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11-10-09 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
KATT WILLIAMS EXPLAINS ARREST: Comedian's lawyer says he was staying with a friend who turned around and accused him of trespassing.
*Katt Williams allegedly carried a crowbar when he entered an Atlanta-area home and made off with $3,555 in jewelry and collectable coins, according to police who spoke to the Associated Press about the comedian's arrest on Sunday.
However, a lawyer for the self-proclaimed pimp says his client is completely innocent of burglary and criminal trespassing charges stemming from accusations that he broke into someone's home.
The 38-year-old remained at the Coweta County jail Monday after a judge set bond at more than $41,000 during a court hearing.
According to Katt's lawyer William Briggs, Williams was in Georgia shooting a movie and staying at the property of the movie's producer, Barry Hankerson. Briggs told TMZ that Williams was involved in a dispute with one of Hankerson's employees who lives in the guesthouse, and the employee called the cops and reported a faux burglary.
Briggs adds Katt had "full permission" to be on the property and has been staying there for the last three weeks.
In a recording of a 911 call obtained by TMZ, the caller says Williams wouldn't let him leave and "threatened to beat me up." The caller also said he wasn't sure if Williams had a weapon.
• Williams was admitted to a psych ward in South Carolina last November and was arrested on gun charges in New York before performing hours later at Carnegie Hall. Prosecutors later dropped the charges after encountering problems proving their case. The comedian also skipped his scheduled hosting duties at the 2008 BET Hip-Hop Awards and an appearance on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."
SOLID RATINGS FOR 'WANDA SYKES' DEBUT: Saturday premiere fared better than previous timeslot holder MadTV, but lagged far behind 'SNL.'
*Fox's "The Wanda Sykes Show" debuted opposite "Saturday Night Live's" highest rated broadcast of the season, yet still managed to hold its own in the timeslot.
Sykes is replacing "MadTV" in the slot as Fox's alternative to NBC's veteran sketch show, which hit a season high 5.0 rating with Taylor Swift as host and musical guest.
By comparison, "Wanda Sykes" averaged 2.2 household rating in Nielsen's metered-markets from 11 p.m. to midnight, up 16% from "MadTV" winter average in the time period and 100% higher than the average of Spike Feresten in the slot during January and February, according to the Hollywood Reporter. (Note that these are averages and not premieres.)
Sykes also favorably compares to the first Monday episodes of the broadcast season for Conan, Kimmel and Fallon, yet these weren't premieres either since the shows had already been in originals when the season started.
'SHENENEH AND WANDA' – THE MOVIE: Screen Gems signs Foxx and Lawrence to recreate famous characters for the big screen.
*It started as a comedy sketch on the "BET Awards," but by popular demand, a movie will be produced starring the characters Sheneneh from "Martin" and Wanda from "In Living Single."
Screen Gems has acquired "Sheneneh and Wanda," starring Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence in the female characters they developed for their respective television shows.
Foxx will write the script and he and Martin will produce together through Foxx's Foxxhole and Lawrence's Runteldat production banners, reports Variety.
The project originated as a parody of a movie trailer for a film called "Skank Robbers," which Foxx and Lawrence made for the BET Awards.
[Watch clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NVuTWlqA2Y] The reaction was strong enough that the duo decided to turn the concept into a real film.
In the comedy, Sheneneh and Wanda are modern day independent women trying to make it on their own, one bank robbery at a time.
Foxx, who last starred in "Law Abiding Citizen," will next be seen in the romantic comedy "Valentine's Day." Lawrence will next be seen in the Screen Gems comedy "Death at a Funeral."
WHY IS SAMMY SOSA SUDDENLY LIGHT-SKINNED?: Former Cubs employee says he's undergoing a 'skin rejuvenation process.'
*A photo showing former Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa with drastically lighter skin surfaced on the Internet last weekend and raised more than a few eyebrows.
The Chicago Tribune tracked down a former Cubs staffer who says Sosa is currently undergoing a "rejuvenation process," which makes his skin appear lighter.
"He's not trying to be Michael Jackson," said former Cubs employee Rebecca Polihronis, who talks frequently with Sosa. "He is going through a rejuvenation process for his skin. Women have it all of the time."
Polihronis, the former Cubs Care/Community Relations manager for the team, also says the harsh lighting in the photo makes Sosa's skin appear much lighter than it really is.
"He was surprised he came out looking so white. I thought it was a body double," she said. "Part of (the photo appearance) is just the lighting.
"He is in the middle of doing a cleansing process to his skin. The picture is deceiving. He said, 'If you saw me in person, you would be surprised. When you see me in person, it is not going to seem like the picture.'
"People who saw him in person did not react the same way. He can't believe it is such a big deal."
