USHER PLANS SPECIAL LADIES ONLY TOUR: 'One Night Stand' to hit about 16 'intimate' venues.
*Usher wants to be the only man in the room for his next tour.
The singer says he will soon announce details for a ladies only outing titled "One Night Stand," which will include stops at about 15 "intimate" venues in support of his latest album, "Here I Stand."
"There's only a few artists that can pull that off," said the 29-year-old singer about his no-men-allowed theme. "I feel like I've had such a connection with my audience. This album, I felt like, was definitely the type of one that was more intimate. So what better way to get up close and personal than to make it all women?"
Despite being a married man and father to infant son, Usher Raymond V, the artist says he still has what it takes to pull off the sex symbol image.
"The ladies like to see that masculine build," he said. "They question if I still got it."
In addition to the upcoming tour, Ursh is also planning his own line of lingerie and men's undergarments. He's working on a video for his new single "Trading Places," and will perform at the NFL's annual kickoff concert tonight along with Keith Urban and Natasha Bedingfield.
LEBRON JAMES SUBJECT OF NEW DOCUMENTARY: NBA star in Toronto this weekend for premiere of 'More Than a Game.'
*Fresh from his gold medal run as part of the U.S. basketball team in the Beijing Olympics, NBA star LeBron James will visit the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend for the debut of "More Than A Game," a documentary chronicling his rise to stardom.
The film also shows how he and four childhood friends overcame long odds to win a national championship in high school.
"We set out with a goal as kids and we wanted to accomplish that someway, somehow by using basketball as a tool, not knowing that it was going to create other opportunities for us," James said, according to the Associated Press. "We didn't know it was going to create a brotherhood and trust. We grew from kids into young men."
"More Than A Game" mixes footage from James' stint at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in nearby Akron, along with one-on-one interviews by writer/director Kris Belman, home videos, and personal family photographs.
James is expected to be joined by friends and former teammates Dru Joyce III, Sian Cotton, Willie McGee and Romeo Travis for the Toronto premiere. Their journey began together as 8-year-old boys, winds through years crisscrossing the country playing in AAU tournaments and finishes in their senior season at St. Vincent-St. Mary, a year when James came under scrutiny for accepting a $50,000 sports-utility vehicle as a gift from his mother and his eligibility was briefly stripped by the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
At the time, Belman was a film student at Loyola Marymount looking to follow James and his friends' season as his final school project, a 10-minute documentary. But after gaining the trust of the players and coach Dru Joyce, Belman spent two months filming and eventually teamed with producer Harvey Mason Jr. to make the full-length feature. James hopes the film will inspire youngsters.
"We set out with a goal when we were 8 and we accomplished it when we were 18," he said. "It's a great story and I wanted to get it out to kids that have a dream, that they should continue to go after it, believe in it and live it if they want to accomplish something."
AKON TO STAND TRIAL FOR FAN-TOSSING: Artist charged with harassment and endangering welfare of a child.
*Akon has been ordered to stand trial in Fishkill, NY on charges stemming from a June 2007 concert in which he was shown throwing a teenage fan offstage, resulting in another fan suffering a concussion.
Fishkill Town Justice Harold Epstein ordered the singer back in court on December 1 for the start of his jury trial, reports E! Online. If convicted of both his charges – endangering the welfare of a child and second-degree harassment – he faces a maximum of one year and 15 days behind bars.
Dutchess County Assistant District Attorney Anthony Parisi has requested that Akon's attorney, Andrea Zellan, try to work out a deal within the next two weeks to avoid a trial, reports E! Akon's lawyers released a statement expressing a willingness to settle the case.
"We are pleased that Judge Epstein adjourned the case to a date certain for either a trial or a negotiated resolution," the statement read. "Akon looks forward to putting this incident behind him, and in the meantime, he will continue to meet every requirement set forth by the court."
YOUNG JEEZY REGISTERS TO VOTE: Move tied to promotion of his new album 'The Recession.'
*According to new statistics released this week, eight million U.S. blacks aged 18 and over are still not registered to vote. Young Jeezy plans to reduce that number today by at least one.
In conjunction with this week's release of his third solo album, "The Recession," the rapper is hosting a voter registration drive as part of a full day of events in his Atlanta hometown, including an in-store appearance, concert and star-studded release party.
Jeezy, who turns 31 in October, said he will register to vote during the event held from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Sean "Diddy" Combs’ Justin’s Restaurant (2200 Peachtree Rd.).
"The Recession" includes Jay-Z's remix to Jeezy's "Put On" as one of two bonus tracks added to its 18 cuts.
OPRAH TAPES OLYMPIC SHOW: More than 150 gold medalists from Beijing filmed in Chicago for Sept. 8 season premiere.
*Oprah Winfrey welcomed home more than 150 U.S. Olympic medal winners on Wednesday as part of her talk show's 23rd season premiere.
The salute on Chicago's Lake Michigan waterfront doubled as a pep rally for efforts to bring the 2016 summer games to America, reports Reuters. More than 4,000 audience members cheered wildly amidst red, white and blue confetti as the medalists walked through the aisles and took the stage.
"Team USA, you want to make us all stand taller," she told the athletes at the end of the program, adding that she hoped they would have a chance to return to Chicago for the 2016 games, should the city beat competing locations Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
Swimmer Michael Phelps, who came back from last month's games in Beijing with a record eight gold medals, told Winfrey the feat had yet to sink in but "I need to get back home" to Maryland to see friends and his pet bulldog.
"One of the biggest things I want to do is grow the sport of swimming," he added, noting that he has established a charitable foundation to promote the sport using the $1 million bonus he earned from the makers of Speedo swimwear.
Fellow swimmer, Dara Torres, told Winfrey she was not done with competitive swimming at age 41.
"I kind of want to keep going for a bit," she said, unlike past Olympic competitions after which, she said, she didn't want to go near the water again. "When you're in the water the water doesn't know your age," she added.
Wednesday's show will air in syndication on Sept. 8. The venue for the 2016 games will be announced in October 2009.
