Actress Salli Richardson-Whitfield is looking to bring the life and career of Lena Horne to the stage in a new bioplay that will provide a more candid look than ever before.

According to Richardson-Whitfield’s Kickstarter campaign, “A Lady Must Live” is set backstage after the first preview of her 1981 Broadway revue “A Lady and Her Music” as Horne “wrestles– emotionally and physically– with her ghosts, struggling to rework her show to recount her life story with more candor and complexity.”

“I’ve always had a love for Lena Horne and I’d really love to do it as a movie, but she loved singing and being on Broadway in New York,” Richardson-Whitfield said in a recent interview with Shadow and Act. “She actually left Hollywood to go back to performing on stage. So I thought that it should be a Broadway show, because that really was true to her heart.”

Richardson– who previously played Horne at the Jenesse Silver Rose Gala in 2011– will also produce the show alongside Craig Dorfman, with director Rikki Beadle-Blair helming the project. She added that she’s been working with a voice coach for several years to perfect her vocals for the role.

“The whole time I’m developing this, learning all of her songs, I started performing in clubs,” she explained. “If you’re doing a Broadway show, you’ve got to be ready to sing every night. And if you’re going to be Lena, you need to know what it’s like to perform in those clubs and really own that. So it’s been a journey of being really ready and prepared for this.”

Richardson-Whitfield also said she’s got her mind made up that she’d like veteran actress Jenifer Lewis to play her mother in the bioplay.

“I’ve always had in mind for Jenifer Lewis to play Lena’s mother. When the playwright started writing, we sat down with Jenifer, and when we did our original table read Jenifer was there reading it,” she said. “People see Jenifer in all these movies, but they don’t realize this is a woman who’s been on Broadway with Meryl Streep and Bette Midler and she’s amazing on stage. So as long as Jenifer is available, it’s Jenifer.”

To date, the campaign has raised more than $4,000 of its $40,000 goal. The fundraiser ends May 16.

“I love and value them,” says Wendy Williams of her audience, as she takes a bite of a small, leafy grilled chicken salad. We are having lunch in her sizable dressing room-cumoffice that’s decorated as one would expect of a self-proclaimed, gaudy Jersey Shore girl: explosions of pink, a smattering of leopard prints, knick-knack nods to her past and a curiously framed photo of actor Shia LaBeouf (her hall pass crush) all adorn her studio sanctuary. She has just finished a Monday morning taping and she is still talking. But not about the day’s ‘Hot Topic’ Lindsay Lohan or any of the other celebrities she dishes about regularly on her popular show (this season’s ratings have increased by 29 percent in the coveted 18 to 49 female demo). She’s gushing over her “co– hosts,” instead. “You cannot turn on another talk show and find an audience where everyone looks as good or has as much energy as mine,” boasts Williams. And she’s right. Soccer moms straight from the carpool and millennials decked out in their fast-fashion best are among the collection of fans who flock to her studio in New York City’s Chelsea nabe. Walking onto the set just before the show, I was startled by the deafeningly loud house music blaring from the speakers. The almost ear-splitting booms triggered flashbacks of my summer in Ibiza. No wonder the audience is always so hyped by the time the red on-air light flashes. “It’s a mistake to say that my show is solely a woman’s show, a gay man’s show or a black show,” Williams insists, while shaking low-calorie red wine vinegar dressing on her salad (her meal makes sense: weighing in at 165 pounds, she beams that she’s thinner now than she was back in high school). “This show just happens to be hosted by a heterosexual, black woman who is married and almost 50 years old. In my mind, I am a fun but responsible woman.”

Truth is, Wendy has been fun, but more importantly, responsible for decades. Her work ethic is impressive. After graduating from Boston’s Northeastern University, she snagged a job at a radio station in the U.S. Virgin Islands and then a position with Washington, D.C.’s WOL, owned by Cathy Hughes (now TV One’s founder). While working at WOL, she moved closer to her dream of being a top New York DJ by securing a weekend gig at New York’s Hot 103.5, in Queens, and drove back and forth from D.C. and New York for months, sleeping in the Subaru her parents gifted her. When she was ready to leave WOL, she tried to give two week’s notice, but says she was fired by the station program director Dyana Williams, and Hughes cosigned. Not long after landing in Gotham, her compelling talk and uniquely brash humor immediately caught on with New York’s urban set and, in 1989, the fresh-faced upstart DJ joined WRKS (KISS-FM), and the city became her playground. “I was in my early 20s, making $60,000 a year, with no student loans or car note,” she says with the same verge she probably felt at that time in her life. “That was rich! I was running around Manhattan, doing my thing.” In 1992, she appeared on an episode of Martin and Billboard magazine, the radio bible, named her “Best On-Air Radio Personality” in 1993. A year later, Emmis Communications purchased WRKS and shuttled their burgeoning radio star over to their other station, the now venerable Hot 97. Her mix of potty mouth comments, open discussion of her personal life (she was one of the first black public figures to admit to having plastic surgery—liposuction and breast implants—in 1994) and her refusal to extol celebrities, choosing to almost joyfully eviscerate their carefully-crafted PR facades instead, vaulted her to the top of the ratings heap in the nation’s biggest radio market. Wendy Williams was on fire.
In fact, as a graduate student at NYU in the late ’90s, I remember Williams hosting a party I attended in the West Village. She stormed in, tsunami-like, wearing a tiara and hoisting a scepter, while draped in a floor-length mink coat. She owned the room in full, unapologetic, hip-hop pageantry. “I am so glad that I can still be that girl, but on TV,” she says, after laughing out loud at my recollection. But, hold up. Wendy, are you still that girl? “Yes! Who I am right now is exactly who I was on radio. The difference is, now I am 49 years old. There are certain things that I had beaten to death. I had to move on. These other little girls in radio can now imitate me. I am not going to sit in that purple chair and act like I am MediaTakeOut.com! I invented MediaTakeOut.com. I was doing that long before it existed. But, I was not raised like that.”

