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  • Rihanna and Chris Brown: The Financial Value of Rihanna’s Pain

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    I hated what Chris Brown did to Rihanna. I was angered, disappointed and irritated by the fact that many are quick to forgive egregious behavior on the part of celebrities, and a hit song can forgive all sins. At the same time, celebs are just like the rest of us, full of complexities that the world may never come to understand. Rihanna has walked away from Chris and she is now telling the entire world how bad of a man he is, and we’re all taking her side.

    The problem for Rihanna, however, is that her actions aren’t making much sense.

    Rihanna’s recent whirlwind media tour has included the likes of ABC News, MTV and other major media outlets. Throughout this tour, she has allowed the world to enter into her dark reflection on the relationship she had with Chris Brown, with that reflection seeming to have almost no productive purpose. I am not sure why the he-say/she-say between two 19-year old kids should be the concern of the nation. But then again, I am sitting here writing about it, so I am as guilty as everyone else.

    The truth is, clearly, that Rihanna could have used this incident as a teachable moment and then moved on with her life. But that wouldn’t be nearly as profitable as doing a media tour attacking Chris.

    The point here is clear and quick:

    A personal tragedy is usually leveraged in order to sell a book or album: Did you notice how tennis star Andre Agassi revealed his drug addiction when his book was released? What about when Mackenzie Phillips announced that her father, well-known performer John Phillips, molested her as a child? Stories like this are a great way to get people to read your book or buy your records. Notice that it took Rihanna several months to start talking about Chris Brown in public. That was probably because she had to finish up her tracks. By the way – her album is scheduled for release in a few days. The Chris Brown story will be the primary driver of her album sales.

    Now, I am a Finance Professor and a capitalist. Well, I am mostly capitalist, to a point. I can understand why Rihanna’s handlers are milking the cow till the udders fall off. The story is interesting and like hungry kids in a candy store, we are salivating to find out more about what happened. But the truth is that we only know most of what occurred, not everything: All we really know is that they got into a fight and Chris won. But we also know that Chris lost the war because he is the one who got arrested. Is there anything else we need to know? Is there anything new that Rihanna is telling us other than vague and “clearly objective”(LOL) things like “his eyes had no soul.” What the heck does that mean anyway?

    While we can respect Rihanna’s decision to use this situation as a chance to build her brand (similar to when Juanita Bynum was allegedly beaten by her husband and then declared herself to be “the face of domestic violence”), the truth is that we probably shouldn’t fall for the hype. We should realize that this was an unfortunate situation,with many lessons to be learned about domestic violence in the black community. Rihanna will sell her records, and Chris will have to rebuild his own brand. But at the end of the day, this media whirlwind created by Rihanna is, for the most part, an opportunity to not only punch back at Chris, but a chance to make a little dough in the process.

    As the rapper TI might say, “It is what it is.”

    Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, “Black American Money.” To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.

     

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  • Rihanna Full Interview on 20/20 (HQ)

    Posted by: BlogXilla

    Rihanna interviewed by Diane Sawyer on 20/20 Part 1 (HQ) NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGMENT INTENTED © 2009 All Rights Reserved to ABC.

  • Obama’s Fed Chairman Makes Racially Ignorant Remarks: Dr Boyce Analyzes

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    I’ve always had mixed feelings about Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. I feel that he is better than the previous chairman, Alan Greenspan, but the Fed Chairmanship (like the presidency) is almost never given to the right man. Just the fact that it is almost always given to a man is problematic enough, and the truth is that only white men need apply for the job.

    Well, when you are limited in your option pool for the top job, bad leadership and flat out ignorance can sometimes be the result. While Fed Chairman Bernanke might know some nuts and bolts about economics, he appears to be shockingly misinformed about economic disparities between blacks and whites. His embarrassing and highly inappropriate statements at Morehouse College serve as a significant case in point.

    In a recent interview at Morehouse, the Fed Chairman was asked what he felt to be the reason for the wealth gap between blacks and whites. In response, Bernanke said that the gap was due to a lack of “financial literacy” and “financial education” on the part of African Americans. That’s all he mentioned.

    What? Sorry Ben, but did you ever hear of this little thing called “slavery”? What about this other thing called “Jim Crow laws,” which made it nearly impossible for African Americans to pass wealth onto their children? Do you truly believe that whites have the bulk of American wealth because they were simply harder working and more intelligent in their wealth building strategies? Do you know how silly you sound?

    According to the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances, the median household wealth of white Americans is 10 times greater than that for African-Americans. And in spite of what the Fed Chairman might believe, it is not due to the fact that black people are financially ignorant. Rather, it is due to leaders such as Bernanke who refuse to acknowledge how 400 years of racially-biased wealth distribution can impact structural and financial inequality.

