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05-20-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
OBAMA TO GOP: 'LAY OFF MY WIFE': Senator not happy about GOP ad in Tennessee targeting Michelle Obama.
*Sen. Barack Obama made it clear to Republicans that his wife, Michelle, is off limits when it comes to attack ads.
During an interview on "Good Morning America," the wife of the Democratic presidential candidate was asked about an ad from a GOP Internet campaign in Tennessee featuring Michelle Obama's comments "for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country."
Her husband said, "Let me just interject on this," and proceeded to call the GOP tactic "low class" and "detestable." The Illinois senator told "Good Morning America" that he expects hardball tactics from the Republicans if he becomes the Democratic presidential nominee.
"But I also think these folks should lay off my wife," he told "GMA"
as his wife chuckled beside him.
"The GOP, should I be the nominee, I think can say whatever they want to say about me, my track record," Obama continued. "I've been in public life for 20 years. I expect them to pore through everything that I've said, every utterance, every statement. And to paint it in the most undesirable light possible. That's what they do."
"But I do want to say this to the GOP. If they think that they're going to try to make Michelle an issue in this campaign, they should be careful. Because that I find unacceptable," he said.
Obama praised his wife's patriotism and said that for Republicans "to try to distort or to play snippets of her remarks in ways that are unflattering to her I think is just low class ... and especially for people who purport to be promoters of family values, who claim that they are protectors of the values and ideals and the decency of the American people to start attacking my wife in a political campaign I think is detestable."
Obama later added, "I think that the American people also would like to see some restoration of decency to this process. And when you start attacking family members, there's a lack of decency there."
Click here to watch the Obamas on "GMA"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZHIVSI1Bh8
Click here to watch Tenn GOP's ad attacking Michelle Obama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmWEaqxkGtU
J-HUD'S DEBUT ALBUM DUE IN SEPTEMBER: 'Idol' vet's self-titled project led by first single 'Spotlight.'
*Now that her latest role in the upcoming "Sex in the City" movie is in the can, Jennifer Hudson will pivot back to her roots and work to complete her self-titled debut album by its September release date.
The first single, "Spotlight," will impact U.S. radio outlets on June 9 and be available for sale via digital outlets the following day, reports Billboard. [Scroll down for a listen.]
The track was written and co-produced by singer-songwriter Ne-Yo.
Additional contributors on the album include Timbaland, Robin Thicke, the Underdogs, Diane Warren and Christopher "Tricky" Stewart, among others.
"I think people will be pleasantly surprised, because it shows a side of my work that no one has heard before," said the Academy Award winner of her Arista album.
In addition to co-starring in "Sex in the City," Hudson also appears on its soundtrack, due May 27 via New Line. Her next film project, "The Secret Life of Bees," hits theaters on Oct. 17.
Listen to Jennifer Hudson's single "Spotlight" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw50xPhFtd4&feature=related
AKON TALKS ABOUT SMOKING GUN ARTICLE: Singer responds to allegations that he made up huge chunks of his criminal past.
*Akon has chosen to answer questions raised by the Smoking Gun about his so-called criminal past by raising his own question about the Web site's intentions in reporting such a story.
"'To go back and focus and put energy on negative things like that, to try to discredit an artist, it makes no sense to me," Akon tells MTV News.
The Senegalese artist was accused of fabricating much of his past as the ringleader of a "notorious" car-theft ring. Smoking Gun also reported that he didn't spend four and a half years in prison, as he has stated.
Instead, the Web site found information provided by police, court and corrections records that proved Akon spent only a few months in an Atlanta jail for stealing just one car.
The article also called into question the stories he's been repeating in interviews for years about his background as a thug who once owned and operated four chop shops that catered to "celebrities and drug dealers."
During an interview with MTV News last week, Akon never actually denied the Smoking Gun story, but said he believes the report has has done little to hurt his reputation.
"It's an article," he said. "Everyone's entitled to their own opinions and views. At the end of the day, the Konvict movement is keeping me out of jail. It's nothing I want to glorify or go back to. Honestly, I'm glad something like that came out, because it opens the minds of other people who're thinking positive."
"We're doing so many positive things," he continued. "To go back and focus and put energy on negative things like that, to try to discredit an artist, it makes no sense to me. If there was a motive for it, it would be worth entertaining. I'd rather keep it the way it is and leave the article out there. It only helps me. It's not something I was trying to glorify or turn back to. It was something I was trying to forget. Actually, it worked out for me in a positive way."
