RNC Chairman Reince Priebus. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File

The Republican party and the African-American community aren’t known for being on the same side of most issues. But as the GOP has upped its efforts to increase its appeal in the black and Latina community,  MadameNoire to take a look of some of the party insiders.

With notable alumni in every field from politics to education, Morehouse College is a historically black all- men’s located in Atlanta, Georgia. Consistently ranking in the top five of HBCU’s in America each year, here are 10 famous brothers who attended Morehouse College.

Source: WENN

Spike Lee

The Emmy award winning director is a part of a legacy of Morehouse men, as his father and grandfather both graduated before him. Enrolling in 1976, Spike entered college with no idea about what he wanted to major in. He returned after one summer wanting to become a filmmaker, and eventually received his bachelor’s degree in mass communications. His films have helped launched the careers of some of our favorite black actors and actresses.

Aww pooey! I’m not going to lie, I didn’t watch the Republican debates but I would definitely tune in (at least once) to see Herman Cain compete on “Dancing With the Stars.”

Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. While the former presidential candidate was invited by DWTS producers, Cain  declined.

Find out why at EurWeb.com.

Would you have watched Herman Cain on Dancing With the Stars?

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"The Truth," by Michael D' Antuono

In the summer of 2007, during the nascent stages of Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the presidency, I had my only professional position to date in which my direct superior was a black man.

I had a discussion with him regarding whom he would vote for in the 2008 presidential election. Without hesitation, he said that if a black man (from Chicago!!!) is running for the presidential seat, everything else be damned…he’s voting for THAT guy.

This, of course, represents the main issue with Barack and black folks: he was to be the panacea for the black community’s myriad of issues; a savior who ushered in the advent of a post-racial America where black folks run Shyte and get to commit people like Taylor Swift to slavery in the cornfields.

In Chicago’s nearly-all-black Bronzeville neighborhood – less than 10 minutes from where Obama’s house stands – it seems nearly every black-owned business you walk in has on its walls some type of framed picture of our president, often with angel wings or some other absurdity. I don’t know when dude turned into Jesus Christ, but I think this is evidence of black folks’ tendency to deify a bit too far.

I don’t think enough black folks have yet gotten past the historical – and admittedly important – nature of his election to also recognize his very apparent flaws. Sure, I drank the Obama Kool-Aid in the beginning, but only to the degree that my relentless cynicism would take me.  Indeed, he’s since let me down on a number of fronts: without getting into an itemized list, I think that he has not exhibited the overall cojones required of his position, nor has he demonstrated a desire to switch away from the “old guard,” especially when it comes to issues related to the financial crisis.

We had unreasonably high expectations of him to not only save the government, but to alter a racial and socioeconomic framework of our country that has been in place for generations. And he hasn’t, nor will he. Nor could he. Black folks are still dying at our own hands at a depressing clip. Poverty, malnourishment and substandard education is still rampant in scope for underserved minorities. We still have a prison system that jails a far higher proportion of blacks than the percentage that actually live in America.

The scope of what he seemingly promised on his campaign platform was almost unachievable at any rate. Barack was never going to change the world: one man, no matter his power, can do only so much.  Still, he will be elected for a second term next year, mainly because no one worth a quarter is running against him in the Grand Ole Party. I maintain only a meager semblance of hope that he will be successful in accomplishing a lot of the “hopey-changey” things he ran on.

Regardless of what happens, I think we need to get past the historical significance of a brown dude in the White House in order to see him for what he is: a politician prone to political flaws. Because as long as we back candidates that look like us and share some semblance of our ideologies, we’re prone not to look too far past the surface.

Still, no black folks I know ever supported Herman Cain. Perhaps there’s hope for us after all…?

by Charing Ball

I never “get” the mistress. I mean sure, as someone, who loves her space the idea of a non-committal relationship does seem tempting. And sure there is the good sex, hotel room adventures, exciting clandestine dates, gifts and the allure of doing something the rest of society frowns upon. And there is no denying that there is power in being the person for whom a man, albeit married, desires so much that he is willing to jeopardize his sacred union.

