11-04-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
RIHANNA SAYS COP PHOTO LEAK WAS 'HUMILIATING': 'I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the internet, and it’s my life.'
*In addition to her sit down with Diane Sawyer this week, Rihanna also opens up in the new Glamour magazine about the leak of the infamous police evidence photo showing her face battered and bruised by then-boyfriend Chris Brown.
"It was humiliating; that is not a photo you would show to anybody,"
she told the publication. "I felt completely taken advantage of. I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the internet, and it’s my life. I was disappointed, especially when I found out the photo was (supposedly leaked by) two women."
Two female LAPD officers were suspended in September after the photo was published on gossip site TMZ.com shortly after the assault. Rihanna admits she was not ready for the immediate onslaught of media attention that would follow.
"It has taught me so much. I felt like I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears. That was the level of media chaos that happened the next day," she said. "It was like, What, there are helicopters circling my house? There are 100 people in my cul-de-sac? What do you mean, I can’t go back home?"
Rihanna hopes that her ordeal with teen domestic violence can help shed light on the issue.
"Domestic violence is a big secret. No kid goes around and lets people know their parents fight. Teenage girls can’t tell their parents that their boyfriend beat them up. You don’t dare let your neighbor know that you fight," she tells Glamour. "It’s one of the things we (women) will hide, because it’s embarrassing. My story was broadcast all over the world for people to see, and they have followed every step of my recovery.
"The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that really isn’t heard. Now I can help speak for those women."
In an interview with Diana Sawyer to be aired on ABC's "Good Morning America" Thursday and Friday, Rihanna admits that Brown was "definitely my first big love."
"This happened to me ... it can happen to anyone," she told Sawyer according to a statement from ABC.
Rihanna is currently promoting her fourth studio album "Rated R," due Nov. 23 via Def Jam Records.
SWINE FLU SIDELINES BOYS II MEN SINGER: Shawn Stockman diagnosed with H1N1; unable to make scheduled appearance at Soul Train Awards.
*The H1N1 virus has caught up with Shawn Stockman of the R&B group Boyz II Men, fellow group members Wanya Morris and Nathan Morris told CNN Tuesday.
The pair said Stockman was unable to accompany them to Atlanta on Tuesday for a scheduled performance at the 2009 Soul Train Awards.
"We tour eight months out of the year, and we are always traveling around," Nathan Morris said. "It's hectic for us always being in airplanes and airports. He got sick, and it hit him pretty hard."
"I talked to [Stockman] today, and he is doing much better," Nathan added.
Wanya and Nathan Morris are still planning to perform at the awards show as a duo, according to the group's manager.
The Grammy-winning and platinum-selling group, known for their No. 1 singles "End of the Road" and "I'll Make Love to You," has a new album out in stores in November called "Love."
KELLY ROWLAND IS 50'S 'BABY BY ME' MAMA: Rapper explains why he recruited singer to star in his latest video.
*Rapper 50 Cent says he made a point to cast former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland in his latest video, because she "never received the superstar treatment" that lead singer Beyonce got in the girl group.
Rowland co-stars in the rapper's "Baby By Me" video, which premiered on the Internet Monday. The track is from his "Before I Self Destruct"
album, now due Nov. 16 via Interscope.
"You can't forget all the work she did with Destiny's Child," he told Billboard.com. "The difference between Kelly and Beyonce is the extreme focus they put on Beyonce to make sure she was completely right. Kelly wasn't held in the same regard, so, in order for her to mean anything to America, they'd have to match the marketing dollars spent on Beyonce. She never received the superstar treatment."
In the video, 50 comes across Rowland on the block and day-dreams about moving out of the 'hood and into the suburbs, where the happy couple lives with their three sons. But, after declaring his love, 50 discovers the visions were all figments of his imagination, as Rowland is actually already married to another man, with whom she has a child.
Watch clip here:
http://www.mtv.com/videos/50-cent/451128/baby-by-me.jhtml#artist=860639
LOUISIANA JUSTICE AGAINST MIXED MARRIAGES RESIGNS: Keith Bardwell exits amid continued backlash from refusal to marry interracial couple.
*The Louisiana justice of the peace who drew criticism for refusing to issue a marriage license to an interracial couple has resigned, the secretary of state's office announced Tuesday.
Keith Bardwell, a justice of the peace for Tangipahoa Parish's 8th Ward, drew national outrage after he denied a marriage license to Beth McKay and Terence McKay, an interracial couple who ultimately got a marriage license from another justice of the peace in the same parish.
The McKays hired an attorney and protested Bardwell's actions, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal called for the 56-year-old to lose his license.
