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Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Interviews Mogul takes a fictional look at gay hip-hop
Posted By Mustang Sally, Mayor of Bang Town on Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 2:26 PM
On shelves today is a book that will have readers checking back copies of VIBE and Rolling Stone magazines to see if this book is about that guy (you know who). It's called Mogul, by writer Terrence Dean, author of Hiding In Hip Hop.
Dean is quick to point out that his debut novel is a fictional tale. Here's what the story is about:
After the sudden death of his father, a renowned jazz musician, Aaron "Big A.T." Tremble clings to music as an escape. Making hip hop beats becomes his life. His love for music lands him at the estate of Larry "Pop" Singleton, a retired and respected Hip Hop music mogul who sees something special in Big A.T., and he also knows the truth about his sexuality. With Pop's blessings and nurturing, Big A.T. is on the path to becoming the next great Hip Hop producer in New York.With the help of Pop and "the family," a network of secretly gay men in the Hip Hop world, Big A.T. finds success and starts his own music label. He's signed and worked with some of the biggest Hip Hop artists in the country. One of them is Brooklyn native lyricist, "Tickman." Together they are making sweet music together. Tickman and Big A.T.'s relationship goes beyond producer and rapper – they become secret lovers.
Nothing can stop Big A.T. All of the radio stations play his music. He has money, fame, and Jasmine, his girlfriend who doesn't know about his secret love for men. However, at the pinnacle of his career, compromising photos of Big A.T. land on the desk of a national news program—and in the hands of his girlfriend. Big A.T., for the first time is at a crossroad in his career: come out publicly with his secret or watch his music empire crumble.
Dean spoke with Creative Loafing before the release of the book.
Creative Loafing: What prompted this story line?
Well, I wrote Mogul because I wanted to tell the story. I worked in this industry for 20 years, and I have this arsenal of interesting stories. I sort of feel like the Jackie Collins and the Dominick Dunne who wrote their books based on their friendships in Hollywood. But I felt like there was not a black voice in literature that spoke of those same experiences. And I wanted to talk about, look at what it would be like if people found out that their favorite entertainment mogul was on the down low. How the public would respond and telling the story about what it really takes to get into the industry.
The story is sensual and steamy. How did you balance the love scenes so well?
Writers like E. Lynn Harris and Eric Jerome Dickey, who I love and idolize, Tananarive Due and Sonia Sanchez, who has been like a mentor to me, always said study your craft. These characters lived and breathed in me daily. I really wanted to get the reader to read and visualize the characters and the life, how they responded. People say I write very erotic love scenes, but I don't see it that way. Sex happens in hip-hop and in this industry.
Do you think if a "mogul" came out that things would go like you've mapped out in the book?
It does happen. It's not based off something I imagined; it's based off actual people. People that I know of and what I saw and how things work. I call it a modern day roman a clef. People can say, "wow, this is very true to life." I hope that someone from the hip-hop community would come forward and eventually come out. There does need to be a don't ask, don't tell repeal in hip-hop. I think so many people will then come out ... I hope that people get that, they wanted to protect Big A.T., but the family really wanted to protect themselves.
What if Weiner was a woman
Posted By Mustang Sally, Mayor of Bang Town on Tue, Jun 14, 2011 at 10:32 AM
Imagine Sue Myrick or Nancy Pelosi being on Twitter and sending racy messages attached with photos of their boobs. Hard to picture, right? The New York Times pondered this question over the weekend: Why don't women get caught in political sex scandals?
You could easily say look at the women in politics. Aside from Sarah Palin, most of them look like someone's grandmother. And it's true that most congressmen look like someone's grandfather, old men with money and power have always turned people on.
Women have different reasons for running, are more reluctant to do so and, because there are so few of them in politics, are acutely aware of the scrutiny they draw — all of which seems to lead to differences in the way they handle their jobs once elected.“The shorthand of it is that women run for office to do something, and men run for office to be somebody,” said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. “Women run because there is some public issue that they care about, some change they want to make, some issue that is a priority for them, and men tend to run for office because they see this as a career path.”Studies show that women are less likely to run for office; it is more difficult to recruit them, even when they have the same professional and educational qualifications as men.
Sadly, when it comes to equal rights and equal screwups, women are still behind the 8-ball. And when a women politician wins a seat, we expect her to work, all the while giving the boys a chance to play with themselves and the law.
Celinda Lake, a Democratic strategist, says female politicians are punished more harshly than men for misbehavior. “When voters find out men have ethics and honesty issues, they say, ‘Well, I expected that,’ " Ms. Lake said. “When they find out it’s a woman, they say, ‘I thought she was better than that.’ "
Shouldn't we expect better than that from all politicians, no matter if they sit or stand to pee?
Monday, June 6, 2011
Hard News John Edwards, you're not too good for prison
Posted By Web Editor on Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 12:02 PM
The News & Observer is reporting that former Senator, vice-presidential nominee, presidential candidate and beloved son of North Cackalacky, decided to take his campaign-finance violation criminal case to court because he didn't want to plead guilty to three misdemeanor violations, which would have meant six months in jail.
In case you've been under a rock, he's accused of using his campaign coffers to cover up his extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter — who has since moved to Charlotte — and the fact that her daughter is also his daughter.
Listen, John, I don't give a shit what you used that money for, but I am pissed that you thought, and apparently still think, you're above the law and jail time.
Enjoy your jury trial, prick. If there's any justice in this world, you and all of the other prison-avoiding rich fucks in this world — I'm looking at you Dominique Strauss-Kahn — will end up picking up trash (actual trash, not hookers) along the side of a hot Southern road only to go "home" to Bubba and his butter fingers.
I do, however, hate every bit of this for your children; they deserve better than this brand of bullshit ... and for what? So you could get laid?
Here's more from the N&O:
Just before John Edwards was indicted Friday, prosecutors made a final offer: They would accept his guilty plea to three misdemeanor campaign finance law violations in the $925,000 cover-up of his affair.With the deal, the former Democratic vice-presidential nominee would avoid a felony conviction - and almost certainly keep the law license that had made him wealthy.
The government wanted to dictate a sentence that would result in up to six months of prison for Edwards, even with the plea to lesser charges.
Edwards and his lawyers were concerned. They wanted the ability to at least argue to a judge for alternatives, such as a halfway house, weekend releases, home arrest or some arrangement that would allow Edwards to be with his school-age children. He is a single parent after the death of his wife, Elizabeth, in December.
Read the entire article, by J. Andrew Curliss and Joseph Neff, here.
— Rhi Bowman
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Hard News / feature Under-reported rapes lead to fleeing criminals
Posted By Mustang Sally, Mayor of Bang Town on Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 2:33 PM
Editor's Note: As of December 2016, all of Dr. Hart's charges related to the accusations below have been dismissed and expunged from his record by the state of South Carolina.
The case of Rock Hill doctor Darlington Hart is disturbing on so many levels.
Here's some background on the accusations the dentist faces:
Darlington Hart, 42, has a practice in Rock Hill on Constitution Boulevard, and another in Charlotte on England Street. Both offices are called Cornerstone Medical.Last week, Rock Hill police charged Hart with criminal sexual conduct. Police said at his Rock Hill office, Hart grabbed one of his employees by the arm, pulled her into a room, turned up the radio and raped her. He then told her not to tell anyone about it, police said.She reported it to police after two co-workers urged her to, investigators said.
This wasn't the first time that the doctor had been accused of sexual assault, according to WSOC:
In one case, a 38-year-old woman claimed Hart raped her in July 2008 after giving her medicine to help her relax. She said it happened while she was under the influence of the medicine. That victim delayed reporting the incident for more than a year, and later decided not to press charges.Then, in March 2010, a 31-year-old woman told police that she went to Hart to get refills on pain medication. She claimed Hart grabbed her and said he'd give her more pain medicine if she'd have sex with him. She told police she delayed reporting the incident because Hart threatened to kill her if she told anyone.
It wasn't until a third rape allegation surfaced and Hart fled the country that police gave the two previous cases a second look. Really? Have we gotten to a point in this country that you have to rape (allegedly) three women before any reported rape is taken seriously? Even after being charged, somehow Hart was able to flee the country.
Police said Hart fled the country after he was accused most recently. A national crime database found him briefly in London after he took a flight there from Charlotte. Now, police think he's in Nigeria, where he's from.That nation does not commonly extradite criminal suspects to the United States. It's unlikely Hart will be arrested unless he returns to the U.S.
Hart, according to the Rock Hill Herald, was "convinced" to return to the states. Umm, he should've never had the opportunity to leave in the first place; with three allegations of rape, he should've been monitored by someone.
Hart was wanted for charges of criminal sexual conduct, third degree.
But we worry about putting marijuana smokers in jail on less-serious charges?
Rape is one of the most under-reported crimes in the nation, and cases like Hart's pretty much show why.
According to RAINN, the Rape Abuse Incest National Network, 15 out 16 rapist will never spend a day in jail.
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