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Not a day goes by without at least one of our readers telling us we need them on the staff and now we’re actually giving you all a chance to become a member of the team.

One lucky Los Angeles MadameNoire reader will get the chance to become a MadameNoire.com Editor for a Day and hang out with the MadameNoire team in our LA office. The winner will spend a day working with the staff and spend the night out on the town hosting the editor and showing them all of the fun after-work activities that LA has to offer!

The next day you’ll meet up with MN editors again for a day of health and beauty, as we work it out at Runyon Canyon and enjoy a relaxing day at the spa, followed by lunch at the trendy Beverly Hills Café.

If you’ve been dying for a chance to pick MN editor’s brains and put your own input into the site, this is the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

For the chance to snag this trip, you’ll need to do a few things for us.

1. Send an email to editors@madamenoire.com with your name, age, and city of residence (must be in Los Angeles).
2. Write a post explaining what you love about MadameNoire and why you want to be an editor for a day.

Earlier this week, J.R. Smith tweeted a rather insightful Instagram guide to dating an athlete, and if you know anything about this New York Knicks player, you can already assume it was full of ignorance. We can’t say for sure, but we have a feeling this may be a subtle response to K. Michelle constantly spilling on her failed relationship with the pro-baller, and just in case she hasn’t taken the time to respond to this nonsense yet, we took it upon ourselves to do so. Check out the video and let us know what you think.

About This Episode

Madeline Nelson, Senior Vice President of A&R at Sony, gives her take of the joys and challenges of being a single mom in New York City with a hectic career. Plus we chat with Madeline about her tips on raising an athletic pre-teen son.

About Madeline Nelson

Madeline Nelson is a single mom to a fantastic 12 year old son named, TJ. She is also a busy mom balancing motherhood and career as she is currently the VP of A&R, Artist and Label Relations at Sony Music. Her responsibilities at work include developing and nurturing new talent in coordination with the A&R teams across three labels: RCA, Columbia, and Epic.

Prior to Sony, she worked at Urban Zen, Donna Karan’s non-profit where she served as VP of Foundation Operations. Prior to that she also was a Project Manager at Steve Stoute’s marketing, Translation, LLC. She has served as a VP of Music Operations for New Jack Swing Productions/Interscope Records, where she managed hit-makers BlackStreet and worked with other talents such as Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams.

Madeline is a Harlem native and continues to support philanthropic efforts aimed at helping women and children through her own non-profit organization, The Good-Well Giving Group. She is truly a superwoman and Mommy in Chief!

About Karyn Parsons

Karyn Parsons is best known as the character “Hilary Banks” on the long-running television show, “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.” Today she is a wife and mother of two. Parsons is also the Founder and President of the Sweet Blackberry foundation after being inspired by the true tale of a determined slave and the remarkable lengths he travelled to find his freedom.  While growing up, Parsons’ mother, a librarian in the Black Resource Center of a library in South Central Los Angeles, would share stories of African-American accomplishment with her daughter.  A mother and activist, Karyn created Sweet Blackberry to use the power of stories to inspire youth. Follow her on Twitter @Karyn_Parsons.

Want More Mommy In Chief? Watch these episodes:

Season 2

• Episode 1: Are You A Good Enough Mother?
• Episode 2: New Motherhood and Balancing A Busy Work Life
• Episode 3: How to Decorate an Eco-Friendly Baby Nursery
• Episode 4: Foodie, Nicole Friday on Kids and Career
• Episode 5: From Hollywood to Stay At Home Mom
• Episode 6: Single Mom in The City
• Episode 7: Mommy Mogul and Marketing Wiz Monique Jackson at Home With Her Boys 
• Episode 8: Beauty Maven Jodie Patterson Talks Four-Day Work Week for Moms 
• Episode 9: Tonya Lewis Lee on Motherhood and the Importance of Women’s Health

Season 1

• Episode 1: Back 2 School
• Episode 2: Happy Halloween
• Episode 3: Socially Responsible Kids
• Episode 4: Money Talks
• Episode 5: Keeping Families Healthy
• Episode 6: Thanksgiving Madness
• Episode 7: Highlights and Best Moments
• Episode 8: Stylish Moms
• Episode 9: Best Apps for Moms
• Episode 10: Socialite Kids
• Episode 11: Hair Talk with AfroBella
• Episode 12: Happy New Year!

