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Showing posts from April, 2016

“Let me wake up out of this nightmare:”

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MILWAUKEE -- Loved ones on Wednesday evening, April 27th gathered in Milwaukee to remember a young mother who was shot and killed by her own two-year-old son, whom officials said got hold of a gun and fired from the backseat of a vehicle his mother was driving on Highway 175 -- shooting his mother in the back, and fatally wounding her. 26-year-old Patrice Price was killed in the incident "Devastated. Today is kind of unreal," Curtis Sloan said. Sloan is Price's ex-boyfriend, and the father of one of her children. He was one of many who gathered near 37th and Custer in Milwaukee to remember Price. "Just kind of in the state of 'let me wake up out of this nightmare,'" Sloan said. The nightmare began on Tuesday morning, around 10:30 a.m. Investigators say Price's two-and-a-half-year-old son was able to get hold of a gun that apparently slid from under the driver's seat of the vehicle Price was driving. Price's son fired into his

HBO THINKS BEYONCÉ’S ‘LEMONADE’ IS EMMY WORTHY (AND SO DO WE)

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After the release of her visual album  Lemonade,  Beyoncé  proves that she didn’t come to play. Lemonade  focuses on infidelity, women’s empowerment, African ancestry, and other powerful themes that made everyone’s heads spin this past weekend. Bey’s   influence on pop culture was apparent when the memes immediately followed, parodies from the likes of  James Corden  were created, and the infamous  Monica Lewinsky  scandal resurfaced. But now  Lemonade  is reaching newer heights in pop culture. Variety  reports that HBO will nominate the hour-long visual album for a variety special Emmy. You’re probably thinking how is an album eligible for an Emmy? Since it aired on HBO, it is qualified to be honored at the Emmys. This won’t be Bey’s first Emmy nomination if  Lemonade  is accepted. Her 2013 Halftime Super Bowl performance was up for nomination, as well as her  On the Run  concert special with  Jay-Z  which also aired on HBO. If you missed your free opportunity to watch  Lem

Tru Life Proclaims His Innocence & Announces Documentary After Prison Release

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Tru Life, who was released from prison this week after being sentenced to an eight-year prison term stemming from his alleged involvement in the 2009 stabbing death of Christopher Guerrero, has proclaimed his innocence. “I was sentenced to eight years for something I didn’t do, but that’s another story,” Tru Life says during an interview with New York radio station  Power 105.1's  DJ Prostyle . “I got a documentary getting ready to come out about my life. I’m dealing with a lot of different people right now. I’m in the middle of talks with HBO and all kind of different big networks but it’s definitely going to be on a major network. We actually filming right now as I’m talking.” Despite his forthcoming film project, Tru Life says he has to get used to modern technology and the status of current music after  being incarcerated at  Clinton Correctional Facility in  Dannemora, New York, which is about 325 miles north of New York City. “When you behind the wall where I was a

Bronx Gang Busts Are The Biggest In NYC History

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BRONX, NEW YORK -  More than 100 alleged gang members have been charged in what authorities are calling the biggest gang bust in New York City history. Authorities made 87 arrests in the early morning raids,  the  New York Daily News  reports. About 700 law enforcement officials from the NYPD, Homeland Security, and other agencies stormed dozens of locations at and around the Eastchester Gardens housing complex in the Bronx early this morning (April 27), said officials, arresting suspects with street names like "Boogy Boo," "Yung Bhippy" and "Sama Lama." The charges, which include racketeering, drug and gun offenses, focus on alleged members of two rival Bronx-based street gangs, "2Fly YGz" and "Big Money Bosses." Controlling the drug trade around Eastchester Gardens, members of 2Fly sold weed, crack, coke and pills, and kept guns in a playground or in nearby apartments to protect themselves from other gangs, according to  the in

Trading Gang Life for Food: Trap Kitchen Serves Up Good in the Hood

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It’s the type of story that sounds perfect for the big screen. Two L.A. gang members— one a Blood and the other a Crip— turn their backs on crime in order to launch a successful catering business. Within months they’re cooking for hip-hop’s finest, from Tyrese Gibson and Tyga to Kendrick Lamar and Chris Brown.  Except this isn’t a screenplay being shopped around Hollywood. This is real life for Compton caterers Malachi "Spank" Jenkins, 29, and Roberto ‘News’ Smith, 31, the two men behind the underground food sensation, Trap Kitchen.  “This is the stuff we used to dream about,” says Jenkins. “Everything we thought about is happening now,” says Smith in agreement. “We always used to tell each other we wanted to be the hottest chefs that everybody just got to have at their after party.”   The “Trap” in the company’s name is an acronym for “Take a Risk and Prosper,” an apt title for a business launched on Instagram with groceries bought with food benefits.  It’

