Meek Mill always reps for his Philadelphia hometown, but the City of Brotherly put a cramp in his pockets. Thus, the MMG rapper is suing the City of Philadelphia for costing him millions in endorsement deal money with Puma thanks to a suspect arrest…. Continue
Nas wasn’t the only rap star on day no. 2 of Coachella’s star-studded bill. Pharrell Williams rocked the stage with a number of his talented musical friends including Gwen Stefani, Odd Future, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes and more… Continue
Of all the females in the world, former Louisiana State University linebacker Tahj Jones and offensive tackle Brandon Winey had to pick the same girl to lust after.… Continue
Ladies, you know how it is. The weather breaks and you want to show a little leg in a nice full skirt that just so happens to hit you right above the knee. And that’s all fine and dandy until the wind decides to expose all of your business for the world to see. It happens to the best of us. Even our beloved First Lady, Michelle Obama, almost fell victim to this terrible fate. But her husband, President Obama, being the gentleman that he is, was there to save the day… Continue
According to KHOU Houston:
Deadra Pattum and her fiancé John Marsden have a bone to pick with Y Beauty Supply in southeast Houston. The couple said they were humiliated inside the store last week when they stopped by to purchase some hair extensions. “I’m not a thief,” said Pattum. They said they were over-billed for a pair of $3 earrings they never took. “I picked them up but I put them back,” said Pattum. “The owner said you people always steal,” said Marsden. “And he said give me the earrings and I call police. My rights were revoked.
The couple claimed they were threatened and forced to remain in that store. Marsden said he was intimidated by the manager and ordered to strip down and be searched. “So I took off my socks and shoes and I took off my pants,” said Marsden. “I was nervous.” Within minutes, a security officer showed up, and immediately looked at the surveillance video. “She never left the counter with those earrings in her hand,” the guard said. “There was no evidence of shoplifting.” Houston Police agreed. Their officers looked at the same video and found no evidence of shoplifting. Activist Quanell X is now involved.
“This was a classic case of racial profiling in its most humiliating form,” said Quanell X. “And something needs to be done about this.” The owners of the store refused to discuss the specific incident but said shoplifting is a big problem at their business. But Pattum insists she and her fiancé did nothing wrong.
“Everybody doesn’t shoplift,” said Pattum. “Everybody is not a thief. There are still honest people in the world.”
Wow. Over $3 earrings though?????? Craziness.
KHOU
If these walls could talk… what would they say?
Jay Z and Beyoncé were caught mid-convo during their lunch date at Gjelina restaurant in Venice this afternoon. Hit the flip for more photos from their outing, but before you do — Caption This!
INFPhoto
The outrage in the African-American community over the racially offensive “blackface” imagery that has become increasingly present in the media and communities across the world over the past year is usually met with understanding, but what about the same tactic used to imitate other cultures?
Supermodel Heidi Klum, who heads up the German version of “American’s Next Top Model” has been catching a slew of backlash over her recent decision to have the competing models do a Native-American inspired photo shoot, which some viewers felt was racist.
via Weedr
Heidi Klum has unusually found herself in some hot water recently. In the German variant of Next Top Model where Klum mentors a group of contestants, a promoted theme was Native American, and the typically much-loved Ultramodel has been getting accosted and highly criticized over the decision.
Posted to her public Facebook page, the gallery of photos in question is open for anyone to see. Comprising the gallery are a series of editorial styled fashion photos in sepia tones, and the models are in various renditions of traditional Native American attire and make-up. The problem is the attire and shoot are striking most as an attempt that merely furthers stereotypes rather than anything else.
The term ‘Redface’ is what’s being tossed around.
Klum has made no public offering of apology or defense. A spokesman for GNTP’s company ProSieben, was quoted telling The Independent on behalf of Heidi and the show:
We have nothing but the utmost esteem for the Native American culture and are so sorry if our shoot was offensive to anyone. By no means was our intention to insult Native Americans or in any way demean their heritage. We sincerely apologize.
Do you think this imagery of women of other races dressed and made up as Native Americans is racist or offensive? Let’s discuss.
Twitter can be a mean place. However, sometimes it offers up a big old dose of happiness. Like today, a hashtag #BlackWomanAppreciationDay started and we couldn’t be happier. Here are some of the celebratory tweets and a few Black women we appreciate. Take a look.
