47 years later there are finally signs that the “bad check” Dr. Martin Luther King referred to has been torn up and reissued in the form of peace, harmony and Barack Obama.

Still, it seems we aren’t all the way there as a people. We don’t seem to want to help each other like we would have back in the day.

Understandably, we live in the day of the hustler and everyone is out to get theirs. But that’s no way to build a nation.

The difference, I believe, is that once upon a time, we built ourselves up within a group. We helped each other and because of that unity, we were able to erect whole towns, whole communities, blocks and families that supported each other in more racially divided times than now.

The dream is still attainable, but we have to band together and go get it.

A wise man once told me, “Freedom ain’t free.”

SPEECH INSIDE

Lady Rerun Vs. The Internet

Have you ever had a moment where you do something very simple without putting much thought into it, yet it ends up changing your life? That’s what happened to Portia “Lady Rerun” Allen, when she decided to enter two online contests.

Portia, who is the daughter of Fred “Rerun” Berry from the 1970’s sitcom, “What’s Happening!!” decided to follow in her father’s footsteps by becoming an entertainer. At 4’9 320 lbs, she is a plus sized model, radio & event host, and actress. She’s found that while her size does sometimes give people the wrong impression of her, she enjoys proving those same people wrong by showing a huge heart and spirit also exists inside of her large frame.

Having a father that was in the entertainment industry taught her early on that any publicity could be good publicity, that even negatives could be spun into positives. That being the case, Portia knows that her size can help her reach out to women of all shapes, sizes and races, because nearly all women face body image issues.

Because she is constantly grinding to reach the next level of success, Portia decided to enter Safe Auto’s DoTheJingle.com contest and she entered to be the spokeswoman for the Eyes Lips Face cosmetics line.
For the Safe Auto entry, Portia was lounging poolside as she talked about Safe Auto and sang their jingle. In the E.L.F. entry, she simply submitted a few pictures of herself, as the rules stated. Things started out innocently enough as her supporters rallied around her, leaving positive comments and her voting to the top in both contests nearly from the beginning. But then things got strange.

For the Safe Auto ad, people began leaving comments saying things such as “pool’s closed,” a statement she later learned was to indicate that because AIDS was in the pool, no one swam in it. They also started leaving lewd comments about her weight, a situation that Portia is unfortunately all too familiar with.

For the E.L.F. ad, she also got negative comments about her weight. On both websites, people claiming to be her supporters went on the pages of other contestants, claiming to be a fan of hers, and bashing others. Users began to complain that Portia was obviously rigging votes (the notion was that an overweight woman couldn’t possibly have as many supporters, especially for the cosmetics line).

One band that was close to the lead in the Safe Auto ad quit the contest because they felt that there was clearly some type of unfair voting advantage to her. She also found an Encyclopedia Dramatica website about herself. On it, they insulted her Internet radio show, her game show appearance on the short-lived Fox show “Hole In the Wall,” her movie appearance and pretty much every other project that she has worked on.

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We were called upon by our folks at Location 415 in The City (that’s San Francisco) to get this done in a matter of 24 hours. There were a lot of people involved, so there was a lot of maneuvering prior to presenting the final product.

It is what is it though. We pride ourselves in making our clients happy!

See the evolution of the 2nd Annual Pop Ya Bottle Extravaganza below and get there if you’re anywhere near the Yay… It’s going to be official!

GALLERY INSIDE

After meeting with a retired federal judge – Daniel Weinstein – for an insane 9 HOURS yesterday, Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao,” were unable to come to terms for the superfight the entire boxing world wants to see.

The back story is old hat by now. Mayweather wants both fighters to submit to Olympic style drug testing. Manny Pacquiao doesn’t feel the need to do so because he’s never had to before AND has never failed a drug test.

Most know the reason Money wanted Manny to submit to Olympic style testing, has to do with his camp’s suspicion that the Phillipine born fighter uses performance enhancing drugs.

Pacquio filed a defamation suit against Mayweather and his handlers to rebuke their claims and collect a few chippers in the process.

MORE INSIDE

Since entering the league we’ve always known Gilbert Arenas to have a certain mystique about him. Good or bad, he’s always entertaining. Whether it’s his wacky pregame/halftime superstitions or a 60 point outpour, he’s a flat out talented and interesting human being.

Unfortunately for him, the news surrounding Arenas most recently is intriguing for all the wrong reasons. Sadly, he seems to want to laugh off the idea of bringing three guns to the Washington Wizards locker room and brandishing them in front of his teammates and other Wizards’ staff, but nobody will go there with him.

In his defense, Arenas is a self proclaimed goofball and seemingly wouldn’t hurt a fly. Boy scouts, however, pack compasses and pride pins, not choppers.

At this point, there’s no telling what Stern is going to do, but you can bet your bottom bitch he’s going to take action. This incident serves as yet another opportunity to set an example and given the Plaxico Burress error, the Commissioner will likely come down as hard as he possibly can.

One has to wonder though, how hard he can come. Sure, guns are not allowed in NBA arenas (no pun intended), but Agent Zero had a good reason for bringing his: he wanted to keep his children out of harm’s way. Moreover, at no point was the weapon fired and to the day, we don’t know if it was even loaded. He and Crittenton seem to be on good terms and lastly, he didn’t shoot himself.

With local and federal authorities now involved though, the Commish may be the least of Arenas’ worries.

What a way to start off a new decade.