John Forte was one of 14 persons that Bush has pardoned or granted commuted prison sentences. A pardon cannot be overruled.

Forte was arrested at Newark International Airport back in 2000 and charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine and conspiracy to distribute. Police caught him accepting a briefcase with about $1.4 million worth of liquid cocaine in it.

Forte was hit with a 14-year sentence in a federal penitentiary under minimum sentencing laws even though it was his first offense and he was a non-violent offender. He began his bid in jail in 2001 and has fought the laws vehemently.

Through this ordeal, Joe maintained his innocence and turned down a plea deal. Whew, I’m exhausted just reminiscing about this case.

John Forte has released two albums, Poly Sci and I, John.

Strangely enough, John found an ally in legendary singer Carly Simon and her son Ben Taylor, both close friends. Forte lived at Simon’s estate in Martha’s Vineyard for about six weeks in 1999 and even spent the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays with the family. Simon and Taylor have lobbied on Forte’s behalf since he was incarcerated.

Welcome home John Forte and hopefully you won’t be looking to grab any Samsonite anytime soon; how about, never again!

WYCLEF’S MIAMI MANSION…FORECLOSED
Word on the street as reported by The Palm Beach Post claims that Wyclef took out a $2 million mortgage from Home Equity Mortgage Corp. in 2004 to purchase the estate through a corporation he owns with several friends.

It seems he was in his HGTV and Bob Villa mode and set out to renovate the canal-front property, which was appraised at $1.4 million; however, it was left unfinished for more than two years as a series of construction liens were filed.

In addition, the property garnered $6,200 in fines from the city of Miami Beach once the $900,000 construction project halted after Wyclef and his partners couldn’t come up with the $177,913 in construction costs needed to finish the effort. Now you know he got the money, or truly could have hollered at Clive Davis for some coins, so, something else had to be going on.

Court documents note that a lien was put on the property this year by the project’s architects, who have tried to collect $75,000 owed to them since 2004. In all, Clef’s corporation now owes the bank $2.4 million. As a result of the foreclosure, Miami-Dade County will sell the mansion in downtown Miami on December 12.

Court records also show that Clef hasn’t paid the employees who worked on the home. Oh lawd they are gonna burn him at the stake. Of course, no comment from Clef or crew as of yet.

TYRA’S TALK SHOW IS GETTING THE SHAFT
Tyra Banks’ talk show is being moved from syndication to the CW. Word is Tyra’s show has suffered in the global economic crisis (you know that’s the politically correct way of saying no one is watching her show right?) and will cut costs by shortening the production schedule from 34 weeks to just 26. Basically Tyra’s show has seen a nine per cent drop in ratings since November 2007, if she doesn’t turn up the heat, her dreams of being the next Oprah of daytime is out the door. However, she still is locking down TV with her new show co-created & executive produced with Ashton Kutcher called “True Beauty” debuting on ABC January 5th. Get that money honey before this AFTRA/SAG strike takes you down!

REST IN PEACE MC BREED
MC Breed, who was one of the first Midwest rappers to rise up and put Flint, Michigan on the map has died at the age of 37. His body was discovered at a friend’s home in Ypsilanti.

MC Breed aka Eric Breed, had recently been dealing with health issues and was admitted to a hospital in his adopted home of Atlanta back in September after suffering from kidney failure.

Breed eventually ended up on life support and had only 30 percent functionality of his kidneys. Plans were put in place to throw a benefit concert for the rapper to raise money for his medical bills, but they were put on hold when his condition seemed to improve.

MC Breed, blew up back in 1991 with the classic joint “Ain’t No Future in Yo’ Frontin’” and eventually hooked up with Tupac Shakur, Too $hort, the D.O.C., Warren G and more. He recorded 13 albums, and released an album a year between 1991 and 2001. His final album, “The New Prescription,” was released in 2004.

CONDOLENSCES GO OUT TO THE FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FANS OF MC BREED.

NEWS BLAST
MTV to Host “BE THE CHANGE INAUGURAL BALL” With Service Nation On January 20th 2009 SET YOUR TIVO/DVR….