SANDY 'PEPA' DENTON WRITES TELL-ALL: Book details past relationships, fights and domestic violence.
*A new book by Sandy (Pepa) Denton of the rap duo Salt-n-Pepa reveals details about her personal life highlighted by a number violent episodes where she was both the victim and perpetrator.
"Let's Talk About Pep," co-written with Karen Hunter, features Denton speaking candidly about her rise from poverty, her hot temper and her string of bad relationships.
The rapper was once married to Naughty by Nature front man Treach (Anthony Criss). She also had a child with Tyran (Tah-Tah) Moore, a rapper accused by 50 Cent of having a role in his 2002 shooting. (Tah-Tah was never charged.)
Her most turbulent experience came from a decade-long romance with a man she calls "Brad."
During one of their apocalyptic fights, she writes, "I had the hot iron in my hand and he had a handful of my hair. He grabbed the hand with the iron in it and was pushing [it] toward my face. ... He ended up pressing that hot iron against my other arm. I heard my flesh sizzling, and the smell was sickening. I started screaming from the pain. He dropped the iron and I turned to run, and his nail swiped across my eyeball and shredded my cornea." The incident left her with deep scars and an eye patch.
The couple had another brawl at actor Omar Epps' house, where, she says, "Brad" threw her through a glass coffee table and tried to push her down the stairs.
Pepa, meanwhile, had a violent streak of her own. She tells of one night when she had to check Christopher "Play" Martin of the rap duo Kid 'n Play.
"Play tried to clown me at the table. ... Everyone started laughing. I got up and grabbed him by his collar and dragged him down the whole length of the table, knocking everybody's food and drink onto the floor. Play never made fun of me again," writes Pepa.
One rapper who did impress her was Tupac Shakur, whom she met on the set of the "Whatta Man" video. "He was a good guy. I remember him telling me that he had never been in trouble with the law until he got into the music business. [He said,] 'I ain't never had a record until I made a record!'"
WHO IS THAT KISSING STAR JONES? Former 'View' co-host snapped with new chef boyfriend at the U.S. Open.
*Photographs of Star Jones and her new man kissing in the stands of the U.S. Open last weekend hit the Internet yesterday morning. By the afternoon, People.com had exposed the mystery man as Herb Wilson, the executive chef at Manhattan's Soho and Tribeca Grand hotels.
"This was one of the first times they were out in public together," a friend of Jones' tells People. "It's a new relationship, and he makes her very happy."
Jones personal rep would not confirm the relationship after refusing to talk about his client's personal life. However, another source close to the former "View" host said the two are dating.
"He's a very nice guy," the source says of Wilson. "She's never been happier."
Jones, 46, and her husband of 3 1/2 years, Al Reynolds, 38, filed for divorce in March.
SPIKE LEE BRINGS 'MIRACLE' TO TORONTO: New movie part of annual film festival ending Sept. 13.
*Spike Lee says he hopes the Toronto International Film Festival [TIFF] debut of his World War II drama "Miracle at St. Anna," will be met with the same acclaim and enthusiasm given to his Hurricane Katrina documentary, "When the Levees Broke," which was screened in Toronto two years ago.
"The people in Toronto really appreciate films," Lee said. "Toronto's a great vehicle, a great launch pad for the film to come out in the fall."
North America's largest cinema showcase, the festival runs today through Sept. 13 with a lineup that includes the Coen brothers' dark spy comedy "Burn After Reading" with George Clooney and Brad Pitt; Keira Knightley's historical saga "The Duchess"; Edward Norton and Colin Farrell's cop drama "Pride and Glory"; and the supernatural romantic comedy "Ghost Town," with Ricky Gervais, Tea Leoni and Greg Kinnear, reports the Associated Press.
The TIFF plays out in theaters throughout the city, with everyday movie-lovers making up a large part of the audience.
"This is very much a festival designed for the public," said Piers Handling, festival director. "It's a very broad, inclusive audience and very wide-ranging in terms of the films, from the small, tiny experimental films through to edgier films through comedies and through to major studio films."
Lee's "Miracle at St. Anna," opening Sept. 26 in theaters nationwide, follows a group of four black World War II soldiers in the 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division of the U.S. Army who get stuck behind enemy lines after getting separated from their squadron when one of them bravely attempts to rescue an Italian boy. Alienated from their own country, the soldiers find solace in the quaint Tuscan village of St. Anna.
Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Omar Benson Miller, and Laz Alonso star in the war drama scripted by James McBride.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TO HONOR STEVIE WONDER: Music legend to receive Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
*The Library of Congress will award Stevie Wonder with its second Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which honors an artist whose work transcends musical styles to bring diverse listeners together and foster mutual understanding.
The 58-year-old Motown icon, born Steveland Morris, will receive the award on Feb. 23, 2009, according to the Associated Press.
The first Gershwin Prize was awarded in 2007 to Paul Simon.
Among Wonder's albums: "Talking Book," "Innervisions," "Fulfillingness First Finale" and "Songs in the Key of Life," the last of which included his classic single "Love in Need of Love Today."
MUGABE MAKES IT RAIN ON ZIMBABWE OLYMPIANS: Leader gives $148,000 to athletes; the biggest chunk going to swimmer.
*Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe gave out $148,000 to the nation's Olympic athletes, with $100,000 alone having gone to world record-holding swimmer Kirsty Coventry.
The government-controlled Herald newspaper reported that Mugabe announced the awards during a brief ceremony held Friday. He referred to Coventry as Zimbabwe's "golden girl" before handing her $100,000.
While many Zimbabweans are unable to afford food and other basics, members of the country's 13-member Olympic squad each received thousands of dollars from the president. In addition to Coventry's 100 grand, three on the team received $10,000 each while the remaining athletes pocketed $2,000.
Coventry, who won three silvers and a gold at the Beijing games, showed off her medals during a parade through Harare earlier this week.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR'S HOME BURGLARIZED: Seven million in jewels stolen; boxer offers cash reward for any info.