Back in the ’90s and 2000s, the media referred to Williams as the “female Howard Stern,” because of her willingness to say anything and for her sometimes uncomfortable, confrontational interview style. One memorable example is her 2003 sparring match, via telephone, with the late Whitney Houston, during which Williams questioned the troubled star about her rumored drug addiction. The heated exchange grabbed major headlines, catapulting Williams into the national arena. (Ironically, Williams was scheduled to grace the cover of Ebony’s April 2012 issue, but was bumped by Houston’s untimely death.)

Williams’ now innocent and disarming tag line, “How You Doin’?” was originally created as a code phrase for a man who might be gay. Her McCarthy-esque witch hunt in the latter end of the ’90s for a popular rapper rumored to be gay had listeners glued to the dial and in on the search. People would fax (yes, fax) Williams intel that she would vet and share onair depending on its degree of juiciness. The sexual steeplechase swirled the city into a feverish tizzy. Puff Daddy (as Diddy was known then and has, according to recent reports, re-appropriated) dominated the radio waves and, with his Bad Boy Records brigade of groups and seemingly endless parade of hits, was hip-hop’s reigning emperor. And still, despite Hot 97’s heavy dependence on his supply, even he wasn’t off-limits in Williams’ daily gossip bombs and sticky innuendos. Then, in 1998, Hot 97 unceremoniously fired her.

“I regret nothing in my radio career, nothing,” says Williams, who also struggled with substance abuse during those times. She’s publicly stated that she stopped using drugs in the late ’90s because she wanted better for herself, which included being a wife and a mother. “I had to be that person back then to be the person I am today. The person who was on the radio then was authentically me. We all have our sloppy, greasy side. My original Wendy listeners, here in New York, they grew up with me. They come up to me all the time and say, ‘Oh, I have been listening to you since I was 12.’ I feel proud. I am glad that I have been able to evolve.”

Wendy Joan Williams was born July 18, 1964, in Asbury Park, New Jersey, to Thomas and Shirley Williams, who also have an older daughter and younger son. Sam Cooke’s classic “Good Times” was a hit song of the moment and the Williams family could certainly share in the sentiment. Mr. and Mrs. Williams, both educators, moved their growing clan to Ocean Township in Monmouth County, and although middle class, the family lived amongst affluence. “There were not a lot of black people around, but it was a great place to grow up,” Williams says. “Kids got nose jobs at 16 (she vehemently denies having one), families employed housekeepers. It was Acapulco for spring break. People lived very opulent lives.” Despite their existence in Caucasia, Tom, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, and Shirley, an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha, made sure their children also experienced an upstanding black social circle.

“Our dentist, Dr. Parker, was black. My piano teacher, Mrs. Scott and her husband, black. A lot of my parents’ friends were engineers, doctors and lawyers,” she remembers. It sounds very much like a Cosby Show existence, I say. “Yes! And I was Lisa Bonet. But, you see how that turned out.”

Bonet’s character Denise Huxtable was a bit of a firebrand, and parents Heathcliff and Clair both worried about her future: so yes, Williams is correct in comparison. Tom and Shirley were especially concerned during their daughter’s tumultuous tenure at Hot 97. “My parents were very embarrassed by the way I conducted myself on the radio and I know that,” she admits. “They would fake happy, meanwhile their friends would say, ‘That Wendy is something else.’ But I was getting popularity from being that ‘something else.’ But I don’t think that was what my parents had in mind when they thought of my career. My older sister is an attorney and my younger brother is a schoolteacher. No, I wasn’t out there doing full splits in Playboy magazine, but it is still not what my parents would have wanted me to gravitate to.”

Kevin Hunter, Wendy’s second husband (after a quickie marriage when younger), was another surprise for Wendy’s parents. “I first met Kevin almost 21 years ago. He was a good person, raised in not so good conditions. While his type was not what I was raised to bring home, I really liked him. Maybe the Martin Luther King, Barack Obama type isn’t for everybody.”

