2012 NYC Black Pride Heritage Awards, Wednesday, August 15th at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

NYC Black Pride celebrates 15 years of community awareness.  This year’s pride season will kick-off on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 with a five day celebration that includes “The Black Pride Heritage Awards" which will honor Tony Award winner Hinton Battle, highly acclaimed Director and Producer of Paris Is Burning, Jennie Livingston, Kim Ford, Laurence Pinckney, Ralph Emerson, Lee Daniels, Monica Roberts, Christian Ruart, Kaz Mitchell, Byron Barnes, Tona Brown, Ayana Elliot Christian, Junior LaBeija, Dray Ebony, Derek Murphy Ebony, Kenny Chanel, Selvin Khan, Tree/Jaszi/Jahlove and NY Senator Eric Adams, among others.

In celebration of this incredible milestone, we have expanded our committee of health organizations, local business and community leaders to also include youth organizers and media companies. Lee Soulja, the executive director of NYC Black Pride says, We are striving to be a united community organization and present  quality cultural events.

We want to not only lead by example but also empower our youth to take control of their lives and the future.” Lee Soulja continues, “Let’s be the change we seek!” 

Doors Open at 6:00pm

Red Carpet from 6:00pm to 7:00pm

Welcoming Presentation Starts at 7:15pm

Awards Ceremony Begins at 7:30pm

Closing Remarks & Ending at 9:00pm

A few of our proud sponsors and partners include;

GMAD, Gilead, GO Magazine, GBM News, Harlem United, Circle of Voices Inc. and Scenario USA.

NYC Black Pride will begin on Wednesday August 15, 2012 and run through Sunday August 19, 2012   www.nycblackpride.com or www.facebook.com/nycblackpride.

PLEASE RSVP for this event at NYCBlackPrideAwards.eventbrite.com

ABOUT GMAD

In 1986, Gay Men of African Descent (GMAD) was conceptualized in New York City, a result of the vision of founder, The Reverend Charles Angel who embarked on a mission to empower the black gay men. In the many New York neighborhoods, gay black men continued to exist below the radar: Black men were dying in silence from HIV/AIDS because prevention funds did not reach them; Black gay youth were becoming homeless and resorting to violence and prostitution as a result of feelings of isolation, alienation and harassment; Black gay men were suffering from depression and insecurity because they feared coming out and most importantly black gay men felt unsupported by the community at large. Reverend Angel recognized that the need was a hybrid need that was being left unaddressed. Historically, these men had been forced to prioritize their battles as if each was mutually exclusive. They were simply not just black or not just men or not just gay --- they were all three of these things. GMAD stepped in to fill a void and connect the dots. Choosing not the path of least resistance but one of challenge and uncertainty, Reverend Angel and his colleagues took on the role - and the weight - of community activists in order to create parity for the black gay community.

A Celebration of our Sons through Words and Images

OPENING ART RECEPTION

Saturday, July 21, 2012, 5pm - 8pm

A Celebration of our Sons through Words and Images is a group art exhibition by ten visual artists, inspired by author Kahlil Koromantee’s latest book release titled “Message to a Youngblood”, a guide book for young males of African descent, particularly those who society considers at risk. What began as an interest in the book’s illustrations by young artists eventually became a collective desire to not only showcase some of these amazing illustrations, but also invite established artists to share their own amazing images and interpretations of young males of African descent, capturing their determination, creativity, pride, originality, purpose and resilience.


“Young Black males in New York City are in a state of emergency. Unjust stop & frisks by police, warehousing in inner-city schools, and very few training and job opportunities are leading to increased crime and very little hope for many inner-city young men. We are bombarded with negative images and stories of young Black men in the media, so this art exhibition, which includes work by young Black male artists, is an attempt to control our own script, and present these men in a positive light for a change”, says exhibiting photographer Ocean Morisset.


The exhibition, a Celebration of our Sons through Words and Images opens on Saturday July 21, 2012 with an artist reception from 5pm-8pm at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Art gallery located on the 2nd floor at 163 West 125th street, east of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd. The exhibition is on view through August 8th by appt. To schedule an appointment after the opening, contact the Curator, Gregory Mills at (212) 749-5298

City Gym Boys Get A BANGIN' BODY by Charles LaSalle

Meet the City Gym Boys founder Charles LaSalle at the Hueman Bookstore, Harlem, NY on Tuesday, April 3rd at 6:00pm


The go-to guys for urban health and fitness point the way to summer's bangin' body. Charles LaSalle and his City Gym Boys first gained notoriety with their ripped bodies and popular beefcake calendars. But since LaSalle founded the group in 1997, they have made it their mission to mentor urban youth on the lifelong benefits of fitness and exercise. With practical advice on everything from diet to turning household objects into workout tools, "Get a Bangin' Body" explains why pumping iron is passe, and shares a body-weight-only program that anyone-whatever their age, income, or fitness level-can undertake.

