The pop singer, according to her Twitter timeline, recently heard the Chicago rapper’s single “Hate Being Sober,” and wasn’t a fan of the song’s message promoting inebriation.

Just heard a new song on the radio called “I hate being sober” I now have serious doubt for the world.

— Katy Perry (@katyperry) May 21, 2013

The controversial “I Don’t Like” rapper wasn’t pleased with Perry’s opinion. He tweeted a NSFW reply back to the singer, telling her she can perform oral sex on him and he would “slap the sh*t out of her.”

Rapper Chief Keef tweets misogynistic lyric on heels of Rick Ross controversy: Is hip-hop hopeless?

The 19-year-old rapper has become a polarizing figure in hip-hop over the past year for multiple reasons.

As prominent figure in the Chicago rap drill scene, Keef unfortunately is known more for his police rap sheet than actual rap records. Wishing harm on a high-profile figure via social media isn’t the wisest decision, however Perry responded back graciously, claiming she was a fan.

I’m a fan of your “Don’t Like” video tbh. I was really just having a general opinion on our generations desire to be constantly intoxicated.

— Katy Perry (@katyperry) May 24, 2013

Keef then replied back, not with another shot at the “I Kissed a Girl” singer, but an apology, which few anticipated.

@katyperry Oh 😕 Im Sorry Too Then 😔

— AlmightySo (@ChiefKeef) May 24, 2013

Did Katy Perry have to apologize for voicing her opinion? Or does Chief Keef need tougher skin?

Let us know what you think in the comments below.

You can check out more of Kyle’s music coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at @HarveyWins.

The 46-year-old, whose real name is Timothy Blair, is best known for a 1990s song “F— Compton” that criticized West Coast rappers.

Numerous media organizations have reported or referred to his death from diabetes complications, many citing hip-hop magazine, The Source. The story has since disappeared from its website and efforts to reach editors there weren’t immediately successful.

One of the swindling victims from Mississippi told prosecutors that restitution payments to her stopped coming in around the same time Blair was reported dead, said Steven Jubera, the county prosecutor handling the case. He has since found no death records or any proof of where or how Blair died, so he sought an arrest warrant Tuesday, alleging the rapper hasn’t paid restitution from the 2011 grand larceny conviction. A judge approved it.

“I have no proof that he’s dead, so I have to presume that he’s alive,” Jubera said.

Blair was sentenced in August 2011 to 14 days in jail and five years on probation for swindling $32,000 from a woman who met him on an online dating site four years earlier. He was ordered to pay about $19,000 in restitution.

Blair is from New York, but had been living in Atlanta. The Fulton County medical examiner’s office there said there was no record of his death.

Those at the front desk of the high rise listed as his last address said they didn’t know of anyone by the name Timothy Blair living there. An email to his daughter wasn’t immediately returned.

Attorney Stan Little, listed in court records as Blair’s attorney in the larceny case, did not immediately respond to a phone message left at his office Thursday.

In a story earlier this month about rappers dying in their 40s from various ailments, The Associated Press reported Blair’s death, but did not say when he died or give a cause. Neither did many other media reports.

The Mississippi woman who accused Blair of scamming her was featured last year on “Dateline NBC,” along with other women he had persuaded to give him money.

Esther Pilgrim, of Southaven, Mississippi, told the program she opened credit cards to get money to invest in Tim Dog albums that Blair said he was producing.

After meeting online, the two spent time together in person at Blair’s home in Atlanta. In the Dateline program, Blair said Pilgrim wrecked the record deal and cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

___

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Jurors found Na Cola Franklin, 32, guilty after deliberating about three hours in Lehigh County Court. She could get life in prison when she is sentenced July 16. Her attorney said an appeal is likely.

Prosecutors say Franklin and 36-year-old Billy Brewster got into the deadly argument on Aug. 11 around 2 a.m. in their Whitehall Township apartment. They were scheduled to be married at 10 a.m. in neighboring Allentown.

At her arraignment that night, Franklin appeared distraught and confused to learn Brewster was dead, telling the judge, “You got to check again!”

Defense attorney John Waldron told jurors during the trial this week that Brewster had come home drunk that night after an impromptu bachelor party. Brewster attacked Franklin and then tried to leave with the couple’s 9-month-old son, Waldron said.

Waldron argued Franklin killed the groom-to-be after grabbing a knife to protect her child. He had pushed for a voluntary manslaughter conviction, which carries a lighter sentence.

But prosecutors, who said the child was not in danger, sought a first-degree murder conviction. First Assistant District Attorney Steven Luksa said Thursday that he hopes the verdict will bring some comfort to Brewster’s family, according to the Express-Times of Easton.

On the day of the planned wedding, neighbor Steve Engel said the pastor who was supposed to marry the couple came looking for them at the apartment building. Distraught people in suits and dresses — presumably ceremony guests — then began showing up throughout the day, Engel said.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Pierre posted to her Facebook page following the results:

The results are in. The administration screwed me big time…. They claimed I only have 56 votes – YOU CAN BELIEVE THEM IF YOU WANT – I know they are corrupted and some members of the current ADMINISTRATION were ready to do anything to have their protege elected to (perhaps) prevent their butt from going to jail in the near future. BUT I NEVER EXPECTED THEM TO GO THIS FAR. To this, I’ ll make a correction – since I voted for myself also – I will say that I AM GIVEN ONLY 55 VOTES FROM ALL THE BALLOTS THAT WERE CAST FOR ME. Well, I am strong & I can take it. REMEMBER THAT I AM NOT ALONE. I AM A TRUE CHRISTIAN WOMAN. NOT ONLY I AM COVERED UNDER THE BLOOD OF JESUS…I AM SWIMMING IN IT. MY JESUS HAS CONTROL OVER MY LIFE & THE TITLE OF MAYOR DOESN’T DEFINE WHO I AM AS A PERSON. NORTH MIAMI CHOSE “LUCIEFER” OVER JESUS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR TRUST & SUPPORT, YOUR FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTION, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY- YOUR PRAYERS ! I HAVE LOST A HARD FOUGHT BATTLE BUT NOT A WAR.

Pierre lost the election to openly gay mayoral candidate Kevin Burns.  Burns will face Lucie Tondreau in the final June 4th election.

In her Facebook post, Pierre went on to congratulate Tondreau and included a passage from the Bible.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals. 

That was the message the first lady delivered to students at an elementary school where the arts are being used to help boost student performance. The school is located in Anacostia, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

Mrs. Obama said failure was not an impediment for her and shouldn’t be for them.

She also encouraged the students to “try new things and not be afraid to fail, because we have all failed.”

“You’re looking at the first … I have failed at things. Things have been really hard for me at times,” Mrs. Obama said at Savoy Elementary School. “But all I had to do was keep going and keep working hard.”

To further illustrate her point, she pointed to Kerry Washington, star of ABC’s “Scandal,” as another example.

Mrs. Obama said the actress, who was sitting in the audience for the visit, is a big star these days because she chose to keep perfecting her craft instead of becoming discouraged by rejection during her career.

“She spent a lot of time practicing and working and trying out for things and having people tell her ‘no,’ ‘no, thank you,’ ‘you’re not good enough, you’re not pretty enough,’” the first lady said. “Could you imagine somebody telling Kerry that she wasn’t pretty enough, she wasn’t tall enough, she was too short? That’s all performing is, is rejection.”

Washington, who is the school’s arts ambassador, later said she wasn’t sure how that came to be.

“It might have something to do with playing Olivia Pope and having a principal Pope,” she joked. Olivia Pope is her character on “Scandal” and Patrick Pope is the school’s principal.

___

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

“Sometimes you have the trends that’s not cool,” Lamar told MTV about the embracing of molly in rap.

From a business standpoint, Rick Ross lost his sponsorship deal from sneaker giant Reebok for his controversial lyric that described a date rape where molly was involved.  Juicy J, Kanye West, and T.I. are all rappers who’ve referenced molly in the past but Lamar believes this wide-spread usage isn’t good for the rap culture.

“You may have certain artists portraying these trends and don’t really have that lifestyle and then it gives off the wrong thing. And it becomes kinda corny after a while. It’s really about keeping hip-hop original and pushing away the corniness in it,” Lamar said.

theGrio opinion: Is mainstream hip-hop a grave threat to our children?

 Trinidad James says no to drugs

Atlanta rapper Trinidad James’ meteoric climb into mainstream hip-hop over the past year can be attributed to his hit single “All Good Everything,” but his lyric ‘Popped A Molly I’m sweating!’ became a popular hashtag via social media. Critics believe James’ success is a byproduct of the drug rap genre being so popular.

During a recent interview with XXL, James is aware that doing recreational drugs are wrong, but believes indulging in any activity without balance can become habit forming.

“Honestly man, life is based on moderation. Anything that you do, you have to do it in moderation. People overdo it and it turns into people OD’ing or dying, but it’s all about how extreme you go with it,” James said about Molly usage being celebrated in popular rap. “Some artists have made some of their most incredible music on drugs, so for me to say that drugs are messing up hip-hop, I’m not going to say that. It’s just that some people really believe so much of what we say, and people honestly don’t understand moderation.”

 What’s next?

Trends within music come and go, but one can make the argument that Hip Hop’s infatuation with molly may have done more harm than good culturally. Kendrick Lamar #hashtag proclamation to move past  the molly craze appeared at end of his video for “B*tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” and believes molly rap now stymies the growth of hip-hop as an art form.

“When everybody consciously now uses this term or this phrase and putting it in lyrics, it waters the culture down,” Lamar explained. “So it’s really just time to move on.”

Do you believe molly rap still has a place in hip-hop? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

You can check out more of Kyle’s music coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at @HarveyWins.

So, everyone is gearing up for the wild trips, fun barbecues or just relaxation for this upcoming three-day holiday. For many, Memorial Day weekend is a time to take a breather, with no thoughts of business, work or boss moves. But for leaders who are constantly on the grind and keeping it moving, this is prime time to hustle.

I recently moderated a super-inspiring panel that focused on creating secondary streams of revenue. Organized by a very enterprising young boss in her own right, Ronesha Byng, this event featured a panel of media, finance and entertainment power women including author and relationship coach Tionna Smalls, a Brooklyn, N.Y native who was able to take her self-published book into boss moves overdrive with a new show on MTV.

A common theme among the diverse panel of women was that, while others are doing what everyone else does, they do the opposite—something fearless and out of the box—especially when it comes to networking. Smalls noted that she would often attend events, where she might be the only person of color in the room, to network with who’s who of the media and TV industries. Another panelist, travelista Johnica Reed, talked about how she’d use her time during happy hour, not solely for alcoholic debauchery, but to connect with people who’d turn out to be key investors in her advancement. She’s been able to travel the world and write about it—all expenses paid.

So, what better time than Memorial Day weekend to put those boss moves into action while everyone is knocking back pina coladas or spending their last at Las Vegas casinos? Here are four things you can do during the holiday—that many people probably won’t be doing—to get a step ahead:

1. Attend at least one quality event: It’s cool to hang out with friends by the beach or pool, but what about being strategic? With so many things going on in major cities during this time, take advantage of the locale you’re in and find time to meet people you don’t already know. Maybe that bartender works celebrity or corporate events. Maybe the neighboring group of women in your cabana also work in an industry you have interest in. Maybe that club owner or promoter has a lucrative network of contacts. You definitely want to be conscious of the timing and environment, but when you’re presented with a key moment, take the time to make your move to build new relationships that could benefit your brand or future side hustle.

Read the rest of this story on BlackEnterprise.com.

The report from the office of Bill de Blasio finds that black and Latino New Yorkers accounted for 84 percent of all stops.

The Public Advocate’s analysis of 2012 data finds:

• The likelihood a stop of an African-American New Yorker yielded a weapon was half that of white New Yorkers stopped. The NYPD uncovered a weapon in one out every 49 stops of white New Yorkers. By contrast, it took the Department 71 stops of Latinos and 93 stops of African-Americans to find a weapon.

• The likelihood a stop of an African-American New Yorker yielded contraband was one-third less than that of white New Yorkers stopped. The NYPD uncovered contraband in one out every 43 stops of white New Yorkers. By contrast, it took the Department 57 stops of Latinos and 61 stops of African Americans to find contraband.

• Despite the overall reduction in stops, the proportion involving black and Latino New Yorkers has remained unchanged. They continue to constitute 84 percent of all stops, despite comprising only 54 percent of the general population. And the innocence rates remain at the same level as 2011 – at nearly 89 percent.

The report doesn’t encourage greater searching of white residents, but demands there be a stop to targeting minorities.

“New York City does not have sufficient protections against racial profiling and bias-based policing,” the report says.  ”Stop-and-frisk numbers demonstrate that an overwhelming proportion of law enforcement activity affects innocent people in communities of color across the City.”

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals. 

Hip-hop artist Yasiin Bey, also known as Mos Def, continues to draw attention to the issues at the core of the trial in a PSA-styled video that was released on May 21^st in conjunction with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Communities United for Police Reform (CPR).

The message of “Don’t Tread On Me”

In the spare video directed by Anthony Marshall, images of the artist recording in the studio are meshed with footage from the 2012 documentary film, The Hunted And Hated: An Inside Look at the NYPD’s Stop and Frisk Policy, as the haunting title track “Don’t Tread On Me” plays.

The PSA is punctuated by statistics that highlight the issue of allegedly racially discriminatory policing at the center of this landmark trial. For instance, according to CCR and CPR reports, up to 533,042 stops occurred in 2012 alone, with black and Latino New Yorkers making up 85 percent of those stopped.

The motivation behind the project

TheGrio spoke with Annette Dickerson, Director of Education and Outreach at CCR, who led the coordination of the PSA, to find out more about the project.

“I think it is a wonderful example of an artist using his influence and his own personal experiences to address an injustice and achieve social change,” Dickerson said of the collaboration with Bey.

Noting the socially conscious raps of artists such as Public Enemy and Grand Master Flash, Dickerson drew connections between hip-hop and the issue of Stop and Frisk.

“There are many urban communities plagued by police harassment,” she said. “It has, since its beginnings, been the unique power of hip-hop and spoken word to address issues of injustice and to incite social change. It’s also why I think a major hip-hop artist like Yasiin Bey is able to relate so deeply to this issue.”

Mos Def’s political past

The CCR brought the class action Stop and Frisk lawsuit on behalf of its four plaintiffs with the help of co-counsel, Covington and Burling and Beldock Levine & Hoffman. This organization believes Stop and Frisk is racially-motivated, and that these stops by the NYPD, targeting thousands of black and Latino New Yorkers, are unconstitutional.

Through “Don’t Tread on Me,” the artist formerly known as Mos Def highlights his alignment with the fight against Stop and Frisk.

Yasiin Bey’s political views have made their way into his music and public appearances on more than one occasion – most notably in his criticisms of the government’s response to Hurricane Katrina when he still called himself Mos Def. Def was famously outspoken on this issue on Bill Maher’s show in 2007, and on the song “Katrina Clap.”

Ultimately, Ms. Dickerson said “Don’t Tread on Me” was a labor of love, and “a commitment to ending an injustice that has such a negative impact on our communities.”

Keeping an eye on Stop and Frisk practices

In addition, the project came together through, “Suemyra Shah, an intellectual property attorney and longstanding admirer of CCR’s work who had contacts in the hip-hop community from her days working as a media professional,” Dickerson continued. “She approached Yasiin and he immediately connected with the issue, and was from the beginning 100 percent committed to the project, penning the title track heard on the PSA in a matter of days.”

The final outcome of the Stop and Frisk trial remains to be seen. A decision from presiding Judge Shira Scheindlin is not expected for several months. During those deliberations, public advocacy campaigns such as the “Don’t Tread on Me” PSA will likely ensure that the legality of NYPD policing practices and their impact on black and brown communities remains a subject of public scrutiny.

Chase Quinn is a freelance writer, art critic, and budding novelist, who has worked with several leading human rights organizations in the U.S. and the U.K., promoting social and economic justice. Follow Chase on Twitter at @chasebquinn.

Elder James H. Brown, one of the prestigious Tuskegee Airmen (the corps of African-American pilots who participated in World War II), and Jane Tedeschi, a former member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) corps, are products of such programs. They challenged the popular stereotypes of the times that promoted the belief that neither black men nor women were fit to be pilots.

While their paths never crossed during the war, Tedeschi had always wanted to meet one of the brave Tuskegee Airmen, some of whom were stationed near the base where she served, and whose exploits she admired.

Tedeschi just recently got to do just that, bonding with Brown for the first time over their unique places in American history. I had the honor and privilege of interviewing them both about their amazing military careers.

A hero and a heroine meet

On May 17, through a partnership between the Brookdale senior living community where Tedeschi resides, and Wish of a Lifetime, an organization that fosters appreciation for seniors by fulfilling life-enriching requests, Jane got her decades-old wish. Sixty-eight years after the end of World War II, Jane, now 93, and Elder, 87, finally had the chance to connect. The result? Mutual appreciation and thanks.

Jane said that the meeting with Elder was “wonderful.” She discovered that the women who were in her ferry command, the group of pilots tasked to deliver planes, had delivered planes specifically to his group in Alabama.

“We had heard so much about the Tuskegee Airmen and I always respected what they did,” Tedeschi told theGrio. ”Although I was stationed not far them, in Salem, Alabama, pretty close to Mobile, I never had reason to land on their field, but I had heard about them from our pilot. I admired them for their flying capabilities and their fierce determination. They intended to fly and they did.” This is a determination she and Brown shared in the face of cultural opposition.

For Elder, their meeting was also an opportunity to reflect. “I always wondered who brought the airplanes to the base of operations. It was a pleasure and an honor to finally meet the people who did the job,” Brown said. “Jane brought up our trainer planes, the AT-60s, to Alabama. Those women didn’t get any credit for what they did.”

Through talking deeply on that day in Colorado, where Elder and Jane both live today, the details of their parallel paths emerged.

The makings of a WASP: Jane’s Story

Tedeschi’s love of airplanes began when she was  about ten years old, after her grandmother took her to see the film Wings (1927). Despite the fact that her decision to learn to fly was not a popular choice for a young lady at that time, her mother, a college graduate and a suffragist, supported her “all the way.” In her early 20′s, Jane earned her pilot’s license.

In 1942, just as the country found itself with a deficit of pilots for the war effort, an experimental program was created to train women to fly military planes so male pilots could be released overseas for combat duty. In 1944, over 1000 women, who were civilian volunteers, graduated from the WASP training program. Jane Tedeschi was one of them.

These women tested planes and learned to fly all types of military aircraft, such as B-29 bombers, and ferried planes to both military bases and departure points all across the country.

“I was in the training command, so I got to do a lot of things,” Jane reminisced  “We were required to do some acrobatics in order to see that the plane we were flying had been repaired. The men just had to fly straight and level, but not us! Here we were, women pilots, who they said couldn’t fly, yet we flew on a field that was still under construction, and all three elements of [our] training took place on the same field. The men never did that; they had a separate field for their training. And, we managed not to run into each other.”

Ignoring naysayers, becoming a female pilot

On the subject of  naysayers, Jane quipped, “I never really worried too much if somebody thought I couldn’t fly, because I knew I could. I was already a pilot in civilian life, but they told me that they would teach me to fly ‘the army way,’ and I think it paid off a little bit.”

While the WASP group expected to become part of the military proper during their service, the program was canceled after just two years. It wasn’t granted military status until the 1970s. Jane last flew in 1945, then decided to dedicate time to her family; but, she is proud of her accomplishments.

“I just wanted to fly and I happened to be at a point in history when the world needed what I had to offer,” Tedeschi said. “And talk to any of us pilots. Almost everyone would have said that we just loved to fly.”

In 2009 the surviving members of the WASP program, about 300 at the time, were granted the Congressional Gold Medal by President Obama.

Flying while black: a Tuskegee Airman’s story

Elder James H. Brown, of Denver, Colorado, found early inspiration in Spanky Roberts, one of the first African-American military pilots and a member of the famous Tuskegee Airmen, who was accepted into the Army Air Corp in 1941.

“Spanky’s mother actually taught me in school, and I saw him when he came home after graduation. Maybe it was the uniform and all of the excitement, but the idea of what he was doing thrilled me,” Brown told theGrio. Before 1940, African-Americans were barred from flying for the U.S. military; thus, those early pilots were true role models.

At nineteen, Brown volunteered for the army. Elder began his training at the Tuskegee Field in Alabama in 1945.

The Tuskegee Airmen, originally referred to as the 332nd Fighter Group, were the first African-American pilots in the U.S. military. There were some 900 men in the program, and about 450 of the airmen flew missions overseas. Brown recounted bitterly that the training program was “a joke,” because the instructors did not want to teach black men. Not to be discouraged, Elder says he was a fast learner. “Explain it to me one time and then turn your back. I’m going do whatever it is you showed me,” he said.

