Clutch Magazine

Calling All Shoe Fanatics: DSW is Now Online!

Dede Sutton — Sat, 17 May 2008 04:00:13 +0000

Shoe fanatics our day has arrived -- we can now shop DSW online! Gone are the days of rushing to your favorite location to pick up the pair of Charles David's you've hidden in the men's department the day before, because you were waiting for your pay check to hit your account. No more eying down the lady walking around the store in the last pair of 7 1/2 BCBG pumps you had planned on purchasing until she gave them a test drive in the store. Ladies..It's all over! Now we can shop online and not only get all of our favorite DSW brands, but use our handy DSW members card. To learn more about or shop DSW please visit www.dsw.com

Hip-Hop Sight: Adjusting The Lens

Zettler Clay — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:12:39 +0000

There’s a reason nature despises vacuums. Periods of nothing reflect inactivity, and inactivity insinuates laziness. Writers know this, and therefore record events. Many events, big, small, astronomical. Writers are human and humans have biases, which means that writers have bias. That is what schools and certification programs are for: to separate the professionals from the Joe who just picks up a pen and write. One such professional position is the journalist. Here is one prevalent bias of a journalist about an issue:

“You're damn straight I blame hip-hop for playing a role in the genocide of American black men. When your leading causes of death and dysfunction are murder, ignorance and incarceration, there's no reason to give a free pass to a culture that celebrates murder, ignorance and incarceration.”

-March 2, 2008 Jason Whitlock, a well-known sports columnist, wrote this passage shortly after the homicide of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor. In the interest of full disclosure, he has also appeared on Oprah and many other shows, taking the time to stand by column and blame hip-hop for the woes of the black community. He also “thanked” Imus, in a previous column for his incendiary statements on the hairdo of the 2007 Rutgers’ basketball team, because it forced black people to confront a truth about left unfettered: that Imus was not to blame for his statements. Hip-hop is. Rubbish. The most dangerous component of the featured quote is the fact that it came from a prominent black writer who many white readers go to for the gauge on race relations. His word is gold to them, because after all, he is black. Many would call this Uncle Tom-ing. The writer of this article will not partake in that debate, because ad hominem attacks does nothing to aid sensible discussion. Whitlock shares the views of many who do not know the culture, who feel that gratuitous potshots will do anything to solve the problem, who feel that they – the Robert Eberts of the hip-hop generation - are somehow more dignified because of their detachment from said culture. In essence, Whitlock is not alone. He has an army. Don’t confuse this writing with a passage defending all of hip-hop. Construe this as a passage injecting some skill in navigating discussion about hip-hop, a commentary against lazy reporting, if you will. There are some screwed up black people, but no one should dare say that the black race is screwed when there are a plethora who are doing well for themselves and society. There are talent deprived, loose canons as rappers but the number of talented, intelligible artists are aplenty. For every 2 Live Crew, Master P (mid-1990’s) and Soulja Boy, there’s a Public Enemy, Lauryn Hill, and Lupe Fiasco. Who would be foolish enough to seriously blame the entire black race for the actions of some black person on the news who raped and killed a nine-year-old girl? The same logic applies when analyzing anything else, namely hip-hop. Is hip-hop mostly destructive? That’s debatable. Hip-hop is a genre that is perceived by many as limiting and monolithic. But there are myriad artists who espouse positive messages, harp on constructive concepts, and eschew immorality. This fact is not esoteric. All one has to do is look and research. It’s just that the negligent gatekeepers of society, i.e. bad reporters, check things at face value. Digging for the truth is considered to be superfluous, which in turn renders errant comments such as Whitlock’s to be fact. After all, it came from a black man himself. He has to know. Anybody would agree that to constructively critique something, you have to understand it. The hip-hop movement is a sub-culture. It is no different than the Black Power movement, the Hippies and the Bohemians, the Democrats and the Republicans. All have their own drawbacks. All are reflective of the society of which they reside in. But this writer isn’t naïve. Hip-hop in particular, isn’t just a reflection of reality. For some, it also creates reality. If all some kids see is a glorification of materialism and casual sex and kids are never seeing themselves reflected as hitting the books and being responsible and delaying gratification, then they are getting an unrealistic picture of what the world is like. There is no denying that. But as a person who grew up with the culture – as I am sure many of you can attest - I was exposed to many different forms of lyrical expression. I understood where the artists were coming from, and if I didn’t agree with them, I simply found another artist who shared my views and was audibly pleasing. This was the environment where I grew up, a hip-hop embracing environment, of which I had no control. This is what I, and many people were raised on. Hip-hop. My upbringing is more common than the masses realize, but it gets ignored amidst the flurry of unfavorable coverage. Professionals should know better. They are the ones trained in the art of nuance, educated with context and fairness at the forefront of their work. Yet, the promulgations of ignorant generalizations about the hip-hop culture persist because of the lack of in depth coverage. The lens through which something is viewed is as important, if not more, than the object being viewed. It’s not as simple as tuning into the radio and listening to the top 10 countdown, and gauging the status of music from there. The Mos Defs and the Commons and the Roots of the world aren’t apt to get the radio airplay that, say, Young Jeezy gets. Negativity sells in music, just as it does in the newspapers, politics, television, and movies. I challenge any hip-hop critic to purchase The Cool by Lupe Fiasco or Ear Drum by Talib Kweli. Chances are, this critic will come out with a different attitude towards rap. That’s if he/she can understand it. Accurate information is everything in intelligent discourse. It’s just unfortunate that many of the educated chose to turn its back to this basic fact.

