Andrea Kelly, Yandy Smith, Emily B, Mashonda & More DISH On Reality TV's IMPACT On Young Women

Reality TV Stars like Adrienne Bailon, Yandy Smith, Meeka Claxton, Andrea Kelly and Somaya Reece hit an event, hosted by WEEN, discussed how their actions on TV impact the lives of young women.
The Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network (WEEN) hosted PROJECT REALism last Friday in NYC.  The standing-room only event featured reality TV stars discussing the impact of reality TV on young women. The WEEN co-founder is Valeisha Butterfield (In Pink).

TV Personality Alesha Renee and Amanda Diva Celebrity Host were also in attendance.  It's great to see a room full of women actually discussing social issues and making plans of action.  Keep up the good work ladies!

Via TheYBF

I am so proud these women for standing up to try and help young women. I personally feel that some reality shows need to be pulled off of television because its absolutely embarrassing. I'm not talking about them showing their real life because that's the point of a reality show. I'm talking about the constant fighting and bickering like five year old children. That is not reality because I don't know any classy women who act like that. We need sophisticated women on television to help our youth not childish ones. 

Valeisha Butterfield and all the Reality Stars that attended this event are OnPointCelebz! :-)

Angela Simmons Poses For Fearless Magazine with An Inspirational Letter To Fans

Angela Simmons writes a letter to fans about the obstacles and criticism she's overcome as well as why she keeps her family and friends so close to her heart. 

I’ve overcome a lot of obstacles! For me, when I first came onto the scene I dealt with criticism about my weight and how I looked, but I’ve overcome that. I’ve learned that everyone has an opinion when you’re in the spotlight, but what matters most is how YOU feel about yourself. I’ve gotten over being criticized, and learned [it's] just not important. There are other things to focus your energy on.
It’s important to keep your biggest cheerleaders closest to you and I will say my friends and family are always apart of my life because they help in shaping me as an individual. Without them, I don’t know where I would be. Through both the good and the hard times they are always there to lean on with the best advice. With [their] help I can say it has been an amazing journey.

NEWS: Gabby Douglas Wins Gold

At only 16-years-old, Gabby Douglas has become the first woman of color, to take home the all-around Olympic gold title in women’s gymnastics. The 94-pound gymnast known as ‘The Flying Squirrel’ pretty much dominated the series from the beginning but led the top three spots over her Russian competitors Victoria Komova who took the silver and Aliya Mustafina who took home the bronze. In addition to being the first African American to take home that title, she’s also only the 4th American woman in Olympic history to win women’s all-around.

This is an amazing story coming from a Virginia Beach girl who left her family at age 14 to move to West Des Moines, Iowa so that she could train under her coach Liang Chow!

Before heading to London, Gabby talked about what it’s been like getting over her nerves which have gotten the best of her in past competitions.

"I think I’ve improved so much with the mental situation. I learned about being a competitor. No one is going to feel sorry for you. No one is going to be like, ‘Ooh, you fell.’ This is going to be my chance to shine. You have to go out there and be fierce."

I am so proud of Gabby. She is a true inspiration to young kids around the world who have a dream...OnPointCeleb! 

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!! ONPOINT!!! :-)

 

Eve Talks Relationship with Stevie J and Knowing Your Worth

Recently Eve hosted a 'Intimate Hour' with high school girls in Philly for the Uniquely You Summit. Where she touched on her relationship with Stevie J and knowing your worth.
I love the fact that Eve did this summit. Young girl need a positive woman to come out and speak to them about relationships and loving themselves.
Eve is an OnPointCeleb! I also love all that Kendra G is doing. I believe that abstinence is the key.

Check out video below:

AWARENESS: THE SMITHS SPEAK OUT AGAINST HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN WASHINGTON D.C.

 Actress and advocate Jada Pinkett Smith listen to testimony at the ‘The Next Ten Years In The Fight Against Human Trafficking: Attacking The Problem With The Right Tools’ Committee Hearing at the Hart Senate Office Building on Tuesday  in Washington, DC.

Jada was accompanied by her 11 year-old daughter Willow Smith and superstar husband Will Smith and was also pictured coming in with Chairman Sen. John Kerry (D-MA).