Hue-Man Bookstore

2319 Frederick Douglass Blvd
NY, NY 10027
212-665-7400
www.huemanbookstore.com

Drake Covers GQ’s ‘Style Bible’… on Newsstand March 20th

by MUSED MAG ONLINE

There is no secret, GQ loves Drake. GQ managed to grab him for their latest issue… again. Sporting a slim ‘n’ dapper suit and striking a few famous GQ poises, Drizzy ditches his jeans and hoodies for this fashion inspired feature.

Drake also shares the spotlight with actors/directors Dave Franco and John Slattery for the April 2012 issue. The issue is set to hit newsstands on March 20 featuring the ‘Style Bible’ installment. During the interview, Drake talks about the hip hop culture, the effects his music has had on his life and finding ways to deal with fame.

On rap music today…
“Rap now is just being young and fly and having your shit together. The mood of rap has changed.”

Dealing with fame and finding inspiration…
“When I was in my mom’s house, I had nowhere to go, no real obligations. My girlfriend at the time, if she was mad at me, my day was all fucked-up. I didn’t have anything else. And that made for some of the best music, I think, to date. Records where I felt small. That feeling is hard to capture when you’re sitting out here in a space like this.” [gestures to the pool, the tennis court, the volleyball court, the stables] “It’s really difficult for me to find something that makes me feel small.”

On past promiscuity…
“There’s just a time where it was like, just getting p$%^&. Where I was in that sort of ‘I’m young, I’m going to disconnect from my emotions and just do what everyone else tells me I should do and just a be a rapper and have my fun.’ And for me as a person, it just doesn’t work. The seconds after a man reaches climax, that’s the realest moment of your life. If I don’t want you next to me in that fifteen, twenty seconds, then there’s something wrong.”

George Lucas: Hollywood Didn't Want To Fund My Film Because Of Its Black Cast

—By Adam Serwer | Tue Jan. 10, 2012

After Jar-Jar Binks, it's hard to not to give George Lucas' new film Red Tails the side-eye. The movie is World War II-era action flick based on the Tuskegee Airmen, the heroic and decorated pilots who were first black servicemembers to fly combat missions at a time when black Americans were not recognized as full citizens on the United States, despite their willingness to fight and die in its defense.

In an interview with the Daily Show's Jon Stewart on Monday night, Lucas was frank about the trouble he had getting the film made—in part, he said, because the studios weren't willing to finance a film without a white protagonist as an anchor.

"This has been held up for release since 1942 since it was shot, I've been trying to get released ever since," Lucas joked—although he did say that the film took about 23 years to develop. "It's because it's an all-black movie. There's no major white roles in it at all...I showed it to all of them and they said nooooo. We don't know how to market a move like this." Lucas goes on to explain that major studios don't believe films with majority black casts do well in foreign markets. Lucas was unbowed, telling Stewart that "we do want to do a prequel and a sequel," which I take as a measure of how excited and proud about Red Tails Lucas actually is. Bonus exuberance: "This is the closest you'll ever get to Episode Seven." Here's the video:

Lucas' explanation of how difficult it is for films with mostly-black casts (let alone black directors) was one of my major frustrations watching Pariah, Director Dee Rees' excellent coming-of-age film about a black lesbian teenager in Brooklyn. It wasn't just that the movie was good, it was that lingering social attitudes about race make such films far rarer than they should be, in part because of the way they skew economic incentives for major studios. Lucas gets a little big for his britches when he disses the 1989 Civil War epic Glory by describing it as a film where "you have a lot of white officers running these guys into cannon fodder," implying that in comparison to the Massachusetts 54th Regiment the Tuskegee Airmen were "real heroes."

The derision here is unnecessary and unwarranted; the men of the 54th were certainly heroes, and though it is hard to imagine, were fighting to preserve a nation that thought even less of them than it did of the Tuskegee Airmen. Also there's maybe a .0001 percent chance that Red Tails is actually a better movie, though Lucas' point about Hollywood's aversion to making films that don't center around white protagonists is well taken. The issue here is as political as it is economic—the white protagonists' role in mostly black films is generally to act as a redemptive vehicle for the white audience, allowing them to believe that in another place, at another time, they would have been just as righteous. Whether we're talking about the men of the 54th or Capt. Robert Gould Shaw, we are speaking of a kind of courage that is present in vanishingly few people. It is however, a conceit that studios seem to view as necessary to fill seats.

