Brown, who was born in Gaston, N.C., was 75.

Earlier this month, Brown’s family revealed that he had pneumonia. He had canceled a planned performance at the newly reopened Howard Theatre in April due to health concerns.

Continue reading at HuffingtonPost…

Dr. Shaquille O’Neal 

Related: Amar’e Stoudemire Says Fans Have ‘Wrong Perception’ Of Glass Incident

“Just enrolled at the University of Miami. Working on continuing my education,” he tweeted Monday, along with a picture of himself and another man throwing up the school’s “U” sign. The university confirmed Stoudemire registered for summer classes.

In 2002, Stoudemire bypassed college to enter the NBA draft after graduating from Cypress Creek High School in Orlando, FL. He was selected 9th overall by the Phoenix Suns.

The New York Knicks fell to the Miami Heat (4-1) in the first round of the NBA playoffs.

Source

]]> http://uptownmagazine.com/2012/05/ny-knicks-star-enrolls-at-university-of-miami/feed/ 0 http://uptownmagazine.com/2012/05/whiskey-lube-and-other-sex-ideas-clearly-invented-by-dudes/ http://uptownmagazine.com/2012/05/whiskey-lube-and-other-sex-ideas-clearly-invented-by-dudes/#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 20:40:58 +0000 UPTOWN http://uptownmagazine.com/?p=50436 Don’t most sexual aids and/or practices begin in the mind of a clueless man? You know they do.

Courtesy of BlackBook

The sex toy industry is a 15 billion-dollar enterprise with a 30 percent growth rate. There are a lot of new products on the market. One such product penetrated our inbox last night. It is called Whiskey Dick. As per the release, “EpicMealTime’s whiskeylube is water based, hand crafted and proudly Made in America. The gold standard of booze-flavored massage oils, it’s aged four years in white oak casks and guarantees a velvety-smooth finish.” Whiskeylube, it occurs to me, doesn’t seem like an idea that popped up while a bunch of lady-friends were sitting around their book club …

Continue reading at BlackBook

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Courtesy of Hello Beautiful

Raven Symone, who has long been rumored to be a lesbian, has allegedly come out of the closet! Word on the street is that Raven is shacking up with AzMarie Livingston, the androgynous beauty seen on “America’s Next Top Model.” The two are living together in Raven’s luxury $11,00-a-month New York City condo.

Continue reading at Hello Beautiful

Courtesy of BlackBook

Tonight, The Fortune Society will throw a gala at the Trump Soho. One of the performers will be John Forte, known for his production of the Fugees and a fall from grace that ended with a 14-year prison sentence. He served seven years until George W. Bush, on his last day in office, commuted his sentence. John served time in Fort Dix Federal Correctional Facility, a sad place. I spent time in Schuylkill, another sad place. I made the most of it and came out a better person. I used my time to learn to write (a little), design a little, and prepare myself for a productive life. If not for friends, family, and business partners who believed in me, my return to society would not have been as easy. It wasn’t easy and life as you know it isn’t available to me. The simple things – like opening a bank account or renting an apartment – became huge obstacles to normalcy. There is the sentence you get from the judge and then there is the sentence society continually exacts beyond the time and fines. A person without a support system can find help with The Fortune Society.

Before his arrest and conviction, John Forte was VIP at my joint LIFE and every place everywhere. He was a brilliant success and a great guy with a zillion-dollar smile. I haven’t seen him since we both took our hits. Here’s an e-mail chat with John.

I haven’t seen you in a while, since we last hung out which, I believe, was at Life. We both have spent some time inside. This experience has had a profound effect on both of us. We have some talents and support systems and are now doing our thing but, for most, they reenter society without much help or chance to prosper. Tell me about your reentry and your dedication to changing a very flawed system.
I felt like the invisible man when I came home (in a post 9/11 era, no less!).  Walking into a building in New York City without identification and having to explain to the security guards that I’d just returned from prison and was going through the process of getting a driver’s license, passport, etc. was demoralizing and a bit humiliating.  But I had/have, as you mentioned, an incredible support system of friends and family who refused to let me get down on myself when I felt alienated and unsure of my footing in the world after being gone for more than seven years. My sentence was commuted – not pardoned, as it is widely reported. I was also fortunate enough to have a probation officer who was thorough, albeit supportive. In prison, I witnessed egregious abuses of power. I have heard about similar abuses of power within the probation system after convicted felons reenter society.  I was truly blessed not to have suffered from that.

