Georgia will suspend driver’s licenses of over 12,000 deadbeat parents who owe child support, on August 20, according to a new mandate. The Georgia Department of Driver Services and Department of Human Services has collaborated to strip parents categorized as deadbeats of their driving privileges.

Director of the Division of Child Support Services Tanguler Johnson said the prospect of losing the driver’s license gets deadbeat parents to pay child support. Thousands of parents have already, reportedly, received a notice warning them of the impending license suspension, if they don’t settle their child support debt.

[Image: Shutterstock]

Johnson said in 2011 there was no computer link between her office and the Department of Driver Services. That year, the state collected $3 million in delinquent support payments. Since the addition of a link, that has jumped to $9 million a year.

This initiative to get parents to pay their child support could work, considering that it’s very difficult to get around Georgia without access to a vehicle. But others have argued that parents who do not pay child support should face jail time. But if they are incarcerated, how can they possibly pay? Or search for employment? Not to mention the time away from the child emotionally and physically.

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The world’s largest fashion retailer Zara is receiving side-eyes for its new T-shirt with the slogan, “White is the New Black.”

With the slogan, “(insert color/thing here) is the new black” quickly becoming a pop culture staple, some would say the T-shirt is a simple play on words. With the show Orange is the New Black gaining popularity and the all-white fashion trend, it’s no wonder why the retailer would want to jump on the bandwagon. But at what expense?

The line can be easily misconstrued. Tensions are still high amidst recent, race crimes against African Americans, even the slightest insulting line can be deemed insensitive, regardless of intentionality.

This isn’t the first mass produced T-shirt that caused controversy because of its message. Last month, the UK’s largest sports dealer, Sports Direct, sold merchandise of a band with a neo-Nazi lead singer. In 2013, Amazon stocked a “Keep Calm and Rape A Lot” T-shirt on its site.

Guess who’s curating the music for one of the world’s best video game franchises? None other than the award-winning Pharrell Williams.

On Tuesday, 2K Sports announced that the NBA 2K15 soundtrack will feature 27 songs from popular artists, including the “Happy” singer himself. Following Jay Z, the executive producer of 2012′s iteration of the video game, Williams is the second music performer to choose songs for the video game. LeBron James chose the songs for the 2013 soundtrack.

The installment includes an “eclectic mix.” “It was fun to include songs that I have always loved, like Strafe‘s “Set it Off” or Tribe Called Quest’s “Scenario,” Williams said. Williams will include songs by Lauryn Hill, The Black Keys, Missy Elliott, One Republic, and many more.

This won’t be Williams’ first experience with the excitement surrounding the NBA. This past year, he performed at the NBA All-Star Game in New Orleans bringing out Nelly, Snoop Dogg, and Sean “Diddy” Combs. The performance was a reason 2K Sports chose Williams to curate the NBA 2K15 soundtrack.

“Pharrell’s creative energy and background with the NBA — his performance at the All-Star game for example — was part of our decision in partnering with him to shape a new entertainment experience in this year’s title,” said Alfie Brody, vice president of marketing for the popular video game.

NBA 2K15 will be in stores October 7th.

On the heels of the Mike Brown tragedy, another Black man has been shot and killed by the police. The 24-year-old man succumbed to gun injuries after an encounter with police in South LA.

The incident happened Monday evening, shortly after a shooting was reported at the intersection of West 65th Street and South Broadway. The LAPD stopped a man 200 blocks north of the 65th block when things took a dangerous turn. According to a police statement, officers opened fire after “a struggle ensued.”

[Image :KTLA]

The man, who was later identified as Ezell Ford, was then transported to the nearest hospital where he underwent surgery but later died. Ford is one of countless victims who have recently died at the hands of police- who are to protect and serve the community.

Was Ford killed for simply being a young, African-American male – the very same characteristics that claimed the lives of John Crawford and Mike Brown?

The mother of the victim, Tritobia Ford,  said her son was lying on the ground and obeying the officers’ commands when he was shot. Multiple reports indicate he was unarmed.

