keyinfluencer’s Neighborhood

On Monday, Prince gathered with a group of reporters in Paris’ Hotel Costes to talk about his recent stay there which has included numerous fashion shows and two concerts at Paris’ Le Grand Palais on Sunday night. Below is full audio from the 12 minute session. And below that are some of the questions and answers from the reporter’s session (courtesy of Yahoo! News).

At a photo shoot on lower Broadway, a whole mess of stylists and publicists are hovering over Brooklyn-born, Harlem-raised Gabourey “Gabby” Sidibe, adjusting her outfit, her costume jewelry, her lushly swooping hairpieces. Sidibe is a good sport about it, rolling her eyes only when the song changes on the sound system. “Is this Taylor Swift?” she groans. One woman in the retinue, meeting her for the first time, gushes, “You look totally opposite to your character.” “Thanks,” says Sidibe dutifully. “I’m actually … not her.” The confusion is understandable if you’ve seen the film in which Sidibe stars. As Claireece “Precious” Jones, the obese, abused, 16-year-old hero of Precious (based on the sexually graphic 1996 novel Push, by Sapphire), the 26-year-old actress gives one of the most moving and primal performances in recent memory. The film (opening November 6 after playing the New York Film Festival) has been a festival standout since Sundance, where it won two major awards, followed by the top prize at the recent Toronto Film Festival.

Mitrice Richardson, 24, of Los Angeles left the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station in the early morning hours of Sept. 17. She had been arrested for not paying a restaurant tab and possessing a small amount of pot, and has been missing since she left the station.

Too often, as a society, we insult our young people, labeling them as a lost generation. Here's a young man who has taken leadership in to his 11-year-old hands.Jonathan E. McCoy gave a rousing speech earlier this year to his church in Baltimore about why our community needs to drop the 'N' word. His speech, "A New Petition," called for the discontinuation of that six-letter word, and the slang usage of the word. "I'm sending a message to everyone who knowingly or ignorantly uses this word to describe our people, whether you're a gangster rapper who uses it to communicate with your boys, or someone who looks down on us who haven't got a college education," said the pint-sized orator. "Whatever the case, it's time to discontinue the use of this word. It is implausible that 40 years after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we still use this word that holds no worth in our lives nor our future." Watch McCoy's speech:According to his Facebook fan page, Jonathan has always been a gifted child. At an early age, he learned about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and was immediately drawn to Dr. King's commitment to justice for all. Jonathan's early desire to effect change, inspired him to use petitioning as a way to call out injustice.His first act of petitioning apparently involved hand washing. While in the second grade, says his Facebook profile, Jonathan asked his fellow classmates to sign a petition that would allow students the choice to opt out of the school's enforced hand sanitizer policy and instead wash their hands with soap and water. When his teacher found out about the petition, she settled the request in the children's favor. Since presenting a "New Petition" to the 1,500 plus congregants at Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Jonathan has appeared on Black America Web with Tom Joyner, and spoken at numerous events around the country. Through his relationship with Morehouse College, Jonathan has promoted what is called a "Free Zone" initiative whic...

(Sept. 28) -- Silvio Berlusconi this week further consolidated his already strong reputation for political tastelessness. At the gala dinner for the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh on Thursday, the Italian prime minister visibly irked President Barack Obama with his unabashed ‘va-va-va-voom’ hand gestures when he was introduced to Michelle Obama. Instead of directing a respectful glance into the first lady’s eyes, he first gave her gown a Via Veneto-style leer—and reaped an arms-length handshake from Mrs. Obama instead of the warm embrace she gave other leaders.

Change was coming to Yale, too — the University’s African American Studies Program launched in September of that year, along with the Afro-American Cultural Center, which stands today, as it did then, at 211 Park St.