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N.F.L. player Al Harris and ex-convict Kevin Soto, to release gospel album

The Lonnie Hunter Show — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:34:14 +0000

The cornerback steered his custom truck through familiar streets. The ex-convict sat shotgun and pointed out landmarks, this “drug hole,” that “crack house,” the best routes for eluding the police.

Al Harris, at right above, with Kevin Soto. The two childhood friends plan to release a Christian rap album in August.

The cornerback is Al Harris. He wears No. 31 for the Green Bay Packers. The ex-convict is Kevin Soto. He wore No. 693430 in the Florida Department of Corrections.

They met 25 years ago, two boys from the same neighborhood north of Miami, bonded by break dancing and back flips and music above all else. That was before Harris went to the N.F.L., before Soto went to prison, before either man had heard of Christian rap.

“All these years, music kept coming up, kept bringing us together,” Harris, 35, said. “It always came back to music, no matter what we did, or where we went.”

In August, Harris and Soto will release a Christian rap album, the culmination of two lives that veered in opposite directions and converged again recently.

The cornerback wore shoulder pads for the first time at age 2, already certain his future was in football. The local boys’ club produced a stunning number of elite athletes, including the N.B.A. guard Eddie Jones and the seven players from Harris’s Blanche Ely High School teams who have played in the N.F.L.

The ex-convict preferred hip-hop. Soto owned one of the first portable stereos in the neighborhood, and he wrote rhymes about street life and Burger King commercials and rapped over the latest beats.

source: read more

CLEVELAND GROUP ON AMERICAS GOT TALENT!!!!

The Lonnie Hunter Show — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:32:26 +0000

AMERICAS GOT CLEVELANDERS!

CLEVELAND IS BEING REPRESENTED ON AMERICAS GOT TALENT BY A UP AND COMING GROUP NAMED NU COVENANT!

NU COVENANT IS FROM CLEVELAND OHIO AND CONSIST OF THREE BROTHERS AND ONE COUSIN FROM FAIR TEMPLE CHURCH OF GOD IN CHRIST “COGIC”. THE GROUP HAS BEEN SINGING FOR YEARS AND ARE NOW TRYING TO MAKE IT BIG TIME! SO LETS SUPPORT NU COVENANT BY WATCHING THE LIVE SHOW ON AUG 3RD ON NBC! VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE!!!

NU COVENANT NEEDS YOUR VOTES SO THAT THEY CAN STAY IN THE RUNNING TO REPRESENT CLEVELAND OHIO!!

Be sure to check out the past episodes of America’s Got Talent on www.nbc.com

Melinda Watts On Her Upcoming @Drmgirlz Conference

Ed Powell — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:09:31 +0000

2008 Gospel Dream winner and recording artist Melinda Watts prepares for her first conference known as The Dream Girlz Gathering. The conference takes place on Aug. 19-21, 2010 at Cumberland County College in Vineland, NJ. Targeting young ladies ages 8 to 18, the conference will feature workshops, seminars, and events designed to encourage healthy self-esteem and positive life choices. The conference will also feature an all star ladies concert featuring Crystal Aikin, Nicole C. Mullen, Karima Kibble, and Michelle Bonilla.It is expected to hit Brooklyn, Sacramento, Cleveland and 12 other cities within the next year.

Rev. Al Sharpton, a Newsweek Cover Story

The Lonnie Hunter Show — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:24:49 +0000

In a Newsweek cover story titled “The Reinvention of the Reverend,” writers Allison Samuels and Jerry Adler give their perspective of the “indefatigable” Al Sharpton.

Read a snippet of the News Week article below

If the Rev. Al Sharpton didn’t exist, he would have had to be invented. In fact, the novelist Tom Wolfe has claimed he did invent him, in the character of the Reverend Bacon, a supporting figure in The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Each generation of black America gives birth to its own incarnation of the charismatic preacher-activist who confronts the white power structure in the streets and talks circles around it on Meet the Press.

