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”Alpha Man: The Brotherhood of Martin Luther King” reveals the little-known story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s fraternity days as a member of the country’s first black fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, when he was a 23-year-old divinity student in Boston. Produced by Rainforest Films for Bl ack Entertainment Television (BET), the half-hour special, to be broadcast at 7 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, Aug. 28, was supposed to coincide with the much-anticipated official dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial statue on the National Mall. But because of Hurricane Irene the dedication ceremonies have been postponed. The statue was scheduled to be dedicated on the 48th anniversary of the March on Washington and Dr. King’s “Dream” speech.
Dr. King’s APA frat brothers were instrumental in making the $120 million, 30 feet tall King Memorial a reality. The special, co-executive produced by Rob Hardy and Will Packer, will feature never before seen footage and first-hand accounts about a part of King’s early life that few people know about. “We did a lot of research and asked a lot of questions about this period in King’s life,” said Hardy. “We got first hand accounts of what happened during those times. We included information to show people what a fraternity is and information about Alpha Phi Alpha in case they didn’t know. This special will give an account of what Dr. King did when he was in the fraternity.”
Pausing, Hardy added, “King was drawn to Alpha Phi Alpha because a lot of people who were influential in that day, including Paul Robeson, Thurgood Marshall, and Duke Ellington, were all Alphas.” Hardy said that the special will include first hand accounts from King associates who knew King during the burgeoning civil rights movement, including when King was arrested in Montgomery and how other Alpha members raised the bail money to get him released from jail. “We also have King speaking at the 50th anniversary of the fraternity, and that was the first and only time he spoke at an Alpha convention,” said Hardy. We have broadcast footage of that speech which has never been heard.” Although Hardy said that King pledged Alpha Phi Alpha in 1952 and was proud to be a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, he said that the future civil rights leader downplayed his association in the fraternity.
“There’s not a lot of detail about King’s life in the fraternity and we spoke with Ambassador (Andrew) Young who said that that was deliberate. King never publicized that he was an Alpha man because at that time he didn’t want to create any more divisions between black people. He felt we were all in the same struggle so he didn’t want to create any more divisions where people viewed him as separate because he is in a fraternity or he’s an Alpha. He just wanted everybody to view him as, ‘We’re all common people on a mission for civil rights’…he was more about solidarity.” Hardy said King’s fight for social justice greatly influenced his fraternity brothers. “The Alphas began launching student sit-ins because they saw King speak at this convention. Because King spoke to the brotherhood, he inspired other brothers to do the same thing and to take a nonviolent approach towards civil rights.” Actor and author Hill Harper serves as host and narrator of the production. “Hill traveled to Boston, Atlanta, D. C. and Dayton to meet some of the people who actually knew Dr. King,” said Hardy, who also told us that Harper and Dianne Ashford served as producers on the project.
The new season of Celebrity Apprentice is off the hook, and Donald Trump is making sure no lawsuits come out of it. Last week, Actress Lisa Rinna was fired, and she didn’t take it well. Rinna felt she was being attacked by Star Jones and Dionne Warwick. She accused the ladies of having attitudes and conspiring to get rid of her. After she was fired from the show, she took to her twitter account mocking Jones and comparing her to Halloween monsters. She also reportedly sent Jones nasty emails. Jones then contacted the NBC legal department, who had to make Rinna stop. Singer Dionne Warwick is showing a different side of herself on the show. Warwick surprised a lot of people with her forceful demeanor. A lot of her fans expressed outrage at her behavior. Dionne is no joke, and you don’t want to mess with her! But, she is going to have to be careful. She is known as a legendary entertainer, and her behavior on the show could cost her longtime fans.
In other Apprentice news, what’s going to happen to Richard Hatch? The former Survivor winner is part of the Apprentice cast and he is back in jail for failing to pay taxes. Will he be at the season finale?
The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards air on this Sunday, February 13th 8pm on CBS. Some of the highlights include performances by Barbara Streisand and Mick Jagger, who has never performed at the Grammys before. Jagger is doing a tribute to the late Solomon Burke. There will also be a tribute to The Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin. She has been awarded 20 Grammys. Jennifer Hudson, Yolanda Adams and Christina Aguilera will be performing in a tribute dedicated to Franklin. Aguilera has a lot riding on this performance since her now famous flub of the National Anthem at this year’s Superbowl.
