Benazir Bhutto Assassinated!

Former Pakistani president Benazir Bhutto was shot and killed last night. Governments around the world condemned the killing and want the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

Ms. Bhutto has done more for Pakistani people during her presidential term and will be missed by all.

May she rests in peace beyond the touch of evil.

Amber Alert, missing black girl

CHIOMA EZRONESHA GRAY

15 year old Chioma a African American girl was abducted by Andrew Tafoya on December 13, 2007. A felony warrant for Kidnapping was issued for Andrew on December 14, 2007. They may travel to Mexico in a white 2008 Acura TSX with the California license plate 6AXX928. Andrew has multiple tattoos. Learn more about Chioma and her abductor by clicking the link below:

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/missingblackwomen.html

New Jersey forces HIV testing in pregnant women

New Jersey forces HIV testing in pregnant women: "WEDNESDAY DEC 25, 2007 (Foodconsumer.org) -- The state of New Jersey Senate has approved legislation to force pregnant women and their newborns to receive HIV testing, a measure that critics say would deprive women of their right to make medical decisions.



Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey was reportedly ready to sign the measure into law today at University Hospital in Newark. The law would take effect in six months once signed. Gov. Jon S. Corzine is out of the country for the holidays."

BRCA1 Mutation Prevalent Among Hispanic, Younger Black Women

BRCA1 Mutation Prevalent Among Hispanic, Younger Black Women: "WEDNESDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) -- The gene mutation BRCA1, which is known to increase the risk of breast cancer, is prevalent among Hispanics and young black women with breast cancer, researchers report.

The mutation is known to heighten the risk for Ashkenazi Jews, so the new ethnic findings are something of a surprise, the California researchers noted.

"We found that the Hispanic women had a higher prevalence of the harmful BRCA1 mutation than white women, and the highest prevalence was among young African-American women," said study author Esther John, a research scientist at the Northern California Cancer Center in Fremont and a consulting associate professor of health research and policy at Stanford University. "The prevalence of the BRCA1 mutation is different in different racial and ethnic groups.""

the beatroot: Simon Mol charged with infecting 12 Polish women with HIV

the beatroot: Simon Mol charged with infecting 12 Polish women with HIV Almost a year after he was first detained by police in Warsaw, the Cameroonian ‘refugee’, poet and human rights activist is finally charged by the prosecution service, and faces a long jail sentence.

Mol’s case, as it was revealed in a blaze of outrage in the Polish media in January this year, is a tabloid journo’s dream.

An African who had won refugee status and had become a well-known media figure, campaigning on human rights and race issues in Poland, was accused by numerous women in Warsaw of infecting them with HIV, while all along knowing that he was carrying the virus.

But the case is not just about whether he knew, or not, that he was HIV positive (although that is what the court, when he finally comes before a judge, will be deciding). When asked by the women to use protection before sex, he had refused, claiming that they were only asking him to wear a condom because he was ‘an African’.

When the Rzeczpospolita daily went to Cameroon and Nigeria to examine whether Mol’s claims of political persecution in those countries was true, they found that his family, friends and work colleagues knew nothing about it. It seems that Mol was an economic migrant, not a political refugee. Mol's side of the story is here.

So, in one case we have a deadly combination of sex, race and politics. If you had to write a prototype tabloid shock, horror story, then this was it.

Jurors felt pressured in racially charged case

A Long Island NY Jury found a black man, John White guilty of manslaughter on Dec. 23 in the death of Daniel Cicciaro a 17 year old white man. The case is so sad because yes a family has lost a son but only because he and his friends came to Mr. White's house looking to be up Mr. White's son. Mr. White took a gun and went outside to defend his family. When the youth went for the gun it accidentally went off. Now we have whites saying he should have stayed in his house and called the police while the white youths did whatever and blacks mentioning the fact that no one would be dead if they had not gone to the house in the first place.

