By Larry Ossei-Mensah

For nearly a decade, French Street artist JR has made the walls of cities around the world his personal canvas and the streets his public art gallery.  Emerging from the graffiti culture and transiting into a modern day Henri Cartier-Bresson with his larger than life photographers of people who dwell in these cities, JR has become the voice for the common man. Plastering these large format images via “pasting” everywhere the eye can see, JR’s vivid tableaux has made him an icon of his generation. After winning the TED Prize in 2011, JR was asked to make a wish. His wish was to create the world’s largest participatory art project and that moment sparked the genesis of the InsideOut Project.

The InsideOut Project is a global platform for individuals to share their stories and create transformative messages into iconographic works of public art. People email their portraits to JR, he prints them and sends back 36” x 53” posters empowering individuals with the tools to tell their story via public art. JR shared that, “I believe in re-empowering and not imposing.” Over 130,000 people from 108 countries have contributed images, helping the InsideOut Project to transform neighborhoods from Tunisia to Israel into jumping points for dynamic dialogue.

Throughout the project, JR and filmmaker Alastair Siddons have been documenting this experience in a riveting piece of cinema – Inside Out: The People’s Art Project. For a majority of the film, JR facilitates moving conversations showcasing slivers of insights from the lives that have been impacted by the InsideOut Project. “That is what this whole thing is about,” says JR, “It is not just about creating a cool photo. It is about reconnecting people.”

Last month during the Tribeca Film Festival, where the documentary premiered to a star studded audience that included festival co-founder Robert DeNiro, JR brought the Inside Out Project to New York City. Taking over Time Square for nearly three weeks and inviting people to take portraits that were instantly printed from his mobile photobooth and pasted in Father Duffy Square, it was a delight to see the smiles on the faces of participants seeking to share a memorable experience.  JR shares, “I want people to walk away from this film with the desire of making something. I want people to re-create an interaction by making an action ‘InsideOut.’”

Inside Out: The People’s Art Project documentary, directed by Alastair Siddons, premieres this week on HBO.

Photo credit: Naplouse, Palestine, 2011 / © JR

With prices reaching far into the thousands, getting the Oscar de la Renta look has been out of reach for even the most financially stable of our population.

But now, we can all gain entré into the high fashion clique for less than $30.

Beginning today, luxury e-tailer Net-A-Porter.com is exclusively selling limited-edition Oscar de la Renta Nail Lacquers straight off the runway. Each nail polish was chosen personally by de la Renta to highlight his passion for color, and retails for $22. Available in SHOCK (a vibrant pink), ENVY (a sea green), and FLIRT (an opal white), are long-lasting, chip-resistant, and glossy. The polish collection doesn’t contain Toluene, Formaldehyde, or DBP.

OK, now stop reading and head over to Net-A-Porter.com to snag an Oscar de la Renta polish, or purchase all three before they sell out!

Courtesy of Sister 2 Sister

Tika Sumpter is going to be a real, jaw-dropping, ruthless piece of work as she plays Tyler Perry’s newest bad girl Candace on “The Haves and the Have Nots.”

“I am so excited about my role,” Tika told S2S, bracing fans for the fact that her character … will leave many OWN viewers speechless. “She’s a different type. She’s ambitious … She’s come from a very hard past. All I ask is people don’t judge her right away.”

Keep reading …

The post Tika Sumpter “Excited” About Playing ‘The Haves and the Have Nots’ Bad Girl appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Courtesy of The Grio

With just one day until the fate of school closings is known in the third-largest district in the nation, students have joined their parents and teachers in protest and raised their voices in opposition to the mass shutter.

Heralded as the future mayor of Chicago in the year 2025, 9-year-old Asean Johnson, has spoken at school board meetings and hearings, and fired up a crowd of hundreds in a protest against school closings Monday that concluded three days of marches on the city’s South and West sides.

“I wanted to be there to support my school and for the other schools that are closing, because really, I think that no school should be closing,” he told theGrio.

Read more and catch the incredible video over at The Grio…

The post 9-Year-Old Delivers Message To Mayor Rahm Emanuel About School Closings [VIDEO] appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Former pro basketball cheerleader is not the role most would expect from actress Kimberly Elise. But career range is nothing new for the woman who has robbed banks in Set It Off and portrayed the sister to a spirit in Beloved. As Sloane in the new VH1 series Hit the Floor, Elise, who was a dancer in her teens, is a former Devil Girl cheerleader who doesn’t want her daughter Ahsha (newcomer Taylour Paige) to follow in her footsteps. “I get to play a woman in all phases of life,” she says. “There’s funny, frustrating, mad, there’s just everything.”