Hunter swept the 5-foot-11 Williams off her feet after they met at a skate party she was hosting. He, a hair salon owner and party promoter, was there to check out DJ Mister Cee, whom he was interesting in booking. Since marrying in 1998, their relationship has withstood miscarriages, infidelity (she admitted in her 2001 book, Wendy’s Got The Heat, that Hunter cheated on her and she found out a month after their son was born), a sexual harassment suit against her husband filed by a former employee (they both deny it) and job changes (after exiting Hot 97, the two moved to Philly, where Williams worked tirelessly in the less glamorous radio market reestablishing her brand, eventually returning to New York to even greater success).

“He is my manager, co-executive producer of the show and my biggest productive cheerleader. I love him.” On January 20, 2014, while on-air, Williams broke out in tears, sobbing that her son, Kevin, Jr., 13, does not like her. Despite that emotional episode, she says she is not envious of her son’s strong relationship with his father; in fact, it makes her proud. “I love that he has his father. It’s a great thing, a black boy and his black father,” she says before tearing up. Is raising a teenage black son scary in light of the fates of Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis? “Yes, it is. But we teach him he is public enemy number one and his job is to dispel that.” She starts to cry. While reaching for a tissue, she whispers, “Sometimes, I will stand at our front door and watch Little Kev and his father drive off until I see the last puff of smoke from the car’s exhaust. Then, I say to myself, ‘It’s good.’” “Hot Topics” is her show’s most popular segment and she doesn’t shy away from hotbutton issues such as Martin’s death or the polarizing topic of racism. In fact, she confronts them head on.

“It makes me so proud that my black mother and my black father can sit in my audience and the camera can zoom in on them and, without them saying a word, the world sees: ‘Oh my God, there is a full black family!’ And my parents have been married for a hundred years! And, when my black husband and my black behind can pull up to my black son’s school for a parent-teacher night and they see a full black family, that is really important. We need to discuss race not necessarily because I am being followed in the mall because someone knows that I am Wendy Williams, but because I am a black woman in the mall at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.”

Despite her growing multi-million dollar empire—that includes books, a wig line, products hawked on QVC, plus a new production company producing reality shows, game shows, movies and her talk show that’s guaranteed through the 2017 season—she’s well aware that she is not immune to the effects of racism. She also refuses to take anything for granted. She’s fallen into the abyss before and does not plan to repeat it. “I am looking at the wind-down years, not the windup years. I will not have a chance to make this back. I am not going to screw it up.”

And would you have a nemesis from your past, such as Puff Daddy, on your show now? “If I had a problem with you in the past, chances are I have moved on. I have a good life,” she says. Her eyes begin to water again. “My parents have seen me go from a loser to a winner. Most people don’t have the luxury of their parents seeing them come full circle. I feel sexy and I feel very accomplished. I have my family. I am grateful. And if Puffy did come on my show, he would have to remove those damn sunglasses.”

Credits:  Styling: Memsor Kamarake ; Makeup: Merrell Hollis ;Hair: Antwon Jackson ;Manicurist: Tiana Hardy

The Glam Squad Styling: Memsor Kamarake (Middle) Makeup: Merrell Hollis (Left) Hair: Antwon Jackson (Right) Manicurist: Tiana Hardy (Not pictured) On Wendy: Lilac capsleeve cowl sequined gown by Badgley Mischka Black drop earrings by M.Haskell

Video and BTS photos by Oluwaseye For MgKay Productions Inc.
On set at the cover shoot for our Travel Issue, we capture Wendy Williams in a way you’ve never seen before.

Memsor saves the day.

All gold everything…

This is cool and all but wait…feels like something is missing….

Yes.  The diva fan.

Et voila – the final result!

On an unusually cold spring day in April of 2004, I received a weird-ass phone call from my close friend in which he revealed two major announcements in the span of 10 minutes. Announcement number one was that his longtime girlfriend was pregnant, and announcement number two was that he wanted me to be the best man in his upcoming wedding. We were both 21 at the time, so those proclamations were incredibly jarring coming from the immature friend I was just playing video games with the night before without a care in the world. Although he never said it to me, and as much as I know he will take this truism to his grave, the reason he was getting married was because he messed up and got his girl pregnant and both of their parents demanded they marry.

While I was browsing Twitter yesterday and I found out that Idris Elba and his girflriend Naiyana Garth just welcomed their first child together, a boy they named Winston. I was happy as hell for them, but very pissed off at the reactionary response by many stating that he must put a ring on her. If you think having a baby is a good reason to marry someone, then you need to keep your ignorant opinion to yourself, because any poor soul who listens to you could end up damaging his/her life in an irreparable manner.

