Via “Straight, From Your Gay Best Friend” Terrance will give advice served with a mix of sass, wit, and humor to the thousands of women who write in seeking answers to everything from love, relationships, career, and family. The column will also enlist real-life personal stories, entertainment news, contests, and a sexy man of the week pictorial.

“From ‘Will and Grace’ to ‘Sex in the City’ to the ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ it is commonly known and accepted that a girl’s real best friend is a gay man. Well for those not lucky enough to know one personally, here I am! I will be the one to tell it to the ladies straight, no chaser, about life, love, relationships, and everything in between. I am so grateful to Hello Beautiful.com for having the vision to provide me and their readers with this wonderful opportunity,” shares Dean.

Always writing, Dean’s Straight, From Your Gay Best Friend – Who Else Is Going To Tell You The Truth About Work, Relationships, and Having a Fabulous Life! will be released with Agate/Bolden Books in October 2010. In addition, Dean conceived the idea and concept for a tribute book, Visible Lives: Three Stories in Tribute to E. Lynn Harris, for his dear friend and mentor, New York Times best-selling author, the late E. Lynn Harris. Visible Lives is being released with Kensington/Dafina Books in May 2010. It is an anthology in which Dean enlisted fellow authors Stanley Bennett Clay and James Earl Hardy to write novellas in tribute to E. Lynn Harris who died in July 2009. “I wanted to create a project that honored and paid homage to one of the greatest black gay fiction writers of our time,” said Dean.

Author, speaker, educator and now advice columnist, Detroit native, Terrance Dean continues to make waves as an advocate for change and empowerment. Having come to terms with himself in a homophobic culture he has positioned himself as a vanguard in hip hop, always pushing the envelope.

Dean has worked in the entertainment industry for over 15 years with heavy hitters such as Spike Lee, Rob Reiner, Keenan Ivory Wayans, and Anjelica Houston.
Dean also worked with MTV Networks helping to produce live award shows and events including MTV Video Music Awards, Movie Awards, Hip Hop Honors, Rock Honors, Sports & Music Festival, and Choose or Lose. He is the founder/creator of Men’s Empowerment, Inc. and co-creator of The Gathering of Men with Adeyemi Bandele, husband and spiritual partner of Iyanla Vanzant. He is also the author of Reclaim Your Power! A 30-Day Guide to Hope, Healing and Inspiration for Men of Color (Random House/Villard – May 2003).

“There needs to be a continuum of open dialogue within the Black community, particularly within the Hip-Hop community. I am here. Let it begin with me,” expresses Dean. “Straight, From Your Gay Best Friend” on the Hello Beautiful portal will be a wonderful extension of a much needed conversation.”

Hello Beautiful.com (http://www.hellobeautiful.com) is one of Interactive One’s suite of sites targeting the African American audience. Hello Beautiful.com is a fun mix of fashion, beauty, entertainment and relationship talk carefully curated for the new urban
woman.

(Los Angeles, California – February 3, 2010) Filmed in Northern California and directed by Nigerian Filmmaker Chike Nwoffiah, Sabar; Life is a Dance is a narrative feature exploring the intricacies of life, love, courage and friendship but most importantly dance. Set against the backdrop of the West African dance movement in the United States, Sabar is a dramatic feature film about the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Sabar examines how we constantly negotiate and choreograph our way through the bigger and sometimes arrhythmic dance called Life.

Sabar; Life is a Dance is a high-powered drama that details the life of Aisha (played by highly acclaimed dancer Bunmi DeRosario) a young African-American hip hop dancer who seeks connection with her history and past. Convinced by a friend to enroll in an introductory Sabar dance class she quickly excels within a genre that is almost impossible for outsiders to grasp. In a sea of phenomenal Bay Area dance talent DeRosario stands out as the top in her field, proving her aptitude as a professionally trained dancer, soaring to new heights in her debut role as an actress and managing to captivate audiences right from the beginning. Set in the culturally diverse area of Oakland, California, the movie unfolds in the traditional style of an African epic. “When I moved to the Bay area over 20 years ago, it was a place where I would get my fix for African dance and music. When I would walk into one of the dance studios, I would see more than 20 to 30 dancers leaping off the floor, going from one end of the room to the next and the drumming was phenomenal,” says Nwoffiah.

