The Many Shades of Chaka Khan, Now in ‘Purple’
The Broadway stage has seen celebrities come, and it has seen them go, but it may just have to get up off its doubts for Chaka Khan. This R&B and funk star begins performing as the sassy, fearless Sofia in “The Color Purple” on Jan. 9. Chaka Khan will begin her role as Sofia in “The Color Purple” on Jan. 9. She is also nominated for two Grammy Awards for her most recent album, “Funk This.” (Continue Reading…)

Lawyers: Hate crimes ignored in Miller Place death
For the defense in the John White case, it’s a question that remains unanswered: Why weren’t members of the angry group of white teens that gathered at the end of a black family’s driveway in August 2006 charged with a bias crime? A week after the trial of John White, the black Miller Place father convicted of manslaughter in the death of white teenager Daniel Cicciaro Jr., 17, White continues to get support from the Rev. Al Sharpton, among others, who are asking the same question. (Continue Reading…)

Fear lingers in L.A. community
Two blocks from where 14-year-old Cheryl Green was shot to death a year ago stands a symbol of the Harbor Gateway neighborhood where she died. The fourplex on 204th Street is one of many apartment buildings erected in this small and crowded neighborhood during the last 20 years. The building has a new coat of yellow paint, yet faintly visible beneath its surface is the graffiti that a year ago covered the building. It was the work of 204th Street, a Latino gang that terrorized the neighborhood and was known to attack blacks. An upstairs unit in the complex was its unofficial headquarters, police say. (Continue Reading…)

Primaries grab interest of black voters in N.C.
North Carolinians ordinarily have little stake in the presidential primaries. Voting here, slated for May, comes so late the races are all but over. But this year, many African-Americans are watching closely to see whether a black candidate might have a realistic chance of reaching the White House. Polls show Democrat Barack Obama, an African-American from Chicago, is almost even with Hillary Clinton in Iowa, where caucuses Thursday will begin to shape the 2008 presidential race. (Continue Reading…)

Katrina Recovery Leader to Retire
The Federal Emergency Management Agency official who for the past two years led the agency’s troubled Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts will retire Thursday, the head of FEMA announced in an internal memo. Gil Jamieson, whose tenure as administrator of Gulf Coast recovery included controversies over formaldehyde in FEMA trailers and funding delays, will be temporarily replaced by James Stark. Stark currently leads FEMA’s Louisiana recovery offices. (Continue Reading…)

Ex-Firefighter Awarded $1.17M In Forced Retirement
A black former Pasadena firefighter was wrongfully forced into disability retirement after complaining about harassment and hazing by colleagues, a jury found Friday in awarding him $1.17 million. A racially mixed Los Angeles Superior Court panel of eight women and four men, including a black female, deliberated for less than half a day before finding in favor of Carter Stephens. (Continue Reading…)

Chaos at banks as Zimbabwe extends currency deadline
Zimbabwe’s central bank chief extended a deadline Monday to exchange bills of 200,000 dollars just hours before they were to cease being legal tender after chaotic scenes at banks across the country. In a press conference, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono declined to set a new date for withdrawing the notes, but blamed recent heavy rains for hampering efforts to stock up banks with new higher denomination bills. (Continue Reading…)

We can not believe that 2007 is over! This year we have interviewed/featured so many people. Everyone from A-list celebrities to underground trendsetters have graced the online pages of Clutch in 2007.

Everyday someone new discovers Clutch and most think we are just a blog. But, like most of you know - we are not a blog, but an online magazine on a mission. A mission to empower, inform and educate, while still being able to stay relevant and fly.

We wanted to put together a list of some of our favorite interviews and features of 2007. We would have loved to list each and every one of our articles and features, but if we did we would be here all day. So - be sure to check out our back issues to view past issues. Look below for just some of our wonderful interviews and features of 2007.

And of course…look for an even better 2008 and thanks for making 2007 such a great year for us! We are truly grateful.

[click on name to view article]

and so many more!

