Watch: MTV presents Pedro

The HBCU Program got this alert from the HRC Communications Department:


In 1994, Pedro Zamora captured the hearts of millions on MTV’s The Real World: San Francisco as the first-ever openly gay, HIV-positive main character on a national television show. Pedro is an intimate bio pic tracing his humble Cuban immigrant roots to his courageous rise to national prominence as the most recognizable HIV-AIDS activist in the United States. The world premiere of Pedro provides us with a unique opportunity to begin an honest discussion about the realities of sexually transmitted infections.

To carry on Pedro’s fight, we want to encourage all sexually active people to get tested. To make this as easy and fun as possible, we set up an SMS code so all anyone has to do is text their zip code to 49809 and they will get a text back with the location of the nearest testing center. In addition, everyone who texts that SMS code will automatically be registered to win a trip for 2 people to the 2009 MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles! Not a bad deal for doing something we should all be doing anyway right?

Watch the trailor here!

NAACP National Chairman Julian Bond Gives Amazing Speech at HRC LA Dinner

National NAACP Chairman Julian Bond gave an amazing speech in support of LGBT rights at HRC’s Los Angeles Gala Dinner on Saturday, March 14. Check the video out below!!!

Fresh Face on Cable, Sharp Rise in Ratings

The NYT's is published a story today about out lesbian and successful political pundit, Rachel Maddow. Here's what they're saying:

Rachel Maddow, a woman who does not own a television set, has done something that is virtually unheard of: she has doubled the audience for a cable news channel’s 9 p.m. hour in a matter of days.

More important for her bosses at MSNBC is that “The Rachel Maddow Show,” her left-leaning news and commentary program, has averaged a higher rating among 25- to 54-year-olds than “Larry King Live” on CNN for 13 of the 25 nights she has been host. While the average total audience of her program remains slightly smaller than that of Mr. King’s, Ms. Maddow, 35, has made MSNBC competitive in that time slot for the first time in a decade. The channel at that hour has an average viewership of 1.7 million since she started on Sept. 8, compared with 800,000 before.

Given that advertising dollars — and the reputations of networks — rise and fall on prime-time ratings, Ms. Maddow’s rise has been closely watched by media executives.

“I’m pinching myself,” said Phil Griffin, the president of MSNBC, who used to caution that it “takes two or three years for a show to find its audience.” That was certainly true for Keith Olbermann, whose five-year-old “Countdown” program at 8 p.m. (which leads into Ms. Maddow’s program) now beats CNN in the 25-to-54-year-old demographic segment every evening.

You can find the entire NYT's article after the jump...

Activist tries to break cycle of gay teen suicide

"Why did God create me this way?"

That's what Mitchell Gold asked himself as a teenager in the mid-1960s as he hid his homosexuality from family and friends. The better he got at the hiding game on the outside, the more torn up he became on the inside.

What he called "the black cloud" swallowed him up. And he found himself thinking of ways to kill himself -- from overdosing on sleeping pills to driving off a cliff.

Gold felt completely alone, but the sad truth is that countless other gay and lesbian teens were feeling just as painfully isolated. Unlike Gold, many gay and lesbian teens of his generation didn't make it. Many gay teens are still not making it. And this tragic pattern won't change unless all of us -- gay and heterosexual alike -- help break the cycle.

hat's the latest message of the once self-hating gay teen who grew up to become the successful co-founder of the Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams furniture company and an innovative gay-rights activist.

Find more after the jump...

Sam Ronson is a "Fresh Kid", says Kanye

Star rapper and fashion icon, Kanye West, featured Sam Ronson on his daily blog as today's Fresh Kid. Kanye's Fresh Kid post is reserved for fashionable, up and coming entertainers and known personalities. Ronson has gain more fame over the last few months because of the speculation that she and Lindsey Lohan are an item. Here's what he had to say about Ronson:

In 2000, Ronson spun live for MTV New Year's Eve 2001's show from the network's studios in New York Times Square. In 2002, it was announced Duncan Sheik would be co-producing an album for Ronson that would be out in the spring. In 2004, she opened for JC Chasez on his Schizophrenic tour.

Ronson distinguished herself by becoming the first rock act signed to Roc-A-Fella Records. She released four songs under the label "Super" with very little public interest: "Pull My Hair Out", "Fool", "If It's Gonna Rain" and "Built This Way," and wrote and recorded her first album, Blue. "Built This Way" was featured in the movie Mean Girls starring Lindsay Lohan and Rachel McAdams. RED was never officially released, though song downloads were made available from her MySpace page. Ronson has also made a number of appearances on mix tapes produced by artists on the Roc-A-Fella label. In a January 2008 interview with MTV News, it was revealed Ronson had parted ways with her label and is currently focusing on DJing.

Ronson was co-owner of the New York City nightclub The Plumm, along with actor Chris Noth among others.

While comments on the post seem to varied, I have to agree that Ronson is indeed a Fresh Kid...if only for bagging the very ovah Miss Lohan!

Find the post here...

Kanye West Challenges Fans to End Homophobia

Rapper Kanye West urged his fans to be more open minded and sensitive about cultural differences and diversity in society as he claims confrontational bigotry is nothing more than "disrespectful".
The hip-hop wonder made the comments during a concert at New York's Madison Square Garden on Tuesday August 5th. He called on his fans to follow his example and be more accepting and considerate of people regardless of their differences - attempting to end homophobia in hip-hop culture.

He preached:

"Open y'all's f**kin' minds. Be accepting of different people. Let people be who they are ... You know how many people came at me, calling me 'gay' cause I wear my jeans the fresh way? Or 'cause I said, 'Hey, dude, how y'all gonna say f*g right in front of a gay dude's face and act like that's OK?' That s**t is disrespectful ... It took me time to break out of the mental prisons I was in. The stereotypes of the fear of the backlash that I would get for believing in what I believe in, for accepting people for who they are."

After airing his opinions, he thanked the patient crowd and signed off by saying, "Thank y'all for listening to me. I had a few things to get off my chest. I want y'all to handle the rest. New York City, good night."

Black AIDS Institute Tests Celebrities

AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women aged 25-34 years and the Center for Disease control estimates over 260,000 people in the U.S. are infected with HIV and don't yet know it. Of those, up to 46% of Black gay men may already be HIV-positive. The Black AIDS Institute - our nation's first organization dedicated to reducing HIV/AIDS among Black people - will be kicking off their second annual "Test 1 Million" campaign on Friday with a few notable celebrities. Eric "Lil E" Wright ," Jimmy Jean-Louis from "Heroes", Coolio , Harold Perrineau from "Lost" and "Oz", Brian White from "The Family Stone" and "Stomp the Yard" and Doug Christie & his wife Jackie - among other notable Black stars - will be setting the stage and an example for Black folks everywhere. The message: Get tested and get tested often. The immediate goal: 1 million people tested by the end of the day - June 27th.

Click here for more information