The infamous photograph was taken recently during an appearance at Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.
FIRST LADY'S 'SESAME ST.' EPISODE AIRS TODAY: Also, conservative blogger upset over recent rerun of Oscar the Grouch's swipe at Fox News.
*Michelle Obama's visit to "Sesame Street" airs today as part of the PBS show's 40th anniversary celebration.
During her time on the block, the first lady is joined by Elmo, three kiddies, and later, Big Bird, to demonstrate how to plant a vegetable and fruit garden. [Watch clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiXU_SDirRQ]
Meanwhile, across the way in the trash can, Oscar the Grouch was at the center of conservative blogger ire for a two-year-old sketch that jabs Fox News.
The show recently rebroadcast a 2007 episode in which Oscar starts his own television channel called "GNN," for Grouchy News Network. Grundgetta, a female Muppet viewer, calls into Oscar's show and threatens to turn the dial. "From now on, I'm watching Pox News. Now there's a trashy news show," she exclaims. (Watch clip here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eO-1j9T90-8]
The right-wing blogosphere was quick to respond.
"The message is clear: I can't even sit my kids in front of 'Sesame Street' without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority," wrote Big Hollywood's anonymous Stage Right.
While Sesame Workshop spokeswoman Ellen Lewis insists the segment was merely meant as a harmless parody, the PBS ombudsman says the joke should have been off-limits.
"I don't know what was in the head of the producers, but my guess is that this was one of those parodies that was too good to resist. But it should have been resisted," writes Michael Getler. "Broadcasters can tell parents whatever they think of Fox or any other network, but you shouldn't do it through the kids."
LAWRENCE TAYLOR ARRESTED OVER HIT & RUN: NFL veteran allegedly crashed twice into a vehicle before driving off.
*Former NFL linebacker Lawrence Taylor was arrested in Miami Sunday morning for allegedly crashing his vehicle into a van and immediately taking off.
According to Miami-Dade County jail records, the one-time New York Giants star was charged Sunday with leaving the scene of an accident with property damage, a second-degree misdemeanor. He was released on $500 bond later that night.
A crash report obtained by TMZ.com shows that Taylor, 50, rammed his Escalade into a 1984 Ford van two separate times before driving off. Taylor told police he was aware of a collision, but thought it was just with a guardrail. However, the crash report indicates that he never even touched the guardrail, TMZ reported.
A diagram of the accident shows Taylor attempted to change lanes -- and instead drove into a van twice, causing it to hit the barrier four times before coming to a stop on the opposite side of the freeway. Police said Taylor then drove away from the scene.
The former athlete and "Dancing with the Stars" contestant showed no sign of drug of alcohol abuse when they located him in a nearby parking lot, police stated.
ROBIN ROBERTS GAINS MOMENTUM AT ABC: Plus, 'GMA' anchor talks about her upcoming interview with Janet Jackson.
*"Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts is moonlighting in prime time this month as the host of two specials: an interview with Janet Jackson airing on Nov. 18, and tonight's hour-long feature on country music stars.
According to the Associated Press, the specials "could be read as both internal and external signs of Roberts' importance to the news division" in the absence of "GMA" co-anchor Diane Sawyer, who will replace Charlie Gibson at "World News" at the end of the year.
Roberts will remain at "GMA," with a new permanent co-host to be announced by ABC News President David Westin in December.
In the meantime, Roberts has spent much of the past week preparing for her Jackson interview, which will be filmed at the singer's home in Malibu, Calif. The journalist has a difficult balancing act. Jackson is still mourning the death of her brother Michael, a story that continues to fascinate the public. But she's also a major star in her own right, with something to sell: Jackson has a greatest hits CD coming out in time for the holidays.
Roberts said she hasn't determined in advance how much of the interview would be related to Michael Jackson.
"I don't go in with a stack of questions and say three-quarters are going to be about this and one-quarter will be about that," she said. "I like to have a conversation. I like to walk away and have the person say, `I thought we were going to do an interview and we just talked.'"
SIMMONS WANTS COSBY TO CUT KIDS SOME SLACK: 'The young people [he criticizes] did not create their own realities.'
*Via his blog on Global Grind, rap entrepreneur Russell Simmons has written an open letter asking Bill Cosby to stop criticizing today's urban youth, and focus more on the societal ills that created their behavior.
“Bill Cosby is an example of someone from the older generation who has consistently blamed the poets and asked suffering community members to bare the full burden of guilt for the struggles that they endure,” Simmons blogged. “What they don’t understand is that the young people who they criticize did not create their own realities.”
“While it is true that each one of us can make a change at any moment, it is equally true that at every minute we are all doing the best we can. If you knew better, you would do better,” Russell continued. “Therefore, those who care and have resources could/should work to create the kind of support systems that could inspire change.”