FISHBURNE TO HELM, PRODUCE AND STAR IN 'ALCHEMIST': Actor teams with Weinstein to bring best-selling novel to big screen.
*Laurence Fishburne is teaming with movie mogul Harvey Weinstein to bring Paulo Coelho's 1988 novel "The Alchemist" to the big screen in a $60 million-plus adaptation, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The best-selling book tells the story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy, who while traveling the world in search of treasure meets an alchemist, to be played by Fishburne. The actor will also direct and produce.
The project had been in development at Warner Bros for years, but Weinstein swooped in and picked up all rights, and will personally produce the film for the Weinstein Co, the trade reported.
"This is one of those great turnaround situations," Weinstein said of the project's long gestation. "The book means so much to people on a spiritual level, and there is an exciting love story, action." He also said, "I think there is a bridge to the Middle East in this story.
Weinstein plans to bring on a screenwriter and launch a casting search for the roles of Santiago and Fatima, the woman with whom the young man falls in love.
SEAN PATRICK THOMAS WELCOMES BABY GIRL: Actor's wife gave birth on Friday.
*Actor Sean Patrick Thomas and his wife Aonika are the proud parents of a new baby girl, reports People.com.
Lola Jolie was born Friday at 7:29 p.m. and weighed in at exactly 7 lbs.
"Now I have two gorgeous girls to love," the film star told People.
Thomas, who most recently appeared in "A Raisin in the Sun" with Sean "Diddy" Combs, married actress Aonika Laurent in New Orleans in 2006.
DIDDY A 'CHANGED' MAN DUE TO KANYE: Mogul says West's recent concert made him fall in love with hip hop again.
*Sean "Diddy" Combs has posted a YouTube video of himself explaining how his life changed after witnessing Kanye West in concert.
"The other night, I go to the Kanye West concert ... [I have] nothing but high expectations," Diddy says. "Concert changed my life. I ain't gonna lie. I was so impressed and inspired. It was beautiful, man – and I fell in love with hip-hop again.
"I want to say thank you, Kanye, for giving me that."
West is in the midst of his "Glow in the Dark" tour to promote his latest album, "Graduation." Rihanna and N.E.R.D. are supporting acts.
View Diddy's YouTube posting here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL0I7zkcODk
COPS TOW GAME'S BENTLEY FOR BAD TAGS: Rapper stopped by police Sunday night in Glendale.
*A Bentley, even in celeb-soaked Southern California and its suburbs, still manages to attract extra special attention from other drivers, including LA's finest. And a brother sitting behind the wheel doesn't help.
Sunday night at around 7 p.m., The Game was driving his Bentley in the LA suburb of Glendale when he was pulled over for expired tags and for not having proof of insurance, reports TMZ.com.
His car was towed to the police impound, leaving the rapper to pay late fees, fines and to provide proof of insurance before his expensive vehicle can be returned.
USHER'S 'LOVE IN THIS CLUB' REMIX ON TOUCHTUNES: New version with Beyonce and Lil' Wayne available for download.
*Usher is helping to promote interactive entertainment network TouchTunes by giving the service exclusive rights to sell his "Love in This Club" remix, featuring Beyonce and Lil’ Wayne.
The exclusive digital jukebox pre-release of "Love in This Club Part II" on the TouchTunes network was made available Monday, more than a week before the official on-sale date of Tuesday, May 27 for Usher’s new album "Here I Stand."
Usher fans will be able to enter their email addresses on-screen at any of the 10,000 participating jukeboxes to receive an email from TouchTunes with a special link to pre-order "Here I Stand" with three bonus tracks from iTunes.
Additionally, iTunes will also provide the “Love in This Club” music video and an immediate download of “Love in This Club Part II,” featuring Beyonce and Lil’ Wayne.
QUEEN PEN ATTACKED BY BOYFRIEND: Former rapper allegedly assaulted in front of her children.
*Rapper Queen Pen was allegedly assaulted by her boyfriend recently during an argument in their East Flatbush, Brooklyn apartment, reports the New York Post.
As of press time, police were still searching for 29-year-old Kendall Wicker, who was said to have attacked Queen Pen in front of her children and broke her Grammy Award.
Wicker also allegedly trashed the apartment, threw a brick through the windshield of her car and threatened to kill the rapper, whose real name is Lynise Walters.
