www.freddiebell.wordpress.com

Welcome to Solid Gold Soul

About Freddie Bell

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist, speaker and National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS - 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.E.A.R.T., Tuning In to R.A.D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management. Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name.
Be sure to tell a friend about the Solid Gold Soul Update. You can also subscribe on line to have the Update sent to you automatically. Click on the subscribe link on the right of this page. Also visit www.youtube.com/freddiebell950 for some video fun. A few of my video favorites are posted there!

ELLEN TOPS OPRAH

Ellen DeGeneres has beaten Oprah Winfrey in a new poll by AOL Television that asked readers which daytime TV host “makes their day.” Ellen, who opens “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” by dancing with her audience, earned 46 percent of the vote to Oprah’s 19 percent. When asked which daytime host made the ideal dinner guest, Ellen won again with 47 percent to Oprah’s14 percent.
Among hosts of the network morning programs, ABC’s Diane Sawyer on “Good Morning America” beat her main rivals, Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira, on NBC’s “Today’ as the morning show host whom most people would want to wake to - winning 30 percent of the vote, versus 26 percent for Lauer and 25 percent for Vieira. Kelly Ripa of ABC’s “Live with Regis and Kelly” was named the sexiest talk show host and the one with the best hair, while Larry King of CNN’s “Larry King Live” was named least sexy. Elisabeth Hasselbeck of “The View” was voted worst interviewer, and her co-star Whoopi Goldberg was picked to win in an “all-out ‘View’ smackdown” among the program’s panel that includes Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd and Barbara Walters.

WRIGHT CANCELLS APPERANCES FOR SAFETY REASONS

The Rev. Jeremiah Wright was forced to cancel his annual appearance at Houston’s Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church for the first time in two decades due to concerns for his safety. Wright, who until February was minister of Sen. Barack Obama’s church, Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, was scheduled to preach three guest sermons in Houston on Sunday. Clips from his past sermons, dubbed racist and anti-American by critics and members of the media, have plagued Obama’s presidential campaign.
Wheeler’s pastor, the Rev. Marcus Cosby, said Wright cited three reasons for his cancellation — “the safety of the institution to which he has been invited; … the safety of his family, which has been placed in harm’s way; and for his own safety,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle. The church arranged for beefed up security to accompany Wright’s visit, he said, including contacting the Houston Police Department and coordinating a security detail in conjunction with Wright’s Chicago church. The Rev. Myron Cloyd of the Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ in Houston has known Wright for more than 20 years. As much as I hate for him not to come I think it’s probably prudent,” said Cloyd, noting that Wright does not normally travel with bodyguards or assistants. “There have been threats against his life and the last thing he would ever want is the potential for someone to be hurt.” A confidant of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Lawson started the tradition of bringing Wright to Wheeler to reinvigorate the congregation during winter revivals with topical sermons that espoused black liberation theology. “Part of what we do traditionally as African-American preachers is combine current affairs with religious affairs,” Cosby said. “We put the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.” Meanwhile, Wright is scheduled on Saturday to attend a luncheon at Paul Quinn College in southeast Oak Cliff, where he’s to be honored that night at Friendship-West Baptist Church in the Red Bird area. Both events were moved from Texas Christian University because of security concerns by TCU officials, the News reported.

CHRIS BROWN GETTING NEW PACKAGE

Chris Brown fans who’ve already purchased his multi-platinum album “Exclusive” must now shell out more money for its forthcoming Deluxe Edition featuring extra tracks and a possible DVD, reports MTV. Among the new songs is the Polow Da Don-produced next single, “Forever,” one of several Brown recorded recently. It replaces his track “Down,” featuring Kanye West, which was originally intended to follow his current release “With You.” “It’s very fortunate, my label wants me to repackage the album and release some new records,” he explained to MTV Base while on his European tour last week. “I’ve been recording a lot of new records as well as having some songs that haven’t been released yet that I can put on my repackaging. I might put my tour that I did in the States on my repackaging. I did a big tour in the States. I want to put that in the DVD part, add some of my videos on it.”
Meanwhile, MTV Base was the latest media outlet to ask Brown about his relationship with pop superstar Rihanna – which appears to be more romantic than both are letting on. Me, personally, from a relationship standpoint, I am a single guy,” he insisted. “I am definitely single. And I’ve been on my Web site and seeing how girls have been threatening me and saying I’m a liar, and I’m like, ‘It’s not even that.’ The thing is, I have a close friend, but it’s not like a relationship. I’m not trying to settle down. I’m only 18, so I’m just trying to live my life and have fun.”