Simmons said he realizes that Cosby's intention is to encourage urban youth to dream big, despite the limitations of their environment.
“It is certainly not that he and the rest of the elders don't care, because they do. In fact, their intentions are pure and good,” Russell wrote. “All the things they say are actually true. What they don’t understand is that the young people who they criticize did not create their own realities.”
In closing, Simmons said it was time to stop pointing fingers and sit down for a man-to-man discussion about the issues. “If you need an office to do it in, my door is always open,” Simmons offered.
BOBBY JONES DONATES RECORDINGS TO TSU: Music from gospel singer worth an estimated $6 million.
*Gospel music singer Bobby Jones has donated an estimated $6 million worth of recordings to his alma mater, Tennessee State University, along with exclusive rights, of his performances and the TV programs he hosted and produced on BET.
The university said in a statement that the recordings have been professionally appraised at $6 million and will be used for scholarly research, reports the Associated Press.
The recordings span about 30 years and will be preserved and housed in the school's library.
The donation is the largest in-kind gift the university has ever received.
JANET AND JERMAINE BACK TOGETHER: 'They never really broke up,' a source tells People.
*Not only are Janet Jackson and Jermaine Dupri reportedly back together, but they were never really apart, according to People magazine.
The couple appeared to be a done deal around the time of Michael Jackson's death, a rumor that gained traction when Dupri did not attend the funeral services. Jackson herself told Harper's Bazaar that she was single.
But People.com quotes an unnamed source who says, "They never really broke up. Jermaine wanted to give her some space when Michael died."
There are even reports on the blogosphere that the two are planning a wedding.
"They've been saying that for years and you don't see a ring on my finger," Dupri told People on Friday at a Prive Las Vegas party to launch his Nu Pop Movement watch line. "I guess it just sounds good to have that rumor this time of the year or something."
BLACK ACTIVIST GROUP PROTESTS BARACK OBAMA: Black is Back coalition believes president is 'white power in black face.'
*Labeling Barack Obama as "white power in black face," a group of about 200 African-Americans marched on the White House Saturday to protest policies of the first black US president, and demand an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports AFP.
The first public demonstration by African Americans against the Obama administration since his historic inauguration in January saw blacks criticizing the president for continuing what they described as Washington's "imperialist" agenda around the world.
"We recognize that Barack Hussein Obama is white power in black face," civil rights activist Omali Yeshitela, chairman of the Black is Back coalition which arranged the protest, called into a megaphone as the group marched outside the mansion's gates. "He is a tool of our imperialist enemies and we demand our freedom. And we demand that Obama withdraw all the troops from Afghanistan right now."
Protesters also called for Obama to order troops out of Iraq and to scrap Africom, the controversial year-old United States Africa Command, and demanded "hands off" Venezuela and ends to the Cuba embargo and the Zimbabwe blockade.
Charles Baron, a New York City councilman and former member of the Black Panthers, attacked the president for turning a cold shoulder to the plight of African-Americans.
"We're not satisfied with him, and... this hope and change rap has not been a reality for black people," Baron told AFP during the demonstration. "We are glad that Barack Obama broke up the white male monopoly on the White House, but we were not looking for a change in the occupant of the White House from white to black, we were looking for change in foreign policies and domestic policies."
"To have a black person exploiting me just like a white person, that's no easier pain," he added.
The group also was calling for the release of former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, who was convicted in 1982 of killing a white police officer and sentenced to death. The US Supreme Court upheld Abu-Jamal's conviction in April and rejected his bid for a new trial.
SERENA, RIHANNA, MICHELLE ON GLAMOUR'S 'WOMEN' LIST: Awards ceremony took place Monday night at Carnegie Hall.
*Serena Williams, Rihanna and First Lady Michelle Obama are among the 11 chosen ones for Glamour magazine's annual Women of the Year list, which includes Dr. Maya Angelou as a lifetime achievement award recipient.
Glamour's honorees were selected for their "unprecedented contributions to the worlds of entertainment, business, sports, fashion, science and politics." L'Oreal Paris was the title sponsor of an award celebration Monday night at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Glamour's Women of the Year advisory board, made up of past honorees ranging from Jennifer Lopez to Nora Ephron to Katie Couric, helped select the winners. Among them:
• Dr. Maya Angelou - A memoirist, poet, educator and civil rights activist, Dr. Angelou holds more than 30 honorary degrees for her many published works, including her latest, Letter to My Daughter, a collection of wisdom she has gathered throughout her life.
• Susan Rice - The first female African American U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, she is putting women's needs at the forefront of the American agenda at the U.N.
