News: Tavis Smiley Gets Named Taken Off Building

A long-simmering disagreement between broadcaster Tavis Smiley and Texas Southern University ended Friday when the university's governing board agreed to strip Smiley's name from its communication school.

Smiley promised in 2004 to donate $1 million and to raise another $1 million for TSU. The school later created the Tavis Smiley School of Communication in his honor.

In return, Smiley made one $50,000 donation in mid-2005 and raised $250,000 from three corporate donors.

But he said Friday that he had intended to fulfill his personal $1 million pledge.

“Any institution that turns away a $1 million gift in this economy, I think ought to have good reason for doing that,” he said in a telephone interview.

He also said former university President Priscilla Slade offered to name the school for him before he pledged any money.

“I even made a joke, how much is this decision going to cost me?” he said. “She said, ‘This decision has already been made.'”

“It doesn't feel good,” he said of the board's decision. “My intentions were to help the students.”

 

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Double Take: Writer Claims Malcolm Was Not Quite Heterosexual

Peter Tatchell wrote a piece in the UK Guardian, called “Malcolm X Was Bisexual, Get Over It.”Tatchell writes that he is disappointed in the lack of recognition for gay and lesbian African Americans for Black History Month (Black History Month is in October in the UK). He writes:

Perhaps it is unintentional but Black History Month sometimes feels like Straight Black History Month. Famous Black LGBT people are not acknowledged and celebrated. Either their contribution to Black history and culture is ignored or their sexuality is airbrushed out of their biographies.

He goes on to write that one famous Black LGBT person is none other than Malcolm X:

A good example of this neglect is the denialism surrounding the bisexuality of one of the greatest modern Black liberation heroes: Malcolm X. The lack of recognition is perhaps not surprising, given that some of his family and many black activists have made strenuous efforts to deny his same-sex relationships and suppress recognition of the full spectrum of his sexuality.

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Black News: Media Matters Talks about the Heather Ellis Case

Racial injustice rears its ugly head again, this time in rural Missouri, where heavy-handed prosecutor Stephen Sokoloff is threatening to impose a lengthy prison sentence on a woman after an altercation at a local Wal-Mart almost three years ago.

In January 2007, 20-year-old Heather Ellis, then a student at Xavier University, and her cousin David went to a Wal-Mart in Kennett, Missouri, near the Tennessee border, in an area commonly known as the Missouri Bootheel.  Kennett, in rural and conservative Dunklin County, which boasts that it seceded from the Union during the Civil War, is overwhelmingly white.

At the check-out line, the pair split up in order to find the shortest line.  When Ellis left her line to join her cousin at a shorter line, customers complained and a store employee accused her of cutting, at which point an argument ensued and a manager notified a security guard, an off-duty Kennett Police officer.  The situation escalated from there:

In the Ellis version, she was shoved by another customer, had her items pushed aside by the clerk and then was short-changed when she finally was checked out. The police affidavit contends, at numerous times, Ellis became belligerent, loud, abusive and cursing when she was told to leave by the store's assistant manager. Summoned by a frantic phone call from her son, as the pair walked out to the parking lot, [Ellis' aunt] Blackmon says she arrived in time to witness her niece being brutalized by police during attempts to place her in a squad car.

[...]

Ellis was charged with disturbing the peace, trespassing, resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a police officer. Yet, curiously after being described in the police affidavit as "completely out of control" during her arrest, she was released to the custody of her parents to receive medical attention only 45 minutes after being jailed. However, her arrest triggered a whole series of problems. Although she returned to school in Louisiana, two months later, an attorney hired by the family tried to talk Heather into taking a plea deal offered by powerful Dunklin County Prosecutor, Stephen Sokoloff.

 

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Your Black News: 15 Years in Prison for Cutting Line – Pretrial Has Begun

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Heather Ellis is a college student facing15 years in prison for cutting line at Walmart - visit www.SaveHeatherEllis.com for more details on the national protest to be held in Kennett, MO on November 14.

According to the family, the prosecutor in the case, Stephen Sokoloff, has asked for the trial to be moved to Bloomfield, MO, a town with less than 20 African Americans in it.

Dr Boyce Watkins and Rev. Al Sharpton are planning a march in Kennett to support Heather Ellis.