“I cannot explain to you what a joy it was for me to be able to fly,” Brown continued, “because at that time they didn’t think that we could do it. Don’t tell me what I can’t do. I am going to try anyway and when I do, I’m going to do the best job I can. I proved them wrong.”

A Tuskegee airman’s bravado

Elder’s skills, along with those of all the Tuskegee Airmen, did indeed prove them wrong. “The white squadrons were turning down jobs and we were accepting whatever we could,” he explained. “Whenever we could become operational, we looked forward to it. And whenever we’d go up, we’d come back just like we went up. Full squadron, we never lost very many pilots.”

And talk about bravery! Or was it bravado? Whatever the quality, Brown had it in spades.

“And I’d fly into anything. I wasn’t afraid, never was,” he said. “I had four 50-calibers on each wing. I didn’t fear anything. I’d fly right into them. Can you imagine a squadron of over 100 fighter planes coming at you, and we are a little over 20 planes? But I had confidence in the potential of our operational mechanics. If they told me the plane was alright, I’d go. I didn’t argue. When they told us our job, I got on my airplane and went.”

How many planes did he take out of commission?

“I don’t know how many aircrafts I shot down. We weren’t concerned with how many. If I was on the tail of another fighter, and I gave him a burst of 50s and saw smoke coming from his airplane, I’d peel over and look for another one. I knew he wasn’t going very far.”

Setting the Red Tails record straight

Elder feels fortunate to have been able to do what he loved — and do it well. “I was in seventh heaven when I was flying. I felt good each time I was up there because my job was to keep any fighter aircraft off my lead man’s way, and if he had a clear shot at what he was shooting at, he didn’t have any problems. I was a wingman, there to give him my full attention and be careful about who got on his tail, that was it.”

Those were great times. Yet, with all the talk of the Red Tails, especially in light of the recent film, Elder was eager to set something straight about the Tuskegee Airmen history.

“They talk about the Red Tails, but we only had one squadron of Red Tails,” Brown clarified. Many do not realize that the Tuskegee Airmen corps was composed of many different squadrons. ”I was in the 301st Fighter Squadron. Every one of our planes were yellow nosed with yellow stripes our tails. You heard about that sinking of the German Destroyer? That was done by the 301st, which was a yellow nose. Nobody knows it!”

Loving the military, despising discrimination

Brown speaks highly of the camaraderie he was able to experience as a member of the U.S. military.

“You don’t know what it’s like when you run with a bunch of guys that have one directive in life, to back each other and help, and those guys were there,” Elder said.

Still, he does not feel as though our country gave them the credit they deserved. “I got recognition from my commanders, my flight leaders, and my fellow comrades, and that’s all I got. The country gave us nothing.”

Elder made it to the rank of First Lieutenant, and could have gone farther, but grew weary of the doubts of people in command about his abilities. “I was tired of the handshakes and smiles,” Elder said. “They were quick with that, and they thought they had put it over on us, and they had, on a lot of guys. I didn’t care for it, and they never kept their word. That’s why I left.  I still had to ride the back of the bus, I still wasn’t welcome in their restaurants, and my hometown was still divided. It didn’t make sense,” Brown said of the racism he faced at home even after serving his country.

Brown makes another connection

After seven years in the military, Elder put in for early retirement from the armed forces. He eventually obtained a private sector position with the Boeing Company.

“I couldn’t get jobs in my profession after college,” he told theGrio, “but I was thankful for Boeing because they said, ‘You did a job that few people wanted, and an excellent job. Whatever you want to do in our company, you can do it.’” He was offered a position as a technical illustrator with the company, before moving on to the Northrop Grumman Corporation, which specializes in security operations, some of which involved high-tech airplanes.

Does he ever miss flying? Brown laughed. “Nah! Been there, done that!”

But Elder was moved by another recent encounter. “At the meeting with Jane there was a guy who had been a belly gunner. He told me that whenever he saw us, he knew he was going to get home. He said, ‘Because of you guys, I am here to witness this day.’ After all these years… to meet someone from a bomber crew who said that — can you image?”

A love of flying unites unlikely comrades

Jane Tedeschi and Elder James H. Brown are two very special people united by many things, including fierce determination and a love of flying.  Going into their interviews, I assumed that as minorities in the military, they must have felt like kindred spirits because of that reason alone, but I was wrong. Their respect and mutual admiration was more based on the skills they each shared and the similarity of the services they provided during a time of great national need.  They were there for each other — without even knowing each other — and there for our country.

Their history, and the deepening of our national history their new friendship provides, are both things we can all be thankful for this Memorial Day weekend.

Suzanne Rust is a writer, lifestyle expert, on-air talent, and a native New Yorker. Follow her on Twitter at @SuzanneRust.

The children were murdered when a bomb planted by white supremacists exploded at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, in September 1963.

The deadly blast at the church, which civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. used as a meeting place, was pivotal turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and sparked support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Not only did the explosion kill the four girls- — Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Denise McNair – another 22 people were injured.

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award given in the United States. It is awarded to people “who have performed an achievement that has an impact on American history and culture that is likely to be recognized as a major achievement in the recipient’s field long after the achievement.”

Each award is specifically designed by the United States mint and individual to the person honored.

The signing ceremony is scheduled to take place Friday afternoon, with members of the Alabama congressional delegation and some family of the four girls killed expected to attend at the White House.

Alabama Reps. Terri Sewell and Spencer Bachus sponsored the bill, which received final approval May 9.

“This bill signing recognizes the legacy of four beautiful little girls whose lives, while far too short, led to permanent change in our society and became an honored part of the civil rights movement,” said Rep. Bachus in a statement.

Although Congress has shown broad support for awarding the medal, the idea has split relatives of the four victims. Some are supportive, but relatives of Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley have both said they do not want the congressional honor but financial compensation.

Recent recipients include those who died in the September 11 terror attacks and Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish humanitarian who helped thousands of Jews to flee Nazi-occupied Hungary during the Holocaust.

Others who have received the medal include Jackie Robinson, former President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, and Pope John Paul II.

September will mark the 50th anniversary of the church bombing. Three Ku Klux Klan members were convicted years after the attack. Two are dead, with one is still serving his sentence in prison.

Follow Kunbi Tinuoye on Twitter at @Kunbiti

The first lady commented as American Express announced its donation of $1 million to the White House Historical Association to preserve Decatur House and pay for education programs for children. The nearly 200-year-old house is owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and operated by the association.

Most of the money will be spent to preserve the building’s former slave quarters, where about 20 men and women “spent their days serving those who came and went from this house” and their nights “jammed together on the second floor of the slave quarters, all the while holding onto a quiet hope, a quiet prayer that they, too, and perhaps their children, would someday be free,” Mrs. Obama said.

The red-brick, three-story townhouse built in 1818 has been home to many, including several secretaries of state.

Mrs. Obama, briefly invoking her ancestry as a descendant of a South Carolina slave, said even more history came from the back of Decatur House, where the slave quarters were located, “the kind of stories that too often get lost, the kinds of stories that are a part of so many of our families’ histories, including my own.”

“These stories of toil, and sweat, and quiet, unrelenting dignity — these stories are as vital to our national memory as any other,” she said. “And so it is our responsibility as a nation to ensure that these stories are told.”

The slave quarters is one of the few such dwellings in an urban setting, and the only physical proof that slaves were held near the White House. Decatur House is located one block north of the White House, on Lafayette Square.

Afterward, Mrs. Obama toured several rooms, including one that researchers concluded had been a kitchen because of the dark splotches on a brick wall they believe were made by an oven, as well as splatters of animal fat on the wall that were made during cooking.

She also visited with a group of sixth-graders from a Fairfax, Va., elementary school that was participating in an educational program based on the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, including a 12-year-old dressed up as Abraham Lincoln. They weren’t told about their special visitor and the jaws of several students dropped each time the first lady entered the different rooms they were in.

Decatur House was built for Navy Commodore Stephen Decatur. It was bequeathed to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1956. The National Center for White House History was established there in 2010.

Decatur House also is a National Trust for Historic Preservation site.

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Multiple sources confirm exclusively to E! News that the Oscar-winning singer has signed a deal to sit at the judges’ table this fall for season 13. The other two spots are also intended for former Idol contestants: Kelly Clarkson and either Adam Lambert or Clay Aiken.

We’re told that Clarkson is also close to signing on. No word yet on whether Lambert or Aiken will fill the final spot, but producers are expected to keep the panel to three members.

Click here to read more.

The object of the game, “Charles Ramsey Burger Bash,” is to throw hamburgers at a character representing Ariel Castro.

Ramsey played a key role in freeing three kidnapped women.

He lived across the street from the house where Castro kept the women against their wills. The hero helped free one of the women, Amanda Berry, from the house after hearing her scream for help.

The women were all kidnapped in separate cases over 10 years ago.

The hero has been in the spotlight since helping in the rescue, and the video game, powered by nxTomo, A Next Mobile Production with Next Media Animation, is the latest in Ramsey news.

In the past few weeks, one man got Ramsey’s face tattooed on his leg and several restaurants have offered him free burgers for life.

WKYC reports there is some controversy over the new video game, saying some find it insensitive.

Click here to watch the full WKYC report.

“I wasn’t actually sleeping,” the Oscar winner said in a statement obtained by E! News Thursday after millions of people viewed his televised nap online. “I’m a beta tester for Google Eyelids. I was merely updating my Facebook page.”

Funny, sonorous and tech-savvy? Swoon!

Click here to read more.

He’s the rare black host with national TV and radio platforms, one who sees his job as challenging Americans to examine their assumptions on such thorny issues as poverty, education, and racial and gender equality.

In other words, he doesn’t squander his opportunities on PBS’ daily talk show “Tavis Smiley,” which marks its 10th year this month, or on public radio’s “The Tavis Smiley Show” and “Smiley & West,” the latter a forum for commentary he shares with scholar and activist Cornel West.

His quarterly “Tavis Smiley Reports” specials for PBS, in-depth looks at topics such as the relationship between the juvenile justice system and the teenage dropout rate, fit the same bold pattern.

Smiley, marking two decades in broadcasting this year, considers himself engaged in a calling as much as a career: “This is the kind of work I think needs to be done. I’m trying to entertain and empower people.”

PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger was a public TV executive overseeing New York station WNET when she became interested in launching a Smiley talk show as a companion to “Charlie Rose.” The programs air back-to-back on a number of PBS stations.

“The two of them have very different styles. Tavis has done a great job of bringing a wide range of people on to public broadcasting,” Kerger said. “He’s constantly looking at the next big idea” to bring to the national dialogue.

Smiley, 48, also doesn’t shrink from the repercussions that occur when his opinions, delivered on radio and in interviews in his distinctively punchy cadence, strike a nerve. He has drawn the ire of conservatives and, because of his insistent criticism of President Barack Obama’s policies, that of some liberals and African-Americans.

Smiley contends that members of the Obama administration, whom he didn’t identify, have pressured sponsors to drop their support of his projects, including his anti-poverty initiatives. The White House had no comment, said a spokesman, Kevin Lewis.

While Smiley said he understands the desire of blacks to stand protectively by the first African-American president, he’s adamant about his right to take Obama to task on rising black unemployment, the use of military drones and other issues.

“This administration does not like to be criticized. And the irony of it is, there’s nothing I have tried to hold the president accountable on that my white progressive colleagues have not,” Smiley said. “They’re labeled courageous critics, but if I say it, I’m an ‘Obama critic.’ There’s race at play in the very question.”

He’s unlikely to find boosters on the right. National Review senior editor Jay Nordlinger in 2002 dismissed him as “the black leftist radio personality,” and then-Fox News Channel commentator Glenn Beck spurred anti-Smiley letter-writing campaigns to PBS, Smiley said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the PBS show’s underwriter since the start, has “consistently stood by our side,” said a Smiley spokeswoman. But others have dropped out or donated money to his projects on the condition of privacy because they’ve heard from a displeased White House, according to Smiley.

“I don’t have an anti-Barack agenda,” he said, “but this is what I do: My job is to raise questions of accountability.”

He interviewed Obama more than a half-dozen times before he was elected but not once since, Smiley said, although Vice President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others in the administration have appeared on the PBS show.

The public reaction is more generous, Smiley said: While he’s questioned on the street by people about his views on Obama, they give him the courtesy of a hearing — and continue to pay heed in other ways.

“Since Obama has been president, I’ve had not one, but two, New York Times best-selling books, been on the cover of Time and made its 100 list,” the magazine’s tally of the world’s most influential people, in 2009, Smiley said.

The books are “The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto,” written with West, and an inspirational text by Iyanla Vanzant that was published by Smiley’s book imprint.

“Whether black or white America, people have their opinions … but ultimately it hasn’t stopped my work or momentum,” Smiley said.

He’s a popular keynote speaker for a wide range of events, including the upcoming unveiling of a monument to slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers (although one Peoria, Ill., event replaced him as speaker last year, reportedly related to his Obama stance).

The Indiana University graduate has received honorary degrees from universities including Tuskegee and Fisk, and he created an exhibition, “America I Am: The African American Imprint,” that wrapped this year after a national tour.

His Tavis Smiley Foundation provides leadership training for youngsters.

“He’s got a lot of energy, that man,” PBS’ Kerger said.

He also has a knack for controversy. In 2004, He left his first public radio show, on NPR, in a squabble over matters including its marketing budget.

He was fired from the “BET Tonight” talk show in 2001 after he offered an exclusive newsworthy interview to ABC instead of BET. There was speculation that new BET owner Viacom Inc. forced the decision, although BET founder Robert L. Johnson said it was his.

A commercial network talk-show job failed to materialize, but Smiley said he ultimately gained the advantage of producing and owning his PBS show. That’s also a challenge because he is responsible for its funding.

The recession prompted some of his sponsors to drop out, including an auto insurance company, said Smiley. He’s relatively candid about the financial issues he’s faced but, understandably, would rather focus on his broadcasting track record.

As Smiley said in 2003 when he launched the PBS show, “Most of the issues that matter to white Americans matter to black Americans.”

Smiley’s program aimed for diversity from the start, with his first week’s guest list including Bill Cosby, Wesley Clark, Newt Gingrich and Magic Johnson. His 10-year list also boasts, among others, former President Jimmy Carter, Coretta Scott King, Yo-Yo Ma, Toni Morrison and Prince.

Smiley welcomes celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie and Kanye West, but they have to be ready to talk about more than their latest projects.

When Harrison Ford was making the rounds to promote the new Jackie Robinson biopic, Smiley says his audience got something unique “because I’m the only black guy Harrison Ford is talking to.”

It’s a valid point in a genre dominated solely by white interviewers, including “Tonight” show host Jay Leno and his designated successor, Jimmy Fallon, and Fallon’s “Late Night” replacement, Seth Meyers.

“Things that matter to me about Robinson, what he had to endure. … My questions are going to be different than Jimmy Kimmel’s,” Smiley said. In his interview with Ford, he questioned the actor about whether Hollywood has a role in adding to American divisiveness.

Smiley speaks to an overwhelmingly white audience on his Public Radio International shows and on TV, and said he appreciates the opportunity to introduce them to a different perspective. Kerger said she looks forward to his “next 10 years” on public broadcasting.

So does Smiley, come what may.

“You’re going to be challenged when you address inconvenient truths. Sometimes you’re challenged with merit, sometimes without merit. I try to be authentic and be a truth-teller. I have no monopoly on the truth but can try to raise questions that get at the truth.”

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

European Tour CEO George O’Grady said that “most of Sergio’s friends are colored athletes in the United States.”

The word “colored” is considered an antiquated and offensive term in some countries when referring to black people.

“I deeply regret using an inappropriate word in a live interview for Sky Sports for which I unreservedly apologize,” O’Grady said in a statement released later Thursday.

Woods and Garcia have exchanged barbs over the past two weeks, dating to the third round of The Players Championship when Garcia implied that Woods purposely stirred up the gallery as the Spaniard was playing a shot.

The tension escalated Tuesday when Garcia and his Ryder Cup teammates were at a dinner. The emcee, Golf Channel’s Steve Sands, jokingly asked Garcia if he would have Woods over for dinner during the U.S. Open.

“We’ll have him round every night,” Garcia replied. “We will serve fried chicken.”

The remark was reminiscent of Fuzzy Zoeller’s similar comment about Woods during his record-setting victory in the 1997 Masters, where Woods became the first player of black heritage to win a major.

Garcia issued a statement through the European Tour after the dinner that did not mention Woods by name. He apologized “for any offense that may have been caused” by answering the question with a “silly remark.”

“But in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner,” the statement said.

Woods responded Wednesday morning with a series of tweets that said: “The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate. I’m confident that there is real regret the remark was made. The Players ended nearly two weeks ago and it’s long past time to move on and talk about golf.”

Certain foods, fried chicken and watermelon in particular, have been used in dehumanizing caricatures of blacks from as early as the beginning America’s segregation era in the 19th century. The imagery has become less common in the decades since integration.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

The crush of reporters who swarmed around Weiner focused, almost without exception, on the juicy story of how Weiner resigned from Congress in disgrace two years ago, shortly after a conservative website exposed his odd habit of sending raunchy messages and photos to women he’d met online.

It’s an undeniably fascinating storyline, and it’s unclear whether New Yorkers are ready to forgive Weiner and accept him as a candidate for mayor. A recent poll suggests half of city voters don’t think he should even bother to run, but the 8.3 million denizens of the Big Apple are famously tolerant of strange behavior and oddball characters; the sheer density of the place demands a live-and-let-live attitude.

Money is only part of the battle

In a Democratic primary that will likely draw only 700,000 voters, my guess is that Weiner will get a fair hearing  and mount a plausible effort.  His campaign has more than $4 million in funds left over from the days before he quit Congress, and could receive more than $1 million in matching funds.

But money is only part of the battle.  Weiner is running in city that is now mostly non-white. Bruce Gyory, a top political consultant, estimates that black, Latino and Asian New Yorkers will cast more than 58 percent of the Democratic primary vote in September, meaning any white candidate who hopes to win must make inroads in those communities.

That won’t be easy.  Weiner is battling candidates for mayor that include Taiwan-born John Liu, the city comptroller and Bill Thompson, the black former comptroller who nearly beat incumbent mayor Mike Bloomberg four years ago, winning 80 percent of the black vote and 65 percent of Latinos.

Liu and Thompson remain solidly anchored in those communities, and another contender, Bill de Blasio, is white but married to a dynamic, high-profile African-American woman.

Bottom line: it will take more than a visit to Harlem for Weiner to pull a significant portion of the black vote.

“The Jesse Jackson incident”

And then there’s Weiner’s “Jesse Jackson” incident from long ago, little-known to most journalists but still a source of grumbling among older political operatives.

Back in 1991, during Weiner’s first bid for political office – a successful effort that made him the youngest member of the New York City Council – his victory was marred by a controversial, anonymously distributed and racially-tinged political ad.

The time was just weeks after an explosive race riot in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn had led to fierce criticism of David Dinkins, the city’s first black mayor.  Weiner, a 27-year-old political aide, was locked in a tough race against two better-known rivals, one of whom, Adele Cohen, was backed by a coalition of liberals and unions.

Weiner distributed 10,000 flyers warning voters not to support Cohen, who was tagged as part of a “David Dinkins/Jesse Jackson Coalition.”

It was an unfair smear, appealing to the worst fears of a mostly-Jewish district, and the flyers went out so close to election day that Cohen had no chance to respond. (And, for what it’s worth, she had never met Jesse Jackson and was not a close ally of Dinkins.)

Weiner won in a squeaker, finishing 195 votes ahead of Cohen.  He immediately apologized for the dirty trick, sending a note to Cohen that said, in part: “I made a mistake that cannot be undone. I’ll have to live with it. I’m sorry you do as well. I hope that in time I will have the opportunity to redeem myself to you and to the many others who are rightly angry with me.”

That wasn’t good enough for the New York Times, which blasted the young councilman in an editorial, titled “Smears and Fears,” for “hit and run tactics” and “coarse appeal to racial fears in his mostly white district.”

Trying to make up for a mistake

More than 20 years later, Weiner remains sorry. “I sent a mailer in an election 22 years ago that I should not have. I apologized at the time and have worked very hard my entire life to fight for issues that bring people together,” he told the New York Post.

Weiner went on to rise from the City Council to Congress. Cohen has never forgiven him. “I don’t think a person of his character should be mayor,” she told the Post.

In 2005, Weiner – perhaps mindful of the 1991 furor – dropped out of a contentious race for mayor rather than press for a recount and possible runoff against Fernando Ferrer, a more senior Puerto Rican Democrat who went on to lose to Mike Bloomberg.