• Rihanna - At just 21, this pop star boasts sales that have wowed even music industry veterans--and an incredible self-invented style. She started the Believe Foundation, a fund that provides educational and medical supplies to needy children; for the first time, she speaks out in Glamour about what she calls the "big secret" of domestic violence.
• Serena Williams - The tennis powerhouse has won more career prize money than any female athlete in history. Her Serena Williams Foundation gives grants to U.S. college students, and she recently opened a secondary school in rural Kenya.
• Special Recognition: Michelle Obama - America's First Lady has brought the importance of mentoring to the national forefront. She has demonstrated a commitment to helping the next generation of girls expand their horizons by providing them with the information and inspiration to envision themselves as the leaders of tomorrow.
PHOTO OF MICHAEL JACKSON'S TOMB REVEALED: NY Post claims picture is of Forest Lawn room containing singer's body, along with flowers and other souvenirs.
*The first photo of Michael Jackson's crypt has hit the Internet.
The King of Pop was interred in a mausoleum at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Calif. on Sept. 3 in front of 200 of his closest friends and family.
A photo published by the New York Post shows selected visitors are greeted by a stained-glass reproduction of DaVinci's The Last Supper before entering the tomb, adorned with flowers, framed photos, letters and other souvenirs from mourners.
The Jackson family has kept the public away from the high-security burial site - visitors must be on a pre-approved list before gaining further entry to pay respects.
Click here to view phot
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/first_peek_at_jacko_tomb_F4amxWcKIfDL7pLduPQxYO
HONDA BATTLE OF THE BANDS ANNOUNCES WINNERS: FAMU, Clark Atlanta; Southern and Va State among squads to face off at the Georgia Dome in Jan.
*Three months ago, 45 marching bands from the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began the journey down the “Road to the Honda,” all competing for a spot in the 2010 Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB) Invitational Showcase.
*Out of 45 competing marching bands from the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), eight have been chosen to perform in January at the 2010 Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB) Invitational Showcase.
Representing varied music and performance styles ranging from precision to high-stepping, the eight headlining bands are:
• Albany State University “Marching Rams” (Albany, Georgia) • Clark Atlanta University “Mighty Marching Panthers” (Atlanta, Georgia) • Florida A&M University “Marching 100” (Tallahassee, Florida) • North Carolina Central University “Marching Sound Machine” (Durham, North
Carolina)
• Prairie View A&M University “Marching Storm” (Prairie View, Texas) • Southern University “Human Jukebox Marching Band” (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) • Tuskegee University “Marching Crimson Pipers” (Tuskegee, Alabama) • Virginia State University “Trojan Explosion Marching Band” (Petersburg,
Virginia)
On January 30, 2010, the bands will perform for a crowd of 60,000 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and prove why they are the best of the best.
Marking its eighth year, the Honda Battle of the Bands is the only national scholarship program that showcases an important facet of HBCU heritage and culture – music education.
The eight winning band programs chosen to participate in this year’s Invitational Showcase will be awarded $20,000 by American Honda for their music programs in addition to the $1,000 grant they received for participation in the pre-qualifying fall campus event tour. Through this program Honda is awarding a total of $205,000 in scholarships to HBCU music programs for the 2009-10 academic year, and since the beginning of the program, has awarded grants in excess of $1 million.
ITTY BITTY BITS: Coolio replaces DMX in MMA event; Gamble's 'American' DVD; Seal's 'Hits'; Playboy bunny Stephanie Adams no longer gay.
*Rapper-turned-reality TV star Coolio will replace rapper DMX in a celebrity martial arts fight to take place in Alabama next month. According to TMZ.com, DMX pulled out of his scheduled fight with actor Eric Martinez last week because he couldn't get promoters at Thunder Productions to guarantee he would win. The rapper decided not to follow through amid fears for his safety. A rep for Thunder Productions tells TMZ, "(Coolio) is going to take this seriously."
*In honor of Veterans Day, producer Kenny Gamble today releases a new DVD/CD commemorative package of his acclaimed new symphonic ode to patriotism, "I Am An American," to help raise funds and awareness for battling homelessness among veterans. The song is belted by his friend Patti LaBelle and the Temple University Symphony & Choir. The 45-minute documentary follows Gamble through the recording process at the Kimmel Center with the Temple University orchestra and choirs, and goes behind the scenes into the legendary Philadelphia International Records studio with LaBelle. I Am An American: The Making of An Anthem, will be available on www.iamanamerican.us and can be purchased now at www.gamble-huffmusic.com and the National Patriotism Museum in Atlanta and in Philadelphia’s primary souvenir stores – including National Constitution Center, Independence Visitors Center and The Sound of Philadelphia Souvenir Shop.