As a public figure, I knew I didn’t have the luxury of pretending that what happened did not. Instead of telling people (young people, in particular) how they should live their lives, I felt duty-bound to tell my story. Perhaps by conveying the mistakes I made that led me to receiving a 14-year prison term, the audience might think twice before they do anything that would risk their freedom. I was and remain determined to produce qualitative and substantive art that encourages the listeners to question everything, to speak truth to power, and to take nothing for granted.

None of us are perfect and neither are our systems – our criminal justice system included. There is a great deal of work that needs to happen in order to make our criminal justice system fairer and less discriminatory. The task can seem daunting, but that is no excuse not to try to make a difference. Every little dent makes an impact. While some dents might be larger than others, they all contribute to a reformation of the initial structure; therein lies the art and the beauty of collective dissidence.

Continue reading at BlackBook

Related: Sheree Whitfield On Moving On From ‘Real Housewives Of Atlanta’

The series centers around a successful gay couple from Beverly Hills who long for a child of their own. They cross paths with a single mother with a less than glamorous lifestyle who eventually becomes the guys’ surrogate. Leakes will have a recurring role as Rocky, the secretary to one of the male characters.

Related: A First Look At Meagan Good’s ‘Infamous’ [VIDEOS]

Leakes described her character to reporters at the network’s upfront presentation Monday night. She said:

“I’m Rocky, one of the gay guy’s assistants. I take it very personal, honey, if you talk about my gays, honey. Only I can talk about them and I’m fabulous. She’s very different from Roz Washington on Glee; she’s always in workout outfits and sneakers. Rocky wears high heels every day. This is very fitting for me because in my real life, you don’t mess with my gays, honey. I don’t play that.

I hope to stay on Glee, I hope to still be a Housewife and I hope to do The New Normal. I just want to do it all! Why not? I’m only going to be young for a little while longer.”

The New Normal is scheduled on NBC’s fall line-up for Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET. Check out the preview below!

Courtesy of The Root

You can talk all day long about the troubling pressure many women feel to obtain a perfect figure (whether it’s inspired by Victoria’s Secret or King Magazine), but few stories will do as much as this one to illustrate how problematic that quest can be. Los Angeles resident April Brown says she had to have multiple limbs removed after living for five years in “excruciating pain,” all as the result of silicone butt injections gone wrong.

Continue reading at The Root

President Barack Obama

Related: Why Religious African Americans Should Support President Obama On Same Sex Marriage

The White House released financial disclosure documents Tuesday showing the couple’s assets over the last year. According to the documents, the couple’s assets total between nearly $2.6 million and nearly $8.3 million. The first family’s assets were worth between $1.8 million and nearly $12 million in 2010.

The disclosure form requires public officials to list their assets in broad ranges (ex. $1.8 million to $12 million) which makes it difficult to determine their precise net worth.

The disclosure reports the Obamas’ 30-year mortgage on their Chicago home worth between $500,000 and $1 million with an interest rate of 5.625 percent. President Obama’s books, “Dreams From My Father,” “The Audacity of Hope” and “Of Thee I Sing,” have totaled between $250,000 and $2.1 million in royalties.

Source

Courtesy of EURWeb

Black women, there is an article out there in the online universe that shows concern for a phenomena that directly affects you.

According to the author of the article, the black woman is desensitizing her man with her big, sexy ass and causing her man to be more aggressive than normal.

Okay, okay, okay! Before you go off about this being some white supremacist rhetoric about black men becoming savages due to the black woman’s naturally endowed gluteus maximus, you should know it is nothing like that.

This is a black woman who dares to care about the numerous levels of abuse black woman endure while objectifying themselves with their “ass.”

Continue reading at EURWeb