*Floyd Mayweather Jr is offering $100,000 to anyone who can tell him who burglarized his crib.
According to boxingscene.com, the retired fighter had $7 million worth of jewelry stolen from one of his Las Vegas homes on Aug. 17, between the hours of 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
The thieves apparently broke his bedroom window and entered while he was out of the house, the Web site reported. No one was injured and security is working to ensure that cameras and professional guards are posted. Only the jewelry was observed to be missing.
Anyone with information on this crime can call Sherbrooke, Jelan and Associates at (678) 457-5858 or (404) 786-1321. Callers could be eligible for an immediate cash reward of $100,000 and may remain anonymous.
'SOUNDS' LIKE MARY MARY IS BACK: Gospel duo to release new album on Oct. 14.
*R&B/gospel duo Mary Mary will release their new album, "The Sound," on Oct. 14 via Columbia Records.
It's their first project since October 2006's "A Mary Mary Christmas"
and is the group's first new full-length non-seasonal album since the release of their self-titled CD in July 2005.
"The Sound" premieres 11 new Mary Mary cuts, including the album's first single, "Get Up," a pop-infused anthem of praise and empowerment.
"That song embodies what the whole album is about," says Mary Mary's Erica Campbell. "It asks people, 'Why are you waiting? Why do you care what other people think?' It reminds us that your beginning can be whenever you want it to be."
Other tracks on "The Sound" include the R&B-flavored title track, as well as "Superfriend," "God In Me," "Boom," "I'm Running," "Forgiven Me," "Dirt," "Seattle," "I Worship You," and "It Will All Be Worth It."
NFL TO HONOR GENE UPSHAW ALL SEASON LONG: Players will wear "GU" patch; also, opening games to include initials stenciled on field.
*The National Football League will honor Hall of Fame guard and longtime union leader Gene Upshaw in tributes to take place during the opening games this weekend and throughout the entire season.
Upshaw's initials and his uniform number will be stenciled on the field for all 16 games this opening weekend. Also, all NFL players will sport patches with his initials "GU" and the number 63, his former uniform number, for the entire 2008-09 season, the league announced.
The league originally said his initials would be stenciled on the field for just two games: the season opener at Giants Stadium between the Redskins and Giants and for the Denver-Oakland game at Oakland, where Upshaw played his entire 15 seasons. It extended that Tuesday to all games.
A video tribute to Upshaw will also be shown during games this weekend, the AP reports. Upshaw died of cancer two weeks ago at age 63.
EUR DVD REVIEW: Chicago 10
DVD Revisits Historic Free Speech Trial of Anti-War Activists
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*During the summer of 1968, thousands of protesters descended on the Democratic Convention in Chicago in order to voice their displeasure with America’s involvement in the Vietnam War at the.
But Mayor Richard Daley, determined to discourage the assembled activists by any means necessary, ordered the police to arrest the organizers of the demonstration on trumped-up charges of conspiracy and crossing state lines with intent to riot.
The tactic ultimately backfired, because the jailed leaders became something of a sympathetic cause celebre since they were essentially only attempting to exercise their right to Freedom of Speech.
Dubbed the Chicago 8, their ensuing trial was covered by the national press on a day-to-day basis. The indicted political activists behind bars included such well-known figures as Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden and Black Panther Chairman Bobby Seale.
Chicago 10, a novel docudrama directed by Brett Morgen, revisits the events surrounding the case via archival footage augmented by word-for-word, animated recreations culled from the transcripts of the contentious courtroom proceedings. Perhaps the movie’s most memorable moment arrives when an exasperated Judge Julius Hoffman, in a highly-unusual measure, orders Seale, the only African-American defendant, gagged, bound, shackled, and held in contempt of court on account of his repeated outbursts.
Later, a couple of defense attorneys, William Kunstler and Leonard Weinglass were slapped with same charge, hence the change to the Chicago 10. Though it would take years, all were ultimately vindicated. However, the state had ostensibly achieved its aim, namely, to discourage youth at the dawn of the hippie era from feeling free to voice their discontent with society.
Director Morgen earns high marks for finding a most innovative way to illustrate a regrettable chapter in American history.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated R for profanity and brief sexuality.
Running time: 90 minutes
Studi Paramount Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Chicago 10 remix video contest winner and Paramount Pictures previews.
To see a trailer for Chicago 10, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9uJL7lWdFg
BOBBY SEALE: The Chicago 10 Interview with Kam Williams
Seizing the Time with the Black Panther Founder
*Robert George Seale was born on October 22, 1936 in Dallas, Texas where, from the age of six, he was raised by his father to be a carpenter-builder and a hunter-fisherman.
During WWII, the family migrated to Northern California where Bobby graduated from Berkeley High with plans of becoming an architect.
However, those plans were put on hold when he instead enlisted in the Air Force, serving for almost four years, till being discharged for insubordination.
He then moved to Los Angeles to take a shot at showbiz as a stand-up comedian and as a jazz musician, before returning to the Bay Area in 1961.
The next year, while working the night shift, full-time in the aerospace industry, Bobby attended Merritt College as an Engineering Design major. It was during this period of his life that he would meet Huey Newton and develop a passion for grassroots organizing and progressive politics.
After identifying some pressing needs of black America, the two decided to create a grass roots community-based organization. On October 15, 1966, they founded the Black Panthers, outlining the new political party’s 10-Point Platform, and naming Bobby its Chairman, and Huey its Minister of Defense, after flipping a coin.
The organization membership rolls surged in the wake of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, when most young African-Americans began to question the wisdom of the late civil rights leader’s philosophy of civil disobedience and passive resistance. But the government would come down hard on the Panthers, using the FBI’s notorious Counter-Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) along with local authorities to discredit, kill, frame, imprison and otherwise neutralize its members and sympathizers.
Although Bobby would himself spend over two years in jail on a variety of trumped-up charges, he was ultimately vindicated in every case. The most famous trial he was ever associated, dubbed the Chicago 8, began after his arrest along with 7 other activists for conspiracy and inciting to riot at the Democratic Convention in Chicago during the Summer of 1968.