*Seal will release a collection of his greatest songs on one CD, "Hits," to be released Dec. 8 via Warner Bros. Records. The set, spanning the artist’s 20 year career, includes sixteen of Seal’s biggest hits, as well as two new tracks produced by David Foster: Fans can purchase a CD or CD/DVD package which includes the Seal "Soul Live" DVD with nine live performances from his hit album "Soul." Seal is currently in the studio recording a new album of original material to be released in 2010. To learn more, listen to streaming audio, and watch music video clips, please visit www.seal.com.
*Playboy bunny Stephanie Adams, the first and only Playboy Playmate to declare herself a lesbian, is now saying that she is heterosexual and engaged to marry "a loving, supportive, successful man," she informs Page Six. "I would like for his privacy to remain intact, but I will say that I intend to retire from being a public persona so that we can settle down and have children . . . Life is good . . . I have no regrets for anything." Adams, Miss November 1992, was named "best NYC lesbian sex symbol" in 2004 by the Village Voice.
EUR DVD REVIEW: Pray the Devil Back to Hell
Documentary Chronicling Pacifist Feminists' Triumph in Liberia Arrives on DVD
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Liberia was founded in 1847 by former U.S. slaves shipped back to Africa by the American Colonization Society. Unfortunately, these repatriated blacks considered themselves superior to the indigenous peoples they encountered, and so they formed a society in which the descendants of African-Americans enjoyed elite class status.
The tensions which ensued between the two groups essentially remained unaddressed until everything came to a head in 1989. That was when the first of two civil wars erupted which combined would claim over 200,000 lives and last until 2003.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell recounts the story of how a ceasefire was finally achieved, namely, through the determined efforts of a coalition of Christian and Muslim women fed up with having to beg for food and to raise their children amidst incessant slaughter, raping and looting. Led by Leymah Gbowee, a mom with a toddler, and armed only with T-shirts, signs and a willingness to die for their cause, this intrepid sisterhood stood toe-to-toe with both President Charles Taylor and with the Sierra Leone-based rebels attempting to topple his oppressive regime.
What makes this documentary so compelling are the reams of archival footage which allow us to witness, firsthand, the fighting, the peace demonstrations and the negotiations which led to the ouster of the corrupt Americo-Liberian Taylor. Ultimately, he was replaced by native Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, sub-Saharan Africa's first elected female head of state.
A salute is in order to director Gini Reticker for this glorious tribute to a bi-partisan band of unarmed women who succeeded where government and UN intervention had failed miserably. For against the odds, they somehow managed to turn chaos into calm by marching en masse and refusing to compromise on their non-negotiable demand that the madness end once and for all.
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 72 minutes
Studi Fork Films
Distributor: Passion River Films
DVD Extras: Leymah Gbowee on Billy Moyer's Journal, her acceptance speech receiving the JFK Profile in Courage Award, and a theatrical trailer.
To order a copy of Pray the Devil Back to Hell on DVD, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002R0HT3M?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002R0HT3M
To a see a trailer for Pray the Devil Back to Hell, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uon9CcoHgwA
EUR DVD REVIEW: Bruno
Bruno DVD Doesn't Measure Up to Borat
DVD Review by Kam Williams
*Borat, a shock comedy chronicling the misadventures of a crass journalist from Kazakhstan as he traveled across the U.S., was, in this critic's opinion, the funniest film of 2006.
Its star, Sacha Baron Cohen, landed an Oscar nomination for writing that faux documentary which employed a controversial bait-and-switch casting style to dupe a series of unsuspecting straight men to unwittingly make absolute fools of themselves.
Wonders do cease. For Cohen's is back as Bruno, an aggressively-gay Austrian who comes to America to conquer Hollywood.
But where Borat brilliantly employed an experimental approach to guerilla moviemaking, that cinematic innovation already feels played out in this derivative sequel. The film's fatal flaw rests in the fact that, this time around, virtually all, if not all of the participants were obviously in on the joke.
This begs the question, if Cohen is not posing as gay here to elicit authentic, homophobic responses to expose bigotry, what exactly is his reason for filling the screen with the feigned reactions of folks pretending to be outraged by Bruno's flamboyance? Unfortunately, the character's over the top antics seem designed more to inflame passions and thus encourage gay-bashing than to teach any sorely-needed lessons about tolerance.
For example, very effeminate Bruno takes an orphan he's adopted overseas onto a Jerry Springer-ish TV talk show and informs the host that he has given the toddler a traditional African name, "O.J." In addition, the child is dressed in a shirt emblazoned with the word "Gayby," suggesting that he plans to raise the boy to be a homosexual. Such a deliberate provocation proves to be red meat for the mostly black audience which predictably erupts into rage.