Further details on the shooting is underway and will be investigated by LAPD’s Force Investigation Division. The LAPD is currently being sued by Marlene Pinnock, a homeless woman whose vicious beating at the hands of a still unidentified officer was caught on tape. Her lawsuit alleges excessive force, assault, battery.

Singer Olivia Longott seemed to have bizounced from the entertainment scene entirely after departing VH1′s “Love and Hip Hop.” However, the former reality star is back with a tell-all book, Release Me: My Life, My Words, and of course has found her way back into the studio. In the memoir, Olivia describes how she got her start, gives a peek into her love life including a secret on-and-off relationship with singer Shaggy, and chronicles the ups and downs of the music business, including her split from 50Cent‘s G-Unit.

Olivia spoke with UPTOWN to discuss Release Me, why she walked away from her ratings-grabbing manager Rich Dollaz and reality TV, and what stirs her creative juices now.

UPTOWN: You have probably been asked a million times, “When is Olivia going to release new music?” So what was the reasoning behind putting a book out before any new music?

Olivia: I spoke about the book maybe two years ago. I was talking to Tony Gaskins Jr. and he said I should write a book. I thought, well, I have 12 godchildren and I always wanted to write kids books. But he said no, it’s time that I told my story. I still pushed it to the side, and then when I got with author Carl Weber to work on his new series. He told me also that I should do a book, so I thought maybe this is a sign. I have been writing poetry since I was a teen and I write my own music, so I thought I can do this. I knocked it out in a couple weeks. That’s what is so crazy to me, you would think people would know more about me. This book gives them a peek into my world and how I am.

UPTOWN: Release Me takes the readers along on a journey with you, was that on purpose?

Olivia: Yes, I wanted it to read like a novel and not like a biography. That way you can see the conversations that I had with vice presidents and executives. I wanted you guys to physically feel like you were there.

UPTOWN: From watching you on “Love and Hip Hop,” and reading your book, there seems to be a complete contradiction.

Olivia: [LHHNY is] nothing like who I am at all. I try to explain to people without saying it’s scripted, but we had to follow a certain storyline. So it won’t be what we want to talk about, it’ll be about where the producers want us to go. So of course on the show, you wouldn’t see Olivia because I’m following something that they want to chase. And it’s nothing that I would talk about in my everyday life, or even hanging with folks that I would chill with. So I’m basically like, “Bitch I don’t want to be sitting across from you, are we done yet?” (laughs)

UPTOWN: A lot of times, reality television stars blame editing on why their behavior comes off the way it does. What do you think about that?

Olivia: Producers are going to try everything to get the story they want, but it’s up to you whether or not you fall for it.

UPTOWN: Now the previews for the reunion of the current season of “Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta” tease a huge physical fight, but you never took part in any fights.

Olivia: Absolutely not, I would not do that for ratings. I wouldn’t do that in my personal life, because my parents didn’t raise me like that. I don’t feel like I have to act a fool and partake in all those shenanigans. I’m an artist and you guys should love me for my music, which is my talent. I don’t have to do any of that stuff; I have morals. I have too many little girls and other women that look up to me, to even stoop that low or subject myself to that.

UPTOWN: Is that the reason you left the show?

Olivia: It is definitely a reason. When we first started, when it was me, Chrissy [Lampkin], and Emily [Bustamente], it was nothing like it is today. Even when we did the second season, it still wasn’t as crazy. When we got to the third season, I was still there. Remember Chrissy and Emily had already left by then? So it was already turning into something else. I had to think about whether or not I wanted to return for a fourth season, and of course they sent over the paperwork and thought I’d sign off and show up for work. I decided that it just wasn’t where it was at, so I left.

The other blessing was after I left I auditioned for a role with Carl Weber and I got it. So I thought real acting is where it’s at and I should really hone in on this. I started auditioning more and getting the gigs. My acting coach Tracy Moore, I have been working with her for six years, so everything I audition for, I get called back or get referred for something else. Real acting is what I should be doing, so it’s become my second love, aside from music.

UPTOWN: Do you think being on the show helped your career at all?