According to the police report filed by Queen Pen, Wicker had punched her in the face so hard three months ago, that she needed oral surgery.
The artist is best known for her track "Party Ain’t A Party" (featuring Lost Boyz), and the 1996 Blackstreet hit “No Diggity” featuring Dr. Dre, which won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
50 CENT DENIES NEWS CORP MERGER: Rapper's management says recent reports are not true.
*The management team behind 50 Cent is denying recent reports that the rapper is currently hammering out a $300 million deal with Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
AllHipHop.com says it has confirmed that 50's rep at Violator Management has called the report false.
According to reports, the deal was supposed to bring 50 Cent to MySpace Records, while News Corp would have controlling interest over the rapper's tours, books, film projects and Web site thisis50.com.
The reports are “rumors,” 50 Cent’s manager Chris Lighty confirmed with AllHipHop.com.
'STRANGE', FISHBURNE WIN DRAMA DESK AWARDS: Trophies were handed out Sunday at Lincoln Center.
*Passing Strange, the Tony-nominated musical about a rebellious black bohemian in search of new experiences, was named Outstanding Musical at the 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards, which were presented May 18 in the F.H. LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center.
The production also picked up awards for Outstanding Music (Stew and Heidi Rodewald, "Passing Strange") and Outstanding Lyrics (Stew, "Passing Strange").
Meanwhile, Tony winner Laurence Fishburne won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Solo Performance for his work as the late Civil Rights great and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall in Thurgood.
Click here for a full list of Drama Desk Awards winners and
nominees: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/117848.html.
In other theater news, Carol Woods, a frequent presence in the Tony-winning revival of Chicago, will return to the musical in her role of Matron "Mama" Morton beginning June 2.
Woods' theatrical credits include The Full Monty, Smokey Joe's Cafe, Steppin' Out, The Goodbye Girl, Grind, Big River and the revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies.
USHER'S MOM LAUNCHES RECORD LABEL: Jonnetta Patton's JPat gets started with two R&B acts.
*Usher's mother and former manager Jonnetta Patton has launched her own independent record label, JPat Records, with two newly signed acts on the roster – R&B group Kwiet Storm and R&B male singer Donte. J
Although Usher fired her as his manager during Mother's Day weekend in 2007, Patton continues to run her Atlanta-based JPat Management company and is still representing the career of her youngest son, Grammy-nominated producer James “JLack” Lackey, and Jive recording artist Natasha.
Hailing from Chicago, Kwiet Storm features four male
singer/songwriter/producers: cousins Duke Terrell, 18, and Lewis “Drey Skonie” Jackson, 19, and best friends Russell “Romance” Foster, 20, and Roshawn “Slow Mo” Lyles, 20.
Donte, a 20-year-old Philadelphia native, was playing the lead role in the musical stage play “The Life of Marvin Gaye” when, during intermission, he was introduced to Jonnetta Patton. Impressed by his soulful music and acting abilities, she soon signed him to her record label.
MYSPACE PROTESTED OVER GANG PROFILES: LA based community activists want social networking site to monitor pages.
*Civil rights activist Najee Ali and a coalition of community leaders are calling for Myspace.com to start removing profiles that "promote and glorify gang violence."
The protest follows the March 2 murder of 17-year-old L.A. high school football star Jamiel Shaw by an alleged gang member and "frequent MySpace user," according to Ali.
"On his profiles he claimed membership in his neighborhood street gang and posed for pictures flashing gang signs," read a statement from Ali's Project Islamic HOPE. "Shaw also threatened violence on his MySpace pages against rival gangs causing many people to now believe that Shaw was gunned down not because of his race but because of his gang memberships and associations that were promoted by MySpace.
"Our coalition wants MySpace to ban all promotions of gang violence and gang culture by users and is asking for community members nationwide to report objectionable comments and pictures that promote gangs."
MEL B TO RELEASE A SOLO ALBUM: Scary Spice has been working with producers Scott Storch and Damon Elliott.
*Melanie "Mel B" Brown has spent the last six weeks working with producers Scott Storch and Damon Elliott on a new solo album, according to People magazine.
"It's kind of pop because that's what I am, but it's pop with a bit of an edge," she said Sunday, at the finale taping of TLC's music game show "The Singing Office," which she co-hosts with Joey Fatone. "I'm about six or seven songs deep into it."