Weiner’s dropping out was seen as an act of political statesmanship that would create goodwill among Latino power brokers if and when he made another run.  He will no doubt try to call in that favor this fall.

In 2006, Weiner deftly executed a similar maneuver, endorsing a Jamaican-American candidate, Yvette Clarke, over a Jewish rival in a tough congressional race. That didn’t erase the 1991 debacle, but it won Weiner some black allies. He built on the effort by hiring a talented black political consultant, Camille Joseph, as a senior campaign aide.

Weiner re-emerges from his two years in the political wilderness with some signs of rust. Local media noted that his campaign website features a skyline of Pittsburgh, not New York, and one of his staunchest backers from 2005, the firefighters union, says they won’t even consider backing him again.

And most important, in a city where all politics is tribal, Weiner must try to deepen his ties to a skeptical black electorate.

Grilling is one of the simplest and healthiest ways to prepare a meal. In a matter of minutes you can grill up a culinary delight. Most men think ribs are synonymous with the grill, but pork tenderloin is one of the grill’s best-kept secrets. When feeding hungry guest you’ll be happy to know pork tenderloin requires less cooking time than ribs.  Pork tenderloin is the leanest cut of pork with only 2.98 grams of fat per 3-ounce serving, making it as lean as skinless chicken breast — and why it’s dubbed the other white meat.

Grilling also maintains the natural tenderness and flavor of meats without sacrificing essential nutrients. And today’s propane and charcoal grills include vents that can be adjusted to allow air and moisture to circulate which help control the smoky flavor.

Reduce Sodium and Boost Flavor

Sodium-free spices are a great way to enhance flavor on the grill without bringing additional fat and calories to the table.

• Ground black pepper and prepared spices blends like Mrs. Dash are great alternatives to salt. A variety of spice blends work well with pork’s mild flavor.
• Spices with bold flavors like cumin, coriander and cayenne work great with pork. Rubs can be applied just before grilling or the night before cooking.
• Rosemary and cinnamon are great flavor enhancers and increase flavor intensity especially in pork.

Marinades are another great way to enhance flavor and show off your creativity – you know a pinch of this and a dash of that.

• Skip heavy, sugar-based marinades – most are loaded with extra calories and can increase the chance for charring.
• Vinegar mixtures, like Italian dressing, can reduce the risk of carcinogen formation on any grilled meat.
• Citrus juice, herbs, spices, and olive oil make great ingredients for marinades.
• Pair pork with fresh fruits and vegetables to brighten and lighten up summertime meals. Beta carotene, an essential antioxidant, can be found in sweet potatoes, carrots and many leafy greens such as cabbage, kale and spinach. If you are looking to kick up the fiber intake a notch, add sliced apples, strawberries or prunes to your grilling skewer or pork tenderloin salad.

Check for Doneness

Contrary to popular belief the finger test is not the best way to check meat for doneness.

“You can’t rely on color, smell, taste or texture alone to determine if meat is thoroughly cooked,” says Heather Mangieri, Spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Mangieri recommends using a food thermometer to ensure meat, poultry and egg dishes are thoroughly cooked. “Food poisoning sickens 48 million Americans each year, so food safety should be on your radar as you grill out this summer,” she says. “This is especially true for people who are at high-risk for food poisoning, including young children, older adults, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems and certain chronic illnesses.”

Mangieri offers tips for using a food thermometer:

• Insert the food thermometer into the thickest part of the food, making sure it doesn’t touch bone, fat or gristle.
• Cook until the thermometer shows an internal temperature of 160° F for ground beef, pork, veal and egg dishes; 145° F for beef, pork, veal and lamb steaks, chops and roasts; and 165° F for all poultry.
• Some foods need three minutes of rest time after cooking to make sure harmful germs are destroyed, including fresh beef, veal, lamb, pork and raw ham.
• Clean your food thermometer with hot, soapy water before and after each use.

Think about it – using a food thermometer will not only keep your food safe, it also prevents you from overcooking your food.

Bon Appétit!

Constance Brown-Riggs, MSEd, RD is an award winning registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, and national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She is the author of The African American Guide To Living Well With Diabetes and Eating Soulfully and Healthfully with Diabetes. Follow Brown-Riggs on twitter @eatingsoulfully. 

The Hangover Part III, in theaters this weekend, is the epic conclusion to an adventure of mayhem and disaster that has captured the attention of film lovers for the past four years.

The final installment of The Hangover brings friends Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis together again to kidnap Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) and fend off a murderous gangster played by John Goodman.

The Hangover Part III also features Mike Epps reprising his role as the drug dealer Black Doug seen in the first movie.

“I’m glad that they brought me back,” Epps said during a recent interview.  “I’m playing a black guy again in the movie.”

During an interview with theGrio, the cast of The Hangover Part III talked about the influence of hip-hop music on the film franchise and also the movies’ ability to resonate well with diverse audiences.

“The series have really utilized some really great hip-hop, like Kanye [West], they’ve used a couple Kanye songs,” Jeong said. “I think they’ve actually done an amazing job with the soundtrack. It’s really iconic when you’re playing Kanye in the first movie and you’re going into Vegas. I love that sequence.”

When asked why The Hangover films seem to have crossover appeal, Cooper said that moviegoers, regardless of their ethnicity, want to be a part of the Wolfpack.

“There’s a feeling that you want to hang out with these guys,” Cooper said. “There’s a feeling of wanting to be a part of the Wolfpack, which is kind of a magical thing that was created. Also there’s this universality of physical comedy. There’s a lot of physical comedy as opposed to just verbal comedy.”

Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC

Court documents show the Internal Revenue Service filed a notice of a lien on the nine-time Grammy Award winner Feb. 7. That was two days before the Queen of Hip-Hop Soul was honored at a pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles.

Blige and husband Martin Isaacs have a home in Cresskill, New Jersey, north of New York City.

Court documents show as of the date of the IRS notice Blige owed more than $574,000 for the 2009 tax year, more than $2.2 million for 2010 and more than $647,000 for 2011.

A Blige representative said Thursday she’s working “with her new team to resolve all these issues as quickly as possible.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

A Charlotte, N.C. woman reportedly had her teen son arrested for stealing her Pop-Tarts.

Earlier this week, the mother called investigators to report her Pop-Tarts stolen and told officials her son was the thief.

The police report said her son was  placed under juvenile arrest and was charged with larceny/misdemeanor, according to WCNC.

Fred Patrick, a neighbor of the family, told WCNC that the son “seems real nice to me. I mean, he is real respectful.”

Fellow neighbor, Tiffany Covington, said kids will be kids.

“If would be nice if they asked, but they don’t,” Covington said.  ”They are kids.”

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals. 

The two actors were promoting their new film, “Now You See Me,” a thriller about bank robbers who use magic, in an interview with anchors Kaci Aitchison and Bill Wixey.

When addressed directly, Freeman, 75, gamely discussed the film and even gave Wixey advice on being a narrator for the anchor’s young daughter, who has such a role in her school play. (The key? “Being a good reader,” said Freeman. “Not much more than that.”)

But when Caine was explaining about the magic tricks in the film, Freeman closed his eyes for a notable amount of time and his head bobbed low on his chest as if he’d briefly fallen asleep. (Watch the video here.)

For a while, the station cut away to scenes from the film, and when they cut back, Freeman’s head was resting on his chest and he did appear to be napping. He quickly shook his head and was back in the game

Click here to read more.

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner has officially announced his campaign for mayor of New York, joining an experienced field of contenders in the 2013 race.

In addition to well-known names in politics, such as City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Public Advocate for the City of New York Bill DeBlasio, Jimmy “The Rent is Too Damn High” McMillan has also tossed his hat into the ring.

While he may not have the credentials of other candidates, McMillan does have pointed words for former Congressman Anthony Weiner.

“The Rent is Too Damn High” guy: “Anthony Weiner is a freak”

“He’s a freak,” McMillan said of Weiner, who resigned from Congress in 2011 over a texting scandal involving what many would consider a salacious image of his pelvic region.

McMillan believes Weiner, like the other candidates, is not interested in addressing what really matters to voters.

Representing the Rent is Too Damn High Party, McMillan became a viral sensation when he ran for governor of New York in 2010. While he didn’t win, McMillan won over many hearts and minds with his populist platform delivered in catchy phrases, including “the rent is too damn high.”

What really matters to voters? The rent

For his Mayoral run, McMillan is continuing to focus on economic issues impacting the middle and working classes, including the cost of higher education, and of course rising housing prices.

To McMillan, Weiner is “not ready” to tackle unemployment, stagnant wages, and similar issues outlined in his recently-released rap anthem, “Rent is Too Damn High.”

This song, released to coincide with McMillan’s announcement of his mayoral run, details the critical problems this independent candidate does not trust the mainstream political establishment to solve.

RELATED: Jimmy ‘The Rent is Too Damn High’ McMillan is running for mayor

McMillan, the political maverick

McMillan proudly stands alone outside what he sees as a group of attention-seeking insiders.

“I’m not a politician. I’m a how-to-fixion,” McMillan said. ”Something is wrong, and needs to be corrected.”

Instead of bringing solutions, Weiner, the colorful candidate said, would turn the city into “a freak show.”

Asking voters to think outside the box

McMillan hopes voters will look at the track record of candidates such as Weiner, whose scandals have been more prominent than his policies, and consider his party as an alternative.

“Take the politics out your life and look how you done screwed the country up with your silly ways of voting,” McMillan said of voters in a recent video interview with theGrio. “Voting Democrat, Democrat, Democrat. Republican, Republican, Republican. They have failed this nation.

“You’re wearing a pair of shoes. The shoes hurt your feet. You’re going to keep wearing them? We represent that change, without any explanation,” he said of the Rent is Too Damn High Party.

Follow Alexis Garrett Stodghill on Twitter at @lexisb.

KRQE-TV reports that Lillie Smith was recently indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury for trafficking, conspiracy to commit trafficking, tampering with evidence and possession.

Court documents show the charges stem from a warrant served at her apartment in 2011.

Deputies suspected that the woman’s son, Nathan Jones, was running a small drug operation out of her home. But the sheriff’s office said deputies found cocaine and marijuana on Smith, and she tried to stash the drugs during the investigation.

“It’s definitely not something you see every day,” said Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Aaron Williamson. “When detectives were on scene she did try to take the narcotics that were on her person out and stash them.”

During the search, investigators found scales, money, narcotics and other items believed to be connected to trafficking, Williamson said.

Jones was arrested in 2011 but Smith was not because of a medical condition.

The district attorney’s office later filed charges and a grand jury returned the indictment earlier this year. She was arrested in April but bonded out of jail. It was not clear if Smith or Jones has a lawyer.

According to online court records, Smith pleaded guilty to drug trafficking in the 1990s. Her next court appearance is scheduled in July.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama was interrupted three times by a woman who shouted about drones and detainees in Cuba as he delivered a speech on national security.

The woman was identified as Medea Benjamin from the anti-war group Code Pink. Benjamin yelled from behind a bank of cameras before security removed her from the hall at National Defense University in Washington.

Obama at one point said he was willing to “cut the young lady some slack” because the issues he was addressing are worth being passionate about.

Benjamin shouted, quote, “86 were cleared already. Release them today!”

That appears to be a reference to detainees who remain in Cuba despite being cleared for transfer from the facility.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

The constitutional lawyer-turned-president must be tired of being cast by critics as acting outside the bounds of the Constitution.

President Barack Obama’s nearly hour-long speech on national security Thursday included only a few new policies and did not reverse many of his more controversial national security stances.

The Obama administration will still use drones to kill suspected terrorists, even American citizens in some cases, although their use will be limited to those who “pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people,” and strikes in countries like Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia are likely to be reduced in the future.

The administration will still prosecute people who leak national security information to journalists and hold prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, unless Congress explicitly allows the closure of that facility. Obama is not doing everything he can to reassure civil liberties advocates or those who worry about an overly-powerful executive branch.

Obama doctrine is reinforced

Instead of dramatically shifting policy, the speech, as Obama and his team intended, formalized the president’s general doctrine on national security and announced a clearly-defined set of goals and strategies which will give the public a clearer way to evaluate Obama’s policies and their impact.

And it was a detailed rebuttal to critics, particularly those in Congress, who have argued the administration has redefined American national security policy with little input from the public or lawmakers and too quickly resorted to controversial policies, such as seizing the phone records of a number of Associated Press reporters to investigate an alleged leak and killing hundreds in drone strikes over the last five years.

In particular, the president strongly and repeatedly defended his use of drones, arguing they were vastly preferable to the use of American troops on the ground to capture suspected terrorists and that the number of civilians killed in the strikes has been overstated.

Drones used as a last resort

“America’s actions are legal. We were attacked on 9/11. Within a week, Congress overwhelmingly authorized the use of force. Under domestic law, and international law, the United States is at war with al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their associated forces,” the president said. “We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first. So this is a just war – a war waged proportionally, in last resort, and in self-defense.”

Rejecting the notion his administration favors killing terrorists over capturing them, Obama emphasized he used drones only as a last resort and through a process with strong oversight.

“The use of drones is heavily constrained. America does not take strikes when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists – our preference is always to detain, interrogate, and prosecute them,” Obama said.

At the same time, Obama announced a series of actions that will directly address his critics, even if they don’t change the underlying policies. The administration, as the president announced today, will hold classified briefings with Congress to explain its exact criteria for targeted killings of suspected terrorists abroad, giving lawmakers a stronger role in the process.

The Department of Defense, instead of the CIA, will have a greater role in the strikes, shifting to a department that is required to detail more of its actions to lawmakers.  Obama’s emphasis in his speech on balancing prosecution of leaks with allowing journalists to investigate the government is likely to reassure the press, which has sharply attacked his administration since the disclosure of Department of Justice investigations into the phone records of journalists at Fox News and the Associated Press. The president said DOJ officials would meet with editors at key publications and discuss how leaks investigations would be conducted in the future.

The left-right divide does not exist

The speech reflected the complicated dynamic of the debate about Obama’s national security policies. The traditional left-right divide in Washington largely does not exist on these issues. Most lawmakers in Congress broadly support Obama’s policies, such as using drones instead of sending troops into countries like Pakistan and Yemen to kill terrorists and trying to limit national security leaks. Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have unified in blocking the administration from transferring detainees currently at Guantanamo Bay to prisons within the United States.

The loudest voices against Obama’s policies are civil liberties groups like the American Civil Liberties Union aligned with some of the most conservative lawmakers  in Congress, such as Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who worry about an overly-powerful executive branch.

But there was general agreement in Washington that Obama had not sufficiently explained his policies and given either the press or lawmakers enough information to provide oversight, a criticism Obama himself acknowledged was fair. The speech and the accompanying actions from the administration were in part intended to quiet that critique.

Obama’s moves are likely to silence some critics on both the left and right who have unfavorably compared him to Richard Nixon and George W. Bush in expanding executive power too broadly, and argued he was setting a bad precedent in national security policy for his successors in the Oval Office. But they don’t broadly change Obama’s national security approach, with its emphasis on drone strikes and using means of power that don’t involve explicit authorization from Congress for every move.

Follow Perry Bacon on Twitter at @perrybaconjr.

The federal jury in Chicago returned with a finding in Trump’s favor Thursday.

Jacqueline Goldberg claimed the real estate mogul-turned-TV star carried out a bait and switch by offering her profit sharing in his namesake Chicago tower and reneging only after she committed to buy.

The case pitted the New Yorker who revels in his image as a big talker against Goldberg. A plaintiff’s attorney portrayed her as a former waitress who learned her values growing up during the Depression.

The Evanston woman had sought various damages totaling around $6 million.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

A hearing next week will decide if the information can be used at the trial for George Zimmerman, who is charged with fatally shooting the unarmed 17-year-old last year during a confrontation at a gated community in Sanford. Prosecutors want the negative evidence omitted, but Zimmerman’s defense attorney said if they try to portray his client as the antagonist and Martin as the victim, he wants to show the jury that Martin has talked about fighting before.

“If they had suggested that Trayvon is nonviolent and that George is the aggressor, I think that makes evidence of the fighting he has been involved with in the past relevant,” said Mark O’Mara.

Zimmerman, 29, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, claiming self-defense and his trial starts next month. O’Mara also filed a motion Thursday asking for a delay in the start of the trial so the defense team can talk at length with an expert witness for the prosecution.

The photos released by Zimmerman’s defense team also show Martin blowing smoke and extending his middle finger to the camera.

In the text messages, Martin tells a friend that his mother has told him he needs to move in with his father since he was caught skipping school. He also talks with a friend about smoking “weed.”

In another section, he describes being in a fight where his opponent got more hits than he did in the first round.

Prosecutors have filed a motion asking Circuit Judge Debra Nelson to prevent the photos, texts and other personal information from being used at the trial. The hearing is set for next Tuesday when the judge also will consider the motion to delay the trial.

Attorneys for Martin’s parents said in a statement that the photos and texts were irrelevant to the trial and could pollute the jury pool.

“Is the defense trying to prove Trayvon deserved to be killed by George Zimmerman because (of) the way he looked?” they said. “If so, this stereotypical and closed-minded thinking is the same mindset that caused George Zimmerman to get out of his car and pursue Trayvon, an unarmed kid who he didn’t know.”

As for the delay, O’Mara said he needed more time to review the qualifications of a prosecution witness with an expertise in speech identification. O’Mara said prosecutors only made him aware of the expert a short time ago. The expert could be used to testify whose voices were on 911 calls that captured the fatal fight between Zimmerman and Martin.

O’Mara said in an interview that he needed another month or two to prepare.

O’Mara also said in the interview that he is going to ask a judge to sequester not only the jury but the jury pool in the upcoming trial. That may involve sequestering 500 potential jurors in order to find six people who can serve on the jury, O’Mara said.

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

5.  “For real, though, I’m vicious on the M-I/See, I used to make rhymes gripping on the semi” — Styles P, Lean On Em lyrics

Styles P, as we learned in our interview with him a few months back, has hidden depths beyond his “hardest out” image.  This line, with the pun on “see” and the letter “c” — which would finish spelling out “mic” — is a great blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bit of wordplay.

4.  “Let me put something poetic into plain English/I’d rather die than to not be distinguished” — Cee-Lo, ‘Special Education’ lyrics

This line puts us in mind of one of our other favorite rap lines, Hov’s classic “I’d rather die enormous than live dormant.”  For that reason alone, it would make our list.  But its gorgeous poetic nature (working in the word “poetic” certainly doesn’t hurt matters) makes us incredibly glad that Cee-Lo put away the cat and the big chair and returned to the recording booth, at least until the next season of The Voice.

3.  “You’re acting all Machio; Ralph/But I’ll eat all you cats; ALF” — The Lonely Island, ‘SEMICOLON’ lyrics

Griffin held his first in-depth news conference Thursday since his reconstructive knee surgery in January. He also took part in an offseason practice session in which he wore a large black brace and ran drills with other teammates recovering from injuries.

Griffin says he’s “hashed things out” with coach Mike Shanahan, who was widely criticized for leaving Griffin in the game after the quarterback was injured during the playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

Griffin says the next steps in his rehab involve “explosive sprinting” and “cutting.” He remains confident will be play in that season opener on Sept. 9.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

The world’s biggest hamburger chain has been looking to keep up with changing tastes as people increasingly opt for foods they feel are fresh or healthy. Customers can now order egg whites in its breakfast sandwiches, for example. McDonald’s also recently introduced chicken wraps to go after people in their 20s and 30s looking for better-for-you options.

But at its shareholder meeting Thursday, McDonald’s was taken to task by speakers associated with an advocacy group about its menu and marketing toward kids. As with other shareholder meetings, McDonald’s Corp. allotted about a half-hour for anyone who owned its stock to address its top executives.

Among those was a 9-year-old girl who asked CEO Don Thompson to stop “tricking kids into eating your food.” Later on, the girl’s mother echoed the request, saying McDonald’s undermines parents by marketing to children.

Another speaker asked that McDonald’s remove its locations from hospitals, while others asked it to stop targeting communities of color by signing stars such as Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas and the NBA’s LeBron James.

Three of the individuals were members of Corporate Accountability, which has been critical of the company’s marketing practices. Others were health professionals, parents or writers linked to the group.

Thompson stood by the company’s menu, saying McDonald’s doesn’t sell “junk food,” pointing out items such as the yogurt parfait and side salad and noting that the company has been adding more fruits and vegetables to its menu.

Thompson, who took over as CEO this past summer, also noted that his kids eat at McDonald’s and that many of its 1.8 million employees are parents.

Still, he said at one point, “I do agree we have some issues, and we can be part of the solution.”