Olivia: It did help me because I didn’t act like the other girls. People would always say Olivia was always the classy one. I loved that people paid attention to that fact. I would go audition and people would say, “Oh no, not from ‘Love and Hip Hop,’” and then someone would say she was the one that was not fighting, and then they’d say, “Yeah, we want to see her.” I feel like it didn’t hurt me because I kept my integrity.

UPTOWN: Karlie Redd from the LHHATL cast said in an interview that Tyler Perry turned her down for a role because of the show.

Olivia: All he had to do was pull up the reel. You can’t hide that (laughs).

UPTOWN: If you had to do it all over again, would you do it again?

Olivia: I wouldn’t change a thing. I think everything happens for a reason. I am a God fearing woman and I believe that whatever I go through, I’m supposed to go through to learn a lesson. I feel like “Love and Hip Hop” was just another stepping stone for me and I got to show off my talent and perform some of my singles. Everyone got to be reacquainted with me, so it didn’t hurt me and I wouldn’t change a thing.

UPTOWN: Are you working on new music?

Olivia: Of course! The music is almost wrapped up. I changed so many things. I did fire Rich Dollaz, and I just needed to get away from all that. I felt like he liked the spotlight from “Love and Hip Hop” too much, and as a manager he was letting that take away his ability to be looked at as a serious manager. So when people looked at him and me on the show, they were like this doesn’t match. They would question if that’s her manager is that the type of business he does like on the show. So I didn’t want any of that to be associated  with me at all. So I changed everything up, and I’m finishing up my new label deal right now. I am very excited and I have a lot of producers that I am working with. I am just so amazed at my artist friends and the ones who aren’t that jumped up to work with me on the album. I have a record with Estelle and Luke James, Blaze, Wale. I love Wale! I think he gets a bad rap and the public picks on him too much, but he’s a great lyricist. Ne-Yo wrote me an amazing record, there are so many big and great names that worked with me on this. I am really excited, so when you guys get the music, you’ll see why it took so long.

Release Me: My Life, My Words is available now. And Olivia’s new album titled, Where Do I Go from Here, will be released early-2015.

It has been quite the emotional whirlwind in the few days following the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. The teen, who was unarmed when the police gunned him down on August 9, has been a topic of discussion on various media platforms, particularly Twitter where there have been a number of trending hashtags related to the incident.

Protestors have been demonstrating in Ferguson for justice for Black youth. On Tuesday, Anonymous, an organization of hackers, demanded that protesters remain safe from police brutality and threatened to hack the Ferguson Police Department if not. The hackers are threatening to expose the name of the officer who shot Brown, which has become classified information after the Ferguson Police Department refused to release the officer’s name.

But possibly the most chilling information since the shooting, is the emergence of Brown’s friend and eyewitness, 22-year-old Dorion Johnson.

Johnson was walking with Brown and told MSNBC in an exclusive interview that he saw the gun pointed at Brown and the “fire” exiting the barrel of the gun.

Johnson says that he and 18-year-old Brown were walking and talking when a squad car pulled up, and the officer in the car told the pair to “get the f–k on the sidewalk.” When the two stated to the officer that they were at Johnson’s place of residence, the officer allegedly put the vehicle in reverse and hit the young men, demanding for them to repeat what they said. The officer then reached out and grabbed Brown’s neck, choking him, according to Johnson.

The officer, whom the Ferguson Police Department refuses to identify by name, threatened to shoot, and Brown and Johnson began to run. The officer fired, hitting Brown. Johnson says the last words he heard Brown utter were “keep running.”

[Image: Trymaine Lee for MSNBC]

The parents (pictured left) of a 15-year-old, autistic girl in Atlanta are facing prison time for starving and beating their daughter and forcing her to live in her own waste. The girl’s mother, Jade Marie Jacobs, 35, was arrested on charges of malicious child cruelty. Gwinnett County authorities continue their pursuit of Jacobs’ husband and the girl’s stepfather William Brown, 40. He faces the same charges.

The 15 year old was forced to live on a tiny mat and reportedly weighed a mere 60 pounds. Jacobs reportedly left her, with bruises, in an Atlanta hospital earlier this month, saying she “could not do it anymore,” according to theAtlanta Journal-Constitution.