Daily News Feed 5.16.08

Clutch — Fri, 16 May 2008 16:38:26 +0000

Kilpatrick Enacts Policy to Limit Access to the Text Messages Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has implemented a new policy designed to classify text messages sent on city-funded devices as private and exempt from rules governing the city’s electronic communications system policy. Previous city policy stated that all messages sent via the city’s electronic communications system were city property, a policy that gained interest after revelations that Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff exchanged damaging text messages showing they lied under oath during a whistle-blower trial. The previous policy contradicted the argument of Kilpatrick and city lawyers that the text messages were private. The new policy, obtained by the Free Press, took effect April 15 through a directive signed by Kilpatrick. However, it was distributed to city employees last night. (Continue Reading...) Parents Outraged Over School Assignment Parents are outraged over a controversial assignment at a Jackson middle school. Curtis Lyons is the concerned parent of a 6th grader at Chastain Middle School. He said his daughter had to answer the following questions about her peers. "Who do you think will be dead before age 19? Who will have no job? Who will get HIV or AIDS? Who will be pregnant?" Lyons read from a statement. Lyons says it was part of an assignment in Roshondra Sipp's 6th grade science class. And several parents told WLBT they're outraged students were asked to list their peers. "What kind of questions are those to ask kids? And then to have another kid determine those things? It's just not fair," said Lyons. Lyons was upset when his daughter told him that her class voted her most likely to get pregnant before age 19. That's right-- Lyon's says the teacher tallied the results and read them aloud to the class. "I know my daughter is dealing with this on her own, but kids are telling her, you're going to be pregnant, and others are saying, well, it doesn't matter because you're going to be dead," said Lyons. (Continue Reading...) Rihanna Tops U.S. Chart for 3rd Time R&B singer Rihanna's "Take a Bow" soared 52 places to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart Thursday, the second-biggest jump to the top in the chart's 50-year history. The record was set last year, when pop band Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" leapt from No. 64 in a single bound. Coincidentally, Maroon 5 has a new single on the latest chart -- with featured artist Rihanna. Their collaboration on "If I Never See Your Face Again" debuted at No. 57. "Take a Bow," the third No. 1 single of Rihanna's career, sent English pop singer Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" to No. 2 after a total of four weeks at the top. (Continue Reading...) R. Kelly jury complete as sides argue racial makeup Jury selection was completed at R. Kelly's child pornography trial Thursday amid contentious exchanges between prosecutors and defense attorneys, who accused each other of trying to stack the panel along racial lines. Of the 12 jurors who will open the case, eight are white and four are black. The four alternates include two blacks, one Hispanic and one white. Defense attorneys objected several times as prosecutors used challenges to have several blacks dismissed from the jury pool. "I think they're using these (challenges) to get rid of African Americans," said Sam Adam Sr., one of Kelly's attorneys. A little later, he complained that "they've used 50 percent of their challenges on African Americans." (Continue Reading...)