Marriage is not something anyone should consider entering into on a whim. In our modern Western society, marriage is not just a contract, as many of you pro-marriage people constantly state, it’s a lifelong covenant of love between two people who are emotionally, spiritually, and physically committed to each other. The idea that having a baby with someone should automatically supplant those necessities and result in emotional indentured servitude is ludicrous. If there is one thing I know about family structures, it’s that children are acutely aware of the health of their parents’ relationship. When a marriage is built from pressure or obligation, instead of passionate commitment, then one party is eventually going to become resentful. And when that relationship starts to decline, it will be the child who notices it more than anything else. Even worse, it will be that very same child who embodies the emotional dysfunction they witness, and it will mark how they carry on their own relationships. Truth be told, I think there is nothing better for a child than to grow up in a healthy family system with two loving and married parents, but I also believe there is nothing more damaging than seeing their parents struggling to live a bitter lie of love.

If in your perfect world, people would only have sex in relationships, conceive babies after marriage, and commit to one another long-term before deciding to build a family, that’s GREAT — but please understand that our world is far from perfect, which means that sometimes the best we can do is manage the situation we are in. I don’t know how Idris feels about Naiyana, but as long as he’s committed to being a loving and involved father, nothing more needs to be said on my (or your) part.

LAB

Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.

This past weekend I had the honor and pleasure of going to Len Burnett’s 50th birthday party. Len and I have been the best of friends since our days in college together at the University of Michigan. Len gave a beautiful, philosophical speech about his life, his family, and his friends. One of the things he said, that many of us have heard before, but is so true and deserves repeating was, “You don’t get to choose your family, but you do get to choose your friends”. Because Len has such a kind, generous, and loving spirit the room had great energy and so many of us have known and grown together for so many years, that it felt like being in a room full of extended family.

However, for many people, friendship doesn’t feel like this…and so I wanted to share this message:
Imagine, you just got home from dinner with a friend and you feel exhausted. Now that you think about it, every time you’re around this person you find yourself feeling drained and agitated. Finally you realize this and you say to yourself, ”I don’t enjoy hanging out with this person. Why do I keep doing this?” … It could be that they complain all the time. They have a negative outlook on life. They’re mean or rude to other people. There may be a sense of competition or one-upping going on. Whatever it is, it doesn’t feel good.

The truth is that we are all on a spiritual path and some of us are, shall I dare say, “further along” than others. We are all made of energy. We all have auras and vibrate on different energy frequencies depending on our individual levels of consciousness or awareness. The awareness I am referring to is an awareness of our own divinity. We are all divine – it’s just that some of us walk around more aware or conscious of our own divine selves a little bit more than others.

So what happens? As you evolve, it becomes harder and harder to play with other divine beings who live their lives meddling in the stuff that happens on the lower frequencies. It can actually become physically and emotionally painful hence, your suffering at the end of the evening.

Eckharte Tolle advises us to create “enlightened collections” of friends within our inner circle. Unlike our families, we get to choose our friends. When you choose friends who support you and care about you, you feel good. You feel energized, loved, and inspired. You relate to each other in a way that is beyond your financial status, your job title, your race or your religion. You relate instead to the goodness in each other. You’re both on the same divine frequency and there is a knowing. That is friendship.

True friendship emanates from a sense of connectedness and a sincere wish for each other’s wellbeing, peace and joy. Go through your inventory of friends and choose your “enlightened collections” who encourage you and support you to keep within your inner circle.

Wendy is an Executive Coach and founder of the entertainment and divorce law firm Credle & Associates, PLLC. Follow her on twitter at IamWendyCredle

Prince has released his new single The Breakdown on iTunes following news of the hitmaker re-signing with former label Warner Bros. after 18 years. Prince spoke to late night host Arsenio Hall  in March calling The Breakdown his favorite song to play. In addition to the new single, the two have agreed to release a deluxe 30th edition of iconic album Purple Rain, along with unheard music from peak-era Prince.

“A brand-new studio album is on the way and both Warner Bros. Records and Eye are quite pleased with the results of the negotiations and look forward to a fruitful working relationship,” Prince said in a statement.

For those that may not remember, in 1993 Prince waged one of the biggest battles in music history against former label Warner Brothers, taking it as far as writing the word slave during his public appearances and changing his name to a symbol. During his time on the label, he released popular music Purple Rain, 1999, and Diamonds and Pearls. The exclusive partnership proves beneficial for Prince who will regain control over his catalog of music and for fans eager to hear previously finished unreleased songs. Finally, bootleg copies of demos, outtakes and rarities of music that has circulated underground may come to light.

“Everyone at Warner Bros Records is delighted to be working with Prince once again; he is one of the world’s biggest stars and a truly unique talent,” said the label’s chairman and CEO, Cameron Strang. Stang didn’t release dates for an album or the release of rumored album Plectrumelectrum.

The legendary musician continues working with his current band 3rdEyeGirl. He performed a series of surprise dates overseas the beginning of the year. Over the summer, Prince will headline the 20th anniversary of Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.

Former NBA player Eric Williams is knee deep in debt and is reportedly homeless.

