I’m beginning to think that older celebrities like Bill Cosby are joining twitter simply to be able to rebut claims that they are dead.

http://twitter.com/BillCosby/status/20163336496

Again, I’m rebuttaling rumors about my demise. But, I’m confirming I have an app – http://bit.ly/BillCosbyApp

http://twitter.com/BillCosby/status/20171613296

Emotional friends have called about this misinformation. To the people behind the foolishness, I’m not sure you see how upsetting this is.

So, straight from the mighty and all powerful Coz, he’s still alive and kicking!

(h/t Black Snob)

Veteran Journalist Amy Alexander examines her time at the NAACP and describes the 100+year old organization as gradually becoming a vehicle for the NAACP President to massage their ego.

At very detailed length, Alexander describes her time as the “voice” of Jealous, writing his editorials, crafting his talking points and attempting to get him media ready. The key word is “attempting.” Many people have remarked that Jealous’ jump to erroneous conclusions on Sherrod smelled to high heaven of someone who’s not media savvy (or even regular savvy). Alexander paints an even more damning portrait — of a man in love with himself and in love with the limelight, but incapable of meeting the needs of the 101 year old, historic civil rights organization.

Amy Alexander

Time magazine has come out with their annual 100 “people who most affect our world.” The Time Magazine list is always interesting because it helps to reflect how the media views who influences their thinking; however, I do not view the list as any indication of the people who actually affect the majority of the world. For instance, the list tends to skew heavily towards people who captivate the imagination of a section of the media as opposed to those who actually affect real policy, politics, economics, or scientific discoveries that are known in their field but not the popular media at large.

Anyway, I take the list with a grain of salt… but I did try to pick out African-Americans on the Time 100 list.

1.) Barack Obama (naturally), written up by DAVID REMNICK.

2.) Serena Williams By BILLIE JEAN KING

3.) Oprah Winfrey By PHIL DONAHUE

4.) Prince By USHER

This list may not be exhaustive, but it is definitely interesting. I think the most interesting part of the Time Magazine list, is that the words are supposedly penned by peers.

Interestingly enough, Glenn Beck’s write-up was penned by Sarah Palin…

h/t HelloNegro.com

As much as people dislike Howard Stern’s radio grandstanding and incredibly boorish behavior on the radio, it seems he alone has chosen to brutally critique the uniquely Hollywood spectacle surrounding Oscar nominated Precious star Gaborey Sidibe. Stern takes Hollywood — a place that celebrates beauty over talent almost daily for engaging in such an awkward circus.

Listen for yourself:

While I don’t agree with Sterns choice of words, or his out-right skewering of Sidibe, I do agree there is a heavy dose of hypocrisy from Hollywood during the Oscar process. Beyond the Oscars spectacle I found the movie ridiculous for several reasons…

1.) A very similar book was written 40 years ago by Toni Morrison — “The Bluest Eye.” I have read the book and Precious immediately seemed to be an inferior knock-off 40 years too late; yet, very few people pushing the “Precious” movie have bothered to point out the amazing similarity to Morrison’s much more complex master-piece.

2.) Ishmael Reed’s New York Op-ed that summed up the Precious Movie for me:
[...]

The 43 year-old Rapper Guru of Gangstarr (1/2 of the team together with DJ Premier) is dead in a coma.

I always remember the big hit “Mass Appeal”

More to come

Update I : Lots of false information, evidently Mr. Elam is in surgery at present.


Interesting video — I always thought ER did a good job of creating black characters as opposed to caricatures.

via Carlton Jordan.com

Evidently the Magic Johnson deal to buy Johnson Publishing (no relation), has fallen through. Earlier we reported on the whispers that Magic Johnson Enterprises was in discussions to buy Johnson Publishing Company, the owners of Ebony and Jet Magazines.

Here’s the news release from Magic Johnson Enterprises:

“I would like to salute Linda Johnson Rice and the Johnson family for pioneering the iconic brand of the Johnson Publishing Company, which we have all come to love and respect. Ebony and Jet have been permanent fixtures on coffee tables in African-American homes for many years. Recently, an affiliate of Magic Johnson Enterprises and Johnson Publishing Company were in advanced discussions to do business together, but unfortunately we were unable to reach a definitive agreement. We will continue to look for opportunities to invest in African-American media.” PRNewswire

(emphasis added).

What sort of affiliate was this? I find it interesting that a press release was sent out, but doesn’t really detail who was actually working on the negotiations on the Magic Johnson Enterprises side of the table…