Black Men at War: Juan Williams Called an Uncle Tom

I have no idea why FOX News political commentator Juan Williams is defendingRush Limbaugh, perhaps the most divisive, hateful person in American media today. I'm not sure why Williams is letting FOX News use him in the same way Armstrong Williams has always trotted out to defend conservative issues. (It's hard out there for a journalist.)
However, I do know that he does not deserve to be told to "go back to the porch," as radio talk show host Warren Ballentine said during a debate about Limbaugh last week.
The comments were made by Ballentine during a discussion with Williams on the 'O'Reilly Factor' about Limbaugh being dropped from a bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams football team. Williams and Ballentine disagreed about whether the 'Barack the Magic Negro' song that Rush Limbaugh played was "racial."
BILL O'REILLY: The reason that Limbaugh is not going to be able to buy in to the NFL is because a bunch of made-up stuff became legend, and he got hammered.
WARREN BALLANTINE: Okay, we won't look at the made-up stuff. Let's look at him playing 'Barack the Magic Negro,' and we're going to say that's just funny, that's just a joke, that's not racial either. It is racial to real black people.

 

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Dr Boyce Money: Nas in Serious Trouble with the IRS

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices 

Hip Hop Wired is reporting that the rapper Nas is having some serious financial problems. In addition to owing his wife Kelis $44,000 per month in child support, it turns out that the artist also owes the federal government another $2.5 million in taxes. Here are quick thoughts about Nas, love and money:

1) Nas has a complicated life. His decision to marry the "love of his life" is going to cost him for the rest of his life. The rapper's tax situation could be due to irresponsibility (as appears to be the case with Method Man and Nicolas Cage), or it could simply be a matter of using write-offs that were not allowed by the IRS. We can't assume that Nas' tax trouble automatically makes him into a horrible citizen.

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News: Tom Joyner Pardons His Late Uncles for Murder

from TheGrio.com 

Nationally syndicated radio host Tom Joyner holds up the signed pardon given to him from Samuel Glover, right, director of the South Carolina Dept. of Pardon, Probation and Parole, as Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., third from the right, smiles after a hearing Wednesday Oct. 14, 2009, in Columbia, S.C. A posthumous pardon was given to Joyners' great-uncles Thomas and Meeks Griffin, who were wrongly sent to the electric chair for the 1913 murder of a Confederate Army veteran.

(AP Photo/Mary Ann Chastain)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- Two great-uncles of syndicated radio host Tom Joyner, sent to the electric chair for the 1913 murder of a Confederate Army veteran, were unanimously pardoned Wednesday by South Carolina.

Officials believe the men are the first in the state to be posthumously pardoned in a capital murder case.

Black landowners Thomas and Meeks Griffin were executed 94 years ago after a jury convicted them of killing 73-year-old John Lewis, a wealthy white veteran living in Blackstock, a Chester County town 40 miles north of Columbia. Two other black men were also put to death for the crime.

"This won't bring them back, but this will bring closure. I hope now that they rest in peace," Joyner said. "This is a good day."

Joyner, who lives in Dallas, and his attorney made a presentation to the state parole and probation board on Wednesday, then left the room while the board voted. Family members who flew in for the hearing included his wife and sons, of Dallas, and brother and his family, from Jackson, Miss.

Though he talks to roughly 8 million listeners on the radio daily, Joyner said facing the seven board members "scared me to death." When he was told how they voted, he said he waved his hands and hugged family members in a flood of relief and joy. He also called in to his radio show.

Joyner learned about his uncles' fate two years ago during filming of the PBS documentary "African American Lives 2," which traced his lineage and 11 others' through the research of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.

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Woman Threatened by KKK after Leaving Walmart – She Faces 15 Years in Prison for Cutting Line

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices, Syracuse University, TheGrio.com 

I mentioned the story before about Heather Ellis, the young woman who was threatened by the KKK after protesting about her arrest that took place in a Walmart store. The story was quite interesting in that Ellis now faces 15 years in prison for effectively cutting line at a Walmart. The unfortunate events occurred when Ellis was shopping with a cousin in Kennett, Missouri.

Heather and her cousin went to separate lines and when her cousin found the shorter line, Heather joined him. Ellis was then accused of cutting line by the person checking out customers, which led to an altercation. When Ellis was asked to leave the store, she argued with the managers, which led to the police being called. Ellis was eventually charged with disturbing the peace, resisting arrest and two counts of assaulting a police officer.

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Question: Did Obama Deserve to win the Nobel Prize? Black Scholars Speak Up

Marvin Lynn, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Curriculum & Instruction
Faculty Affiliate, African American Studies
University of Illinois at Chicago

 

I think he deserves the award because, as they said, he has established a different tone in the world. Two years ago, America was despised around the world. This is not the case today. Of course people still have criticisms of our policies etc but our global neighbors hated Bush so much that it was making global travel a frightening experience for Americans. There has been a shift in how people see us. That is directly tied to President Obama's diplomatic stance on a variety of issues.

