Girl Scouts USA’s recent revelation that its local chapters sometimes induct boys who try to live as girls, considered transgendered, is already having repercussions in Louisiana, where three troops at a Christian school have disbanded in disappointment. 3 Ways To Get “Self-Centered” For The Holidays Susan Bryant-Snure of Lacombe, La., is one of three troop leaders at Northlake Christian School who resigned and are dismantling their troops because the policy is in conflict with that of the host school. Her three daughters, ages 10, 6 and 4, are among 25 girls who had been active scouts there. Instead, Northlake is investigating aligning with American Heritage Girls, a group organized in 1995 in protest to the Girl Scouts’ decision to allow scouts to replace the word “God” in scout teachings with a word representing a personal image of God, such as a “higher being,” “Allah” or “Buddha.” The newer group proclaims Jesus Christ as Lord, limits membership to girls and works to disciple girls as Christians. Russell Simmons Steps Up & Buys Ad Time On TLC Show The issue came to light late last month when a mother in Denver, Colo., tried to gain entry into the Girl Scouts for her son, a biological 7-year-old male who seeks to live as a little girl. Initially turned away, the mother called a press conference in protest. This led the Colorado chapter to reveal its practice of inclusion, which evaluates the admission of boys, albeit transgendered, on a case-by-case basis. While the Denver boy had not been admitted as of early December, the Colorado group is discussing the matter with the mother and is amenable to admitting the boy if he is living as a girl, explained Rachelle Trujillo, vice president for communications of the Colorado Girl Scouts. Click here to read more
Pariah , the story of a Brooklyn lesbian teenager searching for her sexual expression led the field with nine nominations as the Foundation for the Advancement of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) announced its nominees Wednesday for its 12 th annual Black Reel Awards . They were followed closely by both The Help and Jumping the Broom , which each garnered seven nominations, Mooz-Lum (which collected six), the sexual addiction drama, Shame which took home five nominations and the educational drama, The First Grader , which received four nods. Pariah , the debut film from writer/director Dee Rees garnered nine nominations including Outstanding Film, Outstanding Actress for Adepero Oduye as well as Outstanding Supporting Actress for Kim Wayans . In addition, both Wayans and Oduye also were nominated for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance category. Rees, a protégé of Spike Lee , also received dual nominations for Outstanding Director and Outstanding Screenplay, Original or Adapted for her semi-autobiographical tale in which a young woman struggles as she learns that by accepting her identity, her life becomes increasingly chaotic. The Help secured several nods including Outstanding Film and nods in the major categories for both Oscar hopefuls Viola Davis (Outstanding Actress) and two for Octavia Spencer (Outstanding Supporting Actress and Outstanding Breakthrough Performance). Meanwhile Laz Alonso (Outstanding Actor), Mike Epps (Outstanding Supporting Actor) and previous Black Reel Awards winner, Angela Bassett (Outstanding Supporting Actress) were also recognized for Jumping the Broom. The Black Reel Awards comprised of more than 50 voters across the country annually select and spotlight films and performances featuring African-Americans as well as people of color throughout the African Diaspora. In a year with limited major studio releases, independent and international films dominate the awards nomination landscape like no previous campaigns. The 12 th Annual Black Reel Awards winners will be announced on Friday, February 10 th in Washington, DC. The nominations for the 2012 Black Reel Awards: Outstanding Actor John Boyega – Attack the Block Demián Bichir– A Better Life Laz Alonso – Jumping the Broom Oliver Litondo – The First Grader Evan Ross – Mooz-Lum Outstanding Actress Viola Davis – The Help Adepero Oduye – Pariah Zoe Saldana – Columbiana Nia Long – Mooz-Lum Naomie Harris – The First Grader Outstanding Supporting Actor Anthony Mackie – The Adjustment Bureau Don Cheadle – The Guard Isiah Whitlock Jr. – Cedar Rapids Laurence Fishburne – Contagion Mike Epps – Jumping the Broom Outstanding Supporting Actress Octavia Spencer – The Help Maya Rudolph – Bridesmaids Kim Wayans – Pariah Pernell Walker – Pariah Angela Bassett – Jumping the Broom Outstanding Screenplay, Original or Adapted Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan – Shame Qasim Basir – Mooz-Lum Dee Rees – Pariah Ava DuVernay – I Will Follow Elizabeth Hunter and Arlene Gibbs – Jumping the Broom Outstanding Director Steve McQueen – Shame Dee Rees – Pariah Qasim Basir – Mooz-Lum Ava DuVernay – I Will Follow Salim Akil – Jumping the Broom Outstanding Film Pariah Shame The Help Attack the Block Jumping the Broom Outstanding Breakthrough Performance Octavia Spencer – The Help Adepero Oduye – Pariah John Boyega – Attack the Block Kim Wayans – Pariah Gugu Mbatha-Raw – Larry Crowne Outstanding Ensemble Pariah Attack the Block The Help Mooz-Lum Fast Five Jumping the Broom Outstanding Original Song The Living Proof – Mary J. Blige (The Help) Walkin’ Blues – Cee-Lo Green featuring Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Footloose) Furiously Dangerous – Ludacris (Fast Five) Fly Love – Jamie Foxx (Rio) My Last Day Without You – Nicole Beharie (My Last Day Without You) Outstanding Score Harry Escott – Shame Steven Price – Attack the Block Misha Segal – Mooz-Lum Thomas Newman – The Help Alex Heffes – The First Grader Outstanding Foreign Film Attack the Block The First Grader Kinyarwanda Life, Above All Viva Riva! Outstanding Feature Documentary Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey – Constance Marks Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest – Michael Rapaport The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 – Goran Olsson The Undefeated – Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin The Interrupters – Steve James Outstanding Independent Feature Film My Last Day Without You – Stefan C. Schaefer The Tested – Russell Constanzo Mamitas – Nicholas Ozeki Besouro – João Daniel Tikhomiroff Billy – Winston Washington Moxam Outstanding Independent Short Film Fig – Ryan Coogler Wolf Call – Rob Underhill Wake – Bree Newsome The Abyss Boys – Jan-Hendrik Beetge The Tombs – Jerry Lamonthe Outstanding Independent Documentary Infiltrating Hollywood: The Rise and Fall of the Spook Who Sat By the Door –Christine Acham and Clifford Ward Gang Girl: A Mother’s Journey to Save Her Daughter – Valerie Goodloe Brown Babies – Regina Griffin Zero Percent – Tim Skousen The Manuscripts of Timbuktu – Zola Maseko Burn: The Evolution of An American City – Harold Jackson III Outstanding Television or Mini-Series Performance, Male Idris Elba – Luther Laurence Fishburne – Thurgood Samuel L. Jackson – The Sunset Limited Eric Benet – Trinity Goodheart Mykelti Williamson – Have A Little Faith Outstanding Television or Mini-Series Performance, Female Taraji P. Henson – Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story Anika Noni Rose – Bag of Bones Rosario Dawson – Five Jenifer Lewis – Five Tracee Ellis Ross – Five Outstanding Television Documentary Planet Rock: The Story of Hip Hop and the Crack Generation – VH1 (Richard Low and Martin Torgoff) Pray the Devil Back to Hell – PBS (Gini Reticker) The Fab Five – ESPN (Jason Hehir) Black in Latin America – PBS (Henry Louis Gates) The Latino List – HBO (Timothy Greenfield-Sanders) Outstanding Television or Mini-Series Film Thurgood – HBO (Michael Stevens) Luther – BBC (Katie Swinden) Five – Lifetime (Nellie Nugiel) The Sunset Limited – HBO (Barbara A. Hall) Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story – Lifetime (Harvey Kahn)
My name is Aisha, I’m from Virginia! Sunday December 11th was a crazy day. Two of my friends, my sister and I planned a buyout in Washington DC without knowing that Justin Bieber would be in DC that same day. Justin announced about a week later that he was coming to Christmas in Washington the SAME day as the buyout, which was about 5 minutes away from the Barnes and noble we held the buyout. The buyout was insane! We had about 90-100 girls show up, we collected about 5-6 boxes of canned goods to donate to the local food bank. We also got about 50 donations of Under The Mistletoe CD’s for the Children’s Hospital. After about an hour my friend ran into Scooter on her way to the buyout, and he said he was on his way there! It was pretty unreal that Scooter came to the buyout, we didn’t expect it all. He took pictures with EVERYONE, then left. He thanked me and friends for everything we did and was being so sweet! After the buyout, we really wanted to meet Justin so we headed to his hotel, but then realized he left. We tried to beat him to the museum but ended up missing him by 5 minutes. Hours past and everyone left the city, it was only my twin sister and I left with 2 other girls we met. We decided to wait until the event was over. It was like -10 degrees. My body was slowly dieing. Since the President was inside, the blocked off every single road surrounding the building, so we had to wait across the street. After about an hour and a half, the President finally left, so we went inside the parking lot, and prayed that Justin was coming out that way. I spotted Legaci, my sister and I took pictures with them. Then we saw Scrappy! We