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President Obama To Spend Memorial Day Honoring Veterans

Latifah Muhammad — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:39:52 +0000

President Obama will pay tribute to veterans in honor of Memorial Day, today. During his weekly radio address Sunday (May 27), the president announced that he will spend the day with veterans and their family members at two separate locations.

The president will take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery's the Tomb of Unknowns, and will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War via the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

"We have to serve them and their families as well as they have served us," he said during his radio address. Having launched his re-election campaign earlier this month, veteran support will play a big roll in his second bid for president. As of March 12.1 percent of U.S. veterans in the Armed Forces who severed after September 2001 were unemployed last year. "By making sure that they get the health care and benefits they need; by caring for our wounded warriors and supporting our military families; and by giving veterans the chance to go to college, find a good job and enjoy the freedom that they risked everything to protect."

While the POTUS has been on official duty, his wife and daughters spent the holiday weekend in a different capacity. The first lady and first daughters attended Beyoncé's concert in Atlantic City over the weekend, marking the singer's first return to the stage since giving birth in January.

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Photo: AP

Kendrick Lamar Weighs In On Gay Marriage Debate [VIDEO]

Latifah Muhammad — Fri, 25 May 2012 20:39:34 +0000

Kendrick Lamar has become the latest rapper to speak on the controversial issue of gay marriage. Like Jay-Z before him, the Compton, Calif. rapper steered clear of judging people based on their sexual preference. In an interview with DJ Drama, Lamar showed his support for a person's right to live their life as they fit. "I don't give a f**k about people doing what they gotta do. That's your lifestyle, you dig what I'm saying?"

Lamar's comments come after President Obama and Colin Powell both announced their support of gay marriage, and the young MC pretty much feels the same way as the aforementioned political figures. "People gonna be they own individuals and have they own worlds and I can't knock it," he continued. "If you didn't believe in Jesus I can't knock you for not [believing], you got your own beliefs and your own morals. I can't help the way you was born if you was gay. And I can't change that so do what you gotta do to be happy."

Aside from commenting on political hot topics, the 24-year-old is also working on his major label debut Good Kid in a Mad City, and a joint release with J. Cole.

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Photo: Killer Hip Hop

Michelle Obama Wants To Be Like Beyoncé

Latifah Muhammad — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:23:52 +0000

Michelle Obama appears to have it all, but if given the opportunity, the first lady would like to swap talents with the world's most beautiful woman: Beyoncé. In the new issue of People Magazine, hitting newsstands Friday (May 25), Mrs. Obama said that she would love to share in Bey's talents. "Gosh. If I had some gift, I'd be Beyoncé," she said. "I'd be some great singer.

"The power of music, being able to play an instrument ... It looks like musicians just have the most fun," she added.

While she may not be musically inclined, the same cannot be said for her husband. President Obama has showcased his pipes on more than one occasion, and even promised to rap Young Jeezy if he gets re-elected.

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Photo: AP

Colin Powell Endorses Gay Marriage [VIDEO]

Latifah Muhammad — Wed, 23 May 2012 22:47:04 +0000

First President Obama stood behind same-sex marriage, then Jay-Z gave his approval, and now Colin Powell is following suit. The former secretary of state said that he has "no problem" with gay marriage, in an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer Wednesday (May 23).

Much like Obama and Jay-Z, Powell sees a person's sexual preference as a personal choice "I know a lot of friends who are individually gay but are in partnerships with loved ones," he said. "And they are as stable a family as my family is. And they raise children. And so I don't see any reason not to say that they should be able to get married."

Making the rounds to promote his new book, Powell has fallen short of supporting Obama's re-election, despite endorsing him during his 2008 presidential bid.

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Photo: Kare 11

President Obama Has Raised Over $1 Billion In Campaign Funds

Latifah Muhammad — Tue, 22 May 2012 20:26:59 +0000

President Obama is constantly in the crosshairs of the Republican party, yet despite what they'd have you believe, he still has a massive amount of supporters. Throughout his political career, Obama has raised more than$1 Billion, in campaign funds–making him the first U.S. politician to do so.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, in the in the nine years since he kicked-off his Senate bid in 2004, Obama has raised $1,017,892,305. In comparison, over two consecutive terms, President George W. Bush raised approximately $430 million.

For his second run at the presidency, the Commander in Chief is expected to bring in roughly $300 million by November. His funders include companies and organizations like Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, and Harvard University. Since publicly supporting same-sex marriage, Obama is also expected to see a huge financial bump from wealthy gay and lesbian supporters.

Elsewhere on the fundraising front, his opponent Mitt Romney's slanderous efforts, have helped him bring in $40 million, for the month of April.

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Photo: Business Insider

Will Smith Wants To Play President Obama In Biopic

Latifah Muhammad — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:26:25 +0000

If a President Obama biopic ever makes its way to the silver screen Will Smith is vying for the gig. The accomplished actor—currently promoting his Men In Black 3 due out this Friday (May 25)—notes himself as an is an obvious choice for the role. "It's about the ears, that's the thing,” he told the BBC. "People see the ears and Barack and I both have the ears, so I'm the most natural choice."

