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May 18 , 2006
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| Written from a brother-to-brother perspective based upon questions that young men have asked him— Hill addresses a number of tough issues young men are facing today, everything from school, money, and careers, to family life, girls, and achieving goals. Hill shares his personal experiences and calls on friends to share their perspective with the young men that will read his book. Nas , Gabrielle Union , and Venus Williams share their experiences to aid Hill in this incredible work. “Perhaps Kanye West is not aware of the impact of calling his album College Dropout ,” Hill said. “If we are going to ask people in other industries to do more, then we as celebrities are going to have to do more.” Hill Harper is an extremely intelligent brother, having eared a B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Hill shared with me that he would never be a part of a project with a negative message, but he will play a bad guy. Hill Harper is an actor that is extremely conscience of the world and his book will aid men in MANifesting their destiny. | |||
 In
response to the number of e-mails, which perceives my perspective
as negative on a number of issues, and
with Father’s Day fast approaching here is some positive news.
Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta
honored two students with the funding for their internships
to work alongside one of the top brain surgeons in the country:
Dr. Keith Black of Cedars-Sinai Medical center in Los Angeles.
Denzel Washington , 51, hope his involvement will
encourage young people obsessed with movie stars and sports figures
to also consider doctors as role models. “It’s
one thing to be an actor or a rapper, but I want you to understand,
you can be anything you want to be,” Washington
said during his remarks at the event. “It’s not
about how famous you are, or how many cars you have, or about your
bling, it’s about what you do with what you have.”
Dr. William “Bill” Cosby and his wife
Camille donated $3 million to Morehouse School
of Medicine, which is the largest individual gift given to the school,
is meant to honor its interim president, Dr. David Satcher
, and will fund the endowment of a chaired professorship
in mental health. |
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 You
will not see a great deal of Dave Chappelle doing
any of his jokes that made him famous in Block Party. If you
are going to see Dave’s movie and expecting
his standup then you will be greatly disappointed. The film
was shot in Bedford-Stuyvesant on a cloudy day in New York back
in September of 2004, features Kanye West, Erykah Badu ,
Mos Def , Jill Scott , Common
, The Roots , Talib Kweli ,
Dead Prez , Cody Chestnutt , John
Legend , and The Fugees , who reunited
just for the event. Dave explains in the
opening that he tried to choose performers who have a message that
is more than making money. Chappelle is
full of contradictions because we all can recall how much he uses
words like Bitch and Nigga, must we not forget how often he says
the F-word in his material. Perhaps he has grown and will
approach comedy in a positive manner. To be totally honest
with you Dave Chappelle is overshadowed by the
great performers. After watching Block Party it will become
clear as to why Chappelle turned down the $50
million from Comedy Central Network. Shortly after this event
Dave disappeared to search inside himself for
answers. An obviously torn Chappelle , between
doing material that made him a star and a desire to deliver material
with a lasting message. Dave Chappelle
even states himself that he is mediocre, at one point in the movie.
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 Drug
Dealers and Killers Strike Again …After seven years
and close to $10 million spent in the investigation former Atlanta
Mayor Bill Campbell is going to prison. Two years
and six months is what Campbell will do if he does
not get and appeal. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Story
handed down the sentence with an additional punishment of a year’s
probation, a $6,000 fine, and an order to pay more than $60,000
in back taxes. Judge Story added an obstruction of justice
charge during the sentencing hearing this week. According
to the judge there was enough evidence to find that Campbell
accepted more than $50,000 in bribes in 1999. Campbell
was found to be a bit of a playboy when two former girlfriends
testified they received romantic trips to Europe and Las Vegas.
Known to pay in cash Mayor Campbell lived
high on the hog during his many gambling trips and romantic escapades,
the fighter for Civil Rights, even gave one of his concubines the
down payment on her house in cash. Finally, he was visibly
shaken by the reality of the verdict. Mayor Campbell
has been accused of being arrogant and even calm throughout
this entire ordeal to finally break when he heard he will be going
to prison. Damn what a Father’s Day gift! |
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 Dem
Franchize Boyz got busted!