USHER’S WIFE JEALOUS OF DANCER

Tameka Foster

Keri Hilson

Tameka Foster reportedly acted a fool at the video shoot for her husband Usher’s new song, “Love in the Club” earlier this month in Los Angeles. According to the New York Post, Foster – apparently a stylist on the shoot as well – appeared to be put off by Ursh’s casting of singer/songwriter Keri Hilson as his love interest. “It was supposed to be a sexy video shoot,” a witness told the post’s Page Six. “And Tameka was there the entire time guarding like a watchdog. It was ridiculous - she knows Keri and knows she’s no video ho or Karrine Steffans.” “Tameka is very insecure,” the source continued. “Even in rehearsals she was weird and clearly not happy that Keri is so gorgeous. Tameka threw a lot of attitude. The day of the shoot, Tameka dressed Keri very badly - she looked like an extra. Tameka wouldn’t let Keri have her hairdresser there - she had to use the hairdresser who was doing the extras.” Page Six said Foster also wasn’t happy with Usher’s longtime choreographer, Jamaica, and banned her from the set. The column also quoted a source who said that Foster and Usher were spotted at the Beverly Hills Hotel last week and “barely said one word to each other.”

Black History Fact

Shirley Ajayi becomes the first African American given a part on a television show as a psychic
______________________________________________________________________________
Celebrity Birthdays

Singer Mariah Carey is 38.

Singer Fergie of Black Eyed Peas is 33.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Words To the Wise

This is the Day!
______________________________________________________________________________
Contact Information

Freddie Bell
PO Box 390521
Minneapolis, MN 55439
Freddie@freddiebell.com
888-639-9738

www.freddiebell.wordpress.com

Welcome to Solid Gold Soul

About Freddie Bell

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist, speaker and National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS - 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.E.A.R.T., Tuning In to R.A.D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management. Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name.
Be sure to tell a friend about the Solid Gold Soul Update. You can also subscribe on line to have the Update sent to you automatically. Click on the subscribe link on the right of this page. Also visit www.youtube.com/freddiebell950 for some video fun. A few of my video favorites are posted there!

WALLACE SAYS ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Hell officially froze over at the right-leaning Fox News Channel Friday when one of its anchors complained live on the air about the unfair and biased reporting of Sen. Barack Obama by his Fox colleagues. It all started with Obama’s speech on race last Tuesday, when he said his white grandmother had felt nervous passing black men on the street. On Thursday, while trying to clarify his remarks, he called his grandmother a “typical white person.” The hosts of “Fox & Friends” jumped all over both comments Friday as they played his “typical white person” quote over and over again and questioned if Obama’s remarks were offensive.
During the program’s third hour, Chris Wallace of the weekend political talk show “Fox News Sunday” called out the “Fox & Friends” crew and complained that they were taking Obama’s comments out of context. “It seems to me that two hours of Obama-bashing on this ‘typical white person’ remark is somewhat excessive, and frankly I think you’re somewhat distorting what Obama had to say,” Wallace said during his regularly scheduled segment on the morning show. Before Wallace’s appearance, “Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade had walked off the set amid an exchange about Obama’s comments. David Brown, the show’s executive producer, told the New York Times that Kilmeade had been kidding around, although some bloggers didn’t get the joke. One blog sarcastically referred to an outbreak of the “the truth virus” at Fox. A blogger for Obama’s Web site said that the campaign had “appreciated Mr. Wallace for doing his job as a tough but fair journalist on a network that has been deeply irresponsible over the last week in its unrelenting and sensationalistic coverage” of the candidate.