 

 

 

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon

Political Science Professor at Howard University

Host of “On with Leon” – Sirius/XM Satellite

 

This is an incredible personal accomplishment for the Obama's, a wonderful international recognition of the shift in American foreign policy, and a compliment to the intelligence of the American electorate The Nobel committee is acknowledging the positive shift away from the unilateral exclusionary foreign policy of the Bush 43' administration to the multilateral inclusionary foreign policy direction of the Obama administration. The illegal invasions of sovereign nations, torture, and the ignoring of ecological issues of the Bush 43' administration only brought instability and insecurity for America and the rest of the world. President Obama offers hope through honest diplomacy and open dialog. This is the true path towards peace and security for all.

Why the World Never Likes Proud Black Men

"A word to the Black Man. … Do not point your nose too high. Do not swell your chest too much. Do not boast too loudly.  Do not be puffed up. … You are on no higher plane, deserve no new consideration, and will get none. …  No man will think a bit higher of you because your complexion is the same as that of the victor at Reno." – The LA Times, Shortly after Jack Johnson became the heavyweight champion of the world.

Your Black News: Serena Gets Naked for ESPN The Magazine

 

In case you don’t recognize her booty, that’s Serena Williams. Yes, that’s the body she’ll be using.

Dr Boyce Watkins on Michael Vick, Nike and Dogfighting

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University, MSNBC’s TheGrio.com 

Dick's Sporting Goods recently made a decision that is bad for business. Taking one of the boldest, and perhaps silliest, stands of any corporation in recent memory, Dick's decided not to sell Michael Vick jerseys in any of their stores.

Perhaps they earned a few dog-loving customers, but they lost the support of any shareholder who cares about making money. It's one thing for lynch mobs to embrace vigilantism, but another for a corporation to engage in the same irrational behavior. Vick paid his debt to society; it's time to move on with our lives.

The top brass at the Nike Corporation are smarter than the management at Dick's Sporting Goods, but they too understand the need to stay away from Michael Vick, at least for right now. When asked to respond to rumors that Vick had signed a deal with Nike, the company gave an immediate and resounding "no." After the Nike denial, Michael Vick's agent, Joel Segal, had to backpedal faster than an NFL defensive back to kill any indication that his client has re-signed with the "big swoosh." However, the confidence with which the signing was announced indicates that the relationship might be deeper than we think.

The truth is that I don't believe a single word of the Nike dismissal. Like the big egos in Beyonce's song, Nike's swoosh is " too big, too wide, too strong" for them to sit idly by as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL makes his return to the game. Nike executives have seen Vick grace the cover of Xbox games and sports magazines and often refer to him as the man who "revolutionized the quarterback position." They know that Vick is not washed up, and that some of his best years may still be ahead of him.

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Dr. Wilmer Leon: Observations of an African American Father

By

Dr. Wilmer J. Leon III, Howard University 

On this past Saturday, October 3, 2009 a 16 year old African American honor student, Derrion Albert was laid to rest in Chicago. This young man was beaten to death in the street while walking from school to the bus stop. Silvanus Shannon, 19, Eugene Riley, 18, Eric Carson, 16, and Eugene Bailey, 18, have all been charged with first-degree murder in Derrion’s death.

As I watched the video of this young man being beaten to death with a railroad tie I asked myself what could compel four young African American men to engage in such a wanton and willful murderous act? How could these young men have such disregard for another human being’s life that they would beat him to his death, in the street, in broad day light? What is the basis of their rage, their anger?

I then asked myself, where are their fathers? I made an assumption and came to the conclusion that their fathers must be absent, not active or engaged in their lives. This antisocial rage, this anger is probably in part a response to their being raised without the benefit of knowing the love of their fathers. If these young men were asked to explain what drove them to this act; they most likely would not be able to articulate a clear response. They probably do not know. If they do know, they would be too ashamed to say.

As a man who was blessed to be raised by two loving parents; I clearly understand the power of love. At the age of 50, I am still blessed to be able to talk with my almost 90 year old father every day (I lost my mother last March); hear his voice, seek his counsel; feel his love. As far as I have been able to come based upon knowing my father’s love, I can’t begin to imagine how dysfunctional I would be without it.

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Study: What Makes Women Want to have Sex?

From CNN

What makes a woman want to have sex? Is it physical attraction? Love? Loneliness? Jealousy? Boredom? Painful menstrual cramps?