There’s also more to Floor than choreography. “We have a lot of sexy on our show,” she says with a laugh. With costars like former “Superman” Dean Cain and an all-grown-up Logan Browning from Bratz and Meet the Browns, how could it not? But, as always, Elise brings something deeper and the creators have incorporated many aspects of Elise into Sloane.

“They’ve made my character vegan and I love to see a black woman on television who is,” says the mother of two, who was vegetarian for 13 years and has been vegan for two. Both Elise and her character rock natural hair. “All of it is in harmony with her and with me so it’s really nice,” Elise says. “And I like that [the producers] are supporting a black woman just being a black woman.”

Courtesy of The Root

When I heard that a golfer had made a “joke” about Tiger Woods and fried chicken, I had to double-check to make sure it wasn’t 1997 all over again. That was the year Frank “Fuzzy” Zoeller was asked for his thoughts about Woods’ impending success at the Masters, and he joked about Woods serving “fried chicken” or “collard greens” to celebrate his win. The remark cost Zoeller his primary sponsor, Kmart, and will likely overshadow his athletic successes in his obituary some day.

Yet despite what the comment cost Zoeller, another golfer just made a similar one. Here’s hoping bad ’90s fashion doesn’t come roaring back with the same vengeance as bad ’90s racial humor. According to reports, Spanish golfer Sergio Garcia and Woods have been feuding for years, so Garcia was jokingly asked if he would be inviting Woods over for dinner at next month’s U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Garcia replied, “We will have him ’round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”

For someone for whom English is not a first language, I guess Garcia should be applauded for sounding as ignorantly racist as some people who are born here and are taught racial stereotypes from the time they are potty-trained.

Woods was rightly offended by the remark. Garcia, in turn, issued the standard nonapology apology, saying, “I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment onstage during the European Tour Players’ Awards dinner. I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner.”

Continue at The Root…

Congratulations are in order for Amar’e Stoudemire and Alexis Welch who welcomed a healthy baby boy earlier this week!

The 30-year-old power forward revealed the exciting news to fans via Twitter on Wednesday (May 22), stating:

“We are proud to announce we added a healthy baby boy to the Stoudemire team. Alexis and the baby are doing great. #Blessed”

The two, who began dating in 2002, were engaged on June 2 at the Le Meurice Hotel Belle Etoile in Paris, overlooking the Eiffel Tower. They wed in December 2012 during a private ceremony in New York.

This is the couple’s fourth child.

Courtesy of Hello Beautiful

If you thought Oprah Winfrey was slowing down anytime soon you are sadly mistaken.

According to reports, the media mogul has signed a new partnership deal to bring an OWN programming block to the United Kingdom.

With the multi-year deal, which also includes longtime partner Discovery Networks International, original series such as “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” “Oprah’s Master Class” and “Super Soul Sunday” will be broadcast on TLC in the UK.

Continue at Hello Beautiful…

The post International Success: Oprah Expands OWN To The UK appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Janet Jackson might have married a handsome billionaire, but don’t be confused– she’s got her own.

According to Variety, the 47-year-old singer/actress has pocketed more than a $1 billion over the span of her career from music, movies and endorsements, among other ventures.

Jackson reportedly earned $458 million from her worldwide concert tours, $304 million from roles in films such as The Nutty Professor and For Colored Girls, $260 million in album sales and more than $81 million from sponsorship deals.

The multi-talent recently confirmed to Billboard that she is focused on new music and is currently building the concept.

Courtesy of The Frisky

Just a wee suggestion, but if you’re going to talk about your plot to follow a dude home and murder him? Make sure all of your electronic devices are off. That’s the hard lesson learned by Florida man Scott Simon learned earlier this week when he accidentally butt-dialed 911 in the midst of discussing his plan to kill.

Keep reading …

[Image: Shutterstock]

Courtesy of BlackEnterprise.com

I love speaking to and relating with youth. From adolescents still finding their way to teens heading to college to 20-somethings looking to spark career and entrepreneurial revolutions, I find myself very passionate about being a resource to them. I’m happy that I’ve had a platform via media to do so and am always looking for other ways to be of help.