Because such scenes seem staged, one has to wonder exactly what emotions they are supposed to evoke, for Bruno is neither funny nor clever, just a terminally-annoying jerk. An over-indulgence in vulgarity of no redeeming social value apt to set back gay-straight relations.
Poor (0 stars)
Rated R for profanity, sexuality, pervasive crude humor and graphic nudity.
Running time: 82 minutes
Studi Universal Studios Home Entertainment DVD Extras: An hour of alternative, deleted and extended scenes, enhanced commentary by Sacha Baron Cohen and the director, and an interview with Hollywood agent Lloyd Robinson.
To purchase a copy of Bruno on DVD, visit:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002P7UCJ0?ie=UTF8&tag=thslfofire-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002P7UCJ0
To see a trailer for Bruno, visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1NWixpFPd0
THE JOURNAL OF STEFFANIE RIVERS: Another Sad Story
*The story out of Cleveland, Ohio about the ten dead bodies and a human skull found in and around the home of Anthony Sowell is gruesome. Sowell, who pleaded guilty to attempted rape in 1990 and served prison time for it, was found to have been living among the rotting corpses of his victims possibly since last April. That’s the earliest that one of the four dead women identified by police was reported missing by her family.
It’s a given that Sowell had some unresolved psychological issues. But it’s the actions – or inactions – of those around Sowell that leave the biggest unanswered questions: First, the neighbors who must have known that something didn’t look, sound or smell right. Although I’ve not had the displeasure of smelling rotting human flesh I’m sure I would know the difference between it and that of the usual smells that emit from the nearby sausage factory.
Secondly, the family members of the missing victims who got little to no help from police because the missing people where not considered as model citizens. As tax paying members of Cleveland their requests for help to search for missing loved ones should have been given some level of priority regardless of who they were. And when it wasn’t telephone calls should have been made and complaints should have been filed with the mayor’s office, the city council and with whoever would listen, because the squeaky wheel gets the oil. Even one woman who told police she was the one who got away from Sowell after he recently attacked her in his bedroom, said she didn’t immediately report the assault because she feared her prior arrest record would have kept her from being taken seriously.
One of the reasons that some segments of society habitually get overlooked and underserved is because of their own inaction in the face of the aforementioned. Until people demand for themselves the same quality of service and respect that others receive they will continue to be overlooked and underserved. It seems an unending battle, but one worth fighting.
Third is the ineffectiveness of some law enforcement officers who want to choose whom they protect and serve. The same story has been retold in countless cities across America. Milwaukee is the city that comes to mind. That’s where serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer tortured, murdered and cannibalized at least 17 boys and men of mostly African and Asian descent before he was arrested in 1991.
At least once Milwaukee police and Dahmer’s neighbors witnessed what turned out to be a young Asian boy running outside naked near Dahmer’s apartment. But officers, who didn’t bother to check Damhmer’s police arrest history at the time, took his side of the story and chose to believe the boy who was bleeding from his rectum was Dahmer’s willing adult sexual partner. It was a blatant case of police bias against the minority residents they were supposed to protect and serve.
We know what became of that sexual predator who later was killed in prison by another inmate. And although two of the Milwaukee officers who left Dahmer’s victim behind (Dahmer later murdered him) and made homophobic jokes over the police radio later where fired, they appealed their terminations, were reinstated with back pay and went on to be named officers of the year by their police union.
Yes, it’s a sad story in Cleveland. But until people there demand answers from their leaders, the firing of those officers who didn’t do their jobs and neighborhood alliances that make stories like this a near impossibility, the worst part of this story could be that it is bound to happen again.
STEVEN IVORY: Nothing Stands in the Way
*"It's here," Kevin says somberly into the phone, watching from a window of his third story apartment as a U-haul van searches for parking down on Vermont Avenue. Both elated and melancholy, today he bids farewell to "Nihil Obstat."
The dynamic, moody abstract, which stretched nearly a wall's length of Kevin's small living room, was the first thing the 32 year-old Chicago native painted the year he arrived in Los Angeles in late summer 2000. He'd come west, he said, to escape something far more brutal than Windy City winters--a family of academic achievers who declared him insane for pursuing a career in the arts.
He'd been in L.A. two days when in his Los Feliz neighborhood alley he discovered the huge discarded white wooden panel--a spectacular surface on which to cast his emotions. For $10 a homeless man helped Kevin lug it the three blocks home.
They were negotiating the entrance to the 1940s apartment building, when up the street came a tiny, meticulously dressed solemn Latino lady, elderly but fit and determined in stride, pulling a small wire cart of groceries.
When it was clear the woman's destination was inside the building, Kevin smiled and said they'd be done in a second.
The lady stood silent for that second, muttered "Nihil Obstat," and impatiently edged herself past them and into the entrance. Kevin wondered to his homeless assistant, also Latino, what the lady had said. "Something like, 'Nothing stands in the way.'"
