• San Francisco officials vow to examine the reasons why the city can’t retain black residents. Do they also vow to examine the cost of housing? [USAT]

• A well-off enclave of the very troubled, majority-black Gary, Ind., wants to divorce the city and become an incorporated village. But it doesn’t have anything to do with race or class, and how dare you make that suggestion! [CT]

• When anti-racism rallies go wrong… [ES]

• The fact that a reporter thought humor a blog written by a fake Al Sharpton was real says just as much about peoples’ perception of the real Al Sharpton as it does the reporters stupidity. [CNET]

• Rihanna said there is absolutely no rivalry between her and Beyonce, but she forgot to mention that it was opposite day. [DS]

Dear David Banner,

A weird little beef started between you and Al Sharpton this week. We all know why — he is waging a campaign against hip hop, and you think that he should worry about what’s happening in the streets before he starts thinking about violent imagery and curse words in rap songs. By default, I agree with you. To a certain extent.

But your initial approach was way off. Telling a reverend to suck your dick is rarely an adequate way to effect change. At the same time, Kirsten John-Foy’s rebuttal on behalf of Sharpton wasn’t the most mature either.

CONTINUED »

Al Sharpton’s permed and slicked back tresses might be misguided, outdated, and just, really, really bad, but he’s never going to change his ‘do, no matter how many times David Banner calls him a “permed-out pimp.” Why? Because it’s a style he cultivated in order to emulate his pretend dad, James Brown.

Sharpton, who looks like more of a slightly younger brother of James Brown than his son, could be at age 53 young enough to be the Godfather of Soul’s offspring, since he’s only a youthful 53. For those of you shocked by the fact that Al Sharpton is, relatively speaking, a spring chicken, you aren’t the only ones.

And the beef goes on…

David Banner (aka Levell Crump) might have had second thoughts about the way he went at Al Sharpton in a recent interview. He retracted his previous statements, choosing to write a “more thought out” open letter that he says will better describe his feelings on the subject.
The only problem is, the open letter is really long. You’re probably not going to want to read it.

After the jump, check out an excerpt from the portion directed at Al Sharpton. Unfortunately, Banner goes on a rant about black on black crime and cites the Newark shootings as example. I guess he didn’t see that police fingered a group of Hispanic men for the crime. Oops.

CONTINUED »

Oh snap! Al Sharpton bites back at David Banner for his recent fighting words. Actually, it’s National Action Network higher-up Kirsten John-Foy doing the dirty work. First bite? Calling David Banner by his government name (!), Levell Crump. Which is kind of a bold thing for a man named Kirsten to do. Interestingly neither Sharpton nor John-Foy seem to have taken any offense to the “permed-out pimp” allegation.

“From time to time we do encounter people that have sexual fantasies about Reverend Al Sharpton, but they are always women and Crump’s proposition is a first,” he told SOHH in a statement.

“However, in keeping with the National Action Network’s Decency Initiative, I am sure Rev. Sharpton would not call Crump the “N” “B” or “H” word,” Foy continued. “And, despite Crump’s personal request, I am sure Reverend Sharpton would not call him an @#!*%&. He would just pray for him. We at NAN are pro civil rights for everyone, even Levell Crump who has not had a banner year since his debut album in 2003.”

Second bite — going at Levell Crump’s album sales! A Mississippi-themed Al Sharpton/Kirsten John-Foy diss record is in the works as we speak.

[SOHH]

Al Sharpton shouldn’t really be surprised that his latest stunts haven’t made him any new friends in the rap community. David Banner, for instance, would like someone to tell the good reverend that he is welcome to perform a sex act on him.

Sorry for the horrible mental image.

“The next time you see Al Sharpton, tell him I said @#*$ him and he can suck my dick,” an animated David Banner exclaimed. “I might change the name of my album from The Greatest Story Never Told to @#*$ Al Sharpton. I hate Al Sharpton. This is the kind of @#!* that I’m talking about. They’re killing kids in New Jersey and all across the country and all a @#*$% got to talk about is rap lyrics? @#*$ that about they’re our elders and we gotta respect them. I’m tired of this. They’re like the parents, but the parents are crucifying the kids.

“They tried to crucify Nelly and Akon…we need to come together because they’re only doing this because we’re not saying anything,” Banner added. “He’s [Sharpton] a permed-out pimp. Him and Jesse Jackson are out here charging people to do rallies with them. They’re more worried about their investors than our kids. Tell him David Banner said it.”

Banner’s right on with the permed-out pimp description. A guy with hair like that shouldn’t throw stones. It will come back at him every time.

[SOHH]

Al Sharpton, who, as usual, really has his finger on the pulse of black America, led a multiple-city protest of hip hop yesterday called the “Day of Outrage.”

Protesters in in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, and several other cities participated. Sharpton led the Detroit protest from the Motown museum, referring to Motown as a symbol of a time when music was “not denigrating and was entertaining.”

Right. Really, you can’t be mad at Al Sharpton for paying so much attention to hip hop. It’s not like there’s anything else for to protest.

[]

• Marion Barry is getting immortalized in wax for a soon-to-open Madame Tussaud’s in Washington. Oh, the creative poses they could come up with for that statue. [NBC4]

• The rift between Latinos and blacks in Los Angeles grows and grows. And grows. [Economist]

• NAACP, please learn how to pick your battles. [NJ]

• Sometimes you get fired for being just plain stupid and inappropriate, not because of your race. [LP]

• Al Sharpton is grooming a new mini-me. [CS-T]

• Barack Obama’s use of the “can’t get a cab in NYC” anecdote might not have been the right thing to say at the CNN debate, but I am black and a New Yorker, and if it’s not true all the time, it’s true enough to not make it a lie. [NYS]
• In a characteristic failure to think things through, BET execs are stuck with 6 episodes of Charlie Murphy constantly referring to the We Got To Do Better as Hot Ghetto Mess. [LAT]
• Al Sharpton (surprise!) criticizes GOP candidates for being no shows at the NAACP and Urban League conventions. []
• Meanwhile, NYC Mayor Mike “I’m not running for president” Bloomberg, who recently went from being a Republican to an Independent, spoke at the Urban League convention yesterday.[NYT]
• Three white officers in Milwaukee were convicted of beating up a black man when they were off duty. []

• The National Association of Black Journalists is way less forgiving than Al Sharpton. [BET]
• That guy whose ass Diddy threatened to smack flames from a while back won’t be suing flames from anyone’s ass, unfortunately. []
• Credit card fraud, Lil Flip? Are things going that badly? [HC]
• The president of the North Carolina NAACP wants black people to boycott Smithfield pork products. Good luck with that. [FO]
• BET hires three new executives, i.e. three new people to send strong worded Hot Ghetto Mess emails to. [UPI]