After Jacobs left the teen at the hospital, police visited her home, which neighbors say she’s only inhabited for a few weeks. What they discovered was horrifying. “There was a tile floor with a small two-by-two foot mat along with some clothes that were stained with feces and urine,” said Gwinnett Police Cpl. Ed Ritter to WSB. “There were actually feces on the floor and the entire room smelled of feces and urine,” Ritter added.

Jacobs claimed the bruises on the girl’s body came from a fight with her sisters. She said the girl’s unhealthy weight was the result of her refusal to eat.

Shockingly, Jacobs had already been charged with child abuse, second-degree assault, and reckless endangerment, in 2000, for putting a baby in hot bathwater, according to the Daily Mail.

[Image: Gwinnett County Police Dept.]

[Homepage image: Shutterstock]

A young American couple has been arrested after the woman’s mother was found dead and stuffed in a suitcase in Bali yesterday.

The suitcase was placed into the back of a taxicab in front of the luxury hotel, St. Regis Bali in Nusa Dua. The taxi cab driver alerted police that the couple, identified as Heather Mack, 19, and boyfriend Tommy Schaefer, 21, dumped the suitcase and disappeared for over two hours and never returned to claim it. When police delivered the suitcase to the local police station,  it was bloody on the outside and there were visible wounds to the victim’s forehead.

Police have reviewed hotel security footage and interviewed other guests of the hotel. While, the investigation is still undergoing, they believe Schaefer killed the mother – who has been identified as Sheila von Wiese Mack, 62 -  after a public fight on Monday night in the hotel lobby.

The couple was located and arrested on Wednesday. Officials seem confident that the couple is responsible for the murder, but the investigation will continue as officials try to determine why it happened in the first place.

Images: GETTY Images/ NY Daily News

When they aren’t in the midst of drama on “Basketball Wives LA,” former flames Draya Michele and Dallas Cowboys footballer Orlando Scandrick find themselves in real-life drama — even though they’re no longer together.

According to the gossip mill and social media, Draya and Scandrick’s relationship was on the rocks after she exposed him for making plans with another woman via Instagram. Tuesday, details emerged of Scandrick’s four-game suspension after testing positive for an illegal substance known as Molly. Scandrick was asked to submit to a drug test while out of the country and willingly submitted the sample.

Molly, also known as MDMA and ecstacy, is a party drug that is often lauded in Hip Hop.

It remains unclear who provided Scandrick with the drug, but Draya is claiming it was not her.  She posted a couple of tweets before later deleting them:

“Sources” say I drugged this man ….. People have written statements taking responsibility for their actions …. Never once blaming me.

— Draya Michele (@DrayaFace) August 12, 2014

I’m not to blame …. I’ve been supporting him since April when this happened. And I will continue to support him.

— Draya Michele (@DrayaFace) August 12, 2014

“To clear up those rumors, I wasn’t persuaded nor was I drugged. I simply just made a bad choice,” said Scandrick. So it still remains unclear who provided him with Molly.

Just months after singer Ciara, and rapper Future welcomed baby boy Future Zahir Wilburn into the world, the new mommy has called off her engagement.

Endless reports indicate Ciara wants out of the relationship after she found out that Future cheated on her. She now wants to redirect her attention to the baby, who is only three months old. Baby Future was born on May 19th and the couple seemed very happy based on the blitz of family photos they posted to Instagram.

On June 19th, Future posted a picture of his two loves, with the caption: My babies..can’t no pic in the world prove my love but what u looking at rite [sic] now is my life & these two mean the world to me.. big baby & baby future.”

Now, it seems that his fiancee did not mean the world to him – if the alleged rumors of his cheating are true. The split comes as a surprise since baby Future is only three months old, and the couple have not yet been engaged a year. A month ago, Ciara posted the following cryptic message, fueling speculation about it’s meaning:

Future proposed to the then-pregnant Ciara on her birthday last October with a massive 15-carat diamond ring.

Guess we can say that Ciara is putting her relationship with Future… in the past.

Could tampons be the key to HIV prevention for women? That’s the question that bioengineers at Washington University are attempting to answer with their latest research. If the team can get their work through clinical trials, they hope to be able to provide women with a dissolvable tampon that will deliver HIV-preventing medicine minutes before having sex.

