Here’s the thing. Why do we really need BET to produce a show called We Got To Do Better? In addition to the fact that it sucks, we already have something similar. It’s called the newspaper. And most of those tales are far more cautionary than grainy YouTube clips of ignorant people doing ignorant shit.
Take 28-year-old Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry, for instance. The man has a $25 million contract, he makes roughly $50,000 a month, he recently spent $100,000 on a car and $146,000 on jewelry. And he has 9 kids by 9 different women scattered across four Southern states. Unfortunately, he has a bit of trouble paying their child support.
Things are so bad that he once had to borrow $9,800 from the Tennessee Titans so he wouldn’t miss a payment, and now a judge is requiring him to set up a $250,000 trust to ensure he has the money to pay every month. According to his lawyer, Henry has “significant financial issues.” Clearly, he’s too broke to buy a damn condom.
[AJC]
• What’s the fuss? I think i.beat blaxx is an amazing name for a white supremacist MP3 player. [AR]
• Serena and Venus Williams both followed the star-studded US Open tribute to Althea Gibson with wins. [NYT]
• The ACLU (and everyone else with a brain) has found that the Gulf Coast’s Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts have been rife with racism and civil rights abuses. [NOCB]
• I always say that the only sensible thing to do when you crash your Lamborghini is to leave it on the freeway and go about your business. [ESPN]
• KFC is finally reaching out to its core customers. [LBJ]
Today, Venus and Serena Williams are two of the most recognized faces, not just in tennis, but in the entire sports world. But before 1950 — before Althea Gibson — black women weren’t even allowed to play the game alongside their white counterparts.
On August 22, 1950, Althea Gibson became the first black woman to compete on the U.S. Tennis Championships. She later became the first black person to win a Wimbledon title, and went on to win a number of U.S. and International titles. When her tennis career was over, she worked as the New Jersey State Commissioner of Athletics. She died in 2003 at the age of 76.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of her first U.S. Championship win, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Aretha Franklin, Carol Moseley Braun, and other boundary-breaking black women will honor Gibson on August 27, the first night of the U.S. Open.
I know little about tennis and even less about Althea Gibson (until now), and I’m kind of ashamed. If you watch the video — when they interview people on the street about the first black Wimbledon winner — you’ll know why.
• Bow Wow and Omarion dismiss relationship rumors about Angela Simmons and Rihanna. They’re focusing on their own close relationship these days. [MTV]
• Does Luda improves 50 Cent’s “I Get Money?” [SOHH]
• OJ Simpson’s book might hit the shelves soon, but Barnes & Noble wants nothing to do with it. [SP]
• This is what Major League Baseball will look like in 20 years. [SH]
• Kanye West thinks Justin Timberlake is his biggest inspiration and competition. You and K-Fed both, Kanye. [SP]
This has nothing at all to do with politics, but I just figured we would all want to see an afro’d, booty-short wearing Barack Obama playing basketball in the ’70s. Happy Friday!
• Small town protesters cry racism in the arrest of two college-bound black teens for the murder of a white woman. [DN]
• That guy from Everybody Loves Raymond hit a paparazzo over the weekend. He also might be racist. For some reason, TMZ didn’t make a big of a deal about this incident at the Gary Dourdan debacle. [TMZ]
• The more advanced the breast cancer, the wider the racial gap in survival rates. [CBS]
• Ja Rule is clearly more interested in paying his bail than some contractors who fixed a leak in his house. [NS]
• A new study suggests MLB umpires make calls based on race. Except widespread outrage shortly. []
Barry Bonds took Hank Aaron’s home run record last night against the Washington Nationals. Woohoo! Hip Hip Hooray!
Eh. I tried to drum up enthusiasm. The truth is, I’m not a fan of baseball, and I’m not a fan of Barry Bonds, who, as pop culture and sports icon, leaves much to be desired in the way of personality and moral fiber.
Still, even I am not so insulated from the sporting world that I don’t get that the home run record is kind of a big deal.
Well, that’s that. No more baseball talk until people want to resurrect the “where are all the black players” dialogue again.
The Espy Awards — where the celebrities of sports and entertainment meet and take hilarious pictures with one another (see above) — were last night. LaDainian Tomlinson was the big winner, and host LeBron James did a routine, with costume, to “My Prerogative,” but you won’t see any of that unless you watch the awards on ESPN this Sunday. For me, the pictures are quite enough. Check out Mary J. Blige, Shaq, Reggie Bush, Serena Williams, and more after the jump.
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- At the NAACP Convention’s “State of Young Black America” Forum, 1,000 members brainstormed how to fight stereotypes attached to black youths. So it makes total sense that Master “Black Supaman” P would be the youth conventions keynote speaker. [DN]
- Blacks shouldn’t blindly support rule-breaker Barry Bonds just because of his race, says a (black) columnist. []
- A new Web site targets African American Christian women. I guess that means no Remy Ma. [EUR]
- Shocking poll results show Americans find offensive language offensive! []
Kim Kardashian had to know when she posed for this picture at the ESPY Awards gifting suite that bloggers the world over would have groupie jokes. I’m going to be the better person and leave that alone, but she should really put down the football next time. Check out more pics of swag-loving sports celebs, including one of Mike Tyson looking at Denyce Lawton like he really wants to fornicate, after the jump.
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