Flick Flick…

Clutch — Fri, 16 May 2008 05:22:25 +0000

Mix Up Your Summer - Sponsored By MIDORI®: Midorita (Midori Margarita)

Clutch — Fri, 16 May 2008 04:45:31 +0000

For more Midori Drink Recipes please visit www.midoriawakening.com

Daily News Feed 5.15.08

Clutch — Thu, 15 May 2008 18:34:19 +0000

Blacks to outnumber whites in Brazil Blacks will outnumber whites in Brazil this year for the first time since slavery was abolished, but the income gap between the two groups may take another 50 years to bridge, according to a government study released Tuesday. The government's Applied Institute of Economic Research said Brazil, which has the world's second-largest black population after Nigeria, is decades away from racial equality despite public policies aimed at decreasing the gap. Blacks generally earn 50 percent to 70 percent less than whites, and hold only 3.5 percent of management positions at Brazil's 500 largest companies, according to the labor-union statistics institute Diesse. (Continue Reading...) Witnesses say Kenya police emptying refugee camp Kenyan officials backed by armed police are forcing thousands of Kenyans displaced by postelection violence to leave a refugee camp, a resident and an international aid worker said Wednesday. The head of Doctors Without Borders, Remi Carrier, said local officials accompanied by armed police officers were going from tent to tent Wednesday in a camp housing 9,000 people in the western town of Kitale, and ordering people to leave in a matter of hours. (Continue Reading...)

YMIB: CLUTCH Her Style with Dede Sutton

Clutch — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:27:09 +0000

Click here to check out the interview!

Edwards endorses Obama, praises Clinton

Clutch — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:05:06 +0000

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "The reason I'm here tonight is because the Democratic voters have made their choice, and so have I," he told the boisterous crowd.

"There is one man who knows and understands that this is a time for bold leadership. There is one man that knows how to create the change, the lasting change, that you have to build from the ground up," Edwards said. "There is one man who knows in his heart there is time to create one America, not two ... and that man is Barack Obama."

Edwards also praised Sen. Hillary Clinton's candidacy. "What she has shown ... is strength and character, and what drives her is something that every single one of us can and should appreciate," Edwards said. "She is a woman who, in my judgment, is made of steel, and she's a leader in this country not because of her husband but because of what she has done." He said that when the nomination battle is over, "and it will be over soon, brothers and sisters ... we must come together as Democrats." Obama later praised Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, during the rally. (Continue Reading...)

Payless Goes High Fashion

Teneille Craig — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:00:12 +0000

Notice the new fashion forward Payless Ads lately? Since the exceedingly successful Patricia Fields for Payless Shoes Collection, the Sex & the City fashion guru has teamed up with Payless Shoes once more for these new highly styled ads. Patricia Fields who’d recently delivered the inexpensive peace offering for us die hard but budgeting shoe addicts is said to be an advocate for the “democratization of fashion”. She’s been known to not only integrate the shoe selection on the set of Sex & the City and The Devil Wears Prada but, to throw on a pair of Payless shoes herself. The Oscar-nominated costume designer turned heads with her personally designed pair of snakeskin and metallic green platform Payless sandals during a red carpet event last year. Hailed as a fashion visionary, Payless execs are enthused over the new image that Patricia Field is giving the shoe chain. Pay just a little more for Payless, and get your special edition pair of Patricia Fields’ shoes. Affordable is always fashionable, so you might want to consider stopping in to a Payless near you this season. To learn more about Patricia Fields for Payless please visit www.patriciafield.com and www.payless.com

New Issue Alert: 17 Days Away…

Clutch — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:49:52 +0000

N.E.R.D. “Everyone Nose”

Clutch — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:36:41 +0000

Daily News Feed 5.14.08

Clutch — Wed, 14 May 2008 17:33:24 +0000

Obama T-Shirt Sparks Protests at Georgia Restaurant A t-shirt for sale at a Marietta restaurant is causing quite a stir among those who believe it is racially offensive. The shirt bears an image of monkey eating a banana and references Barack Obama. FOX 5’s Portia Bruner spoke to the restaurant owner selling the shirts and to those offended by the imagery. (Continue Reading...) Detroit Council to Vote on Mayor Kilpatrick Ouster Options A fragile majority of City Council members could be poised today to launch a double-barreled effort to topple Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick by starting their own impeachment-like process and petitioning Gov. Jennifer Granholm to oust him. The possibility emerged as a compromise late Monday among members who are mostly united in their desire to boot Kilpatrick, but have bickered lately over how to do so. But the alliance of five council members is tenuous. There appears to be more support -- six members -- for a vote today to censure the mayor, who faces perjury, obstruction of justice and misconduct-in-office charges for the text-message scandal that has gripped City Hall since January. (Continue Reading...) Uprooted Kenyans head home in fits and starts Afternoon sunshine warms Samuel Mbugua as he hammers down a tarpaulin over the ruins of his burned and looted home. But the peace that brought him back to his Kenyan farm is as fragile as the plastic stretched over the weathered beams. The 45-year-old carpenter is in the first wave of people that the government started helping to return home last week, four months after they were driven away in violence following the rigged Dec. 27 presidential election. (Continue Reading...)