Also, the National Urban League called for an investigation by the U.S.
Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, saying in a statement that Bardwell's actions were "a huge step backward in social justice."
Bardwell said in October that he had no regrets. "It's kind of hard to apologize for something that you really and truly feel down in your heart you haven't done wrong," he told CNN affiliate WAFB.
He insisted he is not racist and does not treat black people differently. He said he does not perform mixed-race marriages because he is concerned about the children of such marriages.
The U.S. Supreme Court tossed out race-based limitations on marriage in the landmark 1967 Loving v. Virginia case. In the unanimous decision, the court said that "Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State."
FIRST LADY LAUNCHES MENTORING PROGRAM FOR GIRLS: Local high school students to be paired with senior women from White House staff.
*First Lady Michelle Obama has announced a year-long mentoring program at the White House for high school girls from the surrounding neighborhood.
The 13 chosen students gathered in the State Dining room on Monday to meet the White House staff members who will serve as their mentors, among them, senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, domestic policy advisor Melody Barnes, Obama's chief of staff Susan Sher and social secretary Desiree Rogers, reports the Washington Post.
The young women, who were selected by their principals, will not be traditional interns but will be tutored by their mentors on everything from careers and financial literacy to how to write a college essay and health and fitness.
Mrs. Obama said she became interested in the power of mentoring as a corporate lawyer in Chicago. Her office, she said, was on the 47th floor of a downtown building and her windows faced south towards her old neighborhood. Kids who were just as smart and capable as she was missed out on opportunities and successes "by a hair," she said.
"We've got the most powerful seat in the land to be a bridge-builder," she told the girls, her eyes tearing and voice cracking.
"And I'm so excited and touched and moved to have you all here.... I can get emotional."
A young men's program, rooted in the West Wing, will launch soon.
KANYE REPORTEDLY BRIMMING WITH NEW IDEAS: His next album may be an 'old school rap record.'
*After taking some time off amid the backlash of his VMA stunt, Kanye West is said to be hard at work plotting the direction of his next studio album.
"Kanye's taking a bit of time away from the limelight. But he keeps telling me all these ideas he has for songs and fashion bits," producer A-Track told WENN. "It's really amazing just how many ideas he has."
Hinting at the direction the rapper will take, UK star Mr. Hudson said Kanye could be working on an "old school rap record."
Rapper Soulja Boy also said he is collaborating with West. The 19-year-old told Rapup.com: "I'm working on Kanye's next album right now. He makes beats and I make beats, and right now I'm remixing a couple of records for him."
Soulja Boy said Kanye will, in return, contribute work for his third LP "The DeAndre Way."
WHITAKER, WOODARD MAKE OBAMA'S ARTS COMMITTEE: Kerry Washington also named Monday as members of new presidential group.
*Actors Forest Whitaker, Alfre Woodard and Kerry Washington are among the Hollywood notables named Monday as members of President Barack Obama's Committee on Arts and the Humanities.
The panel focuses on arts and humanities education, cultural diplomacy, economic revitalization through the arts and humanities and special events.
First lady Michelle Obama is its honorary chairwoman and film producer George Stevens Jr. and theater producer Margo Lion had already been named as its co-chairs, according to the Associated Press.
The list of 25 people from the worlds of arts and entertainment also includes cellist Yo Yo Ma, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, philanthropist Teresa Heinz, architect Thom Mayne and actress Sarah Jessica Parker, talent agent Bryan Lourd, actor Edward Norton, director George Wolfe, independent filmmaker Liz Manne, publicist Andy Spahn and ballet dancer Damian Woetzel.
FRENCH-SENEGALESE WOMAN WINS LITERARY PRIZE: Marie NDiaye is first female to take France's Prix Goncourt since 1998.
*French-Senegalese author Marie Ndiaye on Monday won France's top literary award for her novel "Trois Femmes Puissantes" ("Three Powerful Women"), a story about the interweaving lives of three women set in France and Senegal.
The 42-year-old is the first woman to earn the prestigious Prix Goncourt since 1998, according to reports.
"This gives me great pleasure and I am also very happy to be a woman receiving the Goncourt Prize," NDiaye said at a press conference.
The prize is worth a symbolic 10 euros ($14.80) in cash, but much more in publicity-generated sales.
NDiaye was born in 1967 to a Senegalese father who left France when she was one year old and a French mother. The author spent her childhood living in a Parisian suburb where she began to write at the age of 12. She now lives in Berlin with her three children.
ODB DOCUMENTARY TO PREMIERE IN NEW YORK: Film commemorates late rapper's life through interviews with friends and peers.