However, I’ve come across a sad pattern of young women of color and their stories of low self esteem. In a world where women are often demoralized, abused and seen as second-class, beat-down mentalities have become super-prevalent after consistently being told “you can’t” or “you won’t.” I’ve even heard stories of girls being discouraged to succeed by their own family members and peers, who promote stifling environments where girls are limited to poverty and teen pregnancy and doomed to lives of perpetual unfulfillment.

I find this to be both disheartening and infuriating. I grew up with women who were strong and confident. My Granny, who did not attend college herself and raised 5 children, has always been the very popular matriarch of her family and her community. She would always tell me: “Keep your head up, shoulders back and face forward with confidence. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel less than what you are.” She, along with my mother and aunts, were very big on girl power and would often instill those values not only in my sister and I, but in the men of the family as well.

Keep reading …

[Image: Shutterstock]

The post Forbes List Gives Young Women of Color 100 Reasons To Succeed appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

In today’s bizarre news, an 84-year-old New Mexico woman was indicted for drug trafficking on Thursday. Oxygen tank and all.

The Associated Press reports Lillie Smith was indicted by a Bernalillo County grand jury for trafficking, conspiracy to commit trafficking, tampering with evidence and possession– all charges stemming from a 2011 warrant.

Authorities originally suspected that the elderly woman’s son, Nathan Jones, was running a drug operation out of her home. Deputies later found cocaine, marijuana, scales, money and other items connected to trafficking on Smith, which she tried to hide during the investigation.

“It’s definitely not something you see every day,” said Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Aaron Williamson. “When detectives were on scene she did try to take the narcotics that were on her person out and stash them.”

Jones was arrested in 2011 but Smith was not because of a medical condition. The district attorney’s office filed charges and a grand jury returned the indictment earlier this year.

She was arrested in April but bonded out of jail.

Smith’s next court date is set for July.

The post 84-Year-Old New Mexico Woman Indicted For Drug Trafficking appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Courtesy of Madame Noire

Yup, he’s still talking. He’s still on the same subject too, but this time around Will Smith is expanding his musings on parenting beyond the Smith household to a few observations on African American parenting in general.

The actor sat down for a one-on-one with Haute Living to discuss his latest feature, After Earth, which he stars in alongside son Jaden, and the mag asked if there were any similarities behind the pair’s on-screen relationship and the one they share in real life. The 44-year-old said he and Jaden inevitably brought some of their own father-son dynamic to the characters, but the more interesting answer came when Will was asked whether there were any similarities between the way he was raised and how he’s raising his son and daughter.

Keep reading …

The post Will Smith Says Because Of Slavery African American Parents Tend To Treat Their Kids Like Property appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

As American Idol‘s season 12 judges are slowly being pushed away from the table, a new (and familiar) breed is stepping up.

Multiple sources have confirmed with E! News that AI alum Jennifer Hudson has signed on as a judge for next season. The remaining spots are expected to be handed to former contestants Kelly Clarkson, Adam Lambert or Clay Aiken.

Current judges Nicki Minaj, Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson and Keith Urban will not be returning.

Related: Star Style: Jennifer Hudson [PHOTOS]

“It’s Idol alums bringing in the next generation,” said one FOX source.

America was introduced to Hudson during season three of the show, but was sent home during the “Top 7.” Still, the 31-year-old singer/actress has gone on to have one of the most accomplished careers of her AI peers.

Hudson and the network have yet to comment.

The post Jennifer Hudson Signs On As ‘American Idol’ Judge appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Courtesy of Hello Beautiful

Beyonce, Beyonce, Beyonce. We can’t keep her name out of our mouths. I have a very contradictory outlook on the corset-clad, pelvic bone-popping pop culture phenom. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Beyonce’s undeniable talent. It’s not even that I am sick of seeing this blonde-haired beauty over saturate my screen. It’s more because I don’t understand her image–what she shows us and what we think we know about her.

I don’t regard her as a role model by any means. She’s here for our entertainment. But, that’s not all she’s here for. At the end of the day, when the makeup washes off and the heels are kicked across her well-decorated bedroom, Beyonce is a woman, wife, sister, and mother among other titles. Despite the critics, she’s also a feminist. Feminism challenges inequalities in society. And don’t you think our beloved Bey does this very thing?

I came across this article about Beyonce’s brand of feminism, which includes, but is not limited to booty shaking half naked. This often-used exploration of voyeuristic female sexuality isn’t brand new. Beyonce gathers inspiration from those who came before her like Josephine Baker and even those around her, like Madonna. But it’s the Black woman’s dips, hips, and curves that exposes many critics’ discomfort of the Black woman’s physique.