also took pictures with him. We met The Band Perry, Cee lo Green, Conan O’Brien, and Jennifer Hudson. Finally after waiting for like 30 more minutes Justin comes out with his whole crew . There was only about 8 people there at the most. We were just patiently waiting there then Scooter came over and saw my sister and I (he remembered us cause we were the leaders of the buyout.) He called Justin over and told him that we organized the buyout and Justin had the biggest smile on his face, he was like “Thank you so much, that means the world to me.” I was really calm, and I was like no problem! He was like “Let’s get a picture!” While we were about to take the picture he pointed to his suit, and was like “Do I look like double o’ seven” I laughed and was like yeaah, you look cute! He was like thanks! We took the picture and then this paparazzi guy was trying to get Justin’s attention and he was like, “WAIT, I need to get pictures with my fans first” He took pictures with all the girls, and signed autographs. He was honestly SO sweet, he has such an amazing heart! -@virginiabeliebs More here: My name is Aisha, I’m from Virginia! Sunday December 11th…
Don’t let singer-songwriter Johnny Nash anywhere near the new trailer for the Ewan McGregor movie The Perfect Sense , because it’s a Contagion -style disaster film where everyone loses their senses one by one until they can’t see, hear, smell, taste or — I guess — touch anything. It’s a little hokey and a little hilarious, but with Eva Green (the best Bond girl of all time, period) in tow, there may be some genuine hope for this one. If only I could see or hear it!
Mumford & Sons, Foster the People and others also performed during KROQ’s annual Almost Acoustic Christmas Concert. By Kara Warner Florence Welch performs at KROQ’s Acoustic Christmas concert Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ Getty Images UNIVERSAL CITY, California — As impressive and rockin’ as the lineup was for night one of KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas, night two of the Los Angeles-based rock station’s popular event was equally action-packed, with the likes of Foster the People , Florence and the Machine , Mumford & Sons, the Black Keys and six other acts who came together under one roof for a one-night-only sold-out concert engagement at Universal’s Gibson Amphitheatre on Sunday night. Native Los Angeles band Grouplove kicked things off with a festive bang, which included the performances of and lots of dancing to their most recognizable and catchy tunes “Colours” and “Tongue Tied,” which is featured in the latest Apple commercial. They were followed by New Zealand-based electro-pop group the Naked and Famous, who kept things grooving with a series of smoothly synthesized upbeat tracks, the crowd-pleaser being the popular anthem-esque “Young Blood.” 2011 heavy-hitters Foster the People killed it in the number-three slot. They fed off the very enthusiastic reception from the crowd with just as much energy and as many of their Torches chart toppers as they could fit into their half-hour set, which included “Houdini,” “Call It What You Want,” “Helena Beat” and an extended version of “Pumped Up Kicks.” Following Foster were two relatively new bands: Cage the Elephant and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds . Cage delighted the crowd with hits like “Aint No Rest for the Wicked” and “Aberdeen,” as well as several stage dives. Gallagher and his High Flying Birds kept things cool with a few more-mellow tunes that, much to the delight of Oasis fans in attendance, included “Wonderwall” and “Sally.” After their exit, a surge of excitement filled the crowd in anticipation for Florence and the Machine to take the stage. What a difference a year makes: Though Florence played last year’s Acoustic Christmas and received a huge welcome from the audience, it was clear Sunday night that her fanbase has increased tenfold. Florence’s presence has such a transformative effect on her fans — her movement during the songs, the shy smiles she sends out to the masses and that powerhouse voice all have the power to move people to tears. And they did on songs like “If Only for a Night,” “Never Let Me Go” and “No Love, No Light.” Florence was a hard act to follow, that’s for sure, but just as the audience’s energy swelled with anticipation before Welch’s vocals rung out in the air, the excitement levels stayed strong for breakouts Mumford & Sons and the Black Keys. Mumford rocked out so hard during their opening song that lead singer Marcus busted several strings on his guitar. “For those of you who can count, that was three strings I broke. Three,” he told the crowd, pleased with himself. “Yesss!” The spirited folk rockers had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands with electrifying