The quotation on the left side of the memorial statue completed by Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin & American architect Ed Jackson, Jr. read: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.” The final and rather poor selection was actually an excerpt of a longer statement once uttered by Dr. King on February 4, 1968, at Ebenezer Baptist Church, two months prior to his assassination. On what his eulogy should reflect upon his untimely death, the civil rights legend actually stated:

“Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.”

The unveiling of the statue and accompanying quote  caused an outcry of disappointment – to say the least. Maya Angelou was outspoken at the time, saying that the quote minimized Dr. King adding “He was far too profound a man for that four-letter word to apply. He had no arrogance at all. He had a humility that comes from deep inside. The ‘if’ clause that is left out is salient. Leaving it out changes the meaning completely.”

US Interior Ken Salazar told the Washington Post that the original quotation was selected for the sake of brevity, but the multitude of complaints appear to have lead the way for change: “This is important because Dr King and his presence on the Mall is a forever presence for the United States of America, and we have to make sure that we get it right,” Salazar said.

It’s highly unfortunate that they couldn’t “get it right” from the jump, and certainly in time for the official holiday that celebrates the life and lessons of the freedom fighting trailblazer. Perhaps they’ll unveil the new inscription some time during Black History Month. Let’s hope they make better use of the considerably ample amount of space this time around.

Create Realistic Goals:

Whether it’s a long-term, or a series of short-term goals, setting clear expectations at the onset of a fitness program really helps to kick motivation into high gear. Are you looking to drop a specific amount of weight, target & tone, or enhance your vitality? Regardless of the end game, Fitness gurus always warn us to take it slow and ease into our routine – hence the term ‘realistic.’ Too many make the mistake of expecting too much too soon. To reach the goals you’ve set, be easy on yourself, as well as consistent. Slow and steady yields results.

Methodology:

Now that you’ve created your goals, you can develop an exercise schedule to reach them. The process of getting physically fit is hard work, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the process of attaining it. What works for you? Dance, weights, swimming, Zumba, kickboxing, Pilates, interval training, yoga? There are tons of ways to get fit within the comfort of your own home, so feel free to explore. There are DVD’s a plenty, or workouts you can follow on YouTube, Hulu or various fitness sites. If you want to start by using a blend of exercises of your choosing, software such as FitnessBliss allows you to create, print, track and chart your own fitness routine online. Just turn up your fitness playlist and get to work.

Duration & Intensity:

Fitness experts recommend beginners start by walking, jogging, cycling, light weight workouts or beginner’s level fitness classes. It’s best to acclimate your body by beginning your quest with 20-30 minutes of exercise 3-4 times per week. After a few weeks, you can gradually step up the frequency, duration and intensity of your workouts. From personal experience, after having baby number 2, I was absolutely abs-obsessed, but I eventually extended my workouts, adding full body & cardio work into the mix once my body adjusted to the regular exertion. Listen to your body – not your mind. It will let you know when you’re ready to take it to the next level.

Timing:

Some of us have hectic schedules that limit activities of the fitness variety to very specific times of day. However, if you have any kind of flexibility at all in your schedule, try to figure in exercise when your energy is at its peak. Perhaps it’s your lunch break, right after work or first thing in the morning. Whenever the magic hour, you’re most likely to get the most out of your session when your energy is at its peak.

Fueling Up Right:

Exercise is a vital way to get and stay in shape, but without a healthy, balanced diet you’re not likely to see the transformation to a sleeker sexier physique. It’s counterproductive to spend 30 minutes 4 times a week sweating it out just to fuel your body up with junk food. Weight loss diets are a dime a dozen. Ultimately it takes a few simple steps to detoxify your diet and eliminate unnecessary calories and fat. Cut out junk food, fried foods, white flour, excessive sugar & carbs and swap soda and other unhealthy drinks for as much water as possible. If you haven’t done so, gradually introduce your palate to more fruits & veggies, lean proteins like turkey and fish, and whole grains. A shift towards the healthful will not only give you more energy for exercise, but will assist you in getting the results you desire.

Tracking Your Progress:

It’s your fitness plan so how you choose to monitor your progress is entirely up to you. Many trainers recommend tracking the measurement of your target areas, be it your abs, hips, etc., from the jump, observing the change in measurements over time. Tracking by weight may be ideal for those specifically interested in weight loss, as well as keeping a record that includes photos for the use of comparison as you advance in your training. Others prefer to use their own increased strength and vitality as a gauge for success – that and perhaps those favorite pair of jeans they’ve been dying to get back into. No matter your technique, it’s important to be patient, consistent and give your body time to transform.

