By Noah Brand

When it comes to reality, some right-wingers are still secessionists. They’ll have no truck with your so-called “facts”, be they about science, law, or observable things you can actually look at. Take, for example, the continuing delusion that President Obama is a Muslim. It ain’t true, never has been, and wouldn’t mean anything even if it were true—but try telling your Fox-News-watching grandma that.

Today, President Obama was sworn in on a literal stack of Bibles (well, a short stack), using both Lincoln’s inaugural Bible, and one that was owned and used by Martin Luther King Jr. That’s like twice as many Bibles as most folks use, and you’d think that would be a sufficient amount of Bible for almost anyone, right?

Nope, not for these folks.

Continue reading at The Good Men Project

Read more from our partner at GoodMenProject.com:

‘Was the President Wearing Bronzer?’ – Are You Kidding Me?!

The MLK That Never Gets Quoted: “Don’t Let Anybody Take Your Manhood”

Courtesy of the Huffington Post

There’s no doubt that LL Cool J is a hip-hop heavyweight. The rapper has not only made a name for himself in music, but he has also carved out a career in film and television.

But despite the celebrity of his adulthood, the entertainer, whose real name is James Todd Smith, struggled with abuse as a child. In the latest installment of “Oprah’s Next Chapter,” the rapper opens up to media queen, Oprah Winfrey, about his experience being abused as a child.

LL Cool J wrote about his struggle in his 1998 autobiography “I Make My Own Rules,” claiming that a man named Roscoe, who lived with the rapper’s mother, beat him ruthlessly and tormented him psychologically. Fifteen years later, he is now sitting down to discuss the impact of the abuse on national television.

Catch the video at the Huffington Post…

The post LL Cool J, Oprah Sit Down To Discuss Rapper’s Childhood Abuse On ‘Next Chapter’ [VIDEO] appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Unlike some of us, we can bet Robin Roberts was fired up to hear the blare of her alarm clock this morning. The Good Morning America anchor was up and at ‘em early Thursday to practice what she calls a “dry-run” at the New York City studio, just seven months after revealing her diagnosis of MDS.

ABC News reports Roberts was on set at 5 a.m. after waking at 3:45 a.m. It was her first time back in the studio since undergoing a bone marrow transplant last September.

“What a thrill to be back at ‘GMA”s Times Square Studio this morning and see the best folks in the world, my ‘GMA’ family,” Roberts said. “I can’t wait to get back to the anchor chair in a few weeks.”

The 52-year-old personality said her practice run tested how many people she came in contact with, how her body reacted to stress and the sensitivity of her skin to the studio lights. Robin’s doctors approved her return to the GMA set after her most recent test showed no abnormalities.

Roberts, a breast cancer survivor, celebrated the critical 100-day benchmark from her bone marrow transplant in December. All in all, she says she’s getting better every day and hopes to make her return in February.

The post Robin Roberts Gets Back In The Saddle With ‘GMA’ Test Run appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

In today’s link round-up: Kimora Lee Simmons discusses her fashion influence, Rosa Parks gets honored with a historic new statue and much more!

EBONY.com
Quvenzhané Wallis Covers Entertainment Weekly’s ‘Oscar’ Issue
How adorable is she?

EURweb
9 Black Former ‘AI’ Contestants File Suit Against Show Claiming Racism
The dismissed contestants believe they were booted to boost ratings.

Madame Noire
Kimora Lee Simmons Says She And Russell Set The ‘Blueprint’ For Celebs In Fashion
“Before us there wasn’t any Beyoncé, there wasn’t Sean John or Justin Timberlake, there wasn’t Jessica Simpson.”

Hello Beautiful
Rosa Parks 1st Black Woman Honored With A Statue On Capitol Hill
American history.

VIBE.com
Nicki Minaj Storms Off ‘American Idol’ Set On-Air
Let the drama begin.

Loop 21
New Norovirus Bug, Common Flu Sweeps Nation
The norovirus season typically runs from November through March, reaching a peak in January.

