Cropsey! If there was ever an urban myth that I thought was real, the kid-snatching Cropsey legend was it. Growing up in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, I was fortunate enough to go on hiking trips in Staten Island and the Cropsey camp fire stories were always the best. There was Jason, then Freddy, but those were only characters in the movie to me. Yes, I admit I had some sleepless nights after the first "Nightmare on Elm Street".

Dr. Henrie Treadwell is Associate Director of Development Morehouse School of Medicine's National Center for Primary Care. She is also Director for Community Voices; both are programs which focus on providing Healthcare access to the poor and underserved.

As a strong health advocate for lower-income communities, Dr. Treadwell has done extraordinary work, specifically for poor African-American males. Prior to her work at Community Voices, Dr. Treadwell served as a Program Director at W.K. Kellogg for 17 years. 

Dr. Treadwell’s education began at the University of South Carolina, which she helped integrate by becoming one of the first African American students to enroll in 1963. She also earned a Master’s from Boston University, a PhD from Atlanta University and did some post doctoral work at Harvard.



What is the National Center for Primary Care and Community Voices?

The National Center for Primary Care was established by the U.S. Congress to provide information and guidelines on how to get more people who are underrepresented in Healthcare into the Healthcare system when they need it. Both programs for men’s heath and others are really designed to help people get engaged in Healthcare and communicating with policy makers.

The Community Voices program came to the National Center for Primary Care in 2003. But the Community Voices itself and the Men’s Health Initiative were established in 1998 by the Kellogg foundation with the goal to get everyone up and talking about what is needed and what we need as a nation.

So, “Kobe Doin’ Work”… What motivated you to do a sports documentary?

Well, I’m a filmmaker, I make films. I haven’t done anything on basketball since “He Got Game” with Denzel Washington, Rosario Dawson, and Ray “Jesus Shuttlesworth” Allen. And, I thought Kobe would be an interesting subject to do it on.

At some point in our lives, many of us come to witness the extreme outcomes of a relationship breakup. Lost love may leave some victims detached and uninspired by their surroundings, while others may fall into an undetermined fit of reckless behavior. In other cases detachment sparks a rebirth, where loss has transformed into boundless sources of creativity and awakening. Leave it to Richard Chandler Burroughs, marketing whiz and NYC party promoter turned author, to write a schematic, witty novel on the outcomes of dubious relationships. "A Rendezvous with Destiny" is set around three characters living in Manhattan who unknowingly create a set of circumstances in love's absence, that ultimately bring them together. “All these characters can collide, literally and figuratively.” explains Burroughs, “Its such a New York story, but such a cosmopolitan story.” I managed to read the entire novel in a weekend as I became instantly attached to the main characters that handled daily strife with realistic reactions and a calculated thought processes.

There have been six, full-length, live-action Batman movies since 1989. During those 19 years, America has passed through recession, expansion and yet another shaky financial situation that is still to be determined. The nation has waged several humanitarian missions, full-scale wars and acknowledged the use of torture or, “enhanced techniques” in the war against terror. And in that time, each representation of the Caped Crusader has seemed to mirror the national mood.

From Michael Keaton to Val Kilmer to George Clooney to Christian Bale, each depiction of Batman has been an object lesson in artistic supply and demand. For instance, the late ’80s, plagued with financial sluggishness and rising crime, produced a more grim version, filled with corruption, botched surgery and public hysteria during parades.

Black music is in a rut. In order to be accepted by major labels, the radio, or the population at large, it seems that artists must talk about drugs, hoes, or money. Recently all three have been compounded into making it "rain" drug money on hoes. It’s trite, tired, and frankly time for something new.



That new thing is Afro Punk, although its not really new at all.. Afro Punk has been since the 70’s, with black members in all sorts of old school punk bands and all black acts like Fishbone and Bad Brains. The genre has reached unprecedented notoriety of late thanks in large part the efforts of one man, James Spooner. James grew up feeling out of place as one of the few black kids in the Majority white punk scenes in California and later New York City.



The feeling of belonging to an isolated subpart of an abstruse Subculture drove James to direct his first documentary film, Afro-Punk.