Just a few months after the fictional Bacon made his appearance in 1987, the real Sharpton burst onto the national stage as the fiery advocate for Tawana Brawley, a New York teenager who claimed to have been raped by a gang of white men, including a policeman.

source: read more…

Al Sharpton at the round table

NAACP and National Urban League Blast Obama’s Education Reform Plan

The Lonnie Hunter Show — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:22:48 +0000

Today, a group of seven education and civil rights groups released a six-point plan for equitable and sustainable national education reform in this country. And, big surprise, the report is basically a 17-page repudiation of the Obama administration’s education reform platform.

Groups including the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Urban League, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and the Schott Foundation for Public Education called for an end to many of Secretary of Education Arne Duncan’s signature initiatives, and a commitment instead to policies that incentivize positive results and lay the groundwork for long-term change in the neediest school districts. On every major Duncan policy initiative–aggressive promotion of charter schools, turnaround models for failing schools, national education standards, punitive teacher accountability measures–the coalition had harsh criticisms. And this morning, the Education Department issued a pat response:

We’re listening. The administration is dedicated to equity in education and we’ve been working very closely with the civil rights community to develop the most effective policies to close the achievement gap, turn around low performing schools, and put a good teacher in every classroom.

On charter schools, the civil rights groups write that not only is charter school performance uneven at best, but many charter schools only serve a small selection of the neediest students. The civil rights groups criticized the blind acceptance of charter school-as-panacea, because charter schools often don’t accept as many students with disabilities, students who rely on free school lunches, and English language learners–many of the groups of students who could jeopardize their test scores.

“While some charter schools can and do work for some students,” the report says, “they are not a universal solution for systemic change for all students, especially those with the highest needs.” Regarding “turnaround” models, the reform approach that demands mass firings of teaching staff when schools are deemed “failing,” the report said that where they’ve been tried, they’ve rarely produced positive results.

Click here to continue reading.

SOURCE: Color Lines

WATCH: New President of Philippines Says ‘God Can Save the Philippines’

The Lonnie Hunter Show — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:22:48 +0000

An ecumenical prayer by a Catholic bishop, Protestants, and a Muslim opened the first State-of-the-Nation address of the newly elected Philippine President Benigno Aquino lll.

During his presidential campaign, Aquino pledged to end poverty by first ending corruption.

In keeping with that theme, Aquino exposed irregularities allegedly committed by the administration of former President Gloria Arroyo, most of which were misuse of government funds.

“Now is the time to end the extravagance of government officials and squandering the people’s money,” Aquino said.

Truth Commission

He was shocked to learn that the previous administration had already spent 94 percent of the nation’s $33 billion budget. Only $2 billion remains for the second half of the fiscal year.

Aquino said he believes a partnership with the public and private sectors is one way to help overcome the budget shortfall. He’s also establishing a Truth Commission to investigate government corruption.

“We will hold murderers accountable. We will also hold those who are corrupt that work in government accountable for their actions,” Aquino warned. “We will search for the truth of the alleged wrongdoing committed in the last nine years.”

Hours before the State of the Nation address, thousands of protesters gathered in Manilla as close as they could get to the capitol building to put pressure on the new president.

They want to make sure their new president keeps his promises to stamp out corruption and end poverty in this nation. Thirty-three percent of the country’s 92 million people live below the poverty rate.

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Is Barack Obama Further Dividing America Along Racial Lines?

The Lonnie Hunter Show — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:22:47 +0000

Barack Obama promised a new era of post-partisanship. In office, he’s played racial politics and further split the country along class and party lines.

The ‘Beer Summit’: President Barack Obama, right, and Vice President Joe Biden, left, have a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., second from left, and Cambridge, Mass. police Sgt. James Crowley in the Rose Garden of the White House, July 30, 2009.

