Life in Prison at 16

When Sara met G.G., the 31-year-old man who would become her pimp, she was 11. Sara's mom struggled with drug addiction, so when G.G. would drive Sara and her friends to the roller skating rink or the mall, it felt like having a real parent around. He gave Sara presents and told her she was special- so special, that she should never give sex away for free. He convinced her she was a product.

G.G. groomed Sara like this for two years before he raped her. By then, his control was complete and he forced her into prostitution. Sara and the other girls who G.G. exploited were out on the streets from 6pm to 6am, every night. Twelve hours a night, seven days a week, for three years, Sara was raped by strangers so G.G. could profit. After three years, she snapped, and she killed him.

What's wrong with you people? Start Snitchin'!

The Reverend Al Sharpton will join the families of two slain teenagers during an launching a nationwide drive against the “Stop Snitching” culture. Rev. Sharpton, President of National Action Network, will appear with Bishop Victory Curry and Rev. Gaston Smith at Friendship MBC. Additionally, Sharpton will add to the reward fund that has been established in finding the killer of 16-year-old Brandon Mills and 18-year-old Derrick ”Termite” Gloster.

The “Stop Snitchin” slogan gained popularity in 2004, when producers Rodney Bethea and Ronnie “Skinny Suge” Thomas released a DVD by the same title, which featured drug dealers exposing various Baltimore, Maryland informants. The DVD also helped expose corrupt police in Baltimore, Maryland, as former BPD officers William King and Antonio Murray were sentenced to 34 years in prison, stemming from drug dealing allegations on the controversial release.

Around 2005, the “Stop Snitchin” slogan logo started to appear on clothing, popularized by rap groups like The Diplomats, as a fashion trend. Group leader Cam’ron even appeared on an infamous segment of 60 Minutes in April of 2007, where he explained his reasoning behind supporting the slogan.

The concept has hindered many criminal investigations nationwide, including the Liberty City shootings, which took place in front of several dozen people on Friday (January 23).

Police believe one or multiple gun men sprayed a crowd of up to 50 people with an AK-47 assault rifle, leaving two dead and seriously wounding seven others. ”We are all hurting,” Gloster’s grandmother, Caron Dixon told The Miami Herald. “We are just so tired of these guns.” Most of those injured were students at Northwestern High School, where up to 20 police officers now patrol the area, for security reasons.

MEMO: Saggy Pants are not cute!

Tell your man to put on a belt!!!

Morehouse College recently began to take on saggy pants, cursing looking to promote ‘Renaissance man’

“Obama Won; Now Pull Up Your Pants” was the headline on a post-election column by Justin M. LaGrande, lifestyle editor of The Gramblinite, the newspaper of the historically black Grambling State University in Louisiana. “Obama isn’t sagging his pants,” LaGrande wrote.

Obama himself said in an MTV interview shortly before the election that he opposes laws and ordinances — such as one proposed by an Atlanta city councilman last year — that would control dress.

I personally agree with it....it's about time boys (as well as some men--scary!) take their appearance seriously! I think it's ridiculous how unaware they are of how appearance affects their life. In addition, if we as young ladies stop thinking it's so cute, maybe boys will stop walking down the street falling over their pants! It is sooooo note cute! Get some swagger and stop looking like a goon! Think more Kanye and Common...less Plies (yuk!)...think about it!

Told ya!

A recent study details the power of negative racial stereotypes. In a long-term survey of 12,686 people, changes in social circumstances such as falling below the poverty line or being sent to jail made people more likely to be perceived by interviewers as black and less likely to be seen as white. Altogether, the perceived race of 20% of the people in the study changed at least once over a 19-year period, according to the study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Read the rest of the study here.

Is Michelle Obama the best black female role model since Claire Huxtable?

Michelle Obama: What's not to love? She's smart, accomplished, funny, a great mother and a snazzy dresser. But as Newsweek's Allison Samuels points out, compared to other black women in the media, there's something different about Michelle Obama. For instance: Why don't we see Michelle snappin' her neck and waggin' her finger when she's "keepin' it real"? Why don't we see Michelle shake her booty and drop it like it's hot when she dances? Why haven't we heard any sassy one-liners or seen any displays of an easily-provoked temper?

Also, why haven't we seen Michelle raise her voice above an "appropriate" decibel level? Michelle Obama doesn't seem to be anything like the image of black women that we see on TV and in films. Who is the real Michelle Obama? Get ready for it:

Michelle Obama is totally normal. A normal, well-educated wife of a politician and mother of two.

Like the fictional Huxtables before them, the Obamas serve as an example to both blacks and non-blacks through their upper-middle-class regular-ness.

And even though Michelle will probably never gain acceptance from some of her critics, Samuels still sees her life in the spotlight as a way for Americans to see a "regular African-American woman" in action, showing "what we think and what we face on a regular basis."