Of course, other fast-food chains such as Burger King, Wendy’s and Taco Bell aren’t exactly paragons of healthy eating. And plenty of smaller, mom-and-pop restaurants sell food with just as many calories and fat as a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder. But with more than 14,000 U.S. locations, McDonald’s is an easy target because of its size and has become a symbol of processed foods in American culture.

The criticism is far from new but its persistence illustrates the uphill battle McDonald’s faces in trying to evolve its image and stay relevant. After years of outperforming its rivals, the company has been struggling to increase sales more recently. Last month, McDonald’s said sales at restaurants open at least a year fell 1 percent for its first quarter. That marked the first quarterly decline for the figure in a decade.

McDonald’s has blamed its troubles in part on the broader economy, saying the restaurant industry was flat to declining in the past year. But the company is also pushing to improve the image of its food at a time when chains such as Chipotle, Panera and Subway are gaining popularity.

McDonald’s is also enduring criticism that it still markets to children.

Despite Thompson’s claims that the company doesn’t target children in schools, Corporate Accountability noted that McDonald’s has moved much of its marketing online where it’s harder for parents to monitor what kids see. Nick Guroff, a spokesman for the group, also said that commercials featuring Gabby Douglas and LeBron James are directed at kids.

Corporate Accountability in recent years had pressured McDonald’s to stop using Ronald McDonald to market to children. Thompson on Thursday noted that the company isn’t using Ronald “the way it used to” but nevertheless stood by the mascot.

“Ronald is not a bad guy — he’s about fun, he’s a clown,” Thompson said. “So I’d ask all you to let your kids have fun, too.”

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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NBC Southern California – The National Institutes of Health awarded UCLA a grant to study the genetic causes of autism in African American children.

Areva Martin of the Special Needs Network says “there’s a void” of qualified health care officials to make the diagnosis in communities like South LA.

The study hopes to change that, and aims to recruit at least 600 African-American families who have a child diagnosed with autism.

Hundreds attended Achebe’s funeral among the rolling hills of his eastern Nigeria home, a service that saw President Goodluck Jonathan literally hold up the writer’s books. The gold plaque on his coffin simply called him the “eagle atop the Iroko tree” in his native Igbo language.

It was a fitting tribute to the respect Achebe carried among the people here and for many others around the world who knew him through his books, which many say is the first African voice heard in modern literature.

“Chinua Achebe gave Africa its confidence,” said Emeka Anyaoku, an Igbo elder.

Achebe rose to acclaim with the publication of his 1958 classic novel “Things Fall Apart,” a parable for the collapse of traditional society in Africa on the arrival of colonialists. The journalist’s tense, short sentences recalled Ernest Hemingway, but offered a vision of Igbo culture before British rule ultimately united the regions that now form modern Nigeria.

“Things Fall Apart” has sold more than 8 million copies worldwide and has been translated into more than 50 languages. Though describing himself in writing as a “British-protected child,” Achebe became a forceful critic of Western literature about Africa, especially Joseph Conrad’s “Heart of Darkness.” His writings often focused on that split between cultures, serving at times as a bridge for those wanting to understand the those two worlds.

Achebe died in March at the age of 82 in Boston after an illness. Though a 1990 car crash left him paralyzed from the waist down, he continued writing and taught at universities in the United States, earning him the nickname “Prof” throughout Nigeria.

Achebe also could be just as harsh of a critic of Nigeria. When the Igbo lands of the east broke away from Nigeria to become the nation of Biafra, Achebe served as a roaming ambassador for the new nation. However, the war saw 1 million people killed, many through starvation in the waning days of the conflict. His friend, the poet Christopher Okigbo, also died but his family survived bombings and the war’s horrors.

“As we reached the brink of full-blown war it became clear to me that the chaos enveloping all of us in Nigeria was due to the incompetence of the Nigerian ruling class,” Achebe wrote in his recent civil war memoir, “There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra.” ”This clique, stunted by ineptitude, distracted by power games and the pursuit of material comforts, was unwilling, if not incapable, of saving our fledging new nation.”

Achebe later twice refused Nigeria’s second-highest award, the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic, over the lawlessness in his home state of Anambra. A spokesman for President Jonathan later said Achebe’s decision to reject the honor “clearly flies in the face of the reality of Nigeria’s current political situation.” However, the problems raised in Achebe’s polemic 1980s essay “The Trouble With Nigeria” ring true even today in this oil-rich nation beset by extremist violence, rampant poverty and poor governance.

Thursday, even Jonathan held up that essay before mourners at St. Phillip’s Anglican Church, which sits just next to the primary school Achebe attended as a child in Ogidi. Jonathan mentioned how Achebe wrote that Nigeria’s problem “is political leadership” and “tribal sentiments.”

“He was making reference to what was happening in the 1950s and ’60s,” the president said. “Have we changed that?”

The crowd loudly shouted back: “No!”

Yet Jonathan himself, toward the end of his 12-minute speech, referred to the 2011 elections that cemented him in power as a “significant improvement,” without mentioning the 800 people killed in religious rioting and political violence afterward, nor the allegations of vote rigging. Many expect Jonathan to run for re-election in 2015 and some see his appearance at burials for Igbo leaders as an attempt to sway voters in a crucial powerbase.

Ghanaian President John Mahama also attended the service alongside Jonathan, as well as other politicians and leaders. In a scene reminiscent of Achebe’s own complaints, the elite rushed out of the service and into tinted-glass SUVs. In the wake of their sirens, soldiers and police officers carrying automatic weapons pushed and fought with the surging crowds. Others scuffled over programs in the back of the church during the service.

Everyone, including Jonathan, however, waited for Achebe’s body to be first carried out of the church. Pallbearers later entombed the writer’s casket in a mausoleum next to his home, as traditional dancers and others gathered. Outside, hawkers continued to sell Achebe’s books, a sign that the writer’s influence will continue long after these ceremonies come to an end.

Said Ikechi Nwachukwu Nwosu, the Anglican archbishop who eulogized Achebe: “There are some people who cannot be buried.”

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Foxx told a jammed Senate confirmation hearing that he will look for “partners” in local and state government to help find creative ways to finance air, rail and highway improvements. While senators pressed him for commitments on a host of issues from passenger rail improvements in the Northeast to funding air traffic control towers as small airports, the mayor from North Carolina nimbly steered away from controversy.

At several points, he asked for more time to study an issue and get back to a senator with a response.

“This is probably one of the most pleasant hearings on the Hill today,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., alluding to a House hearing going on at the same time where IRS officials were grilled by lawmakers about the agency’s targeting of tea party groups.

Foxx’s reception from Republicans lawmakers was unusually warm. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, predicted his nomination will be “noncontroversial.” But he noted senators from both parties were well represented at the hearing because “everybody we work for” are “totally dependent on the things he is (going to be) responsible for.”

Senators tempered their welcome with dire warnings that nation has a backlog of pressing transportation needs and no plan on how to pay for them. The Highway Trust Fund that pays for highway transit programs is forecast to face bankruptcy again, having only been rescued from impending bankruptcy by Congress last year. The fund is dependent on federal gas taxes, which have been raised since 1993. But the revenue raised by the taxes is declining as cars become more fuel efficient and people drive less.

The Transportation Department, like other federal agencies, is grappling government-wide, across-the-board spending cuts imposed by Congress that are scheduled to ratchet up next year absent a budget deal between Republican and Democratic leaders and the president.

“You have a huge job in front of you, massive. The challenges are many and the solutions are hard,” Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, told the nominee.

“I want you to be a good secretary of transportation and you cannot do that without new revenue,” he said, urging Foxx to “goad” Congress into finding more money for transportation.

But Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, the senior Republican member of the committee, said the responsibility goes both ways, and White House should offer its own funding plan.

“I hope you will lead, the president will lead, and come up and put specific ideas on the table how to solve these specific problems,” he said.

Foxx, 42, has been nominated to replace Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who is retiring. Foxx won national recognition when Charlotte hosted the Democratic National Convention last year, and he was a key surrogate in North Carolina for the president during his re-election bid last fall. He calls Obama a friend.

An attorney for a Charlotte-based transit bus company, Foxx has worked on transportation issues since joining the City Council in 2005, when the mayor was current Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. His mayoral tenure since late 2009 was marked by initial construction for a demonstration electric streetcar line and an agreement with federal transportation officials to pay for half of a light rail line going out to northeast Charlotte.

Foxx, who grew up in poverty in Charlotte, recalled riding the bus to get to his first job at a local museum when he was 12 years old.

“The Number 6 connected me to the larger world of opportunity, and I truly believe, whether it is a bus route, a road, a train, a plane or a ship, our transportation system at its best connects people to jobs and a better quality of life,” Foxx he told senators.

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Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

George Zimmerman’s attorney filed a motion Monday claiming that Martin likely was under the influence of marijuana at the time of his death in February 2012. Attorney Don West says that could be relevant to a jury evaluating Martin’s actions the night he was shot.

Zimmerman is charged with second-degree murder for shooting Martin during a confrontation at the gated community in Sanford where he lived. His trial is scheduled to start next month.

Zimmerman is pleading not guilty, claiming self-defense.

Prosecutors have asked a judge to not allow Martin’s drug use or other personal matters from being used at trial.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Ohhhhh myyyy God!!!! I just see a man with hishead chopped off right in front of my eyes!

— Boya Dee (@BOYADEE) May 22, 2013

Thousands began to retweet Boya Dee’s shocking first message. He seemed clearly shocked and continued to live tweet what was happening at the crime scene, located near a primary school, as well as the actions of a female police officer who eventually shot one of the suspects.

Oh my God!!!! The way Feds took them out!!! It was a female police officer she come out the whip and just started bussssin shots!!

— Boya Dee (@BOYADEE) May 22, 2013

In his tweets, Boya Dee likened the scene to one from an action movie. He also speculated about whether the two suspects were under the influence of illegal drugs.

People were asking whyyy whyyy they were just saying we’ve had enough! They looked like they were on sutn! Then they start waving a recolver

— Boya Dee (@BOYADEE) May 22, 2013

Boya Dee was not available for comment.

You can check out more of Kyle’s music coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at @HarveyWins.

Chelesa Fearce is a shining example of a student that didn’t let obstacles get in her way when it came to her education. You  see, during most of Chelesa’s high school career she was homeless and living in her mother’s car.  Chelesa, a senior at Charles Drew High School in Clayton County, Georgia, knew that her hard work would pay off, despite the obstacles presented to her.

“I just told myself to keep working, because the future will not be like this anymore,” Fearce said. “You’re worried about your home life and then worried at school. Worry about being a little hungry sometimes, go hungry sometimes. You just have to deal with is. You eat what you can, when you can.”

Although her family occasionally lived in an apartment, because of her mother’s lay-offs, they took refuge in shelters.

“Ended up back in another shelter because I got laid off from my job maybe about four or five times,” Fearce’s mother, Reenita Shephard said.

“I just did what I had to do,” Fearce said.

None of that stopped Chelesa from achieving a 4.466 GPA and a 1900 SAT score.

Read the rest of this story on Clutch Magazine.

More than a dozen Ohio restaurants and at least one in Pennsylvania have pledged free burgers for life to Charles Ramsey, the Big Mac-munching man who was credited with helping a woman escape from the home where she had been held captive, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Ramsey mentioned in numerous interviews earlier this month that he had been chowing down on a McDonald’s burger when he heard screams from the house across the street, spurring the fast-food giant to tweet they would “be in touch.”

The hometown hamburger homages began with an 8-ounce Angus beef patty with a secret sauce devised by Chris Hodgson, chef at the downtown restaurant where Ramsey works as a dishwasher.

“He’s calm in the face of crazy and hectic things going on,” Hodgson told the Cleveland Plain Dealer after police rescued Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight from the house where they were allegedly held captive and raped for a decade. “He always steps up to do anything you ask.”

The “Ramsey Burger” started out as a temporary menu item, but has since become permanent and the idea has spread to other restaurants, according to the Plain Dealer.

“We want to honor our local hero with local food,” Cleveland restaurateur Scott Kuhn told the paper. “He stopped his meal midway through to help those women. We’re now making sure he has other opportunities to go out and fully enjoy his burger.”

Click here to read more.

The incident I’m referring to happened in 1997, when Fuzzy Zoeller’s poor attempt at a joke led him to say that Woods would serve fried chicken and collard greens at the annual Masters dinner. Sadly, the description also applies to an incident that happened on Tuesday – more than 16 years after Zoeller’s racist comments – when Sergio Garcia cracked that he would serve Woods fried chicken if he had him over for dinner.

These two racist moments – so far apart in timing yet so similar in meaning and context – showcase just how little progress has been made in changing racist perceptions in sports.

Thursday, George O’Grady seemed to make the Garcia episode worse by claiming that most of the golfer’s friends are “colored athletes in the United States.” The Tour has accepted Garcia’s apology.

Other sports are guilty, too

These stereotypes exist in sports such as hockey. The number of black players competing in the National Hockey League is small, but the number of racist incidents seems to grow each season. Philadelphia Flyers winger Wayne Simmonds is often the victim of the more heinous acts.

In a 2011 preseason game in Ontario, Canada, a fan threw a banana onto the ice as Simmonds was attempting a shot during a shootout. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman went out of his way to say that the act was done by one individual and was not representative of Ontario or the millions of other hockey fans.

Yet just sixth months later, Washington Capitals winger Joel Ward scored the game-winning goal in the 2012 Stanley Cup first round playoffs against the Boston Bruins. He didn’t get much congratulations for his performance. Instead he was peppered with racial insults and threats by angry Bruins fans on social media.

And while we’ve made such little progress in the States, overseas the racism towards black players is even more horrifying. Simmonds now plays in the Czech Republic, and in his third game with new team Liberac, he was subject to “monkey” chants by the opposing team’s fans.

Hockey is considered tame in comparison to the national racism that goes on in soccer. Garcia’s comments rightfully dominated the American news cycle this week, but an underreported story happened on Monday, where several top Italian teams are being fined for their fans racist chants at black players. When the vice president of the team that a star black player plays for is making public racist comments, I think it’s safe to say that the sport has a racism problem.

Racist episodes not going away

All of these incidents – most happening in just the last couple of years – showcase a trend of racism in sports that shows no signing of going away. Often black athletes are forced to take the higher road. They accept apologies, say they’re used to this type of abuse, and try to use it as fuel to be better.

But they shouldn’t have to. It’s 2013 and a 33-year-old golfer is still making blatantly racist comments about the most popular golfer in the world. On one hand, it’s deplorable that a thought like that crosses his mind. On the other, it’s shocking that he would even have the audacity to actually voice that opinion publicly.

Woods response to Garcia was perfect. On Twitter, he rightfully called the comment “wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate” but offered Garcia a lifeline by saying he was “confident that there is real regret that the remark was made.” He’s doing his best to condemn the statement, but also begin the process of moving on.

Woods showed incredible grace throughout the whole episode. It’s the type of grace that comes from having to deal with similar situations like this throughout his entire career.

This wasn’t the first time Woods has heard from a colleague that he likes fried chicken because he’s black. And if history holds true, it probably won’t be his last.

Follow Stefen Lovelace on Twitter @StefenLovelace

He says it includes clear guidelines as well as oversight and accountability. Obama says in a speech Thursday he put this framework into a single document by signing on Wednesday what is known as presidential policy guidance.

He also says he will talk to Congress about refining, and ultimately repealing, the authority it gave the president in 2001 to wage war on al-Qaida. He says he will not sign laws designed to expand that authority any further.

Obama cautions that terrorism will remain a national security problem. But he says it must be recognized that not every, quote, “collection of thugs” affiliated with al-Qaida will pose a credible threat to the U.S.

Text of President Barack Obama’s speech on the fight against terrorism at the National Defense University, as provided by the White House:

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It’s an honor to return to the National Defense University. Here, at Fort McNair, Americans have served in uniform since 1791— standing guard in the early days of the Republic, and contemplating the future of warfare here in the 21st century.

For over two centuries, the United States has been bound together by founding documents that defined who we are as Americans, and served as our compass through every type of change. Matters of war and peace are no different. Americans are deeply ambivalent about war, but having fought for our independence, we know that a price must be paid for freedom. From the Civil War, to our struggle against fascism, and through the long, twilight struggle of the Cold War, battlefields have changed, and technology has evolved. But our commitment to constitutional principles has weathered every war, and every war has come to an end.

With the collapse of the Berlin Wall, a new dawn of democracy took hold abroad, and a decade of peace and prosperity arrived at home. For a moment, it seemed the 21st century would be a tranquil time. Then, on September 11th, 2001, we were shaken out of complacency. Thousands were taken from us, as clouds of fire, metal and ash descended upon a sun-filled morning. This was a different kind of war. No armies came to our shores, and our military was not the principal target. Instead, a group of terrorists came to kill as many civilians as they could.

And so our nation went to war. We have now been at war for well over a decade. I won’t review the full history. What’s clear is that we quickly drove al-Qaida out of Afghanistan, but then shifted our focus and began a new war in Iraq. This carried grave consequences for our fight against al-Qaida, our standing in the world, and — to this day — our interests in a vital region.

Meanwhile, we strengthened our defenses — hardening targets, tightening transportation security, and giving law enforcement new tools to prevent terror. Most of these changes were sound. Some caused inconvenience. But some, like expanded surveillance, raised difficult questions about the balance we strike between our interests in security and our values of privacy. And in some cases, I believe we compromised our basic values — by using torture to interrogate our enemies, and detaining individuals in a way that ran counter to the rule of law.

After I took office, we stepped up the war against al-Qaida, but also sought to change its course. We relentlessly targeted al-Qaida’s leadership. We ended the war in Iraq, and brought nearly 150,000 troops home. We pursued a new strategy in Afghanistan, and increased our training of Afghan forces. We unequivocally banned torture, affirmed our commitment to civilian courts, worked to align our policies with the rule of law, and expanded our consultations with Congress.

Today, Osama bin Laden is dead, and so are most of his top lieutenants. There have been no large-scale attacks on the United States, and our homeland is more secure. Fewer of our troops are in harm’s way, and over the next 19 months they will continue to come home. Our alliances are strong, and so is our standing in the world. In sum, we are safer because of our efforts.

Now make no mistake: our nation is still threatened by terrorists. From Benghazi to Boston, we have been tragically reminded of that truth. We must recognize, however, that the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on 9/11. With a decade of experience to draw from, now is the time to ask ourselves hard questions — about the nature of today’s threats, and how we should confront them.

These questions matter to every American. For over the last decade, our nation has spent well over a trillion dollars on war, exploding our deficits and constraining our ability to nation build here at home. Our service-members and their families have sacrificed far more on our behalf. Nearly 7,000 Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice. Many more have left a part of themselves on the battlefield, or brought the shadows of battle back home. From our use of drones to the detention of terrorist suspects, the decisions we are making will define the type of nation — and world — that we leave to our children.

So America is at a crossroads. We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us, mindful of James Madison’s warning that “No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.” Neither I, nor any president, can promise the total defeat of terror. We will never erase the evil that lies in the hearts of some human beings, nor stamp out every danger to our open society. What we can do — what we must do — is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger, and make it less likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all while maintaining the freedoms and ideals that we defend. To define that strategy, we must make decisions based not on fear, but hard-earned wisdom. And that begins with understanding the threat we face.

Today, the core of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on a path to defeat. Their remaining operatives spend more time thinking about their own safety than plotting against us. They did not direct the attacks in Benghazi or Boston. They have not carried out a successful attack on our homeland since 9/11. Instead, what we’ve seen is the emergence of various al-Qaida affiliates. From Yemen to Iraq, from Somalia to North Africa, the threat today is more diffuse, with al-Qaida’s affiliate in the Arabian Peninsula — AQAP — the most active in plotting against our homeland. While none of AQAP’s efforts approach the scale of 9/11 they have continued to plot acts of terror, like the attempt to blow up an airplane on Christmas Day in 2009.

Unrest in the Arab World has also allowed extremists to gain a foothold in countries like Libya and Syria. Here, too, there are differences from 9/11. In some cases, we confront state-sponsored networks like Hezbollah that engage in acts of terror to achieve political goals. Others are simply collections of local militias or extremists interested in seizing territory. While we are vigilant for signs that these groups may pose a transnational threat, most are focused on operating in the countries and regions where they are based. That means we will face more localized threats like those we saw in Benghazi, or at the BP oil facility in Algeria, in which local operatives — in loose affiliation with regional networks — launch periodic attacks against Western diplomats, companies, and other soft targets, or resort to kidnapping and other criminal enterprises to fund their operations.

Finally, we face a real threat from radicalized individuals here in the United States. Whether it’s a shooter at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin; a plane flying into a building in Texas; or the extremists who killed 168 people at the Federal Building in Oklahoma City — America has confronted many forms of violent extremism in our time. Deranged or alienated individuals — often U.S. citizens or legal residents – can do enormous damage, particularly when inspired by larger notions of violent jihad. That pull towards extremism appears to have led to the shooting at Fort Hood, and the bombing of the Boston Marathon.