USHER and TAMIKA EXPECTING ANOTHER SON DEC 15TH…

CONGRATS CADILLAC RECORDS IN THEATERS DEC 5TH. JEFFREY WRIGHT & COLUMBUS SHORT ARE GREAT!

LENNOX LEWIS WILL COME OUT OF RETIREMENT FOR $100 MILLION PAYDAY…

CHI MCBRIDE, BLAIR UNDERWOOD & LORETTA DEVINE OUTTA WORK, ABC CANCELS, “PUSHING DAISES,” “ELI STONE” AND “DIRTY, SEXY, MONEY”….

Big Lez has interviewed everyone from Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. to Mary J. Blige and Tom Cruise. She was host of and producer of BET’s landmark show “Rap City” and has enjoyed an extensive tenure in radio as co-host of The Steve Harvey Morning Show in Los Angeles, plus stints at New York’s WQHT/Hot 97, Atlanta’s WAOK/V103, LA’s Big Boy Morning Show at KPWR/Power 106 and Sirius Satellite Radio. Currently, Lez is partnered with DVA Media + Marketing as producer and host of the syndicated urban radio report, “The Urban Eye,” which launches nationwide first quarter of 2009.

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I read some blogs about the highly anticipated film, especially those from black critics who were disappointed that Jennifer Hudson didn’t have a bigger part or was cast as the token help, something they believe is beneath the young Oscar winner.

I guess I loved the film and the television series so much because I don’t expect white male and female producers and their team of white writers to write about the black woman’s experience. Apparently throughout the six seasons the show aired on HBO, Michael Patrick King, Darren Star nor Sarah Jessica Parker were interested in exploring the life of a single black woman in New York. Frankly, I’m not interested in their interpretation.

I remember interviewing Marlene Fried, a white professor at Hampshire College, for a newspaper I produce for the non-profit organization SisterSong. SisterSong is a collective of 78 organizations around the country that advocate for reproductive health and sexual rights for women of color. There are six communities serviced: African-American, Native American, Latina, Asian/Pacific Islander, Arab American and white allies.

Marlene told me that after attending “Sisters and Allies Retreats” hosted by the National Black Women’s Health Project during the 80s, she learned how to confront and resolve her guilt as a white woman working with women of color, and how to be instrumental in helping them organize.

One of the things Marlene said that struck me was that in order for white women to be effective in the movement for and by women of color, they must:

• Understand what it means to support someone else’s work
• Be willing to share money and seats at the table
• Do not see yourself as the voice for women of color
• Talk with the organization to clarify your role
• Be really committed to their work

I think this is true for not only white women in the women’s reproductive rights movement headed by women of color, but also television shows greenlit by networks. That’s what made “Living Single” work, as well as “Soul Food” and, of course, “Girlfriends.” They all were headed by black female executive producers and writers. The characters were real and the stories were real. I saw parts of myself in Khadijah James and Maxine Shaw (Attorney at Law!), and I know people like Teri and Bird and Toni Childs. And I thank (producers) Yvette Lee Bowser, Tracy Edmonds, and Mara Brock Akil for bringing us to life and enduring the challenges they faced working in a white male-dominated industry. Ain’t no telling what they had to put up with.

For me, watching “SATC” was about escaping to a fantasy world to see how white women live in fabulous New York City. That’s it. If I go into the whole Blair Underwood sleeping with Miranda thing, or why lil’ Ms. Louis from St. Louis (Hudson) had the stereotypical neck-rolling, finger-snapping attitude, then it would ruin it for me.

When you look beyond the fashion and the elitism (yes, “SATC” fans, you know these women got that complex), there are real themes in this movie we all deal with in our lives. Love. Forgiveness. Being true to ourselves. The pursuit of happiness. That’s where I think differences end and humanity begins.

I’m dreaming one day we all will be able to look at each other and see ourselves in one another’s reflection and honor our uniqueness and life experiences.

Envisioning you with much love, light and fulfillment. See you next week.

Yaminah Ahmad is editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Voice and contributing editor to Collective Voices, a newspaper published by the non-profit, SisterSong: Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective. More information on the group can be found at www.sistersong.net. Ahmad can be reached at missyaminah@gmail.com.

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