The post LOTD: Quvenzhané Wallis Covers EW + Black ‘AI’ Contestants File Lawsuit Against Show appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

The latest news out this week on Malcolm D. Lee‘s sequel to the classic ’90s romcom The Best Man is sure to make fans happy: the entire cast is on board for part deux.

A press release issued by Universal Pictures on Thursday stated:

“After nearly 15 years apart, Taye Diggs (television’s Private Practice), Nia Long (Big Momma’s House), Morris Chestnut (Kick-Ass 2), Harold Perrineau (Zero Dark Thirty), Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow), Sanaa Lathan (Contagion), Monica Calhoun (Love & Basketball), Melissa De Sousa (Miss Congeniality) and Regina Hall (Scary Movie franchise) reprise their career-launching roles in the next chapter to the film that ushered in a new era of comedy. When the college friends finally reunite over the Christmas holidays, they will discover just how easy it is for long-forgotten rivalries and romances to be ignite.”

With all the players set and a release date confirmed (Nov. 15, 2013), production on the film is expected to begin in the very near future.

Celebrities and shade — you can’t have one without the other. This week, The Queen of Soul had a chuckle at the expense of another diva, an anti-Obama rapper lost his cool at an inauguration event, and an NBA standout throws a strong jab at Kanye West‘s baby mother’s estranged husband. Plus, guess which hip hop mogul is caught up in extortion allegations with his brother  and Joan Rivers said what?! AND I QUOTE …

“When I heard that I just really cracked up. I thought it was really funny, but she did a beautiful job with the pre-record … next time I’ll probably do the same.”

Aretha Franklin discusses Beyonce’s alleged lip syncing of the “Star Spangled Banner” at President Barack Obama’s  inauguration ceremony, via ABC News.

Continue reading on UPTOWN.

 “Limbaugh is a racist, Glenn Beck is a racist. Gaza Strip was getting bombed, Obama didn’t say s—t. That’s why I ain’t vote for him, next one either.”

Lupe Fiasco goes on an anti-Obama rant while performing at an inauguration event hosted by StartUp RockOn, via Politico.com.

Continue reading on UPTOWN.

“I think somebody needs to get me a cold pop … ain’t nobody got time for that!”

Chilli responds to whether she and Usher will ever be romantically involved again, on “The Wendy Williams Show.”

Source

“The question for me is: Where’s Spike Lee coming from? He didn’t like Whoopi Goldberg, he doesn’t like Tyler Perry, he doesn’t like anybody, I think he’s sort of run his course.”

Jamie Foxx calls Spike Lee out for being shady, jealous, and out of touch with reality, via The Grio. 

Source

“Today starts President Obama’s next four years in the White House Let’s hope the same isn’t true about the first lady’s new hairdo.”

Joan Rivers, who in the past has referred to First Lady Michelle Obama as “Blackie O,” expresses her disdain for the FLOTUS’s fabulous new haircut, via Twitter.

“Wasnt quiet when Kanye tore it down last month! RT @KrisHumphries: Big game tonight! The Garden got real quiet on the way out! #Brooklyn”

J.R. Smith takes a stab at Kris Humphries by mentioning the name of his estranged wife’s unborn baby’s father, in response to J.R. and the Knicks’ loss to the Brooklyn Nets, via Twitter.

“We never stole any money from anybody.” 

Russell Simmons responds to allegations that he, along with brother Reverend Run, extorted money from his nieces Vanessa and Angela Simmons’ Pastry shoe company, via TMZ.com

Source

Courtesy of The Root

Thankfully, it’s no secret that Barack Obama is a good father. More than other presidents in my recent memory, Obama — though never adopting the title “dad in chief” as his wife, Michelle, did with “mom in chief” — has become the poster child for working dads the world over. The proof, of course, is in the national captivation with first daughters Malia and Sasha Obama, two budding young women the country is almost as glad to have around for another four years as they are to have the girls’ dad.

“The night belonged to their father, but when Malia and Sasha stepped onto the stage in Grant Park election night, it was hard not to marvel at how much they had matured,” said NBC White House correspondent Kristen Welker in a segment that aired the night before the inauguration.