Fascinated by the African dance movement of the late 70’s Chike Nwoffiah of Rhesus Media was determined to capture and bring this underground movement to life. Nwoffiah as director plays the role of the Griot or “Nguewel,” a highly respected oral historian in the Wolof culture as he examines this unfolding and rapidly spreading culture, carrying on the legacy and torch of West African dance in America through the powerful medium of Hollywood. “As I began the process of doing research, talking to different people and interviewing the elders of the community, the more I got involved, the more in-depth I got into it. After consulting with a friend of mine, I began to look at this project not as a documentary piece but as a dramatic feature because there were so many different layers I was peeling off. My heart was bleeding Sabar.”

At it’s core African dance has an exceptionally diverse cultural heritage that has long been associated with self-exploration, social relations and spiritual communion. West Africa has changed the paradigm of both the classical and urban artistic movements around the world; traveling across ocean divides throughout the Diaspora, inspiring the Savoy Lindy Hop of the Harlem Renaissance, the Ballerinas of 17th century Europe, all the way to the current Krumpin’ masterminds of South Central Los Angeles. It was the dancers of West Africa that would inspire legendary American icons Alvin Ailey, Katherine Dunham, Judith Jameson, Josephine Baker and Debbie Allen, eventually becoming the archetype of modern black dance.

In African culture dance is inextricably connected to rhythms. It was initially the Djembe drum, casted by blacksmiths of the Mande culture that became most commonly associated with West African dance in America, consisting of the most recognizable steps, costume ornamentation and popular rhythms. But there was another obscure drum which remained relatively unknown in the West that has been just as important in the Senegambia region and would go on to be just as powerful and symbolic as the Djembe, known by it’s native people simply as the Sabar. Sabar is also the term collectively used to describe the genre of dancing, whose complexity and intricacy originated in the urban streets of Dakar and has evolved to become the national pulse of Senegal. It was said throughout global media “When Youssou N’Dour brought the exuberant and sensual rhythms of the Sabar into the clubs, he took the lid off the scene.”

Sabar is an ancient yet re-emerging art form, ushered back onto the scene during Post-Colonial French Independence with a wave of neo-afrocentricism. Sabar has recently found it’s popularity increasing in the trendy dance studios of America as students have been privileged to learn from former members of the national dance company, Le Ballet du Senegal, when members settled here in the early 80’s. Globally renown artist Youssou N’Dour who has collaborated with Neneh Cherry, Peter Gabriel and Sting appeared in the widely circulated MTV/BET music video for “How Come” with Fugees member Wyclef Jean, featuring picturesque Sabar dancing on the streets of Brooklyn. Current multi-platinum superstar Akon has spearheaded his unique blend of native culture and American R&B, incorporating West African dance and drumming into his politically charged video “Pot of Gold.”

The actors in this film bring the characters to life by their noteworthy ability to examine and analyze the dramatic text and generate the emotive expressiveness needed to demonstrate the interconnectedness of the culture. The electrifying film is full of non-stop dancing, competition, suspense and the fight for the illustrious “Queen of Sabar” title. Other cast members include prominent dance instructors in the West African Bay Area community such as Naomi Diouf and Alassane Kane as well as special appearances by renowned New York based Sabar dancer Babacar M’Baye and Sabar master drummer Cheikh M’Baye. The characters in Sabar; Life is a Dance are versatile and multi-talented, glamorizing a cultural art form without losing respect for it’s originators. It is perhaps in it’s quintessential form a musical that comes to life with the intent to inspire and educate. By the time the credits roll one can almost envision the colorfully decorated Sabar dancers of yesteryears as their feet move effortlessly in the sand on the picturesque beaches of Senegal… to the call of their drum.

Sabar; Life is a Dance premiered during 2009 as the “Official Selection” at The Pan-African Film & Television Festival (FESPACO) in Burkina Faso, The Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), The Toronto African Film & Music Festival, The Oakland International Film Festival (OIFF) and the New York African Diaspora Film Festival (NYADFF). Sabar received two Wins for “Best Feature Film” and “Audience Choice Award” at the 2009 Urban Mediamakers Film Festival (UMFF) in Georgia.

By definition a GENERAL is the highest commissioned rank in the Army. One who holds this rank does so because of experience, attention to detail and an all-encompassing skill to lead. A General must make the tough and decisive decisions putting his squad before the well-being of himself.