Author Terrance Dean Writes Letter To Frank Ocean

Best-selling author, Terrance Dean, who wrote about down low and gay celebrities in his memoir, “Hiding In Hip Hop,” has penned an open letter thanking Frank Ocean on his courage to stand up and be proud.
Its awesome to see people supporting Frank at this time...OnPoint!

Read an excerpt below:

An open letter to Frank Ocean:

Over the course of the past few days I read on the blogs, and saw a few tweets chattering about an R&B artist coming out. Your name surfaced, along with an interview you did overseas, and then you wrote on Tumblr about a relationship you had four years ago with a young man. You shared how it changed your life, and how that young man was your first love.

You see, in 2008, my book was released, Hiding In Hip Hop: On The Down Low in the Entertainment Industry From Music to Hollywood. It’s my memoir detailing my life of working in the entertainment industry, and being privy to many friendships with a number of closeted celebrities, as well as a few relationships I shared with most of them. So, the news of an R&B artist coming out and admitting his true sexuality was not a shock to me. I actually have been awaiting the day, counting down the hours and minutes as to when one of my friends, or past lovers, would be brave enough to come forward and make a public announcement (My inhale continues to expand). But, it wasn’t one of them. No. It was someone younger. Much braver. An artist who isn’t hindered by the old relics of Hip Hop, or the entertainment school of, “Don’t you come out or it will ruin your career,” and the record label politics. It was YOU. Someone who recognizes their own uniqueness and the power they have to change a world with their honesty and truth. It was you Frank Ocean. A trailblazer. A journeyman. A true lyricist. An artist. A pioneer. A hero.

So, I want to thank you, Mr. Frank Ocean, for your courageousness. It takes a brave soul to come forth in truth, and in love, despite what the rest of the world is doing or feeling as “flavor of the week,” as legendary soul singer, Maze, recently said in a speech at the 2012 BET Awards.

There are many young people, even mature people, who are struggling with their sexual identity, and are afraid to step out of the shadows for fear of being judged, criticized, or ridiculed. Every day the fear grips and chokes them, just as it once did to you. So, please know that they are watching, reading, and listening to you, and the declaration you’re making. A black man in Hip Hop, who looks like them, speaks like them, and realized his dreams despite of the backlash or BS others tend to hold on to because of their own prejudices against same gender loving people. You boldly refuse to be bound by others, and in that declaration you are giving others hope and courage to be their authentic selves. Being black and gay so many times we hear, “No,” and “You can’t,” or, “It’s impossible.” Yet, your music and voice is heard around the world on radio channels, you’ve performed in stadiums before hundreds and thousands of people, and club DJs bang your songs while men and women, straight, gay, and bi, bop their heads and two-step to YOUR GROOVE. Yes, that is POWER-FULL!

Your gift has, and, is being revealed right before our eyes, and we are bearing witness to it. Every time you’ve opened your mouth we’ve heard it in your songs. Your melodic, smooth, and hypnotic voice lingering gingerly with the beats blending perfectly to tell us about love, happiness, hopefulness, and starting again. Thank you for the gift of your voice, and for understanding how to use it.

I also want to thank you for being open, vulnerable, and FRANK regarding your first love with another man. What a powerful testament in bearing your soul, and being emotional, open, and so revealing for the entire world to see, especially your emotions, and feelings for another man. Your letter was truly heartfelt. Thank you for your honesty.

Yet, you’ve found the strength from a loving and nurturing support system of friends, loved ones, and family who healed you through. They lifted you, inspired you, and encouraged you. And, in the power of your Being you were able to rise, lift the earth, and connect us to you with your symphonic music and tantalizing lyrics. Simply because you acknowledged your greater SELF which you stated at the end of your letter, “I don’t have any secrets I need kept anymore…I feel like a free man.” POWER-FULL!

Just as singer, Adele, wailed with an open wounded heart on her 21 album, singing about a rejected love, and Mary J. Blige, cried out with a soulful blues of an unrequited love on her, My Life album, their vulnerability connected them with their fans. Just as you have done with your letter. And, yes, there are many artists who have made songs about former lovers, ill-fated relationships, and love lost, but Mary J. Blige and Adele touched the souls of folks like an old Negro spiritual. And, in that connectedness their truths catapulted them to super stardom. My hope and prayer for you is that your new album, Channel Orange, in which reviewers say that many of the songs are an ode to a love lost with another man, will have the same effect as 21 and My Life did on the lives of music fans around the world, and it catapult you into the superstar stratosphere where you belong.

