BlackBanter

This week, another young black man, who just happened to be a good friend of mine, was senselessly killed by gun violence. This madness has to stop. We have to do whatever we can to stop the spread of illegal guns. 

"What we’ve said to the girls is, ‘If you guys ever decided you’re going to get a tattoo, then mommy and me will get the exact same tattoo in the same place. And we’ll go on YouTube and show it off as a family tattoo,” “And our thinking is that might dissuade them from thinking that somehow that’s a good way to rebel."

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President Obama, when asked about his daughters getting tattoos…the Leader of the Free World is a funny dude…

Washington Post

Tyler Perry Sued for Allegedly Stealing 'Temptation' Screenplay →

Well if he did steal that script, it sho wasn’t worth it, because the dialog in that film was awful…

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noiseymusic:

Weekly Drop

James Blake is still being awesome, Lana del Rey debuts her track on the much hyped ‘The Great Gatsby’ soundtrack and Kelis is back with a bang.

Read on Noisey.com

"Rap music is so diverse in its themes, its style, its content but when it becomes a vehicle to be talked about in mainstream news, the rap that gets in national news is always the rap music that perpetuates misogyny that is most obscene in its lyrics and then this comes to stand for what rap is. Really its for me the perfect paradigm of colonialism, that is to say, we think of rap music as a little third-world country, that young white consumers are able to go to and take out of it whatever they want. We would have to acknowledge that what young white consumers, primarily male, oftentimes suburban, most got energized by in rap music was misogyny, obscenity, pugilistic eroticism and therefore that form of rap began to make the largest sums of money."

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bell hooks, cultural criticism — rap: authentic expression or market construct?  (via sukforhonesty)

The idea that young white consumers have steered the direction of rap music may be a cop out…was it not young black consumers that turned away from the De La Souls and Tribe Called Quests first? Young whites may have amplified the glorification of the more obscene elements of rap, but I don’t know if they led the way or profited from it the way that colonial powers gained from the pilfering of some nonindustrial nation. The corporate entities that own the major music labels could be seen as the Rhodes of our day..

(Source: ellesugars)

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npr:

The New York rapper’s political and layered rhymes have been pegged as “conscious rap,” a label that has now become pejorative. His latest album challenges that image, paying homage to old-school hip-hop and working with the present.

via Talib Kweli On Mainstream Hip-Hop, Parenting And Honoring The Old School : The Record

Photo: Courtesy of Press Here Publicity

I paint a picture with the pen like Norman Mailer… — tanya b.

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Good Morning…check out today’s Google Doodle celebrating the 96th birthday of the Queen of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald…very cool…

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Kelly Rowland joins Gabrielle Union, Halle Berry and Kerry Washington on People Magazine’s list of World’s Most Beautiful 2013…I love that Kelly is getting some shine for her beauty because I don’t think she gets enough credit for her sexiness…I just wish they would’ve displayed her in her natural chocolate skin tone…what you think?

[YBF]

Photo Credit: People

The Top 10 Companies For Blacks

HuffPost Black Voices showcases the companies that give the most opportunities to minorities and are reaping the benefits - http://huff.to/15Mhy79