If that's not bad enough it now turns out that some jurors felt pressured to give a manslaughter verdict although they wanted to go with reckless endangerment. The say they were pressured not because many on the jury and the judge wanted to be HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!!!! Watch the video below to hear from a white juror who is making these claims.
http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Kimora Lee Simmons

Kimora Lee Simmons, the rising star of fashion

If there's one thing I can describe Kimora Lee is that she's one amazing woman. She designs, directs, models, and is a very savvy businesswoman and mother of two pretty kids. She's on top of the game.

Kimora's Early Life:

Kimora is of Korean, Japanese and African-American descent.[1] Her parents are Korean American/Japanese American Joanne Perkins (who was adopted by an American serviceman during the Korean War and renamed Joanne Perkins) and African-American father Vernon Whitlock Jr. is a former social security administrator.

Growing up in the north St. Louis suburb of Florissant, Kimora was very self-conscious about being a "geek." Other children called her "c___ giraffe" because of her height and Asian ancestry.

By the time she was 10 years old, she was 5-foot 8-inches tall, and became the target of schoolyard taunts and teasing. Hoping to boost her confidence, Simmons's mother enrolled her daughter in a modeling class when she was eleven years old. Two years later, at the age of thirteen, Simmons was awarded an exclusive modeling contract with Chanel and just after her fourteenth birthday, she left for Paris to work under the tutelage of famed Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld.

She gained attention in the fashion world in the 1990s when Lagerfeld closed his haute couture show with Simmons, who strutted down the runway decked out as a child bride. By age 14, her stature had grown to a height of six feet, and she became a self-professed muse for Lagerfeld.

Kimora is a graduate of Lutheran North High School in St. Louis, Missouri in 1993.

In 1998, she married entrepeneur and Def Jam president Russell Simmons. The Simmons' have two daughters; Ming Lee Simmons (born January 21,2000) and Aoki Lee Simmons (born August 16, 2002). Both Ming Lee and Aoki Lee model for Baby Phat Kids Collection along with Kimora's cousins from Willingboro, New Jersey .

Russell Simmons filed for divorce in March 2006, after seven years of marriage, saying the couple had split some time before.

As of May 2007, Simmons has officially been dating actor/model Djimon Hounsou. They are often spotted together with her two young daughters.

Kimora's official website:

http://www.kimoraleesimmons.com/

Denzel Washington discusses The Great Debaters

Click the link below to hear Farai Chideya of NPR radio interview Denzel washington. The two talk about The Great Debaters a film in which Denzel directs and stars in. They also talk about Denzel's career and the future of black films.

http://www.letstalkhonestly.com/blacknewsblackviews.html

Reparations Anxiety | The American Prospect

Reparations Anxiety | The American Prospect: "Brown University announced that it will give a $10 million endowment to local public schools to atone for its involvement in the slave trade. But reparations alone will not address the ongoing segregation of the American education system."

Back by Demand: My Essay on Violence Against Black Women: Four Past Cases The Media Ignored

Back by demand, my article on violence against Black women was featured at Killbigotry.com in October. My thesis is that mainstream media and society ignore violence against Black women because of the low value assign to Black life, especially Black female life in America.

Black Girls And Low Self Esteem

A must read article. Hatip to G. Cook of Let's Talk Honestly. Thanks.

Forum on Venezuela | venezuelanalysis.com

Forum on Venezuela | venezuelanalysis.com: "On December 2, by a slim 50.7 percent to 49.3 percent margin, Venezuelans rejected a slate of sixty-nine constitutional reforms championed by President Hugo Chávez. Fiercely debated in Venezuela, the referendum sparked a spirited discussion among our contributors.

Many of Chávez's proposals--lowering the voting age; prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, race or disability; expanding social security; shortening the workweek; and requiring gender parity in candidates for elected office--were greatly admired. Other measures--such as the elimination of term limits on the presidency and the expansion of executive power to declare a state of emergency--were less well received."