With the New Year here it’s time to reevaluate your look. Is your makeup working for you? Is your wardrobe doing your figure justice? Is your hair lackluster and dull? If the answer to the last question is yes. Then maybe it’s time to check out John Frieda’s Luminous Color Glaze in Clear Shine ($9.99, drug stores nationwide). This easy to use gel crème formula gives lackluster locks a shot of pure shine. Used in the shower this glaze delivers the results of a salon quality glaze treatment without the salon price. Its gentle enough to use every time you wash and since it doesn’t contain color its perfect no matter what shade or texture your hair is.

Make this year a year of perfect hair. Start the year off right with John Frieda Collection Luminous Color Glaze in Clear Shine. Your hair will have look and feel great. And now that you got great hair it’s time to work on that out of date wardrobe. If you have color treated hair and would like a color boost try one of the five color glazes from John Frieda. Colors include platinum to champagne, honey to caramel, amber to maple, chestnut to espresso, brighter vivid red and deeper, richer red.

Raila Odinga accused a “clique of people” around Mr Kibaki of “trying to rob Kenyans of the election” and said they would not accept the result. Mr Odinga’s party has said it will hold an alternative inauguration ceremony on Monday to declare him president. The announcement of the election result sparked riots in which 13 people died.

A team of observers from the European Union later said the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) had failed to ensure the credibility of the vote. “We believe that… the ECK… has not succeeded in establishing the credibility of the tallying process to the satisfaction of all parties and candidates,” chief EU observer Alexander Lambsdorff said in a statement. The British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said London had “real concerns at the irregularities reported by the EU observers and others”. But the United States congratulated Mr Kibaki on his re-election and called on all sides to respect the result despite the allegations of fraud.

‘People’s president’
President Kibaki was sworn in for a second five-year term on Sunday immediately after the ECK announced he had beaten Mr Odinga by more than 230,000 votes in Thursday’s closely-fought election. n a speech, Mr Kibaki described the elections as “free and fair” and urged all political parties to “accept the verdict of the people”.

He said it was now “time for healing and reconciliation” to overcome issues dividing the nation and promised to form a “clean hands government” free of corruption. Earlier on Sunday, Mr Odinga had called on the president to concede victory and demanded a recount, saying the ECK “cannot possible address the multiple levels of fraud administered by this administration”.

“There is a clique of people around Kibaki trying to rob Kenyans of the election,” Mr Odinga later told his supporters after the results were announced. “The train of democracy in Kenya is unstoppable like the flow of the Nile.”

(Continue Reading…)

Barack Obama told an Iowa audience Friday that his wife Michelle thinks he should not run for president again if he loses in 2008. “One of the things I offer in this race is that we still remember what it means to be normal,” said the Illinois senator.

“My wife and I were talking the other day. And she said ‘We’re not doing this again’. And those of you who met her know she doesn’t mince words,” said Obama. “She meant that in eight years, I’m not sure we’ll be the same people we are now.” He said that he and his wife had only recently finished paying off their own student loans and started saving for their kids’ college education. He also said that, until recently, he would do the family’s grocery shopping himself. He said Michele told him, “eight years from now we will have lost touch with what ordinary Americans are going through” and that “we’ll be in a different orbit.”

“I think when you’re in Washington for a long time you lose touch” and “it becomes harder to relinquish power,” he added. But he told the audience in this blue-collar town, “my wife still shops at Target.” In the new issue of Vanity Fair, Michelle Obama tells a reporter that when it comes to her husband’s White House bid, “it’s now or never.”

“We’re not going to keep running and running and running, because at some point you do get the life beaten out of you. It hasn’t been beaten out of us yet,” she tells the magazine. “We need to be in there now, while we’re still fresh and open and fearless and bold. You lose some of that over time. Barack is not cautious yet; he’s ready to change the world, and we need that.”

Obama was responding to question from an undecided voter on executive power, and whether the senator would be willing to relinquish some of the power that President Bush has accrued.