“We envision a product that could dissolve, pretty much instantaneously, into a gel and then spread around the vagina during sex,” said Cameron Ball, lead author of the study which was published in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. “We want something that dissolves quickly so that people can say, ‘Hey, I wasn’t planning on it, but I’m going to have sex in five minutes so I need to use this product, and I want it to be completely dissolved before that,’” he added.

The researchers combined silky, electrically spun fibers with maraviroc — an approved drug that helps treat people with HIV that may also prevent healthy people from getting the virus. Within minutes of coming into contact with moisture, the fibers dissolve, releasing a high dose of the medication.

Research that explores the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) has been happening for years. PrEP refers to medications that are given to individuals who are considered high-risk for contracting HIV, including people in relationships with HIV-positive partners, people who inject drugs and individuals who regularly have unprotected sex with partners whose  HIV status they don’t know. These drugs are typically administered via a daily pill.

Creams and gels have also been explored, but researchers say that usually presents a logistical problem for women. “Follow-up trials have shown that the real barrier for women in using them is that they don’t adhere to the products — there’s leakage that makes it messy for them to use, so we’re interested in creating a different form of the drug,” Ball said. “Basically, a different product that women might be more likely to use.”

The new fibers can also potentially be used to prevent other sexually transmitted infections such as herpes, or used as a form of contraception.

However, we are not likely to see any of these products for some time. Ball predicts that it will be at least another ten years “before these types of things might be seen on the shelf of a local Walgreens or CVS.”

A three-car train derailment in the Swiss Alps has left five people critically injured, and six others sustained slight injury today. The incident occurred in a deep wooden valley southeast of Zurich in Switzerland. A landslide hit the mountain train leaving one carriage dangling from the rail. Luckily, it was saved by large trees.

“The train had set off from the ski resort of St. Moritz heading north toward Chur, Graubuenden’s administrative capital,” said a source to the Associated Press. 

One car slid almost 33 feet down the slope before trees stopped it. Air rescue helicopters managed to evacuate everyone before more damage was done.

At first, police suspected that the train ran into a landslide, but they later reversed their assessment after discovering the actual order of events.

[Image: AP/Keystone, Arno Balzarini]

This is the second time a train in Switzerland has malfunctioned in four years. The Glacier Express tourist train derailed in 2010, killing one and injuring 42 people.

Although Switzerland’s rail system is known to be one the safest in the world, reaching the Swiss Alps won’t be feasible for a while, as the line is expected to be closed for the next two days.

[Image: AP/Keystone, Arno Balzarini]

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A 14 year-old boy has been living in Walmart for days after running away. According to sources, the boy has a history of running away to abandoned properties but through a wild guess, that may have gotten old.

Officials say that the teenager was supposed to be staying with relatives while his parents were out of town.His aunt was watching television when he vanished and she immediately called the police.

Corsicana Walmart employees were “shocked” to find the boy who had been living there for more than 54 hours. The child built secret makeshift lairs behind rolls of toilet paper and wore diapers to avoid being seen using the restroom – but it doesn’t end there.

The teenager divided his time between the baby isle behind boxes of strollers and the paper towel/toilet paper isle. He also built a secret pathway behind the soft drinks and lived off the store’s food. The boy changed his clothes every few hours so he could be unnoticed but his garbage trail led employees to discover him.

The police reported that the teenager appeared to be “fine” physically then returned him to his relatives safely. So far, no word from any Walmart Spokesperson and no charges have been declared against the boy.

See his makeshift compound below:

Via KTVT/cbsdfw.com

Ma’lik Richmond is back on the Steubenville High School football team two years after being one of the minors convicted in juvenile court for the rape of a minor in Steubenville, Ohio. Richmond was 16 at the time of his arrest for his involvement in the rape of an intoxicated 16-year-old girl during a party. He was released in January, after serving nine months in a juvenile detention center, and is now 18.

Richmond returned to the high school for his senior year and practiced with the football team on Monday, the New York Daily News reports. Steubenville’s head coach Reno Saccoccia feels the talented wide receiver should have an opportunity to play.

