Drake, of the Young Money crew is at the top of his game. Success has given him the opportunity to experiment boldly, with themes, style and imagery. In his latest video, Drake-or Aubrey, proudly embraces his Jewish ancestry and gives the diverse audience of Hip Hop exposure to cultural scenes that are foreign to some. His latest video, HYFR shows scenes filmed outside of a Jewish Temple and some scenes filmed inside as Aubrey partakes in Jewish traditions. Of course the video devolves into an alcohol driven, orgy of entertainment but that was to be expected. The scenes include a traditional Bar Mitzvah, as Drake receives the Rabbi’s blessing and a custom, in which Drake recites an oratory before his guests who celebrate his efforts with a raucous party. We love the Cultural Infusions of HYFR and the exposure outsiders are granted to such a personal experience, crucial in the development of young Jewish Men. We’ve posted the video for your enjoyment. SHALOM!

Did you know that your iPhone can make movies? Of course you did. We have all seen those shaky home videos and those youtube clips, captured on grainy cell phone cameras but the iPhone 4S is capable of so much more. You can create film quality movies on your IPhone 4S. A recent short film called Operation is showing the world what the iPhone Can Do. The movie is a short satirical film but the quality of the movie is incredible. Instead of perspective movie makers, pining for the day that they will be able  to buy the latest $5000 camera, they could simply whip their phones out of their pockets and start making films. The innovations in technology are astonishing. If you have ever thought about making a movie, perhaps you should start cutting your teeth on your iPhone 4S. You can start by downloading, Filmic Pro which costs a measly $3.99. We have posted the short film, OPERATION and a behind the scenes video which details how to make a similar production. WORTHY MAGAZINE Wants you to follow your dreams!

Learn How To Make Films With Your iPhone 4S

 

The Internet’s new crush is a new blog, with a decidedly political bent. Texts From Hillary has shot to the top of the search engines with a simple concept, a handful of photos and a hilarious premise. The Web site pairs a simple picture of Hillary Clinton, texting on her black berry, with brilliant captions that reveals the content of the Secretary of State’s personal messages. On the Tumblr site, the Secretary offers her advice to Sarah Palin, snide retorts and even a few pranks on notable celebrities. People instantly became addicted to the site but the Secretary herself also became a big fan!

Hillary met with the two bloggers who made the site, “Texts From Hillary” Stacy Lambe and Adam Smith. The two bloggers received an e-mail from Hillary Clinton’s staff inviting them to a meeting with Clinton at the State Department. Clinton’ s staff gave the two bloggers Clinton’s ideas to post which resulted in the scrunchie joke on their site. The two were happy to get an idea from Hillary Clinton and discussed it at the meeting. She told them that her favorite post was the one with her texting Ryan Gosling.

Here are Some of our favorites from Texts From Hillary! (http://textsfromhillaryclinton.tumblr.com/)

Ricki Lake was once one of day time television’s most popular talk show hosts and today she is a blushing bride. At the youthful age of 43, she has remarried, in a secret ceremony in southern california. Our only insight on the event comes from Lake herself, and the pictures she has tweeted to her fans. Ricki was married before but divorced in 2003. After swearing off marriage forever, the starlet fell in love with Christian Evans. The picture from above is of Lake in a gorgeous and appropriate wedding gown. Ricki and her new hubby haven’t been courting very long. She met him at the age of 42 and he proposed to her in Spain, shortly thereafter. We wish Ricki Lake and her new man, all the joy in the world (And a new Talk Show! or Reality Series!)

 

 

Trayvon Martin was shot and killed well over a month ago but today, the slain teenager will have justice. Worthy Magazine has learned that the prosecutor’s office will be holding a press conference at 6pm, eastern, during which she will announce charges for George Zimmerman.

BACKGROUND (Skip If Familiar with Case)