(Continue Reading…)

Media should play role in fostering Africa’s progress
Africa is often portrayed in international media and in books as a continent embroiled in conflicts, famine, wars and political upheavals. This perception is reinforced by sensational local and global media reports fueled by a persistent desire to satisfy an audience that seems to thrive on negative emotions. (Continue Reading…)

Sudan accuses Chad of bombing Darfur, Chad denies
Sudan has accused Chadian aircraft of bombing its western Darfur region in what it called “repeated aggressions” by its western neighbour, but Chad said its operations against rebels never crossed the border. Relations between the two African oil producers have been touchy in recent years as both try to quell insurgencies close to their long and porous border. They accuse each other of backing rebels trying to overthrow their respective governments. (Continue Reading…)

Black on black crime remains the bigger threat
Racism has become a multi-million dollar business in this country and it is growing exponentially with every perceived “n” word incident, be it “noose” “ni –er,” or “nappy head.” We are off and running to purchase the latest T-shirts that read “Let my people go,” “Face” so and so, or don’t call me the “n” word — it is OK to treat me like one though — and if you want to attend a party to help raise funds for “The Struggle” go to BlackAmerica.com and you will be given a list of the parties and the price to attend. Nothing brings TV ratings up faster than a televised smack-down of the KKK. (Continue Reading…)

African leaders must challenge secret executions in Nigeria
African leaders should challenge the Nigerian government over its secret executions revealed in a report by Amnesty International, a human rights worker has said. Amnesty International revealed earlier this week that secret executions have been taking place in Nigeria’s prisons, despite recent assurances by the government that Nigeria has not executed “in years.” The organisation uncovered evidence of at least seven executions in the last two years, but fears more may have taken place. All of the executions took place by hanging. All those executed were convicted in a Kano state court and relocated to prisons across the country, including Jos, Kaduna and Enugu. Their death warrants were all signed by the current Kano state governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau. (Continue Reading…)

Voter ID Law Heads to Supreme Court
The dispute over Indiana’s voter ID law that is headed to the Supreme Court in January is as much a partisan political drama as a legal tussle. On one side are mainly Republican backers of the law, including the Bush administration, who say state-produced photo identification is a prudent measure intended to cut down on vote fraud. Yet there have been no Indiana prosecutions of in-person voter fraud — the kind the law is supposed to prevent. (Continue Reading…)

Mr Odinga called on Kenya’s Electoral Commission to carry out a full re-assessment of the results, which correspondents say could take days. The count had already been halted while the country’s electoral commission reviewed dozens of disputed results. The delays have sparked violence, amid reports that three people have died.

“I wish to appeal to President Mwai Kibaki to acknowledge and respect the will of the people of Kenya and honourably concede defeat,” Mr Odinga said. The Electoral Commission’s review “cannot possibly address the multiple levels of fraud that have been committed by this administration,” he added.

Roadblocks and bonfires
Mr Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement had held the lead since vote counting began, but he has since seen his advantage evaporate. Although the results are still being disputed, the election has seen a clear rejection of Mr Kibaki’s government, with about 20 ministers losing their seats. Both sides have raised allegations of vote rigging and rioting has broken out in some opposition strongholds.

There were also reports of trouble in Kisumu, Bungoma, Busia, Eldoret, Kericho and Kakamega. Police have fired tear gas and gunshots into the air to disperse angry demonstrators who lit bonfires, set up roadblocks and even burned down homes. Several people have died in the violence, including a man shot dead in a row at a polling station in western Nyanza province, police said. “They want to steal votes. They are counting votes from regions favouring Kibaki and then they want to declare him the winner,” said one protester, Peter Oduor.

Ethnic violence
Much of the violence was enacted along ethnic lines, with Luo supporters of Mr Odinga clashing with members of Mr Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe. An Electoral Commission spokesman told the BBC that turnout had perhaps been more than 70%, from an electorate of 14m. Results so far show a majority of MPs have lost their seats.

Kenyan parliamentarians gained notoriety in the past five years for arbitrarily increasing their salaries and allowances, while a majority of Kenyans continued to grapple with meagre wages and a high cost of living. Vice-President Moody Awori was one of about 20 ministers who lost their seats. The vote also saw three sons of retired president Daniel Arap Moi lose their seats in three different constituencies in the Rift Valley province. Mr Moi has helped fund Mr Kibaki’s campaign. If he loses, Mr Kibaki, who came to power with a landslide victory in 2002, will be Kenya’s first sitting president ousted at the ballot box.

[Source: BBC News]

The Los Angeles city attorney’s office said Friday it will not charge Brandy in a deadly December 2006 freeway crash. Spokesman Nick Velasquez said there is “insufficient evidence” for a jury to find the 28-year-old actress-singer guilty of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter beyond a reasonable doubt.