Atlanta Police said they found drugs, cash, weapons, and pornography
during a raid of their recording studio. Eight people, including
28-year old Anthony Blalock, CEO of “ Making Big Moves
” records, was arrested. One of the suspects
is a member of the group “ Dem Franchize Boyz ”
who recorded “ Lean Wit It .”
The bust happened because police received a tip that drugs
were being sold at the facility. Officers say the suspect
saw the raid unfolding on surveillance cameras and tried to get
rid of some of the evidence. One of the officers said they
tried to flush the drugs down the toilet, but they did not have
enough time to flush close to a quarter of a million dollars worth
of drugs. According to the police they confiscated more than
11 pounds of marijuana, $150,000 in cash, two handguns and a stack
of pornography. Two minor children who were in the studio
were taken into custody, but were later released to their mother.
Not the ideal environment for children, I guess we know what
type of franchise business they are really in or is it more like
street pharmaceuticals. |
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 Chamillionaire
is on the top of the charts,
but the Youngbloodz are actually ridin’
dirty. Youngbloodz members J-Bo
, born Jeffrey Grigsby and Sean
Paul Joseph , were arrested along with 12 people in their
entourage while on I-85 in route to Columbus, Georgia. All
14 of the men were charged with possession of marijuana with intent
to distribute and possession of firearms after police found a half
pound of marijuana and two guns hidden throughout their tour bus.
The vehicle was initially pulled over because of an expired
Florida license plate. However, when an officer approached
the bus, a strong marijuana odor wafted out from the window, giving
the police probable cause to search the vehicle. Backup units
were called to the scene and 11 baggies full of weed were found
throughout the bus, as well as a Glock .40 and a Taurus .45 under
two mattresses. How ironic that J-Bo , 29
and Sean Paul , 27 are best known for their hits
“ Damn ,” “ Cadillac
Pimping ,” and “ 85 South
,” have posted bond. I guess a line in
their new song will go a little like this: “’
Damn ,’ we got busted, “ Cadillac
Pimping,” on an expired tagged bus headed “
85 South ,” do not be a fool and
smoke pounds of weed and have Glocks like us.” |
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R. Kelly is going to jail! During Robert Kelly’s upcoming trail there will be an official screening of what the world has seen over the internet of a tape allegedly showing the R&B crooner having sex with a 14-year-old girl and urinating on her at the end of the sex act. R. Kelly is due back in court this week. The 39-year-old Grammy winner might be writing hits from a prison cell due to how much the man on the tape resembles the singer. R. Kelly has pleaded innocent to all 14 counts of child pornography. |
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 According
to my “ Street Committee ”…
Sheryl Lee Ralph brought down the house during
her acceptance speech at the 100 Black Men 20th Anniversary Gala.