Source: nationalreview.com

The government doesn’t sleep, but I’ll settle for them having a stadium full of seats. Mayor Michael Bloomberg can be the first in line. The NYC politician wants to place a ban on sodas larger than 16 ounces.  Apparently, that’s the biggest problem facing New York and not the 8.1% unemployment rate or the rampant homelessness. Bloomberg has decided that this is the cause for him to put his cape on and fly into action.

His intentions are solid. Obesity is a serious epidemic in this country. While it should be addressed, it should not be legislated to these lengths. He is an elected official, not anyone’s parent or nanny. If he really wanted to stick his nose where it didn’t belong, Bloomberg could use some of the millions if not billions at his disposal and pay off my student loans. He’d get my vote on that. Until then, I need him to get himself all the way together. How can you be against soda but support National Donut Day? I’ll wait.

Not only is this proposed law a government overreach dictating what a person can buy with their own money, but it also falls flat when you really think about it. Sure, you can ban the sale of oversized sodas and try and control portions, but I can just as easily buy two small sizes. Or three. Or four. I’ll chug on a bottle of Pepsi and cheer to the friggin’ weekend while protestors side eye me with pickets raised high in the air. In my best Rihanna voice, “No1Currr!”

Diabetes, obesity and other health related dangers that high sugar intake can cause is very real. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. However, Big Brother needs to fall back on trying to limit choices just because they wouldn’t make the same ones. Bloomberg is not going to get a medal or ticker tape parade for attempting to mandate good health practices. He’ll likely have a riot. The government can’t even balance the federal budget and put suffering Americans back to work, yet they want to occupy vending machines and fast food joints? Are cupcakes, pretzels and candy next on the most wanted list?  I’ve got a birth certificate that says I’m old enough to decide for myself what I want to drink and at what size I want to drink it. I’m not the only grown person insulted by the government’s interference as to what I’m supposed to be quenching my thirst with.

While he might have good intentions, don’t fool yourselves into thinking that these good measures won’t pave the way for more laws for the “common good.” Some women choose to put that creamy crack into their hair every 4 to 6 weeks. I do. I’m too lazy to find another way to get my hair layed quick, so does that mean folks might decide that the chemicals in perms might mess me up and will determine how I use one? Uncle Sam might even decide next to ban tampons because it might lead to toxic shock syndrome. Think all that sounds ridiculous? So is putting the blame on soda for obesity and trying to place a Band-Aid on an issue that will not solve the problem.

I love my neighbors and I want what’s best for them. I want every person to be healthy, but it just can’t be done by force. It needs to be of a person’s free will to lead a healthy lifestyle. So until then, please pass the Pepsi.

You won’t be able to get a super-sized soda but you can buy Newports by the carton?! Where they do that at? Oh, that’s right. They want to start in New York.

Follow Stephanie Guerilus @qsteph

More on Madame Noire!

• What’s Black Enough For You?
• Grieving Over a Girlfriend: 7 Ways to Move on After a Break-up…Between Friends
• Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind the Making of “Poetic Justice”
• Am I The Problem? Finding Accountability Within
• Don’t Look Back: Are You Spending Too Much Time Obsessing Over Your Past?
• Where Are They Now? 10 Black Actresses Who Should Have Blown Up Big…
• What About Ciara? Knicks Star Amar’e Stoudemire Proposes To Mother of His Children

It’s hard to believe that Reagan Gomez-Preston is a wife and mother who has been married for 12 years! The 31-year-old actress, who got her start on The Parent ‘Hood, is now working on the animated series, The Cleveland Show, and raising a daughter and son with her long time love DeWayne Turrentine. We caught up with the bubbly actress at Russell Simmons’ Ubuntu Charity Benefit in Los Angeles. Watch as Reagan talks about her career, Madame Noire and watch her quiz her husband about the length of their relationship.