Flo Rida and Uncle Sam finally kissed and made up.
Now that he has settled his tax debt, he needs to work on fixing his baby mama drama next.
According to TMZ:
Flo Rida is no longer a tax fugitive — the rapper has just settled with Uncle Sam over a $1.2 million tax bill.
The feds filed the tax lien against Flo earlier this year, claiming he owed a total of $1,197,655 in back taxes stemming from the years 2009 – 2011.
It’s unclear if Flo paid the full amount — but whatever he paid, the government was happy … because it just extinguished the lien … meaning he’s off the hook.
Hopefully, he continues to handle his business and won’t rack up this much tax debt again.
WENN
Did these show endings have you feeling some type of way?
Drinking potty water? That isht cray.
They really couldn’t come up with a better plan than this?
via Daily Mail
Grappling with a three-year drought, a North Texas city is awaiting word from the state to re-use wastewater, including some from toilet flushes, for drinking.
Mother Nature’s been stingy with Wichita Falls, a city of about 104,000 near the Oklahoma border that’s about 34 inches behind on rainfall over the past three years.
The wastewater re-use program will save a third of residents’ current daily usage, Schreiber said. Fifty percent of the water would come from toilets, dish and clothes washers, and sinks, showers and baths.
One Wichita Falls woman resident can’t get past consuming water that would in part come from toilets
.
‘Honestly, would anyone be OK drinking potty water?’ House of Flowers owner Karen Gibson said. ‘For my plants, that would be no problem. That would be a fertilizer, so to speak. I don’t think it could be any good for anybody’ to drink.If approved by state regulators, the re-use project will blend the wastewater with 50 percent from the city’s two reservoirs — Lake Arrowhead and Lake Kickapoo — in a four-step treatment method.
Would you drink toilet water if you had no other choice?
Seven years is a long time to be held against your will.
A brave Massachusetts woman is coming forward to share her story after spending 7 years as a victim of sex trafficking.
According to NY Daily News:
When it comes to sex trafficking, it can happen anywhere and to anyone. That’s the frightening message a Massachusetts mother and former prisoner of America’s sex trade is hoping to get out while sharing her own story of being beaten and intimidated for seven years.
Jasmine Marino-Fiandaca was 18 years old and part of a big working-class family in Revere, Mass., when she says she was targeted by a man whom she thought was her boyfriend.
“He groomed me,” the now 32-year-old recently recalled to SeaCoastOnline. “He bought me fancy clothes and shoes, spent money on me. He drove a Mercedes. I felt very special. He said, ‘You could make a ton of money if you just worked in these massage parlors.’”
It wasn’t before long, however, that manipulation turned into enslavement.
She was beaten, intimidated, and ultimately forced to do things she never would have dreamed of doing.
Her first job — she says she remembers like it was yesterday — was working 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. shifts at a massage parlor in Connecticut, every day.
Today she’s working with at-risk youth and teenage runaways. “When you see my face and you hear my story people are kind of shocked … ‘You look like a regular girl next door,’” she says of people’s reaction to her.
We’re glad she was able to get away. Her story needs to serve as a warning for young women to be careful who they associate with.
“All I wanna say is that, they don’t really care about us..”
via Clutch Magazine
The Center for American Progress issued a report on Friday that confirms that low-income students of color not only have less experienced teachers, but also less effective teachers.
The study analyzes teacher evaluation scores in low-income and affluent districts in both Massachusetts and Louisiana.
In Louisiana, a student within a school at the highest-poverty quartile is almost three times as likely to be taught by a teacher rated “ineffective” as a student in a school in the lowest-poverty quartile. And in Massachusetts, students in high-poverty schools are three times as likely to be taught by a teacher rated “unsatisfactory” than students in low-poverty schools.
A second report indicates the root cause is an unequal distribution of teachers. While No Child Left Behind previously asked states to devise plans to ensure equitable distribution, subsequent waivers gave states the flexibility to deviate from those requirements.
“Poor students and students of color are less likely to get well-qualified or high-achieving teachers than students from higher-income families or students who are white,” says the report.
This definitely has to end. All students should have an equal opportunity to receive a quality education.