Lethal yet less capable al-Qaida affiliates. Threats to diplomatic facilities and businesses abroad. Homegrown extremists. This is the future of terrorism. We must take these threats seriously, and do all that we can to confront them. But as we shape our response, we have to recognize that the scale of this threat closely resembles the types of attacks we faced before 9/11. In the 1980s, we lost Americans to terrorism at our Embassy in Beirut; at our Marine Barracks in Lebanon; on a cruise ship at sea; at a disco in Berlin; and on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. In the 1990s, we lost Americans to terrorism at the World Trade Center; at our military facilities in Saudi Arabia; and at our Embassy in Kenya. These attacks were all deadly, and we learned that left unchecked, these threats can grow. But if dealt with smartly and proportionally, these threats need not rise to the level that we saw on the eve of 9/11.

Moreover, we must recognize that these threats don’t arise in a vacuum. Most, though not all, of the terrorism we face is fueled by a common ideology — a belief by some extremists that Islam is in conflict with the United States and the West, and that violence against Western targets, including civilians, is justified in pursuit of a larger cause. Of course, this ideology is based on a lie, for the United States is not at war with Islam; and this ideology is rejected by the vast majority of Muslims, who are the most frequent victims of terrorist acts.

Nevertheless, this ideology persists, and in an age in which ideas and images can travel the globe in an instant, our response to terrorism cannot depend on military or law enforcement alone. We need all elements of national power to win a battle of wills and ideas. So let me discuss the components of such a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy.

First, we must finish the work of defeating al-Qaida and its associated forces.

In Afghanistan, we will complete our transition to Afghan responsibility for security. Our troops will come home. Our combat mission will come to an end. And we will work with the Afghan government to train security forces, and sustain a counter-terrorism force which ensures that al-Qaida can never again establish a safe-haven to launch attacks against us or our allies.

Beyond Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless ‘global war on terror’ — but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific networks of violent extremists that threaten America. In many cases, this will involve partnerships with other countries. Thousands of Pakistani soldiers have lost their lives fighting extremists. In Yemen, we are supporting security forces that have reclaimed territory from AQAP. In Somalia, we helped a coalition of African nations push al Shabaab out of its strongholds. In Mali, we are providing military aid to a French-led intervention to push back al-Qaida in the Maghreb, and help the people of Mali reclaim their future.

Much of our best counter-terrorism cooperation results in the gathering and sharing of intelligence; the arrest and prosecution of terrorists. That’s how a Somali terrorist apprehended off the coast of Yemen is now in prison in New York. That’s how we worked with European allies to disrupt plots from Denmark to Germany to the United Kingdom. That’s how intelligence collected with Saudi Arabia helped us stop a cargo plane from being blown up over the Atlantic.

But despite our strong preference for the detention and prosecution of terrorists, sometimes this approach is foreclosed. Al-Qaida and its affiliates try to gain a foothold in some of the most distant and unforgiving places on earth. They take refuge in remote tribal regions. They hide in caves and walled compounds. They train in empty deserts and rugged mountains.

In some of these places — such as parts of Somalia and Yemen — the state has only the most tenuous reach into the territory. In other cases, the state lacks the capacity or will to take action. It is also not possible for America to simply deploy a team of Special Forces to capture every terrorist. And even when such an approach may be possible, there are places where it would pose profound risks to our troops and local civilians— where a terrorist compound cannot be breached without triggering a firefight with surrounding tribal communities that pose no threat to us, or when putting U.S. boots on the ground may trigger a major international crisis.

To put it another way, our operation in Pakistan against Osama bin Laden cannot be the norm. The risks in that case were immense; the likelihood of capture, although our preference, was remote given the certainty of resistance; the fact that we did not find ourselves confronted with civilian casualties, or embroiled in an extended firefight, was a testament to the meticulous planning and professionalism of our Special Forces — but also depended on some luck. And even then, the cost to our relationship with Pakistan — and the backlash among the Pakistani public over encroachment on their territory — was so severe that we are just now beginning to rebuild this important partnership.

It is in this context that the United States has taken lethal, targeted action against al-Qaida and its associated forces, including with remotely piloted aircraft commonly referred to as drones. As was true in previous armed conflicts, this new technology raises profound questions — about who is targeted, and why; about civilian casualties, and the risk of creating new enemies; about the legality of such strikes under U.S. and international law; about accountability and morality.

Let me address these questions. To begin with, our actions are effective. Don’t take my word for it. In the intelligence gathered at bin Laden’s compound, we found that he wrote, “we could lose the reserves to the enemy’s air strikes. We cannot fight air strikes with explosives.” Other communications from al-Qaida operatives confirm this as well. Dozens of highly skilled al-Qaida commanders, trainers, bomb makers, and operatives have been taken off the battlefield. Plots have been disrupted that would have targeted international aviation, U.S. transit systems, European cities and our troops in Afghanistan. Simply put, these strikes have saved lives.

Moreover, America’s actions are legal. We were attacked on 9/11. Within a week, Congress overwhelmingly authorized the use of force. Under domestic law, and international law, the United States is at war with al-Qaida, the Taliban, and their associated forces. We are at war with an organization that right now would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first. So this is a just war — a war waged proportionally, in last resort, and in self-defense.

And yet as our fight enters a new phase, America’s legitimate claim of self-defense cannot be the end of the discussion. To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance. For the same human progress that gives us the technology to strike half a world away also demands the discipline to constrain that power — or risk abusing it. That’s why, over the last four years, my administration has worked vigorously to establish a framework that governs our use of force against terrorists — insisting upon clear guidelines, oversight and accountability that is now codified in Presidential Policy Guidance that I signed yesterday.

In the Afghan war theater, we must support our troops until the transition is complete at the end of 2014. That means we will continue to take strikes against high value al-Qaida targets, but also against forces that are massing to support attacks on coalition forces. However, by the end of 2014, we will no longer have the same need for force protection, and the progress we have made against core al-Qaida will reduce the need for unmanned strikes.

Beyond the Afghan theater, we only target al-Qaida and its associated forces. Even then, the use of drones is heavily constrained. America does not take strikes when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists — our preference is always to detain, interrogate, and prosecute them. America cannot take strikes wherever we choose — our actions are bound by consultations with partners, and respect for state sovereignty. America does not take strikes to punish individuals — we act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent threat to the American people, and when there are no other governments capable of effectively addressing the threat. And before any strike is taken, there must be near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured — the highest standard we can set.

This last point is critical, because much of the criticism about drone strikes — at home and abroad — understandably centers on reports of civilian casualties. There is a wide gap between U.S. assessments of such casualties, and non-governmental reports. Nevertheless, it is a hard fact that U.S. strikes have resulted in civilian casualties, a risk that exists in all wars. For the families of those civilians, no words or legal construct can justify their loss. For me, and those in my chain of command, these deaths will haunt us as long as we live, just as we are haunted by the civilian casualties that have occurred through conventional fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.

But as Commander-in-Chief, I must weigh these heartbreaking tragedies against the alternatives. To do nothing in the face of terrorist networks would invite far more civilian casualties — not just in our cities at home and facilities abroad, but also in the very places — like Sana’a and Kabul and Mogadishu — where terrorists seek a foothold. Let us remember that the terrorists we are after target civilians, and the death toll from their acts of terrorism against Muslims dwarfs any estimate of civilian casualties from drone strikes.

Where foreign governments cannot or will not effectively stop terrorism in their territory, the primary alternative to targeted, lethal action is the use of conventional military options. As I’ve said, even small Special Operations carry enormous risks. Conventional airpower or missiles are far less precise than drones, and likely to cause more civilian casualties and local outrage. And invasions of these territories lead us to be viewed as occupying armies; unleash a torrent of unintended consequences; are difficult to contain; and ultimately empower those who thrive on violent conflict. So it is false to assert that putting boots on the ground is less likely to result in civilian deaths, or to create enemies in the Muslim world. The result would be more U.S. deaths, more Blackhawks down, more confrontations with local populations, and an inevitable mission creep in support of such raids that could easily escalate into new wars.

So yes, the conflict with al-Qaida, like all armed conflict, invites tragedy. But by narrowly targeting our action against those who want to kill us, and not the people they hide among, we are choosing the course of action least likely to result in the loss of innocent life. Indeed, our efforts must also be measured against the history of putting American troops in distant lands among hostile populations. In Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of civilians died in a war where the boundaries of battle were blurred. In Iraq and Afghanistan, despite the courage and discipline of our troops, thousands of civilians have been killed. So neither conventional military action, nor waiting for attacks to occur, offers moral safe-harbor. Neither does a sole reliance on law enforcement in territories that have no functioning police or security services — and indeed, have no functioning law.

This is not to say that the risks are not real. Any U.S. military action in foreign lands risks creating more enemies, and impacts public opinion overseas. Our laws constrain the power of the president, even during wartime, and I have taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. The very precision of drones strikes, and the necessary secrecy involved in such actions can end up shielding our government from the public scrutiny that a troop deployment invites. It can also lead a president and his team to view drone strikes as a cure-all for terrorism.

For this reason, I’ve insisted on strong oversight of all lethal action. After I took office, my administration began briefing all strikes outside of Iraq and Afghanistan to the appropriate committees of Congress. Let me repeat that — not only did Congress authorize the use of force, it is briefed on every strike that America takes. That includes the one instance when we targeted an American citizen: Anwar Awlaki, the chief of external operations for AQAP.

This week, I authorized the declassification of this action, and the deaths of three other Americans in drone strikes, to facilitate transparency and debate on this issue, and to dismiss some of the more outlandish claims. For the record, I do not believe it would be constitutional for the government to target and kill any U.S. citizen — with a drone, or a shotgun — without due process. Nor should any president deploy armed drones over U.S. soil.

But when a U.S. citizen goes abroad to wage war against America — and is actively plotting to kill U.S. citizens; and when neither the United States, nor our partners are in a position to capture him before he carries out a plot — his citizenship should no more serve as a shield than a sniper shooting down on an innocent crowd should be protected from a swat team

That’s who Anwar Awlaki was — he was continuously trying to kill people. He helped oversee the 2010 plot to detonate explosive devices on two U.S. bound cargo planes. He was involved in planning to blow up an airliner in 2009. When Farouk Abdulmutallab — the Christmas Day bomber — went to Yemen in 2009, Awlaki hosted him, approved his suicide operation, and helped him tape a martyrdom video to be shown after the attack. His last instructions were to blow up the airplane when it was over American soil. I would have detained and prosecuted Awlaki if we captured him before he carried out a plot. But we couldn’t. And as President, I would have been derelict in my duty had I not authorized the strike that took out Awlaki.

Of course, the targeting of any Americans raises constitutional issues that are not present in other strikes — which is why my Administration submitted information about Awlaki to the Department of Justice months before Awlaki was killed, and briefed the Congress before this strike as well. But the high threshold that we have set for taking lethal action applies to all potential terrorist targets, regardless of whether or not they are American citizens. This threshold respects the inherent dignity of every human life. Alongside the decision to put our men and women in uniform in harm’s way, the decision to use force against individuals or groups — even against a sworn enemy of the United States — is the hardest thing I do as president. But these decisions must be made, given my responsibility to protect the American people.

Going forward, I have asked my administration to review proposals to extend oversight of lethal actions outside of warzones that go beyond our reporting to Congress. Each option has virtues in theory, but poses difficulties in practice. For example, the establishment of a special court to evaluate and authorize lethal action has the benefit of bringing a third branch of government into the process, but raises serious constitutional issues about presidential and judicial authority. Another idea that’s been suggested — the establishment of an independent oversight board in the executive branch — avoids those problems, but may introduce a layer of bureaucracy into national-security decision-making, without inspiring additional public confidence in the process. Despite these challenges, I look forward to actively engaging Congress to explore these — and other — options for increased oversight.

I believe, however, that the use of force must be seen as part of a larger discussion about a comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy. Because for all the focus on the use of force, force alone cannot make us safe. We cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root; and in the absence of a strategy that reduces the well-spring of extremism, a perpetual war — through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments — will prove self-defeating, and alter our country in troubling ways.

So the next element of our strategy involves addressing the underlying grievances and conflicts that feed extremism, from North Africa to South Asia. As we’ve learned this past decade, this is a vast and complex undertaking. We must be humble in our expectation that we can quickly resolve deep rooted problems like poverty and sectarian hatred. Moreover, no two countries are alike, and some will undergo chaotic change before things get better. But our security and values demand that we make the effort.

This means patiently supporting transitions to democracy in places like Egypt, Tunisia and Libya — because the peaceful realization of individual aspirations will serve as a rebuke to violent extremists. We must strengthen the opposition in Syria, while isolating extremist elements — because the end of a tyrant must not give way to the tyranny of terrorism. We are working to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians – because it is right, and because such a peace could help reshape attitudes in the region. And we must help countries modernize economies, upgrade education, and encourage entrepreneurship — because American leadership has always been elevated by our ability to connect with peoples’ hopes, and not simply their fears.

Success on these fronts requires sustained engagement, but it will also require resources. I know that foreign aid is one of the least popular expenditures — even though it amounts to less than one percent of the federal budget. But foreign assistance cannot be viewed as charity. It is fundamental to our national security, and any sensible long-term strategy to battle extremism. Moreover, foreign assistance is a tiny fraction of what we spend fighting wars that our assistance might ultimately prevent. For what we spent in a month in Iraq at the height of the war, we could be training security forces in Libya, maintaining peace agreements between Israel and its neighbors, feeding the hungry in Yemen, building schools in Pakistan, and creating reservoirs of goodwill that marginalize extremists.

America cannot carry out this work if we do not have diplomats serving in dangerous places. Over the past decade, we have strengthened security at our Embassies, and I am implementing every recommendation of the Accountability Review Board which found unacceptable failures in Benghazi. I have called on Congress to fully fund these efforts to bolster security, harden facilities, improve intelligence, and facilitate a quicker response time from our military if a crisis emerges.

But even after we take these steps, some irreducible risks to our diplomats will remain. This is the price of being the world’s most powerful nation, particularly as a wave of change washes over the Arab World. And in balancing the trade-offs between security and active diplomacy, I firmly believe that any retreat from challenging regions will only increase the dangers we face in the long run.

Targeted action against terrorists. Effective partnerships. Diplomatic engagement and assistance. Through such a comprehensive strategy we can significantly reduce the chances of large scale attacks on the homeland and mitigate threats to Americans overseas. As we guard against dangers from abroad, however, we cannot neglect the daunting challenge of terrorism from within our borders.

As I said earlier, this threat is not new. But technology and the Internet increase its frequency and lethality. Today, a person can consume hateful propaganda, commit themselves to a violent agenda, and learn how to kill without leaving their home. To address this threat, two years ago my administration did a comprehensive review, and engaged with law enforcement. The best way to prevent violent extremism is to work with the Muslim American community — which has consistently rejected terrorism — to identify signs of radicalization, and partner with law enforcement when an individual is drifting towards violence. And these partnerships can only work when we recognize that Muslims are a fundamental part of the American family. Indeed, the success of American Muslims, and our determination to guard against any encroachments on their civil liberties, is the ultimate rebuke to those who say we are at war with Islam.

Indeed, thwarting homegrown plots presents particular challenges in part because of our proud commitment to civil liberties for all who call America home. That’s why, in the years to come, we will have to keep working hard to strike the appropriate balance between our need for security and preserving those freedoms that make us who we are. That means reviewing the authorities of law enforcement, so we can intercept new types of communication, and build in privacy protections to prevent abuse. That means that — even after Boston — we do not deport someone or throw someone in prison in the absence of evidence. That means putting careful constraints on the tools the government uses to protect sensitive information, such as the State Secrets doctrine. And that means finally having a strong Privacy and Civil Liberties Board to review those issues where our counter-terrorism efforts and our values may come into tension.

The Justice Department’s investigation of national security leaks offers a recent example of the challenges involved in striking the right balance between our security and our open society. As Commander-in Chief, I believe we must keep information secret that protects our operations and our people in the field. To do so, we must enforce consequences for those who break the law and breach their commitment to protect classified information. But a free press is also essential for our democracy. I am troubled by the possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism that holds government accountable.

Journalists should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those who break the law. That is why I have called on Congress to pass a media shield law to guard against government over-reach. I have raised these issues with the Attorney General, who shares my concern. So he has agreed to review existing Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve reporters, and will convene a group of media organizations to hear their concerns as part of that review. And I have directed the Attorney General to report back to me by July 12th.

All these issues remind us that the choices we make about war can impact — in sometimes unintended ways — the openness and freedom on which our way of life depends. And that is why I intend to engage Congress about the existing Authorization to Use Military Force, or AUMF, to determine how we can continue to fight terrorists without keeping America on a perpetual war-time footing.

The AUMF is now nearly twelve years old. The Afghan War is coming to an end. Core al-Qaida is a shell of its former self. Groups like AQAP must be dealt with, but in the years to come, not every collection of thugs that labels themselves al-Qaida will pose a credible threat to the United States. Unless we discipline our thinking and our actions, we may be drawn into more wars we don’t need to fight, or continue to grant presidents unbound powers more suited for traditional armed conflicts between nation states. So I look forward to engaging Congress and the American people in efforts to refine, and ultimately repeal, the AUMF’s mandate. And I will not sign laws designed to expand this mandate further. Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue. But this war, like all wars, must end. That’s what history advises. That’s what our democracy demands.

And that brings me to my final topic: the detention of terrorist suspects.

To repeat, as a matter of policy, the preference of the United States is to capture terrorist suspects. When we do detain a suspect, we interrogate them. And if the suspect can be prosecuted, we decide whether to try him in a civilian court or a Military Commission. During the past decade, the vast majority of those detained by our military were captured on the battlefield. In Iraq, we turned over thousands of prisoners as we ended the war. In Afghanistan, we have transitioned detention facilities to the Afghans, as part of the process of restoring Afghan sovereignty. So we bring law of war detention to an end, and we are committed to prosecuting terrorists whenever we can.

The glaring exception to this time-tested approach is the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. The original premise for opening GTMO — that detainees would not be able to challenge their detention — was found unconstitutional five years ago. In the meantime, GTMO has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law. Our allies won’t cooperate with us if they think a terrorist will end up at GTMO. During a time of budget cuts, we spend $150 million each year to imprison 166 people — almost $1 million per prisoner. And the Department of Defense estimates that we must spend another $200 million to keep GTMO open at a time when we are cutting investments in education and research here at home.

As president, I have tried to close GTMO. I transferred 67 detainees to other countries before Congress imposed restrictions to effectively prevent us from either transferring detainees to other countries, or imprisoning them in the United States. These restrictions make no sense. After all, under President Bush, some 530 detainees were transferred from GTMO with Congress’s support. When I ran for president the first time, John McCain supported closing GTMO. No person has ever escaped from one of our super-max or military prisons in the United States. Our courts have convicted hundreds of people for terrorism-related offenses, including some who are more dangerous than most GTMO detainees. Given my administration’s relentless pursuit of al-Qaida’s leadership, there is no justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a facility that should never have been opened.

Today, I once again call on Congress to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers from GTMO. I have asked the Department of Defense to designate a site in the United States where we can hold military commissions. I am appointing a new, senior envoy at the State Department and Defense Department whose sole responsibility will be to achieve the transfer of detainees to third countries. I am lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen, so we can review them on a case by case basis. To the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees who have been cleared to go to other countries. Where appropriate, we will bring terrorists to justice in our courts and military justice system. And we will insist that judicial review be available for every detainee.

Even after we take these steps, one issue will remain: how to deal with those GTMO detainees who we know have participated in dangerous plots or attacks, but who cannot be prosecuted — for example because the evidence against them has been compromised or is inadmissible in a court of law. But once we commit to a process of closing GTMO, I am confident that this legacy problem can be resolved, consistent with our commitment to the rule of law.

I know the politics are hard. But history will cast a harsh judgment on this aspect of our fight against terrorism, and those of us who fail to end it. Imagine a future — 10 years from now, or 20 years from now — when the United States of America is still holding people who have been charged with no crime on a piece of land that is not a part of our country. Look at the current situation, where we are force-feeding detainees who are holding a hunger strike. Is that who we are? Is that something that our Founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave to our children?

Our sense of justice is stronger than that. We have prosecuted scores of terrorists in our courts. That includes Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up an airplane over Detroit; and Faisal Shahzad, who put a car bomb in Times Square. It is in a court of law that we will try Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of bombing the Boston Marathon. Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, is as we speak serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison here, in the United States. In sentencing Reid, Judge William Young told him, “the way we treat you.is the measure of our own liberties.” He went on to point to the American flag that flew in the courtroom — “That flag,” he said, “will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag still stands for freedom.”