After watching Lucas' interview with Stewart, I'm more likely to see the movie than before. It's hard to forget the galactic coonery of Jar-Jar Binks. On the other hand, one of the screenwriters for Red Tails is Aaron McGruder, the writer behind the newspaper comic strip turned TV show The Boondocks. When the Star Wars prequels were first released, McGruder justifiably blasted Lucas over Jar-Jar from the perspective of a Star Wars fan. Lucas then hired him to write a movie. It's not quite enough to get me to forgive him for ruining the original Star Wars trilogy, but it's enough to get me to want to see Red Tails.

Idris Elba Featured on Latest Essence Cover

Let’s just go ahead and get this out of the way: Idris Elba is one good looking dude. Okay? We admit it. If we ever got to meet Elba we’d get lost in his eyes and then probably hug his leg until his bodyguards or the police forcibly removed us. That kind of reaction is probably why Essence decided to put the actor on the cover of its November issue.

Inside the issue, which hits newsstands October 12, Elba discusses being a dad and what he finds physically attractive. “Skin, I love beautiful skin,” Elba tells Essence. “I’m tactile, very tactile. A woman who has really nice, looked-after skin is such a turn-on for me. It’s always sexy.”

We’d give more details about the interview, but we have a feeling almost everyone just went to the nearest Duane Reade to buy the most expensive lotion they can find.

He is GREAT in BBC America's Luther:

Click here

FIBO HOT BODY Contest with Harmonica Sunbeam & Fashions by Darrell Cortez

The Skinny - A New Film From Patrik-Ian Polk

What's The Skinny?!

Patrik-Ian Polk, the award-winning filmmaker behind the hit LOGO television series "Noah's Arc", is now working on a brand-new project- THE SKINNY. And it's gonna be great, but we need your help to make it happen.

THE SKINNY has been in development for two years, and the project is on the verge of being fully funded. Some amazing people have already put their support behind this movie, and now we're bringing it to the Kickstarter community to help us cross the finish line.

What's it About?

THE SKINNY tells the story of five Brown University classmates who reunite one year after graduation for Gay Pride weekend in New York City. Magnus has just completed his first year of medical school and is excited to see his friends & introduce them to his new man, Ryan. Angelic Sebastian has recently returned from a year in Paris and looks forward to finally losing his virginity. Devilish trustafarian playboy Kyle is up to his old tricks, bagging as many hot bodied men as possible. Atlanta native Joey is hiding a few secrets, not including the obvious pounds he's packed on since graduating. And acid-tongued black British lesbian Langston tries to hold her own with the boys in the Big Apple. Through three action-packed days of sex, drama, secrets, lies & laughter- these five college pals discover just how much can change in one short year. And you won't believe what goes down at the Gay Pride Parade!

CNN's Don Lemon talks about race, homosexuality and abuse in his new book "Transparent"

CNN weekend anchor Don Lemon is gay, the journalist announced in his memoir "Transparent."

"I abhor hypocrisy," Lemon told the New York Times. "I think if you're going to be in the business of news, and telling people the truth, of trying to shed light in dark places, then you've got to be honest. You've got to have the same rules for yourself as you do for everyone else."

The 45-year-old anchor's book chronicles his personal life -- growing up without a father and being molested as a child -- and his career as he worked at local stations in Philadelphia, Chicago and New York before starting at CNN. He was cautious about detailing his personal life in the book, a project that was just supposed to be an inspirational pamphlet.

"I'm talking about something that people might shun me for, ostracize me for," Lemon said about being scared to come out.

Lemon made no secret of his sexual orientation: co-workers and managers knew he was gay and the network had assured him of support, he said. But the book was his first public announcement.

"It's quite different for an African American male. It's about the worst thing you can be in black culture. You're taught you have to be a man; you have to be masculine," he said. "In the black community they think you can pray the gay away. ... You're afraid that black women will say the same things they do about how black men should be dating black women..."

"I guess this makes me a double minority now."

Lemon appeared as a guest Monday on "CNN Newsroom" and will appear on "The Joy Behar Show" on CNN's sister channel HLN.

"Transparent" lands in stores June 16.

WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON CNN: Don Lemon talks personal struggles

Courtesy of CNN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41RciYsbaks

UMissouri Deletes Facebook Page with Anti-Gay Comments Over E. Patrick Johnson Visit

By Rod 2.0

University of Missouri administrators decided to delete an entire Facebook page after students' complaints about anti-gay comments. The Facebook page alerted students to this week's visiting performance by E. Patrick Johnson, the popular Black gay academic, author and performance artist. Johnson is the chair of the department of performance studies at Northwestern University.

The thread included at least one negative comment by an anti-gay Republican state legislator, reports The Missourian.