“I feel that we’re really not giving him a second chance. Some may look at it like that,” Saccoccia said. “I feel like he’s earned a second chance.”

Chief probation officer Fred Abdalla Jr. told WTRF, “There’s no law against it that states he can’t play. There’s no OSHA rules that they’d be violating.” He also agrees that Richmond should be allowed to play. “Ma’lik Richmond has done everything that’s been asked of him from the court’s standpoint since he’s been sentenced,” Abdalla Jr. added.

Richmond has to register every 180 days for the next 20 years as a Tier II sex offender as a part of his 2013 rape conviction. Richmond and quarterback Trent Mays were found guilty of penetrating the girl while she was unconscious. Mays was sentenced for an additional two years for distributing sexual photos of the victim.

Instead of letting Richmond back on the football team, many feel that the school could have used the opportunity to send a message to the younger population.

“Steubenville City Schools hasn’t really done a lot in the past two years to prove to the world that they don’t tolerate rape culture and allowing a Tier II registered sex offender on the team pretty much solidifies the assumption that they are concerned about wins rather than the safety of young girls or the destruction of rape culture in their area,” Alexandra Goddard, a blogger familiar with the case, said.

A young man thought it would be wise to ask Apple iPhone mobile assistant Siri to help him commit murder at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Pedro Bravo allegedly kidnapped and strangled his friend Christian Aguilar in 2012, after an argument about dating his ex-girlfriend. Bravo then reportedly asked Siri for advice: “I need to hide my roommate.” Surprisingly, the mobile device answered with: “What kind of place are you looking for? Swamps. Reservoirs. Metal foundries. Dumps.”

The Gainesville Police Department introduced the conversation between Bravo and Siri as evidence in the murder trial to prove that the young man’s story didn’t match what he told investigators. The screen grab of the conversation is said to have been taken on September 20, 2012, the same day Aguilar went missing.

The Siri conversation is just a piece of the puzzle as prosecutors attempt to prove that Bravo killed his former roommate after a heated argument. Along with the evidence, investigators said that the phone’s flashlight was used 48 times, possibly while he was attempting to discard the body in the woods. Location information obtained from the phone also doesn’t match Bravo’s story.

The iPhone comes programmed with standard Siri responses to common questions regarding a myriad of topics, such as food choices, setting appointments, and commands to help the user with everyday tasks. It’s definitely not to serve as an accomplice to criminal activity.

Apple has removed the response from Siri, 9to5Mac reports. When asked the question, Siri now responds “What, again?” Apparently the engineers didn’t think someone would actually ask how to hide a corpse.

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Ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympics, all eyes – from those of track & field fiends to the beauty mavens — are on a new monarch of the track. Meet Queen Harrison.

Twenty-five-year-old Harrison was the youngest member of the USA Track Team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she finished seventh in the 400m women’s hurdles semifinals. In 2010, she made history by becoming the first woman to win the 100m and 400m hurdles titles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and also took home The Bowerman, an award known as the Heisman Trophy of Track & Field. After suffering a leg injury and being sidelined in the 2012 Summer Olympic trials, Harrison is back on the scene and digging deep into the work ethic that got her to the Olympic stage.

A 2011 New York Times feature detailed Harrison’s early rise to stardom. The daughter of an Army vet who served in Vietnam, Harrison determinedly joined her older siblings for sunrise workouts at the tender age of 3. Born in Loch Sheldrake, NY, those toddler workouts — jumping jacks, push-ups, sit-ups, and running — prepped her for a track life when she moved to Virginia and began setting track & field records in high school. With years of experience under her belt, the Virginia Tech alum, who graduated with a degree in sociology, is poised to once again make waves on the international track scene.

2014 has been good to Harrison. She placed second in the 100m hurdles at June’s USA Track & Field Championships, and she won July’s Diamond League 100m hurdles in Glasgow. If her current streak is any indication, the 2016 Olympics will undoubtedly center around Harrison — and she’s ready to face the challenge.