The proceedings became something of a shameful spectacle when the judge had Bobby bound, shackled and gagged in the courtroom for repeatedly demanding that he be allowed to exercise his Constitutional right to represent himself. Here, he reflects on the new animated docudrama about the trial called Chicago 10, and on his enduring career as an unwavering advocate of the rights of the disenfranchised and the downtrodden.
Kam Williams: Hey, Bobby, it’s an honor to speak with you. Thanks for the time.
Bobby Seale: Thank you, Kam. How do you spell your name?
KW: K-A-M. It’s short for Kamau, an African name.
BS: Oh, I see, not C-A-M but K-A-M.
KW: Yeah. So, what did you think of the film, Chicago 10?
BS: Well, it needed my voice.
KW: I take it you would’ve preferred to do your own voice for the animation, instead of having Jeffrey Wright do you.
BS: Sure, the director [Brett Morgen] has since admitted to me that when he heard I was 70 years-old, he didn’t even consider me. He expected that I was going to be an old guy with a shaky voice going, “Well, you know, back in the day…” I said, “No, brother,” and got to reciting strings of historical facts about the Black Panther Party, and he said, “My God! You run off at the mouth like you’re 19!”
KW: I guess it must be strange to hear someone else doing you, especially since you have such a distinct, and recognizable voice.
BS: Well, it’s alright, thought I feel he should have at least made a better effort to contact me and consult me about the film and about the history, regardless of how he ultimately made the movie. Plus, I had produced my own documentary, so I’m aware of a lot of the factors that go into making a halfway decent movie. I think I could’ve made a hellified contribution in terms of the storyline.
KW: I even had a problem with the title. I felt it should be called The Chicago 8, as the defendants were known collectively, not Chicago 10.
BS: I think it was a bad title, too. It should have been The Chicago 7 or The Chicago 8, preferably, the latter, because that’s the historical reference point for the average person who knows something about the Sixties. It reminds me how in 1988 I put a bad title on my own cookbook, calling it just “Barbeque’n with Bobby.” Only in small letters at the bottom did it say “recipes by Bobby Seale.” The title should have been Barbeque’n with Bobby Seale, because 100 million people know my name. So, that was bad marketing on my part.
KW: Other than the title and not using your voice, what did you think of Chicago 10?
BS: I thought it was pretty good, for a doc. It could have been about ten minutes longer to include more about what happened to me when I was in lockup, because I was in jail the whole time of the trial. The other seven defendants were out on bail, except for Jerry Rubin for three weeks.
KW: Why do you think Judge Hoffman had you bound and gagged, and had your trial separated? Do you think he got an order from above, from someone like J. Edgar Hoover?
BS: Nah, he just couldn’t handle me. He kept trying to say that William Kunstler was my lawyer. I kept telling him that Kunstler was not my lawyer. He and I went around and around arguing about that.
KW: Charles Garry was your attorney, right?
BS: Yeah, but Charles Garry was in the hospital recovering from a gall bladder operation. So, I had made a motion to defend myself at the beginning of the trial, before the jury had heard even one shred of evidence, since my lawyer wasn’t there. Every time anyone would mention my name in the courtroom, I would jump up out of my chair and yell, “I object! I object, because my lawyer, Charles R. Garry, is not present.” He’d order me, “Sit down, Mr. Seale.” And I’d respond, “No, I want the record to reflect that I am objecting, and I am going to continue to object because you denied me my right to defend myself.” So, he chained, shackled and gagged me for three days, until finally the press went against him.
KW: Did you behave yourself after the restraints came off?
BS: No. For instance, after the defense attorneys finished cross-examining an FBI agent on the witness stand, the judge would say, “Are there any more questions?” I would jump up and say, “Well, I want cross-examine the witness.” And I’d walk over to the lectern and say, “Looka here, what the hell were you doing following me around in the first damn place?” I wasn’t a learned lawyer, but I but I was still doing my best to defend myself by asking logical questions. The judge would interrupt and say, “No, no, no, you don’t have to answer him” And I’d ask, “Why not? Why shouldn’t he have to answer the question? I’ve been denied the right to defend myself. Somebody has to answer these pointed questions if I’m going to be given a fair chance to prove my innocence.” At that point, Hoffman decided to charge me with 16 counts of contempt, and to sever my trial from that of the others. So, really, he got rid of me because he couldn’t handle me.
KW: Do you think he would have had you bound, gagged and shackled, if you weren’t black?
BS: I don’t know. That’s hard to say. The fact that I was a Black Panther, a political revolutionary, had a lot more to do with the mentality of Judge Julius Hoffman, and his, quote-unquote, putting Bobby Seale the Black Panther leader down. In other words, J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI, the right-wing, the prosecution, the Nixon Administration, etcetera had all declared me and the other defendants a threat to the internal security of America. The government hated us. And Hoffman knew this. So, his thinking in gagging me was “I’m going to gag this Black Panther.”
KW: I was fifteen in the 1968, and like the typical black teenager, the Panthers became my heroes after Martin Luther King was assassinated. We saw where non-violence and passive resistance would get a pacifist begging for equality in a racist society.
BS: Before King was killed, my friend Huey was in jail. To that point, I had only organized about 400 Black Panther Party members up and down the West Coast, between San Diego and Seattle. There were no other branches or chapters elsewhere in the country. Alright? Then, in April, 1968 King is murdered, and by late May, when schools start letting out, I begin getting a flood of people into the organization, folks flying from cities all over the nation into Oakland to talk to me and the central committee about setting up new chapters in their hometowns. Young black people were reacting to the fact that Dr. Martin Luther King had been killed. That tragedy enabled my organization to spread across the country. By November, I had 5,000 members and 49 branches. That’s 49 cities that we operated offices of the Black Panther Party in. We had the Free Breakfast for Children Program, free Sickle Cell Anemia Testing and Free Preventative Medical Healthcare Clinics in every last one of them. These programs organized and unified people on the grassroots level in the black communities where we operated. And it is a real threat to the power structure, when you can organize and unify people around something concrete. Do you see what I’m getting at?