How to Love a Man Who Didn’t Love Your Mama

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I never believed a word you said because you hit my mama. I started this letter to you at 19 years old on a Greyhound bus headed to Jackson from New York. I’d been reading, rereading, underlining and listening to James Baldwin. Baldwin, bell hooks, Grandmama and strangely you, forced me to reckon with change. Y’all made me want to explore Black feminism.    “Any real change implies the breakup of the world as one has always known it, the loss of all that gave one an identity, the end of safety,” Baldwin wrote. “And at such a moment, unable to see and not daring to imagine what the future will now bring forth, one clings to what one knew, or dreamed that one possessed. Yet, it is only when one is able, without bitterness or self-pity, to surrender a dream one has long cherished or a privilege one has long possessed that one is set free — one has set their self free — for higher dreams, for greater privileges."    “Even though we do not know each other,” I wrote to you on

Iggy Azalea's Remarks About Beyonce Are Stupid--And Scary As Hell

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Besides having a remarkable impact on Black women, Beyoncé’s  Lemonade  has also captivated most of the civilized world.  Rolling Stone  bestowed a five-star rating on her latest visual album and besides the unimportant opinion of professional troll Piers Morgan and his ignorant, uninformed ilk, it has been praised wide and far for its symbolism, depth and sincerity. While many critics, like Melissa Harris-Perry, have praised it for be a well-rounded ode to Black women worldwide, there is one “artist” who believes that her album is little more than a racist tirade: Iggy Azalea. As far as Iggy’s concerned, Beyoncé’s lyric: “He better call Becky with the good hair” from the song “Sorry,” is an anti-White troupe that belittles white women. This was enough for her to go on an impassioned Twitter tirade, effectively lashing out at Black people who use the term as society's “real racists” and clutching on to the role of the perpetually-aggrieved silent majority who are the “

Police shoot Baltimore teen with replica semi-automatic pistol

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City police shot and injured a 13-year old Baltimore boy Wednesday as he fled carrying a semi-automatic pistol,  FoxBaltimore  reported. The teenager was approached by the officers on Baltimore Street, east of the Inner Harbor area, around 4 p.m. after they noticed him carrying what appeared to be a semi-automatic firearm, law enforcement officers told the station.  The boy then fled “a good 150 yards and had every opportunity to drop the gun,” Police Commissioner Kevin Davis said. The officers then fired at the teen, who was later being treated at a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries.  The boy’s mother was being questioned by authorities following the incident. “I know that the mom knew” that the boy went out with the replica firearm, Davis said. “I don’t know why that young man chose to flee,” he added. Davis told the  Baltimore Sun  he had “no reason to believe” the officers acted inappropriately, adding that they had no idea whether the gun was real or

Bullet Whizzes Past Sleeping Couple In Humboldt Park: 'It's 'Really Scary'

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CHICAGO — A Humboldt Park couple is still in shock after a bullet flew through their home, crashing into the wall just inches above where they slept. Dave, who asked not to have his last name used out of safety concerns, said he and his wife were sleeping when they heard loud noises at 4:30 a.m. Saturday. Unsure what had happened, he got up after a few minutes and looked around his house in the 1200 block of North Kedzie, checking windows to see if they had been shot. Dave didn't see anything right away. It wasn't until he got up again at 8 a.m. and pulled back the curtains in his bedroom that he found a hole in the window and in the wall above the bed where he and wife had been sleeping. He found the bullet on the floor. The bullet hit the wall just inches above Dave and his wife's head. [Supplied] "It's just kind of scary," Dave said on Wednesday. He said he filed a police report and told neighbors about the shooting, but he was unnerved by ho

Police officer buys struggling father a car seat instead of giving him a ticket

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WESTLAND, Mich. – A Michigan police offer is being lauded for his compassion after buying a man a car seat . Lavante Dell thought the worst when he was pulled over last week and figured he’d get a ticket for having tinted windows. However, Officer Joshua Scaglione noticed Dell’s 3-year-old daughter wasn’t in a car seat. He could’ve given him a ticket, but Scaglione took another approach. He asked Dell why he didn’t have a car seat; Dell told him couldn’t afford it. “So I took him out of the car, separated him from his family and asked him what’s going on. He’s like, ‘Bills are building up, overtaking my income and I can’t afford a car seat right now,'” Scaglione told  WJBK . Dell said the officer then asked him if he needed a car seat. Dell hesitated before admitting that he could use one. “He looked around and said ‘Can you follow me to Walmart?’” Dell recalled. Dell was stunned; he and the officer walked into Walmart, where Scaglione used his own money to buy a c

