ALberto Reyes/WENN.com

Remember when we all thought Yéle Haiti was a good idea?

Well, as has been its reputation for the last couple of years, Wyclef’s foundation, Yele Haiti, is in the news again. This time, they’re being sued by a consulting firm for not making good on a bill.

According to EURweb, Yéle Haiti is being sued by HVC Global Hospitality Services for allegedly stiffing them on a bill with a balance of $108,972.

HVC claims that in 2011, they contracted to provide six months of job and hospitality training for 120 students in Haiti back in 2011.  In their lawsuit filed in a New York Supreme Court, Yéle agree to pay the total bill of $285,000 over the course of the program.  However, they allegedly didn’t keep up with the payment and since Yéle has been shut down since 2012, HVC is still looking for a way to get paid.

The bleeding has never stopped and it’s been a debacle almost since its inception.  At this point, it would seem only “right” that maybe Wyclef go into his own pockets and pay the foundation’s outstanding bills.  I mean, we know he is rolling in the dough and since this was his “baby,” he should do the right thing.

Did you ever contribute to Yéle Haiti?

Source: Twitter

It seems as if there is a dichotomy when it comes to the stereotypes of preacher’s kids.  Some people think of the goody-goody, almost nauseatingly perfect kids (for example:  The Jonas Brothers, who were open about their faith and their purity).  While others seem to think of the wildly rebellious kids who would throw wild parties when their parents were gone (example:  Katy Perry, kissing girls and liking it and what-not).  The reason why I used The Jo-Bros and Katy Perry is because they are indeed preachers’ kids, and seem to fit those stereotypes.  After doing some research, I was able to find a few more, let’s see if any of these surprised you.

Source: WENN

Unnecessary is the only word that actually comes to mind when I think about the references made to R&B songtress, Lauryn Hill in Wyclef Jean’s latest memoir, Purpose: An Immigrants Story, which hit bookshelves back in September. The book appears to cover various aspects of Jean’s life; however, the most talked about and seemingly most relevant story told is the one where he makes reference to his love affair with the former group member. Although this toxic romance was one that most Hip-Hop heads were already aware of, he took it a step further when he proceeded to drag old skeletons out of the closet surrounding their relationship, going as far as to say that he was deceived into believing that Lauryn’s first born child, Zion, was his. Now, whether his accusations were true or not, those are some pretty damaging words, especially considering the fact that the affair was now water under the bridge and he was now discussing a child who is old enough to understand what’s going on. But, whatever, this isn’t a Wyclef bashing session.

Many waited with anticipation for Hill to shoot out a rebuttal through her publicist either confirming, denying or even expressing her feelings on her former group member’s accusation, but for nearly two months she remained silent. And finally, when the hype around the memoir had died down and she felt like she was ready to speak on it, she broke her silence during a concert in Dallas. I respect the fact that she didn’t allow anyone to force her into responding and that she didn’t react in an emotional fit of rage. She was calm, cool and collected:

“A lot of misunderstanding out there. A lot of miscommunication out there. A lot of false information out there. And notice, out of all the people who talk talk talk, who’s the silent one.”

“There’s a lot of chatter, but me…. And you know why? Let me tell you why I don’t chat back. Because I know that my brothers and my sisters are often times pawns in a bigger scheme so when they, under pressure, attack me. It’s called the high road. Try taking it sometimes.”

Her level-headed and sensible response did something for me deep down inside. It was much deeper than me being a big Lauryn Hill fan and feeling content because she got the last word. In that moment I realized that it didn’t really matter if she ever responded to the claims because she was at peace with herself and the situation and furthermore, she doesn’t owe anyone an explanation. She represented a woman who knew how to let go of the past and refused to slop around in the mud with someone who no longer held a position of importance in her life. It was eye-opening. It was liberating. It made me take inventory of how I handle the Wyclefs in my own life. Most of all, it got me to thinking and wondering how much happier and freer so many of us would be if we embarked on this high road as well.

I’m sure we all have at least one person in our lives running their traps about us. But, whether their statements are valid or not, we are not obligated to go tit for tat, especially when it comes to exes. Men sometimes have the ability to be extremely insensitive once a relationship is over and the things that come out of their mouths can be hurtful, but getting into petty disputes over it and always feeling the need to make sure people know “how it really went down” is only a backwards way of being dragged back into the relationship. In doing this, you ultimately limit yourself from moving past the situation and hinder your heart from fully healing. It is easy to feel as if you’ve lost when you’re not spitting hot venom back at those who are slamming you, but sometimes silence says so much more.

Jazmine Denise is a writer living in New York. Follow her on Twitter @jazminedenise

Source: Twitter.com

I just threw that in to jog your memory of what we’re talking about here: A grown a** man ashy-bare don’t care on a Yamaha trying to be sexay, i.e. Operation Fail.

Wyclef, on the other hand, would have us believe this is all one big joke. Now that I tend to agree with, except the joke is on him. Stopping by the Breakfast Club this morning, and asking to get lit up about his latest photo-op, which they’ve dubbed “Speedo-Gate,” the Power 105 team didn’t hesitate to ask him WTF was up with that image. Here’s what he said:

“First of all, the pic with the Speedos, that’s an old pic. I’m part of a bike club. This is an old photo shoot. I have photo shoots that I do without the entire year. The oil that you see that’s on my body and the grease that you see and the 14-pack that you see and the ashy leg that you see…

I didn’t want to grease the bottom on purpose…if you look on my Facebook, you’ll see similar pictures before that.

