From YourBlackWorld.com
Jaleel White, better known as Steve Urkel from the television show, "Family Matters," was accused of beating his girlfriend, Bridget Hardy, who is also the mother of his 10-month old child. She reported the abuse to the LAPD, stating that White punched her in her breast implants while they were on the highway driving in their car.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
This week, a woman in Texas cut off the head of her three week old baby and ate part of his brain. What’s even more shocking about this terrible story is that she won’t get any jail time for it.
Otty Sanchez, a 34-year old, was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the death of her child, Scott Wesley Buchholz-Sanchez. Prosecutors accepted the plea deal after learning that the woman thought that the devil made her kill her child.
The baby was found in a bedroom with three of his toes chewed off, his head severed and his brain ripped out. Police are saying that the child’s mother ate the boy’s toes and a piece of the brain before stabbing herself in the chest and throat. In the 911 call made by her sister, Sanchez can be heard in the background screaming, “I didn't wanna do it! He told me to!"
Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University
10:43 AM on 06/28/2010
OPINION - Through the years, the BET Awards have become a staple of unhealthy and counter-productive broken black family fun...
9:00 AMJun 26
Source: theBVX.com
Jay-Z might be trying to age gracefully in hip-hop, but he's still clumsy when it comes to answering questions. This round up of his biggest interview fails include flubs on Oprah and Letterman, as well as a cliche explanation of why it's cool to use ... Read More
8:13 AMJun 26
Source: BV Black Spin
One of the primary slogans being used by the White House to express President Barack Obama's most recent fatherhood initiative is the term "no excuses." I agree Mr. President, there should be no excuses. Rather than seeing fatherhood to be the ... Read More
8:08 AMJun 26
Source: BV on Money
Singer Mariah Carey is reportedly being sued for $30,000 in vet bills. The singer, like quite a few celebrities, tends to spend heavy on her pets, which led to a massive $38,000 bill, with Carey paying only $8,000. I can't imagine Carey not having ... Read More
11:11 PMJun 25
Source: Blackvoices Main
A bevy of music stars are on tap to perform a tribute to Prince during Sunday night's BET Awards. One singer who will not be there serenading the well-heeled industry crowd is Mel'isa Morgan – the only powerhouse vocalist to hit the top of the ... Read More
9:09 PMJun 25
Source: BV on Movies
Black Voices caught up to actor Idris Elba for an exclusive interview during the 14th Annual American Black Film Festival, which is taking place in South Beach, Miami this weekend. The British thespian has morphed into one of Black Hollywood's most ... Read More
7:00 PMJun 25
Source: BV Black Spin
All Deborah and Kenneth Boyd were looking for was an undeveloped lot to build a vacation home on. Instead, the couple finds themselves at the center of an ugly racial attack that has shocked the small community of Lebanon in central Tennessee. Just ... Read More
5:35 PMJun 25
Source: BV on Style
Alicia Keys and her growing baby bump performed today on Good Morning America. Alicia showed off her tummy and legs in this casual khaki romper accented with a brown belt. She decided to accessorize with a pair of over-sized bangles and hoop ... Read More
4:30 PMJun 25
Source: theBVX.com
Four years ago, this would've sounded far-fetched but now we're not afraid to say it -- the mens American soccer team has a real shot at winning the 2010 World Cup. Don't just take our word for it, check our five reasons why the US might hoist the ... Read More
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices
Radaronline is reporting that Tiger Woods' divorce is about to be signed and finalized. The most shocking part of the report is that there are claims that Woods' wife is set to get $750 million out of the settlement. There is no clear indication of who might get the kids out of the divorce or whether there is a confidentiality agreement, but the possibility that Elin Nordegren may walk away with $750 million is incredibly shocking.
"When they first started negotiating the divorce, it was very acrimonious," the source told RadarOnline.com. "Elin had a lawyer in California who was very, very aggressive."
Here are some quick thoughts about the Tiger Woods divorce:
1) Do prenuptial agreements not work anymore? Didn't Tiger's wife sign a prenup, and would it have been a crime for Elin to walk away with a clean $40 million for five years of "hard work?"
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
I never bought into the hype that Rick Ross was a fraud. Everyone seemed to feel that because he was found to have been a corrections officer in a previous life, that he somehow violated the oath which says that rappers have to be criminals in order to sell records. I don't know how true or false the rumors happen to be, but the fact is that I never cared.
However, when I found out that there is reason to believe that the rapper Rick Ross took his name from the notorious drug dealer "Freeway" Ricky Ross, I thought to myself, "This is just stupid. Why can't the brother just be himself?"
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices
I took a poll of some of my industry homies last week to get a sense of how"Thank Me Later," the debut album for Drake, was going to sell. It turns out that out of those bold enough to make a prediction, my friends Michael Bivins (formerly of Belle, Biv, Devoe and New Edition) and Vigalantee (a rapper in Kansas City, MO), were closest. Vigalantee predicted 450,000 units and Mike Biv predicted 400,000. No matter how you slice it, Drake is now officially the shizzle.