performances of “Awake My Soul,” “White Blank Page,” new tune “Ghosts That We Knew,” and hits “Little Lion Man” and “The Cave.” Continuing with the hyped-up energy and momentum flowing through the Gibson toward the end of the evening, the Black Keys rocked the house with a perfect mix of old and new. From the familiar “Howlin’ for You,” “Next Girl” and “Tighten Up” to the brand-new “Milk and Honey,” “Sister” and current hit “Lonely Boy,” the guys could have converted almost anyone in attendance to the Church of Keys with the way the audience hung on to every word and guitar stroke. We watched a group of three male fans continue to lose their minds after each song. “This is so sick!” they said. Again and again and again. And frankly, we have to agree. It was sick. Even better? The proceeds from the 22nd annual event will benefit Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center and Para Los Ninos. Related Artists Florence + the Machine The Black Keys
Cee Lo Green, the Band Perry and Jennifer Hudson also performed at concert, which airs Friday on TNT. By Jocelyn Vena Justin Bieber (file) Photo: Christopher Polk/ Getty Images Despite feeling a little under the weather, Justin Bieber performed for President Obama and his family at the 30th annual Christmas in Washington concert on Sunday, the Press Association reports. The show, which benefits the Children’s National Medical Center, also featured performances by Jennifer Hudson, the Band Perry, “Victorious” star Victoria Justice and Cee Lo Green. According to Aceshowbiz.com , Bieber performed his track “Mistletoe” — off his holiday album, Under the Mistletoe — during the annual event. This marks the second time the teen star has appeared on the show. He performed two years ago. “Waking up with a bad cold … weather change. but will be ready tonight for CHRISTMAS in WASHINGTON. #resting,” he tweeted in the hours leading up to the show, later adding, “Feeling good. Just had some fun at rehearsals and now we r ready. Time to sing for the President. #canadianrepresenter. Seeing the fans … being here again 2 years later. Feeling very #blessed and #grateful. Thank U! Great night! President Obama is one cool Prez. He told me he was ‘chillin.’ #PresidentialSWAG.” During the event, a number of Christmas classics like “This Christmas,” “Silent Night,” “Let It Snow” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” were performed. The night ended with all of the performers, as well as the Obamas and host Conan O’Brien, taking the stage for “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” While the night was all about the holidays, O’Brien did manage to poke a little fun at Bieber during the show. “It’s especially exciting to be here during this joyous season, when we celebrate the arrival of a miracle child, worshiped by millions around the world,” he said. “Of course I’m talking about Justin Bieber.” The full concert is set to air Friday on TNT. Related Videos MTV First: Justin Bieber Related Artists Justin Bieber
For somebody who used to stay growling “It’s Murdaaaaaaaaaaaa” this guy sure has changed his tune. Ja Rule just penned a letter from jail about his first night in prison and sent it to Allhiphop.com . Check it out: My first night here was crazy inmates screaming, banging, and kicking the doors calling the male CO’s b***h a** n***as f***ots telling the female CO’s how they gonna f**k em, throwing plates of food out their cells onto the floor LOL. WELCOME TO THE GREEN MONSTER! This type of shit would never happen upstate at best you’d be in the box for a month at worst the infirmary. I even got into it wit these stupid n***as trying to assassinate my character talkin about I’m snitching to the guards and that I’m getting special treatment. I barked on these n***as and set em straight cause as a man there’s only so much you can take before you snap. At first I tried to ignore there lil comments until they started talkin sh*t like they gonna kick my door and all this clown sh*t. But the funny thing is when I started screaming on them lettin them know they got the wrong n***a they got excited it was like that’s what they wanted to bring the hood out of me. That’s when I realized that I’m dealing wit kids they can’t be n***as my age cause that would’ve lead to instant confrontation not instant admiration. After I set em straight they wanted to talk ask me about the industry I could tell they wanted to be my friend but just didn’t know how to go about it. So I chatted wit them for a lil bit before letting them know I was tried and ready to lay down. But as I layed I listened to them talk telling there life stories of how one was born in a crack house and grew up selling crack to his mother and how another watched his father get murdered rite in front of him by some dudes he owed money as they