Williams was ordered to appear in court earlier this month for not paying over $24,000 in unpaid child support to the mother of his 13-year-old. He was absent during the court appearance and later supplied a letter to the judge to explain why.

In legal documents, he admitted that he is homeless because “a court-ordered citation for me to appear was not delivered to my home address as I have no home.”

Besides not having a roof over his head, he says he does not have money for airfare to make court dates or hire a lawyer to handle the case.

He closes the letter explaining he is a volunteer at an unnamed nonprofit organization writing, “I’m in the rebuilding stages of my life.”

The basketball player started his NBA career for the Boston Celtics before retiring from the league after a 12 year career. He later appeared on VH1 reality show Basketball Wives as Jennifer Williams’ husband. Their very public and very messy relationship was documented during the four seasons the couple appeared. The pair finalized their divorce during season four, the couple’s last, of the series. She is rumored to have earned $14 million in the settlement and is doing well with her cosmetics line Lucid. 

Last night’s airing of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” season six reunion showed the fight between Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams.

Williams turned herself into Atlanta police last Thursday for battery charges. And might I add, she has one of the most glamorous mugshots in reality TV history?!

Now, after fans of the show have had a chance to witness the events for themselves, the former Miss USA released a statement encouraging viewers to stop the violence:

“During the taping of the Reunion Episode for the Real Housewives of Atlanta, I was violently attacked by Porsha Williams. The episode, which aired tonight, Sunday, April 20, 2014, was taped in front of an audience of over 50 people, which included cast, crew, guests and executives, who served as witnesses. I called 911 to report the incident. The Atlanta police conducted an independent investigation, which included viewing the raw footage of the incident. As a result, Porsha Williams was charged with battery. The authorities will decide her fate, not me.

There are many inflammatory statements made by cast members to and about each other particularly during the reunion tapings. Many have made untrue, denigrating, disparaging, and inflammatory statements against me in an attempt to provoke me, but I have never reacted in a violent way. My intellect and my brain are my most powerful weapons—not my fists. If people get so angry that they lose control and admittedly “black out” and resort to violence, those persons must be held responsible for their actions. Being a cast member on a reality show does not absolve people of their rights.

After being repeatedly attacked by an abusive boyfriend at the age of 17, if someone puts their hands on me, I will not just let it go. With that said, I sought self-defense training developed for the Israeli military. I’ve also been trained in weapons. I can take someone down in three moves. It took discipline for me not to respond in kind. As violent responses escalate, they can quickly result in severe injury or even death.

Being the second Black woman to be crowned Miss USA, there are little girls who look up to me. I would never want those girls, my nieces, or my future children to see me fighting anyone. That’s the lesson we should all want to send, especially to young people—that no matter how angry someone makes you feel by what they say to or about you, violence is never an option. #stoptheviolence”

Porsha hasn’t responded to the incident or arrest. ”I have embarrassed myself!” she shouted while being carried off the reunion show set. That sums the incident up in a nutshell, Porsha.

Boxing legend Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, died in Toronto, according to Win Wahrer, the director of client services for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted. He died in his sleep from prostate cancer at 76.

Carter’s boxing career, 27 wins and an astounding 19 knockouts, was cut short after he was accused for murder in 1966. Two years after losing the middleweight championship, Carter was twice convicted for the murder of three people in Paterson, New Jersey bar. The boxer spent years fighting the wrongful conviction that kept him behind bars for 19 years. After winning his trial for lack of evidence and racial misconduct, Carter was released in November 1985.

Carter later told his life story the in 1974 autobiography The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472. That book was later turned in the 1999 biopic Hurricane, in which Denzel Washington portrayed the boxer and won a Golden Globe for the role.

The boxing legend told CNN, “His time in prison his destiny might lie in fighting for justice.” He served as executive director of the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted.

Fans of those closest to him expressed their reactions on Twitter after news of his death was confirmed.

We a lost a great man today, Rubin “hurricane” Carter, the boxer who was wrongfully accused and became a symbol for racial injustice. RIP

— Mike Tyson (@MikeTyson) April 20, 2014

“@Mannysaur: @rosieperezbklyn Hey I just read that Rubin “Hurricane” Carter passed away.” TY. Just heard. What a testament he lived. #rip.

— Rosie Perez (@rosieperezbklyn) April 20, 2014

“I’m dating. The thing is is that I’m done — I can’t say that I’m totally done with American men, but I’m very excited about my finds over [in Europe]. You know what it is? I think there’s a cultural different with men from other countries. They are not as bitter and jaded and closed up as a lot of the men here. I’m not saying all men. I can’t say that I’m done with American men. I wont say that.”

– Taraji P. Henson reveals her preference for European men over American men, while visiting “The Wendy Williams Show” Thursday, April 17.

Being nearly 7 months pregnant with my first child, I’ve found a million and one things to stress about during this journey. Is the baby gaining enough weight? Will my next ultrasound be OK? What the hell is labor going to be like? However, one prevailing concern as I head towards the gestational finish line surrounds the possibility of facing postpartum depression – and I am scared.