On Monday the crowds that packed onto the National Mall to witness history spared no applause for Malia and Sasha as they glided down the Capitol steps in purple J. Crew coats. They looked to be the closet thing a democracy can get to princesses. And precocious princesses at that. When Sasha very noticeably yawned during the president’s address, instead of chiding her, the mass of people surrounding me on the mall laughed and shook their heads as if she were one of them — tired, cold and ready to get this show on the road.

In “23 Reasons Sasha and Malia Stole the Inauguration,” BuzzFeed called the first daughters “America’s awesome kid sisters,” and if more than 30,000 Facebook likes on a post are any indication, many agreed. While the entire country was celebrating the peaceful transfer of power in a ceremony rife with America’s version of pomp and circumstance, “the girls” (as fans have taken to calling them) reminded everyone of the fact that the man taking the oath is a father and husband first.

Continue at The Root…

“Could I have saved her somehow?” is the question Cissy Houston continues to ask herself nearly a year after the death of daughter Whitney Houston. Cissy reveals in a new memoir, Remembering Whitney, her reaction to Whitney’s severe drug abuse and downward spiral that culminated in the legend drowning alone in a hotel bathtub with cocaine still in her system.

People.com got their hands on an advanced copy of the memoir, which is slated for a Jan. 29 release, and it seems Cissy took a wait-and-see approach to handling, or even addressing for that matter, Whitney’s addiction. Of course this is a memoir and should be read with the knowledge that it is the author’s recollection and interpretation of events that happened, not necessarily fact. So let’s delve into the highlights, shall we:

Cissy Houston on Whitney’s death:

“I’m angry she died alone, in those conditions. I’m still mad about that.”

On Whitney’s addiction:

“She started partying and she didn’t really know how to stop … I used to wonder what she was doing at night, where she was.”

On being afraid to confront Whitney:

“Whitney hid from me … What was the point? I didn’t want her to run completely away from me.”

On Bobby Brown being the cause of Whitney’s troubles:

“I blame him for the way he treated her, but I don’t blame him for her drug problems. He was no help to her at all.”

On Whitney’s “relationship” with former assistant-turned-creative director Robyn Crawford, who first told Cissy about Whitney’s addiction:

“I just didn’t want her with my daughter. I know nothing about a romantic relationship. That’s what everybody said but they didn’t know either.”

On her goal in writing Remembering Whitney:

“[W]hat a good person she was. I want people to know the truth about her, how she really was.”

Do you plan to read Remembering Whitney when it’s released next week?

Courtesy of The Frisky

Here is a confession: I am a dude, and sometimes I don’t want to have sex. For good reasons, or no reasons at all. It just depends.

I know that’s not actually shocking, but bear with me here, because that is somehow still a radical thing to admit. It’s still the default assumption about men, still casually reinforced basically every day. And women explicitly get told that it’s true, by men, even when they’re asked directly. Here’s just one recent example, from Cosmopolitan‘s “Ask Him Anything” column, in response to a question about why a woman’s husband wants to do it the moment they check into a hotel room anywhere: “Guys pretty much want sex no matter where they go – work, the mall, funerals, etc,” the “Him” who writes the column says, before explaining that a hotel room is just a part of that endless chain.

Continue reading at The Frisky

[Photo: Shutterstock]

Courtesy of Hello Beautiful

When a man gets provoked and reacts, society says he’s still a man. But because I have breasts and a portal for which life travels through, when I’m provoked and react, I’m considered emotional or told to simmer down. “Temper! Temper!” they say.

While purchasing breakfast the other morning, I saw Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the cover of The New York Post. The front page showcased Clinton mid-outburst pounding her fists with the words “No Wonder Bill’s Afraid.” A small photo of a shocked Bill Clinton added the cherry on top to drive the overtly sexist point home.

Courtesy of Hello Beautiful

There’s absolutely nothing glamorous about Jennifer Hudson‘s latest role in the gritty new drama The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete, also starring Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie and Jeffrey Wright.

The George Tillman Jr.-directed film follows two inner city youths– played by Skylan Brooks and Ethan Dizon– as they navigate the dangerous streets of the Brooklyn projects over the course of a summer. Hudson portrays a troubled mother struggling with a nasty drug addiction who gets popped for prostitution, forcing her son to fend for himself.

