African-American News

*Even though federal prosecutors have dropped charges against former Washington Mayor Marion Barry, who was accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend, Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, in Southeast D.C. last weekend, a series of voicemail tapes is putting their rather strange relationship in a whole new light.

The Washington City Paper, a local D.C. media outlet recently made public a series of recordings between the two combatants, er, lovers that puts a whole new spin on their on-off relationship.

It seems that Barry hired Watts-Brighthaupt, a former lobbyist as his driver and personal assistant, and took her to the Democratic National Committee in Denver.

“For reasons that remain murky,” the City Paper says, she was booked to stay in the same hotel room as Barry. However, things didn’t go so well because he put her out because, as she says on the voicemail: “I wouldn’t suck your d*ck.”

Whoa, really?! On top of that a lot of folks in D.C. aren't too thrilled about the City Paper's in your face headline that you see above-right. Click over to SEE a video report and get the link to HEAR the unbelievable voicemails from Barry and Watts-Brighthaupt.

*A suburban Philadelphia swim club accused of kicking out a group of African American and Hispanic children visiting from the city is denying that their actions were racist.

The Valley Club in Huntingdon Valley says it turned away the minority kids from the Creative Steps day camp because the facility was overcrowded. The club also claims it returned funds to more than one camp.

Creative Steps director Alethea Wright says the camp paid for weekly swim time at the gated club, which is in a village that straddles two townships with overwhelmingly white populations. But she says on June 29 some of the children said they heard people asking what "black kids" were doing there.

And even stranger things have happened. Last month the tabloid reported that actor Morgan Freeman has been having a 10-year sexual relationship with his now 27-year-old step-granddaughter . Well, now that the relationship is out of the closet and his marriage to his wife of 25 years is over, Morgan is taking his borderline incestuous relationship ...

"The Conversation," shares with ESSENCE.com the secret to strong relationships in the Black community and whether men and women can really just be friends.

ESSENCE.COM: You have traveled the country during President Obama's and your own book tours. What's the biggest thing sisters aren't clued into about men? HILL HARPER: I've gotten a firsthand view at the destruction that Black men and Black women not being able to stay and build healthy relationships has had on the Black family and Black children. I couldn't sit by silently. My whole next book is about relationships. I'm not saying I have all the answers, I just hope to start the conversation. The biggest issue I have learned is when it comes to Black men and Black women, we are not communicating.

ESSENCE.COM: So what will it take for us to open the dialogue? HARPER: It takes really opening up and being willing to be vulnerable. We have to ask the questions we really want answers to, instead of manipulating. For the most part, we see Black women talking to Black women and Black men talking to Black men. Are we really even friends anymore? Obviously, we as men have a lot of cover we put on are very resistant. At the same time, sisters put on a lot of cover, but act as if they are knowledgable in relationships because they talk about them all the time. But they talk amongst themselves and not to men, so it's not cross gender.

CNN'S Editor's note: Marian Wright Edelman is president of the Children's Defense Fund, a nonprofit organization that advocates for policies to help children escape poverty, abuse and neglect and gain access to health care and education.

(CNN) -- One of the most dangerous threats facing black America right now is quietly stealing our children at a young age.

Incarceration is becoming the new American apartheid, and poor children of color are the fodder.

So many poor black babies in rich America enter the world with multiple strikes against them: born without prenatal care, at low birthweight and to a poor, and poorly educated, teenage single mother and an absent father.

At crucial points in their development after birth through adolescence, more risks pile on, making a successful transition to productive adulthood significantly less likely and involvement in the criminal justice system significantly more likely.

Kids at Creative Steps Day Camp were thrilled to go swimming once a week at the Valley Swim Club.

"I heard this lady, she was like, 'Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?' She's like, 'I'm scared they might do something to my child,'" said camper Dymire Baylor.

Even the most cold hearted cynic had to have been moved watching Paris Jackson say goodbye to her father at yesterdays memorial. It was one of the few occasions since his death that we got to see the human connection, instead of the celebrity oddity that he had become.

At this point, I don’t feel that it is disrespectful to say that it is time for the world to move on. We have played his music, watched his videos and laughed at the way we tried to dance like Mike. To go any further would be to create a circus and in fact we are already verging on this.

Black children and other children of color are bewildered and stunned as to why their weekly swim has been canceled.