Jill Scott spoke about her postpartum struggles during a 2010 interview on Chelsea Lately:

I am going to keep it real gully with you. The first two months, I wanted to give him back.  I expected somebody to come and save me because after you have the baby, nobody cares about you anymore.

Nobody cares if you sleep; nobody cares if you eat.  It’s just you and this all consuming thingy. And he wants all your time and attention and it hurt the first two months. One day as  I was standing by the door and I was considering throwing him out into the pool (sleep deprivation is ugly), at that moment  I looked at him and said, ‘ah, I love you. I love you.’

- Via BlackCelebKids.com

As its name suggests, postpartum depression (PPD) is a mood disorder that becomes apparent after childbirth. Whether it’s your 1st or 5th child, pregnancy and childbirth brings with it a dizzying array of lifestyle changes, hormonal changes, and emotional changes that could leave one susceptible to developing some level of mood change or disorder.

When investigating these mood changes in women who have recently delivered a child, the medical community differentiates between the less severe ‘baby blues’ (a short period of sadness, anxiety, and trouble sleeping that alleviates within a couple of weeks) and the more intense and long-lasting PPD. A woman dealing with an extreme loss of appetite, oversleeping or insomnia, withdrawal from friends and family, intense anxiety or anger, and difficulty bonding with her baby (or thoughts of harming herself or her baby) may be dealing with PPD – and understandably so. Our bodies, minds, and lives on a whole undergo an incredible shift during and after pregnancy, including hormonal drops, sleep deprivation, embracing new identities, and relationship or financial stress, to name a few.

These factors can all lead to a diagnosis of PPD, and should not be ignored.

Photo credit: Shutterstock

Shame and guilt play dual roles in PPD as well. Among the prevailing symptoms of the condition, shame and guilt can set in when something as “innate” as motherhood doesn’t come as naturally as one would hope. Breastfeeding struggles, a perceived inability to console a crying child, or insecurities over ones’ ability to effectively care for and raise a child all add to the weight that a woman at risk for PPD carries.

Shame and guilt also have a hand in hampering women who feel they may need help. In communities where mental illness is stigmatized and minimized, some women may feel unable to reach out and say “I don’t think I’m OK.” In communities where women are praised for their strength and ability to overcome nearly anything, some women may feel that they’ll be exposing their weaknesses by seeking assistance. Some studies show that racial disparities exist in the diagnosis and treatment of PPD, which adds another crucial factor to the management of the condition.  One African-American mother recently wrote about the complexities of being a Black woman with PPD, and for her, the themes of strength and stigma played out vividly. Societal and cultural contexts have such an impact on the pursuit of wellness, and if we aren’t careful, those contexts can impede that journey.

So, where do my personal fears of PPD come from? Well, one of the top risk factors for PPD is a previous history of depression, which I have. Anxiety sets in when I wonder if the child I adore already will lead my body and mind to another battle when I feel like I’ve just returned from the frontlines. Voicing my concerns are met with certain friends and family members who tell me to “hush” and ask me why I choose to “dwell on negativity,” when I see it as being realistic. I already smell the sweet stench of support intertwined with stigma, and that adds to my concerns.

However, let me not get ahead of myself. Should PPD become a reality for me as it is for 9-16% of postpartum women, there are options for help:

• 1-to-1 counseling
• support groups
• antidepressant medication (with options that are safe for breastfeeding moms)
• accessing supportive and helpful friends and family members
• regular exercise
• eating well
• getting a healthy amount of sleep

With the acknowledgment that something isn’t right, a supportive circle, and appropriate medical attention, PPD can be treated, managed, and overcome.

Are you seeking resources to learn more about PPD? Here are a few to check out:

American Psychological Association

Postpartum Progress’ List of Canadian and U.S. PPD Support Groups

BabyCenter.com

New moms out there, I wish for you what I wish for myself: health, happiness, and the ability to recognize when something just isn’t right. I wish you the blessing of having even just one supportive loved one and/or the ability to access helpful resources. PPD is not something to be ashamed of, nor is it something one must weather on their own.

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A U.S. marshal shot and critically wounded a defendant on Monday in a Salt Lake City federal courthouse after the man rushed at a witness with a pen. The defendant, Siale Angilau, 25, was hospitalized with at least one chest wound, according to FBI spokesman Mark Dressen. 

According to an account by a third party witness, at least six shots were fired.

The FBI say that per standard procedure, Angilau had not been restrained in the courtroom.   The unharmed, unidentified witness who Angilau attempted to attack appeared to be in his mid-20s and was testifying about gang initiation.

Angilau was one of 17 people named in a 29-count racketeering indictment filed in 2010 accusing gang members of conspiracy, assault, robbery and weapons offenses. The courthouse was temporarily closed after the incident but reopened later in the day.