In the immediate after math of the shooting the Sanford Police Department essentially exonerated George Zimmerman-the alleged shooter.The incident was clouded by mystery. It occurred at night time. It was dark and raining. Martin was wearing the now famous, hoodie to protect himself from the rain. It was the hoodie which arroused Zimmerman’s notice. He regarded the teenager as being out of place and inherently suspicious. Trayvon was walking home, carrying skittles and ice tea. Audio tapes of  Zimmerman, introduced baffling new details for both sides of the conflict. We learned that Zimmerman began following the teen. We then learned from Trayvon’s girl friend that he noticed Zimmerman following him. Martin walked faster but noticed that Zimmerman sped up. The audio tapes confirmed that Zimmerman then began running after Trayvon. The teenage victim tried to escape.  From the perspective of both, we can say that Zimmerman pursued and Trayvon tried to elude him. Both wound up in a struggle. Zimmerman claimed that he was attacked by the teenage victim. Zimmerman claimed to have had a broken nose as a result of the fight, but conflicting reports have raised doubts about this reality. Zimmerman claimed that Martin was slamming his head into the concrete, but witnesses confirmed that the struggle took place in the grass, away from the sidewalk. A tape surfaced showing Zimmerman with few if any scars. His shirt was tucked in and he appeared to be relatively unscathed for someone engaged in a “struggle for his life”. The lead investigator on the scene of the crime, wanted to charge Zimmerman with manslaughter but he was over ruled by the chief of police. Conflicting witness accounts confirmed a struggle but varied between Zimmerman being the dominant figure and Trayvon overcoming Zimmerman. A tape surfaced with screams and pleas for help, right before the sound of the shots that killed Trayvon. Zimmerman’s lawyers claimed that the pleas for help came from Zimmerman, but vocal analysis eliminated Zimmerman as the source for the terrified voice. The nation was shocked into action as the image of a child, pleading for his life became the dominant image of Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman’s lawyers, recently introduced the idea that George may have been in fear of “Shaken Baby Syndrome”. They claimed that he could have feared his “brain” being bruised “inside of his head”. After floating the explanation, a series of advocates for Zimmerman surfaced and support for Zimmerman became a “rightwing” cause. The involvement of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson created a partisan and racial dividing line. Fox News became the preferred outlet for the Zimmerman clan and its defenders. Sean Hannity held private discussions with Zimmerman and Geraldo Rivera (of Fox News) blamed teenagers for wearing hoodies. When he confessed that he chides his own children for wearing clothes that make them look like hoodlums, rallys were organized all over the country as teens and adults dawned hoodies, in defiance of the notion that an article of clothing alone, could make someone look suspicious. Despite the vigorous defense and partisan divide that emerged, a consensus emerged and now, Geoerge Zimmerman will be charged in the incident.

NEWS UPDATE

The prosecutor in this case is Angela Corey a hard nosed, tough as nails, litigator. She is generally considered to empathize with the victims of crime and offer offenders very little mercy. She made national news with her decision to charge a 12 year old as an adult, when he beat his 2 year old, half-brother, to death. The decision was controversial, but again, Angela Corey does not empathize with the defendant. She is an advocate for the victim! When Corey was elected to her post as state attorney, she became the first woman to ever hold the position. She is tenacious and fiery. And at 6pm she will become the woman that brings justice to Trayvon Martin, and his grieving family!

The Nation Review is one of the Republican party’s most enduring and authoritative publications. Today it has fired one of it’s most popular writers. John Derbyshire has been terminated for posting an overtly racist article. The piece was written as a response to articles written by black columnists all over the country, concerning conversations they are forced to have with their children regarding law enforcement. These articles were written in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin shooting and the black authors reported having to advise their children on the proper demeanor they should assume when speaking with police officers and the fear they harbor about the potential for violence against their children. Mr. Derby, like many conservative columnists apparently found these conversations to be absurd but was inspired by these pieces to reveal the conversations he has with his children. In the piece, Derbyshire, tells his children to avoid blacks at nearly all costs. He tells them that they should never choose to live amongst African Americans or even move into a city with predominantly African American leaders. He instructs his children never to help African Americans, even if they seem to be in need. He regards most African Americans to be lacking in intelligence. He offers a particularly interesting insight into his own conservative perspective regarding African American politicians. He tells his children to avoid voting for black leaders and if they ever find themselves considering such an awful option, to scrutinize the black leader to a greater degree then he would a white leader. The most sobering aspect of Mr. Derbyshire’s piece is that it offers a frightening window that may give us insight into the inexplicably virulent opposition facing President Obama. Despite Obama’s overtly pro-American rhetoric; Despite his uniformly centrist policies he has been met with overt hatred from a right wing that seems determined to see him as an existential threat to the nation. Mr. Derbyshire’s advice included:

 Avoid concentrations of blacks not all known to you personally.

Stay out of heavily black neighborhoods.

If planning a trip to a beach or amusement park at some date, find out whether it is likely to be swamped with blacks on that date (neglect of that one got me the closest I have ever gotten to death by gunshot).

Do not attend events likely to draw a lot of blacks.

If you are at some public event at which the number of blacks suddenly swells, leave as quickly as possible.

Do not settle in a district or municipality run by black politicians.

Before voting for a black politician, scrutinize his/her character much more carefully than you would a white.

Do not act the Good Samaritan to blacks in apparent distress, e.g., on the highway.

If accosted by a strange black in the street, smile and say something polite but keep moving

Even more offensive was Derbyshire’s blunt declaration that he views certain “kinds” of blacks as having a certain utility in life. He admits that he holds friendships with African Americans, specifically so that he cannot be called a racist. He suggests that one of the reasons his children should seek friendships with African Americans, is so that they can use them as a shield of protection or “amulet” against those who perceive the truth of their hidden racist views. He expounds for his children by stating that:

In that pool of forty million, there are nonetheless many intelligent and well-socialized blacks. (I’ll use IWSB as an ad hoc abbreviation.) You should consciously seek opportunities to make friends with IWSBs. In addition to the ordinary pleasures of friendship, you will gain an amulet against potentially career-destroying accusations of prejudice.