Smith is no stranger to playing well-known figures, he portrayed Muhammad Ali in the 2001 Michael Man flick Ali, and revealed that he and the POTUS have discussed making the movie. "I told [Obama] jokingly, 'It's definitely something I would consider, you just have to write the ending.' So he's working on the ending right now."

Drake has also expressed interest in playing Obama, so Smith might have to strong-arm the Young Money MC (like he did that reporter) into dropping his bid for the job.

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Photo: BET

3 Men Arrested For Plotting Terrorist Attack At President Obama's Campaign Headquarters

Latifah Muhammad — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:14:13 +0000

President Obama's campaign headquarters has become the focus of a debunked terrorist attack.Three men were taken into custody last week, accused of making bombs known as Molotov cocktails to blow up the president' campaign location in Chicago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home, and other areas to be hit during this weekend's NATO summit.

The suspects were apprehended last Wednesday (May 16) following a raid on an apartment on the city's South Side. According to defense attorney Michael Duetsch, the arrests were an attempt at discouraging potential protests during the summit. "This is just propaganda to create a climate of fear," he said. He also alleges that undercover police officers were the culprits behind the Molotov cocktails. "We believe this is all a setup and entrapment to the highest degree."

All three of the suspects—Brian Church, 20, Jared Chase, 24, and Brent Vincent Betterly, 24— were charged with providing material to support terrorism, possession of explosives, and conspiracy to commit terrorism. Six other people were arrested during the raid, but were released Friday (May 18) without being charged. Church, Chase and Betterly are all being held on $1.5 million bond.

The terrorists plot is the latest in a couple of attempted attacks on President Obama, since he launching his re-election campaign earlier this month. Most recently, a Virginia man was arrested for sending threats to the White House and upon facing a judge at his hearing, asked to be sentenced to death.

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Photo: WHW Web

Jay-Z's Full Sit Down Interview With CNN On Made In America Festival [VIDEO]

Kazeem Famuyide (@RealLifeKaz) — Thu, 17 May 2012 21:55:01 +0000

If you have a good 11 minutes to kill, watch CNN's Poppy Harlow talk to Jay-Z about his concert to benefit the United Way, becoming a father and President Obama's policies.

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Tupac's Family Says He Was Not Homophobic

Latifah Muhammad — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:24:00 +0000

The family of Tupac Shakur is blasting allegations that he hated gay people. The rumor stems from a Howard Stern interview where Suge Knight stated that the slain rapper didn't like homosexuals, citing Dr. Dre as an example. "Tupac stood up and said, I'm tired of this. Dre, you's a fa**ot. You're a homosexual," Knight told Stern, but according to TMZ, the former Death Row honcho is misinformed.

A representative for Pac's family reached out to the website calling Knight's claims "totally false," confirming that the West Coast MC not only had no problem with anyone's sexual preference, but was friendly with openly gay fashion designer Gianni Versace. Shakur also participated in a Versace fashion show in 1996, the same year that he was gunned down on the Las Vegas strip, following a Mike Tyson fight.

Knight has yet to respond to the family calling him a liar, but if Pac was accepting of gay people— as a noted member of the Hip-Hop community— he was most definitely ahead of his time. The long-standing debate over same-sex marriage became a major topic of discussion within the political sector, after President Obama announced his support of gay marriage in an interview with ABC. Following his statements, Jay-Z threw his support behind the Commander in Chief, noting that the issue is "holding the country back." Jay went on to say that whatever people chose to do behind closed doors "is their business" and that everyone deserves the right to "choose to love whoever you love."

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Photo: Fact Magazine

Jay-Z Explores Possibility Of President Obama Performing At Made In America Festival

Kazeem Famuyide (@RealLifeKaz) — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:54:53 +0000

Jay-Z spoke with Jeff Rosenthal of Rolling Stone after taking the stage in Philadelphia to announce the Made In America Festival. The initial question about why he chose Philadelphia, after being so quintessentially New York his entire career, was more about the festival being a celebration of Americana and less about him. "This was tailor-made for Philadelphia, home-made for Philadelphia. Philadelphia's one of the most iconic cities: Declaration and the whole bit," says Hov. I feel like I've done enough in New York where I feel I could branch out a bit, and she won't get mad at me so much. And it's a short trek from New York, so..."

Hov also all but confirmed that his wife Beyonce will be touching the stage on during Labor Day weekend as well as reaching out to President Barack Obama to make an appearance. "I'm gonna tell you guys right now: I'm gonna give him a call and I'm gonna try to get him to perform – do a little rendition of Al Green – but I doubt it," Jay-Z says of the Commander In Chief. "I think that opens up the political season. He'll be so far into helping the world that he probably won't have time, but I'm absolutely going to ask him."