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Tag: Martin Luther King

  • Chrissy Teigen and Husband John Legend Hire Food Trucks for NYC Protesters

    Chrissy Teigen and John Legend may not have participated in New York City demonstrations against a grand jury decision not to indict the police officer who caused the death of Eric Garner, but they were there in spirit by offering protesters free food.

    The model and food-blogger and the Grammy Award-winning singer sent a number of food trucks Sunday to offer food to hungry protestors in New York’s Lincoln Square.

    Although the couple were not present, Legend’s rep confirmed that the food donation did in fact come from the couple, and Teigen tweeted out information about the food trucks Sunday.

    It was the fifth consecutive day of protests throughout New York City, and in many other cities across the country, since a grand jury declined to indict police officers involved in the death of Eric Garner, who died after being allegedly placed in a choke hold.

    On Monday, Teigen again sent out a message on Twitter announcing that the food trucks gave unused food from Sunday’s gift to the homeless.

    Legend recently received a Grammy nomination for best pop solo performance for All of Me and has been promoting the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. biopic Selma, which includes a song he wrote with rapper Common on the soundtrack.

  • Narendra Modi Brings Thoughtful, Personal Gifts To Obama

    Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought gifts for Monday’s state visit with US President Barack Obama.

    Modi personally chose the thoughtful, personal gifts for Obama — keeping in mind the two people the president most admires, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. — including “Gita by Gandhi” in Khadi cover, as well as audio and video clips from King’s 1959 visit to India.

    “The prime minister has brought several gifts. At the personal level, he has brought a special edition of Gita by Gandhi Ji. This is Gandhi Ji’s interpretation of Gita. The book was published many years ago,” said External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

    “The prime minister had specifically ordered a special edition of the book and copies of it were specially done up with a certain getup as Khadi on its cover these were prepared in Delhi and were brought and were handed over to the president.”

    “Also, he has given some other personal gifts. He is aware that President Obama has great regard for Martin Luther King and there is a Gandhi link between President Obama, the King and the prime minister, so he (Modi) had looked up and asked All India Radio to provide a recording of Martin Luther King’s speech which he gave in India in 1959 when he visited India. In addition, there are some other memorabilia of Martin Luther King,” he said.

    “There is a photograph of the King at the Rajghat, which the prime minister has framed and given to Obama. There is a small clip which goes back to 1959. The Photos Division was able to track back a video clip of Martin Luther King‘s visit to India. All these were prepared by the prime minister’s Office in advance and presented to President Obama today,” he said.

    “These were personal gifts. Official gifts would be presented tomorrow,” Akbaruddin said.

    The prime minister also generously brought gifts for Obama‘s two daughters, Sasha and Malia, according to the sources.

  • Selena Gomez Blasts Instagram Bully

    Selena Gomez Blasts Instagram Bully

    Selena Gomez doesn’t get controversial on social media. It’s not in her nature and she knows that what she says always has the potential for being taken out of context–and that could mean the beginning of a tabloid scandal. This time the former Wizards of Waverly Place star and supposed girlfriend of Justin Bieber couldn’t sit by and let a bully get the best of her, so she blasted the Instagram user with a comment of her own.

    The account has now been taken down, but the user told Selena Gomez she should ‘burn in hell with cancer.’

    Selena then replied on another of the user’s photos–took a screen shot of her comment–and shared it with her followers via Instagram.

    The Come & Get It singer preceded her photographed comment with a caption, too.

    “Honestly, I don’t speak up much because it’s simply *always* taken out of context. But I don’t take bullying well. I have seen too much to not say anything.”

    So how do you suppose people reacted to the fact that Selena Gomez spoke out and blasted this girl via social media? Lots of folks applauded her efforts to blast bullying. However some felt she crossed a line and publicly embarrassed this girl unnecessarily. As of Monday, Selena’s Instagram post had more than 34,000 comments.

    This isn’t the first time Selena Gomez has spoken out about bullying. In March she spoke at the We Day California youth conference, telling those assembled there to “have each other’s backs.”

    She even publicly recalled being bullied when first starting out in the entertainment industry.