robbed his house and how they were now in jail for crimes of their own one for beating his girl friend the other for a murder. One of them them is 19 the other just turned 23 yesterday. Both with kids of their own. When will we break the cycle? WILLIE LYNCH LIVES ON… DAMN! When I got here I was happy to see some officers of the same skin color not that I’m racist or anything but in this type of situation and where I just came from you’d be happy to see some of your own too. Prejudice does still exist trust me I’ve been treated and seen it people treated like n***ers more in 1 month that I have my whole life I feel like a slave and even tho I haven’t heard anyone say it actions speak louder than words. As I walk through the door everyone staring like they can’t believe I just walked in cuffed from head to toe. Even tho I don’t feel like much of a star that’s all they see the star that has fallen. But as I look in their eyes I still see the love they still wanna meet me and greet me as if I’m on their own personal stage except there’s no screaming fans, fancy clothes & bright lights. Only screaming inmates me in my orange jumpsuit and little flash lights they shine in my cell at night. It’s hard to feel good signing autographs and taking pictures in this predicament but I did it with a smile cause I love my fans and never say no, nomatter what mood I’m in after the meet & greet they took me to my cell where I’ll be housed till my court date it’s not the best but it’s not the worst either they gave me some pillows and an extra mattress so I’ll live. This is my 3rd here and IA already came and got me to investigate my lil meet & greet. I basically told them to f**k off and that those are good cops cause they really were nice to me last thing I wanna see is good people get in trouble cause they got an autograph or a pic from me. You wanna investigate something investigate the crooked Hip Hop Task Force that got me into this s**t in the first place. As I sit in my cell listening to their stories I think about me and my Dad and how I hated to love him for so many years and how I vowed to be nothing like him only to have my mother say “your just like your father” LOL. Which made me curious to know him and of course just as we start to get closer to one another he dies. But I have my closure I learned alot about him and him about me in the short time we spent together. Which makes me think about my kids and how I’m raising them I am a great father and I have broken the cycle even though I’m in prison the foundation has already been layed. I hate being away from them for 20 months but s**t could just as easily been on tour for that long. I feel compelled I wanna help other kids break the cycle. I’ve been to 5 different prisons and all I see is n***as and I ain’t talking about black people I’m talking about ignorance. See the problem wit most people is they don’t smell s**t until they step in it and by that time it’s all over your shoe and everybody is tryin to get away from you. Now you have 2 choices you can either wash that shoe or throw it away. A lot of people choose to throw it away meaning they didn’t learn s**t but those that choose to wash that shoe tend to watch their step knowing how hard it was to get em clean. I think I’ll wash my shoes this time cause this s**t ain’t me. R.I.P William Jeffrey Atkins BREAK THE CYCLE! Well at least it sounds as if he’s learning something in there. We see this guy is taking a note out of T.I. and Weezy’s pen-playbooks. Do y’all care about Jeffrey Atkin’s penitentiary life??? More On Bossip! RihRih Gets Kushed Up And Goes Drizzy H.A.M. On Twitter Talking About Skrippers And Getting Back Into Her Freakum Bikini The Favorite Child: We Pick The Hottest Sibling Out Of Each Superstar Family Luckiest Husbands In The World: A Look At Wives Keeping It Right And Tight For Their Men EXCLUSIVE: Robin Thicke (@RobinThicke) Gets Candid About His New Album, Adding To His Family, And Paula Patton Dancing In Lingerie
If you’re into seventeen year olds who look like fifty year old cougars, you’re going to love this crap. Here’s that Courtney Stodden nobody, the teenager who married a fifty year old dude who had a cameo in The Green Mile , out on the town looking like a used up streetwalker. And not a classy streetwalker you might see in Miami or LA either, one you’d see somewhere like Delaware on a tuesday afternoon. Gross. This whole thing is just rotten.
RihRih’s been smokin’ that reefer eh? The singer was snapped by photographers entering and leaving Amsterdam’s famed Green House coffee shop this weekend where she reportedly spent 5 hours “relaxing.” Uh huh… It was light when she got there but dark when she left. She was sposedly smokin’ something called Amnesia so that should explain things some. More shots when you continue.