It is by no coincidence that Steele of Smif N Wessun has been assigned the rank of GENERAL STEELE. A proven veteran of the Boot Camp Clik and 1/2 of the famed rap duo, Smif N Wessun, General Steele is prepping his second installment of the Amerikkka’s Nightmare series, entitled CHILDREN OF WAR. The 12 track history lesson is in stores world-wide February 23rd.

Amerikkka’s Nightmare Part 2 highlights change that must occur in our great Nation. General Steele states: “America the beautiful has an ugly past. It is the people who live in this great country who have struggled relentlessly to establish this country under the basic common human & constitutional rights that all people should have. These rights have at times been suppressed and our vision of a “land of the free” has been compromised. Some people are complacent with the state of our nation, others are speaking out.”

Through freedom of speech, General Steele has converted his mode of expression into song found within the messages in Amerikkka’s Nightmare Part 2 – Children of War. Tracks such as “Cry Freedom” featuring Dead Prez resonate through the speakers as General Steele proclaims that whatever doesn’t kill you only makes you more strong. “Blood/Sweat/Tears Of Joy/I Cry Freedom/Life Is A Sacrifice Of Our Freedom/You Can’t Deny Freedom/Remove Anything In the Way of Our Freedom/I was Blind/But I Opened My Eyes and Cried Freedom!”

Accompanying the album is the video expose “WE THE PEOPLE” which features artists & community activists living in America who express their views on the current situation of our nation.

“We The People” Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANyzaiXswWg

Amerikkka’s Nightmare Part 2 – Children Of War Track Listing:
1) Amerikkka’s Nightmare
2) Pledge Allegiance ft Nicole Michelle
3) Cry Freedom ft Dead Prez
4) Tomorrows Children ft Flood Diesel
5) I Had A Vision ft Louie Skaggs, Hasaan Salaam, Akir, Louie Skaggs and Hicoup
6) Child Of War
7) State Of The Union Address
8) We on The Move Now ft Nicole Michelle
9) Amerikkkan skemin
10)Home of The Brave (Jimmy’s song)
11)Patriot Games
12)Rebellious ft Madison Rocks

SANTA MONICA, CA (January 27, 2010) – In an extraordinary effort, accomplished with unprecedented speed, global icon Mary J. Blige, world-renowned tenor Andrea Bocelli, and esteemed producer David Foster have bridged genres and continents to record an emotional duet of the Simon & Garfunkel classic “Bridge Over Troubled Water” in order to benefit earthquake relief efforts in Haiti, available exclusively at iTunes.com/Target.

Blige, Bocelli and Foster will perform the song live on the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, January 31, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, broadcast on CBS from 8-11:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The historic performance will mark the 40th anniversary of the original hit receiving the Grammys for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Target and iTunes have teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind download opportunity of the studio version of the song, arranged and produced by Foster, that will be available for purchase and download exclusively at iTunes.com/Target following the Grammys broadcast. In addition, a once-in-a-lifetime live video performance will also be available exclusively at iTunes.com/Target following the telecast. All U.S. proceeds will go to the American Red Cross to aid Haitian earthquake relief and recovery efforts.

Said Blige, a nine-time Grammy winner: “My prayers go out to all who are suffering. I’m lending my voice to help inspire others to join me in making a difference to rebuild the lives of the people in Haiti. I feel that I am them and they are me and I would want to be helped in this same capacity.”

Added Bocelli: “Today in this very sad moment, we all come together, and through our music we work to rebuild not only the physical structures but the lives of those who have been devastated by this horrible disaster. For the past several years I’ve collaborated with a charity in Haiti and last year met the incredible people who work there. After the earthquake, they reported to me a situation well beyond despair. I think it’s up to each of us to do whatever it takes to assist after this catastrophe. I am extremely honored to be a part of the recovery efforts and lend a helping hand to the people of Haiti.”

Foster concurred: “We all need to contribute in our own way to help alleviate the devastation and grief of the families of Haiti, and through this song we strive to bring hope to those who need it most.”

The project was led by Jimmy Iovine, Ron Fair and Steve Berman of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, who brought together a philanthropic partnership including Target, iTunes, Sugar Records, The Recording Academy, Warner Music Group, CBS and Paul Simon.