Room to Move:

If you’re like me, and face challenges in setting up the proper space for a proper work out, there are three main factors to consider. First, make sure you have enough space for the type of work out you plan to engage in. This may sound like a no-brainer, but if you live in close quarters, it’s easy to underestimate the amount of space needed to move about vigorously and accidentally come into contact with an immovable piece of furniture, for example. Secondly, work out in front of a mirror large enough to check for proper form and last but not least, make sure the space has the proper ventilation and temperature while you exert yourself.

You think Tom Ford is full of himself? Kanye West shits Tom Fords for breakfast. Then he irons out the shits into cutting-edge fabrics, and frantically cuts, sews, and laces that fabric through the night and into the morning, until he has produced the most unbelievable clothes — nay, FASHION + ART = FARTSHION! — in the universe. And he calls these clothes DONDA. But he calls all that other stuff DONDA, too! DONDA will be your everything. Just you wait and see. And what is DONDA? It’s an acronym for Dis Original N***a Dresses Aight.*

Reportedly, the original post featured the full slur, sans the asterisked censoring. The following ‘apology’ was later added to the post:

*DONDA is actually the name of Kanye’s deceased mother, not the acronym above, which was meant to be the kind of thing Kanye would make up in a late-night creative writing fit, but has offended many people. So sorry, to everyone who was offended, and for the confusion. Sorries all around!

Gawker editor A.J. Daulerio failed to see the humor, but rather the poor taste in which many viewed the post to convey. “I thought it was a half-assed apology,” Daulerio told TheWrap. “I basically do not want people working for the site who do not care. “I had a conversation with Seth and he told me he really didn’t care.”

In his defense, Abramvitch wrote: “I wanted it to be clear and concise, and I ran it by the Gawker team to make sure it was sufficient. The consensus was that it was. It was most certainly sincere, and I have no clue why AJ would say I said otherwise. Ironically, it was the very fact that I posted an apology, and didn’t stand by my work, that AJ initially cited as the reason for my firing.”

In a similar vein, ColorofChange announced that geriatric white supremacist Pat Buchanan faces an indefinite hiatus from TV – due in large part to their work in conjunction with CREDO action members. On Tuesday, the activist group announced that MSNBC President Phil Griffin confirmed Buchanan’s boot from the airwaves because although – as Griffin stated – Pat Buchanan is “a good guy,” some of his ideas aren’t “appropriate for national dialogue on MSNBC.” While Buchanan’s absence may be indefinite, media analysts claim that it’s not likely that he’ll revisit MSNBC, or other mainstream outlets any time soon.

Albeit some may view the axing of Abramvitch & Buchanan as little more than a drop in the bucket, it’s fair to assume that a good deal of folks may be relieved to know that these particular racially impaired media agents have faced the consequences of disseminating misinformation & irresponsible, bigoted speech – especially the likes of the racist card carrying Pat Buchanan.

Source

“What happened to the party of Abraham Lincoln? There was a time when Republicans stood up for African-Americans. But the quartet of leading contenders for the party’s presidential nomination have engaged in some pretty disgusting racist behavior that demonstrates the GOP doesn’t like black people.”

Campbell then turns his attention to Massachusetts based candidate Mitt Romney who comes from an overwhelmingly “white” faith with a history of some pretty suspicious philosophies:

Long before he was the presumed frontrunner for the White House and Massachusetts’ governor, Mitt Romney was actively spreading his Mormon faith. At the time, church leaders preached that dark skin was a curse from God. Between 1966 and 1968, Romney was a missionary in France. He believed and taught that God was so displeased with “spirit children” who remained neutral in the war against Lucifer that he turned their skin black.”

Putting Gingrich & Rick Santorum on blast, “Luke” says:
“Then you have Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who think it is OK to pick on African-Americans on welfare. When Gingrich was recently on MSNBC’s Meet the Press, the Republican candidate insulted black people by claiming Barack Obama is “the most successful food stamp president in American history.” During a campaign stop in Sioux City days before the Iowa primary, Santorum singled out African-Americans as welfare recipients before a mostly white audience. ‘I  don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money,’ Santorum said. It might come as a shock to Newt and Rick, but 39 percent of welfare recipients are white and 17 percent are Hispanic. Stop accepting the stereotype that poor black folks are always looking for a government handout, you mindless wonders.”