Their camp, The Creative Steps Day Camp in Philadelphia, paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club for the children to go there weekly.

But after the children’s ethnicities were revealed The Valley Swim Club, a private club, told them they must get out of the pool and notified them later that their money would be refunded.

But the parent’s are outraged and do not want the refund, they want an apology. According to one parent, they even told them they do not allow minorities in the club. There will probably be more legal action to follow. Click over to see the clip that will transport you to mid-1950s America

*Well what can you say about Bill O’Reilly that hasn’t already been said? He is up to his normal racist tactics, but this time he’s really gone too far to disrespect yet another person who has given him his reason to have a job.

He should be ashamed of himself for defiling the memory of Michael Jackson regarding the amount of “adulation” he received.

He also has the audacity to chastise Hazel Dukes, New York’s NAACP President and Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush (D) for the “vile things” they said about Congressman Peter King (R) (his friend) who immediately denounced Michael Jackson as a “low life”, “pedophile”, “pervert”, and ”child molester” after his death. If they labeled him a racist, they hit that nail on the head.

Click over to watch and decide for yourself.

*The memorial service for Michael Jackson was warm and fitting for a king. The testimonials and beautiful acknowledgements were heartfelt, but none more important than the acknowledgement that the federal government has decided to put in a form of a resolution.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, (D-Texas) gave a strong speech about the charitable life that Michael Jackson led that earned him Resolution 600 that she said will be debated on the floor of the House and in her words “claims him as an American legend, and musical icon a world humanitarian someone who will be honored forever and forever and forever and forever.”

However, to get the resolution to be completely legit, it must first get past some opposition. In particular, opposition from a certain GOP a-hole congressman from New York.

Click over for MORE and to view Jackson Lee's stirring speech at Tuesday's memorial for Michael Jackson.

What’s up y’all?! Here is the dirt…

I must say that the Michael Jackson Memorial was beautifully done. The family really did a great job. From the performances to the words of encouragement, I don’t think Michael himself could have done a better job.

Al Sharpton had me on my feet rejoicing the life of Michael Jackson the humanitarian and civil rights activist. Barry Gordy and Smokey Robinson introduced me to Michael the entertainer. Brook Shields introduced me to Michael the friend and confidant. Usher introduced me to Michael the mentor, but Jermaine, Marlon and Michael’s daughter Paris made me see Michael the father and brother. Jackson family, I cannot thank you enough for sharing Michael with the world. Rest in peace Michael Joseph Jackson, you will be missed.

Speaking of the MJ Memorial, Mariah Carey took to her Twitter page to describe how she felt performing at the memorial service. She said, “”Trying to sing today was basically impossible for me. I could barely keep myself from crying. I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to pull it together and really do it right,but I was literally choked up when I saw him there in front of me. One thing I know is, we will never really have to say goodbye to MJ. His legacy lives on through his music and the millions of people. He inspired with his timeless music. He will be forever in our hearts.” -Mariah Carey via Twitter

Side Bar - That’s okay Mariah, we know that you were full of emotions. Your performance was heartfelt and I’m sure Michael would have approved.

ATLANTA - Cancer will overtake heart disease as the world’s top killer by 2010, part of a trend that should more than double global cancer cases and deaths by 2030, international health experts said in a report released Dec. 9.

Rising tobacco use in developing countries is believed to be a huge reason for the shift, particularly in China and India, where 40 percent of the world’s smokers now live.

So better diagnosing of cancer, along with the downward trend in infectious diseases that used to be the world’s leading killers.

Cancer diagnoses around the world have steadily been rising and are expected to hit 12 million this year. Global cancer deaths are expected to reach 7 million, according to the new report by the World Health Organization.

An annual rise of 1 percent in cases and deaths is expected—with even larger increases in China, Russia and India. That means new cancer cases will likely mushroom to 27 million annually by 2030, with deaths hitting 17 million.

Underlying all this is an expected expansion of the world’s population—there will be more people around to get cancer.

By 2030, there could be 75 million people living with cancer around the world, a number that many health care systems are not equipped to handle.

(FinalCall.com) - A Boston-based company, Emerging Portfolio Fund Research Global, Inc. (EPFR), a provider of fund flows and asset allocation data to financial institutions around the world, reported on May 1 that health-care and biotechnical companies recorded their first week of stock price increases since February.