LEBRON JAMES CRITICIZED

LeBron James had no idea that his Vogue cover with supermodel Gisele Bundchen was being criticized by a columnist and commentator for ESPN. The Cleveland Cavaliers star is the third man – and first African American male - to grace the cover of the famous fashion magazine. But those historical achievements were lost on ESPN.com columnist Jemele Hill, who said the picture of LeBron and Giselle is just another case of “the black athlete being reduced to savage.” “LeBron has Gisele in one hand and a basketball in the other. LeBron is dressed in basketball gear, with his muscles flexing, tattoos showing and bared teeth. Gisele, on the other hand, is wearing a gorgeous slim-fitting dress, and smiling,” she wrote in her Page 2 column on ESPN.com. “She looks like she’s on her way to something fashionable and exciting. He looks like he’s on his way to a pickup game for serial killers. “Now, maybe the point was to show the contrast between brawn and beauty, masculinity versus femininity, strength versus grace. But Vogue’s quest to highlight the differences between superstar athletes and supermodels only successfully reinforces the animalistic stereotypes frequently associated with black athletes.

THERE’S UNION IN THE CADDIE

Gabrielle Union is the newest cast member added to “Cadillac Records,” an indie film about the life of Chess Records founder Leonard Chess with Adrien Brody in the starring role. The period piece follows the rise and fall of the famed label, which launched the careers of such R&B greats as Muddy Waters, Etta James and Chuck Berry. According to Blackfilm.com, Union will play Geneva Wade, the girlfriend, and later wife, of Waters, who is portrayed by Jeffrey Wright. The Darnell Martin-directed film stars Beyonce as Etta James, Cedric the Entertainer as Willie Dixon, Eamonn Walker as Howlin’ Wolf, Columbus Short as Little Walter and Mos Def as Chuck Berry. In other “Cadillac” news, Beyonce has apparently redeemed herself with fans on the film’s Harrison, N.J. set. Kids who waited hours in the rain last week for her autograph were left hanging when she ran right past them. But the former Destiny’s Child leader reportedly came back out after shooting her scene that day and took time to give out her John Hancock, reports the New York Daily News.

MICHELLE BIDS GOODBY TO GOSPEL

Destiny’s Child veteran Michelle Williams takes it to the dance floor with her forthcoming album “Unexpected.” The title is perhaps a nod to her first solo project outside of the gospel genre. Due in August from Music World Entertainment/Columbia Records, the album is full of “synth-y, driving bass samples, electronic keys and bopping drums,” according to Billboard.com. “Unexpected” marks the follow-up to 2004’s “Do You Know” and 2002’s “Heart to Yours,” with which Williams returned to her church roots. However, Music World CEO Mathew Knowles insists “Unexpected” isn’t that much of a stretch, considering Williams spent the bulk of 2007 playing the raunchy character Shug Avery in Oprah Winfrey’s Chicago-based cast of “The Color Purple.” “Destiny’s Child fans bought Michelle’s last album (which sold about 78,000 copies),” said Knowles. “So now those fans are in their late 20s and early 30s. With ‘Unexpected,’ she’ll be able to appeal to those fans and reach back to the 16-year-old audience and hit mainstream pop radio.” “We Break the Dawn” is the first single, set for release in April, while “Stop This Car,” which leaked on the Internet earlier this year, is the second.

Black History Fact

1872: Thomas J. Martin is awarded a patent for the fire extinguisher
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Celebrity Birthdays

Singer Diana Ross is 64.

Actor Ernest Thomas (”What’s Happening”) is 59.

Singer Teddy Pendergrass is 58.

Rapper Juvenile is 33.