Twice during the next week, Kevin, en route to his job as a waiter, ran into the lady in the apartment lobby. He spoke; she didn't.
However, one afternoon two weeks later, work on his painting was interrupted by a weak but urgent knock at his door. It was the obstinate lady. "I am Miss Garcia," she announced with a shy, weary half smile, and pushed a foil-covered platter into his chest.
Kevin lifted the aluminum and graciously thanked her for the chicken and rice. Miss Garcia didn't hear him; looking around his torso, her attention was focused on the dramatic painting in progress that overwhelmed the room.
Sensing her interest, Kevin told her he was calling it "Nihil Obstat," the phrase the homeless man told him she uttered that day downstairs. Those words, he said, if that's indeed what they meant, were now his mott Absolutely nothing would stand in the way of him reaching his goals in L.A.
His ambition was lost on Miss Garcia, who gazed at his painting a few seconds more and then turned and left.
Kevin couldn't blame her. Hell, maybe she took one look at the thing and it made her feel the way he did. The piece had become his emotional albatross. In the brilliant splashes representing his courageous migration, Kevin also saw the lingering pain of personal loss; rejection.
Nothing seemed to be working for him in L.A. His small clothing line for men evoked indifference among Neiman Marcus execs. Fred Segal called regarding his woman's jewelry samples but only to say come get them.
Thus, a week later, when the man on the phone with a thick, deep German accent identified himself as the apartment building owner, Kevin braced for the worse. The paint specks on Kevin's hardwood floor in the living room, said the gentleman, would have to be cleaned.
As Kevin wondered how he'd know about those, the man launched into apologies for entering Kevin's apartment without notice. He realized a law had been broken, but he had to go in--Miss Garcia insisted.
The old lady, he explained, once lived in that very apartment with Mr. Garcia, a mild-mannered oil painter who took his last breath there, succumbing to cancer. After insisting the businessman see for himself how Kevin had "abused the property," the owner, once inside, realized he'd been duped by Miss Garcia into viewing Kevin's captivatingly expressive work--which, her late husband, Miss Garcia kookily believed, had a hand in creating.
Regardless, said the man, "As an avid collector, which Miss Garcia well knows, I am prepared to offer an equitable price for your painting."
Delightfully speechless, Kevin rebounded to inquire why the businessman simply didn't ask to see the work instead of sneaking into his place. "Because Miss Garcia said artists are 'tender souls.' She did not want you to be hurt if I didn't like it."
A week after that phone call, Kevin, ambivalent about saying good-bye to "Nihil Obstat," came to see himself letting go of more than a painting. No matter what Nihil Obstat really meant, nothing, Kevin reaffirmed, would stand in his way--not even his reluctance to let go of a beloved painting created in honor of his declaration. Whatever he was emotionally unable to put in perspective, the five-figure check did.
When I arrive at Kevin's building, the buyer's workmen already have the piece downstairs. They seem annoyed with the uncharacteristically gregarious Miss Garcia, who, having chastised Kevin for offering her a commission, tells the men how to do their job.
The U-haul slowly pulls into traffic down Vermont, gets to Franklin and makes a right. Kevin and Miss Garcia both silently watch the truck until it is positively out of sight, she waving good-bye to a loving past as he welcomes a hopeful future. Sometimes, the emotions are the same.
Steven Ivory's book, FOOL IN LOVE (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) is available at Amazon.com (www.Amazon.com). Respond to him via STEVRIVORY@AOL.COM
THE MO'KELLY REPORT: Dress Codes Aren't Racist...People Are
*The story slowly made its way around the nation, via a crafty combination of a viral internet campaign and word of mouth.
If you hadn’t heard, six Washington University students were recently refused entrance to a Chicago bar (Mother’s) supposedly for violation of its “baggy pants” dress code. Chicago media has covered the story extensively, often highlighting the historical racial overtones which are invariably embedded in the subtext.
Chicago and racism aren’t exactly mutually exclusive, it’s fair to say.
In fact, one of the students denied entrance traded pants with a thinner white student, making the pants seem even more “baggy,” and putting the dress code to a seemingly less difficult test. The same bar faced with the same “baggy” pants…failed miserably. The white student was admitted without incident.
There is more than one lesson to be learned from this story and little of it has to do with any specific bar in Chicago. Some people walked away from this story thinking only that bars on Rush Street in Chicago have a propensity for discrimination against African-Americans through their dress codes. And there’s evidence to support such a conclusion. But let’s not though be so superficial and go deeper.
Here in The Mo’Kelly Report, it’s about looking beyond the obvious to examine a situation from a number of angles, to best learn from a particular set of circumstances.