During the election campaign, Barack Obama sought to appeal to the best instincts of the electorate, to a post-partisan sentiment that he said would reinvigorate our democracy. He ran on a platform of reconciliation–of getting beyond “old labels” of right and left, red and blue states, and forging compromises based on shared values.

President Obama’s Inaugural was a hopeful day, with an estimated 1.8 million people on the National Mall celebrating the election of America’s first African-American president. The level of enthusiasm, the anticipation and the promise of something better could not have been more palpable.

And yet, it has not been realized. Not at all.

Rather than being a unifier, Mr. Obama has divided America on the basis of race, class and partisanship. Moreover, his cynical approach to governance has encouraged his allies to pursue a similar strategy of racially divisive politics on his behalf.

We have seen the divisive approach under Republican presidents as well–particularly the administrations of Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. It was wrong then, and it is wrong now. By dividing America, Mr. Obama has brought our government to the brink of a crisis of legitimacy, compromising our ability to address our most important policy issues.

We say this with a heavy heart. Both of us share the president’s stated vision of what America can and should be. The struggle for equal rights has animated both of our lives. Both of us were forged politically during the crucible of the civil rights movement. Having worked in the South during the civil rights movement, and on behalf of the ground-breaking elections of African-American mayors such as David Dinkins, Harold Washington and Emanuel Cleaver, we were deeply moved by Mr. Obama’s election.

The first hint that as president Mr. Obama would be willing to interject race into the political dialogue came last July, when he jumped to conclusions about the confrontation between Harvard Prof. Henry Louis “Skip” Gates and the Cambridge police.

During a press conference, the president said that the “Cambridge police acted stupidly,” and he went on to link the arrest with the “long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.”

In truth, the Gates incident appears to have had nothing to do with race–a Cambridge review committee that investigated the incident ruled on June 30 that there was fault on both sides.

Sen. Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.) has said the president told him in a closed-door meeting that he would not move to secure the border with Mexico unless and until Congress reached a breakthrough on comprehensive immigration reform. That’s another indication Mr. Obama is willing to continue to play politics with hot-button issues.

Add in the lawsuit against the Arizona immigration law and it’s clear the Obama administration is willing to run the risk of dividing the American people along racial and ethnic lines to mobilize its supporters–particularly Hispanic voters, whose backing it needs in the fall midterm elections and beyond.

As the Washington Post reported last week, two top White House strategists, speaking on condition of anonymity, have indicated that “the White House plans to use the immigration debate to punish the GOP and aggressively seek the Latino vote in 2012.”

On an issue that has gotten much less attention, but is potentially just as divisive, the Justice Department has pointedly refused to prosecute three members of the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation at the polls on Election Day 2008.

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Photos: Aretha, Leezy and Surprise – Ron Isley – Perform In Philly

Ed Powell — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:52:58 +0000

A crowd of about 8000 crammed into Philadelphia’s Mann Music Center Tuesday night to witness Aretha Franklin and former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice team for a rare musical performance.

Rice, a classically trained pianist, backed the Queen of Soul during a three-hour concert filled with Franklin’s catalog of hits as well as arias from the world of opera and classical music. Proceeds from the show will benefit urban children and awareness for music and the arts.

“It is a joint effort for the inner-city youth of Philadelphia and Detroit,” Franklin told The AP the night before their concert with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

“We decided to give it a try,” Franklin said. “So here we are, in the city of Brotherly — and Sisterly — Love.”

read full story

article courtesy of Eurweb.com

Gotta Have Gospel Ultimate Choirs To Release Soon

Ed Powell — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 15:31:30 +0000

Gotta Have Gospel Ultimate Choirs” showcase has finally been captured on CD and will be in stores for purchase on July 27.

The album features some of the best Gospel artists and songs of all time, including voices from Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, John P. Kee, Donald Lawrence and so many more.

Check out the album track listings below.