*A tribute film to late rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, titled "Dirty: One Word Can Change the World," is set to premiere on Nov. 10 at the National Black Theatre in New York (2031 5th Ave. between 125th and 126th streets).
Directed by ODB's cousin Raison Allah, the documentary celebrates the rapper’s life though personal interviews with the Wu-Tang Clan, Sunz of Man, Killarmy, the Black Knight, and the Brooklyn Zu.
Following the screening, members of Brooklyn Zu, Wu-Tang, and author Terrie Williams ('Black Pain: It Just Looks like We Aren’t Hurting") will chronicle Dirty’s musical legacy along with important information on mental health and substance abuse prevention, according to allhiphop.com.
Tickets for the documentary – $15 (advance) and $20 at the door – may be purchased online at www.imagenation.us or by calling 212-340-1874.
VIOLA DAVIS, ZOE KRAVITZ HAVE A 'FUNNY STORY': Duo joins ensemble film based on Ned Vizzini's 2006 novel.
*Viola Davis and Zoe Kravitz have been cast in the film "It's Kind of a Funny Story," a comedy-drama adapted by writer/directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck from Ned Vizzini's 2006 novel of the same name.
The story follows 16-year-old Craig (Keir Gilchrist), who checks himself into a mental health clinic because he's stressed out from the demands of being a teenager. There he learns that the youth ward is closed – and finds himself stuck in the adult ward. One of the patients, Bobby (Zach Galifianakis), soon becomes both Craig's mentor and protégé. Craig is also quickly drawn to another 16-year-old, Noelle (Emma Roberts).
With a minimum five days' stay imposed on him, Craig is sustained by friendships on both the inside and the outside as he learns more about life, love, and the pressures of growing up.
Davis will play Dr. Minerva, the adult ward's staff psychiatrist; Kravitz will portray Nia, Craig's longtime crush.
Production is scheduled to begin in New York City in early December.
50 CENT INTRODUCES NEW FRAGRANCE: Plus, rapper confirms recent anti-Jay-Z comment from Beanie Sigel.
*50 Cent goes bare-chested for the promo campaign touting his new men's fragrance, Power by Fifty Cent.
“For me, power isn’t just something you learn on the street or in the boardroom — it’s a way of life,” the artist says of the scent, which mixes notes like lemon leaves, black pepper, coriander and nutmeg. “I really wanted to bottle up the rush it gives you so my fans can make it a part of their lifestyle.”
Power by Fifty Cent launches exclusively at Macy’s on Nov. 5. Prices range from $50.50 (for a 1.7 oz. eau de toilette) to $68.50 (for a two-piece gift set of eau de toilette and after shave).
In other 50 news, the mogul appeared on Philadelphia’s Power 99FM recently to confirm a comment made during a previous visit by Beanie Sigel, who told host Charlamagne Tha God that he was close to signing a deal with G-Unit, but the deal was blocked by his Roc-a-Fella label head, Jay-Z.
“He [Beanie Sigel] would have got at least $800,000 at that point to come over,” 50 Cent told radio personality Miss Jones Monday. “Jay was telling him that he didn’t want to lose him. I think Jay and Puffy had these feelings toward me at one point I believe.”
50 Cent said Puffy stood in the way of a similar attempt to bring estranged Bad Boy artist Mase to G-Unit.
“They didn’t want to lose anything to me, while their energy was going on. Puff didn’t want to sign the Mase deal and Jay didn’t want to do that,” 50 told Miss Jones.
NAS SEEKS TO BLOCK SPOUSAL SUPPORT INCREASE: Divorce court drama continues between rapper and Kelis.
*Nas is trying to block his soon-to-be ex-wife Kelis from getting her requested $72,728 per month in spousal support, according to papers filed Monday by his lawyer Mark Vincent Kaplan.
Court docs also show that the rapper is asking for joint custody of their two-month-old son, according to TMZ.com
Nas was ordered to pay Kelis $44,000 in child support payments in addition to a one-time payment of $45,000 for her attorney fees and for a forensic accountant. In August, Kelis’ attorney Laura Wasser filed a motion seeking to increase the support payments to $72,728 based on the $240,000 the rapper earns per-month.
In total, Kelis wants $17,225 a month in child support, $72,728 in spousal support, $29,522 in back child support, and retro spousal support in the amount of $281,571.
KRAVITZ BACK HOME AFTER 2 YEARS IN PARIS: Plus, singer talks about his role as Nurse John in 'Precious.'
*The U.S. leg of his "Let Love Rule" 20th anniversary tour brought Lenny Kravitz back to the United States after living for the past two years in Paris.