KW: Yeah.
BS: So, here is the Counter-Intelligence Program of the FBI (COINTELPRO) doing everything it can to distort and stereotype us. They don’t tell you that I was an engineer on the Gemini missile program, and an architect, and a stand-up comedian. All they said was that I was a hoodlum and a thug. They never said that Huey Newton had finished two years of law school by the time that we created the Black Panthers. They don’t say that I was actually employed by the City of Oakland when we created the Black Panther Party.
KW: Do you think the Panther 10-Point Program is as relevant today as it was then?
BS: Yes, as profoundly relevant. In fact, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who worked with my organization for five years back then, says that the Black Panther Party’s 10-Point Program is just as relevant today as it was years ago. And we could add some points to this son of a gun.
KW: The big sister of a friend of mine was married to one of the Panther 21 arrested in NYC in 1969. I remember him telling me they had all been framed on bogus charges. Did you ever determine exactly when the FBI began infiltrating the Panthers and to what lengths it went to bring down the organization?
BS: First of all, let’s say it this way. The FBI’s Counter-Intelligence Program would work hand-in-hand with police departments, literally planning attacks on Black Panther Party offices throughout the United States of America. They did this over a period of time. They also used provocateurs, and had agents infiltrating the organization. And they would issue press releases every month or so which they would send to politicians and the press in cities where we were operating. But the most profound thing the FBI did was being complicit in the murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in Chicago, working with a special police division. The FBI was complicit in setting up that operation in December of 1969. A former FBI Agent named Wesley Swearingen even admitted it in a book published by South End Press called “FBI Secrets.” He also shows how the FBI was involved in the killings of Black Panthers John Huggins and Bunchy Carter at UCLA in January of 1969. COINTELPRO was trying to terrorize us out of existence. They didn’t say you’re under arrest on a bullhorn and ask for us to surrender. They just came in shooting. By the end of ‘69, every Black Panther Party office in this country had been attacked.
KW: In 1969, there was also a lot of tension in L.A. between the Panthers and Ron Karenga’s black nationalist organization, US.
BS: It was half generated by COINTELPRO. The FBI admitted it in the Senate investigation hearings.
KW: Would you say the FBI succeeded in bringing you down?
BS: No, we weathered everything they threw at us. At a certain point, the U.S. Senate started investigating their attacks on us. When the FBI couldn’t give a good explanation as to why they were attacking all our offices, the raids finally stopped.
KW: Meanwhile, how were you holding up behind bars?
BS: In the end, I won all my cases. They had to let me out after holding me for two years in jail without bail. Lots of people think I went to prison. I never went to prison. I was in jail without bail. After I won all the cases, they had to release me. And from 1971 to 1974 there were no shootouts. We maintained our programs and ran for political office. So, the Black Panther Party was not destroyed in that sense, but our Constitutional, democratic, civil, human, and life rights had been violated.
KW: What would you have done differently, had you known the government was going to come down on you like that?
BS: What would I have done differently? I don’t know. I’ve tried to assess that. You know that racists are going to attack you. When we started out, we accept the fact that sooner or later they were going to try to kill us. But we decided not to let that deter us. We chose to stand on the right to self-defense as best we could. And it just so happened that they came down on us. Ultimately, 28 of my Black Panther Party members were killed in various attacks by or shootouts with the police. And in those confrontations, at least a dozen black police officers were killed. I still have 10 political prisoners in jail to this day behind some of those dead cops, when they were just defending themselves against those policemen. They were convicted of first-degree murder, but they were really only defending themselves. I wish I could get amnesty for them, and get my political prisoner friends out. At any rate, I can’t obsess about what I would have done if I knew they were going to come down on me, because I did kinda know they were going to come down on us. They were coming down on the black community in the first place via institutional racism, rampant police brutality and so on.
KW: What do you think of the New Black Panthers? Their philosophy strikes me as being totally different from yours.
BS: Thumbs down! They hijacked our name. They do not represent what we represent. Our program was about all power to all the people. We had a progressive program… a relevant humanistic program… a true human liberation program. I have no time for the so-called New Black Panthers. We have invited them to three different Black Panther reunions, and every time they act stupider and stupider. I’m tired of them and have no time for them. It’s gotten to the point where we believe that their leadership is nothing but government operatives. They spout stuff that we were not about. The rank-and-file New Black Panthers probably don’t even know this. It’s like a COINTELPRO operation. I think the leadership is working for the government to spout a bunch of black racist remarks and attitudes, saying they support Al-Qaeda and that sort of crap. I’m very skeptical. I feel for the young brothers who don’t know this is what’s happening. They should get out of that group. They act so silly and stupid. For instance, they took that famous picture of me and Huey standing in front of the original Black Panther Party office, and cut my head off and replaced it with Brother Khalid Muhammad’s. In other words, they want to hijack our reunions. They’re arrogant, and I have no time for that. So, I told them, “Don’t talk to me. And don’t try to act bad, just because you’ve got some little pistols under your coats there, because if you jump up in people’s faces here, they will defend themselves.” In fact, I said, “Your damn leadership ain’t nothing but a bunch of CIA a-holes.” That’s what I believe.
KW: Yet, I always see some spokesman for them on Fox.
BS: Fox News never calls up Bobby Seale to articulate a stance in opposition to right-wing conservatives. To me, giving the New Black Panthers a platform on Fox is a subtle tactic to scare people. As far as I’m concerned, any extremist organization whether it’s Al-Qaeda, the Ku Klux Klan, or any other a-holes who indiscriminately murder and blow-up innocent people, need to be routed out and dealt with. If they claim to be fighting for human liberation, they’re liars, because when you start killing indiscriminately on that level, you have totally stepped outside the civility of what human liberation is all about.
KW: Were you politicized while serving in the Air Force?