Speaking of face, Harrison has a large social media following who adore her for her hair and beauty moves. Her tagline of “Have fun, run fast, and look fabulous” encompasses much of what she shares with her fans on Twitter and Instagram. Fans and followers are treated to an inside view of Harrison’s style mandate with photos of her many hairstyles, her flawless makeup on the track, and her off-the-track fashion picks.

UPTOWN was able to connect with Harrison and get her thoughts on competing, track & field representation, and of course — style! Get to know the Queen:

UPTOWN: Congrats on winning the 100m hurdles in the 2014 Diamond League! Track is just as much a mental sport as it is a physical one, so how do you get in the zone before your races?

Queen: I love music! I feel like I always have a soundtrack going on to my life so wherever it’s allowed I’m always playing music to get me in my “zone.” But I also zone out by focusing on things other than my races, like what hairstyle and lipstick I’m going to sport during the race or talk to loved ones on the phone beforehand just to take my mind off of competition. All of the hard stuff and focus is done in training way before the track meet even starts, so I try to free my mind of all things track-related so I can just go out there and have fun.

[Image: Ella Bee Media Group]

UPTOWN: Competitive sport is generally a continuous see-saw of achievement and disappointment. How do you stay motivated, handle setbacks, and find balance?

Queen: I think I am able to stay motivated and balanced even through setbacks because of the confidence I have in myself, my training, and my abilities. I know how hard I work and I know God has blessed me with a talent of infinite proportion so I never let one race or season define me as an athlete or person. In addition to my belief in myself and God, I have an outpouring of love and support from my family, friends, and fans. Even when I don’t do well at a meet, I am constantly reminded that I am the best, I am great, and that there are always bigger things to come by all of my support systems! I like to call them QueenTeam because, like me, they know that staying motivated doesn’t always come from within and my team of people who believe in me always find a way to keep my spirits up.

UPTOWN: You recently posted an image on Instagram with the hashtag #ESPYSNEEDSTRACK and mentioned the lack of representation of track athletes at the awards. How do you think representation of your sport could be improved on a larger scale?

Queen: I’m glad to know people other than just track athletes noticed the hashtag because there are many ways track and field can be better represented at these awards shows and in mainstream period! These shows are not only about performances but also about ratings and the more mainstream/popular an athlete is, the more people will be interested to watch anything they’re doing. So by marketing and exposing more track athletes to the public and making them more visible, they in turn become public figures and BOOM! more interest in the sport.

I also believe that how other sports have channels dedicated solely to 24/7 coverage to the sport, track and field should do the same thing. There are a gang of track meets always going on during the spring/summer months in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and even a couple in America, so there is more than enough coverage to keep a channel alive and motivate meet directors to host even more meets. One more way track athletes’ representation can be improved is more inclusion on shows like “Sports Center,” and ESPN in general. Except for a couple exceptions, coverage on track and field is few and far in between from high school to collegiate to professional level. Having these places where track and sports fans can always go to watch track and field and get familiar with its key players, will allow the fan base to grow.

UPTOWN: You’re becoming just as known for your style as you are for your athleticism, and you often use the tagline “Have fun, run fast, and look fabulous!” Have you always had a passion for beauty?

Queen: I have always had a passion for beauty, especially hair! I honestly think it stems from growing up and having to wear my hair covered in a head wrap (my parents are members of the Nation of Gods and Earths and required the girls to cover their hair) and I wasn’t able to experiment with a lot of hairstyles. So when I got older and had a choice to cover my hair or not I learned how to do my own hair and instantly fell in love with all the changes I could make! Beauty is the same way for me, I love how the right tube of lipstick from Covergirl or MAC can instantly make me feel fabulous even on a rainy, sweatpants kinda day. Beauty products and hair are some of the best ways to express yourself and personal style, and there’s nothing more fabulous than expressing yourself. They’ve even motivated me to create my own YouTube channel!

UPTOWN: What are your current favorite style trends for hair, makeup, and/or fashion? Do you have any style inspirations?