    “It does more than knock the wind out of you. It crushes you when people try to tell you you’re not good enough,” she said.

    “Please just be kind to each other and love and inspire people…Let’s change the game. The most important thing is that we learn and we continue to learn from each other,” she added.

    Do you think Selena Gomez was too harsh when blasting this Instagram bully? Might she have served a better purpose by quietly contacting the girl in private and sharing her personal concerns? Or do you think all bullying should be called out as a means of trying to stop all such actions?

    Martin Luther King, Jr. often said in his speeches that “violence begets violence.” Is this a case of bullying begets bullying?

    Selena Gomez has a kind heart and no doubt meant to do the right thing by leaving this comment. Did she succeed or should she have done things differently?

    Image via Instagram

  • Belafonte Dispute: Martin Luther King, Jr. Documents

    Anyone who possesses documents from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has a treasure from one of the greatest men to ever grace our country. Ownership, however, can get a bit tricky, especially when family members of Dr. King argue that they belong to family.

    Civil rights activist, Harry Belafonte, claimed he owned documents given directly to him by Dr. King, his widow, Coretta Scott King and other close members the family. The three surviving children disputed this claim, which led to a lawsuit filed by Mr. Belafonte in October against Dr. King’s surviving children – Dexter, Bernice and Martin Luther King III, and revolved around three documents given to Mr. Belafonte during his long friendship with Dr. King.

    The documents included a three-page handwritten outline for a speech, “The Casualties of the War in Vietnam,” that Dr. King wrote in Mr. Belafonte’s apartment, and delivered in 1967; a letter of condolence from President Lyndon B. Johnson to Mrs. King, and an envelope with notes for a speech, which Dr. King had in his pocket when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

    When Belafonte tried to sell the King documents through Sotheby’s, in 2008, to raise money for Barrios Unidos, a charity that works with street gangs, the King family challenged his ownership, saying the documents were “wrongfully acquired.”

    The documents were held in a storage vault by Sotheby to avoid liability, until a resolution was reached.

    Mr. Belafonte and the family of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have settled their differences over the ownership of those documents. According to a joint statement by Jonathan S. Abady, Mr. Belafonte’s lawyer, and Michael W. Tyler, the lawyer for Dr. King’s estate, “the parties have reached a compromise, the terms of which are confidential and have resulted in Mr. Belafonte retaining possession of the documents.”

    On Friday, a spokeswoman for Sotheby’s said, “We are very pleased to hear that the parties have reached an agreement and anticipate returning the documents to Mr. Belafonte.”

    It’s not known what Belafonte plans to do with the documents. Sotheby’s Inc. has held them since 2008 pending resolution of the dispute.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Oprah Reveals Why She Decided on “No Kids”

    Oprah Reveals Why She Decided on “No Kids”

    Oprah Winfrey has worn the hats of many titles. She’s most famous for her heartfelt, in your face talk show, generous donations and philanthropical lifestyle. But one hat the 59-year-old mogul hasn’t sported is the title of being a mother.

    In her latest film, The Butler, Winfrey plays a mother. She did such a good job that she was nominated for a Screen Actor’s Guild Award. But why hasn’t she decided to take on that special role in her very own life?

    In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter she said, “motherhood was never a dream of hers.”

    According to the interview, “she doesn’t regret not having kids.”

    “If I had kids, my kids would hate me,” said Winfrey.

    The humanitarian dedicates so much of her time and resources to her charities and those less fortunate that she feels like children of her own wouldn’t be doted on as much.

    But what was this Renaissance woman dreaming about all these years all while her closest pals have been talking about motherhood?

    “Gayle [now a mother of two] was the kind of kid who, in seventh grade Home Ec class, was writing down her name and the names of her children,” she said. “While she was having those kind of daydreams, I was having daydreams about how I could be Martin Luther King.”

    Winfrey may not be a mother, but I think it’s safe to say she’s beautifully touched the lives of many.

    Catch Winfrey in action in a clip from Lee Daniels, The Butler.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QZ4YLIYJoQ

    Photo Credit: YouTube