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Jabari Parker (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Simeon junior basketball player Jabari Parker has high expectations. The country’s No. 1 recruit graces the cover of Sports Illustrated this week and is being called the “best since LeBron”. Even with all the talent in the world, the star on the rise has a difficult decision to make because of his religious beliefs. The Sun Times has the story:

If Simeon junior Jabari Parker wasn’t feeling the pressure of being the No. 1 basketball recruit in the country, he might now.

Not only has Sports Illustrated placed the hoops prodigy on its cover this week, but they call Parker “the best high school player since LeBron James.”

The cover story takes an indepth look at Parker’s Mormon faith. Writer Jeff Benedict, who is also Mormon, reports that Parker might have to make a choice between the NBA or a faith-spreading mission after his freshman year of college.

Click here for the full story.

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Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/sports/high-school-basketball-star-jabari-parker-touted-best-since-lebron.php

5 Reasons Why You Should Buy…: Tickets To Return Of The Queen Tour: “It Would Be Dope For This To Turn Into A Big Junior M.A.F.I.A. Reunion. I’m A Wishful Thinker!”

Thursday, May 17, 2012 12:00AM

Written by Amber McKynzie for Saigon

[As Lil Kim's 23-city tour comes to an end, fans are flocking to see the Return of the Queen tour. If you haven't seen the show, Saigon's here to give you five reasons you need to get tickets to her Bronx performance.]

1. Lil Cease

I’m trying to pitch [Lil Cease] a record, I don’t know if he’s gonna get on it, but me and Lil Cease had little issues when I first came outta jail and we didn’t get along. Now we get along. Sway from MTV actually squashed the beef between us–we had beef that nobody knew about…it would be dope if Lil Cease would come out and do this record, and then him and Kim just really rock.

2. Junior M.A.F.I.A.

It would be dope for this to turn into a big Junior M.A.F.I.A. reunion. I’m a wishful thinker! It would be dope for Big–like he gave both ya’ll life. If ya’ll still have problems in 2012 that’s kinda disrespectful. He gave ya’ll an opportunity to touch the world. Respect him enough to love each other.

3. The Essence Of Hip-Hop

People should come because I’m a great performer! Ghostface is on the bill, I’m on the bill, Kim‘s on the bill, that’s [the] pure essence of a lot of elements of hip-hop. That’s Wu Tang, that’s Bad Boy in its prime, so you know…

4. Honor

I’m proud to open up for two people that influenced my life [and] so many Black, young lives. Lil Kim, hate her or love her, she’s a legend in the Black community–good or bad.

5. The Bronx

It’s the Bronx, it’s the home of hip-hop…if you’ve never experienced hip-hop in the Bronx where it started, it’s like saying you’re a Muslim and you never went to Mecca. It’s the birthplace. You gotta make your way to the Bronx, especially for Lil Kim.

You Decide. Will you be one of the few to witness history in the Bronx this Friday night?

To purchase tickets to Lil Kim’s NYC show, click here.

SOHH/Return of the Queen Contest:

Want a chance to win tickets to the show? Here’s what you gotta do:

1 – Follow @sohh @sohhdotcom

2 – Beginning around 1 PM EST, check out SOHH’s Twitter accounts for questions based on Saigon’s five reasons you should purchase tickets to the Return of the Queen NYC show. Make sure when you answer the question you include the hashtag #SOHHLilKim in your response. G’luck!

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sohh/daily_news/~3/TxX-Y4t2dDw/tickets_to_return_of_the_queen_tour_it_w.html

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A state administrative law judge says former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell should be allowed to coach football in Florida schools.

Judge Robert Meale made his recommendation Tuesday.

The state refused to certify the 51-year-old rapper although he’s been volunteering as an assistant coach with local approval in Miami. Education officials cited his songs’ raunchy lyrics, a string of arrests and a performance with two women who removed their clothing in South Carolina.

Meale noted the charges were dropped, except for a couple misdemeanor gun crimes more than 25 years ago. He also wrote that Campbell has coached inner city youth and high school football without incident for years.