She has also described the project as "a cross between early Pink and Destiny's Child. Urban pop. That's what I do best, where I come from, what people know me for." Some of the song titles that have leaked so far are "Walk Away," "Out In The Cold" and "Ours Is Yours."
The one-time fiancé of Eddie Murphy and mother of his daughter Angel Iris says she hopes to release the new CD, her third solo effort, before the end of the year.
EUR FILM REVIEW: Redbelt
David Mamet Directs Disappointing Martial Arts Mystery
Film Review by Kam Williams
*Perhaps because his directorial debut, House of Games (1987), was one of the best psychological thrillers ever made, we continue to have high expectations of David Mamet over twenty years later.
Consequently, a mediocre offering like Redbelt turns out to be a major disappointment, despite the fact that it might be better received coming from someone with a less-regarded reputation.
The picture represents Mamet's first foray into the martial arts genre, although his character-driven script still boasts the basic trademarks by which the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright's work is readily recognized.
This means the screen is littered with an ensemble of street-savvy con artists delivering raw dialogue staccato-style, all frequently repeating their lines for the effect of emphasis. And among the actors are some familiar faces from the Mamet repertory company, including his wife Rebecca Pidgeon, Joe Mantegna, Ricky Jay and David Paymer.
As usual, the pretzeled plot embroils the players in a complicated caper calling for considerable gray matter to unravel. It's just too bad that, in this instance, the elaborate scam has so many layers that the audience is likely to tire of the cinematic charade well before the intricate premise has even been completely established.
The story revolves around Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the cash-strapped sensei of a jiu-jitsu dojo located in downtown Los Angeles. He's a purist who has thusfar staunchly resisted any temptation to fight on the mixed martial arts circuit, preferring to rely instead on financial help from his Brazilian wife's (Alice Braga) fabric business to keep his fledgling studio afloat.
A disturbing chain of events is triggered the day that a distraught attorney (Emily Mortimer) shows up at the academy unannounced. For Mike's most promising student, an off-duty police officer named Joe (Max Martini), inadvertently invades the fidgety female's personal space, not knowing that she's a recovering rape victim. The paranoid woman reflexively grabs his gun lying on a counter and shoots out the place's pricy plate glass window.
Already behind in rent, now Mike has this added expense to deal with.
Later, at a local watering hole, he instinctively comes to the assistance of a stranger sucker-punched by a bar patron. The grateful victim happens to be a famous movie star (Tim Allen) who befriends the Good Samaritan, has him over to the mansion for dinner and offers to introduce him to some of the movers and shakers in the world of showbiz.
Meanwhile, Mike's money woes mysteriously mount, so that by the time he finds himself suddenly indebted to loan sharks the question is no longer if, but merely when, he will break his code and finally enter the ring to raise some much-needed moolah. Like an unnecessarily confusing and convoluted cross of Rocky and The Karate Kid, Redbelt is a flick that's a tad too smart for its own good, given the simple message it is designed to deliver.
I can't really in good conscience recommend a headscratcher I had such a hard time following myself.
Fair (1 star)
Rated R for profanity and violence and drug use.
Running time: 99 minutes
Studi Sony Pictures Classics
EUR FILM REVIEW: Bloodline
Blasphemous Expose' Claims Catholic Church Knows Jesus Was Just a Man
Film Review by Kam Williams
*Sorry, but life's simply too short for me to waste a lot of time on a movie this ridiculous. If you're a conspiracy buff who believes The Da Vinci Code, and who wants further proof that Jesus was just a man, then have I got a flick for you.
However, at the outset please allow me to remind you that that blasphemous best seller was roundly ridiculed by both Christian theologians and academic scholars for being riddled with inaccuracies. Nonetheless, it has sold over 50 million copies despite author Dan Brown's having been forced to admit to lifting his central hypothesis and key plot elements from The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, a book long since exposed as a hoax.
The problems with this laughable documentary are plentiful, starting with its reliance on Holy Blood's assertion that Jesus was still alive in 45 A.D. as evidence that he wasn't divine. Building from there, Bloodline's basic premise is that Christ was not God, but a human who married and had children with Mary Magdalene.
It further asserts that he somehow survived the Crucifixion, and that his wife removed his body from the tomb, thereby tricking his disciples into thinking he had been resurrected. The family then moved to Southern France, where it began the "bloodline" of the royal family, hence the film's title.