BS: Oh, no. I didn’t know politics back then. They put me in the stockade twice. I had been an honor student. But I ran into racism in the military and didn’t know how to handle it. I’d knock a racist out. So, they put me in the stockade.
KW: So, what would you say politicized you?
BS: The first thing that began to politicize me was Jomo Kenyatta’s “Facing Mount Kenya.” I started reading that in the Spring semester of 1962. From there, I went to hear Martin Luther King speak. In the early part of ’63, I was working on the freedom of Nelson Mandela and on ending apartheid. Next, I was listening to Malcolm X after he’d left the Nation of Islam. I was thinking about joining his new organization, the OAAU, but that never happened, because he wound up getting assassinated before I had an opportunity. I was steeped in African-American history and in and out of many different organizations in the Oakland area. I was a programmatic organizer. I quit my engineering job after three years to work at the grassroots level. I wasn’t married and had no kids, so I was able to do those things.
KW: What was at the heart of your and Huey Newton’s creating the Panthers?
BS: Patrolling the police, the breakfast and job programs were all political moves, but our overall objective was to organize a mass membership organization and to evolve a political, electoral, community unity in the black community. That was my objective.
KW: Do you think the government would have come down as hard on you if you hadn’t exercised your right to bear arms?
BS: Yeah, because they came down hard on peaceful protesters. They were already shooting, killing, murdering and brutalizing peaceful protesters, so what’s the difference?
KW: How do you think you managed to survive the Sixties when so many black leaders either ended up dead, in prison or in exile?
BS: I think they thought it was best to put Bobby Seale in jail and to try to convict him than to kill him, because killing him might make him a martyr and cause his organization to grow some more.
KW: What do you think of Barack Obama?
BS: I like Obama very much. He’s representative of a lot of changes which are necessary for the country. He might just be another guy who has been handed the keys by the corporate establishment. But if he can make it to President and actually use the bully pulpit to become a driving force for some progressive legislation related to human liberation, then that’s all the better.
KW: How would you describe yourself politically today?
BS: I am still a progressive, political revolutionary. I am a revolutionary humanist, like I was in the Sixties. Do you understand what I mean by revolution? Revolution is about the need to re-evolve political, economic and social justice and power back into the hands of the people, preferably through legislation and policies that make human sense. That’s what revolution is about. Revolution is not about shootouts.
KW: The Tasha Smith question: Are you ever afraid?
BS: What do you mean by afraid? I’m too old to be running around being afraid. I been through a lot of [expletive] in my life. Beat up… choked unconscious by cops, etcetera.
KW: Is there any question no reporter has ever asked you, that you wished one would?
BS: Yeah, Where’s my eldest son?
KW: Where is he?
BS: In Iraq. He just got shipped there on June 19th. He’s been in the Army Reserves from the age of 18 to 30. He was going to leave, but he agreed to reenlist if they would make him a Military Police Officer, because that would help him get a higher paying job he wanted as a security guard with a bio-tech company. And right after that Bush started that damn, dumb-ass Iraq War. And my son just got shipped to Iraq for the first time.
KW: Are you able to sleep, or are you always worried now?
BS: Sure, I’m able to sleep. But I got a kid in Iraq, and I just don’t want him to be killed over there. I call him and email him and tell him I’m behind you and the troops, but not behind Bush. I also have a son who’s a doctor, and a daughter who’s 30. She’s finished school and needs to get married. I’m hoping she’ll find somebody really nice soon. But she’s got her job, and her principles, and her independence, which are all important in terms of her personalized liberation.
So, what else do you want ask? How much my income is?
KW: I wasn’t planning to but, okay, how much money do you make?
BS: How do you think I survive?
KW: By giving lectures and writing books.
BS: Yep, college lectures. I do about 20 lectures a year. I haven’t written any books for a while, although I have two books in the works. I’ve almost finished “The Eighth Defendant.” I’m looking for a top publisher who’ll give me a half-million dollar advance for it. I need a big advance to make my family secure. Are you going to include that in the article?
KW: Yep. I’m going to write-up every word of this conversation.
BS: Have you heard about the Spielberg film? He’s make a drama call The Trial of the Chicago 7. Guess who he has playing me?
KW: Jeffrey Wright again?
BS: Nope, Will Smith. And Kevin Spacey will be playing one of the attorneys.
This is going to be a big Hollywood production. So, I need to publish “The Eighth Defendant.” by the time the movie is released.
KW: Bookworm Troy Johnson wants to know, what was the last book you read?
BS: The last book I read, digested and loved was “Shades of Love” by Leon Higginbotham.
KW: I haven’t read that one, but I loved his book “In the Matter of Color.” Do you still live in Philly?
BS: No, man, I’m living in Oakland. I lived in Philly for a while because my wife was from Philadelphia, and she had a home and everything there. But we moved back to my home in Oakland, California four or five years ago. In fact, we really started coming back about eight years ago when my daughter began studying at San Francisco State University. She graduated, let me see, about five years ago now.
KW: You can look for this article in a couple of your local papers. I write for, the Oakland Globe and the Oakland Post.
BS: Paul Cobb’s paper.
KW: Yep, the Post is the paper whose editor, Chauncey Bailey, was murdered on the street about a year ago for writing an expose’. I had just spoken to him a couple of days before.
BS: Yeah, that was a tragedy.
KW: Well, Bobby, thanks for your lifelong commitment to oppressed people, and thanks for the great interview.
BS: You’re welcome. Thanks a lot.
CHICAGO 10 is currently available on DVD and will have its broadcast premiere on Tuesday, October 22, at 9 PM ET (Check Local Listings) as the season opener of the award–winning PBS series Independent Lens, hosted by Terrence Howard.
For more information, visit: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/about.html
To see archival footage of Bobby Seale explaining the Black Panther Party’s political platform, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPP0hiLuxdQ
JOSEPH C. PHILLIPS: How Things Work
*In a 2007 interview with the editorial board of Washington Post, Senator Joseph Biden offered these thoughts on the racial achievement gap in education, "There's less than one percent of the population of Iowa that is African American. There is probably less than four or five percent that are minorities. What is in Washington [DC]? So look, it goes back to what you start off with, what you're dealing with."