Rapper J-Kwon is 22.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Words To the Wise

Stay prayed up
_______________________________________________________________________________
Contact Information

Freddie Bell
PO Box 390521
Minneapolis, MN 55439
Freddie@freddiebell.com
888-639-9738

www.freddiebell.wordpress.com

Welcome to Solid Gold Soul

About Freddie Bell

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist, speaker and National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS - 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.E.A.R.T., Tuning In to R.A.D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management. Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name.
Be sure to tell a friend about the Solid Gold Soul Update. You can also subscribe on line to have the Update sent to you automatically. Click on the subscribe link on the right of this page. Also visit www.youtube.com/freddiebell950 for some video fun. A few of my video favorites are posted there!

SINBAD VS. HILLARY CLINTON

Sen. Hillary Clinton is brushing aside comments made earlier this month by comedian Sinbad, who claimed that their 1996 trip to Bosnia was not as violent as she described in two separate occasions on the campaign trail. As previously reported, the Democratic presidential candidate was attempting to show up fellow candidate Barack Obama on foreign policy by talking about her “harrowing” trip to the war torn country, stating she “landed under sniper fire” and had to duck-and-run toward waiting vehicles. Sinbad, who was also on the trip, told Washington Post blog The Sleuth that sniper fire was never an issue when the plane landed, and there was no mad dash to vehicles while under duress. When told of Sinbad’s differing account of the trip, Clinton’s four-word response was: “Sinbad is a comedian.” “I made my statement, and she made hers,” Sinbad wrote to the Sleuth this week in an email. Refusing to comment any further, Sinbad did suggest that he finds the entire exchange amusing. “Ha ha! This has taken on a life of its own,” he wrote. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal chimed in with details of Clinton’s personal schedule detailing the Bosnia trip. The itinerary, which the Clinton campaign released along with scores of other records from the Clinton White House last week, had “no mention of security threats” regarding the trip. Sinbad, an Obama supporter, feels Clinton should be more concerned with her poll numbers following the Illinois senator’s speech on race relations. “After Barack’s last speech, Bosnia is the least of her problems,” Sinbad said.

WIDOW SAYS NO TO OPRAH

The New York Post is reporting that Oprah Winfrey was in “serious discussions” last year to star in the upcoming Broadway revival of August Wilson’s “Fences” – that is until Wilson’s widow Constanza Romero decided to go in a different direction. As previously reported, the revival is a go with playwright/director Suzan Lori-Parks and producer Carole Shorenstein Hays, the San Francisco real estate heiress and the original producer of “Fences” in 1987. But in the early planning stages, director Kenny Leon and producer David Binder - the team behind the 2004 hit “A Raisin in the Sun” starring Sean Combs – were pitching Romero a “Fences” revival that would star Forrest Whitaker and Winfrey in the lead roles of angry former baseball player/ex-convict Troy, and his long-suffering wife, Rose. According to the Post, the “Fences” revival has been in development for years, and Winfrey had been repeatedly lobbying Wilson, who died in 2005. Romero, now in charge of her late husband’s affairs, ultimately decided to hand the production over to Hays. “It was a question of loyalty,” says a source. “Carole was August’s first producer. She supported all his plays, even the ones that weren’t successful.” Binder and Leon were reportedly stunned to hear of Romero’s decision. They had, after all, met with Wilson several times before he died to outline plans for their production. Wilson was especially impressed that they’d been able to lure predominantly black audiences to “A Raisin in the Sun.” But as they say, the show must go on. The Post also reports that Laurence Fishburne, Mos Def and Anthony Mackie are being sought to star in the “Fences” revival.

WHO KILLED CORRINE BAILEY RAE’S HUSBAND

Authorities are still waiting on toxicology reports to determine what exactly caused the death of Jason Rae, the 31-year-old husband of British R&B singer Corinne Bailey Rae. Cops said Sunday that he may have died of a drug overdose. A 32-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of “supplying controlled substances” to the musician, who was found dead Saturday in an apartment in the northern English city of Leeds. Rae was scheduled to perform with his band, the Haggis Horns, Sunday night at the HiFi Club in Leeds. According to the Haggis Horns Myspace page, the band is an “an eight-piece live funk extravaganza” mixing heavy breakbeat funk, soul, hip-hop and afrobeat “with the virtuosity of trained jazz musicians.”