America, we have faced down dangers far greater than al-Qaida. By staying true to the values of our founding, and by using our constitutional compass, we have overcome slavery and Civil War; fascism and communism. In just these last few years as president, I have watched the American people bounce back from painful recession, mass shootings, and natural disasters like the recent tornados that devastated Oklahoma. These events were heartbreaking; they shook our communities to the core. But because of the resilience of the American people, these events could not come close to breaking us.

I think of Lauren Manning, the 9/11 survivor who had severe burns over 80 percent of her body, who said, “That’s my reality. I put a Band-Aid on it, literally, and I move on.”

I think of the New Yorkers who filled Times Square the day after an attempted car bomb as if nothing had happened.

I think of the proud Pakistani parents who, after their daughter was invited to the White House, wrote to us, “we have raised an American Muslim daughter to dream big and never give up because it does pay off.”

I think of the wounded warriors rebuilding their lives, and helping other vets to find jobs.

I think of the runner planning to do the 2014 Boston Marathon, who said, “Next year, you are going to have more people than ever. Determination is not something to be messed with.”

That’s who the American people are. Determined, and not to be messed with.

Now, we need a strategy — and a politics — that reflects this resilient spirit. Our victory against terrorism won’t be measured in a surrender ceremony on a battleship, or a statue being pulled to the ground. Victory will be measured in parents taking their kids to school; immigrants coming to our shores; fans taking in a ballgame; a veteran starting a business; a bustling city street. The quiet determination; that strength of character and bond of fellowship; that refutation of fear — that is both our sword and our shield. And long after the current messengers of hate have faded from the world’s memory, alongside the brutal despots, deranged madmen, and ruthless demagogues who litter history — the flag of the United States will still wave from small-town cemeteries, to national monuments, to distant outposts abroad. And that flag will still stand for freedom.

Thank you. God Bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

The havoc time wreaks on fashion spares no one, not even the president of the United States.

In a newly unearthed photo published Thursday in TIME magazine, a 17-year-old Barack Obama is seen wearing a white dinner jacket as he poses with friends on the night of their senior prom in Hawaii.

The 1979 photo was snapped inside the home of former classmate, Kelli Allman, who was the prom date of the president’s close high schoolfriend, Greg Orme. The fourth person in the picture is Obama’s date, Megan Hughes.

Allman said the two couples sipped champagne before going to the dance, and then an after-party.

“It was a really fun, happy time. We were all cracking up and everyone was smiling,” she told the magazine.

Allman also gave TIME a snapshot of Obama’s yearbook entry to her.

“You are extremely sweet and foxy,” he wrote. “I don’t know why Greg would want to spend anytime with me at all! You really deserve better than clowns like us; you even laugh at my jokes!”

Click here to read more.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Darius Rucker is a fan of Old Crow Medicine Show, but says he didn’t really get what was so infectious about the string band’s signature hit “Wagon Wheel” at first.

Then he heard the faculty band at his daughter’s school play the song and it all started to open up for him.

“I’m sitting there listening to it and I say to myself what I always say to myself, ‘I want to cut this song,’” Rucker said. “I say it all the time but I never end up cutting anything. But with this song it was, ‘All right, let’s try it.’ I didn’t know how big it was until after I cut it, until after it was a single. I didn’t know that every college student south of the Mason-Dixon Line in the last eight years knows this song. I had no idea. I thought it was just another Old Crow song until I recorded it and realized it wasn’t just another Old Crow song.”

So far, Rucker’s version of “Wagon Wheel” is the most successful song of his country career. The cut from his third Nashville-recorded album, “True Believers,” out this week, has sold nearly 1.2 million copies and sat atop the country charts for three consecutive weeks earlier this year.

It’s another interesting chapter in the history of a song that’s slowly working its way toward American classic status. Like “House of the Rising Sun” or “Good Night, Irene,” it’s now a pop song with a long back story that tantalizingly trickles out before you reach the wellspring.

Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show first encountered the song when his friend and future bandmate Chris “Critter” Fuqua brought home a Bob Dylan bootleg from a trip to London that contained an outtake from the singer’s “Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid” soundtrack sessions called “Rock Me, Mama.” It wasn’t so much a song as a sketch, crudely recorded featuring most prominently a stomping boot, the candy-coated chorus and a mumbled verse that was hard to make out.

Dylan didn’t claim authorship of the song. He cited Arthur Crudup’s “Rock Me, Mama,” but Crudup said he got the song from Big Bill Broonzy, who recorded it as “Rock Me Baby.” Broonzy didn’t claim ownership either and the trail dissolves there, lost to history.

A few months after first hearing “Rock Me, Mama,” Secor was away from his native Virginia attending school in New Hampshire and feeling homesick for the South. He sat down and wrote a song about hitchhiking his way home full of romantic notions put in his head by the Beat poets and, most of all, Dylan.

“I listened to Bob Dylan and nothing else,” Secor said. “Nothin’ but Bob for four years. It was like schooling. Every album and every outtake of every album and every live record I could get my hands on and every show I could go see live. I was a teenager who was really turned on to Bob.”

The song was an early entry in the group’s catalog when it formed a few years later and was officially released twice, on an early EP and on its second album, 2004′s “O.C.M.S.” The song’s popularity grew with each live show as fans enthusiastically sang along with that catchy chorus and with each fan video posted on the Internet. In the-little-engine-that-could style it attained gold status in November 2011, seven years after it became available digitally.

The story gets better. Over the next 13 months the song would go platinum as the band gained more popularity, thanks to years of hard work on the road, championed by Mumford & Sons andRucker’s decision to cover “Wagon Wheel,” and has now up to 1.2 million copies sold and counting. Combining sales for Rucker and Old Crow’s version, that’s nearly 2.5 million copies sold.

“It’s like having four aces in your pocket, that song,” Secor said.

While the recorded version is rousing, nothing beats the sound of thousands of voices raised during a live concert. The chorus works its way into memory immediately, making it easy for even the newest of fans to join in.

“I find that the number of singers in the chorus makes it all the more exciting,” Secor said. “That’s what folk music is and this is a folk song. I think the thing that’s interesting about ‘Wagon Wheel’ is that a folk song could be really popular in 2013. Every strike is against it. All the odds are against folk music, particularly one song rising up and having an impact.”

The proof of a song’s universality is its ability to jump between genres. Already presented in blues and folk versions, Rucker changed it yet again to fit his silky baritone and traditional country and classic rock influences. He invited in the trio Lady Antebellum to provide backing harmony, again changing the song in unexpected ways.

“It’s such the perfect country song,” Rucker said. “When we were cutting it, all we had (to model it on) was this perfect bluegrass song. I couldn’t do it as a bluegrass song. It’s just not me. So if we were going to do it, we had to make it a 1950s country song. I’m not shocked at how successful it’s been, but I didn’t expect it.”

As the song itself inspires fans to raise their voices together, it’s inspired Rucker and Secor to collaborate. OCMS recently joined Rucker on the Grand Ole Opry, where they got a standing ovation. And Rucker says when it’s time to start working on country album No. 4, Secor’s the first guy he’s calling.

Secor thinks that kind of cross-pollination is an important legacy of the song as well and hopes the powers that be in mainstream country music are paying attention.

“Country music has made it damn near impossible to get a song like ‘Wagon Wheel’ into the arena,” he said. “We’re sitting out there on a side stage out in the parking lot somewhere. But this song managed to seep in somehow. As someone who’s interested in seeing country music come around and look at its parentage and be a little more respectful to it, I’m really pleased that this song is helping to do that kind of work in Music City.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Janet Jackson has officially joined the billion-dollar club, according to Variety.

The mag credits her incredibly successful career over many decades for the singer’s lofty financial status.

She reportedly earned $458 million thanks to concert tours, $304 million in acting gigs likeThe Nutty Professor and For Colored Girls, $260 million in album sales (“Rhythm Nation, anyone?) and more than $81 million from sponsorships.

Click here to read more.

Real Bronx Tours, which took mostly European tourists from Manhattan to see life in the South Bronx “from a safe distance,” issued a statement this week saying it would immediately cease all tours there.

Three times a week, the $45 ride took visitors past food-pantry lines, a housing project and a park a guide described as a pickpocket hangout.

Tourists were told they’d get a look at the Bronx that reflects one of the darkest chapters of the city’s history, the 1970s and ’80s, when the tour website said “this borough was notorious for drugs, gangs, crime and murders.”

The Bronx lost hundreds of buildings to fires intentionally set by landlords to collect insurance money, hence the phrase, “the Bronx is burning.”

But residents say the tours are a misrepresentation of the area where former Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor lived in as children.

“Those days are over, the Bronx is being rebuilt, it’s rising again,” said Bronx resident and Grammy-nominated musician Bobby Sanabria.

On Monday, Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito sent an open letter to the company owner, Michael Myers, saying they were “sickened by the despicable way” the borough was being portrayed to outsiders.

“We strongly urge you to stop profiting off of a tour that misrepresents the Bronx as a haven for poverty and crime, while mocking everything from our landmarks to the less fortunate members of our community who are availing themselves of food assistance programs.”

The tour company did not respond to calls and emails requesting comment. It was not clear whether they would resume any of their tours. And by Thursday, the website of the company was no longer accessible.

Other companies in the city still offer regular guided trips to the Bronx.

Three weeks ago, NYC & Company, the city’s tourism bureau, launched a promotion of the South Bronx as “one of our safest, most exciting boroughs,” with highlights including Art Deco architecture and the Yankees.

Real Bronx Tours has been booted from the bureau’s membership list as a result of the language they’ve been using, NYC & Company spokeswoman Kimberly Spell said.

Elena Martinez, an anthropologist and Bronx resident, offers visitors walks through the same neighborhood that was on Real Bronx Tours’ itinerary.

The human struggles on these still gritty streets have produced urban styles and sounds copied around the world, from hip hop music and outdoor murals to clothing.

“Many young Europeans come here as a pilgrimage,” Martinez said. “This was the incubator for hip-hop, salsa, jazz, Afro-Cuban music, R&B.”

She points to theaters, lavish dance halls and clubs where salsa came alive, along with some of the biggest names in music. Sanabria, a famed drummer, says he comes from a borough “that has an incredible, majestic music culture.”

And although many of the buildings now house stores and offices, or were demolished or burned down, new ones mingle with restored historic ones “and people are helping to bring the neighborhood back,” Martinez said.

“We’ve had enough of the gawkers who come to ghettoize us,” says Al Quinones, caretaker of a community park that features a garden with fruit trees and a stone outdoor amphitheater. “Their timing was bad. The Bronx is not burning, not now! Now, it’s resurgence.”

On the door to his shack on the grounds is a sign that reads: “Don’t dump on the Bronx.”

Sanabria, Martinez and other Bronx residents are meeting Friday to kick-start a counter-campaign to what they call the Bronx’s “negative image.”

They’ve calling their action “Bronx Rising.”

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

NBC New York - An Oklahoma tornado survivor with New York City roots is thankful he and his family escaped serious harm but now faces the devastating dilemma of whether to abandon the life he has built in Moore for the last 18 years.

Saad Muhammed lives in the western part of Moore, close to the Oklahoma City border. Originally from East Flatbush, he left Brooklyn in the late 1980s and has been living in Oklahoma for the last 18 years.

He was inside his home with his wife Desiree and their twin teenage boys when the tornado swept through. Saad ushered them into a tiny closet.

“I put the blanket on them, and I jumped on top of the blanket — just in case something came down and hit me first, so I could protect them,” he said.

Desiree recalled, “Our ears started popping, and we just went in there and we were like, ‘It’s coming now.’ And we could hear, it was almost like a train.”

Saad walked NBC 4 New York through his tornado-ravaged home on South Robinson Avenue in Moore Wednesday. Debris was scattered everywhere, and part of his roof was ripped off. The ceiling was caved in, with a two-by-four protruding through the living room ceiling. His children’s bedrooms were turned upside down.

With 18 years of memories, Saad and Desiree aren’t quite ready to say goodbye.

“It’s now hitting me, how difficult it is to know that you’re not coming back,” said Desiree. “And I keep wanting to come back here.”

“This is the hard part. We’re at a friend’s house, and I wake up and I’m thinking I’m in my bed. But it takes that few seconds and then I just keep wanting to come here, and I don’t want them to tear this part down,” Desiree said in tears. “I know it’s just a house, but it’s my house.”

Click here to read more.

Kiera Wilmot, 16, was a high-flying student at Bartow High School until last month when she was expelled and arrested following an experiment she conducted without supervision.

“I made the mistake of performing my experiment outside of the classroom, however that is the only mistake I feel that I have made,” Wilmot said during the conference, with her twin sister Kayla standing next to her, holding her hand.

Speaking out for the first time

Speaking for the first time since her arrest on April 22, Wilmot explained when she arrived at school she’d planned for her “project to be approved” by her science teacher but bowed to pressure from classmates.

At around 7 a.m. before the start of the school day, Wilmot mixed toilet cleaner and a tiny piece of aluminum foil in an 8oz empty plastic water bottle. It caused the lid to pop off and vapor to be released from the bottle.

“I was taken to the resource officer’s office and I was arrested,” she said at the gathering in a Lakeland church. After being handcuffed she was escorted to a “juvenile detention for a few hours before my mom got me.”

Wilmot faced possible adult charges of making, possessing or discharging a destructive device and with possessing or discharging weapons on school grounds. Both charges are felonies.

If she had been convicted the 16-year-old could have faced up to five years in prison.

A case which drew national headlines

Her case drew national attention on social media sites, with many arguing that the school and police massively overreacted. An online petition on Change.org calling for the charges to be dropped was signed by nearly 200,000 supporters.

Principal Ron Pritchard told 10 News, “She made a bad choice. Honestly, I don’t think she was trying to be malicious to harm anybody or destroy something at school. She wanted to see what would happen [when the chemicals mixed] and I think it shocked her.”

Speaking to theGrio after the press conference, Kiera’s mother Marie Wilmot said, “The bottle and cap were not damaged. There was no criminal intent. No one was hurt and no property was damaged.

“I still believe she shouldn’t have been arrested,” she adds. “She should have been disciplined at school level. They overreacted.”

Lakeland lawyer Larry Hardaway, representing Wilmot, said Wednesday everyone who attended the conference got the opportunity to see the “two girls” and the “innocence surrounding them.”

Academic future still in question

The State Attorney’s Office announced last week it will not pursue criminal charges against Wilmot, provided she completes the conditions outlined in a pretrial diversion program. Those conditions are confidential because she is a juvenile.

Wilmot, who is now attending the Bill Duncan Opportunity School for at-risk students while her family tries to negotiate with the school board about her academic future, told theGrio, “It’s been pretty hard the past month. People were teasing me at the alternative school.”

However, the 16-year-old has had some good news with an unexpected offer of full scholarship to the United States Advanced Space Academy.

“When I heard about Kiera’s situation, I looked into it and discovered she was an honor student who’d never been in any trouble,” former NASA engineer Homer Hickam told theGrio.

“To encourage her to continue her interest in science, I decided to provide her a scholarship at the Advanced Space Academy, a college-accredited program at the world famous Space Camp.

After Kiera accepted my offer, I discovered she has a twin sister, Kayla, so I started raising funds through the website Crowdtilt.com so that Kayla could go to the Academy, too. The outpouring for Kiera and Kayla was wonderful.”

Follow Kunbi Tinuoye on Twitter at @Kunbiti

People who have never experienced clinical depression have a difficult time accepting that it is a real illness. Many delay treatment because of stigma. But, clinical depression is not the result of a character flaw. One can have “character” as strong and sturdy as a mighty oak tree, but clinical depression will cut you down and make you feel weak. Clinical depression is not the same as the depression to which people refer to in everyday language to denote a state of temporary sadness. It means so much more.

My childhood was marked by turmoil. My mother struggled with addiction and my biological father with mental illness. I overcame extraordinary barriers to early achievement. I believed in myself. I achieved. I went to college and got a prestigious degree on scholarships. I felt unstoppable.

Then, I took the Law School Admissions Test and performed very well, but I wanted to pursue my dream of working in the entertainment business. I decided to delay going to law school in hopes of “making it” in New York City.

I worked intermittently as administrative assistant, but the big break I was hoping would help me to establish an entertainment career never came. Though New York City is big, the industry seemed too small to offer me the opportunity I wanted. For a while, each rejection simply felt like a new challenge to overcome.  But after the rejections piled up, my hope for a career began to dwindle. I began to feel my zest and positive outlook on life fade away. The despair I felt about my failure to reach my goal began to transition into nihilistic apathy. I felt numb. I wasn’t my usual ambitious self. I had fallen into what into what seemed like an abyss, a bottomless pit of despair, out of which I could not climb. Willpower deserted me. It was like trying to stand up right on slippery surface.

Ruminating about past mistakes would keep me awake at night and make me listless during the day.  I only had energy to watch daytime television, because it required little effort. Instead of living life, I was watching others live theirs. I had to force myself to get up get out of bed to have breakfast. I isolated myself from the few friends I had and kept encounters brief, because it took much more energy than usual to form coherent thoughts and sentences. My goal had shifted from trying to start a career to simply taking a shower and putting on clean clothes.

Migraine headaches were also a symptom of my depression. I sought treatment and was prescribed an anti-depressant for pain. Being unfamiliar with this type of drug, I was surprised that not only did headaches cease, but my mood began to improve. A few weeks into treatment, I noticed a resurgence of energy and motivation. I could accomplish daily tasks, like select clothes to wear, perform daily chores, and socialize with friends. I even got my appetite back. I started caring about my outward appearance, as well, and most importantly, I began to enjoy living. I renewed my efforts to find a job.

Unfortunately, the mood benefits of the drug began to fade after awhile and I stopped it taking it after I was diagnosed with an early stage breast cancer. The stress of dealing with the situation and my grandmother’s pleas caused me to go back home.

My New York City experience was not my only bout with clinical depression. Unfortunately, my condition persisted. I have tried different medications, therapy, and even been hospitalized. Lost days turned into years lost to persistent illness. I’ve lost jobs and relationships because of the symptoms and the stigma associated with having a mental health condition. It has taken me time to accept that this is simply a chronic illness whose symptoms come and go, just like asthma, or diabetes. Recovery, relapse, and resilience are integral parts of experiencing a mental health condition.

Though I had consistently tried different combinations of drugs and talk therapy, I had not been able to experience a sustained recovery until I applied for and was hired for a position at a community mental health agency in my home town.   My position allows me to turn my pain into power. Playing a responsible role in the recovery journey of others has increased my own self-esteem and expanded my circle of support. Having access to and learning how to utilize social support is crucial to recovery.

I’ve educated my family and friends about the illness. In turn, they have even helped me to accept responsibility for getting and staying healthy with their support. I know that stress can cause my symptom to reappear and I know when I need extra help in terms of support, medication, and therapy. I have a new lease on life. Teaching people how to reclaim their lives has helped me to reclaim mine. I educate them about their illnesses, subsequent self-esteem issues, and steps to take to recovery. I know that it can happen.

I am the evidence.

In his speech at Morehouse, the president told the graduates “we’ve got no time for excuses” and said when he was young at times he had mistakenly “wrote off my own failings as just another example of the world trying to keep a black man down.”

The first lady, at Bowie State University, said it was important to change the mindset of black children, who instead of ” dreaming of being a teacher or a lawyer or a business leader, they’re fantasizing about being a baller or a rapper.”

The rhetoric was not unusual, the president in particular has long given such speeches to black audiences. But this time, it drew strong rebukes from some black voices, all of whom are strong supporters of the president in general, who say the First Family has now delivered this message enough.

A backlash from black intellectuals

“It is hard to avoid the conclusion that this White House has one way of addressing the social ills that afflict black people — and particularly black youth — and another way of addressing everyone else. I would have a hard time imagining the president telling the women of Barnard that ‘there’s no longer room for any excuses’ — as though they were in the business of making them. Barack Obama is, indeed, the president of ‘all America,’ but he also is singularly the scold of ‘black America,’” wrote Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic in a piece.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Trevor Coleman, a former speechwriter for ex-governor Michigan Jennifer Granholm, said, “What made it so gratuitous was this was Morehouse College! In the African-American community, the very definition of a Morehouse man is someone who is a leader, who is taught to go out and make a difference in his community.”

Jamelle Bouie, a writer at the American Prospect, wrote , “That too many black students live in poor neighborhoods, attend segregated schools, and don’t have much access to the outside world has nothing to do with their effort or their priorities. Michelle Obama is a native of Chicago. I have no doubt she knows this history. Ignoring it, and focusing on the daydreams of teenagers as the real problem, is a considered choice, and a bad one at that.”