The discriminatory nature of the Rush Street bars in question has less to do with the dress code itself and much more to do with its “racialized” application. Meaning, it’s not the dress code, it’s the haphazard enforcement that’s the problem. If it were determined that students, irrespective of color were denied entrance in violation of the dress code, all is well. I simply don’t subscribe to the theory of dress codes being either “culturally insensitive” or “racially biased.” Many came away from this story concluding or having their belief reinforced that dress codes are inherently racist against African-Americans.
I simply do not agree.
It may be true that a majority percentage of our African-American youth feature baggy or oversized clothing as part of their wardrobes. But it is also true that private businesses are not public democracies. It’s more than acceptable for a business to regulate the attire of its employees or even its customers. To implement a dress code is not a priori racist or culturally insensitive, but a right of the business owner.
It is true that a disproportionate number of African-American males relative to other ethnicities “sag” or wear their pants below their waistline. But it’s also true that as a business owner, I’m free to regulate (save race and gender) what is tolerated within the confines of my business. Of course, such dress codes disproportionately impact the “population demographic,” but it is not inherently racist. The moment White males who “sag” are granted admittance it is, but not a moment before. Until that time, pull up your pants or patronize elsewhere. Just because you have no good sense in terms of attire, it doesn't mean I as a business owner must lower myself to meet your lack of standards. You are free to spend your money elsewhere. Such is the nature of a free market society.
No shirt, no shoes, no service…pretty much the same.
Night clubs have long disallowed jeans or t-shirts. This is neither novel nor revolutionary in nature. Here in the Los Angeles area, it’s very common for bars of various types and economic strata to forbid oversized, white T-shirts or any other attire which could be construed as gang paraphernalia. Are the overwhelming majority of gang members in the Los Angeles area either Black or Latino?
Absolutely.
Is there an overwhelming amount of Black and Latino males who aren’t gang-affiliated yet dress in this popular manner?
Absolutely.
But citizens/patrons do not have a “right” to wear whatever they want into someone else’s place of business. It’s not a public facility and therein lies the difference.
This is not to push aside the sometimes underlying intent behind the implementation of some of these dress codes. I’m not naïve, I get it. But we as African-Americans must not confuse these issues. Businesses don’t have a responsibility to accommodate anyone and everyone who may wish to spend money. Being willing to spend money doesn’t automatically grant and guarantee one entrance. Conversely, being turned away because a dress code offends one’s sensibilities doesn’t necessarily make it racist. More times than not, it’s just good sense.
Standards are always good sense.
When businesses such as Mother’s cross the color line in the application of a dress code; by all means cast aspersion upon them. At the same time, do not allow a singular instance such as this with the Washington University students to somehow placate the desire of some to scream racism over dress codes in general. Dress codes are a good thing, ask the overwhelmingly African-American NBA.
The Mo’Kelly Report is an entertainment journal with a political slant; published weekly at www.eurweb.com. It is meant to inform, infuse and incite meaningful discourse…as well as entertain. The Mo’Kelly Report is syndicated by Blogburst. For more Mo’Kelly, http://mokellyreport.wordpress.com. Mo’Kelly can be reached at mrmokelly@gmail.com and he welcomes all commentary.
EUR MOTIVATIONAL NOTE
Today’s ‘Live Better With Willie Jolley’ Tip: Go With the Flow?
There is an old saying that states, “If it is to be, then it is up to me.’’
We’ve all heard this saying, but what does it really mean? It means we must take responsibility for our successes and our failures in life. We must either act on life or life will act on us. We can either go with the flow, which may take us any old place, or we can direct the flow and therefore, determine our destination.
If you look at boats sailing on a river, you will notice that if the wind is blowing south, some boats will go with the flow and travel south. Yet there will also be boats that are also going north, east, and west. They are not going with the flow, but are using the flow to go where they want to go. You determine where you want to go in life. It may not be easy to go when there is no path, but if you do you’ll be the trailblazer.
Visit my website at www.williejolley.com free motivation and make every minute count!
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Nov. 10: Actress Alaina Reed Hall ("227") is 63. Actor-comedian Sinbad is 53. Comedian Tommy Davidson ("In Living Color") is 46. Actor Michael Jai White is 45. Comedian Tracy Morgan ("30 Rock") is 41. Rapper Warren G is 39. Rapper Eve is 31.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK
AMBERmag is the ultimate online destination for multicultural women who are seeking specific cosmetics, hair, and skincare truths. (www.AMBERmag.com).
Submit your favorite Web site to us along with a 15-20 word (or less) description to info@eurweb.com.
BLACK HISTORY
Nov. 10, 1891: Granville T. Woods patents the electric railway. (Source: www.BlackFacts.com)
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