Defeat of Mister and Pete, executive produced by Alicia Keys, made its debut at Sundance on Jan. 17 in Park City, Utah. Check out a clip of the film below!

The post First Look: ‘The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete’ [VIDEO] appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Rumors are swirling that the Destiny’s Child reunion at the Super Bowl Half-Time show has been cancelled.

According to MediaTakeOut.com, a source says Beyonce did not want to focus on the past:

“We all expected Destiny’s Child’s new single ‘Nuclear’ to take off, and that [they would] perform it at the Super Bowl. But it didn’t and so [Beyonce's team] is regrouping… Kelly and Michelle will not be a part of [Beyonce's] show.”

Initial plans for the Half-Time performance included Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams joining Beyonce on stage to sing a medley of Destiny’s Child classics, as well as their new single “Nuclear.”

Blogger Perez Hilton’s website also posted an impromptu interview with Michelle where she denies plans for a Super Bowl Half-Time show reunion. So perhaps, Destiny’s Child fans, the rumors are true.

Frigid east coast temperatures topped news headlines for the past week. But apparently, a father in Colonie, N.Y. missed the memo after leaving his child in the back seat of his car on one of the coldest days of the year.

According to the Associated Press, the New York man left his 1-year-old son in the family car “for eight hours in frigid weather– only [realizing] his mistake after a call from his wife.”

Authorities of the Albany, N.Y. suburb say the man forgot to take his son to day care and left the child strapped in the back seat of the car while parked outside his office on Thursday morning.

Official reports say the man’s wife called him around 4 p.m. inquiring about their child’s whereabouts. The man then called for an ambulance and the boy was taken to a local hospital where his was examined and released. According to police, the baby was in good health despite being left in temperatures that barely topped 15 degrees.

Police announced on Friday that they haven’t decided if the father will face charges.

Police are giving comedian Katt Williams a break. According to TMZ, the 41-year-old will not face criminal charges after drugs and guns were found in the home shared with his children.

In late December 2012, Williams was picked up by LAPD at his home in Woodland Hills for felony child endangerment after authorities found numerous guns and marijuana. Although, Williams stated to police, he did not consider marijuana a drug.

However, the case fell apart for multiple reasons, according to law enforcement. First, Williams said his kids did not have access to the guns because they were stowed safely.  Second, there were too many people living in the home to definitively link Williams to the marijuana.

TMZ states:

“[The] District Attorney decided not to file felony charges and referred the case to the L.A. City Attorney, which handles misdemeanors.  But, even the City Attorney felt the case had big problems, so [Williams] will appear at an informal hearing at the City Attorney’s office, where he’ll be counseled and warned.

Courtesy of EntertainmentWise.com

A few days ago it was reported that former American Idol contestants were planning to sue the show claiming that they were disqualified because they are black – but other hopefuls have come forward to say this is absolutely not the case.

Showbiz website TMZ reported last Friday that nine former contestants, who are all black, are planning to take legal action against the show claiming they were forced off the show because they are African-American.

New York lawyer James H. Freeman is believed to have asked for permission to sue the show after he carried out an investigation and found that during background checks, producers of the show asked contestants if they had ever been arrested.

Freeman claims that the question, mixed with criminal records obtained, portrayed the black contestants in a negative way and made the group of claimants – which is believed to include season six’s Thomas Daniels – look like “violent criminals, liars and sexual deviants.”

Read Full Story here.

Rapper Rick Ross was reportedly caught in the middle of gunfire while sitting in his Rolls Royce early Monday morning, reports Local10.com.

Florida authorities received multiple calls around 5 a.m. from residents who heard shots fired in the area. Police say two people, allegedly Ross and a woman, were inside the vehicle when another car approached them and opened fire.

The driver of Ross’ Rolls Royce attempted to get away before slamming into a nearby residential apartment building.

No one was injured.

Police are still looking for the people responsible for the shooting and have not yet released any details about them or the car they were driving.

From the ebb and flow of the ocean to the rest and contractions of labor, the world, our bodies, nature exists in cycles. A colleague of mine shared with me an interesting theory: “We judge our successes based on a society that expects us to always be on.”