PERRY WRITING OBAMA INSPIRED SCRIPT

Entertainment writer Sonya Jenkins’ website Sonya’s Spotlight is reporting that Tyler Perry is currently writing a screenplay inspired by the life of Michelle Obama, the wife of Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama. “I was just inspired by Michelle and Barack Obama to write a new script that is phenomenal,” he’s quoted as saying. “I’m writing it right now. Just watching him in the debate with Hillary and meeting him and Michelle and having dinner with them inspired this amazing story. “It’s a love story with a little political twist. It’s called, ‘For the Love of You,’ and it’s about Barack’s love for his woman.”

TIGER WOODS OUT IN SPACE

Woods sports an astronaut suit for a series of advertising spots supporting his new signature sports drink, Gatorade Tiger. “I’ve experienced a lot of amazing moments in my golf career, but Gatorade Tiger is taking me someplace I never imagined with this campaign,” said Woods, whose six-month win streak ended yesterday at Doral. “I’m really excited about how this launch has come together because it brings to life that I’m always thinking about taking my game to the next level.” Woods has used Gatorade Thirst Quencher throughout his career and began drinking Gatorade Tiger on course and in his training last December. His signature sports drink is now available in flavors inspired and selected by Woods — Red Drive (Cherry blend), Cool Fusion (Citrus blend) and Quiet Storm (Grape blend). To celebrate the drink’s launch, PepsiCo’s Gatorade brand will launch a comprehensive integrated marketing campaign that includes television and print advertising, digital communications, retail displays, promotions, sampling and cause-related marketing initiatives.

Black History Fact

1931: The Scottsboro Boys, nine young African Americans, were falsely charged with rape and collectively served more than 100 years in prison.
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Celebrity Birthdays

Singer Anita Bryant is 68.

Singer Aretha Franklin is 66.

Actor James McDaniel (”NYPD Blue”) is 50.

Actress Lisa Gay Hamilton (”The Practice”) is 44.

Singer Melanie Blatt of All Saints is 33.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Words To the Wise

Do that greater work
_______________________________________________________________________________
Contact Information

Freddie Bell
PO Box 390521
Minneapolis, MN 55439
Freddie@freddiebell.com
888-639-9738

www.freddiebell.wordpress.com

Welcome to Solid Gold Soul

About Freddie Bell

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist, speaker and National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS - 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.E.A.R.T., Tuning In to R.A.D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management. Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name.
Be sure to tell a friend about the Solid Gold Soul Update. You can also subscribe on line to have the Update sent to you automatically. Click on the subscribe link on the right of this page. Also visit www.youtube.com/freddiebell950 for some video fun. A few of my video favorites are posted there!

COMEDIAN SINBAD SAYS WHAT SNIPER FIRE?

The last time Sinbad was suddenly deluged with phone calls from the media, he was the victim of an Internet death rumor. In this latest press attack, the comedian is being asked about a 1996 Bosnia trip that he took with then First Lady Hillary Clinton. As part of her current White House run, Clinton spoke about the experience during a late December campaign appearance in Iowa, and again on March 17 at a speech at George Washington University. Attempting to boost her claim that she has more overseas experience than her Democratic rival Barack Obama, she described her March 25, 1996 landing at Tuzla International Airport in the following manner: “I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base.”Sinbad, who was on the Bosnia trip along with singer Sheryl Crow, says Clinton is putting way too much on the situation. He says the trip was a USO tour to boost troop morale. In an interview with the Sleuth Monday, he said the “scariest” part of the trip was wondering where he’d eat next. “I think the only ‘red-phone’ moment was: ‘Do we eat here or at the next place.’” As for Clinton’s claim of landing in “sniper fire,” Sinbad says he doesn’t remember that, either. “I never felt that I was in a dangerous position. I never felt being in a sense of peril, or ‘Oh, God, I hope I’m going to be OK when I get out of this helicopter or when I get out of this tank.’” In her Iowa stump speech, Clinton also said: “We used to say in the White House that if a place is too dangerous, too small or too poor, send the First Lady.” Sinbad responds: “What kind of president would say, ‘Hey, man, I can’t go ’cause I might get shot so I’m going to send my wife…oh, and take a guitar player and a comedian with you.’” Sinbad, who supports Obama for president, says of Clinton’s campaign: “What got me about Hillary was her attitude of entitlement, like he messed up her plan, like he had no reason to be there. I got angry. I actually got angry! I said, ‘I will be for Obama like never before.’” As a comic, Sinbad said he’s also upset with “Saturday Night Live” for its pro-Hillary sketches that portray Obama as unqualified and skittish. The actor is also furious with the casting of non-black actor Fred Armisen to play Obama. “My problem is — you couldn’t just temporarily hire a black man to play Obama?” said Sinbad. “You had to put a white man in a black face? You couldn’t find a light-skinned brother to play Obama?”