The decision runs counter to a recommendation from the California Highway Patrol that Brandy, whose real name is Brandy Norwood, be charged in the Dec. 30, 2006, crash. Brandy was driving on a Los Angeles freeway when traffic slowed and her Land Rover smashed into the back of a Honda. That car was involved in several other collisions. The driver, 38-year-old Awatef Aboudihaj, died in the accident.

[Source: AP & Yahoo]

Atlanta police search for group allegedly involved in beating of trainer
Police are looking into reports members of a loosely organized group called 01 Entertainment may have been involved in a beating that left a professional fitness trainer in a coma this week. Within hours of Wednesday’s early morning brutal attack on Darius Miller, e-mails and internet websites were blaming the beating on a group called 01 Entertainment, a party promotions company that videotapes nightclub scenes and people partying and dancing and sometimes posts them on the internet. (Continue Reading…)

Jena School Arson Unrelated to Race
The 2006 fire that badly damaged the high school in this east-central Louisiana town had nothing to do with the racial tension that led to a civil rights demonstration, a law enforcement official said Friday. The fire was set by people who wanted to destroy bad grade records, LaSalle Parish Sheriff-elect Scott Franklin said. Six males, including three juveniles, were arrested Thursday and face aggravated arson counts. Two other suspects are being sought, he said. (Continue Reading…)

Chuck D of Public Enemy Wants Def Jam Presidency
As Jay-Z vacates his post as Def Jam president, another Def Jam legend is vying for the high-level music industry position. Chuck D of iconic group Public Enemy says he is the person for the job. “After 10 years looking on the collapsing of the record industry, and upon hearing the news of Jay-Z stepping down from Def Jam, I would throw my name into the hat of somebody who understands how the hell Universal should establish the name-brands they acquire with stockholders money,” Chuck D told AllHipHop.com. (Continue Reading…)

Affirmative action may be on ballots
A campaign is underway to ban affirmative action in five states already embroiled in debates over illegal immigration. Efforts are proceeding in Arizona, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma to put initiatives on November ballots that would end programs to increase minority and female participation in government and education. The push is led by Ward Connerly, a California management consultant who successfully ran similar campaigns in California, Washington and Michigan. It is part of Connerly’s effort to ban race- and gender-based policies nationwide. (Continue Reading…)

Mr Zuma was first tried for corruption in 2005, before charges were dropped. Recently prosecutors have said they were investigating new charges. Reports say the new charges also include racketeering and tax evasion. His position as party leader makes him a frontrunner to become South Africa’s president after elections in 2009.

“The Directorate of Special Operations (Scorpions) served on Mr Jacob Zuma an indictment to stand trial in the High Court on various counts of racketeering, money laundering, corruption and fraud,” Mr Zuma’s attorney, Michael Hulley, said in an e-mail received by the AFP news agency. “According to the indictment… the trial is to proceed on 14 August 2008,” he said. “These charges will be vigorously defended, in the context of the belief that the Scorpions have acted wrongly and with improper motive calculated to discredit Mr Zuma and ensure that he plays no leadership role in the political future of our country,” Mr Hulley said in a later statement.

‘Political conspiracy’
Mr Zuma was formerly South Africa’s deputy president, before being fired in 2005 when his financial adviser, Schabir Schaik, was found guilty of corruption and jailed for 15 years in connection with the arms deal. The charges are believed to be linked to a controversial $5bn arms procurement deal by the South African government in 1999.

Last year he was acquitted on charges of rape, in a trial which led to his temporary suspension from his ANC duties. Mr Zuma has always maintained his innocence. Before being elected to the ANC leadership, he told the BBC if fresh charges were brought against him he would not stand down from office unless he were found guilty.

His supporters say that the charges against him are part of a political conspiracy. After the rape trial he consolidated his support within the ANC and gained a clear victory over President Thabo Mbeki in the party leadership contest.

[Source: BBC News]

Susan L. Taylor, the longtime editor and driving force behind Essence, the magazine aimed at black women, is leaving the publication after 37 years to devote more time to an organization she founded to help troubled children.