Hezekiah Walker and LFC- “Lift Him Up”
Tye Tribbett & GA- “Victory”
Faithful Central feat. Erika Campbell of Mary Mary- “Zion Rejoice”
Fred Hammond & Radical for Christ-“Let The Praise Begin”
Lakewood Church- “You Are Good”
Joe Pace & The Colorado Mass Choir- “High and Lifted Up”
The Tri City Singers feat. DeWayne Woods- “God Is”
Kirk Franklin- “Imagine Me”
Donald Lawrence & Co. featuring Donnie McClurkin-“I Speak Life”
Richard Smallwood w/ Vision- “Total Praise”
Kurt Carr & The Kurt Carr Singers- “God Great God”
The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir-“Holy Is The Lord”
John P. Kee &The New Life Community Choir- “ Show Up”
Bobby Jones & The Nashville Super Choir-“The Lord Will Make A Way Somehow”

read full story

article courtesy of Eurweb.com

DISCUSSION: Ground Zero Mosque and Religious Freedom in America

The Lonnie Hunter Show — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:18:24 +0000

The core American ideal of religious freedom has been put at risk. News of Park51, the proposed Muslim community center in lower Manhattan, has spawned protests against a religious group that simply seeks to create a meeting place and has gone out of its way to make clear that the space will be open to the entire New York community.

These protests, diatribes, and campaigns against Park51 violate the ideals of religious freedom to which our country has long aspired. The First Amendment of the Constitution states explicitly that

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

The local government has so far done its part to uphold and apply these Constitutional rights. The Community Board of Lower Manhattan approved the building project 29 to 1, with 10 abstentions, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg voiced his strong support.

But individuals have taken the application of this freedom into their own hands. It would appear that more extreme voices want this right to apply only to their own religious communities, and not to others. But when one group’s freedoms are threatened, the religious freedom of all Americans is at stake.

In response to the ongoing and often radical criticism of Park51 and its leaders, we are proud to announce the launch of Religious Freedom USA. Religious Freedom USA is a new campaign to safeguard freedom of religion and mobilize Americans to support Park51 as an expression of this core American value. We invite and encourage you to join the movement. Send in a video of support, write a letter to the editor, sign our petition, help organize a local rally, or join us for an event here in New York.

Some may wonder why a Born Again Christian and a future rabbi, both under the age of 25, are working to build support for a Muslim community center. To us it seems natural: this is not simply a Muslim issue, a Jewish issue, or a Christian issue. This is an American issue, and members of all religious communities are affected by a threat to religious freedom.

Praise Cleveland - Praise 1300 Cleveland\'s Home for the Gospel Community » National

N.F.L. player Al Harris and ex-convict Kevin Soto, to release gospel album

CLEVELAND GROUP ON AMERICAS GOT TALENT!!!!

AMERICAS GOT CLEVELANDERS!

CLEVELAND IS BEING REPRESENTED ON AMERICAS GOT TALENT BY A UP AND COMING GROUP NAMED NU COVENANT!

NU COVENANT NEEDS YOUR VOTES SO THAT THEY CAN STAY IN THE RUNNING TO REPRESENT CLEVELAND OHIO!!

Be sure to check out the past episodes of America’s Got Talent on www.nbc.com

Melinda Watts On Her Upcoming @Drmgirlz Conference

Rev. Al Sharpton, a Newsweek Cover Story

NAACP and National Urban League Blast Obama’s Education Reform Plan

WATCH: New President of Philippines Says ‘God Can Save the Philippines’

Daily Devotional Chosen Chick Church News Discussion Gospel Music Playlist

Is Barack Obama Further Dividing America Along Racial Lines?

Photos: Aretha, Leezy and Surprise – Ron Isley – Perform In Philly

Gotta Have Gospel Ultimate Choirs To Release Soon

DISCUSSION: Ground Zero Mosque and Religious Freedom in America

Daily Devotional

Chosen Chick

Church News

Discussion

Gospel Music Playlist