Afro-Punk documents the similar struggles of black kids on the punk scene across America, from being “the only black kid in the room” to the difficulty of finding love when you are often viewed as just a novelty. James’ new film, White Lies/ Black Sheep, picks up where the first film left off



Recently I spoke to Spooner to discuss his new film, race, the mainstream, and the “other black experience.”

I had an interesting conversation with a friend recently. His 5 year old Jeep had been having some mechanical problems so he wanted out.

“I want one of those new Prius hybrids. What do you think?”

I was always the go to guy for this kind of thing. Anything having to do with cars, I’m your man. I’ll be able to tell you the unbiased facts and my biased opinion.

I smiled at his desired choice then told him that choosing a car was an emotional personal choice. “You really have to dig deep down to find the answer. I can’t tell you what to buy…”

The current political climate is one of excitement albeit chaotic. This leaves room for potential misunderstanding and premature polarization.

I ask - what happened to the days when people voted for defined goals supported by achievements, the days of frugality emphasized by William Jefferson Clinton, stability by Richard Milhous Nixon, and even the “New Frontier” brought up by John Fitzgerald Kennedy. What happened to candidates who represented something more than just general “change,” or at least specifically defined “change,” rather than individuals defined by a “movement” or revolution.

ATLANTA-When Election Day arrives on November 4, the state of Virginia will likely play a huge role in determining whether Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain is the next President of the United States. Unfortunately, the vote tally from the Old Dominion will be illegitimate because the state will disenfranchise nearly 350,000 individuals who are barred from voting due to felony convictions.

Across the country, Obama's unique ability to energize young African American and independent voters is turning traditional "Red States," such as Virginia, into potential Democratic pick-ups.  But as attention shifts to these new swing states it also raises awareness of the restrictive voting eligibility laws that will disproportionately prevent many blacks from participating in the election.

The curtain parted at the ornate old theatre, and a thickly packed crowd of 500 craned their necks to get a glimpse of the stage. Five men in matching African robes stood with their instruments, working on a steady, rumbling groove. The audience swelled in anticipation, searching for the group’s notorious leader, nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, shouts go up from the back row as a conga line of horn players, dressed identically to the rhythm section on stage, makes its way to the front. Taking their places on the cramped stage and raising their instruments to their lips, a brassy riff explodes like fireworks over the already heavy beat. The cheers haven’t begun to subside when from the corner of the stage three dancers, young women elaborately made-up and barely dressed, undulate to their positions in front of microphones. The crowd is now in a frenzy. Finally, a piercing saxophone rises above the ferocious rhythm and the man himself struts to center stage. Femi Kuti has arrived.

The recently completed NBA season was believed by many to be one of the most competitive and compelling in the league’s history. From blockbuster trades, season-ending injuries to key players and one of the most exciting late-season playoff races ever, the 2007-08 season will no doubt go down as one of the best.

“Looking at the incarcerated, these are not political criminals. These people are going around stealing Coca-Cola. People are getting shot in the back of the head over a piece of pound cake! Then we all run out and are outraged: “the cops shouldn’t have shot him.” What the hell was he doing with the pound cake in his hand?”

Dr. Bill Cosby has been quite a lightning rod of late. Yet despite his popular mainstream persona, Cosby has never been one to sugarcoat his opinions or shy away from the public discourse on culture. His many television and movie products are evidence of his commitment to elevating the representations of Blacks in popular media for decades.

War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing!

A hit song from the 70s became a rallying cry for a generation against the Vietnam War, one of the longest and deadliest in American history. Many of our parents protested not only by marching and chanting but also by doing the unthinkable at that time, dodging the draft, with some fleeing to Canada and others to points south. In conjunction with the Civil Rights Movement this was a time of activism, a time where American citizens demanded that their voices be heard. And though it wasn’t always easy, eventually change was affected, and we of “Generation X” and beyond are reaping the benefits.

Bold. Stylish. Unique. Ahead of its time.
These words describe the woman who has earned the privilege to bask in the blinding glory of pink and green, or the fiery passion of crimson and creme, or the refreshing confidence of blue and white. In 2002, Travis Livingstone saw the need for that woman to make her statement to the world. Thus, Sorority Sweets was created.

To gain some insight on this issue we had the pleasure of interviewing Legal Momentum’s V.P. for Government Relations Lisalyn Jacobs.