Saturday, February 27, 2010

News: Anita Baker Barely Misses Going to Jail

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

Singing great Anita Baker barely missed going to jail Friday in a dispute with her ex-husband over music royalties. The 52-year old Baker found herself in a heated battle with Walter Bridgforth, her ex-husband, over the details of their divorce settlement.
"I'm so happy. ... I have never been in such a position before," Baker said in the hallway outside court. "And we don't intend to ever be in such a position ever again. I just wanna go home,and I'm happy to go home. ... As horrific as it could have been, it was lovely to feel supported, though, on the other end."
Baker was faced with a deadline Wednesday to sign documents that empower court-appointed music contract expert Howard Hertz to obtain information from record labels regarding how much Baker owed her ex-husband. The deadline passed and Baker still had not signed. This led to the Wayne County Chief Family Court Judge Lita Masini Popke ordering Baker to either show up in court on Friday or go to jail.

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Monday, February 22, 2010

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Sad Story: Man Accused of Tossing His Child From a Bridge

A New Jersey man snatched his infant daughter from the arms of the child's grandmother and threw the baby off a bridge into the New Jersey river. The child's mother was in court at the time seeking a restraining order.
Acting New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow referred to the incident as "an example of a horrific case of domestic violence."
Police say that the girl's father, 21-year-old Shamsiddi Abdur-Raheem of Galloway Township, allegedly forced himself into the grandmother's apartment at 4 pm on Thursday. According to reports, he then struck her in the face, choked her and took the baby from her. The grandmother chased after Abdur-Raheem and was hit when she threw herself in the path of his van.
Abdur-Raheem was arrested four hours later when he allegedly confessed to police that he threw the child from the bridge. He then went to consult with his Imam, who drove him to a relative's house to call police. Abdur-Raheem has been charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, aggravated assault and child endangerment.

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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Your Black News: Vanity Fair Cover Considered Racist

Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair

One thing magazines love to do is call dibs on who will be the new "It" celebrities in the year to come. Sometimes they pick stars whose careers are destined to take off, occasionally they make incredible calls with near-nobodies who later become A-listers, and usually the majority of their picks fade into oblivion. While we'd like to think celeb bible Vanity Fair puts a great deal of thought and planning into its annual "New Hollywood" issue, this year the editors really limited their scope when it came to choosing the next big stars. (Or perhaps they overemphasized the "Fair"? ) Every woman on its new cover is extremely thin and very, very white. Unless Vanity Fair considers one redhead to be diversity, we feel the need to cry foul.

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