But at some point, the thrill of it all tires for the mistress and then all you are left with is the truth; that you are not a priority, and that the odds that he’ll leave his wife is on par with M.C. Hammer will make a comeback. Unlikely.  And in the slim chance that he does leave his family behind, there is an even smaller chance that he will leave his wife for you.

I suspect that this realization is what is at the heart of Ginger White‘s reasoning to come forward and reveal her 13-year adulterous relationship with Herman Cain. Despite her claims that she came out of the mistress closet out of partial fear that the truth would be exposed eventually and partial concern over how Cain mishandled the allegations of sexual harassment waged by five different women, this is very much, more personal.  I mean who could blame her?

After years of playing the dutiful kept-woman, allegedly, Cain cowardly breaks things off with her prior to his announcement for candidacy for president. And then you find out that during the time when he was stepping out on his wife, allegedly, with you, that lying, cheating bastard was also feeling up random women, allegedly behind your – and his wife’s – back. It’s enough to turn any loving mistress into the hell-fury scorned woman intent on revenge.

That’s why it comes as no surprise that White was more than willing to give the Fox news affiliate her cell phone bill, which included 61 phone calls or text messages to or from Cain at all hours of the day and night, to prove an accusation that she alone was making. Again no one forced her to come forward with the details of their alleged secret affair; she did it out of her own accord with the intention of exposing him. And I imagine that she secretly smirked in delight as the reporter texted the number she had given him and got a call back from Cain himself. Gotcha, she probably thought.  It is the quintessential and yet high-profiled version of busting the windows of a dude’s car.

Nobody believes a mistress or even has sympathy for one.  Yet we do love a good salacious sex story.  Back in the day, being a kept-woman used to be socially unacceptable. There was no glory in being the woman, who was enabling a man to cheat on his wife. Thus women, who chose that lifestyle, knew to keep their mouths shut. You didn’t see Marilyn Monroe holding press conferences about her tryst with Kennedy nor FDR’s secretary crying on the shoulders of Nancy Grace.

But in these less than graceless times, a mistress is practically heightened to the status of a celebrity.  Mistresses are running their mouths all over the place and getting fame and getting paid handsomely for her “emotional” sorted story of being the other woman. Never mind the grieving and delusional Mrs. at home. There is no Gloria Allred, celebrity feminist attorney, representation in their corners. Instead, it is the mistresses with the book deals and television appearances.

But if it is any consolation, the very public men in these adulterous affairs pay the ultimate price. Not only are they shamed but many times, they end up losing plenty of professional clout, if not their jobs, in the process. And in a way, we understand. They were the vow taker and ultimately the vow breaker. But is it fair that their personal shame be a matter of their public downfall?

The 2012 Republican presidential candidate pool is such a circus it reminds us more of a terrible reality show rather than suitable contenders for the highest office in the land. Enters Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather Pizza, an alleged serial sexual harasser of women and apparently a philanderer. Herman’s latest “awe jeez not this Shyte again moment” came yesterday from his alleged mistress of 13 years, Ginger White. Ginger has outed Herman for his cheating ways, and by the time you read this she will probably have given a tell-all interview to Fox News. Said interview will be a serious blow to the Republicans coveted “black man,” who up until now has been pretty steady in the polls. For the record, Ginger is a racially ambiguous woman (some say she might be a fair-skinned black woman, not that it matters like THAT), which bodes well for Uncle Herman because we all know white America would flip their wig if Cain was sticking his hand in the prized cookie jar of Southern white women.

But enough about Herman Cain and his side show antics! His new blunder got me to thinking about how many men have been taken down by their notable side chicks, mistresses, jump offs — call them what you may. Who are some of the more standout mistresses that we’ve seen over the years? I took to my Twitter feed, asked around, and learned one thing very quickly: I better not put Alicia Keys or Gabrielle Union on this list, so I will tread lightly when talking about those young women, who are doing great things for the community might I add! Take a walk with me down the side chick hall of fame; you’ll see some familiar faces and some not so familiar ones, but they all have something in common: creeping with somebody else’s man.