With the help of pretentious experts who decipher codes on ancient parchment and unearth never before seen shrouds, relics and corpses suddenly found in tombs and archaeological digs, all of which just happens to be caught on camera, this expose' purports to prove all of the above. It's all obviously nonsense to anyone with an I.Q. higher than room temperature.
Bloodline's sanest moment arrives when the dissenting voice of a Catholic Cardinal is quoted suggesting that you could learn more about history and theology "by watching Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Ostensibly-inspired by the success of similarly-concocted schemes like The Blair Witch Project, this transparently phony fairy tale is strictly for the very gullible.
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. Or the intelligence either.
Fair (1 star)
Unrated
In English and French with subtitles.
Running time: 108 minutes
Studi Cinema Libre Studio
STEVEN IVORY: Emergency Ex
*Nervously, Louis sought refuge in the Sunday afternoon football game that filled his plasma TV screen. However, the pain filling his chest--progressing from an annoyance to what felt like something very serious--would not be ignored.
He couldn't go now. Not at age 36 and not like this--in his apartment. In L.A. Alone.
Reluctantly yet frantically, Louis dialed 911 for paramedics. And then he did what most anyone living in a city without family or close friends and on good terms with their past would d he speed-dialed his ex.
Hopefully, among our romantic tragedies is the break up or divorce that, after differences subside, yields a treasured friendship. Someone with whom you can do lunch or a movie. Or reach out to when you're having the occasional heart attack.
For too many, the mere notion of cordial relations with an ex is a perverted anomaly. But after all the screaming, shouting, weeping and the dissolution, if not one of your "serious" relationships eventually transcends into post-romance camaraderie, then I'd say you've wasted an awful lot of your time.
It's been said that a love affair is a friendship that caught on fire. If that's true, then the flame is fanned by mutual respect and clear, willing communication. And even if that fire dies, from the embers can emerge a unique and wonderful connection.
It's not about having an ex all up in your life. And, it's not about sex, which would be tantamount to incest, considering that we're practically talking family here. This particular ex is someone who knows you like no one else--which, after all, is pretty much why they're your ex. However, out of the experience can come a fulfilling friendship.
Louis and Sharona lived together nearly three years before she faced up to his fear of marriage.
"I was angry," says Sharona, 30. "I felt like he wasted my time. But then, I've told my husband that my relationship with Louis is what led me to him. After Louis, I knew I wanted to be in love with someone who wasn't going to sit on the fence. At the same time, before Louis, I didn't know how to be friends with men if I wasn't sleeping with them. Louis taught me that after we split. And [in Louis] my husband found the occasional golf partner he can beat."
After her bitter breakup from Louis but before she met her husband, Sharona's father and only living parent suddenly passed. The oldest of three girls, Sharona was responsible for his burial.
"I fell apart," she says. "Louis and I weren't even speaking at the time, but when he found out about Papa, he just stepped in and made sure everything went as it was planned. Literally, all my sisters and I had to do was show up at the funeral and grieve. He even cooked some of the food. For a lot of reasons, Louis wasn't the person I'd walk into the sunset with, but he has been a wonderful and loving friend.”
From Sharona, Louis says he learned "the power of a woman's forgiveness," the liberating art of letting go an acrimonious past, and he discovered that Sharona “is one hell of a driver."
Indeed, on that Sunday afternoon, she reached his place before paramedics, and then beat the ambulance to the hospital, along the way informing Louis' family back in D.C. by cell phone. She then stayed at the hospital with him until he was discharged later that night.
What felt like a heart attack to Louis was the result of two chili dogs scarfed down just before settling in front of the TV. However, Godzilla-sized indigestion was no match for Louis and Sharona's Emergency Ex System--proof that the painful end of a romance can sometimes be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Steven Ivory's book, FOOL IN LOVE (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) is in stores now or at Amazon.com (www.Amazon.com) Respond to him via STEVRIVORY@AOL.COM or MYfeedback@eurweb.com
THE BRIDGE: Who Stole The Soul?
Part 2: African American Souls For Sale
By Darryl James
*At the center of every people is something that is, for them, innately funky.
And when they fail to hold on to that something, then they fail to protect their Soul.
America is such a careless and cold marketplace that it is easy for anyone to lose their Soul. Regardless of the effect on the people, anyone’s Soul can be sold on the open market.