Queen: For hair, I love a half-up, half-down kind of style especially when I’m racing. I think of it how they used to describe mullets, “business in front and party in the back” (laughs) because the hair is kept out of my face for competition but its still long and flowing in the back, like I’d wear if I was going out. Makeup is light and shimmery and glowing because it’s summertime. And with my skin already tanned and pretty evened out, I love a bold statement lip color especially purple, paired with a cute cat eye. Now with fashion, I switch it up so much it’s hard to say my favorite but I’ll go with flatform and platform shoes. Not only are they super cute and super “in” right now, they’re also comfy and easy to walk in. WIN WIN WIN! Style inspiration outside of myself lately comes from Solange and Beyoncé. The sisters have been playing with mixing prints and bright colors and I love the freedom of expression that comes with that! My favorite fashion on the track would be my cross-body top I’ve been wearing; it’s functional, fashionable, and sexy … triple threat!

UPTOWN: Let’s look five years into the future. Who is Queen Harrison, what is she known for, and what is she up to?

Queen: I honestly don’t know where Queen Harrison is five years from now. Trying to predict it would be like putting a limit on myself, and I honestly believe with what I’m doing now on and off the track and what I’m planning to do on and off the track will make the sky the limit for me. As long as I am HAPPY and loved five years from now, I know I’ll be right where I’m supposed to be.

Keep up with Queen Harrison via her blog, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Looks like Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett are coming back to a theater near you. Martin Lawrence spilled the beans about the production of Bad Boys 3 on the “Conan O’Brien” show Wednesday. Lawrence, 49, revealed the script is currently being written and the studio is in talks with director Michael Bay, who directed the first two installments. It’s unclear whether Lawrence’s partner in crime fighting, Will Smith, will reprise his role.

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer said in April that Bad Boys 3 was always a victim of bad timing:

“It’s so funny because we’ll get Sony real excited to make the movie, and then Will [Smith] is off doing two movies. And then, Will will come back and be real excited about it, and Sony will say, ‘Well, maybe it’s not the time for this.’ And then, Ride Along came out and was a big hit, and now they’re all excited to make the movie, but Will is off doing something else. It’s just trying to get everybody together to make it. But, we’re working on the script. We have a lot of faith and hope that we’ll do it.”

The original film, Bad Boys, was released in 1995 with a huge opening weekend at the box office. The sequel, Bad Boys 2, grossed over $138 million at the box office in 2003, despite horrible reviews from critics.

[Image: Columbia Pictures]

The Pentagon has reversed the controversial U.S. Army mandate that prohibited many natural hairstyles.

The Army’s natural hair restriction, officially titled Army Regulation 670-1, prohibited natural dreadlocks, twists, and big braids. Ever since the release of the U.S. Army Grooming Guide, social media had been ablaze, denouncing the military because the ban on certain styles of braids and twists is racially insensitive. Over 17,500 people signed a White House petition, penned by Sgt. Jasmine Jacobs, asking that the Army reconsider its policies to make them more racially inclusive.

In April, the female members of the Congressional Black Caucus sent the Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel a letter suggesting that the policies and language indicated “a lack of cultural sensitivity conducive to creating a tolerant environment for minorities.”

The Army, Air Force, and Navy have expanded the number of acceptable styles, permitting cornrows, twists, and larger braids and removing spacing requirements between braids. The Marines will convene a special uniform board this summer.

Move over pamper parties and MaryKay home gatherings, a new type of party is taking over. Career women hosting egg freezing parties are steadily rising as the newest trend in metropolitan New York.

Single, career-oriented women in their mid-30s, who have never been married, are taking the scientific approach to motherhood. Forget leaving motherhood to fate, career women are opting to take fertility in their own hands by freezing their eggs at ticketed gatherings.

During the egg-a-thon, the attendees get a crash course in freezing their eggs, such as how the ovaries must be stimulated with fertility drugs for 12 days before the eggs are harvested while the patient is sedated.

[Image: Shutterstock]

The price to preserve eggs is often cheaper at an egg freezing party than at a clinic. The average cost is between $6,500 and $7,500, compared to between $13,000 and $15,000 at clinics.

It seems as if career-focused women aren’t wallowing in despair when it comes to becoming a mother, but instead are taking their destiny into their own hands, literally. The ticking of their biological clocks no longer affects them negatively, as egg freezing parties provide a comfortable, non-judgmental atmosphere to postpone their motherhood phase until … whenever.

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