So what’s the deal with Gloria Cain, wife of Republican candidate for president Herman Cain?

I ask this because yesterday I got a chance to watch a video of Gloria Cain’s interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News and was kind of perplexed by it.  No not because of how uncomfortable and awkward Van Susteren looked trying to twist her hard face into a soft and sympathy-filled gaze, but at how uninformed and basically clueless Mrs. Cain had been at the alleged sexual exploits of her husband of more than 40 years.

Maybe it should come as a surprise. After all, Gloria has spent most of the 2012 presidential race far away from the national spotlight, avoiding the rallies, the debates and the blunders, only to now be put on the public stage to defend her husband against the accusations that he is a little too friendly with the ladies.  And despite having her exasperated wife routine down, when asked about the first allegation of sexual harassment, she was completely dumbfounded.

Gloria contends that she “vaguely” remembers something about the allegations and that Herman did mention it to her — but he also told her that the charges were unfounded, so therefore she left it alone.  Of course, he never mentioned that the allegations resulted in the National Restaurant Association, his former employer, having to payout a $45,000 settlement with the complainant.  But it probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway, because with certain women there is nothing you can tell them about their husbands.

For the rest of the interview, Gloria gushed about how her Herman is the protector of women, who is so deeply, fundamentally “old school.” Then she told a wonderful story about his relationship with “a little Christian lady” in his office with whom he liked to chat regularly with about Bible verses.  Her Herman is a good Christian man, which means his Christian values make him incapable of being the type to thrust a woman’s head, who is not his wife, into his crotch (as one woman alleges).  No, in order to do that, “he would have to have a split personality,” Gloria said. Or is just multi-dimensioned like most humans.

At any rate, poor old-fashioned Gloria Cain. I mean, poor, poor docile yet likable — but certainly fragile — and definitely earnest, Gloria. Either she doesn’t know how much of a cad her husband allegedly is or has willfully turned a blind eye to some of the antisocial behaviors we have heard about Mr. Cain exhibiting thus far.

While watching the interview, I started thinking about this film I watched recently called “The Woman,” a radical feminist revenge horror flick, which tells the tale of a smiling chauvinist and psychopathic father and the women he keeps under his thumb. In the film the father captures and abducts a wild, Amazonian-type woman, who just happened to be bathing in a creek. The psycho dad then chains the feral woman up in the family storm cellar under the guise of “civilizing” her. But the reality is that he was subjecting this imprisoned woman to all sorts of torture, abuse and just flat out sexual assault. As horrible a monster as he was, nothing he did could have been achieved without the assistance of his suburban wife, who despite disapproving of keeping a woman prisoner in the basement, would still make meals and sew clothing for the feral woman so that her husbands could sexual abuse her more comfortably. Basically, the wife didn’t do anything to help the woman escape, even though she knew it was wrong.  In short, she was complacent and by default was just as guilty as her psychopathic husband.

Now I’m not suggesting that Mrs. Cain is an enabler to her husbands alleged deviant behavior. Hell, I’m not even going to say that he is guilty – mainly because that might get me sued.  However, when you are married to a man, who is both disrespectful and condescending towards women including the House Democratic leader, who he called  “Princess Nancy” Pelosi; who referred to presidential rival Michele Bachmann as “tutti-frutti” ice cream; or who suggested that a pizza with vegetable toppings is not manly and should be considered a sissy pizza — then you don’t get to play the St. Herman card with people.

Sexual harassment allegations aside, your husband is a bit of a jerk, who makes xenophobic jokes about electrified fences and calls himself black walnut and cornbread to the delight of white audiences.  And if we can all see that he is a bit of a jerk than I’m certain that you noticed it many, many moons ago.

Perhaps it is because she is the old-fashioned type, who stays at home with the kids while her husband labors at the office.  Perhaps Cain is more chivalrous with his wife than he is with the general public.  Which is another reason to dislike his decision to drag her out into the public to clean up her husband’s mess.  Since when is a husband’s lack of discernment his wife’s responsibility?

Charing Ball is the author of the blog People, Places & Things.