Certainly, the senator did not mean to imply that black students were inherently academically inferior to their white and Asian counterparts. Or did he?
Biden sought to clarify his remarks in a statement: "This was not a race-based distinction, but a discussion of the problems kids face who don't have the same socio-economic support system.”
It wasn’t a race based distinction at all. No doubt that is why he used as a comparison a town known as “chocolate city” and a state perceived as the whitest state in the union. It will come as quite a shock to parents in Iowa that their children are not underprivileged because they are white. It will come as more of a shock to Senator Biden that according to revised data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Iowa ranks 29th in per capita income behind Washington D.C which oddly enough has one of the highest in the country. More shocking is that “Education trust Iowa” reports that 88% of black Iowa fourth graders are reading below grade level. By the eighth grade only eight percent of black eighth graders are rated proficient in math. It is a sad commentary that I don’t even have to post the scores of the two percent of the Asian population in Iowa as their scores are almost directly in opposite of those of black Iowa students. Economics may explain some of the gap but it will not explain the fact that here in California, for example, disadvantaged white and Asian students (defined as students that qualify for the federal school lunch program) continue to outscore non-disadvantaged black students on the English and math portions of the STAR test.
Most shocking is that the senator may have actually been correct. That is to say he may have been correct before he became politically correct.
The public has been aware of the gap in academic achievement among racial groups for some time. The primary focus of much of our public policy has been on how to fix the bureaucracy. If kids are failing, it must be the schools. One of the central aims of the legislation known as “No Child Left Behind” was to erase this gap.
We seem content to posit that black students are the victims of the subtle racism of mostly white teachers or that this is the inevitable result of a system built out of a white power structure (sigh). We are certain that if only our kids sat next to the rich kids, or we paid our teachers a million dollars a year, all our kids would become little Einstein’s, reading and factoring like crazy. We don’t dare wonder out loud if perhaps the issue may have less to do with teachers and schools than it does with the obvious truth Senator Biden dared utter initially to whit: “It goes back to what you start with.”
There is a limit to what schools can do and what we should expect them to do. Parents prepare their children for success and good parenting as it relates to that preparation ought not be defined by race or economics.
Yes, schools in better neighborhoods have the advantage of parents with enough disposable income to pool their money to provide special programs. But we are not talking about having the local Shakespeare theatre come to the school to perform. The tests our kids are failing reflect basic skills –reading and arithmetic. What those neighborhoods have that is of most value is parents completely and utterly immersed in their children’s education.
After a teacher tells you why he or she should be getting paid as much as a first round draft pick for the NFL, they will concede that the first key to academic achievement is involved parenting. Parents with a vision for a successful future, that are willing to sacrifice in order to achieve it and determined to instill this discipline in their children will present to educators students prepared to achieve. None of these characteristics are purchased with money and parents in both Washington D.C. and Iowa can pass them along to their children.
Joseph C. Phillips is the author of “He Talk Like A White Boy” available wherever books are sold.
ASK ADVICE CHICK: Answers to YOUR Dating, Sex, Life, & Love Questions!
By AdviceChick at ameritech.net
Chicago Ladies! ULTIMATE Ladies NITE Out part 2, CAUTION! Men At Work is coming Saturday November 8, 2008! Visit http://www.ultimateladiesniteout.com NOW for details!
Dear Advice Chick,
*I am a 45 year old woman and I have a boyfriend that is also 45 (although he is mentally much younger). He recently went to a strip club with a male friend. This friend (whom just got married) also sends him e-mail with naked girls (mostly young girls). My boyfriend also goes to porn sites on the internet. This really bothers me and I told him it is an insult to me (his woman) that he needs to look at other naked females. He thinks I’m crazy for being upset! Am I?
Advice Chick replies,
Yes you are. Here’s the deal: straight men like to look at naked women, even when that naked woman isn’t you. You said he’s mentally younger, but who is snooping through whose email and Internet history?
Tell ya what. Instead of sitting around complaining and being jealous, get naked! Give your man something real to look at! Dress it up, Mami! Go buy seven sexy lingerie outfits (shop at Filenes Basement where it’s almost dirt cheap) and open the door like a sexy siren every day of the week.
Men look. There’s no changing that; but you can change your attitude about it. Have fun with your sexuality! You’ll see your man looking at you more than he looks at his fantasies.
Send YOUR questions and comments to Advice Chick right NOW! Please put “Dear Advice Chick” in the subject line so your email isn’t deleted as spam. Thanks! Send your emails t advicechick at ameritech.net
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Ask Advice Chick about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING related to dating, sex, love, and life! She is THE resident dating expert at EURweb.com, and calls on over 11 years of dating and relationship industry experience.
AUDREY’S SOCIETY WHIRL: THE BLACK LIST, VOL. I
HOME BOX OFFICE Premieres Film Documentary ‘The Black List, Vol. 1’; Richard “Dick” Parsons Hosts VIP Private Screening Of The HBO Documentary Film Followed By A Swanky Reception At The Ritzy Time Warner Center
By Audrey J. Bernard, Lifestyles/Society Editor
*Famous filmmaker and portrait photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and award-winning journalist Elvis Mitchell are the brain power behind an innovative documentary celebrating the luminescent profiles of some of the most fabulous and fascinating African Americans from the worlds of the arts, sports, politics, business and government in the HBO documentary film, The Black List, Vol. 1, that premiered on Home Box Office on Monday, August 25 at 9 pm (EST). The Black List, Vol. 1, features fascinating stories of their individual struggles, triumphs and joys of black life in the U.S.
In The Black List, Vol. 1, Greenfield-Sanders and Mitchell worked in tandem to secure each participant’s candid first-ever interviews revealing their unique perspectives on the black experience in the U.S. The dynamic documentary shares their triumphs and how they turned their negatives into positives.