The groundbreaking raunchy rap star speaks his mind on the Ron Paul ‘revolution’ as well:
“The fourth candidate, Ron Paul, believes Lincoln should never have gone to war to end slavery. When anchor Tim Russert confronted Paul, the former Texas congressman stuck to his guns. He wants people to believe that the federal government might have avoided the Civil War if it had bought all the slaves from the South and freed them. Paul claims the conflict is the reason “hatred” among blacks and whites “lingered for 100 years,” casually ignoring the fact that plantation owners believed they had a constitutional right to own blacks like farm animals. Selling their slaves would not have changed that mentality.”

No doubt for many Democrats and anti-racist folks alike, the thought of most of these conservative politicians taking presidential office is not a comforting one, but one we all must deal with nonetheless. “Luke Skyywalker” proposes one way to cope with the potentially impending doom:

“As president, Paul would chain black people in this country and send the people of Latino descent back to the places they came from, whether they were born in the United States or not. If he gets elected, I’m moving my family to the Bahamas.”

So blackpeoplemeet.com is going to show me a picture of “How Does It Feel” D’Angelo (not getting arrested, gained some weight, not recording, peasy beard D’Angelo, mind you) and hope that I click on their ad looking for a boyfriend? Black People Meet, you, me, and everyone who has ever heard of a dating site know good and well that 95% of the men on there do not look like any kind of D’Angelo in his prime. Thousands of hotties, my aunt Fanny.

But we can’t blame Facebook for hosting such crappy estimation algorithms, can we? Well, the site’s recommended pages feature has given me a lot of surprises, along with a lot of insight (at least its suggestion that I “like” Herman Cain a few months ago revealed which of my friends were closet Herman Cain supporters and I haven’t forgotten it). Every once in a while those juxtapositions don’t exactly fit the bill either.

Blame Facebook’s simplistic “like” or “don’t like” system for this, but who in the world likes both Betty White and Abortion at the same time. I can guess how Facebook gathered that I like the right to choose, but even if 3,612 people like Abortion I can’t be one of them. It just sounds wrong. And don’t even get me started on that ambiguous picture.

I don’t want to make Facebook take all of the blame because I use plenty of other sites that take advantage of my online actions to facilitate my internet usage. Netflix is usually great at this (but suspicious, since it included Madea Goes To Jail in the Black Drama category and keeps begging me to watch it for that reason). But the morning after a late-night viewing of one of my favorite old movies I was greeted with this suggestion the next day:

So what are you trying to say Netflix? That people who watched The Women of Brewster Place need some pilates (unlikely) or that the people who watched it are actually viewing some low-budget pilates video often enough that your algorithm just knows I will want to do so also (even more unlikely)? Because the last thing I want to do after contemplating tearing down that wall is worry about how to get tighter buns and abs. I think they need to work on that one. I’m just saying.

Have you been done wrong by social media algorithms? Sound off in the comments!

“Is it not obvious that the worst of all is the absence in the White House of a robot capable of governing the United States and preventing a war that would end the life of our species?” wrote the 85-year-old former head of Cuba in “reflections” he regularly publishes in Cuba’s state-controlled media, Raw Story reports.

Titled, “The Best President for the United States,” Castro plainly stated that if Americans were given a choice between Obama, a Republican rival or a robot, “90 percent of voting Americans, especially Hispanics, blacks and the growing number of the impoverished middle class, would vote for the robot.”

In his opinion, Barack Obama is “hopelessly immersed in seeking re-election,” and “the dreams of (civil rights icon) Martin Luther King are thousands of light years further away than the nearest inhabitable planet.”

Regarding the conservatives Castro said, “Worse still, any of the Republican candidates for the presidency… carry with them more nuclear weapons than ideas for peace,” referring to presidential candidates on the right who express concerns that Iran is in the process of building a nuclear bomb.

Fidel Castro has publicly criticized Obama in the past, namely for the US President’s UN General Assembly address last fall, which Castro called “gibberish.” He also claimed that the US/NATO actions against Libya to be “monstrous crimes.”