Keep reading …

The post Beyonce’s Sexy ‘Feminism’ Faces A Racial Double Standard appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Courtesy of EURWeb

We were so happy to learn that Charles Ramsey is still being celebrated throughout the Cleveland area.

And not only is he still being honored, but food is being served.

Numerous restaurants in the Cleveland area, as well as one in Pennsylvania, have banded together in a sort of “Free Food for Ramsey” alliance.

Keep reading …

The post Cleveland Restaurants to Serve Charles Ramsey Free Food for Life! appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Courtesy of EURweb

Music and TV producer Russell Simmons has inked a two-year first-look deal with HBO, bringing him back to the premium cable network that ran his groundbreaking series “Def Comedy Jam.”

Under the pact, Simmons will create and develop projects for the channel, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam, which ran from 1992-97 and 2006-08, is credited with launching the careers of several notable African-American stand-up comedians.

Continue at EURweb…

Courtesy of BET.com via The Root

Lauryn Hill is controversial and problematic, and not just to the Internal Revenue Society. The embattled former Fugee besmirches the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in her newest song, “Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix),” Monica Miller writes on BET.com. Miller says you can’t purport to tear down one social injustice while perpetuating another.

Keep reading …

As Tyler Perry prepares for the debut of two new series on OWN, Mr. Do It All recently sat down with Oprah Winfrey to discuss a range of topics from the death of Whitney Houston to his thoughts on his harshest critics.

Related: NYC: OWN Preview Party

The network’s head honcho pointed out a 2011 quip by television personality Touré about Perry’s work being nothing more than cinematic malt liquor for the masses. His response?

“Why would I be upset at people who don’t get it? And when I tell you I have these messages by the millions from people of how my movies and work have spoken to them or their family,” he said. “So the ones who don’t get it, are not as important to me as the ones who do.”

Related: Tika Sumpter “Excited” About Playing ‘The Haves and the Have Nots’ Bad Girl

Oprah’s Next Chapter with Perry airs Sunday, May 26, at 9/8c on OWN. Check out a sneak peek below…

The post First Look: Tyler Perry Responds To Critics On ‘Oprah’s Next Chapter’ — ‘I Get It’ [VIDEO] appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

By Tracy Clayton

It’s easy to forget that Chief Keef is just 17 years old — he doesn’t look it, and the rap star is far more successful than your average teenager. But his recent Twitter antics are an unpleasant reminder of just how young he really is.

It all started when pop singer Katy Perry heard Keef’s song “I Hate Being Sober.” Katy was not a fan of the song and said so, as is her right as an American citizen, thanks to the First Amendment. “Just heard a new song on the radio called ‘I Hate Being Sober,’ she tweeted. ‘I have serious doubt for the world.”

Chief Keef responded to Perry’s tweet two days later with profanity, insults, and threats of bodily harm. Some hours later, Perry responded with … an apology?

When I first heard of the little squabble between the two, I shook my head and said “Ain’t that a shame.” His response was over-the-top and completely immature. You’d hope that someone would be better at controlling their anger, but kids have to grow into being able to do that. Keef clearly isn’t there yet. Further, the fact that the tweets have not yet been deleted shows a lack of competency in his management team, and that his account is still active is a failure of the Twitter police (threatening bodily harm is a violation of Twitter’s terms of service).

As disappointed as I am with all of the above, I’m even more frustrated with Katy Perry’s response. Perry paid Keef a lot of respect that he did not deserve. He behaved like a child and should have been addressed as such: “No, you don’t get to talk to me that way. You’re being very disrespectful and I don’t deserve it. I’m sorry that you’re angry, but you need to find a mature way to deal with strong emotions. It’s not okay to resort to violence because you don’t get your way. You’re behaving very unprofessionally right now.” These are things that someone should have told Chief Keef — his handlers clearly aren’t doing it.

The tweets between the two were retweeted over 15,000 times, which means that their fans, many of whom are likely young and impressionable, witnessed the exchange. There is a dangerous lesson to be learned there, both by Keef and his young fans: It’s okay for a man to threaten to assault a woman if she says or something you don’t like. Not only is it okay, but it will put her in her place.

I applaud Perry for taking the high road and not jumping into the pit to sling mud with Keef. But she could have done that in the course of standing up for herself. I personally would have taken the issue to his parole officer and let the law deal with it. What this teenage rapper needs to learn is that there are consequences to your actions, online and off.