Others defended the Obamas’ tone. Jonathan Capehart, an MSNBC political commentator and Washington Post writer, cast it as another example of Obama’s black critics holding him to an impossibly high standard.

Speech has defenders despite detractors

“Obama spoke to the black men of Morehouse not as a distant president but as a familiar peer. He used his troubled past as a real-life example of how one’s limited circumstances are neither destiny nor a hindrance to achieving the American Dream, as they define it. He urged the graduates to not make excuses, to aim high and to give back,” Capehart wrote.

Rep. John Lewis and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus also praised the speech.

“I think that he said everything that needed to be said — he spoke to hearts and souls of those young brothers,” Lewis told Politics 365. “Anything that the president of the United States says it’s not going to be private. You can’t sweep the issues confronting black America under the rug or in some dark corner. They need to be out in the light for all of us to deal with it. For white and black — we’re all in the same boat.”

The debate illustrated something of a generation gap, with the Obamas delivering  a milder version of the black self-improvement rhetoric that Bill Cosby has long employed. Bouie in particular cast the debate Obama’s rhetoric as “the kind of moral scolding that is familiar to anyone who has spent time with a certain generation of African-Americans.”

According to AAA, 34.8 million Americans are expected to travel during the Memorial Day holiday weekend with 31.2 million planning to drive 50 miles or more to get to their destination. But you may not have to go that far to have a great time. A staycation allows you to enjoy your local festivities as though you are a tourist, without the costs and hassles of travelling.

From coast to coast and from sea to shining sea, we’ve complied your personal guide to some of the most fascinating and easily-accessible Memorial Day celebrations going on all around the country, with some destinations below likely within a stone’s throw of your home. These last-minute Memorial Day staycation options will have you spending more time enjoying your long weekend and less time on the road trying to get there.

Start your summer off right! Get into a staycation state of mind to save money, enjoy historic patriotic celebrations, check out unique jazz and blues festivals, and take in star-studded musical concerts — just a short drive away.

North (Mid-State)

St. Louis, MO: Blues + BBQ = A blissful weekend

- Perfect for Staycation travelers between Chicago and Memphis – 

It’s Bluesweek in St. Louis and there’s nothing like the Bluesweek Festival, a series of free live concerts that will melt your blues away. Right in the heart of Soldiers Memorial, expect stunning performances by some of best blues artist around including the legendary Mavis Staples and St. Louis’s own resident diva Kim Massie. Did I mention it’s FREE? In a matter of time, all that good music may have you wondering who has “The Best Q in the Lou?” If so, then be sure to stick around the venue for the Bunge BBQ Battle Royale, where home cooks, restaurants, bars and renowned BBQ grill masters put their cooking skills to the taste.

Chicago, IL – A ‘Chi-Town’-style extravaganza

- Perfect for Staycation travelers between St. Louis and Memphis –

Support the troops and be a part of one of the largest Memorial Day parades in the nation. From State Street to Van Buren Street, join the people of Chicago as they honor the men and women of the Armed Forces at the Chicago Memorial Day Parade. Once you’ve basked in all that festive glory, be sure to make your way to The Randolph Street Market Festival. From furnishings to vintage apparels, jewelry and classic collectibles, there’s nothing like this indoor/outdoor urban antique market hosted in the historic West Loop neighborhood.

South

Atlanta, GA: Jazz festival and fireworks unite

- Perfect for Staycation travelers between New Orleans and Charlotte -

If jazz music just warms your soul, you need to make your way to Atlanta this Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy an incredible lineup of electrifying artists performing at the Atlanta Jazz Festival. And it’s FREE! Previous artists included Miles Davis and Nina Simone. This year, the festival is sure to ‘wow’ jazz lovers of every generation with performances by the fearsome bassist and prolific songwriter Meshell Ndegeocello and the critically acclaimed Cuban pianist and award-winning composer Aruán Ortiz. After you have satiated your appetite for great music, don’t miss the a state-of-the-art laser light show that sparkles in the sky at the Salute to the Troops Lasershow Spectacular at Stone Mountain Park. It’s perfect for the entire family.

Miami, FL: A Memorial Day concert that sizzles

- Perfect for Staycation travelers between Key West and Charlotte - 

If by chance you just love reggae music — and that’s love with a capital “L” — then the Best of the Best Concert is where you want to be this Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy a 10-hour long music extravaganza right in the heart of downtown Miami’s Bicentennial Park. Expect exhilarating performances by the legendary Beres Hammond and the Grammy Award-winning King of Dancehall, Beenie Man. Once the music starts to fizzle out, be sure to make your way to the Memorial Day Ceremony in Triangle Park to witness the spectacular Presentation of Colors parade.

More staycation ideas!

East

New York City, NY: Parks, Parades and a free concert for good times

- Perfect for Staycation travelers between Boston and Baltimore -

Much like the diversity of the Big Apple, you can expect a wide array of unique events happening around town for the Memorial Day holiday. The Brooklyn Memorial Day Parade has been a neighborhood tradition since the 1800s, with many veterans often in attendance. The parade runs along Third Avenue towards Marine Avenue and continues to Fourth Avenue before making its way to John Paul Jones Park. Queens and Manhattan also have their own spectacular parades, so depending on which is closer, check them out. If you’re looking to have your three-day weekend vacation soar to even higher heights, then be sure to visit the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Enjoy several free Memorial Day weekend events, including a flight deck screening of the award-winning 1980s film Top Gun, exclusive musical performances, a commemoration ceremony Monday morning, and a discussion about African-Americans who served in WWII. Last but not least, you can also enjoy a free concert by The New York Philharmonic at Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine.

 Washington, D.C.: Unique commemorations

- Perfect for Staycation travelers between Hartford and Virginia -

How great would it be to be in the heart of the D.C. during the Memorial Day weekend? Everyone in town anticipates the National Memorial Day Parade, not to be missed if you are in the region. This timeless event will be filled with floats and marching bands along with musical performers and celebrity veterans making their way along Constitution Avenue. If you prefer getting your wheels in motion, over standing and watching, the annual Rolling Thunder bike rally boasts more than 250, 000 motorcyclists, who will be making their way from the Pentagon to the U.S. Capitol. Be sure to squeeze in some free time for a free concert by the National Symphony Orchestra on the West Lawn of the Capitol.

West

Los Angeles, CA: Festivals, more festivals and block Parties galore

- Perfect for Staycation travelers between San Francisco and Las Vegas -

You are sure to get your fill of festival fever in Los Angeles for the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Aside from the booming backyard barbecues that will be happening, music festivals and entertaining block parties of all kinds will be taking Los Angeles by storm. Join the tens of thousands of L.A. residents at the Silver Lake Jubilee Music and Arts Festival where there will be great music, local art, and plenty of food. If you prefer a little jazz in your reggae, be sure to make it to the JazzReggae Festival, where reggae artists Ziggy Marley and Barrington Levy will perform on the same stage with songstress Santigold and Chicago-born hip-hop artist Common. If you still have more room for excitement that adds a Cajun twist, make your way to the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival with sizzling performances by Leroy Thomas and the Zydeco Roadrunners, and the refreshingly talented The Mannish Boys. With three stages — the Cajun/Zydeco stage, the Blues Stage, and the Kids Stage — the Simi Valley Cajun & Blues Music Festival will feature two days of music, fun and sun with something for everyone to enjoy!

Make this Memorial Day holiday weekend the best yet by making it a staycation. Not only will your family thank you, but your pockets will, too.

Wanjira Banfield writes about travel and entertainment for theGrio. You can find her at  www.wanjirasworld.com and follow her on Twitter @wanjirasworld.

The very first time I truly experienced it was in 1984 while organizing in Jackson, Mississippi.  I was out in a supermarket area handing out leaflets when a store manager came to me to tell me I was wanted on the phone.  My initial reaction was that the owners of the store were going to advise me that if I didn’t leave the premises or stop leafleting I would be arrested.

When I got to the phone it was something much worse; it was the wailing cry of a woman, whose sound was unmistakable to me.  It was my mother; who had just been informed that her daughter, her eldest child and best friend at the time, had been murdered by a stalker who the police had refused to arrest.  So it was this week when I was on the phone with organizers and heard a woman’s wailing cry in the background.

This time it was Constance Malcolm, the mother of Ramarley Graham, an 18-year-old black teenager who was unarmed and in his own home when he was shot and killed by a New York City Police Officer.  The wailing cry of Constance was yet another alert that a great injustice had occurred.

On February 2, 2012 Ramarley Graham was on his way home in the Bronx when he somehow became identified by NYPD Street Narcotics Team as a possible drug suspect who was also armed with a gun.  The world would soon learn, that combination of description means death for young black men.

The officers followed Graham to his home and without a warrant, probable cause or an exigent circumstance they entered his home and found him in the bathroom with the door closed.  His grandmother and six-year-old brother were both present and she was asking what was going on.

Suddenly there was the sound of gun fire and Ramarley Graham lay dead from a gunshot from police officer Richard Haste.

What happened and why no one knew immediately, but many, including Ramarley’s parents, had hoped to find out because Officer Richard Haste would have to stand trial as he was indicted by a Bronx Grand Jury for manslaughter.

This past week, Constance Malcolm exploded in the Bronx Courtroom of Justice Steven Barrett when he dismissed the indictment as defective based upon an instruction given to the Grand Jury by the prosecutors.

Once again, a mother and father of a young black man in urban America are wondering whether this is justice denied.

They have good cause to be concerned. Justice is hard to come by for black and Latino families, particularly when a police officer is on the other side of the equation. Anyone who has ever watched a TV police drama or sat in a real courtroom have heard many a judge instruct the jury that the indictment is not evidence of any guilt. That decision is left to jurors who are chosen from the county of the incident and are commonly referred to as the peers of the accused. Grand jurors are instructed that they are not there to determine guilt or innocence just whether there is probable cause or sufficient evidence to charge the accused with the crime presented.

More significantly, since grand jury proceedings are secret, the only persons with complete access to what has occurred in the grand jury are the prosecutors and the judges who may come to preside over the case.  Prosecutors are held to a very high standard of fairness with regard to their presentations to the grand jury because they have the obligation to ensure that the charging process maintains the integrity of a fair and impartial presentation of the evidence.  Judges also have an obligation to not thwart justice with a selective or biased reading of what may have occurred during any grand jury presentation.

In the grand jury as it relates to Officer Richard Haste, Judge Barrett ruled that the prosecutors had improperly left the impression that the grand jurors shouldn’t consider evidence that other officers had radioed Officer Haste that Ramarley Graham had a gun.  A ruling that shocked the courtroom as it struck at the soul of justice.

For the court, this improper impression had to do with one word, “control.”  The documents associated with the case reveal that the grand jurors heard the testimony of the officers working with Haste including their testimony that they had observed Graham with a gun and that they communicated that fact to Officer Haste. Haste testified that throughout his encounter with Graham, both before and after entering the home, he believed that Graham was armed with a gun based upon the communications from his fellow officers that Graham had a gun. The prosecutors then gave a final instruction to the grand jury saying, “It is not the reasonableness of the beliefs of other police officers that was communicated to Haste that ‘controls’ the issue of justification. It is the reasonableness of Haste’s conduct at the time of the shooting.  That is the issue [that] controls the issue of justification.”  With that, Judge Barrett declared in essence that the grand jury lacked integrity, the indictment was therefore defective and must be dismissed.

Aristotle is quoted as having said “the virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom.”  They who will continue to ignore the great cause of justice and a mother’s cry for what is right, lack the wisdom to ensure equal justice for all.

Michael A. Hardy, Esq. is General Counsel and Executive Vice-President to National Action Network (NAN).  He has been involved in many of this nation’s highest profiled cases involving violations of civil or human rights.  He continues to supervise National Action Network’s crisis unit and hosts a monthly free legal clinic at NAN New York City’s House of Justice.

The move comes after months of opposition by the Chicago Teachers Union, parents, students and a teacher’s strike that shut down the nation’s third-largest school district for seven days.

Just before the Board voted Wednesday, several protesters had been removed from the room as they sang “We Shall Not be Moved.”

‘Our voices have been heard’

There were originally 54 schools planned for closure, however earlier Wednesday morning, Board vice president Jesse Ruiz confirmed with NBC Chicago that Chicago Public Schools chief executive officer Barbara Byrd-Bennett planned to withdraw her recommendation to close four schools.

George Manierre Elementary School, Mahalia Jackson Elementary School, Leif Ericson Elementary Scholastic Academy, and Marcus Garvey Elementary School, where 9-year-old Asean Johnson, who took on Mayor Rahm Emanuel at a rally, attends, will remain open.

Early Wednesday morning, parents honked their horns in excitement outside of Marcus Garvey Elementary, after they found out their school was spared.

“Our voices have been heard. We as parents came together collectively to make this happen,” said Tracie Smith, who after dropping off her child was headed to CPS headquarters for the board meeting. “I understand hearing it from the media, but I also want to hear it straight from CPS.”

‘A day of mourning’

CTU president Karen Lewis said four schools is a start, but not enough, and called the day “a day of mourning for the children of Chicago.”

CPS officials have said the proposed closings are necessary to shutter underutilized schools and help the district close the gap of a $1 billion budget deficit. Lewis strongly disagreed, saying, “Closing schools is not an education plan. It is a scorched-earth policy. Evidence shows that the underutilization crisis has been manufactured.”

Parents have continuously been concerned with safety, saying that in many neighborhoods, children will have to cross gang lines to go to school, and that chaos could ensue when students of rival schools are placed in the same building.

Since the majority of the schools on the closure list are in African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods, opponents contend that the closures unfairly target and will therefore destabilize those communities.

What happens to the displaced?

“From the start, community feedback has driven every step of this process and will drive the ongoing development of our transition plans for every school,” said CPS board president Barbara Byrd-Bennett in a statement.  “We will continue to engage with the community and work in partnership with them to ensure a safe, smooth transition for students this fall.”

CPS promises that displaced students will be sent to better-performing schools with better amenities like libraries, upgraded facilities and air conditioning.

“By consolidating underutilized and under-resourced schools, CPS can redirect its limited resources into higher performing Welcoming Schools that will provide the investments needed to create a quality, 21st century education for every child,” CPS said in a statement.

CPS said it will seek to ease the transition by putting into place “robust social and emotional supports to help students develop the skills to cope with change.” The system said it’s working with the Chicago Police Department and other city agencies to provide safe passage for kids traveling to and from school.

Consequences for Emanuel

The vote comes at an inconvenient time for Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, who marks the halfway point of his first term. “I will absorb the political consequence,” said Emanuel earlier this week.

“I know this is incredibly difficult, but I firmly believe the most important thing we can do as a city is provide the next generation with a brighter future,” Emanuel said in a statement. “More hard work lies ahead, but I am confident that together with teachers and principals, engaged parents and community support, our children will succeed.”

Dick Simpson, head of University of Illinois-Chicago political science department, noted that Emanuel was elected two years ago largely because of the African-American community in Chicago. However, a Chicago Tribune poll released earlier in May shows Emanuel’s rating in the black community has dropped sharply since the opposition over schools closing started. About 48 percent of African-Americans disapprove of his performance, compared with a third of blacks disapproving one year ago. Disapproval of Emanuel rose to 39 percent among Hispanic voters, up from 30 percent in 2012.

Lewis and other supporters of the Chicago Teachers Union have vowed to continue the fight. “Our fight for education justice has now moved to the courts, but it must eventually move to the ballot box…We must resist racism in all of its forms as well as the escalating attacks on the working class and the poor. Our movement will continue,” Lewis said.

Renita D. Young is a multimedia journalist based in Chicago. Follow her on Twitter @RenitaDYoung.

The heiress to the Hilton hotel empire broke the news during the Cannes film festival and according to her, the album won’t be hip-hop or R&B.

“This is a lot different from my first album,” Hilton told Showbiz 411. “It’s really going to be house music.”

Lil Wayne apologizes to Emmett Till family for vulgar rap lyric

Yes, Paris did indeed have a first album. Back in 2006, she released Paris, a pop album that did make waves on the Billboard charts, but received mostly negative reviews.

In the past few years, Cash Money has ventured out to find music talent outside of its traditional hip-hop wheelhouse. British pop singer Jay Sean and rocker Kevin Cossum have been bankable signees underneath the Cash Money imprint, but embracing Hilton, who’s been caught on camera using the n-word, may backfire.

Would you listen to a Paris Hilton Cash Money album? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

You can check out more of Kyle’s music coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at @HarveyWins.

The Forbes list contains political leaders, philanthropists, celebrities and CEOs. The top 100 women are ranked based on money, their media presence, and impact over the last 12 months.

Mrs. Obama has been actively fighting childhood obesity with her Let’s Move nationwide initiative, encouraging school-aged kids to eat healthy and stay active.

The mother of two actively joined the fight against gun violence early in 2013, attending Chicago shooting victim Hadiya Pendleton’s funeral and speaking at conferences to help gain support for her husband’s new gun control measures, which Congress ultimately failed to pass.

Outside of politics this year, Michelle Obama made a funny appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and announced the Academy Award for best picture.

Topping the 2013 “Most Powerful Women” list is German Chancellor Angela Merkel (No. 1), Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff (No. 2), and Melinda Gates, Co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (No. 3).

Click here to view the rest of Forbes‘ “Most Powerful Women” list.

Follow Carrie Healey on Twitter @CarrieHeals. 

Ray J is back on TV hosting Oxygen’s Bad Girls All Star Battle, the network’s newest incarnation of Bad Girls Club.

The show stars 14 of the most memorable Bad Girls under one roof competing for $100,000 and the title of “Baddest Bad Girl of All Time.”

During an interview with theGrio’s Chris Witherspoon, Ray talked about his role as host of Bad Girls All Star Battle and opened up about his controversial new song, “I Hit It First.”

“When me and my friends did the song I was just kinda joking around, and then it kinda got out and now it has a mind of its own,” Ray J explained.

In several recent interviews, the 32-year-old singer refused to confirm that “I Hit It First” is about his ex-girlfriend Kim Kardashian, even after releasing the video for his single which prominently features a Kim look-a-like. But Ray J now says although he didn’t confirm the song was about Kim, he never denied it either.

“I never denied who the song was about… For people that care this much about who the song is about, it’s cool to me,” Ray J said. “The promotion behind this song, it’s not to bash nobody, it’s not to disrespect nobody. This is what we do. This is how we live. I’m just explaining to you a concept of real life.”

Although lyrics to “I Hit It First” include:

“She might move on to rappers and ballplayers, but we all know I hit it first.”

And

“Wherever she goes, she knows she belongs in my bed.”

Ray J is adamant that he is not envious of Kim’s relationship with Kanye West.

“Nah…nah. I’m not even focused on that,” he said.

When asked to weigh in on Kanye’s new songs “Black Skinhead” and “New Slaves,” Ray J confessed that he hasn’t heard them yet, but revealed that he’s a huge Kanye fan.

“Nah, haven’t heard it yet; big fan though… huge fan.”

Fans of Ray J can tune into Bad Girls All Star Battle Tuesdays on Oxygen at 8/7C.

Follow Chris Witherspoon on Twitter at @WitherspoonC

Spokesmen for the family said Shabazz, 28, was buried near the graves of his grandparents, Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz, at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale.

According to the statement released on the family’s behalf on Tuesday, “he was surrounded by his mother Qubilah; his aunts–Attallah, Gamilah, Ilyasah, Malaak, Malikah, other family & very close friends. Surprise guest and friend, R&B recording artist, Jaheim, offered his condolences and sang acapella ‘I Miss You (For Moms)’ from his 1^st album entitled ‘Ghetto Love’. [sic]“

Malcolm Shabazz: unbearable expectations

According to the statement, Shabazz and Jaheim met at a youth rally hosted by the Terrie Williams Agency at a Queens Public Library “many years ago.”

Authorities say Shabazz was beaten to death this month following a fight in a Mexico City bar. Shabazz reportedly argued with two waiters over a $1,200 bar bill in Mexico City. The waiters have been arrested.

View the funeral program here.

The African-American singer was recently subjected to racist tweets which called on him to leave country music to “white folks.”

“Wow is this 2013 or 1913,” Rucker responded, adding,” Ill [sic] take my grand ole Opry membership and leave your racism.”

“Sometimes people will say, ‘You’re not country,’ and I know what that means, because they can’t be talking about the music,” Rucker told Rolling Stone in a recent interview. “But when somebody says to leave country music to the white folks, that is unbelievable to me… But that’s life. That’s something that I’m going to have to deal with the rest of my career, because I’m a black guy in country music and there are people who don’t like that. But it’s not going to make me quit.”

Some question the motives of Ms. magazine and say that the mag only has the pop star on the cover to boost sales. Having Beyoncé on the cover of pretty much any magazine is a no-brainer for an editor. But beyond increased sales for the magazine, the Beyoncé cover story is sparking discussion about the intersection of race and gender and more specifically about the notion of “respectability politics” that seems to only apply to women of color.