    The other point that Mr. Bernanke fails to mention is that white American saving and investing habits are incredibly problematic as well. The recent financial crisis was due to the fact that the American savings rate had become negative for the first time since the Great Depression. Additionally, Americans (not just black people Ben) were borrowing money for homes they could not afford and not preparing for retirement. So, the idea that Chairman Bernanke would sum up the black/white wealth gap as “White people smart….black people illiterate” is a shocking disappointment and a glaring reminder of the fact that our economic captains in the Obama Administration have almost no understanding or respect for the unique economic challenges of the African American community.

    I won’t even get into Obama’s appointment of Lawrence Summers as Treasury Secretary, given that Summers disrespected Dr. Cornel West, one of the most significant black scholars in American history. During a spat when Summers was president of Harvard, he criticized Dr. West’s work as not representing “appropriate” scholarship. Translation: you are doing something that white scholars don’t understand, which thus implies that you must be inferior – I get it all the time here at Syracuse, a school that hasn’t tenured a black man in Finance in their entire 140-year history – perhaps we lazy black folks are just not good enough. Professor Summers is also the one who implied that women might have a natural deficiency in their ability to understand mathematics. The idea that Obama supports individuals who continue to embrace mindsets reflective of white male supremacy should be problematic to us all. The financial team within his administration needs a makeover, and their “expertise” and qualifications should be questioned by the American people.

    A note to Chairman Bernanke: The present around us has been created by a set of tasks that were performed in the past. If you are only able to see wealth disparities through a lens created in the year 2009, one that is blurred by your own biases as a white male in an elitist profession, you are missing 99% of the picture. To cite African American ignorance as the sole driver of wealth gaps in America is a reminder that our leadership still thinks of black people as second class citizens. Rather than presuming cultural superiority on the part of whites, why not engage in creative and intelligent policy analysis that might actually fix the problem that America has created. It was not the flaws of black America which created structural inequality; it was poor decision-making on the part of the very institution with which men like Bernanke, Summers and Obama are employed. It’s time for some personal responsibility.

    Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the forthcoming book, “Black American Money.” To have Dr Boyce commentary delivered directly to your email, please click here.

     

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  • Teen Tips for Entrepreneurship

    In this, the third article of a four- part series about youth entrepreneurship, three teens tell the stories of how they started businesses and learned how to find fun while financing their futures.

  • Lesson Plans for Young Entrepreneurs

    In part two of BlackEnterprise.com’s four-part series on youth entrepreneurship, we’ll be looking at resources for parents and teachers on the basics of entrepreneurship. There are a number of tools available, from Web-based and online activities to classroom simulations, for educators and parents to get students thinking like an entrepreneur.

  • Westbrook’s status vs. Giants uncertain (AP)

    Brian Westbrook was knocked out with a concussion. He was on the ground, motionless, with only his brother and Eagles coach Andy Reid allowed near him. Westbrook walked off the field, but he would not return. He may not be back as the Eagles enter the grueling part of their schedule. The Eagles played only one team (New Orleans) with a winning record in the first six games and blew a major shot at…

  • Al Scales Reynolds: Opening Up About ‘Life After’ Messy Marriage

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    Al Scales Reynolds: Opening Up About 'Life After' Messy Marriage

    The one and only Al Scales Reynolds is a featured celebrity notable on TV One’s much buzzed about docu-series ‘Life After,’ which explores the past, present and future hopes of some of black America’s most intriguing bold-faced names.

    The eight-episode, half-hour series — which feature candid profiles on Omarosa Manigault Stallworth, Taimak, Eva Marcille and Daryl “Chill” Mithcell, respectively — is part biography, part confessional and an overall celebration of the human spirit.

    Though the former husband of Star Jones isn’t a SAG card-carrying thespian (like the aforementioned actors and reality TV stars), his short-lived marriage to and messy divorce from a former TV personality has presented many public and professional challenges for the former Wall Street power broker. He has had more than his fair share of tabloid fodder and wants to set the record straight about any misconceptions and misrepresentations.

    Reynolds exclusively offered Blackvoices.com some insight on why he chose to do ‘Life After’ – in his very own words.

    When I decided I did not want to be married any more, the truth is I had no idea how it was all going to play out. The one thing I knew was that I did not want to do it any longer–not one extra day with how bad it had gotten.

    I knew it was going to be a long road to recovery, but I was ready because I’d had enough, enough of the lies and deceit that existed in my life. It was becoming harder and harder to wake up and be satisfied with the face that stared back at me in the mirror.
    I would like to set the record straight: I am not one who advocates divorce. That would be the furthest from the truth, but I am one who advocates happiness and moral responsibility. You see, before I got married, I was a private banker at the world headquarters of one of the most prestigious white-glove financial firms in the world. I had a client list that read like a who’s who of fashion, sports, design and education. I lived downtown in The Ritz Carlton Residence, and I was well on my way to realizing all the dreams I had envisioned for myself. I studied at some of the most prestigious universities and colleges in the country.