The beautiful Ralph belted out “I
am an Endangered Species, I am a woman, I am an Artist, and I sing
no victim song,” sang Sheryl . It was
clear why the organization choose Sheryl Lee
Ralph
as their Woman of The Year. Michael Eric
Dyson , BET’s Jeff Johnson ,  were
also among the honorees. Dallas has been like a breath of fresh air according to Jason Terry . I recently got a chance to catch up with the former Atlanta Hawk at a couple of the playoff games in Dallas. The American Airlines Arena was jammed packed to see the Mavericks go to the finals. After the game I caught up with Jason Terry and he shared with me that it has been a tremendous blessing for him. “It has been a walk of faith,” Jason said. “I always knew that God would bring me out of the storm.” Dallas has been the calm to Jason storm and moving was a blessing after all. |
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 Bishop
Ernestine Cleveland Reems Dickerson
has been the victim of identity theft by a friend. The female
preaching trailblazer recently trusted a friend that is also a real
estate agent a little too much. Allegedly Bishop Reems
Dickerson , who recently married, hired a dear friend to
sell her previous home in Oakland, California. However, the
dear friend had access to all of Ernestine’s
personal information and used it to take out a second mortgage on
the 2 million dollar home that she and her husband Theodas Dickerson
currently reside, in Daily City, California. According to
reports the friend is facing 23 years in prison for a laundry list
of charges. Ernestine is out of a little
over $500,000 due to her trusting a friend a little too much. |
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 Marc
Anthony was with his wife Jennifer “J-Lo”
Lopez at the Women In Film Awards in Los Angeles. A
photographer bumped into Marc in effort to get
a photo of J-Lo and as a result he got pushed
by Marc . He told the paparazzi to get away
from his wife. Marc Anthony is said to
be a not so nice guy and might have taken this a little too far,
after all he is married to J-Lo .Young
Joc says that it feels really good to have released his
album. “It has been a lot of hard work,” Joc
said. Joc shared with me that
he worked really hard to make sure he had a hot album and the right
producers and music. Joc has put himself
on the map with a dance that is done all over the country. The
Def Jam South rapper should have a promising future. |
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Letters
To A Young Brother ,
is the perfect Father’s Day gift. Hill Harper
has written a book to encourage, inspire, and motivate
young men. However, the book reaches more than young men
and is an encouragement to all African American males.
Harper was motivated to write the book after
he spoke at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School and was overwhelmed
by the number of male students that approached him with questions
and seeking advice. “I realized that a number of young
black males did not have men in their lives to assist them on
transition to manhood,” Harper explained.
The book serves as Hill’s response
to the number of misguided views of success African American males
are bombarded with through the media, music, and negative celebrity
role models. A number of men--not just the young--have lost
a sense of what it really means to be successful, wealthy, and
truly happy.
Three
months after his release into a home incarceration program, C-Murder
might be headed back to prison due to his violating
the terms of his house arrest. Jefferson Parish prosecutors
are seeking to throw the rapper back in jail after video surveillance
showed him stopping at a Smoothie King and spending time with
his girlfriend. The 35-year-old, born Corey Miller
was convicted of second-degree murder on January 12,
2002, for the shooting death of 16-year-old Steve Thomas at the
now closed Platinum Club in Harvey, Louisiana. Miller
was placed on home incarceration as a condition of his
half a million dollar bail. Corey’s
first violation was on May 4, when during a court approved outing
he made a stop at Smoothie King in violation of the court order.
Employees there confirmed the visit, which was captured
on videotape, the same day Miller arrived home
at 4:07p.m., his deadline was 12:30p.m. On another occasion C-Murder
visited his girlfriend, Sabrina Green without court
authorization. Additionally, Miller has
been out of the range of his electronic home monitoring equipment
that police use to track his whereabouts, 44 minutes on May 31,
and 27 minutes on June 1. Corey Miller
has gotten a little to comfortable while on house arrest; with
his money he could have had someone bring him a smoothie and Miller
should have his girlfriend come over to his house for
a conjugal visit. I guess he likes to live dangerously.
Obnoxious
has learned that a prominent Houston rapper is being
sued by a 23 year old woman who claims he infected her with HIV.
The lawsuit, which is sealed to protect the privacy of the
parties, was initiated a little over a month ago. The woman
claims to have been in a committed relationship with the rapper
for two years before making a startling discovery in his home.
According to the documents, the woman found the prescription
drugs Combivir and Sustiva tucked away in the rappers sock drawer.
The two drugs are part of a cocktail of drugs commonly used
to combat the effects of the HIV virus. When she confronted
the rapper about the medication, he reportedly denied the medication
was his-even though his name was on the bottles. The woman
took a HIV test that came back positive. The lawsuit seeks
$25 million in damages. This case sounds a lot like Michael
Vick , the Atlanta Falcons quarterback,
who was sued by a past girlfriend for giving her herpes. We
can assume it was true due to Vick settling out
of court with his ex-girlfriend for an undisclosed amount of money.
