and Polow Da Don (R) attend the Los Angeles Lakers vs Utah game at Staples Center on April 27, 2009 in Los Angeles, California.
(Photo by Noel Vasquez/Getty Images)