That in itself is a worthy discussion and does not at all detract from Ms. magazine’s core mission of providing intelligent and hard-hitting feminist political analysis.

Who said you can’t be sexy and a feminist?

Ms. magazine’s Facebook page contains comments that are representative of the other reasons why Beyoncé is a controversial choice for a feminist magazine cover story. Many people, simply do not see Beyoncé as a feminist even though she has labeled herself as such.

“If she’s wearing stripper outfits, dancing like a stripper for men, and calling women “b*tches,” she’s not a feminist. Despite what the so-called “third wave feminists” are claiming, feminism is NOT whatever the hell you want it to be,” said one commenter.

Comments like that harken to the notion of respectability politics and the more general discussion of whether or not you can be overtly sexy and still be a feminist. For black women, whose portrayals in media over the years often toggled between asexual Mammy and hypersexual Sapphire, any and every famous black woman is automatically given the added responsibility of “representing” for her demographic.

Is it empowering to see a multi-millionaire strut around in six-inch heels and barely-there outfits while belting out the latest “you go girl” anthem or is Beyoncé a (literally) glittering, in-your-face example of how far away we are from attaining feminist ideals in this country?  Can a woman who says “girls” run the world in one song and tells bitches to bow down in another truly be considered a feminist?

Read the story before you comment

Another commenter on the Ms. Facebook page chimed in as a peacemaker. “The cover will provoke conversation and debate, which could be good, or it could just go down the endless cycle of name-calling: “Slut!” “Slut-shamer!” “Puppet to men’s domination!” “Uptight, close-minded jealous has-beens!”

Is it possible we can have this debate WITHOUT the vitriol?” said the commenter.

Most of the commenters probably have not read the story. The typical Facebook page commenting pattern is to read a headline, don’t read the story and then make long-winded arguments about what is assumed to be in the story. For this piece in particular though, it’s worth actually reading it. Janell Hobson, the author of the cover story, penned a thoughtful, well-written, well-researched piece that brings in numerous opinions from academics and pop culture critics.

Additionally, a look at the Ms. magazine covers for the past decade or so reveals that Beyoncé is very much a departure from Ms. magazine’s usual cover aesthetics and the typical cover story. The previous issue was an illustration of a wire hanger for an article about abortion.  Author Alice Walker, a former Ms. contributor who coined the term womanism, resigned from the magazine in the 1980s citing the publication’s lack of women of color on the covers.

Regardless of the personal opinions on whether or not Beyoncé in particular is a feminist or if Ms. magazine is somehow sullying its name by having a pop star on the cover, the fact remains that the story has started a conversation amongst a diverse set of interested parties and that is a good thing.

Follow Demetria Irwin on Twitter at @Love_Is_Dope.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith has chosen hip-hop star Jay-Z’s new sports agency to represent him.

Smith, who slipped out of the first round last month and fell to the Jets in the second round at No. 39 overall, fired his agents — Select Sports — shortly after the NFL draft. The former West Virginia star met with a handful of agents before announcing Wednesday that he had chosen Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports, which is partnered with Creative Artists Agency.

Kimberly Miale, recently hired by Jay-Z, whose given name is Shawn Carter, will serve as Smith’scontract agent.

Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano and former Notre Dame star Skylar Diggins, drafted No. 3 overall by the WNBA’s Tulsa Shock, have also recently signed with Roc Nation.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

The comments came during a sarcasm-filled closing argument at a trial that pits Jacqueline Goldberg against the billionaire real estate mogul-turned TV showman.

His voice rising, attorney Shelly Kulwin portrayed the case as a battle between a powerful businessman and a woman who learned her values growing up during the Depression.

Trump, of New York, wasn’t in court for the closings. But Kulwin projected a photograph of the beaming developer on a large courtroom screen.

“The thought of my grandma being in the same room with that guy. Yuck!” said Kulwin. The judge told jurors to disregard the comment.

Later, he said Trump was motivated to cheat his client by a love for money.

“It’s like his family, those dollars,” Kulwin said.

Addressing jurors later Wednesday, defense attorney Stephen Novack accused Kulwin of resorting to personal attacks on Trump out of desperation and a lack of evidence.

Goldberg alleges Trump persuaded her to buy two condos at around $1 million apiece in Chicago’s glitzy Trump International Hotel & Tower by promising she would share in building profits. But, Goldberg says, Trump reneged after she committed to the investment.

“It’s called a bait and switch,” Kulwin told jurors. “Here’s the bait. Here’s the switch.”

But Trump’s attorney described Goldberg as a detail-oriented investor who knew the contract that she signed stipulated Trump could cancel the profit-sharing offer as he saw fit.

“She knows the drill,” he said. “Nobody put a gun to her head (to sign).”

Since the contract gave Trump rights to change the profit-sharing offer, Novack said the onus was on Goldberg’s attorneys to prove Trump secretly plotted to defraud her before she even signed up to buy.

“What do they call it? A bait and switch,” he said. “Switch is not enough. … There is no evidence whatsoever of a secret plan.”

In two days of sometimes combative testimony last week, Trump denied cheating Goldberg. And he told reporters outside court that he was the victim, not her. He declared, “She’s trying to rip me off.”

On Wednesday, though, Kulwin said Trump took the stand “to lie, evade and spout infomercials.” He also mocked Trump for telling jurors he never took notes of business meetings and so couldn’t say for sure when certain decisions were made and by whom.

“People who don’t want to be found out don’t write things down. They’re not stupid,” he said. “And Donald Trump may be a lot of things, but he’s not stupid.”

Kulwin told jurors Goldberg was seeking a total of $6 million in damages.

“Send a message not just to Mr. Trump — but to tell others like him,” he said pounding his hand on a podium. “You can say to them, ‘These people who do these things have crossed the line.’”

___

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Jamie Foxx is playing the president. Will Smith and his son Jaden are reuniting for the first time since The Pursuit of Happyness and Idris Elba is anchoring another futuristic sci-fi epic.

What should black audiences flock to this summer? TheGrio has the ideal guide for you.

Check out our slideshow of the best of the best Hollywood offerings that are currently playing or will be shortly.

Jordan said at a Tuesday press conference he has informed the league of his decision and is optimistic the NBA board of governors will approve the name change when they convene in July.

Charlotte will remain the Bobcats next season, but if all goes as planned Jordan anticipates his team will become the Hornets for the start of the 2014-15 season.

Jordan says the team listened to the fans and “the fans wanted the name back.”

NBA deputy commissioner and COO Adam Silver previously said it would take about 18 months for the Bobcats to change their name.

The Hornets resided in Charlotte from 1988-2002 before then-owner George Shinn relocated the team to New Orleans.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

A spokeswoman for the family said Shabazz was laid to rest near his grandparents at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale on Tuesday.

Authorities say Shabazz was beaten to death earlier this month in a dispute over a $1,200 bar bill in Mexico City. Two waiters have been arrested in the case.

The 28-year-old Shabazz had a troubled life, from setting a blaze in his grandmother’s apartment that resulted in the death of Malcolm X’s widow, Betty Shabazz, to stints in juvenile hall and prison.

At the time of his death, he seemed to be seeking redemption with plans to write a memoir and denouncing youth violence.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

A spokesman for the 71-year-old singer says Franklin will reschedule two shows and resume her touring schedule in July.

Publicist David Brokaw provided no other details Tuesday.

Franklin announced earlier this month that she would cancel scheduled performances in Chicago and Connecticut this week to undergo medical treatment. She did not specify what type of treatment she was receiving.

Franklin appeared on the season finale of “American Idol” last week via satellite, singing a medley of her hits with the show’s female finalists.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

A new study released Tuesday by Prudential finds African-Americans retire earlier than the general population on average, despite significantly lower retirement savings.

About 25 percent of African-Americans surveyed expect to retire before age 60, compared to 20 percent of the general population. Among current retirees, the average retirement age for African-Americans is 56, according to the study, three years younger than the general population.

Yet African-Americans are also retiring with a far more meager financial cushion than average. Even if they participate in 401(k)s and other retirement accounts, the Prudential study found African-Americans have a median savings of $9,000 in their employer-sponsored plans, compared to $20,000 among the general population.

“If you couple the fact that African-Americans are retiring earlier with smaller balances (in retirement savings), that really is a challenge for many families,” says Michael Davis, a senior vice president for Prudential Retirement.

Lower balances are the result of several factors, the study found, including taking loans or withdrawals from plans before retirement age for immediate needs. “The number one financial priority that African-Americans identified was paying down debt,” Davis says. “For the general population it was saving for retirement.”

Click here to read more.

It’s a practically invisible disease with a few subtle symptoms. And even after you’ve been diagnosed, it can seem pretty harmless and easy to ignore. But, if not properly cared for, its progressive effects can put you at risk for heart disease, stroke even kidney disease.

African-Americans develop high blood pressure more often, and at an earlier age, than whites and Mexican-Americans. More African-American women have high blood pressure than African-American men and they have higher rates of hospitalization.

What causes high blood pressure? Research shows that high salt and sodium intake plus low potassium intake – due to not eating enough fruits and vegetables – and excessive alcohol consumption can contribute to developing high blood pressure.

DASH to a better diet

For that reason, lifestyle changes such as those in the DASH eating plan have been shown to significantly help control high blood pressure. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. In fact, the DASH eating plan is recognized as the diet of choice for preventing and managing high blood pressure in African-Americans. The diet is rich in fruits, vegetables, and low fat dairy products, and is low in fats and cholesterol.

Theoretically, DASH should be an easy fix. But according to researchers at Duke University Medical Center, DASH is easier said than done – at least for African Americans. In a recent study, Duke researchers were interested in determining what factors predicted who would adhere to the DASH eating plan. African-American participants in the study were less likely than white participants to follow the DASH eating plan.

Why? Because traditional African-American food choices and cooking methods weren’t taken into consideration. The good news is, if you can’t phantom the idea of giving up your traditional food there are still steps you can take to lower sodium in your diet.

How Salt Makes you Fat

Ditching the salt shaker is an obvious and great first step, however “contrary to popular belief, the salt shaker is the least of your worries,” says Marisa Moore, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In fact, “77 percent of sodium in the diet comes from packaged and restaurant foods,” she adds.

According to Tammy and Lyssie Lakatos, authors of The Secret to Skinny: How Salt Makes You Fat, processed meat, frozen pizza and Chinese food are the worst offenders when it comes to making your blood pressure go up. And that’s not all. “Salt makes you hungrier, thirstier and it increases cravings.

Plus, it seems that [salt] may cause your fat cells to hold more fat,” says the Lakatos, also known as the Nutrition Twins. Reducing sodium is as good for your waistline as it is for your blood pressure. So get started today!

The 8 Worst Foods

Processed meats: Any meat preserved by smoking, curing, salting or with the addition of chemical preservatives fit into this category, including ham, bacon, sausage, hot dogs and luncheon meats.

“In a three-ounce serving of most of these meats it’s easy to swallow 1,200 mg of sodium,” says The Nutrition Twins. And if you have high blood pressure you’ve already almost met your daily quota for sodium, which should be less than 1,500 milligrams per day.

Advice: Steer clear of these meats or at least opt for reduce sodium varieties.

Frozen Pizza:  “The combination of salty foods spells trouble for blood pressure.  The dough, tomato sauce, cheese and then processed meats added on top can cause an individual serving of frozen pizza to clock in at close to 2400 mg sodium,” says The Nutrition Twins.

Advice: Make your own with low fat cheese, lean meat and extra veggies.

Chinese Food:  The sauce in Chinese dishes is loaded with sodium. “ Something as innocent-sounding as Beef with Broccoli can have 3,752 mg sodium,” says The Nutrition Twins, and “that’s thanks to things used in the cooking like soy sauce and Teriyaki sauce that have about 1,000 mg of sodium in just a tablespoon.”

Nutrition Twin advice: Order your sauce on the side and use it sparingly.

Ready-to-eat boxed meals and side dishes: Along with the convenience comes a hefty dose of sodium. A 5-ounce frozen turkey and gravy dinner can have 787 milligrams of sodium. Half of a 16.5 ounce chicken pot pie can pack 800 milligrams of sodium.

Advice: Look for brands with less sodium.

Sugar-sweetened beverages: “We tend to associate excess sugar with higher blood sugar and diabetes” says Moore. “However, excess sugar intake has been linked to high blood pressure levels as well.”

Moore’s advice: Keep added sugars at a minimum. You can do this by avoiding sugary beverages like soft drinks, iced tea and fruit punch.

Canned and pickled vegetables and vegetable juice: While a great substitute when fresh is not available, canned and pickled vegetables are typically laden with preservatives or sauces and seasonings that add extra sodium. A cup of canned cream-style corn may contain 730 milligrams of sodium. Advice – read the nutrition facts panel. Look for descriptions such as “no salt added” and “reduced sodium.”

Bouillon, canned and instant soup: On average, a cup of canned chicken noodle soup contains as much as 760 milligrams of sodium. Eat the entire can — which makes two-and-a-half servings – and you’ll get 1,800 milligrams of sodium.

Advice: Look for brands with reduced-sodium or no salt added. For instant soup or oriental noodles, reduce the sodium by using half of the seasoning packet.

Canned Tomato Products and tomato juice: Canned tomato sauce and tomato juice are loaded with sodium. One cup of tomato juice contains 680 milligrams of sodium. One serving of spaghetti with meat sauce has over 1,300 milligrams of sodium.

Advice: Look for low or reduced sodium options.

May is National High Blood Pressure Education Month, click here to learn more about high blood pressure and ways you can reduce sodium in your diet.

Constance Brown-Riggs, MSEd, RD is an award winning registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, and national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She is the author of The African American Guide To Living Well With Diabetes and Eating Soulfully and Healthfully with Diabetes. Follow Brown-Riggs on twitter @eatingsoulfully.

Even though rapper Eve hasn’t dropped an album in over 10 years, her presence in the genre is still felt by her fans.

Her latest album, Lip Lock is currently available and while she experiments with some pop and reggae elements lyrically, the pit bull in a skirt wanted to get back to spitting hard bars.

Eve on interracial dating: ‘Black men have been doing it for years’

“What was important for me for this album was that the people who fell in love with me on the first album with Ruff Ryder’s would still recognize me on this album,” Eve recalled.

Rapper Eve says she wants her biracial kids to be ‘colorblind’

During the late 90s, women emcees were plentiful in both numbers and quality. One of Eve’s more famous verses appeared on the Missy Elliott posse cut, “Hot Boyz (Remix)”, and it was one of her greatest hits.

The Philly rapper wishes the current crop of lady spitters would create more music together like their male counterparts.

“It’s annoying,” said Eve about the lack of unity between the women rappers. “We were able to kinda get along back then in 90′s. I don’t want to say everyone were best-best friends , but it wasn’t about that. It was about making good music. I think that’s what’s lost right now.”

Check out what else Eve had to say in the video and let us know what you think in the comments below.

You can check out more of Kyle’s music coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at @HarveyWins.

Sergio Garcia’s ‘fried chicken’ jab at Tiger Woods is the latest exchange between the two golf pros that began nearly two weeks ago at The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra, Florida.

Garcia quickly apologized for the comments and called his remarks “silly.”

Woods isn’t laughing. He responded Wednesday morning via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/337186266762321920

https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/337186519779508224

https://twitter.com/TigerWoods/status/337186637270372352

This is not the first time a fellow golf pro has associated Tiger Woods with fried chicken. Following Woods historic Masters victory in 1997, Fuzzy Zoeller joked that reporters should tell the 21-year-old not to serve fried chicken or collard greens at 1998′s Champions Dinner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aWS0StFM5I

The dinner takes place each year during Tuesday night of Masters week and the previous year’s winner chooses the menu.

Zoeller offered a direct apology to the golf star, which Woods later accepted. Garcia’s initial apology was offered via a statement from the European Tour:

“I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during the European Tour Players’ Awards dinner. I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner.”

Garcia later added to Sky Sports  that he regrets his comment and didn’t mean it in a bad way.

“Obviously, everyone knows I’m not racist at all. But I’d like to apologize to everybody that or whoever who felt offended by it. Like I said, I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I guess it just came out wrong.”

No mention of Woods, directly.

Sky Sports then asked Garcia if he was caught off guard by the question. Garcia said he was trying to be “spontaneous.”

“That’s the first thing I kind of thought of American food. That’s the first thing that came to my mind. It’s unfortunate but I understand that I was wrong and I have no problem admitting it.”

It’s important to note that Woods and Garcia are not rivals. Woods has won a staggering 14 majors and 78 PGA Tour events.

Garcia has not won a major and has earned eight PGA Tour wins.

Woods wants to put this spat with Garcia behind him and he will.

The other golfers have Garcia to thank for adding more fuel to Woods’ fire, but the world’s best golfer may not need racial insults to motivate him to win golf tournaments.

He already does.

But betting against Woods now is more foolish than it’s ever been.

Follow theGrio’s Todd Johnson on Twitter @rantoddj

CHICAGO — With just hours until the fate of school closings is known in the third-largest district in the nation, students have joined their parents and teachers in protest and raised their voices in opposition to the mass shutter.

Heralded as the future mayor of Chicago in the year 2025, 9-year-old Asean Johnson, has spoken at school board meetings and hearings, and fired up a crowd of hundreds in a protest against school closings Monday that concluded three days of marches on the city’s South and West sides.

“I wanted to be there to support my school and for the other schools that are closing, because really, I think that no school should be closing,” he told theGrio.

A billion dollar budget gap

In March, Chicago Public Schools chief executive officer Barbara Byrd-Bennett announced plans to close 53 elementary schools and one high school. Chicago public school officials have said the proposed closings are necessary to shutter underutilized schools and help the district close the gap of a $1 billion budget deficit.

Asean spoke about what many other protesters contend: that the school closures unfairly affect African-American and Hispanic communities, since many of them are in African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods.

“What Rahm Emanuel is doing is not fair, ‘cause you’re doing that to all the black schools in the neighborhood,” Asean said. “That’s just doing racism, just like the Civil Rights Movement. We shall not be moved!”

Asean’s school is slated for closure

Asean attends Marcus Garvey School on the South Side of Chicago, which is slated for closure. Should the school close, students will be sent to Mount Vernon Elementary, just a few blocks down the street. The two schools have historically been rivals and parents are concerned that the two groups of children won’t blend well in the same building.

Safety has risen as one of the main concerns if 54 schools close simultaneously. In many neighborhoods like Asean’s, kids will have to cross gang lines to attend their new school. He shared how afraid he was to walk the few extra blocks to attend Mount Vernon. “It’s a million things that can happen if you walk those extra blocks,” he said.

Parents, teachers and students have been confused at the Chicago Public Schools’ definition of “underutilized” and “lower-performing.” One test score comparison shows Chicago Public Schools’ classifies Mount Vernon, the “welcoming” school for Marcus Garvey students, as in good standing, a higher classification than Marcus Garvey. However, its student performance was further below average than Marcus Garvey’s, with less than 40 percent of students at or above the national Scantron average, according to district website reports.

“Mount Vernon was a school that they put in millions of dollars to re-do the school,” said Shoniece Reynolds, Asean’s mother. “So therefore, I feel that’s the reason why they are closing Marcus Garvey.” Reynolds started a petition on Change.org to save Marcus Garvey, a school which she says she chose to send her son to after being a private school parent.

‘Why we have to fight’

“Marcus Garvey Math and Science School is a neighborhood school with Magnet School expectations. Closing Marcus Garvey will hinder the stability of our children; affect them academically and place them in unnecessary danger,” the petition reads.

The system promises that displaced students will be sent to better-performing schools with better amenities like libraries, upgraded facilities and air conditioning. “We have what we need at Marcus Garvey,” Asean said describing new science labs, computer labs, air conditioning and other amenities.

Barely tall enough to reach the podium, the junior activist lead a chant that reverberated throughout downtown Chicago Monday, “Education is a right. That is why we have to fight.”

Asean sent a clear message to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: “We are not toys. We are not going down without a fight.”

Renita D. Young is a multimedia journalist based in Chicago. Follow her on Twitter @RenitaDYoung.

Grand Central Publishing says the “Good Morning America” anchor will be writing the as-yet-untitled book for publication next April.

The publisher announced Wednesday that Roberts will write about her rare illness and her recovery, as well as the life lessons she continues to learn since her return to the “GMA” anchor desk.

The ABC News host underwent a bone marrow transplant in September to treat the blood and bone marrow disease. She was off work for five months before returning to the top-rated network morning show in February.

Her first book, “From the Heart: 7 Rules to Live By,” was a New York Times best-seller in 2007.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.