RICK ROSS SENDS CHARLAMAGNE BOTTLES OF BELAIRE ROSÉ

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Charlamagne Tha God  is no stranger to receiving bottles, as he famously received six bottles of champagne from  Drake  last summer. Today (April 25), Charlamagne is back at it again, this time receiving six bottles of  Luc Belaire Rosé  from  Rick Ross , who is the brand’s biggest spokesperson. This may have something to do with the fact that when Charlamagne was confronted by Cash Money Records C.E.O.  Birdman , in a now infamous interview, the radio host retorted with “Did you pull up on Ross that way? Or  Trick Daddy ?” Watch the clip below.

AN ENTIRE COLORADO TOWN’S POLICE DEPARTMENT RESIGNS IN ONE DAY

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Over the past few months, there has been a lot of news on police leaders stepping down, but who would think an entire town’s department would call it quits? Green Mountain Falls Police Marshal  Tim Bradley  and his volunteers resigned a day before newly elected Mayor  Jane Newberry  and two new town trustees took office. There are roughly around 700 full-time residents in Green Mountain Falls and the department only had four employees: a Marshal and three deputies. According to  CNN , police cars have remained parked and phones tied to the department have not been answered lately. Even the new Mayor is unsure on the department’s disappearance and what made the Police Marshal step down. She believes it might have something to do with them volunteering and not having any duties. The Mayor continues to stress the town’s safety and urges the neighbors to look out for each other. According to CNN, the town has been provided backup by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office and pa

T.I. Breaks Down How Felons Can Vote

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T.I. has had his fair share of run-ins with the law and has served multiple prison sentences, including a three-year stint that started in 2004 for weapons charges that violated his probation. He was last  released from prison in 2011  after serving 11 months for violating parole. The Atlanta rapper tells  TMZ  that as a convicted felon, he can vote and he exercised his right by voting for President Barack Obama in both of his elections.  T.I.  breaks down how felons can vote after losing the right when they are convicted. "This is something that most people don't know," he says, "as long as you are not serving any sentence or as long as you are not on any probation or anything, if you've completed your term, you've served your debt to society, you can re-register." T.I. says he is supporting Bernie Sanders in the most recent presidential election. "He's the most honest, the most straight-up dude," he says. "He's the mos

Officer Shot While Chasing Suspect In Little Village

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LITTLE VILLAGE — A nine-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department was shot while chasing a group of men in Little Village Monday afternoon, police said. Around 4:15 p.m., the officer was in his squad car with a partner when they noticed three men looking suspicious near the 2300 block of South Trumbull Avenue, said Supt. Eddie Johnson at a news conference outside Stroger Hospital. The officers approached the men who then tried to run away, Johnson said. One of the men fired and hit the officer in his right shoulder, he said. The officer was taken to Stroger Hospital. Police did not release the officer's condition, but he was listed as "stable," said Officer Kevin Quaid said. Police arrested the shooter and collected a gun from the scene, Johnson said. The shooter was hit with a stun gun by police, Johnson said. Charges are pending for the man, he said. Officers are looking for the two other men who fled from police, Johnson said. Johnson said the latest

Letter from mom forced to toss breast milk at airport security goes viral

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The letter from a mother who says airport security forced her to toss two weeks’ worth of breast milk for her son has gone viral, prompting support from thousands of moms across the globe. Jessica Coakley Martinez posted “An Open Letter to Aviation Security at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport”  on her personal Facebook page  after the April 20 incident, Fox 5 DC reported . As of Monday morning, it had been shared more than 4,000 times. In her letter, Martinez wrote that she filled all of her free time pumping breast milk for her son because she would be traveling and far from home for 15 days. To meet airline requirements, she froze the milk solid and carried it with her while traveling. At Heathrow, officials told her she would need to toss it. "This wasn’t some rare bottle of wine or luxury perfume I was trying to negotiate as a carry on,” she wrote on Facebook. “This was deeply personal. This was my son’s health and nourishment. This was the money I would now need to spe