Any time a woman comes forward to accuse a man of an inappropriate sexual act, she better be ready to defend everything she’s ever done in her entire life. Herman Cain’s latest sexual harassment accuser is no different. In this case though, the victim, Sharon Bialek, seemed to put this onus on herself when she admitted that she not only went out on a “date” with Cain, but also followed him into an office late at night alone after the intimate meeting. A female correspondent on Fox News had this to say about this Cain accuser:

I think if there’s any teachable moment in all of this, and we never talk about it, is that women shouldn’t put themselves in these positions. He’s a married man. What is she doing, what is he doing going for drinks, going back to his office, why are they in a car together?

That’s not a bad point. It doesn’t excuse Cain from supposedly trying to force her head towards his crotch (eww…) but it does make you question: is it ever OK to do “date-like” things with a married man? And I don’t mean your best friend who’s really like your brother and you know his wife and you all hang out together—I’m talking about the colleague, old flame, or married man at the gym that you wouldn’t wait a second before jumping into bed with if it weren’t for that ring on his finger.

Fortunately, I haven’t had too many run-ins with married men. I’m usually so busy asking questions like: why are you at the club pushing up on women when your wife is at home? Because of this, a married guy wouldn’t even try it. Recently, though, I was hanging out at the bar with a couple of guys and one of them mentioned some girl was coming. His friend said he didn’t care about any female coming, as he motioned to the ring on his finger. I was impressed.

Later he pulled out his phone and showed me pics of his wife and was bragging about her and I thought, “Aww he is so cute.”  But after a while we got to talking more and more about their relationship and his track record of fidelity grew less and less and suddenly he was giving me his number and telling me to call him some time. I thought, “Hmm this is strange. Is this the ‘honesty is the new dishonesty’ policy?” Putting it all out there and letting the woman do as she pleases?  I didn’t even feel comfortable taking down his number, which I did more out of shock and not wanting to be overtly rude. I knew I certainly would never call.

But I’ll admit, shamefully, that the thing that makes me steer clear of married men the most is karma. I do not want to be the woman sitting at home while my husband is out grinning in some 20-year-olds face and showing her my pics just because I thought it was cute to tempt some unhappily married man when I was young.

It can be an ego  trip to be that woman who takes a man’s mind off of his problems at home. But if you know you  won’t keep things strictly platonic, I’d say it’s best to skip the martinis and the dinners and the late night phone calls. The flesh is weak and Karma is a you know what. And it might sound old-fashioned, but if a woman is wiser and better able to keep herself out of these positions, she should.

Could Sharon Bialek have been that naive? I don’t know about you, but to me she looks like someone who has been around the block.

Have you ever found yourself in a compromising position with a married man? What’s your policy on doing non-platonic things with a married man? Drinks, dinner, dancing — what is the line? Do you take your chances or steer clear altogether?

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

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One of Herman Cain’s many controversial comments has included his attack on Planned Parenthood as targeting black women in what he calls its “Planned Genocide.” The basis for his argument is the high rate of abortion among African-Americans. Despite only making up 12% of the US population, abortions among black women are triple that of the US population at 36.5%. The statistic is an alarming, but I’m not sure the bulk of the blame can be placed on Planned Parenthood.

Yes, Planned Parenthood Founder Margaret Sanger believed in the superiority of the white race, and famously started her organization to prevent the increase of social undesirables overall in the historically black neighborhood of Harlem. This is certainly disturbing to say the least. But isn’t there an underlying issue that warrants more attention than this, which has nothing to do with Planned Parenthood’s original purpose (which they has long since disavowed)?

What about the issue of black reproductive responsibility?

I have absolutely no issue with a woman exercising her reproductive right to an abortion, especially when she knows that she isn’t able to provide for a child financially. But the fact that black women are having these procedures at a much higher rate than others suggests a different problem that is not material. Poor access to and use of birth control has been cited as a possible cause for our higher abortion rates, but the last time I checked, there was no shortage of condoms in the U.S. What does seem to be running in short supply is the simple idea of sexual responsibility and pregnancy prevention in the first place.