Pennsylvania authorities have successfully brought down a drug ring which they say was run by two prep school graduates. The ring, which supplied marijuana, cocaine, and ecstasy to students at three colleges and high schools in Philadelphia’s affluent Main Line suburbs, was lead by 25-year-old Neil Scott and 18-year-old Timothy Brooks, according to authorities.

The two men, who were arraigned Monday on drug charges and related counts, graduated from The Haverford School. The ring was so extensive that it offered benefits for those employed as “sub-dealers” if they met their weekly quota such as lower purchase prices for marijuana in order to increase their profit margin.

According to officials, the drug trafficking operation focused on distributing drugs to students at Lower Merion High School, The Haverford School, Harriton High School, Conestoga High School, Radnor High School, Haverford College, Lafayette College, and Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.

In an earlier preliminary shakedown operation, prosecutors said they confiscated 8 lbs. of marijuana, 3 grams of hash oil, 23 grams of cocaine, 11 grams of Ecstasy, $11,000 in cash, a loaded handgun, an AR-15 assault rifle and AR-15 style rifle, most of which came from Scott’s apartment, according to authorities.

In addition to Scott and Brooks, seven alleged “sub-dealers” were also charged. Daniel McGrath, 18, a student at The Haverford School; John Rosemann, 20, a student at Lafayette College; Christian Euler, 23, a graduate of The Haverford School and student at Lafayette College; Garrett Johnson, 18, a student at Haverford College; Reid Cohen, 18, a Haverford College student; Willow Orr, 22; Domenic Curcio, 29.

So far, two juveniles have been petitioned by the DA’s office: a 17-year-old Radnor High School student and 17-year-old Lower Merion High School student.

Wonder if they’ll get off on the affluenza defense.

A collection of Jay-Z master recordings with the combined value of between $15 and  $20 million is at the center of an alleged theft and extortion plot.

Law enforcement obtained possession of the tapes in question and sources say that a producer named Chauncey Mahan was questioned on Friday in connection with the alleged plot.

Mahan produced for Jay-Z between 1998 and 2002.  In 2002, the masters went missing and Jay-Z and his associates assumed that the tapes were lost.

Last Friday, Mahan was found to have a number of the masters in his storage facility in Northridge, CA.

Law enforcement sources said that Mahan allegedly contacted Live Nation, who owns Roc Nation along with Jay-Z.  Mahan reportedly intended either let the tapes go up for auction unless Live Nation paid him $100K.

He later settled for $75K.

On Friday when Mahan went to the storage facility to make the trade, the LAPD had been contacted and Mahan was detained, though not arrested. The Beverly Hills PD is investigating the allegations of extortion and Jay Z‘s legal team filed a grand larceny complaint on Friday with the NYPD.  The case is now in progress.

Who says Earth Day has to just be one day? Truth is taking care of the environment is an everyday thing. And living in a driving city is a good reason to seriously consider an eco-friendly car. That’s where the 2014 Toyota Prius Four comes in. Now remember over a decade ago when the Prius first became available? Back then it was hard to get one because it was, arguably, the hottest car in Hollywood, and there was a waiting list in anticipation of its U.S. arrival. Today, while it remains an in-demand car, thankfully it’s a lot easier to get. It proved quite the companion during a staycation at the Atlanta Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort in Stone Mountain Park.

Rolling up there from downtown Atlanta, one thing was most apparent: the Prius has speed. Forget the silly notion that eco-friendly cars have no power. When driving this Prius, watching the speedometer is a must because it gets up there in no time at all. Once there, a cozy room awaited.

Unfortunately there was little time to indulge and back in Atlanta traffic I went to catch the legendary George C. Wolfe for an event for the Center for Civil and Human Rights. But, once back at the resort, sleep time was in full effect. The next day was a wash-out: rain, rain everywhere. That sucked because, believe or not, hiking was calling my name. Luckily the bed was uber comfy and room service rocked.

The next day wasn’t as wet but not so warm either. But no worries as the Prius (so heart the seat warmer feature) proved to be the perfect vehicle for touring Stone Mountain, which is stacked with trees and lots of calming water. It’s just a beautiful drive!

With all the windows on the Prius, the beauty just shined i,n even through the clouds. And the awesome moonroof was great for stopping off and snapping pics. The JBL GreenEdge Speakers delivered soothing sound. Navigation was a big win too and never missed a beat. Even in the vast Stone Mountain Park, it guided expertly so getting loss was not an option.

Leaving was bittersweet but the beauty of it all is this Prius gets along in the city too. Thanks to its lightness, it handles traffic very well, making it easy to move in and out of lanes. It also keeps tabs on those getting too close. Even more impressive, the 2014 Prius Four averages a whopping 50 mpg; 51 in the city and 48 on the highway. It’s also push-button start, plus who doesn’t love a car that just opens when you step to it? Going from drive to reverse is still a uniquely Prius experience, as those who have ever driven one can attest. Safety, of course, is top priority but so is comfort. This Prius Four starts at $28, 435 and tallies in at $33,358 with such niceties as the moonroof, navigation, the Entune App Suite are added.