The making of The Black List, Vol. 1 consisted of Greenfield-Sanders shooting each person with his large-format camera for a portrait as Mitchell meticulously interviewed each participant, in order of appearance:
Slash, former Guns N' Roses guitarist; Toni Morrison, author and Nobel laureate; Keenen Ivory Wayans, film writer/director, creator of TV's In Living Color; Vernon Jordan, lawyer and former president of the National Urban League; and Faye Wattleton, current President of the Center for the Advancement of Women and former President of Planned Parenthood; Marc Morial, former Mayor of New Orleans and current National Urban League president; Serena Williams, eight-time Grand Slam tennis champion; Lou Gossett Jr., Oscar®-winning actor; Lorna Simpson, artist and photographer; Mahlon Duckett, former Negro League Baseball star; Zane, best-selling erotic author and publisher; Al Sharpton, pastor, activist and 2004 Presidential candidate; Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, Hall of Fame basketball great; and Thelma Golden, art curator at the Whitney Museum and now the Studio Museum in Harlem; Sean Combs, mogul, actor and music producer; Susan Rice, former Assistant Secretary of State and Senator Barack Obama's senior campaign advisor; Chris Rock, comedian, producer and director; Suzan-Lori Parks, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright; Richard Parsons, former Time Warner CEO; Dawn Staley, 3-time Olympic gold medalist, WNBA All-Star and current Temple University women's basketball head coach; and Bill T. Jones, Tony Award-winning dancer and director of the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.
The Black List, Vol. 1 made its world premiere at 2008's Sundance Film Festival as part of a multimedia initiative titled "The Black List Project" that included the HBO documentary, a museum exhibition of photographic portraits, a book of those photographs, and an interactive educational program.
The Black List, Vol. 1 credits interviews by Elvis Mitchell; direction by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders; produced by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, Elvis Mitchell, Michael Slap Sloane; and executive produced by Christopher McKee, Scott Richman, Tommy Walker and Payne Brown.
Prior to the release of the extraordinary documentary film, Richard “Dick” Parsons -- who is featured in the documentary -- hosted a swanky pre-reception where guests were served out of this whirl food; followed by a special private screening in an adjacent room with plush seating; followed by a delicious post-dessert reception featuring scandalicious chocolate sweets.
The VIPs were the first to see the exciting confluence of powerful African Americans who shared their stories and insights into the struggles, triumphs and joys of black lifestyles.
As I sat watching the film, my eyes were drawn to the sea of affluent African Americans in the audience. Ironically, I couldn’t help from thinking that they could very well be in the next edition of the series -- The Black List, Vol. 2 -- as they too were cut from the same rich tapestry of beguiling blacks living large in America. (Photo Credit: Wilson Morales and RD/Leon/Retna Digital)
Audrey J. Bernard is an established chronicler of Black society and Urban happenings based in the New York City area.
THE PULSE OF ENTERTAINMENT: Jazz/Hip-Hop saxophonist Mike Phillips featured on 'Unwrapped: The Collipark Cafe' Sessions" CD release, and The Africa Channel gets deal with Time Warner Cable
By Eunice Moseley
Hip-Hop saxophonist Mike Phillips is featured on ‘Unwrapped 5: The Collipark Café’ Seasons,’ a Hidden Beach release
*“I’m from the streets” Jazz saxophonist Mike Phillips said about his style. “Hip-Hop comes from the streets (from) Miles Davis to A Tribe Called Quest. The trend started from the street up. Guys in suits and ties sit in their offices and say, ‘This is good!’ but people in suits can’t make a trend.”
It is that Hip-Hop trend with a twist of Jazz that the new Hidden Beach release, “Unwrapped 5.0: The Collipark Café’ Sessions,” captures with the help of featured Jazz musicians like Mike. As with the style of Mike Phillips fusing together Hip-Hop and Jazz, producer Mr. Collipark (Lil’ Jon, Ying Yang Twins, Soulja Boy), the brainchild of the project, wanted to combine Jazz with Atlanta’s Crunk. Collipark and his attorney/partner Karl Marcellus approached Hidden Beach Recordings with the idea.
Hidden Beach launched in 2001 its “Unwrapped” series of Jazz interpretations of popular Hip-Hop songs. By then Collipark and Washington had enlisted the help of Abdul Ra’oof to help assemble a group of noted Atlanta-based musicians and producers, but somehow they couldn’t get it off the ground.
Initially Steve McKeever, president of Hidden Beach Recordings turned them down because he had done four series of “Unwrapped” and he felt the market-place was flooded with carbon copies of what they were doing.
When the right time came Steve contacted Collipark and “Unwrapped: The Collipark Café’ Sessions” was completed. It has eleven tracks of which Mike Phillips is on three: Hurricane Chris’ “Ay Bay Bay,” T-Pain’s “Shawty,” and Soulja Boy’s “Crank That.” Artists featured on the CD include Phillips, Peter Black, Jeff Bradshaw, Jimmy Brown, Kofi Burbridge and the albums executive producer Abdul Ra’oof.
“The young rap movement I can’t stand,” Mike says about current-day Hip-Hop. “Be responsible and make…something my 10 year-old can listen to.”
Well, the Hidden Beach CD, “Unwrapped: The Collipark Café’ Sessions,” doesn’t have that problem because it is mainly an instrumental album. You will also find Lil’ Jon and the Eastside Boyz’s “Get Low,” with Jimmy Brown on Sax, flute and trombone; The Ying Yang Twins’ “Salt Shaker,” with Reginald Jones on keyboards and guitar; Akon’s “Soul Survivor,” with Abdul Ra’oof on trumpet and vocals, and a Mr. Collipark original “Bridging the Great Divide,” with Darryl “Wiz” Rouse on Keyboards and Abdul on vocals.
“There’s one thing that will never change, people are looking for music that stirs the soul,” Mike said as our interview concluded, and I totally agree.
The African Channel gets deal with Time Warner Cable
The U.S. – based television network, The Africa Channel, announced the launch of its Time Warner Cable channel 176. The Time Warner agreement will provide The Africa Channel national reach to 14 million households.
The Africa