It's not as if anyone is surprised by Drake's stellar debut. He and the rest of the Young Money clique did an outstanding job creating buzz for the album and Drake proved that even in the age of massive Internet pirating, he can still make his money.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices
The rapper Fat Joe was detained by police Sunday night after he and his entourage were accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Madison, Wisconsin. According to TMZ, the woman is 33-years old and claims the assault occurred in a Cadillac Limousine after a concert at the Orpheum Theater.
Fat Joe (a.k.a.Joseph Antonio Cartagena) and his entourage were held for questioning, but he was released and not arrested. The details of the case are still being sorted out in the investigation. Relative to most artists, Fat Joe doesn't get into very much trouble. The 39-year old married father of two has not, to my knowledge been accused of any sexual assault, so I'd be surprised if he waited this long to get started. He has been arrested in some of the typical rapper non-sense in the past: In 1998, he and the deceased rapper Big Pun were arrested for assaulting a man with a baseball bat and stealing his gold chain. I'm not even going to try to explain that one.
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By AllHipHop
7:55 AM on 06/19/2010
OPINION - Hip-hop is more than a "Hot 16," "fresh new gear" or "swagger devoid of substance." At the end of the day hip-hop like politics is also about empowerment....
By AllHipHop
10:37 AM on 06/18/2010
OPINION - Hip-hop and Islam intersected early on in rap's history when the young poets began to embrace the teachings of Malcolm X...
9:13 AM on 06/18/2010
OPINION - For almost 20 years hip-hop was used to drive white voters to conservative political candidates, to conservative political positions...
By theGrio
5:24 PM on 06/17/2010
NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Jackson had dozens of hits, but his most popular one wasn't a solo smash or a tune with his brothers. It was a song with another icon...
By theGrio
5:08 PM on 06/17/2010
UPPER MARLBORO, MD. (AP) - Shider was known to millions of fans as "Starchild" or "Diaperman," the latter because of the loincloth he often wore onstage...
1:06 PM on 06/17/2010
VIDEO - When hip-hop artists speak out about politics does that matter to you? Does hip-hop influence what you do at the polls? ...
By AllHipHop
11:42 AM on 06/17/2010
OPINION - If we don't find a way to show that we are marketable and that people from urban situations can earn money, then this dream will be over...
This poll was taken in response to the article Does the black church keep women single and lonely? - The majority of black women believe that they should open their dating horizons in general and that in spite of what Deborah Cooper has to say, the church can be a good place to find a Godly man. What do you think?
Black women need to open their dating horizons in general
50%
266
No -- It's a woman's right to seek a Godly man
22%
118
Yes -- It's a bad place to meet men
10%
51
No Comment / Not Sure
9%
49
Either way, I find her views judgemental
9%
47
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
I have a great deal of respect for Lady Drama, aka Ebony Garris. Lady Drama, in case you don't know, was the person who ran Bossip.com for quite a while. She's the celebrity gossip queen of the Internet and probably the next Wendy Williams.
Not only does Lady Drama have the scoop on what the celebs are up to, she also has the scoop on making it in the entertainment business. The entertainment business may seem to be a place of glamour and excitement. But it can also be a place of bad contracts, bankruptcy and shady business managers. The interview with Ebony is below, and I consider her story to be a cautionary tale for anyone looking to make it in show business in the crazy city of New York.
Today I had the opportunity to speak with four interesting and empowered black women: Michaela Angela Davis(founding Editor of Vibe Magazine), Christina Mendez (well-known plus size model), Dr. Catrice Austin (owner of VIP Smiles, Celebrity dentist), and Alisha Crutchfield(celebrity stylist and Fashion Director for the Miss Universe pageant).
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
I met spoken-word hip hop artist Shanelle Walker when I went to give a speech atKentucky State University. Shanelle sent me a video of a rhyme she recited in honor of President Barack Obama. I was instantly floored by the performance, since I found her to be an incredibly powerful artist.
But Shanelle's performance led me to consider broader concerns, such as why there are so few women in the hip-hop industry. I remain confused that women are not given a chance to shine in a field dominated by men. While hip-hop has historically been the channel designed to give a voice to urban America, women have been effectively left out. While I've certainly spoken my piece on how hip hop needs to change, here are some reasons I believe women are missing:
1) The hypermasculinity of hip-hop: By becoming so masculine and sexualized, the music doesn't give women opportunities that don't involve a G-string. I look forward to the day when the culture is not driven by who gets shot the most and who does the best job of proving that he's a goon. That might actually lead to better music, since right now, many hip-hop artists come off like World Wrestling Entertainment characters. It's O.K. for an artist to also be a human-being.
by Dr Boyce Watkins
Some of us turned our heads to the side when it was reported that the rapper and businessman Diddy gave his son Justin a $360,000 Maybach automobile for his 16th birthday. People asked me what I thought about this, since I've written a great deal on how to teach your kids about money, and I used a three letter acronym: TAH - "Tacky As Hayell."