WHO’S THE DADDY? MIKE EPPS SAYS NOT ME

A woman in Georgia has sued comedian Mike Epps over claims that he’s the father of her newborn baby, yet refuses to submit to a paternity test so that she can secure child support, reports TMZ.com. “We are not asking for the moon, we are just asking him to take a paternity test,” said the woman’s lawyer, Randy Kessler. “Once the tests are completed and paternity is confirmed, hopefully, Mr. Epps will do the right thing and begin to provide for his child.” Kessler says he and his client were trying to keep the matter under wraps, but quiet efforts to contact Epps and his camp have been ignored. The paternity suit was filed in early February, and followed up with five letters as well as lots of phone calls to Epps’ lawyers – all to no avail, reports TMZ. The Atlanta woman gave birth to the baby in December 2007.

BOB MARLEY DOC WITH NO MUSIC??

The upcoming Bob Marley biopic from the Weinstein Co. hit a snag last week when his family refused to license any of his music for the film, even though his widow, Rita Marley, is its executive producer. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the problem is rooted in a competing Martin Scorsese documentary being produced by the Marley family-owned Tuff Gong Pictures and Steven Bing’s Shangri La production banner, the first theatrical documentary to license Marley songs. The family members involved in the Scorsese documentary say they had no idea that the Weinstein project would be unveiled so soon. They also believe that its projected late-2009 release date would interfere with their film’s February 2010 opening, which is timed to coincide with Marley’s birthday. “Martin Scorsese doesn’t want to go out with a competing project, and Steven Bing has made deals with companies” that are now compromised, Blue Mountain Music president Chris Blackwell said. “The Weinstein project has put the documentary into jeopardy.” Blue Mountain Music is Marley’s music publisher.

ABC NEWS WILL BE HOSTING NEXT PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

In the past month, ABC and NBC have been battling over rights to air the next debate between Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama. After the two networks lobbied both campaigns, ABC won out and will televise the 90-minute debate on Wednesday, April 16 beginning at 8 p.m. EDT on the East Coast and tape-delayed at 8 p.m. PDT for the West Coast. The faceoff will take place at the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia six days before the Pennsylvania primary. “World News” anchor Charles Gibson and “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos will serve as moderators.
ABC’s pitch for a debate preceding the April 22 primary was one of seven offered to both campaigns. NBC, which so far has televised its debates on cable channel MSNBC, would have aired this debate on its broadcast network.

MISSY ELLIOTT TALENT COMPETITION

Missy Elliott and adidas Originals are teaming up for the international launch of the Respect M.E. talent competition, “Stand Up Be Seen.” Beginning this month, the competition looks to recruit 10 female ambassadors for Missy and her clothing line Respect M.E. The 10 winners will be featured in the Fall/Winter 2008 Respect M.E. campaign, while five will continue on to be the faces of the Respect M.E. line, starting with Spring and Summer 2009. The contest will launch in the United States, Argentina, the Asian Pacific Region, China, Japan, Korea, Europe, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Switzerland. The five ambassadors will also travel to those locations for photo shoots by international photographers. Female candidates interested in competing in the contest can enter exclusively at www.adidas.com/Missy.