    This all was the experience of a “country boy” from Virginia who started out in a mobile home in Horsepasture, Virginia, and ended up living in a penthouse in Manhattan.

    I managed to defy every single statistic that existed in my era and pushed forward to become what many define today as a success. And guess what, it was not overnight. It was after 25 years of schooling, 12 years of work experience and 33 years of living. It was after three career changes and dozens of setbacks, failures and disappointments.

    To accomplish all of that and wake up to find myself in a high-profile marriage that led to what felt like the raping of my character, integrity and namesake was a problem.

    How did all of this occur in what felt like a matter of seconds and why was it happening to me? That’s what I found myself thinking about. I would frequently wonder when I heard or read anything about myself who the tabloids were they talking about?

    Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, what I’ve experienced and how I’ve been misrepresented in the media is a real-life tragedy. And before now, I didn’t feel comfortable enough to say it and say it out loud. Now, I want to be very clear, I am not looking for sympathy. I only want to take responsibility for any part I had to play in this.

    But at the same time, I want the respect that I worked so hard to obtain. How come, within the blink of an eye, people started questioning my sexuality? How come after all that I worked hard to achieve, I was being called a freeloader, a kept man or a fraud?

    It was with caution that I originally took the call from TV One Network. Most of the calls I had received from most networks — and you name it, they’ve called — were not interested in showing who or what I was really about. They were interested in me living out the caricature that was so vividly portrayed.

    TV One approached me about showing the world what I was doing now, using my voice as the platform. Finally, I thought, someone who was interested in exploring who the real Al Reynolds was and not who the media had made me out to be.

    The producers said they were only interested in doing socially responsible programming that would allow me to just be me. They were interested in following me mentoring young adults, teaching my personal finance and leadership courses at the university, helping everyday Americans with their financial problems, writing financial articles, doing financial television commentary and exploring the road I have traveled from early childhood to the present.

    I felt that ‘Life After’ was finally a project in which I could showcase who I really am, with no scripts, no red carpets, no paparazzi, no endorsements — just the real deal.

    The show represents pushing through whatever challenges or obstacles you are experiencing in your life and persevering. It is the” life” you forge “after” your adversity.

    This project represents to me the closing of a chapter in my life, as well the beginning of a new and exciting one, one that is filled with giving back to my community, which is thirsting for help in mentoring and motivating in order to achieve and overcome adversity.

    It’s the beginning of embracing the entertainment side of my life. I look forward to having a much greater touch by writing, commentating and developing socially responsible projects for everyone to be inspired and uplifted.

    Reclaiming my name, my identity and my voice back is the most rewarding and best part. From the bottom of my heart to the tip top of my head, I still say to any and everyone listening: What doesn’t kill you definitely makes you stronger!

    ‘Life After: Al Reynolds’ premieres Oct. 18 at 10 p.m. on TV One.

     

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  • Trey Songs Favorite Part Of A Women Is….

    Posted by: Illmatic

    Trey Songs Favorite Part Of A Women Is….

  • Arenas practices, finger still issue (AP)

    Gilbert Arenas took part in five-on-five halfcourt drills at Washington Wizards practice on Friday after sitting out scrimmages the previous two days. Wizards first-year coach Flip Saunders says the oft-injured Arenas has taken part in just about everything during training camp but a dislocated finger sidelined him for the scrimmages.

  • Grammy Award Winner Usher Launches New Initiative

    As part of his ongoing efforts to encourage youth volunteerism and service, R&B singer Usher Raymond launched a new initiative entitled Powered By Service during the fifth annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in New York Thursday.

  • Braves’ Cox to retire after next season (AP)

    Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox stands in the dugout during the first inning of the Braves' baseball game against the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009. Earlier Wednesday, Cox revealed his plans to retire as manager after the 2010 season.

    After 50 years in baseball, Bobby Cox figured the only way he would ever give up managing was to pick a specific time and announce it publicly. So that's what he did Wednesday, revealing his plans to retire as manager of the Atlanta Braves after next season. Now comes the hard part: sticking to it.

  • Lincecum helps SF gain ground on Rockies (AP)

    Colorado Rockies catcher Chris Ianetta throws out San Francisco Giants' Eli Whiteside(notes) at second base during the fourth inning of a baseball game Friday, Aug. 28, 2009, in San Francisco.

    Tim Lincecum had reached 127 pitches through eight innings and would gladly have gone back out for the ninth if only manager Bruce Bochy had let him. The San Francisco Giants ace still did more than his part in one of the team's biggest games yet of 2009. Lincecum struck out eight in eight innings to end a four-start winless stretch, Pablo Sandoval homered and the Giants gained ground on the…