Even white people have souled their Soul.
For example, Emimen could have been funky in a Black environment as a white boy, instead of coming off as a white boy trying to dominate a Black art form by trying to come off as nearly Black.
That’s why now he has fallen off as if he has never existed. He went from the supposed world-changing rap star to obscurity.
He should have paid attention to those before him. Beastie Boys were crazy in a very white boy way. They were true to their whiteness in a Black environment and it was funky. No one could have done that except some berserk white boys. Anyone Black with that style would have sounded goofy and would have been corny and wack.
Another example can be found in 1970s R&B music. Quick—did you really know Teena Marie was white in the early days of her career? Did you care that Micheal McDonald (Doobie Brothers) or Bobby Caldwell was?
But, many of us care that Justin Timberlake is white and could care less for his disingenuous attempts to be “Blacker than thou,” even going so far as to dis Prince, of all people, in order to earn some sort of ‘hood rep.
Stupid ass Justin souled out.
It’s easy to do in America, where we can see the Soul-selling in every nook and cranny of the nation.
And at the bottom of it all are the most abused, historically disenfranchised group of citizens—African Americans, pretending to be something that they no longer even discuss—relevant, empowered and enfranchised.
Sad and simple-minded African Americans believe that the presence of a few corporate leaders in Blackface will somehow affect the rest of us, and so we cheer for the heads of commerce, even as most of us languish at middle class and below.
These sad Black people even believe that the election of a Black president will instantly make good the nation’s bad promissory note written against an account with the funds ready to be disbursed on demand.
Certainly, Barack Obama’s presidency will bring many good things, but it will take more than the election of one Black man to stem the tide of bloodletting that has been flowing freely for centuries.
Yet, many deluded Blacks in America believe that there is no more bloodshed and that the nation is now fair, beautiful and loving.
But why wouldn’t African Americans believe in truth, justice and the American way?
Our people are being assimilated into a soul-less society and we are becoming more and more soul-less with it.
It’s an evolution and a destruction of a people at the same time. At the end of the day, it’s like the Matrix, where the goal is to have everyone look like Agent Smith.
The Soul is being sucked out of our people. That is the ultimate goal of this system—to create mindless, shapeless consumers.
It will get to the point where whites will tell Blacks what being a Nigger is and claim to be more Nigger-like than them.
Wait—we’re already there.
Blackness has very little meaning and substance to most of us. Talk to a few people across a wide age range and you will find that there is little sense of community. This is one of the prime reasons why previously demeaning behavior and activities are now celebrated, particularly if the person facilitating the demeaning of our image is in blackface and getting paid.
Where whites once thought twice about donning blackface and demeaning Black people, now assholes like Chuck Knepp and his “Shirley Q. Liquor” character are defended, even by some dead-brained Negroes.
And why wouldn’t Knepp feel as comfortable crapping on Blacks as Michael Richards when we don’t bother to properly defend our image? Dead-brained House Nigger D.L. Hughley defended Richards and probably shines Knepp’s shoes for old chicken bones.
Few talk about how Black comedians, rappers and comedic actors are selling us out and crapping on our image on the world stage.
But let any of our great minds talk about the real problems, which are pursued mostly by the so-called haves against the have-nots, and the critical thinkers will be attacked.
It’s almost as if Black people would rather devolve at worst, or at best, stagnate, before doing the heavy lifting of thinking outside of the box and taking according action.
It’s hard work to protect the collective Soul, but as we see from the reputation and standing of the Jews, the effort is well worth it.
In order to protect and preserve our Soul, we would have to take a cold hard look at who we are and what we are doing to each other.
It’s gonna take a lot of heart and Soul to do that.
Next Week: “Divided Soul.”
Darryl James is an award-winning author of the forthcoming powerful anthology “Notes From The Edge.” Discounted Autographed and Numbered Pre-Release copies can be ordered at www.darryljames.com. He released his first mini-movie, “Crack,” and this year, will release his first full-length documentary. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theblackgendergap.com.
THE JOURNAL OF STEFFANIE RIVERS: Unpredictable Summer
*I often ask myself why Americans are so predictable. When retailers advertise a sale we shop with reckless abandonment and when the meteorologist forecasts inclement weather we stock up on toilet tissue and milk as if we won’t see the light of day for a month.
But something tells me the summer of 2008 will be anything but predictable. One year ago who would have guessed Americans would be crossing the political milestones we face today?