Black History Fact

1947: James Baskett (1904-194 was given a special Academy Award for his part in Disney’s “Song Of The South.” He was the second American of African decent to receive an Oscar.

Mar. 22, 1968: State troopers mobilized to put down student rebellion on campus of Cheyney State College.

Mar. 23, 1916: Marcus Mosiah Garvey arrives in America from Jamaica.
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Celebrity Birthdays

Actor Al Freeman Jr. is 74.

Singer Solomon Burke is 68.

Singer-keyboardist Rose Stone of Sly and the Family Stone is 63.

Singer Russell Thompkins Jr. of the Stylistics is 57.

MC Maxim of Prodigy is 41.

DJ Premier of Gang Starr is 39.

Singer-guitarist George Benson is 65.

Singer-actress Stephanie Mills is 51.

Actress Kellie Williams (”Family Matters”) is 32.

Singer Chaka Khan is 55.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Words To the Wise

You’re just getting started!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Contact Information

Freddie Bell
PO Box 390521
Minneapolis, MN 55439
Freddie@freddiebell.com
888-639-9738

www.freddiebell.wordpress.com

Welcome to Solid Gold Soul

About Freddie Bell

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist, speaker and National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS - 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.E.A.R.T., Tuning In to R.A.D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management. Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name.
Be sure to tell a friend about the Solid Gold Soul Update. You can also subscribe on line to have the Update sent to you automatically. Click on the subscribe link on the right of this page. Also visit www.youtube.com/freddiebell950 for some video fun. A few of my video favorites are posted there!

FULL TEXT OF BARACK OBAMA’S ADDRESS ON RACE ARE POSTED HERE

Please feel free to post your reactions and views to this pivotal talk concerning race in America.

Click below to see and hear the entire address.

http://my.barackobama.com/hisownwords

We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.”
Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America’s improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars; statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.
The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation’s original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least twenty more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.
Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution - a Constitution that had at is very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty, and justice, and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.
And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part - through protests and struggle, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience and always at great risk - to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign - to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together - unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction - towards a better future for of children and our grandchildren.
This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own American story.
I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners - an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.
It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts - that out of many, we are truly one.
Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate Flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African Americans and white Americans.
This is not to say that race has not been an issue in the campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either “too black” or “not black enough.” We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.
And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.
On one end of the spectrum, we’ve heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it’s based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we’ve heard my former pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation; that rightly offend white and black alike.
I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely - just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.
But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren’t simply controversial. They weren’t simply a religious leader’s effort to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country - a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.
As such, Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems - two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change; problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television and You Tube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way
But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth - by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
In my first book, Dreams From My Father, I described the experience of my first service at Trinity:
“People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend’s voice up into the rafters….And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion’s den, Ezekiel’s field of dry bones. Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black; in chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a means to reclaim memories that we didn’t need to feel shame about…memories that all people might study and cherish - and with which we could start to rebuild.”
That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety - the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity’s services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing, clapping, screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America.
And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother - a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.
These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.
But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America - to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.
The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through - a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.
Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, “The past isn’t dead and buried. In fact, it isn’t even past.” We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.
Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven’t fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today’s black and white students.
Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments - meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today’s urban and rural communities.
A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one’s family, contributed to the erosion of black families - a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late fifties and early sixties, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What’s remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but rather how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way for those like me who would come after them.
But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn’t make it - those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations - those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright’s generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician’s own failings.
And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright’s sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.
In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don’t feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience - as far as they’re concerned, no one’s handed them anything, they’ve built it from scratch. They’ve worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they’re told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren’t always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.
Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze - a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns - this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.
This is where we are right now. It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy - particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.
But I have asserted a firm conviction - a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people - that working together we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice is we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances - for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans — the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives - by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.
Ironically, this quintessentially American - and yes, conservative - notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright’s sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.
The profound mistake of Reverend Wright’s sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It’s that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress has been made; as if this country - a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black; Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old — is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know — what we have seen - is that America can change. That is true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope - the audacity to hope - for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.
In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world’s great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother’s keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister’s keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.
For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, “Not this time.” This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can’t learn; that those kids who don’t look like us are somebody else’s problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don’t have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn’t look like you might take your job; it’s that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This time we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together, and fight together, and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that never should’ve been authorized and never should’ve been waged, and we want to talk about how we’ll show our patriotism by caring for them, and their families, and giving them the benefits they have earned.
I would not be running for President if I didn’t believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation - the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.