The presentations were titled "Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales" and "In Search of Countess Vivian: Queerness and the Making of Southern History." The events were presented in conjunction with MU's Pride Month and co-sponsored in part by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Resource Center, among other campus groups and organizations.

"Some of the comments were offensive to Mizzou students and fans. Comments that violated our posting policy — those that contained profanity or personal attacks, for example — were removed swiftly. Those that did not, remained on the Facebook page for more than 24 hours," the message stated.

One such comment that sparked a heated response was from Missouri state Rep. Kathie Conway, R-St. Charles. "Really?? This is educational?," Conway wrote. "Just what is the percentage of the population that this could possibly apply? .0001%?" Conway could not be reached for comment.

Mizzou administrators say "many of the comments" violated the university's posting policy.

Administrators also add the page was thread was ultimately deleted because the event was over.

"Pouring Tea: Black Gay Men of the South Tell Their Tales" is a critically-acclaimed and commercially successful stage adaptation of the Johnson's oral history Sweet Tea: Black Gay Men of the South. The one-man show has been staged across the country.

Sahara Davenport - Pump With Me

PUMP WITH ME

featuring Male Model JR Rolley

The Rupaul Drag Race Finale Party will take place at Providence next Monday..check out Manilla (RUPAUL DRAG RACE) and JR in Saharra (ALSO FROM DRAG RACE) 1st music Video "PUMP WITH ME"

Spring Break 2011 PARTY TIME in Las Vegas

Spring Break in Las Vegas

TEMPTED 2 TOUCH
THE OFFICIAL LAS VEGAS BLACK PRIDE
MARCH 17TH - 21ST , 2011

WWW.TEMPTED2TOUCH4U.COM

Isaiah Mustafa is Ready for the Telly Once Again

OLD SPICE GUY IS BACK...

Where did he go?

The one and only Old Spice guy is back, as the new spot from W+K Portland clearly states. It’s one of a few clips that will pop up beginning in February and plugs the brand’s Fresh line of deodorants, body washes, etc. Just stare into his eyes until the big payoff for fans happens several days before the ad premieres on national TV on Feb. 7 and will let them decide how and when the public will see the new campaign. Stay tuned…

I AM BEAUTIFUL DAMMIT!!!

Actor Darryl Stephens Gets "RAW"

Who wants to get Raw with Darryl Stephens?

Marsha Ambrosius - new video “Far Away”

Marsha sends a strong message about sexuality, suicide and bullying in her new video “Far Away.”

The video begins with Marsha beautifully sitting atop a piano, playing a particular note in red stilettos. Then Miss Ambrosius and who appears to be her boyfriend are walking through the park. He then comes to her house, and they share a glass of wine. Then, his boyfriend arrives! Blew my mind too!

Days later, the two gentlemen took a stroll through the park, hand in hand, and pass a group of “thugs.” Days pass, and the guy we assumed was Marsha’s boyfriend went through the park alone, and the thugs jumped him. Apparently, the bullying and rejection got to the guy, because he committed suicide by the end of the video.

Continue reading to view the message Marsha personally writes to the viewers and watch the powerful video!

Dear Friends,

Every year over 1 million people commit SUICIDE. Some were BULLIED because of their SEXUALITY. I lost a friend to SUICIDE, and I’m asking all of you to support alternative lifestyles.

Don’t put up with or join in with BULLYING. It’s time we became more aware in this WORLD. Take responsibility to make a difference. So if my MUSIC can save one life, I’ve done my job.

I love you all so much!

Marsha

Get Your Language RIGHT!!!

YES I AM BLACK

YES I AM PROUD

YES I AM BEAUTIFUL

What Do They Call Me?

Four "Women", Black "Girls" Rock - watch more funny videos

Does Your Man Smell Like A MAN?

Old Spice man is on a boat. CRACKS ME UP!!! I LOVE IT! LOL!!!!

More on that shortly. A quickie TV spot features Isaiah Mustafa in a boat, shirtless, with a romantic picnic basket filled with fruit, bread and cheese. His mustache is easily interchangeable with a clean-shaven look. A trio of print ads show Mustafa covered in bubbles and riding a motorcycle, atop a sudsy horse and channeling his inner lumberjack. I saved the best for last. Yesterday, Isaiah Mustafa answered fan questions with personalized videos. Oh yeah, my friend Amy got a personalized message. He said "I'm on a motorcycle," the line she was hoping he'd utter in his previous ad, along with other lines that involved wood, hot tubs and pizza. So she had a good-looking, shirtless man, flexing his pecs, talking about food and directing it all to her? BITCH!!!

Check out additional personalized videos via Old Spice's Twitter feed