When you say to me do I regret. At 43 to look the way I look and feel the way I look is incredible. Everything I do I’m happy for what I do. I don’t regret anything. As serious as I am, I’m a clown, I love the humor of what I do–it’s funny. There’s going to be a calendar.”

All of that would be fine and dandy if this description didn’t accompany his pic when he put it on Twitter:

TODAY I AM 43 YEARS OLD! I look And feel 26! U cant keep a good Man down! Keep a smile when they want you to frown!

That negro was so serious when he posted that pic and now that people didn’t respond the way he was expecting he’s trying to clean it up. I can’t with this man, particularly when he tries to question Lauryn Hill’s character later. At one point the hosts asked Wyclef whether he thought Lauryn was crazy. He said:

First of all, I don’t think Lauryn’s crazy. There was a situation that I feel that she’s bipolar and that was more of what I expressed.

Mmmhmmm. Check out his full interview here. Shady thoughts?

Source: twitter.com

If you’re on Twitter you might have seen this picture already. Because right now, as I type Wyclef’s name is trending there. Memes are being created on Instagram and my office is erupting with laughter and shade throwing.  And this picture is the reason why. This was not a personal, family photo that someone leaked. This is a picture Wyclef posted himself on his personal Twitter page, along with this caption.

TODAY I AM 43 YEARS OLD! I look And feel 26! U cant keep a good Man down! Keep a smile when they want you to frown!

There are several things wrong with this image but I’m just going to highlight the most egregious ones, in the form of questions because there are no definitive answers as to why we, the public, ever saw this image.

1. Why did Wyclef only lotion (baby or canola oil perhaps) the top half of his body?

2. Why is he wearing these panties?

3. Do these panties feature the Haitian flag?

4. Is this where the money from the Yele foundation went?

5. Who took this picture?

6. Why didn’t they tell him it wasn’t a good look?

7. Does he believe this is the image of a man who wants to run a whole country?

8. Do you think Lauryn is somewhere laughing at this?

What are your thoughts on this image? Did Wyclef succeed or flop as the sex symbol he was trying to portray himself to be?

With the large number of Haitian-born celebrities and Haitian-American (and Canadian) stars doing it big, we couldn’t pass on the chance to highlight some of our favorites–and a few we actually didn’t realize were repping Haiti. They are a variety of singers, rappers, actors and artists, but they all have one thing in common (besides being black of course), they go hard for their favorite country (or at least one of their favorites…). Enjoy!

And be ready to click…

Source: theurbandaily.com

Maxwell

If you hadn’t heard, my imaginary husband is indeed a Haitian brother. While his father was raised in Puerto Rico and was of Pentecostal faith, the singer’s mother grew up in Haiti and was Baptist. When helping to raise money after the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Maxwell spoke about his Haitian roots and his work before the catastrophe to help the fight against hunger. His song, “Fistful of Tears,” was used to help in the relief effort.

From the days of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message,” hip hop has been a tool for folks to express their views on society’s ills, from poverty to politics. As hip-hop has gone from a musical genre to a culture, the number of rappers speaking their minds has increased tremendously, as have the levels of influence these folks have over their audiences. Is this a good thing though? Check out some of the most loudly political rappers and decide who gets your vote.

(AP) — Musician Wyclef Jean said Sunday that a bullet grazed his hand as he stepped out of a car to make a telephone call, but he said he was only slightly injured.  Jean, who has been in Haiti helping the presidential campaign of his friend and fellow musician Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly, said the bullet grazed him late Saturday night as he stepped out of his car in the Delmas section of the capital, Port-au-Prince, to make a call on his cellphone. “The way I can explain it is that the bullet grazed me in my right hand,” Jean told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “I heard blow, blow, blow and I just looked at my hand.” Jean, who was with a driver and the Haitian hip-hop singer FanFan at the time, said he doesn’t know who fired the shots, or whether they were directed at him. He said he got out of the car to have a private conversation that FanFan would not overhear. He heard the shots and looked down to see blood on his shirt and sneakers. The Haitian-American performer said he was treated at a local hospital and released. Jean said he was taking antibiotics and recovering at an “undisclosed location” before going out to vote in Sunday’s presidential election.

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By Brittany Hutson and R. Asmerom

It’s certainly been a whirlwind decade for the Black community to say the least. We’ve witnessed history making moments, events that brought to light the struggles that still plague our community, devastating natural disasters, and moments that caused us to scratch our head, raise an eyebrow and think ‘what the…?’ Take a stroll down memory lane with us as we recap some of those moments:

Hurricane Katrina

One of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the U.S., Katrina caused devastation when it hit the Gulf Coast states (from Florida to Texas) in August 2005. New Orleans bore the brunt of the devastation as the category 3 storm with maximum winds near 125 mph caused the levies to break and flood nearly 80% of the city. The nation was in utter shock as images filtered across television screens, on websites and in publications of residents stranded on the roof of flooded homes, or in boats, waiting for help without water or food.

Katrina caused the deaths of at least 1,836 people and caused immense damage—early estimates of total property damage were $81 billion. Over one million people were displaced and sought solace in cities such as Houston, TX, Mobile, Ala, Baton Rouge, La, and Chicago.  Federal, state and local governments were criticized for their mismanagement and delayed response to the storm.