Ms. Taylor, 61, joined Essence in 1970, the year it was first published, as a freelance fashion and beauty editor after founding her own company, Nequai Cosmetics. She became editor in chief in 1981, a post she held until 2000, when she was promoted to publications director. She has most recently been the magazine’s editorial director and author of its In the Spirit column, which dispenses inspirational words about things like finance and prayer.

Although Essence, which is owned by the Time Inc. division of Time Warner, did not make an official announcement, Ms. Taylor chose to send out word of the change via e-mail. “I am taking a break in South Africa and will have little access to e-mail,” she wrote in an automated out-of-office message this month.

“When I come back to the states in mid-January, I will be leaving Essence to do what at this juncture in my life has become a larger work for me — building the National Cares Mentoring Movement, which I founded as Essence Cares and today is my deepest passion.”

(Continue Reading…)

African-American Gay Community Scared Over Deaths
Activists fear gay African-Americans are being targeted for murder. Two openly gay men were killed recently on the South Side, as CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports. African-American gay and lesbian groups are talking about the murders of two openly gay Black men in the past month. (Continue Reading…)

Black coaches still getting overlooked in college football
Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley isn’t in the mix for the West Virginia head coaching job, and that doesn’t bode well for the prospects of African-American coaches this season. Contrary to an earlier report on Sporting News, Locksley says he has not interviewed with the Mountaineers. “I have not even been contacted,” Locksley said in a phone interview Thursday. (Continue Reading…)

Floodwaters in Zimbabwe Kill 7
Floodwaters swept a truck down a raging river in remote southern Zimbabwe, killing seven people, police said Friday. The victims drowned Thursday in the Chamakarara River near the town of Masvingo, 190 miles from the capital, Harare, police spokesman Andrew Phiri said. Their deaths bring the number of drownings in the southern African nation to 21 in the past month alone, he said, with forecasts predicting another week of heavy seasonal rains. (Continue Reading…)

Juror: I was pressured to convict black man
A juror who helped convict a black man of fatally shooting a white teenager said he felt pressured by other jurors and the judge to change his vote to guilty during a marathon deliberating session. The jury convicted John White of second-degree manslaughter Saturday in the August 2006 shooting of 17-year-old Daniel Cicciaro Jr. White, 54, remains free on bail and plans to appeal. He faces a prison term of five to 15 years. (Continue Reading…)

French jailed in Chad to return home
Six French charity workers sentenced to eight years of forced labor for trying to kidnap 103 children from this African country will return to France, a Chadian official said Friday. The members of Zoe’s Ark were going back to France on a special flight, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. (Continue Reading…)

Bhutto killing blamed on al-Qaeda
Citing what it said was an intercepted phone call, the interior ministry said the killing had been ordered by “al-Qaeda leader” Baitullah Mehsud. The BBC’s security correspondent, Frank Gardner, says it is too early to establish the truth of what happened. (Continue Reading…)

Counting has continued through the night in polling stations across Kenya, in what is seen as the country’s closest-ever elections. An election official said that turnout could reach 70%. Voting was extended in areas where polls opened several hours late - notably in the Nairobi slum of Kibera. President Mwai Kibaki faces his strongest challenge from his former ally, Raila Odinga, who alleged fraud before the polls opened.

An Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) spokesman told the BBC that turnout had been “massive” - maybe more than 70%. Some say the huge numbers overwhelmed the authorities. Correspondents say that in Kenya’s previous elections, the outcome has been obvious before polling, or at least there has been a strong favourite.

When Mr Odinga first turned up to vote in Kibera, his name was missing from the electoral register - like many other people whose names began with “R” or “O”. The BBC’s Karen Allen in Kibera says this will fuel suspicions of a plot to rig the election, although other say it was merely a bureaucratic mix-up. Mr Odinga, who has led recent opinion polls, was allowed to vote later - to cheering crowds in the constituency he represents in parliament.

Milking delayed
There is tight security around the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, where the results will be announced. The first presidential results are expected on Friday but parliamentary results could be known earlier. Mr Kibaki was able to vote unhindered in the central town of Nyeri. “I am sure we will win. Thank you Kenyans for giving me an opportunity and I will not tire serving you,” he said. People started to queue before dawn on Thursday. “I have not even milked my cow because today we are putting our country first,” said Mary Muthoni Gikiri as she waited to vote in Mr Kibaki’s hometown of Othaya, some 200km (125 miles) from the capital, Nairobi.