"I moved to Europe because of the climate in America -- and I don't just mean the economy or politics," Kravitz told Billboard.com. "It was also what my record label was going through. People were getting fired every week. There was no money, and people were operating out of fear as opposed to creativity...it just became a drag."
"I was like, 'This is not what I do,'" says Kravitz. "I do what I feel. I don't hire the producer du jour or have so-and-so rap on the middle part of a song."
Now that Kravitz is back, though, he says there's been progress. "I think the relationship is better now. We're talking, we're going to work things out and I'm going to put my next album out next summer. I'm hoping that they will support it in the way that I would like them to."
Kravitz describes his new material as "schizophrenic -- it's a very Gemini album. It's super raw, very raw with a lot of jazz and R&B elements.
There's still a rock sound to it, of course, but it's more on the funk side."
If Kravitz's plans hold, he'll finish the new album by December and release it next spring. In the meantime, he has a movie to help promote -- "Precious," the Oscar-contending drama that hits theaters Nov. 6, co-stars Mariah Carey and was directed by Kravitz's longtime friend, filmmaker Lee Daniels.
"I play Nurse John, who's an interesting character," he says. "He's not in the original book. They wrote him in to have a positive African American male role." Though the singer didn't film any scenes with Carey in "Precious," he was as impressed as many critics upon seeing her performance.
"Mariah was amazing -- what can I say? She was truly in the role, you know, talking with this heavy New York accent and looking like an everyday social worker. She transformed."
ITTY BITTY BITS: 'This is It's' extra b.o.; Keys at Latin Grammys; Blige rumor denied; 50 & Peas for New Year's; Whitaker's debutante teen; TNT snags Johnson.
*Michael Jackson's "This Is It" documentary ended up earning $1.9 million more over the weekend than was initially calculated, thanks to a robust Sunday crowd. The film's domestic five-day opening was actually $34.4 million, boosted by $8.3 million Sunday instead of the $6.4 million initially estimated by Sony. In fact, Sunday turned out to be the top-grossing day for "This is It." The film also did slightly more overseas than initially projected, with $69.5 million vs. $68.1 million, according to Variety.
*Alicia Keys has been added to the lineup of performers for the 10th Annual Latin Grammy Awards, which take place tomorrow (Nov. 5) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, and will be broadcast live on the Univision Network from 8 - 11 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. Central). For non Spanish-speaking Latin music fans, closed captioning in English will be available on CC3.
*Mary J. Blige is denying rumors that she and her husband, Kendu Isaacs, are expecting her first child. She says there isn't a "slight" bit of truth in the reports, according to GossipCop.com. In September, the Queen of Hip Hop Soul said she would be a "poor parent" because she is far too busy to adopt any kids, and is happy looking after Isaacs' three children from a previous relationship.
*PURE Management Group (PMG) has announced the New Year's Eve entertainment bookings for its various night clubs in Las Vegas. Rapper 50 Cent will perform at PURE Nightclub, the Black Eyed Peas rock LAX Nightclub, and rap artist Shwayze will ring in 2010 at Christian Audigier The Nightclub. Tickets for 50 Cent and the Peas are each $100; Shwayze tickets are $50. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.Vegas.com.
*Autumn Whitaker, the 17-year-old daughter of actor Forest Whitaker and his wife Keisha, is set to be formally introduced to adult society at the annual Le Bal des Debutantes in France. The annual event will mark its 19th year at the Crillon Hotel in Paris, later this month. Also among the select group of finalists chosen this year are Francesca Eastwood, the 16-year-old daughter of Clint Eastwood and Frances Fisher. Last year's event saw Scout Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, make her society debut in front of her famous family.
*Clark Johnson has been tapped to direct TNT's new drama pilot, "Delta Blues," executive produced by George Clooney. Written by Liz Garcia and Josh Harto, the script centers on an outstanding but unusual Memphis cop who moonlights as an Elvis impersonator and lives with his mother. The project hails from Warner Bros. TV and its cable division Warner Horizon.
BLACK WOMAN IS HIGHEST PAID COLLEGE PREZ: Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute tops nationwide list.
*An African American woman is currently the highest paid college president in the nation, according to an analysis of the most recently available data published Monday by the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., earned nearly $1.6 million in total compensation in fiscal 2008. She was followed by David Sargent at Suffolk University in Boston, who made $1.5 million. However, one-third of his compensation had been reported as deferred compensation last year and counted as salary this year -- an example of the difficulty of making straightforward compensation comparisons, reports the Associated Press.