Will Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideology of choosing a U.S. President based on the content of his or her character instead of race or gender prevail? Or will most people vote the way they always have and likely get what they’ve always gotten?
If it hadn’t been said a dozen times already, I’d be the first to say Sen. Hillary Clinton has the right to stay in the race as long as there are primaries votes to be counted. She wants to keep hope alive, at least through the primary season that ends on June 3.
It appears that Sen. Barack Obama, will be declared the winner of the popular vote and the super delegates vote. Even though it won’t be official until the end of August at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Obama should assume the position and turn his attention to his Republican rival for the next six months.
Just like the NBA’s Boston Celtics, expending too much energy by playing each series through game 7, using all his energy to get to the main event might cause Obama to run out of steam before November’s general election.
It’s not just everyday tax paying citizens who have been won over by Obama’s message of change. He received key endorsements from other politicians and some labor unions, including former U.S. Senator and Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.
If he uses his political endorsements wisely, Obama could reap the benefit of having campaign savvy politicians help him to reach beyond his core constituents.
As I write this most of you are getting ready to celebrate Memorial Day, the official transition into the summer season. Be careful not to lose your focus and the progress you’ve made in 2008. When it comes to ExxonMobil and BP, remember to do a drive-by and always keep your third eye open.
Steffanie Rivers is a free-lance journalist living in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Send your questions and comments to her at teamtcbadvertising@hotmail.com.
TURNER’S TWO CENTS: Obama Faces “Silver Streak” Racism
By Cameron Turner
*There’s a scene in the classic buddy comedy “Silver Streak” where Richard Pryor rescues Gene Wilder from a suave British mobster by pretending to be a bumbling train steward. The bad guy gets increasingly annoyed as Pryor fusses about with dishes on a lunch tray. When Pryor “accidentally” spills something on him, the white mobster finally says what we know he’s been thinking all along: “Niggerrrrr!”
That scene keeps running through my mind as the racists become increasingly hysterical about Barack Obama. As the Illinois senator gets closer to clenching the Democratic nomination for President, the bigotry of certain white Americans has become more blatant. We saw early signs of it in Pennsylvania, where some 19% of white voters essentially admitted that they didn’t vote for Obama because he’s black. A survey in the April 28 edition of Newsweek corroborates those findings on a national level.
These voters are using the ballot box to say what that mobster said to Richard Pryor in “Silver Streak.” “Niggerrrrr!”
Now, a saloon owner in Marietta, Georgia has started hawking t-shirts that depict Obama as a monkey. The shirts feature a pirated cartoon of Curious George peeling a banana above the slogan “Obama in ’08.” Mike Norman, who is selling the offensive shirts at his Mulligan’s Bar and Grill, claims the image isn’t racist. Yeah, right. We all know that equating black folks with monkeys and apes is one of the oldest of all racist stereotypes. A good ol’ Southern boy Mike Norman knows that, too. That foul t-shirt is his way of saying, “Niggerrrrr!”
Rap star Nelly said the Curious George t-shirts were “the lowest of the low” and he offered some sound advice to Obama and his supporters on how to deal with crap like this. Nelly told SOHH.com “I think what he has to do is show thick skin on this one. I think we have to show our thick skin, for everybody that's supporting Barack and just say, 'You know what we ain't gon' sweat it. We know y'all getting desperate! Because where else do you have to go? You're not challenging his mind. You're not challenging what he is standing for. You're going into something now that's almost childish.’”
Racism hasn’t been fashionable in the U.S. for a few decades, but it’s still going strong on the D.L. Racists are offended and frightened by the idea of a black man becoming President of the United States – even if he’s a good-hearted man like Obama who wants to unite the nation, bring peace to the world, educate our kids and end global warming. The racial attacks are likely to get more overt and more numerous as Obama moves forward. But the bigots won’t stop Barack because a new day is dawning in the United States and the majority of Americans are embracing that new day.
Thanks for listening. I’m Cameron Turner and that’s my two cents.
THINK! IT AIN’T ILLEGAL…YET!
BETWEEN THE LINES: Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Race: A Choice of Substance Over Symbolism (& Trickaration)
Anthony Asadullah Samad
*For the first time in 16 years (and only the second time in 40 years) the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Seat in the second district has a vacancy.