The Canadian Money Forum in a report “Swine Flu Effects on the Market” said the initial stock market reaction to the news that the “swine flu” could become a pandemic was to cause aviation stocks to fall, but for pharmaceutical stocks there was a rise, especially those companies that made flu vaccines such as the United Kingdom-based company GlaxoSmithKline.

According to Business Week, GlaxoSmithKline, the makers of Relenza, the other popular antiviral, stock increased by eight percent.

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - The New York Civilian Liberties Union says civilian complaints against police officers have risen in the first half of 2009—up an alarming 11 percent over the same period last year. The number of officers under review for garnering too many complaints is up 50 percent over the last two years, according to the NYCLU. Complaints cited in the report ranged from allegations of abuse to questions about officer conduct.

The NYCLU said complaints have spiked because “the NYPD isn't disciplining officers found to have abused civilians, and does not seem to be doing anything to help stop the mushrooming number of officers being monitored.”

WASHINGTON - Call it a replay of the Jena Six case. The American Civil Liberties Union of Mississippi calls it, “an egregious example of excessive and unwarranted use of force by police against students in a school setting.”

The incident—captured on a surveillance videotape—occurred when two Southaven, Mississippi, police officers responded to an argument between three students on a bus by arresting a half-dozen Black students, choking and tackling a Black female student and threatening to shoot the 30 students on the bus between their eyes.

The National ACLU and the ACLU of Mississippi filed a federal civil rights lawsuit April 9, charging Southaven police and DeSoto County school officials with assaulting and racially discriminating against the Black students.

*Word to the paparazzi. You might wanna leave MiJac's ex-wife and baby mama, Debbie Lowe, alone. That's because this is one woman who flat out DOESN'T like you and has no problem letting you know it.

After seeing footage of her handling the paps in her city of Lancaster, CA on Sunday when they bum-rushed her coming out of a restaurant, it's clear she will rip somebody a new a-hole.

Kinda makes you wonder how this chick and Michael hooked up in the first place. Hell, after seeing her go off on the paps, we think he should've hired her as his personal bodyguard, too. Anyway, click over to watch the action.

What’s up y’all?! Here is the dirt ...

Rumor has it that Chris Brown and Amber Rose hooked up at Diddy’s 4th of July White Party. Sources say that Breezy rolled through the party with Teyana Taylor…the chick WHITE media CLAIMS is a Rihanna look alike (y’all know they think all black people look alike). However, once there he was all over Amber Rose.

Here is the dirt ... they say that Teyana was pissed that Chris was all over Amber but I seriously doubt it. I don’t think Teyana is checking for Chris or any other boy for that matter. If anything, she may have been pissed that Chris moved in on Amber before she did…but that’s another story.

Anyway, Amber and Yeezy were supposed to have been broken up last month but they rolled to the BET Awards together a couple of weeks ago. Some are saying that their public display of affection was to send a message to Kanye and Rihanna but the only message I see them sending is that Amber Rose is a “bust down.”

Side Bar-Amber Rose please know that Lauryn Hill was lying when she said “a rose is still a rose.” Nuff said…

Marion Barry has seen his share of troubles during his political career. Lucky for him, none of his troubles have been against the city of D.C. He’s into self-humiliation it seems.

The embattled ex-mayor/current city councilman has long history of scandals starting with the videotape of him in a police sting where he was videotaped smoking crack in a hotel room with an unidentified white woman.

The latest troubles are very simple … younger woman (relatively), older man. Donna Watts-Brighthaupt, 40, and Barry, 73, were involved in a relationship last year and she tried to dump him right before he had a kidney transplant in February, according to the Washington Post.

It appears he hasn’t got the message that she wants to be left alone.

*At press time, authorities in Nashville were still trying to figure out the relationship between slain former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and a 20-year-old woman police are calling "his friend," who was found shot to death alongside him in his downtown condominium.

McNair's body was discovered on a sofa in the living room Saturday with multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head, according to the Associated Press. His friend, Sahel Kazemi, was very close to him on the floor, killed by a single gunshot. A pistol was discovered near her, but police said it took a while to find the firearm.

At EUR press time, Nashville police is calling McNair's death as a homocide, but has not labeled Kazemi's.However speculation is centering on classifying the case a murder-suicide.