Campbell can take his case to an appellate court if Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson rejects Meale’s recommendation.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/florida-judge-says-rapper-luther-campbell-should-coach.php

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Rihanna in ‘Battleship’

To coincide with the release of Rihanna’s new action film Battleship, theGrio has compiled a list of our favorite bada** big screen females. From the blaxploitation starlets Pam Grier and the late Tamara Dobson, to 80s icons Grace Jones and Tina Turner and finally we wind up with more modern personalities. Check out the slideshow before to see if your favorite made the list.

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  Beyoncé in Obsessed

  In this campy Fatal Attraction-style thriller, the pop star shows she’s not afraid to literally fight for her man.

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  Queen Latifah in Set It Off

  Before she graduated to light comedies and musicals, Latifah played a bada** bank robber in this hood classic.

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  Vivica A. Fox in Kill Bill Vol. 1

  Although her screen time was limited, Fox was unforgettable as a knife-wielding assassin in the first part of Quentin Tarrantino’s epic.

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  Halle Berry in Die Another Day

  The Oscar winner was not your average Bond girl in this blockbuster. As the feisty Jinx, she nearly stole the show from 007.

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  Tina Turner in Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome

  The soul music legend made a rare big screen appearance as the fearsome Aunty Entity in the final Mad Max film. She rules over Bartertown and makes the ‘two men enter, one man leaves’ rules of Thunderdome.

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  Rosario Dawson in Sin City

  This sexy star brought the comics to life as a gun toting prostitute in this offbeat noir based on a celebrated series of graphic novels by Frank Miller.

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  Pam Grier in Coffy

  The iconic blaxploitation star has been kicking butt for years (from Foxy Brown to Jackie Brown), but this is the hit film that started it all.

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  Jada Pinkett Smith in The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions

  The Matrix sequels may have been a disappointment for fans of the original, but Jada made an undeniably cool impression as the resourceful Niobe.

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  Grace Jones in Conan the Destroyer

  Avant garde pop star and ex-model Grace Jones made a splash in the 1980s as action hero — taking on the one and only Arnold Schwarzenegger in this shot.

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  Angela Bassett in Strange Days

  After getting into tip-top shape for her Oscar-nominated role in What’s Love Got To Do With It_, Bassett’s ‘guns’ became legendary. She ably showed her action prowess in this sci-fi classic.

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  Paula Patton in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

  This sexy starlet teamed up with Tom Cruise’s masterspy Ethan Hunt in this franchise rebooting megahit.

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  Tamara Dobson in Cleopatra Jones

  Although not as well known as Pam Grier, Dobson was equally tough as this fashionista crime fighter from the 1970s.

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  Zoe Saldana in Colombiana

  This waif-like actress showed she could play tough too in this revenge thriller, which hit theaters last year.

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  Eartha Kitt in Batman

  Ok, so the late Kitt never actually played Catwoman on the big screen but she was so purrfect in the role we had to include her anyway.

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Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/slideshow-butt-kicking-women-of-color-on-big-screen.php

President Obama’s announcement that he supports gay marriage has provoked a spirited debate about whether or not African-Americans will continue to support him this November. Some black clergy have openly denounced President Obama’s position. Maryland State Delegate and Baptist minister Emmett Burns has publicly gone on record declaring that Obama will lose his re-election bid, even accusing the president of turning his back on his black constituency.

On the other hand, Rev. Otis Moss, III, of Trinity Baptist Church in Chicago, the Obamas’ former church once headed by the controversial Rev. Jeremiah Wright, wrote in an open letter in support of the president, saying, “There is no doubt people who are same-gender-loving who [sic] occupy prominent places in the body of Christ.”

In the midst of this contentious debate within the black community some have either ignored or forgotten the role some openly gay Americans played in fighting for the civil rights of all Americans regardless of race or sexual orientation. Most notable among them is Bayard Rustin.

A principal organizer of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, Bayard Rustin, who had worked with the original March in 1941, was a constant and steady force during the influential civil rights activities of the early 20th century. He was also openly gay. Yet neither Martin Luther King, Jr. nor A. Philip Randolph, with whom he worked intimately, voiced any known concern about his sexuality.