The queue of voters stretched for more than a kilometre outside some polling stations. In the North-Eastern Province, one old man collapsed and died while waiting to vote. There were isolated reports of violence. A man was shot dead in Kibera - police say it was criminal, but Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) says it was political. At least two other deaths were reported in western Kenya. (Continue Reading…)

‘Black Paris Tours’ looks at love affair between black Americans and City of Light
Any American with even a slight familiarity with Paris knows about Josephine Baker, the black swivel-hipped cabaret entertainer who shunned racism in America, vaulted to stardom here in 1925, and stayed on to become one of France’s most adored 20th century icons. But what about William Wells Brown, the 19th-century former slave turned abolitionist who once expressed awe that he could pray next to whites at La Madeleine church, or that some tipped their hat to him on Paris streets? (Continue Reading…)

Judge Orders Louis Farrakhan to Appear
A federal judge has ordered Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan to appear in court to explain why payments to his son are not considered income. A Gary couple are seeking to collect $350,000 from Farrakhan’s 48-year-old son, who lost a lawsuit after crashing his father’s Hummer into their car in 2003 and leaving the scene. (Continue Reading…)

Delahunt says Obama will restore US image abroad
US Representative William Delahunt of Massachusetts, a leading foreign policy voice in the Democratic Party, will endorse Barack Obama for president today, saying he believes the senator will repair the image of the United States overseas. “If Barack Obama is elected president, I daresay America will present a new face to the world, will restore, simply by his election, hope - not just within the United States, but from all corners of the world, that America’s claim to moral authority is back on track and that our leadership in world affairs will see a renaissance,” Delahunt told the Globe. (Continue Reading…)

Striving for purpose, woman mentors girls
Cherryl Thames has been celebrating Kwanzaa since 1994 and diligently strives to exemplify Nia, the Kwanzaa principle of purpose. “We all have a God-given purpose. And once we have that self-awareness and understanding of our purpose, we should live it out,” said the Lathrup Village career coaching and professional development trainer. “My purpose is about helping others be successful and bringing out their talents.” (Continue Reading…)

NABJ’s Thomas Morgan III Dies
Thomas Morgan III, a reporter and editor at the New York Times, Washington Post and Miami Herald who led the National Association of Black Journalists from 1989 to 1991, died Monday morning in Southampton, Mass., where he was visiting. His friend Sheila Stainback said he suffered a heart attack. (Continue Reading…)

A day after former B2K manager Chris Stokes vehemently denied allegations that he sexually molested former members of the boy band while serving as their manager, his accuser, former B2K member DeMario “Raz-B” Thornton, has apologized. In a 30-second video posted on YouTube on Wednesday, Thornton stands outside on a city street and recants the sordid accusations he and older brother Ricardo “Ricky Romantic” Thornton had made in a pair of videos that circulated over the weekend.

“This is DeMario Thornton, publicly known as Raz-B of B2K,” a solemn-looking Thornton tells the camera in the video, called “The Truth About Chris Stokes B2K Part 3.” “I would like to send a public apology for some tapes that were leaked without my authority. I just want to say that those allegations are not true … with Chris Stokes and Marques Houston, and I apologize for any hurt this may have caused publicly [or] financially.”

Stokes reacted to the new video in a statement released Thursday (December 27) morning. “I’m happy that DeMario ‘Raz-B’ Thornton and Ricardo Thornton realized their mistakes and admitted to lying,” he said. “I have always supported my family and have always been a stand-up person. I knew that the truth would eventually come to light.”

Thornton’s abrupt turn-around came just hours after Stokes told MTV News that the allegations were false. His denials were seconded by another former B2K member, Omarion.

“I’m not gay. And I’m married. And I have four kids. I been with my wife for 16 years,” Stokes told MTV in an exclusive interview. “And I’m not a child molester. So those are all false allegations. I’m gonna sue them. And I owe that to my wife and kids, period. It’s ridiculous.”

[Source: MTV]