Such sentiments are to be expected from the a long-time adversary of the United States, but the elderly former Communist leader makes an interesting observation. Given what we know about the current president and his (mostly extreme) right opponents, do you detect an air of hopelessness surrounding the upcoming presidential election?

Camp Carey-Cannon have yet to issue details of the America’s Got Talent host’s health status, but Cannon was allegedly grappling with the flu prior to being hospitalized, which may have led to problems with his kidneys, WaPo reports. “Daddy Nick is getting [better], we’re all home together taking care of each other, excited about the new year!!” Mariah Tweeted on Tuesday.

Cannon’s rep, Tracy Nguyen, confirmed, saying “He is resting and recovering at home and would like to thank everyone who has expressed concern, well wishes and prayers.” Nguyen included that he will resume his radio show, Rollin With Nick Cannon on the 17^th of this month.

A native of Nashville, Dee Rees took an unlikely path towards her present, esteemed place in the film world. After earning an MBA from Florida A&M she took on a marketing and brand position at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, followed by a similar job marketing Dr. Scholl’s products in NYC. “I went from panty liners to wart removers and bunion pads, which for me was an upgrade,” she jokingly told The Advocate. It was an experience at Dr. Scholl’s that opened her eyes to her greater destiny. Something within Rees stirred while taking part in a commercial shoot for shoe insoles. She eventually applied to NYU’s Graduate Film School to embark upon the fulfillment of a dream.

While at NYU, Rees, who cites Toni Morrison and Alice Walker as her influences, had the privilege of soaking up inspiration from another creative icon: Spike Lee. The up & coming director interned as script supervisor for 2 of Lee’s films, When The Levees Broke and Inside Man. As a matter of fact, it was on the set of Lee’s Inside Man in ’05 that the Nashville native penned the full-length feature of Pariah. Rees condensed the story by melding the first act and the ending of the original script to fashion a short film thesis for completion of study at the acclaimed film school. The powerful story follows Alike, a gay teen from Brooklyn struggling to assert her sexual identity on multiple fronts. As emotionally vivid as it is visual, Alike’s journey reflects Rees own painful struggle regarding sexual identity and family acceptance.

Rees’ abbreviated version of Pariah screened at over 40 festivals worldwide and won an Audience Award at the L.A. Film Festival in 2007. Rees was also named a 2008 Tribeca Institute/Renew Media Arts Fellow for her work as well as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 Faces of Independent Film” in 2008 – the same year she became a Sundance Screenwriting & Directing Lab Fellow.

A Black lesbian herself, the 34-year-old creative explained how personal experiences provided the foundation of Pariah: “Alike hasn’t been with anyone yet and hasn’t figured out where she fits on the spectrum of femme to butch, and she only sees extremes around her,” she said. Rees confessed that she felt rather out of place when she came out. “I’d go to lesbian parties. I felt like I wasn’t hard enough to be butch, but I wasn’t wearing heels and a skirt, I wasn’t femme, so I felt like I was sort of invisible,” she recounts. In her words, Pariah is a semiautobiographical in nature because “it took me a while to figure out who I was. Living in New York I was amazed to see young teen women unafraid to express their sexuality. I thought, if I had known who I was at 17, would I have had the courage to express it?”

The resistance Alike faced by her mom and dad also mirrors Rees’ dynamic with her own parents who she admits still haven’t quite come to terms with her sexuality. They were so opposed to accepting the truth that they went as far as flying from Nashville to NYC stage an intervention when she came out to them at the age of 27. “It was a hard struggle to get them to realize that nobody did anything wrong and there’s nothing wrong with me. And I’m still the same person that I was,” Rees said.

Despite having Spike Lee on board as Executive Producer, Dee Rees faced major obstacles in financing her semiautobiographical tale. “We knew that if we could just get the film done, that regardless of sexuality, race and identity, people would be able to see themselves in different parts of the story,” Rees told Colorlines. “We’d go to pitch meetings and the moment we said ‘black, lesbian, coming of age,’ they would turn around, validate our parking and hand us a bottle of water.” Dee Rees refused to give up and after much sacrifice – including selling her Brooklyn apartment – Pariah was completed and premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Rees’ feature length film has since received multiple awards and nominations including Sundance Film festival’s Excellence in Cinematography Award. Pariah is currently playing in multiple theaters around the country.

