[LETTER] YIKES! Fulton County, GA Pens Letter to Ban R. Kelly from Performing in Atlanta!

R. Kelly took a major “L” last month when it was revealed he allegedly has young women involved in a “sex cult” and is holding them against their will. We definitely took all of that with a serious pile of salt, but it seems Fulton County, the largest county in Georgia and where the majority of the City of Atlanta is located, is taking this allegation seriously.

Fulton County Commissioner’s office has penned a letter requesting R. Kelly be BANNED from performing in atlanta all together!

via Fameolous

Fulton County of Atlanta bans R.Kelly for performing in their state over cult allegations. In a letter to music production company Live Nation, the board wrote that they don’t want him to come to Atlanta and asked for them to cancel the concert.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXWiJ0ghYt-/

Fulton County is not playing with R. Kelly at all! Honestly, we are not surprised they would pull a move like this. Unbeknownst to most people Atlanta has become the sex trafficking capital of the country and with these allegations Fulton County, and the State of Georgia as a whole, are taking this very seriously. A number of the young women in this alleged “sex cult” have come forward to say they have not been brainwashed nor are they being held against their will. Still though, there is Stockholme Syndrome to think about…

R. Kelly has delivered some of the biggest R&B hits in history, but he keeps finding himself in embroiled in these sexual scandals. Maybe it is time he just be Robert, settle down again, and focus on his children and doing music behind the scenes. He is a great producer, just look at what he did for Aaliyah–wait that was not the best example–no shade intended…

Written By: Michael “Hey Mikey” Fanning

Follow me on Twitter/IG @HeyMikeyATL

 

It’s Almost Time…President Obama (@POTUS) Pens Final Farewell Letter to America…

We are down to the final hours of what has been an extraordinary and exemplary presidency headed by a truly great man, President Barack Obama. We know it is inevitable that Trump assumes The Oval Office, but we cannot help but pause and reflect over the eight years of wonder we had under Obama.

Well the President is going to miss us just as much and penned a final farewell to the American people while customarily leaving a note for the incoming President.

You can read it in its entirety below:

It’s a long-standing tradition for the sitting president of the United States to leave a parting letter in the Oval Office for the American elected to take his or her place. It’s a letter meant to share what we know, what we’ve learned, and what small wisdom may help our successor bear the great responsibility that comes with the highest office in our land, and the leadership of the free world.

But before I leave my note for our 45th president, I wanted to say one final thank you for the honor of serving as your 44th. Because all that I’ve learned in my time in office, I’ve learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.

Throughout these eight years, you have been the source of goodness, resilience, and hope from which I’ve pulled strength. I’ve seen neighbors and communities take care of each other during the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes. I have mourned with grieving families searching for answers – and found grace in a Charleston church.

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Jennifer Holiday (@LadyJHOLLIDAY) Pulls Out of Trump’s Inauguration; Writes Apology Letter to LGBT Community

President-elect or not, Donald Trump is still persona non-grata with many minority communities.

This past week a number of celebrities have been tapped to attend or perform at Trump’s inauguration, a few  of them people of color. It was rumored that the original Effy White herself, Jennifer Holliday, was one of them.

Naturally, the backlash and controversy against her was swift! Her publicist released a statement saying that her performance had not been “100% confirmed;” but now it seems Jennifer has backed out all together. She cites her love and appreciation for the LGBT community as a big part of the reason, reaching out to the community with a powerful letter. Read it below.

TO MY BELOVED LGBT COMMUNITY:

Please allow me this opportunity to speak to you directly and to explain why I originally made my decision to perform at the inauguration which was what I had thought would be my simply keeping in my tradition of being a “bi-partisan songbird” having sung for Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Bush.

I was asked to sing a song for what was presented to me as the “Welcome Concert For The People”– in my mind I was reflecting on the past times of being asked to sing for presidents and I only focused on the phrase “For The People”… I thought, For America!

I was honestly just thinking that I wanted my voice to be a healing and unifying force for hope through music to help our deeply polarized country… Regretfully, I did not take into consideration that my performing for the concert would actually instead be taken as a political act against my own personal beliefs and be mistaken for support of Donald Trump and Mike Pence.

In light of the information pointed out to me via the Daily Beast article on yesterday, my only choice must now be to stand with the LGBT Community and to state unequivocally that I WILL NOT PERFORM FOR THE WELCOME CONCERT OR FOR ANY OF THE INAUGURATION FESTIVITIES!

I sincerely apologize for my lapse of judgement, for being uneducated on the issues that affect every American at this crucial time in history and for causing such dismay and heartbreak to my fans.

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#SWEET! George W. Bush’s Daughters Write Heartwarming Letter to Sasha & Malia Obama!

In less than a week President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will no longer be the leaders of the Free World. No one know what the rest of their lives after The White House will be, but we sure hope they will be great for them and their daughters, Sasha and Malia.

Apparently the daughters of former President, George W. Bush, Barbara Pierce Bush and Jenna Bush Hager, are wishing The youngest Obamas as well.

The ladies penned a heartwarming letter to Sasha and Malia. Read it below!

via Time Magazine

Malia and Sasha,

eight years ago on a cold November day, we greeted you on the steps of the White House. We saw both the light and wariness in your eyes as you gazed at your new home. We left our jobs in Baltimore and New York early and traveled to Washington to show you around. To show you the Lincoln Bedroom, and the bedrooms that were once ours, to introduce you to all the people—the florists, the grounds-keepers and the butlers—who dedicate themselves to making this historic house a home. The four of us wandered the majestic halls of the house you had no choice but to move in to. When you slid down the banister of the solarium, just as we had done as 8-year-olds and again as 20-year-olds chasing our youth, your joy and laughter were contagious.

In eight years, you have done so much. Seen so much. You stood at the gates of the Robben Island cell where South Africa’s Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for decades, your arms around your father. You traveled to Liberia and Morocco with your mom to talk with girls about the importance of education—girls who saw themselves in you, saw themselves in your parents, saw who they could become if they continued to study and learn. You attended state dinners, hiked in national parks, met international leaders and managed to laugh at your dad’s jokes during the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardon, all while being kids, attending school and making friends. We have watched you grow from girls to impressive young women with grace and ease.

And through it all you had each other. Just like we did.

Now you are about to join another rarified club, one of former First Children—a position you didn’t seek and one with no guidelines. But you have so much to look forward to. You will be writing the story of your lives, beyond the shadow of your famous parents, yet you will always carry with you the experiences of the past eight years.

Never forget the wonderful people who work at the White House. Our greeter as 7-year-olds at our grandfather’s Inauguration was Nancy, the White House florist, who ushered us in from the cold. She helped us make colorful bouquets of winter flowers for our grandparents’ bedside. Twenty years later, Nancy did the flowers for Jenna’s wedding. Cherish your own Nancy. We stay in touch with our Secret Service. They were part of growing up for us: there for first dates, first days and even an engagement and a honeymoon. We know it wasn’t always easy—the two of you and the two of us were teenagers trailed by men in backpacks—but they put their lives on hold for us.

Enjoy college. As most of the world knows, we did. And you won’t have the weight of the world on your young shoulders anymore. Explore your passions. Learn who you are. Make mistakes—you are allowed to. Continue to surround yourself with loyal friends who know you, adore you and will fiercely protect you. Those who judge you don’t love you, and their voices shouldn’t hold weight. Rather, it’s your own hearts that matter.

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Frank Ocean Speaks Out on Orlando Massacre in Powerful Post

It has been quite a while since we have heard anything from or about Frank Ocean. His hit album Channel Orange had us all rethinking sexuality and how much more inclusive rap and hip-hop can stand to be. As you recall, ahead of the release of his aforementioned album he released a letter revealing he was once in love and in a relationship with another man. Now, Frank has not been one to label himself anything–in fact the only real label anyone can call him lately is that of a recluse.