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is one of the three most powerful seats in America, serving as both executive and legislative with no "check and balance" oversight.
Each supervisor has two million residents, which is the near equivalent to three Congressional Districts, and is responsible for carrying out the state of California's health, public safety and social welfare.
With most political seats requiring majorities of 218, 51, 41, 21 at the federal and state level and still require executive approval, the Board of Suppervisors only have to count to three, and it's done.
Thus, legendary activist publisher, Charlotta Bass, of the now defunct California Eagle first dubbed them over 50 years ago "the five Kings." The power and authority of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is legendary.
In a day when politics are mostly pandering symbolism, and most politicians engage in constant acts of largely symbolic gestures, in a community that needs so much after being ignored for so long, this office needs a person of substance.
In the race to replace Supervisor Yvonne Braithwaite Burke, who is retiring after a distinguished career in public service across several federal, state and local offices that represented a number of many "firsts," the residents, businesses and community stakeholders will have two separate and distinct choices (of the major candidates in a field of ten).
State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas and Councilman Bernard Parks have spent the last six months presenting their "credentials." I'm convinced in the last couple weeks (and next few months if it goes to a run-off), the race for this office is going to come down to one thing, trickaration. The sophistication of the voters in the second district will be tested in this race. In fact, the trick-aration has already started as the attempts to make the voters think the problem in the district is about one hospital or one shopping mall.
Barack Obama has every candidate (and their Mama) talking about they're the change candidate. Change can be a funny thing. In the black community, the more things change, the more they tend to remain the same. In fact, some of the same things we saw forty years ago, some folk are trying to run past us again (that's another race-and story altogether). In the County Supervisor race, however, change will be more than generational. It will be as clear as night and day as the choices being presented reflect "night" and "day." Only one candidate will try to tell you that it's night when it's day.
One candidate is a demonstrated activist and social reformer, a political idealist with proven progressive bridge-building credentials. The other has been a status quo bureaucrat, serving through the most abusive time of the most abusive police department in modern American annuls, who ran for office out of revenge for losing his job. One is a proven public servant, having brought millions of new economic development and a model for constituent involvement that is now the prototype for neighborhood empowerment over his seventeen years of public service. The other has been more of the same over the past five years. One made a career creating change in every community capacity he has served. The other made a career, looking the other way, serving in a police department that has refused to change. These differences will evidence themselves as part of the "record." As long as the voters don't allow the tricks to get in the way.
The trickaration will come in the machinations of the campaign. We've seen it take place in the national presidential campaign. It is no different in local campaigns of political significance. The very thing machinations that are being called out against Barack, are being waged against candidates of consequence, namely Ridley-Thomas. The only thing we can advise second district voters is not to be tricked. Change is more than spending tens of thousands of dollars on the tallest Christmas tree or handing out dozens of proclamations weekly. The substance of politics is in the legislative results and the tangible outcomes in the community. And change is more than trying to blame others for conditions you, yourself, could not change. By now, you certainly know who I'm for (Ridley-Thomas), but you also know what I'm against (trying to manipulate voter sentiment through false and disingenuous claims). Tricking voters changes nothing.
The trick here, is to find out who is the "trick" and why they feel you need to be tricked. The choice of such a powerful seat requires an informed voter - a sophisticated voter - who knows the right questions to ask. Not one that can be easily tricked. Just know, the trickaration is in effect, and we have to ask those behind it, who is the "trick" on? Those who say they want substance, or those who claim change as more of the same. The trick is in the games people play to get their way. "Their way" is a symbol for why we can't change. The change drum can't be beat by someone who has never played drums.
Vote June 3rd and tell the tricksters that trickaration is dead in our community.
Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D., is a national columnist, managing director of the Urban Issues Forum (www.urbanissuesforum.com) and author of the new book, Saving The Race: Empowerment Through Wisdom. He can be reached at www.AnthonySamad.com
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
"You grow up the day you have your first real laugh--at yourself." — Ethel Barrymore
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
May 20: Rapper Busta Rhymes is 36. Singer Naturi Naughton (3LW) is 24.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
The NMA Diabetes Education Program Web site (www.NMAdiabetesnet.org) is a resource for physicians and diabetic patients. It contains information on how to control and prevent this disease.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
May 20, 1961: Mob attacked Freedom Riders in Montgomery. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy dispatched four hundred U.S. marshals to Montgomery to keep order in Freedom Rider controversy. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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