Pariah may have put Rees on the map, so to speak, but the film phenom has authored and directed a range of shorts in the initial stage of her brilliant career. In 2005, Rees completed Orange Bow, a 14-minute comedy following “the comically tedious journey of a Brooklyn teen to a neighborhood birthday party.” Eventual Salvation, which Rees also edited prior to making Pariah, follows her grandmother’s return to Liberia on to help rebuild a community following the country’s civil war. The documentary received a 2007 Sundance Documentary Fund Grant and premiered on the Sundance Channel in October 2009. The fall of ’09 was an exciting time for the visionary. It was the vary same season that her recent short film Colonial Gods aired on the BBC. The short chronicles a complex friendship between a Somali man and a Nigerian man, as they navigate through the chaos brought on by the gentrification of a small immigrant community of “Tiger Bay” in Cardiff, Wales.

Dee Rees has made a thrilling start to her career in as a writer and filmmaker. Her intrepid and stunningly authentic approach to story telling gains increasing recognition, changing the landscape for Black filmmakers and challenging an establishment that habitually projects an extremely limited view of the Black experience.

Watch: Trailer of Dee Rees’ Pariah

In keeping with the mystery, it’s unclear as to whether Beyonce gave birth at NYC’s Lenox Hospital or St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital but one thing is for sure: The birth of their baby girl blew Twitter right the hell up. Sources say that news of Ivy Blue/Blue Ivy spread on Twitter at a rate of 8,686 tweets per second – setting a new record for the social media service. Among the high profile tweets were Rihanna who wrote, “Welcome to the world princess Carter! Love Aunty Rih.” Russell Simmons added, “Congrats to my good friends Beyonce and Jay-Z.” Close friend Gweneth Paltrow offered her well wishes, “Welcome to the world Blue! We love you already” and offered clarification on the actual name of the brand new baby, “It’s Ivy Blue Carter,” she responded to an inquiring follower.

The father of Stacey Nicole English is outraged that police are not doing more to locate the 36-year-old woman who was last seen around Christmas day.” She spent Christmas in Atlanta,” Kevin Jamison, English’s dad told The HuffPo. “My wife and I were on our way back from Florida. She was here for Christmas and she came up missing that night. We don’t know what happened at this point.”

As it stands, English returned to her condo in Atlanta’s Buckhead district following a Christmas gathering at her grandmom’s house. Jemison claims that while at her home, English and a male friend visiting from Missouri got into an argument, resulting in her sending the unnamed friend packing – and out the door.

“The gentleman said they got into a dispute and she put him out of her house on Dec. 26 around 10:30 p.m.,” Jamison said. “That person has now gone back to Missouri. He is the last person that we know of who saw her.”

English was reported missing to Atlanta police on December 27. Oddly enough, her mobile phone, iPad, and remote that opens the gate to her condo complex were found inside her home, but her car is missing. The Examiner recalled an account that alleged Ms. English fled her apartment unplanned, and in a rush, but her family insists that her extended absence is completely out of character for Stacey.

Fears deepened when English neglected to return to SunTrust Bank on Tuesday, where she works as an instructional designer. Cindy Jamison, Stacey’s mother, said she tried to contact English numerous times since her vanishing. ATL police fail to sense the urgency, however.

“We don’t suspect foul play at this time,” Sgt. Curtis Davenport told The HuffPo. He continued to admit that a formal search is not being conducted. “Not right at this second,” he said,  I don’t know at this particular moment what the detectives have planned,” Sgt. Davenport added that they have done their duty by disseminating flyers to all local media.

Frustrated at their lack of effort, Kevin Jamison said “Atlanta police have put so many inaccuracies out there and have had so many things wrong in their report… She did not drive off. This is very out of character. She talks to her family and friends two or three times a day and no one has had any contact with her.”

Stacey Nicole English is Hampton grad and Atlanta native who is described by her mother as “a smart, vibrant, out-going and well-liked person… She loved life and loved this city. I am praying someone saw something and can help us bring her home.” Her father vowed to leave no stone unturned in the quest to find his daughter. “We are just praying that she will have a safe return and will keep working on it until she is found.”

A Facebook page has been launched to help uncover Ms. English’s whereabouts and her family urges anyone who knows anything to contact the ATL police right away at 404-614-6544.

For more details please observe the missing flyer: