Source: WENN

You recognize these faces don’t you? Gospel singer Tamela Mann and comedic actor David Mann have been more than gainfully employed by Tyler Perry over the last decade, with both actors starring in several of the director/screenwriter/producer’s plays and feature films. Well something you may or may not have known is that the couple is actually a husband-wife duo (not that their names didn’t tip you off), and over this past weekend they walked down the aisle for the first time together, despite having legally wed back in 1988. Tamela told Us Weekly:

“When we got married 25 years ago, we didn’t have enough money for a wedding.”

The 46-year-olds even had to borrow a ring to symbolize their union. Thankfully, they were now able to put those Tyler Perry dollars to use and have the wedding they’ve been dreaming of for over two decades. On April 20, Tamela and David renewed their vows in front of family and friends in Dallas, TX, in a ceremony — and wedding dress — Tamela spent months working on.

“I knew every intimate detail of [the dress], but when I saw it at my final fitting last week, I lost it,” Tamela said. “It was everything I could have ever dreamed of in a bridal gown.”

“We wanted a fairytale wedding, so we picked an enchanted forest theme,” she added.  ”We hosted everyone at the Joule Hotel because it had the feel we were trying to create — old-world romantic, beautiful, chic and lush — and a place everyone would love.  And it had space for a dance floor, which if you know David, was something we had to have!”

“Our grand babies were dressed as little princes and princesses. Our children weren’t happy they didn’t get to be in the ceremony, but they eventually were okay with it because their kids got to be on stage with us.”

Quite a few famous faces were at the ceremony as well, although the couple, who has three daughters and one son, said they wanted to ”keep the invite intimate.” High school friend Kirk Franklin and his wife Tammy attended the vow renewal, as did Timbaland and his wife Monique Idlett Mosley. Us Weekly will release exclusive shots from the ceremony this week and it shouldn’t be long before we see more of the day’s events, as the Mann’s are slated to star in a new reality show debuting later this year or early 2014.

Congrats to the couple!

Source: Crimeblog.dallasnews.co m

Juanita Bynum better start calling on the Lord harder than she ever has before because the televangelist preacher could sure use him on her main line right now. According to a Dallas Crime Blog, she spent the night in the Lew Sterrett Justice Center Thursday night after police arrested her on a warrant for failure to appear in a Dallas civil proceeding against her.

According to the site, Juanita, who resides in Georgia, was booked in at the jail about 10:30 p.m. Thursday and was released Friday after she appeared in a Dallas courtroom to answer questions in the case, which relates to a 2007 judgment ordering her to pay $140,000 to ALW Entertainment. Obnoxious TV reports that promoter Al Wash of ALW Entertainment paid Juanita a $100,000 advance to star in a stage play that she never did. He sued her and won and Juanita was allegedly ordered to make payments to him, which she has not done. That, on top of missing her court appearance to explain why she hasn’t been paying, is what caused a warrant to be issued, and her subsequent arrest.

Wash’s attorney, David Small seems to be confident the case will be resolved soon, telling the crime blog:

“[Juanita] has disclosed the whereabouts of her assets and her business dealings.”

Sounds like Al is going to get his money one way or another. Juanita, stay prayed up girl!

therusspassmorningshow.com

Looking to charge up your sex life? You might want to visit New York, Miami or Atlanta.

So here’s the thing: condom brand Trojan surveyed 2,000 U.S. adults about their sexual habits and these cities topped the list in quite a few of the categories. The survey shows that Miami is at the top of the leaderboard with the average number times sex is had per year at 177 while the rest of the country “only” averages out at 151 times per year (New York is second at 156 times per year). I guess more than just the temperature makes it “muy caliente” down there.

Not to be outdone, New Yorkers seem to be more vocal about their sexual desires. At 27 percent, New Yorkers are at the top when it comes to expressing their fantasies to their lovers and 78 percent are open to trying a vibrator with a partner during sex.  If you’ve ever walked through the West Village and took stock of all the “toy stores” that are there, this won’t surprise you that much.

Oh but I didn’t forget you, Atlanta.  The survey says that at 72 percent, Atlanta is the most sexually adventurous city and they also have the highest sex drive (7.2 out of 10). It’s no wonder the residents confessed to having an average of 25 sexual partners in their lifetime (Atlanta is at the top of that leaderboard too). Yes, you all are keeping it “hot” indeed.

The survey doesn’t mention sexual orientation of those surveyed but it’s funny that these cities topped the list in most categories (the survey was done in a total of 10 major cities) because women claim in all these cities that they’re not really getting any because there’s a shortage of men.  I’m not just talking about black women either; peek your head into the conversations of our white sisters (if you’re not already cool with them) and you’ll see that they’re having the same issues many of us seem to be having.  But hey, a woman’s got needs just like any other man would so we’re “getting it in” even with the issues some of us seem to be having with our deeper relationships.

Check out the survey here. Do you consider yourself sexually “free?”  Would you like to try a little something different to spice up your life?

Source: rollingstone.com

So have you all seen the new Erykah Badu/Flaming Lips video? You haven’t? Well, I can describe it for you in just one word: Um….

For a more detailed description, the video, which was directed by George Salisbury, features Badu crooning to the remake of Roberta Flacks’ version of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” while her fully naked younger sister Nayrok frolicks about in bathtubs full of glitter, then blood, then some substance with a white and thick consistency. I’m just going to come right out and call it semen (seriously, that’s what it looked like). Anyway, the entire video is shot in one sequence repeated three times, with Badu singing, often times butt naked in a tub, while her younger sister gives us full on boobs, then butt and for the finale, a full frontal shot. Did I mention that this was a music video?

Oh, if you were wondering, the Flaming Lips were in the video too-albeit fully clothed. They stood around, beating fur covered snarl drums, twirling aluminum foil and made ugly ecstasy faces into the camera. For a song called “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” ironically, we only get to see Nayrok’s face and that isn’t until the end, when she is dripping the ambiguous white stuff all over it. Try getting that visual out of your head?

The video has been mostly removed from YouTube and scrubbed from much of the Internet, with the exception of a few sites being smart enough to actually download the clip and save it to their own domains. However, if you haven’t seen it yet, know that it’s more audacious than the “Window Seat” video. And it is probably more abstract and eclectic than anything that Badu has ever attached her name too. It’s clear that Badu is seeking to translate her flare for the multifarious into other realms of art but, the video is a serious head scratcher. It is probably the most “WTF” Badu video I have ever seen. And we are talking about Erykah Badu here, so you know that’s saying a bunch.  I’d like to say that I could get past all the naked booty to find a deeper meaning, but I kept coming back to the same conclusion: I just watched a video of a naked woman covered in glitter, blood and semen.  So has Badu finally gone off the deep end?

There was already plenty of controversy surrounding the lack of black women in the George Lucas Tuskegee Airmen film “Red Tails,” but now a school district in Dallas is catching heat, and possibly, a case for sending about 5,700 fifth grade boys on a field trip to see the movie, and excluding girls.

According to a teacher, the trip was a part of black history month, and the film was chosen because it was something that boys would be interested in, as the movie is about historically significant African American men. Of the choice to exclude girls, Independent School District spokesman Jon Dahlander, said:

“There is only so much available space at the movie theater, so the decision was made for boys to attend the movie. Girls stayed at school but principals were given the option to show them ‘Akeelah and the Bee.’”

Title IX funds were used to cover the cost of the nearly $60,000 field trip, which included $32,000 for the cost of movie tickets and an additional $25,000 for bus rentals, not to mention paying substitute teachers to instruct the girls who were still in the classroom. Title I money is used for educating low-income students, but because Title IX prohibits schools that get federal money from gender-based discrimination, outside groups are questioning whether the provision has been violated.

The American Association of University Women told the Dallas Morning News that the field trip was a case of “separate but unequal,’’ and a statement by the Dallas district’s board of trustees saying that they thought boys would enjoy the combat movie more than the girls doesn’t do much to to nullify that stance.

I actually think sending black boys to see the film as a way to instill pride as African American men would’ve been a great idea, but the fact that the district didn’t even think that deeply and made the trip more of a “boys play with guns, girls play with barbies” situation, makes it hard to justify the exclusion of female students. What year is it, 1950?

What do you think about this “Red Tails” field trip? Should the school district be held accountable for excluding girls from seeing the film?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

• Star Snubs: Talented Artists That Never Won A Grammy
• Love Him Or Leave Him? Signs That He May Not Be That Into You (Anymore)
• Young At Heart: Our Favorite 25 And Under Celebrities Who Are In Love!
• Make Him Wish Every Day Was Valentine’s Day! Gift Ideas For Your Man
• Scent From the Heart: 10 Fragrances Perfect for Valentine’s Day
• Ish is Getting Real: Gonorrhea’s Becoming Untreatable
• Beauty At The Least: The Best Bargains To Help You Stay Beautiful
• Meet Blue Ivy Carter: First Pics

When a Dallas man decided to rob a beauty supply store just as it was closing last week, I guess he figured he better pick up something for his girl too.

Benitra Jackson tells NBC Dallas she was just about to close for the night when a man wearing a mask burst into the store, pointed a gun, and demanded she and her manager hit the floor.

Surveillance video shows the robber forcing the manager to the floor first, then turning on Benitra.

“And then he threw me on the floor and told me to put the money in the bag. So I just threw the money in the bag then laid back down on the floor,” she says.

Jackson says she gave the robber all of the cash in the register, but he said it wasn’t enough. “He was just saying ‘the change too,’ cause he had kids.”

But even the change wasn’t enough for the frustrated robber. He also demanded weave.

According to a police reporter, Jackson told officers the man said, “My b**** needs some hair extensions, which are the best ones?”

“I was like, really?” Jackson says. “I wanted to laugh, but something was going on and I was in shock. So I was like why are you asking me about the most expensive hair extensions? So I just grabbed any kind for him.”

Thankfully, the robber was finally satisfied and fled the scene. Jackson says she hopes the thief gets caught, and as far as the hair extensions go, she says, “Well, I hope she doesn’t like them.”

SMH. The things people do for money, love, and weave.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

• Celebrities That Should Have Reality Shows
• Get Fabulous In A Flash! Simple Tricks to Instantly Look Gorgeous
• Reasons Why Women Overlook “Nice Guys”
• Bump Up Your Bob! Spice Up Your Sleek Style With These Tips
• S*** Black Girls Say vs. S*** White Girls Say to Black Girls
• Six Fashion Trends Sistas Need to Change. Now.

Colombian officials had a change of heart and have now released 15-year-old Jakadrien Lorece Turner, the Dallas teenager who was mistakenly deported to the country after she ran away from home in November 2010.

No concrete explanation has been given as to how the non-Spanish-speaking African American girl was sent to the country, regardless of her claim to be Tika Lanay Cortez, a Colombian woman born in 1990.

Houston police said in a statement that the name was run through a database to determine if Tika was wanted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but the results were negative. She was then turned over to the Harris County jail and booked on a theft charge.

The county sheriff’s office said it ran her through the available databases and did the interviews necessary to establish her identity and immigration status in the country, with negative results. A sheriff’s office employee then recommended that an immigration detainer be put on her, and upon her release from jail she was turned over to ICE. According to U.S. immigration officials, they followed procedure and found nothing to indicate that the girl wasn’t a Colombian woman living illegally in the country.

“If she looked like an adult, and she told them she was a 21-year-old Colombian citizen, and she didn’t show up in their databases, this was inevitable,” said Albert Armendariz, an immigration attorney from El Paso.

An ICE official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Jakadrien was interviewed by a representative from the Colombian consulate and that the country’s government issued her a travel document to enter Colombia and she was given Colombian citizenship when she arrived. According to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Jakadrien was enrolled in the country’s “Welcome Home” program where she was given shelter, psychological assistance, and a job at a call center.

Since her return, Jakadrien hasn’t said much about her experience, but according to an attorney for the family, “She’s happy to be home.”

As outrageous as this story sounds, Stephen Yale-Loehr, who teaches immigration law at Cornell Law School, said it’s not all that uncommon.

“There are a variety of legitimate reasons why somebody might not appear to be a U.S. citizen at first glance.” he said. “It’s the duty of the U.S. federal immigration agency to make sure that we do not detain and deport U.S. citizens erroneously. And this, unfortunately happened in this case.”

According to Jakadrien’s family, they simply plan to “do what we can to make sure she gets back to a normal life,” while their attorney pursues answers as to how this incident occurred.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

• Celebrities That Should Have Reality Shows
• Get Fabulous In A Flash! Simple Tricks to Instantly Look Gorgeous
• Reasons Why Women Overlook “Nice Guys”
• Bump Up Your Bob! Spice Up Your Sleek Style With These Tips
• S*** Black Girls Say vs. S*** White Girls Say to Black Girls
• Six Fashion Trends Sistas Need to Change. Now.

Lorene Turner has been searching for her granddaughter, Jakadrien, since the fall of 2010, when she ran away from home. At the time, the grandmother says the 14-year-old was distraught over the loss of her grandfather and her parents’ divorce. But using Facebook, Lorene finally found her granddaughter’s location—Colombia.

Police determined that Jakadrien was mistakenly deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in April of 2011. When Jakadrien ran away, she somehow ended up in Houston from her Dallas hometown, and was arrested for theft. She gave officers a fake name, and when the name was checked it belonged to a 22-year-old illegal immigrant from Colombia, who had warrants for her arrest.

Still the question of how an African American girl who doesn’t speak Spanish could end up deported to Colombia still remains. The ICE took Jakadrien’s fingerprints, but somehow didn’t confirm her identity and deported her to Colombia, where the Colombian government gave her a work card and released her. Now, the Colombian government has the girl in a detention facility and won’t release her, despite her family’s request. The 15-year-old is also pregnant.

Every parent with a teenager should tell them this story anytime they even mention running away.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire!

• Keeping It Toasty: Stylish Puffer Jacket Options For The Extra Cold Days
• 8 Celebs Spill Their New Year’s Resolutions
• Deuces Before The Due Date! Couples Who Split With Babies On The Way
• Ashy to Classy: Must Have Beauty Products to Curb Head to Toe Winter Dryness
• The Trouble with Waiting for a Man to be ‘Ready’
• Why Gay is NOT The New Black

In the suburbs of Dallas, a rapist appears to be targeting members of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.  In the past 11 months, four women, all in their mid-50s to mid-60s, were attacked in their homes in Plano, Coppell and the Denton County community of Shady Shores.

During the assaults, the man reportedly revealed personal information about the victims, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Video and photos of a man who could be connected to one attack have been released. The perp is thought to be black, in his late 30s to mid-40s, 5 feet 7 to 6 feet tall and 250 to 300 pounds. He appears to have a thin, well-trimmed beard and short hair, possibly with a receding hairline.

Read the full story on The Dallas Morning News.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

More on Madame Noire

• Woman to Woman: You’ve got the power
• Boys Behind Amber Cole Scandal Arrested
• HIV Gel That Cuts Herpes Risk in Half in the Works
• Does Age Really Matter?
• The Definition of a Mean Girl
• Eight Things You Shouldn’t Buy On-Line

(HuffingtonPost.com) — Samantha Friedman and Gregory D. Squires It helps to be white if you are trying to rent an apartment in Dallas. At least those housing providers who advertise rental units on Craigslist clearly prefer to rent to white rather than African American or Hispanic households.
According to real estate industry sources and a 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center, more than half of all homeseekers today utilize the internet in their search for housing with Craiglist being the primary search engine. Between January and May of 2009 we submitted responses to a representative sample of 726 housing providers who advertised rental units on Craigslist in the Dallas metropolitan area. Each provider received similar e-mail responses from three “testers;” one with a white sounding name (Neil Baker or Matthew O’Brien), one with an African American sounding name (Tyrone Jackson or Tremayne Robinson), and one with a Hispanic sounding name (Jorge Rodriguez or Pedro Gonzalesr). (We also tested 739 housing providers in Boston with similar results.)

Read More…