Glamour magazine, arbiter of the dos and don’ts of fashion, recently dispatched an unnamed editor to an NYC law firm to present a slide show to employees about the dos and don’ts of professional dress. The conclusion, according to a write-up in American Lawyer magazine? Black hair is a BIG don’t.

First slide up: an African American woman sporting an Afro. A real no-no, announced the ‘Glamour’ editor to the 40 or so lawyers in the room. As for dreadlocks: How truly dreadful! The style maven said it was ’shocking’ that some people still think it ‘appropriate’ to wear those hairstyles at the office. ‘No offense,’ she sniffed, but those ‘political’ hairstyles really have to go.

Luckily, Jezebel reports, a partner at the firm later sent out a memo that basically said the presentation was a big mistake and complete bullshit. But come to think of it, the editor had a bit of a point, you know. Natural hair is really political — like wearing a business suit cut from kente cloth and refusing to allow white devils in the office to speak directly to you.

[Jezebel]

Whether the rumor is that Jay-Z is fleeing Def Jam for Apple or for Columbia, the rumor always entails him fleeing, so we can bet that’s probably going to happen. Today, the New York Daily News speculates that Jay is heading to Columbia to be closer to Bey and Rick Rubin and, apparently, further away from Jermaine Dupri.

Other insiders say the arrival of Jermaine Dupri as president of the Island Urban music division in February is the reason.

“There isn’t room for two kings at one label,” says a source. “Why would Island bring in another power-hitter urban guy?”

Dupri’s main squeeze, Janet Jackson, followed him to Island two weeks ago. And Columbia is the home of Jay’s girlfriend, Beyoncé.

For businessman, Jay-Z and Jermaine Dupri sure do seem to be making a lot of decisions based on their girlfriends. Although, when your girlfriends are Beyonce and Janet Jackson, that’s probably unavoidable.

[]

• The Boston Herald notes that Beyonce-style big hair is back, and fails to note that the average person needs a lot more than hairspray and a curling iron to achieve the look. [BH]
• Tupac’s mom is suing Death Row Records. Suge Knight’s too busy chewing on fingers and wooing Paris Hilton to care. [DM]
• Ever the good friend, Mos Def testified for former Death Row inmate Aaron Patterson’s sentencing hearing. [CT]
• If you’re so inclined, buy a hotel! []
• Ja Rule’s arrest was a case of driving-while-a-rapper, says his lawyer. [MTV]

Matthew Knowles will get Solange’s voice out there if he has to launch an entire line of wierd, hip hop-inspired toys called Baby Jamz to do it. The toys in his new line, which his grandson, Daniel Juelz, will be the face of, will include recorded nursery rhymes sung by Solange. Find them in Wal-mart at the end of the month. Hey, babies everywhere will be bigger fans of Solange than Beyonce. That’s got to heal at least one of her emotional wounds.
[AHH]

What would you buy at the Oprah Winfrey store? A better question, what would Oprah sell? She seems to get off more on giving stuff away.

Anyway, my questions will soon be answered when she opens her first store near her Harpo offices in Chicago. One thing we do know is that the store will not have a hip hop section.

[CT]

• Rev. Run signs a $1 million deal to write a book about family. Why can’t the Simmons brothers write about anything I would want to read? [AHH]
• Would you have ever thought a black magazine would recognize the Denny’s chain for anything but refusing to serve black customers? [GO]
• If both Shar Jackson and Nicole Richie are really pregnant, there is something very wrong with the world. [MG]
• On the fast track to becoming famous for nothing, Kim Kardashian signed on to perform with the Las Vegas Pussycat Dolls show. [Star]
• Is Blaque really still trying? [CL]

American Airlines really wants us to fly in their planes. The company brokered a groundbreaking deal with The Steve Harvey Show in an effort to market directly to African American travelers.

The multimedia campaign, which launched Tuesday, will run through the end of November. It includes 30-second spots on Harvey’s radio show (some voiced by Harvey), a co-branded Web site (featuring travel trips, vacation ideas and other travel information), advertising on the Steve Harvey Web site and branded client content integrated within the program.

In addition, the airline will provide the show with on-air promotions, and representatives will participate in travel segments on the show once a month.

I’m sure AA execs are patting themselves on the back and smoking cigars right now, not realizing they may have vastly overestimated Steve Harvey’s clout with the African American public.

[BW]

• Pennsylvania, all innocuous and safe-looking on the map, has the highest rate of African American homicides. People in Dutch country are shaking their heads in confusion. [PP-G]
• Further north, historians want visitors and inhabitants of New England to know the region’s rich African American history. [BG]
• There’s far less rich African American history being made in the business world, where blacks make up just 8.6 percent of senior executives. [NPR]
• After a black, Honduran immigrant was shot by police in the Bronx this month, NYPD is on the defensive about racial profiling of blacks and Hispanics. When are they not? [NY1]

• Tufts University needed a panel to tell them that editors at a conservative student journal harassed blacks when they printed this “parody” Christmas carol. [SCT]
• Magic Johnson offers young entrepreneurs the tools he used to succeed in business, but I’m not sure things will sail as smoothly for people who haven’t already racked up millions in the NBA. [OS]
• Lucille Clifton is the first black woman to receive the Ruth Lilly prize — one of the highest poetry honors. [CBC]
• Black Lawyers for America are boycotting the Jamestown 2007 festivities because they say it “whitewashes” the event that brought colonialism to America. Isn’t this what I’ve been saying? [IHT]
• Human resources employees at Cisco Systems need some diversity training, says the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. []