It is even been reported that until Rustin reached out to Dr. King in the early stages of the pivotal Montgomery Bus Boycott, Dr. King was not completely committed to nonviolent direct action. Armed men guarded his home and he, himself, reportedly owned a handgun. A veteran civil rights and human activist as well as pacifist, Rustin schooled Dr. King in the tactics of nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience, having studied it himself with those who worked closely with Gandhi in 1948 at a conference in India organized prior to Gandhi’s assassination.

Prior to Rustin’s important role as a key adviser to Dr. King, he had worked extremely closely with A. Philip Randolph, who is credited with introducing him to Gandhi’s philosophy and its usefulness in the struggle for civil rights in the United States. Rustin was also a pivotal figure in the Fellowship of Reconciliation, the well-known peace organization, and helped guide the founding of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). In fact, he was a key organizer for the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947, which inspired the more well-known Freedom Rides of the 1960s.

Rustin, who walked the walk, took part in those rides, personally challenging segregated bus transportation. Prior to that formal action, Rustin had refused to sit in segregated bus seating in 1942 and accepted a severe beating in Nashville by four cops. His refusal to resist was so extraordinary that the assistant district attorney released him uncharged.

Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/black-history/bayard-rustin-black-americans-cant-ignore-openly-gay-icons-contribution-to-civil-rights-movement.php

NEWS ONE Comedienne and star of popular sitcom ’90s show “Moesha” Yvette Wilson, is determined to survive the battle of her life. Wilson, who played “Andell Wilkerson” on the hit starring Brandy, has Stage 4 cervical cancer and is in dire need of funds in order to pay her mounting medical bills.

Wilson, who also co-starred in such memorable films such as “House Party 2,” “House Party 3,” and “Friday,” is not only battling cancer but has also been plagued with kidney problems. Since Wilson’s kidneys are failing, she needs a kidney transplant as well.

Blacks have trouble clearing cervical cancer virus

Friend Jeffrey Pittle, a stage 4 cancer survivor himself, created a website for Wilson, so that folks can donate money that will not only help to cover her medical needs but also help with any transportation costs that are associated with her getting to various medical facilities.

Click here for the rest of the story.

Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/entertainment/yvette-wilson-moesha-star-fights-for-her-life-against-cervical-cancer.php

DETROIT (AP) — Popular Detroit pastor and gospel singer Marvin Winans was assaulted and carjacked Wednesday afternoon at a gas station on the city’s west side.

The attack happened about 3:20 p.m., and the suspects fled with an unknown amount of cash and Winans’ SUV, police said.

Winans, 54, told WXYZ-TV that four or five young men followed him from inside the gas station and attacked him while he gassed up his vehicle.

Winans said he didn’t believe he was seriously hurt, but planned to seek medical attention.

He said his attackers appeared to be among 10 young men he passed by inside the station, and he warily watched them as he pumped gas.

“I’m just saddened that it has come to this,” Winans said. “This kind of nonsense just has to stop. It’s just the savageness of what’s happening in the street.”

He also believes his attackers didn’t recognize him. Winans is pastor of the 4,500-member Perfecting Church on Detroit’s east side. In February, he gave singer Whitney Houston’s eulogy.

“And if they did, it didn’t make much difference,” said Winans, who has been active in civic issues, including taking a stand against the proliferation of strip clubs in Detroit’s neighborhoods.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/news/marvin-winans-assaulted-carjacked-in-detroit.php

News: 50 Cent Reveals Hospitalization, “I Don’t Want To Go Into Surgery”

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 9:55PM

Written by Cyrus Langhorne

Rap star 50 Cent is hoping to calm the nerves of G-Unit fans worldwide after announcing he is currently hospitalized but providing a flurry of Twitter updates.

Fif took to his Twitter account to not only provide updates but show proof of his hospitalization.

“I’m in the hospital but my gangsta grillz LOST TAPE is done so it will be out on time. http://lockerz.com/s/209485818,” he tweeted Wednesday (May 16).