Abortions shouldn’t be used as birth control. The fact that over 36% of abortions are performed on black women suggests that too many of us are seeing abortion as the first line of prevention against unwanted pregnancy. If that is true, we’ve got work to do internally. We need to make sure black parents provide more education to both boys and girls before black women get to the point of needing this service.

I wouldn’t put it totally past Planned Parenthood to be operating under a form of subtle institutional racism, but at the end of the day I’m not one for conspiracy theories (as is Herman Cain). If you are that paranoid, there’s a way to stop Planned Parenthood from achieving its perceived mission and it has nothing to do with shutting down their facilities. We can start teaching young black women and men sexual responsibility long before they even need to step foot in a Planned Parenthood clinic. Then we’ll no doubt see a drop in abortion rates.

Instead of pointing the finger to outside variables, let’s focus on us.

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

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It’s no secret white Republicans only care about black folks when it’s time to vote. Every election season you know there is going to be a random white man sitting in the back of your church looking out of place. Then the preacher steps to the pulpit with a: “We have a very special guest today. Representative/Congressman/Senator So-and-so is here and he wants to tell us about x, y, z,” i.e. himself — and then after the election season is over you never see the man again.

I’ve grown accustomed to this sad tradition, but this year it seems the Grand Old Party is kicking that reach-out-to-the-black-people thing into over drive. And oddly they are playing the race card to do it. Right wingnut Ann Coulter, for instance, has been bending over backwards to defend black conservative Herman Cain during his sexual harassment crisis. Proudly, she has remarked — in public — that her blacks, meaning Republicans, are more impressive than their blacks, meaning Democrats, spurring her crusade against what she calls the “high-tech lynching” of Cain regarding the sexual harassment allegations against him. The Daily News has the details on her bizarre reasoning:

“Our blacks are so much better than their blacks,” Coulter told Fox News. “To become a black Republican, you don’t just roll into it. You’re not going with the flow. You have fought against probably your family members, probably your neighbors, you have thought everything out and that’s why we have very impressive blacks in our party.”

HLN’s Joy Behar questioned Coulter’s remarks on Tuesday evening, asking if she believed “all the African Americans who are Democrats are stupid?”

“No,” a testy Coulter answered. “I’m saying Google Maxine Waters, Cynthia McKinney, John Conyers, and then Google Allen West, Michael Steele or Herman Cain. … Ours are more impressive. There’s no question about it.”

If you ever thought black people overplay the race card, these statements are evidence that the GOP is about to put us all to shame. Even Rush Limbaugh of all people has taken a stance against the “racism” he says is being hurled at Cain, having the nerve to ask the public, “What’s next, folks? A cartoon on MSNBC showing Herman Cain with huge lips eating a watermelon? What are they gonna do next?” He’s is really one to talk. (If you need a reminder of all of Rush Limbaugh’s many racist statements, check out NewsOne’s list of gems.)

And let us not forget the race-baiting fairy godmother of all who started this whole trend, Michele Bachmann. I don’t know how she sleeps at night tossing and turning over how President Obama has failed us as black people, who were so much better off during slavery.

I have to wonder if Bachmann and Coulter could get away with these antics if they were men. Even Limbaugh could not go that far.

I just want the GOP to get real. Has anyone seen Michael Steele since Obama won the election three years ago? I know they’ve got Herman now, but does he, or anyone else, really think his party will care about him after he fails to win the nomination?

I have enjoyed watching a group of people who’ve used words like “tar baby” and “boy” to refer to the leader of our nation suddenly become so outraged over a few questionable allegations being investigated about one of their own, who is black by political design. I’ll actually be kind of sad after November 2012, when we will likely see pigs fly before you see another GOP member try to advocate for the black community. It just shows their hypocrisy in using race — and using Herman Cane’s race — to make the party seem more interested in the black community. We will seldom have such obvious evidence that they are more interested in political maneuvering.

What do you think about all this racial pomp and circumstance from the GOP? Are you angered by their playing the race card or do you even pay it any mind?

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

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