On, in this case, refers to our ability to produce. Our ability to put ourselves out there and take what is ours. The issue here is that we all work in cycles. Just as the sun rises and sets, there are cycles within us that we must follow. Sure, there is a time and place for our aggressive wins, but when we need rest, how do we measure that in our result-based society?

Rest is essential to maintain optimum performance during our go-get-’em cycle. If we do not take the time to replenish, we will overload our system and create stress or sickness. Our best option is to really begin to listen to our bodies and respect our cycles. All of our answers reside within us, yet we rarely take a moment to be still and listen.

Silence the incessant demands of your judgements and listen to the natural flow of your body. We are connected to the nature around us … Heck, we are nature! Be yourself and listen to your needs. If you need to rest … rest. If you need to create … create. If you need to smile … smile.

In honor of respecting our natural cycles, click here to view our Well-Life Maintenance Goals for January.

Welcome to Uplift at UPTOWN. If you are just joining us this week, my name is Anita Kopacz. I am an author and spiritual adviser with a passion to see people thrive! Collective energy possesses a divine power that can remove stubborn obstacles and open locked doors. My intention is to join our UPTOWN family in spirit and forge our return to healthy living. With the Well-Life Maintenance Program, together we will take small steps in four areas of our lives to improve our quality of living. The four areas include Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, and Physical. You can find more in my new book,Finding Your Way: Alphabetical Keys to the Divine. For more information please visit anitakopacz.com.

[Photo: Shutterstock]

Sorry Destiny’s Child fans: the group will not reunite at this year’s Super Bowl.

Whisperings around the Internet about a cancelled and/or non-existent reunion have proved to be true as group member Michelle Williams denied reports about a DC medley with Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland.

“[The reunion] is rumored. I’m going to be in the musical Fela!,” she told WRUG Media in a recent interview. “I hate to disappoint the people and tell them that it’s not true.”

The group recently released a new single “Nuclear” to be featured on Destiny’s Child – Love Songs, a greatest hits compilation set to release on Tuesday (Jan. 29).

Of course, nothing has changed about Beyonce’s highly anticipated halftime show, where she will reportedly debut new material.

The post Michelle Williams Denies Destiny’s Child Super Bowl Reunion [VIDEO] appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Courtesy of The Frisky

I think Mary Kay Beckman wins the award for the worst online date of all time. We complain about our online dates with weirdos and shitbirds (there have been a lot), but we’ve got nothing on her awful date. The 50-year-old real estate agent is suing Match.com for $10 million because her date tried to kill her. After a week of dating, Wade Ridley tried to stab her to death. “He broke into my garage … When the police arrested him, he said he wasn’t there to hurt me. He was there to kill me. His intent was to kill me that night.” Ridley stabbed Beckman 10 times with a butcher knife, and when the knife broke, he stomped on her head.

While Beckman was in the hospital recovering, somehow Ridley got back on Match and managed to murder another woman. Eventually, he took his own life in jail. Now Beckman is suing Match for not screening its daters more thoroughly. She wants them to place a disclaimer on the site like those on cigarettes, letting you know that dating is dangerous, that “one in five are part of an attempted murder,” Beckman says. Good God! Is that a real statistic?

Continue at The Frisky…

The post Online Dater Sues Match.com Because Her Date Tried To Kill Her appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.

Courtesy of The Grio

The dramatic film “Fruitvale” and the documentary “Blood Brother” won over audiences and Sundance Film Festival judges.

Both American films won audience awards and grand jury prizes Saturday at the Sundance Awards.

“Fruitvale” is based on the true story of Oscar Grant, who was 22 years old when he was shot and killed in a public transit station in Oakland, California. First-time filmmaker Ryan Coogler wrote and directed the dramatic narrative.

“This project was about humanity, about human beings and how we treat each other; how we treat the people that we love the most, and how we treat the people that we don’t know,” the 26-year-old said as he accepted the final prize of the night.

Continue at The Grio…

The post Oscar Grant-Inspired ‘Fruitvale’ Wins Top Prizes At Sundance appeared first on UPTOWN Magazine.