Many women interviewed were having sex purely because they wanted the experience.

It turns out that woman have sex for all of these reasons and more, and that their choices are not arbitrary; there may be evolutionary explanations at work.

Psychologists Cindy Meston and David Buss, both professors at the University of Texas at Austin, decided that the topic of "why women have sex" deserved a book of its own. They've woven scientific research together with a slew of women's voices in their new collaborative work, "Why Women Have Sex," published September 29 by Times Books.

"We do bring in men occasionally by way of contrast, but we wanted to focus exclusively on women so that the complexity of women's sexualpsychology was not given the short shrift, so to speak," said Buss, a leading evolutionary psychologist.

The authors conducted a study from June 2006 to April 2009 that asked women whether they had ever had sex for one of 237 reasons, all of which had emerged in a previous study. About 1,000 women contributed their perspectives. Watch women answer The Question »

It turns out that women's reasons for having sex range from love to pure pleasure to a sense of duty to curiosity to curing a headache. Some women just want to please their partners, and others want an ego boost.

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CSI MIAMI WELCOMES OMAR MILLER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Actor Omar Miller is the newest cast member of CBS's drama "CSI: Miami," according to the Hollywood Reporter.       

The 30-year-old will play Walter Simmons, a Louisiana native and art theft specialist who transfers over from the night shift to join Horatio’s (David Caruso) team. His first episode will air on Oct. 5.     

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JAYSON WILLIAMS BACK ON TRIAL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Past and present staffers at New Jersey's Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office are taking the witness stand as part of an investigation into whether the case against former NBA star Jayson Williams, who is black, has been racially biased.      

Hunterdon County Prosecutor J. Patrick Barnes, who is white, was the first witness Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. Former assistant prosecutor Steven Lember, who tried Williams in 2004, was also expected to testify at press time.

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Technorati Tags: jayson williams,NBA,black celebrity gossip,black gossip

 

 

 

KHLAMAR ARE NOT LEGALLY MARRIED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TMZ.com is reporting that the quickie marriage of Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian is not even valid, and won't be unless a prenuptial agreement is signed.

"We've learned two high-powered family law attorneys are already squaring off, trying to hash out the prenup Odom wants as a condition to marriage," TMZ reported Tuesday.       

Technorati Tags: black gossip,black celebrity gossip,Odom,Kloe

NAS TRYING TO HELP

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moved by the senseless beating death of a 16-year-old honor student by gang members in Chicago, rapper Nas has written an open letter to teens who throw away their future by battling each other.       

Nas, who lost his close friend Willie “Ill Will” Graham to senseless violence in 1992, wrote the following open letter, via allhiphop.com:      

Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong wars! Killing each other is definitely played out. Being hurt from the lost of a love one was never cool. Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong war! I know that feeling, that frustration with life and needing to take it out on someone, any one. But we chose the dumbest things to go the hardest for. I remember seeing deaths over 8 ball jackets, Filas, and name plate chains. Deaths over 'he say she say'!!!!! 'I’m from this block or I’m from that block”, or 'my moms n pops is f***ed up now the whole world gotta pay!!!

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EBONY NEEDS SOME HELP

The outlook for the grand dame of black-owned publishing companies, Johnson Publishing, looks dimmer by the day.
Speculation began earlier this year that the company behind Ebony and Jet magazines was on the ropes.

Then came the news came earlier this month that the Ebony Fashion Fair traveling fashion show -- a flamboyant staple of black women's fund raising efforts since 1958 -- was being canceled for the first time in its history. Now comes a Newsweek.com article that says the company is is putting its flagship title, Ebony, up for sale.

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Technorati Tags: sale,ebony magazine,jet magazine,black celebrity gossip,black gossip

HONOR STUDENT BEATEN TO DEATH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The video of 16-year-old Derrion Albert being beaten to death is hard enough to watch. The audio makes it almost unbearable.
When Albert is struck in the head with a board we hear the crackling of the wood colliding with his skull. As he falls to the ground we hear the slapping sound as another boy punches the honor student in the side of the head.

There are more noises as various kids rush in and kick him while he's on the ground."Damn, put the n****a to sleep," somebody yells. "Damn, they knocked him out," someone else screams out.

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Technorati Tags: chicago,fights,black celebrity gossip,black gossip

T.O MAD AS HELL

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Terrell Owens took to Twitter to lash out at former Patriots safety and current NBC analyst Rodney Harrison Sunday night, responding to Harrison ripping him on television by making pointed comments about Harrison's 2007 performance-enhancing drug suspension

 

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