“I don’t want to go into surgery. @FloydMayweather call my phone why your phone off http://lockerz.com/s/209486827″

“Do not do a @djdrama gangsta grillz this is all I get. Ain’t this a b*tch. I give 15 tracks you give me this. http://lockerz.com/s/209491970″ (50 Cent’s Twitter)

Back in 2009, Fif teased fans about his medical condition after saying rap nemesis Fat Joe‘s music put him into the hospital.

This afternoon while in his Manhattan offices, employees say that 50 Cent was listening to Fat Joe’s new album, J.O.S.E. 2 when all the sudden, he collapsed! An ambulance was called, and by the time they arrived, 50 Cent regained consciousness and was complaining of blurred vision and a severe migraine. 50 Cent was rushed to Mt. Sinai hospital at 4:26 pm. Doctors say after performing a Cat Scan and EKG there seems to be some damage to his auditory cortex, which is the region of the brain that is responsible for processing sound. (This Is 50)

G-Unit’s Tony Yayo also participated in the stunt.

“On my way to the hospital,” he wrote Monday afternoon. “Keep 50 in ya’ll prayers. Let’s see him thru this. 50 rushed to the hospital here are the details.” (Tony Yayo’s Twitter)

Outside of hospital scares, Fif is currently preparing the release of an upcoming mixtape.

“I’m back on the streets man, it’s goin’ down. Gangsta Grillz, the first Gangsta Grillz, it’s been long overdue,” 50 told Mixtape Daily on Friday while he was sitting in his G-Unit office in midtown Manhattan. On May 22 Fif is teaming with DJ Drama to drop The Lost Tape, a 13-track mixtape filled with murderous material. “I don’t want to put too many joints on a tape where it overwhelms people and I don’t like making Now compilations where I got so many people on it where you ain’t sure you like it,” he said of his formula. (RapFix)

Check out some recent 50 Cent footage below:

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sohh/daily_news/~3/zAy5Tm5NmD4/50_cent_reveals_hospitalization_i_dont_w.html

Underrated: “He’s The Greatest In The World That Ever Rapped On The Microphone”

Thursday, May 17, 2012 12:05AM

Written by SOHH for A-Mafia

[Each week, SOHH asks two entertainment personalities to name who they feel is the most underrated emcee in hip-hop. After Curtiss King gave Andre 3000 the title earlier this week, Harlem rapper A-Mafia crowns the late Big L SOHH Underrated.]

SOHH Underrated? You know who I’m going to say, man. Big L. Automatically.

He’s the greatest in the world that ever rapped on the microphone. Come on, man. Even one of the top lyricists in the world, Eminem, had to shout out Big L on one of his singles. That right there just goes to show you why he’s the greatest. Big L is SOHH Underrated. Automatic.

It was everything about him. Everything. It’s like the microphone and Big L were a match made in heaven. That’s just what he did. I don’t know how else to explain it. He lived in that microphone, man.

Every rhyme that he spit was crazy. He said things that I never heard nobody say and I still haven’t heard anybody put words together like that.

A-Mafia is a rapper from Harlem, New York. He has started rapping at the age of 15 while he was incarcerated. Mafia is known for his close ties with the Diplomats, Dipset’s AR Duke Da God and other key New York artists.

Check out Big L’s music below:

Amazon.com Widgets

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/sohh/daily_news/~3/YiYWVsc2bQk/hes_the_greatest_in_the_world_that_ever.html

NBC NEW YORK – Police in New Jersey are investigating after a mural of slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin was defaced with paint.

The mural was created several weeks ago on the side of Messina Deli in Elmwood, with the words “Trayvon, we got you,” over a man in a hoodie, a symbol that became part of Martin’s story, which captured attention nationwide.

WATCH NBC NEW YORK COVERAGE OF THE VANDALISM:

View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

Martin, 17, was wearing a hoodie when he was gunned down by a neighborhood watch volunteer who called 911 and reported him as being “suspicious” as he walked through a gated community on his way home from getting a snack.

On the mural, off-white paint now covers the man in the hoodie.

Click here for the rest of the story.

Article source: http://www.thegrio.com/specials/trayvon-martin/police-investigate-after-trayvon-martin-mural-defaced-in-nj.php