I respect Diddy and I apologize for having to lean in on him for this one, but as S Tia Brown and I discuss in our latest episode of Financial Lovemaking, you can find ways to show your children love without spoiling them for the rest of the world. By giving his son such an extraordinary gift at such an early age, Diddy may have minimized his son's ability to conceptualize the value of working hard for his success or empathizing with those who are less fortunate. In other words, receiving such overdoses of dopamine at the age of 16 is a sure-fire recipe for depression later in life.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices
Many of you may already know about the "interesting" comments made by the rapperSlim Thug, and his frustration about the lack of loyalty among black women. His comments were met with resistance by myself and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill from Columbia University, who gave him the stable advice to keep his mouth shut. I say that "Slim Thugga" needs to be quiet, not because he's wrong, but because this is a battle he can't win and still sell records. Getting every black woman in America to hate you is simply not good for business. Even Talib Kweli, a fellow hip hop artist, had something to say about Slim Thug's remarks.
On his twitter page, Slim Thug went out of his way to try to protect his image in the face of all the backlash:
AOL Black Voices
NFL star Reggie Wayne is finding out the hard way that giving your credit card number out to anyone may not be such a good idea. Wayne, who is married, is suing his ummm, girlfriend Natasha McKenzie. In the affidavit, Wayne is alleging that McKenzie did it big on Wayne's credit card without asking his permission.
As the story goes, McKenzie, who is 26 years old, just needed Wayne's credit card for a "few little things," like paying her cell phone bill and buying a plane ticket. She was allegedly going to buy the ticket to come and visit Wayne to spend "quality time" with him. To Reggie's surprise, Natasha and her friends "got a little jiggy" with the credit card and charged up $95,000 worth of "necessities." Actually, there were 333 necessities on her list, which is the number of charges she allegedly made to the account.
Reggie originally took the charges to police in April. He has had the uncomfortable challenge of keeping this information from his wife. McKenzie claims that Wayne knew about the charges all along, and that she is only being scapegoated because either his wife found out about her or he has moved on to another mistress. Either way, this entire situation is a little bit strange. Wayne is not the only athlete to be taken for big money as the result of an affair. Tiger Woods allegedly paid millions to keep some of his mistresses quiet.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
I am not quite sure what to make of the ruffled YouTube video that is now scouring the web out of Paterson, New Jersey. In the video, the woman filming, who mentions that her mother works in the sheriff's office, is taping a New Jersey police officer holding a black man to the ground. The man clearly has his hands behind his back and appears to be restrained.
As the woman videos the incident from a distance, the officer inexplicably grabs the man, turns him around and puts pepper spray into his eyes. He appears to do it twice.
The rapper Nicki Minaj was sued this week over a pink Lamborghini that she rented for one of her videos. The company, Hollywood Exotic Car Rental, sued her for $12,000, alleging that the car was damaged and that the rental fee was not paid.
The car had been rented for $1,750 a day to shoot her "Massive Attack" music video, directed by Hype Williams.
The suit against Nicki Minaj was filed in LA Superior Court. The company alleges that the car was driven "off road" and that the damage amounted to $11,589.41. They also argue that Minaj didn't pay the three day rental fee on the car, which totaled $5,250.
By Associated Press June 12, 2010 10:15 am
Read more about 5 New Orleans Police Officers Charged In Fatal Post-Katrina Shooting
TAGS: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, Police brutality
By Associated Press June 12, 2010 9:45 am
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TAGS: haitian earthquake, immigration
By Associated Press June 11, 2010 5:04 pm
Read more about Nevada Supreme Court Hears Appeal Of OJ Simpson Robbery Case
TAGS: crime, O.J. Simpson
By Casey Gane-McCalla June 11, 2010 4:43 pm
Read more about OPINION: Audit The Pentagon
TAGS: Afghanistan, Halliburton, Iraq
By NewsOne Staff June 11, 2010 4:07 pm
Read more about Innocent Black Man Freed After 16 Years In Jail
TAGS: black man, Gun Violence, jail, Prison
By Associated Press June 11, 2010 4:05 pm
Read more about 15-Year-Old Brutally Beaten By Indianapolis Police
TAGS: Indianapolis, Police brutality
By Associated Press June 11, 2010 3:26 pm
Read more about World Cup Opens On Joyous, Noisy Note
TAGS: soccer, South Africa, World Cup
By Associated Press June 11, 2010 1:57 pm
Read more about Video Takes Center Stage In Oscar Grant Trial
TAGS: black men, California, Gun Violence, Los Angeles, Oscar Grant,Police brutality
By Samuel Aleshinloye June 11, 2010 1:38 pm
Read more about FOLLOW FRIDAY: This Week’s Top 5 Black Celebrities To Follow On Twitter
TAGS: Barack Obama, Marc Lamont Hill, Oprah Winfrey, P. Diddy, Rev. Run
By Associated Press June 11, 2010 1:26 pm
Read more about Guilty Plea Expected In Post-Election Arson Of Black Church
TAGS: Barack Obama, black churches, election, election 08, Massachusetts,Obama Haters
By Associated Press June 11, 2010 1:07 pm
Read more about 134-Year-Old Louisiana Oyster Company Forced To Close
TAGS: Alabama, black businesses, Gulf oil s
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