Both are among a record 23 presidents who received more than $1 million in total compensation in fiscal 2008, according to the data. A record one in four in the study of 419 colleges' mandatory IRS filings made at least $500,000.
Dr. Jackson holds a Ph.D. in theoretical elementary particle physics from M.I.T. and a S.B. in physics from M.I.T. Her research specialty is in theoretical condensed matter physics, especially layered systems, and the physics of opto-electronic materials.
Described by Time Magazine (2005) as “perhaps the ultimate role model for women in science,” President Jackson has held senior leadership positions in government, industry, research, and academe.
In April, 2009, President Obama appointed Dr. Jackson to serve on the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. PCAST is an advisory group of the nation’s leading scientists and engineers who will advise the President and Vice President and formulate policy in the many areas where understanding of science, technology, and innovation is key to strengthening the economy and forming policy that works for the American people.
EUR FILM REVIEW: Skin
Apartheid Poses Problem for White Couple with Black Baby
Film Review by Kam Williams
*Until 1994, South Africa's system of Apartheid forbade people of different "races" to use the same stores, to attend the same schools or to reside under the same roof.
Those oppressive segregation laws came to rip an Afrikaner family apart after the wife gave birth to a baby with dark skin and nappy hair in 1955.
Abraham (Sam Neill) and Sannie Laing (Alice Krige) raised a lot of eyebrows when they brought a brown newborn back from the hospital.
While some neighbors suspected that the wife must have cheated, doctors did a blood test which determined that Abraham was in fact the father.
So, the couple had young Sandra (Sophie Okonedo) declared officially white and did their best to raise her in their lily white neighborhood. But as soon as she started school, the little girl was teased by her classmates and even beaten by teachers until complaints from other parents about the "kaffir" on campus forced the principal to expel Sandra. And when the authorities subsequently reclassified their daughter as "coloured," the Laings had to register her as a domestic servant just so that she could live at home legally.
This real-life nightmare is the subject of Skin, a heartbreaking bio-pic based on Judith Stone's best seller "When She Was White: The True Story of a Family Divided by Race." Adapted to the screen by Anthony Fabian, the picture effectively exposes the silliness of arbitrary groupings based on
skin color.
Unfortunately, Apartheid really did exist, and the case of the Laings turned terribly tragic, since Sandra ended up estranged from her parents by the age of 15. She ran away from home pregnant to live on the other side of the proverbial tracks, in a black township with a married man. There, she proceeded to make a series of self-destructive choices, bearing numerous children out of wedlock she had to surrender to foster care.
Penniless, she attempted to reconcile with her folks, only to be told by her mother never to call or visit again. A frightening primer on how untreated
racism can lead someone to abandon, even hate their own offspring.
Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality and mature themes.
Running time: 107 minutes
Studi Jour de Fete Films
Distributor: The Little Film Company
To order a copy of When She Was White, the book Skin is adapted from, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401309372?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCo
de=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1401309372
To see a trailer for Skin, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnIGr1_---g
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
Today’s ‘Live Better With Willie Jolley’ Tip: The Mind Tattoo
Realize that we are a sum total of who we think we are! Dr. Norman Vincent Peale stated: "If you think in negative terms, you will get negative results. Yet if you think in positive terms, you will get positive results."
His book, The Power of Positive Thinking, was one of the first books that I read as I made the transition from a negative reactor to a positive creator.
I started to realize that I could create some of my circumstances by having a positive mental attitude. I once heard a powerful story from Dr. Peale of how he had been walking by a tattoo shop and a very confused-looking man came out of the shop with a new tattoo on his arm that read "Born to Lose!"
Dr. Peale watched the man stumble down the street and then noticed that the tattoo artist had come out of the shop and also looked as the man stumble away. The old tattoo artist sadly shook his head and said, "I asked him if he was sure that he wanted the tattoo to state that he was born to lose. And he was adamant that he did." Then Dr Peale said See, before he had it tattooed on his arm, he had tattooed it on his brain!’’ He believes that he really was born to lose and therefore he will act like he was born to lose.
None of us were born to lose. We were born to win! But the choice is up to us!
Visit my website at www.williejolley.com free motivation and make every minute count!
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Nov. 4: Rapper-producer Diddy (Sean Combs) is 40. Singer Shawn Rivera of Az Yet is 38.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
Afrobella is dedicated to product reviews, ruminations about culture, music and fashion style, plus interviews with women all shades of beautiful. Check it out here: www.afrobella.com.
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less)
description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Nov. 4, 1969: Howard N. Lee and Charles Evers are elected the first African American mayors of Chapel Hill, N.C. and Fayette, Miss.,
respectively. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