Warmly,

Terrance Dean

Frank Ocean Opens Up About Sexuality In A Letter To Fans

Frank Ocean writes a letter to his Fans about his sexuality. Earlier this week a blogger apparently came out and said that Frank Ocean will have a few love tracks on his upcoming album "Channel Orange" saying 'him' instead of 'her'. Of course everyone wasn't sure whether to believe what this person had said, but early this morning Frank posted a letter on Tumblr called "Thank You's" to prove the blogger was telling the truth.

In the letter Frank Ocean says he wrote it on December 27, 2011 on a plane. He describes meeting a guy at 19 years old during the summer and eventually falling in love with him, after spending a lot of time with him. Frank ends the lettering by saying he has nothing to hide and that how he feels like a free man.


I'm proud of Frank Ocean for coming out with his sexuality. It will be an inspiration to a lot of young people that are scared to be themselves...OnPoint!

LETTER BELOW!!!


Whoever you are, wherever you are… I’m starting to think we are a lot alike. Human beings spinning on blackness. All wanting to be seen, touched, heard, paid attention to. My loved ones are everything to me here. In the last year or 3, I’ve screamed at my creator. Screamed at clouds in the sky. For some explanation. Mercy maybe.  For peace of mind to rain like manna somehow. 4 Summers ago, I met somebody.  I was 19 years old. He was too.  We spent that Summer and the Summer after, together.  Everyday almost.  And on the days we were together, time would glide.  Most of the day I’d see him, and his smile.  I’d hear his conversation and his silence.. Until it was time to sleep.  Sleep I would often share with him.  By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless. There was no escaping.  No negotiating with the feeling. No choice. It was my first love.  It changed my life.  Back then, my mind would wander to the women I had been with.  The ones I cared for and thought I was in love with.   I reminisced about the sentimental songs I enjoyed when I was a teenager.  The ones I played when I experienced a girl too quickly.  Imagine being thrown from a plane.  I wasn’t in a plane though.  I was in a Nissan Maxima.  The same car I packed up with bags and drove to Los Angeles in.  I sat there and told my friend how I felt.  I wept as the words left my mouth.  I grieved for them, know I could never take them back for myself.  He patted my back.  He said kind things.  He did his best, but he wouldn’t admit the same.  He had to go back inside soon. I was late and his girlfriend was waiting for him upstairs.  He wouldn’t tell me the truth about his feelings for me for another 3 years.  I felt like I’d only imagined reciprocity for years.  Now imagine being thrown from a cliff.  No. I wasn’t on a cliff. I was still in my car telling myself it was gonna be fine and to take deep breaths.  I took the breaths and carried on.  I kept up a peculiar friendship with him because I couldn’t imagine keeping up my life without him.  I struggled to master myself and my emotions.  I wasn’t always successful.

The dance went on.. I kept the rhythm for several Summers after.  It’s Winter now.  I’m typing this on a plane back to Los Angeles from New Orleans.  I flew home for another marred Christmas.  I have a windowseat.  It’s December 27, 2011.  By now, I’ve written two albums.  This being the second.  I wrote to keep myself busy and sane.  I wanted to create worlds that were rosier than mine. I tried to channel overwhelming emotions.  I’m surprised at how far all of it has taken me.   Before writing this, I’d told some people my story. I’m sure these people kept me alive.  Kept me safe… sincerely.  These are the folks I wanna thank from the floor of my heart.  Everyone of you knows who you are.. Great humans.  Probably angels.  I don’t know what happens now, and that’s alright.  I don’t have any secrets I need kept anymore.  There’s probably some small shit still, but you know what I mean.  I was never alone, as much as I felt like it..As much as I still do sometimes.  I never was. I don’t think I ever could be.  Thanks.  To my first love, I’m grateful for you.  Grateful that even though it wasn’t what I had hoped for and even though it was never enough, it was.  Some things never are…And we were.  I won’t forget you.  I won’t forget the Summer..I’ll remember who I was when I met you.  I’ll remember who you were and how we both changed and stayed the same.  I’ve never had more respect for life and living than I have right now.  Maybe it takes a near death experience to feel alive.  Thanks.  To my mother, you raised me strong.  I know I’m only brave because you were first…So thank you.  All of you.  For everything good.  I feel like a free man.  If I listen closely, I can hear the sky falling too.

 -Frank