This is when Easter eggs turn dangerous … A Pittsburgh man was arrested for aggravated assault and harassment after hitting his girlfriend with hard-boiled Easter eggs.

On Sunday, 27-year-old Aaron Goempel and his girlfriend were dyeing the holiday eggs at an egg decorating party, but he began to pelt his girlfriend with the brightly-colored projectiles. He left her with a black, swollen eye.

[Image: Shutterstock]

After police were summoned, the egg thrower barricaded himself in a bedroom and used an exercise machine to block police. Once cops knocked down the door, Goempel reached for his knife and sword collection, but was quickly apprehended. While being escorted to police vehicles, Goempel screamed racial slurs and managed to kick a police officer in the groin.

The festive assault wasn’t Goempel’s first run-in with police. Since 2008, he plead guilty to disorderly conduct and public drunkenness charges. He also awaits trial for separate incidents of harassment, prowling, assault, and traffic violations.

Netflix, television streaming giant will raise its price as much as $2.00 a month for new members. Existing customers, who utilize the $7.99 all-you-can-watch plan will keep the same rate for a “generous time period”, according to the company.

“If we want to continue to expand to do more great programming, we have to eventually increase prices a little bit,” said Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. In an effort to provide more original programming such as House of Cards and Orange Is The New Black, a slight increase in rates seemed inevitable.

This is the first price hike for the company in four years. In 2011, the company took a hit by attempting to raise prices without notice.

After a disastrous PR ordeal, the company lost over 800,000 customers and its stock prices plummeted 80%. This time around, Netflix executives will take a slower approach to educate consumers on why the increase is necessary and how it’s beneficial.

The company made over $2.7 million dollars in the first quarter, but has experienced a less than stellar second quarter.

The online streaming industry has become more competitive in recent years with Hulu, HBO Go, and Amazon’s Prime Instant Video. When questioned about competitors, Hastings described other services as “complimentary to Netflix.”

In a 6-2 vote this morning, the Supreme Court has upheld the Michigan ballot initiative to ban racial preferences in admissions to public universities. This vote overturned a lower court ruling.

The Supreme Court’s decision impacts the diversity efforts of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who has been under fire for dwindling minority enrollment.

The controversial Proposal 2, passed in 2006, allowed the banning of affirmative action. The NAACP challenged this act, stating it unfairly rigs admission systems against minority students.

“Minority students and others who support a broadly diverse student body should not have to overturn a constitutional amendment simply to have their voices heard in the admissions process when everyone else can go directly to the university,” the American Civil Liberties Union said in a fact sheet about the case.

In opposition of the ruling, Justice Sonia Sotomayor noted in her dissent that “without checks, democratically approved legislation can oppress minority groups. ”

“For that reason, our Constitution places limits on what a majority of the people may do,” she continued. “This case implicates one such limit: the guarantee of equal protection of the laws.”

Well, here’s a new way of protecting yourself from harm. After singing a popular gospel song for three hours straight, a 10-year-old kidnapped boy was released by his irritated abductor on March 31.

Willie Myrick was lured away from his Atlanta driveway to the suspect’s car with cash. He was quickly abducted. The kidnapper drove around the city for three hours while Myrick sang “Every Praise” by Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Hezekiah Walker non-stop. The suspect eventually kicked Myrick out of the car in East Point, after he refused to stop singing. The boy used a local woman’s phone to dial home.

For the brave young boy’s 10th birthday, Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in southwest Atlanta held a town hall meeting in his honor. When Walker caught wind of the news, he flew to Atlanta to meet Myrick and his family.

“I just want to hug him and tell him I love him,” Walker told WXIA-TV. Tears streamed down the 10 year old’s face as he and Walker sang “Every Praise” together.

The suspect is still on the loose, with a $10,000 reward for his arrest. He’s described as a male in his mid- to late-twenties with dreadlocks. He was driving a gray four-door Honda Civic with no interior carpeting and exposed metal flooring.

[Homepage image: Shutterstock]

Is Mariah Carey pulling a Beyoncé? Well, according to Billboard, Mimi is planning to release her 14th studio album by surprise!

The album’s track list and name are concealed, but the 44 year old singer has revealed collaborations with Nas, Trey Songz, and Wale. There’s also a “special guest star that I’m not allowed to reveal,” she told Billboard. The artwork, music, and track list will be revealed at once via her digital partners. Mariah described the title as “a personal possession of mine that’s part of an entity that I’ve had almost all my life.”

Album producers include Rodney Jerkins and long-term friend-turned-manager Jermaine Dupri.

The surprise album has been in production since 2010, before the birth of her twins, Moroccan and Monroe, with husband Nick Cannon.

The “Butterfly” singer hinted at retirement after a comment on ”Watch What Happens Live.” She revealed, “I will always make music. When I said it could be my last, that’s because tomorrow’s not promised to anyone.”

Will you be checking for Mimi’s new album?