Well today Frank returned with yet another powerful letter, this time aimed at the senseless shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, where forty-nine people lost their loves for being gay. Read his powerful letter below:

via Frank Ocean & ThatGrapeJuice.net

“I read in the paper that my brothers are being thrown from rooftops blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs for violating sharia law. I heard the crowds stone these fallen men if they move after they hit the ground. I heard it’s in the name of God. I heard my pastor speak for God too, quoting scripture from his book. Words like abomination popped off my skin like hot grease as he went on to describe a lake of fire that God wanted me in. I heard on the news that the aftermath of a hate crime left piles of bodies on a dance floor this month. I heard the gunman feigned dead among all the people he killed. I heard the news say he was one of us.

I was six years old when I heard my dad call our transgender waitress a ****** as he dragged me out a neighborhood diner saying we wouldn’t be served because she was dirty. That was the last afternoon I saw my father and the first time I heard that word, I think, although it wouldn’t shock me if it wasn’t.

Many hate us and wish we didn’t exist. Many are annoyed by our wanting to be married like everyone else or use the correct restroom like everyone else. Many don’t see anything wrong with passing down the same old values that send thousands of kids into suicidal depression each year. So we say pride and we express love for who and what we are. Because who else will in earnest?

I daydream on the idea that maybe all this barbarism and all these transgressions against ourselves is an equal and opposite reaction to something better happening in this world, some great swelling wave of openness and wakefulness out here. Reality by comparison looks grey, as in neither black nor white but also bleak.

We are all God’s children, I heard. I left my siblings out of it and spoke with my maker directly and I think he sounds a lot like myself. If I being myself were more awesome at being detached from my own story in a way I being myself never could be. I wanna know what others hear, I’m scared to know but I wanna know what everyone hears when they talk to God.

Do the insane hear the voice distorted? Do the indoctrinated hear another voice entirely?

When this man pens a letter it is always something powerful! Homophobia and violence against people because of their sexuality is not solely isolated to Orlando, Florida. It is clearly a global issue. We have got to do a lot better people. Frank, if you’re reading this, we need you and your music back in action. Kudos Frank, Kudos!

Thin Line Between Jealousy and Truth: Fellow Model Pens An Open Letter to Kendall Jenner About Her Being a ‘Real’ Model

I think we’ve all often wondered if children born to famous families succeed on true talent and merit or if their families prestige plays a part.

When you’re part of the Kardashian clan, that question is asked almost everyday and with Kendall Jenner seeing major success as a model, of course she’s going to ruffle the feathers of a few fellow models. Model Arisce pens an open letter to Kendall openly displaying her disdain:

It reads:

Dear Kendall,

Take a moment and remove yourself from your current situation, if you can, to a life that isn’t riddled with excess and only hearing the word “yes” to your wants and requests. Now, imagine you’re from a small town and/or Third-World country where your only way to get out of your current social class, achieve your dreams, get a green card or just gain better work conditions is to become a high-fashion model. You have to leave for six months to a year sometimes, signing contracts you can barely understand, let alone oblige to, almost without choice. You’re away from your family, your friends and everything you know. You live in a one-bedroom apartment with six other girls in the same situation in this Big Apple, New York City.

Did I mention you’re only 17 when all of this goes down? That means you have to go to tutoring and/or English lessons in between learning how to “walk” at the agency, attending castings every other day, going on test shoots to get you experience, trying to learn your new neighborhood, going to the gym and hoping to maybe make some money all at once. Oh, and your apartment and test shoots aren’t free, by the way. They are added to your account with the agency, as are your casting outfits and cellphone. These are going to leave you in some serious debt if nobody books you for anything; some girls owe upward of $30,000 after a year of trying to book gigs, so take that into perspective as well, Miss Jenner.