According to court documents, the Gambino and Genovese families have engaged in a multidecade conspiracy to influence and control the unions and businesses that work on the New York-area piers. According to court documents, Stephen Depiro managed the Genovese family’s illegal activities on the New Jersey piers, including the Genovese family’s long-standing conspiracy to extort ILA members each year during the Christmas period, when the longshoremen annually receive a portion of royalty payments paid by shipping companies using the ports of New York and New Jersey. Depiro and others allegedly conspired with his cousin, Nunzio LaGrasso, an associate of the Genovese family and the vice-president of ILA Local 1478 in Newark, to extort ILA members each year.
In Manhattan, 26 defendants, primarily from the Gambino family, have been charged in two indictments that include charges related to racketeering conspiracy, murder, narcotics trafficking, extortion, assault, arson, loansharking, illegal gambling, mail and wire fraud, and stolen property crimes.
Among the defendants charged are Joseph Corrozo, 69, who has served at times as the Gambino family consigliere; Bartolomeo Vernace, 61, a member of the Gambino family administration, who is also charged in Brooklyn; Gambino family captains Alphonse Trucchio, 34, and Louis Mastrangelo, 66; and Gambino soldiers Michael Roccaforte, 34,Anthony Moscatiello, 40, and Vincenzo Frogiero, 43.
According to court documents filed in the Manhattan cases, the criminal conductallegedly occurred for more than two decades, from the late 1980s to about 2010. Gambino associate Todd LaBarca, 39, is charged with the 2001 conspiracy to murder and murder of Gambino family associate Marty Bosshart. According to the indictment, Bosshart was murdered on Jan. 2, 2002, with a single gunshot to the back of his head, and his body was left on the side of the road in Queens. According to court documents, a cooperating witness consensually recorded more than 100 conversations with other members and associates of the Gambino family, including conversations with LaBarca about the murder. In addition, according to court documents, the cocaine and marijuana trafficking involved multiple thousands of kilograms of the illegal drugs.
Finally, an indictment unsealed in Providence charges two defendants – longtime boss of the New England
LCN Luigi Manocchio, 83, and LCN associate Thomas Iafrate, 61, – with extortion and extortion conspiracy. The extortion conspiracy allegedly spans almost two decades of illegal activity and involves the extortion of local pornographic bookstores and nightclubs, including the Satin Doll and the Cadillac Lounge, both in Providence.
In what U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder hailed as the FBI’s “largest single day operation” against organized crime, more than 800 state, local and federal authorities charged 127 individuals with mob-related crimes in four districts in New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
More than 110 of the 127 charged defendants have been arrested, and will appear in federal court in the districts in which they are charged. The charges relate to a wide range of alleged illegal activity, including murder, murder conspiracy, loansharking, arson, narcotics trafficking, extortion, robbery, illegal gambling and labor racketeering, in some cases occurring over decades.
There really is a “Hulk”! I think this fella went overboard Ok!
The Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin is recovering at home after a recent hospital stay. In early December, Franklin had surgery for pancreatic cancer. She lost over 80 pounds as half of her stomach was removed. Franklin, 68, was recovering from that surgery when she collapsed at home from dehydration. So far, it’s been a slow recovery for Franklin. Keep The Queen Of Soul in your prayers.
Sunday’s show we will be discussing the institution of marriage. It seem to have become an
obsolete value in America. Is it the cost of marriage, the cost of divorce? Is it the prenup?
Why are more folks living together, than a formal commitment?
These and more questions and hopefully answers on Sunday’s show. Please call in and join
the discussion, we are very interesting in what America thinks about the institution of marriage
and where it is headed in 2011.
www.blogtalkradio.com/Lennis or show title – “Talk 2 ME”
6-7pm only 1 hr. PST time, 646-727-2914.
Thanks to all for your participation, in this hot topic!
SF DA Kamala Harris is the victor
More than three weeks after he declared victory in the race for state attorney general, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley conceded defeat today as he trailed by more than 50,000 votes in one of the closest statewide races in California history, reports the LA Times.
The decision means that San Francisco Dist. Atty. Kamala Harris will assume the post of California’s top law enforcement official, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the statewide offices.
Don’t invite Bill Cosby and Russell Simmons to the same event. In the past, Simmons has taken issue with Cosby’s stance against gangsta rap, parental responsibility and disrespectful youth. Simmons feels Cosby has been too harsh. Cosby has criticized many of the entertainment ventures the rap mogul has some connection with, most famously taking to the airwaves to criticize Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam show. At the recent Jackie Robinson Foundation Awards (The ROBIE’s), the two came face to face, and it didn’t go well. Cosby told the media mogul and bestselling author to Get The F*&% Out Of My Face, and bumped him as he walked away. Even though he and Mr. Cosby have their differences, Simmons says he still loves him. (it’s like that Bill?)(Bill your an educated man
I’m surprised at your behavior. Are you becoming senile, and know
one wants to confess it to you?)