Be aware, however, that there is an issue of supply and demand here. Demand comes from organizations and businesses keen to display racial propriety by employing IWSBs, especially in positions at the interface with the general public—corporate sales reps, TV news presenters, press officers for government agencies, etc.—with corresponding depletion in less visible positions. There is also strong private demand from middle- and upper-class whites for personal bonds with IWSBs, for reasons given in the previous paragraph and also (next paragraph) as status markers.

Unfortunately the demand is greater than the supply, so IWSBs are something of a luxury good, like antique furniture or corporate jets: boasted of by upper-class whites and wealthy organizations, coveted by the less prosperous

This admission is most concerning because it feeds into a narrative about African American conservative republicans that will certainly be used to further stain their reputations and curb much needed political diversity in the black community. His words give weight to a particular interpretation of the candidacies of men like Herman Cain, or Allen West who have been ridiculed for their conservative political affiliations (and controversial statements of their own regarding their own feelings about fellow African Americans).

The National Review has fired Mr. Derbyshire, however they released a peculiar statement regarding his dismissal which reluctantly rebuked his opinions but offered an odd defense of his intellect, character and perspective.

Anyone who has read Derb in our pages knows he’s a deeply literate, funny, and incisive writer. I direct anyone who doubts his talents to his delightful first novel, “Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream,” or any one of his “Straggler” columns in the books section of NR. Derb is also maddening, outrageous, cranky, and provocative. His latest provocation, in a webzine, lurches from the politically incorrect to the nasty and indefensible. We never would have published it, but the main reason that people noticed it is that it is by a National Review writer. Derb is effectively using our name to get more oxygen for views with which we’d never associate ourselves otherwise. So there has to be a parting of the ways. Derb has long danced around the line on these issues, but this column is so outlandish it constitutes a kind of letter of resignation. It’s a free country, and Derb can write whatever he wants, wherever he wants. Just not in the pages of NR or NRO, or as someone associated with NR any longer.

In it’s statement, the National Review seems to suggest that this was some sort of humor in response to the conversations African American parents routinely admit having with their children, which some conservatives have regarded as absurd. The NR never explains why Mr. Derbyshire could have been inspired to satirize the fear African Americans have of interactions with law enforcement or random acts of violence against their children. They never fully explain why such fear is considered to be humorous. The entire incident harms a party which has admitted its hardship in attracting and retaining a diverse membership. Leaders like Jeb Bush have chastised the party for failing to moderate controversial rhetoric aimed at minorities. This incident will surely do little to improve the Republican Party’s position amongst African Americans, or Latino’s. Given the traditional tone and tenor of Derbyshire’s screed it could add to the narrative that in addition to being consumed by bigotry, the GOP is similarly steeped in Sexist thought as well. As a party already accused of waging a War Against Women, this will likely buttress the claims that the GOP has simply failed to enter the modern era.

The Women of America will be given a special gift from Ebony Magazine, on Mother’s Day. The First Lady, Michelle Obama, will dawn the cover of the publication, in celebration of Mother’s Day. The Issue, which debut’s on April 17, 2012, features the First Lady in a gorgeous and flattering blue dress which reveals her signature, sculpted arms. The first lady uses the interview to discuss her Let’s Move Campaign, which emphasizes the importance of physical activity and exercise. The First Lady explains that exercise is crucial to the President’s ability to handle the pressures of the life in the White House. Ebony offers readers a rare glimpse into the intimate relationship between the President and his daughters, as the First Lady dishes on some of his interactions with his daughters. The Ebony portrait of the First Family is one of the most revealing and will offer fans and foes of the President a new vantage on an often misunderstood family.

Will the next “Bachelor” be an African American? ABC has yet to confirm that it has indeed selected Lamar Hurd, a Portland based sportscaster as it’s next bachelor on it’s hit TV series, “The Bachelor”. Lamar was apparently not seeking the coveted title, yet his assistant submitted an application for him. The fate of Hurd and all of the other Bachelor wannabes rests with the shows producers. Hurd would be a risk. Its unclear how the shows audience will respond to having an African American love interest. Some speculate that it could drive the shows remaining viewers away. Others suggest that this is just the shot in the arm that the Bachelor needs. They suggest that the show has become stilted, scripted, predictable and dull. It seems odd that America is ready for an African American President, but we question the nation’s readiness for a black “Bachelor”. This could simply be another example of how the nation evolves much faster then its most powerful brokers. Is America Ready For A Black Bachelor? I think we can safely assure ABC that we are. There is no need to hem, haw and second guess. America will be just fine. ABC should base it’s decision solely on Mr. Hurd’s qualifications. Is he rich (as the Bachelor must be). Is he a compelling character for television? Is he better for the role, then the other applicants? If the answer is yes (ABC) Cast Him. If he isn’t well then, maybe next season!