There is one story in particularly that I’d like to leave you with today - a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King’s birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.
There is a young, twenty-three year old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, South Carolina. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.
And Ashley said that when she was nine years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that’s when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.
She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches. Because that was the cheapest way to eat.
She did this for a year until her mom got better, and she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents too.
Now Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother’s problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn’t. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.
Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they’re supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who’s been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he’s there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, “I am here because of Ashley.”
“I’m here because of Ashley.” By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.
But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the two-hundred and twenty one years since a band of patriots signed that document in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

Black History Fact

1877: President Hayes appointed Frederick Douglass marshal of District of Columbia.
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Celebrity Birthdays

Country singer Charley Pride is 70.

Singer Irene Cara is 49.

Singer Vanessa Williams is 45.

Rapper-actress Queen Latifah is 38.

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Words To the Wise

The audacity of Hope!
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Contact Information

Freddie Bell
PO Box 390521
Minneapolis, MN 55439
Freddie@freddiebell.com
888-639-9738

www.freddiebell.wordpress.com

Welcome to Solid Gold Soul

About Freddie Bell

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist, speaker and National Voice Actor. His vast voice over credits, include hosting several radio programs including the Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Love Train, It’s The Gospel in Tampa, The Freddie Bell Morning Show in radio on KSGS - 950AM, Solid Gold Soul in Minneapolis, plus This is Music, The Freddie Bell Countdown Show and The Minneapolis NAACP Community Affairs television Programs in Minneapolis.
Invite Freddie to your next event or seminar as a Keynote Speaker, covering topics including You Gotta Have H.E.A.R.T., Tuning In to R.A.D.I.O, Maximizing Your Potential, Imagination, The Secret Key To Success, Winning Through Community Service, Dreaming Your Way to Success and a variety of topics related to sales and sales management. Freddie shares ideas and techniques he used to propel Solid Gold Soul Radio into a household name.
Be sure to tell a friend about the Solid Gold Soul Update. You can also subscribe on line to have the Update sent to you automatically. Click on the subscribe link on the right of this page. Also visit www.youtube.com/freddiebell950 for some video fun. A few of my video favorites are posted there!

WAS SEAN COMBS INVOLVED IN TUPAC’S DEATH?

Nearly 15 years after Tupac Shakur was pistol-whipped, shot five times and left for dead outside a New York recording studio, new evidence has allegedly surfaced implicating two associates of entertainment mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs for orchestrating the rap icon’s ambush, AllHipHop.com has learned. In an upcoming article written by Chuck Phillips on the latest developments, the Los Angeles Times claims that Combs was notified in advance by an Italian-American mob associate, that the trap for Shakur had been laid. “Tupac was mostly right about what he wrote about [in his songs],” author Chuck Phillips told AllHipHop.com.”I don’t believe that Biggie and Puffy set Tupac up [to be shot],” Phillips said. “They knew he was going to get beat up. Then it kind of went haywire when it all happened.” Hip-Hop star Sean “Diddy” Combs has responded to a new article printed today (March 17) in the Los Angeles Times, which claims the mogul had advanced knowledge of a planned assault on the late Tupac Shakur. The Los Angeles Times claims that Combs and B.I.G. had advance knowledge of a 1994 plan set by music executive Jimmy “Henchmen” Rosemond and an associate named James Sabatino to assault Shakur for a number of different reasons. The assault went awry & Shakur ended up getting shot, according to The Times. “This story is beyond ridiculous and completely false,” Combs told AllHipHop.com. “Neither Biggie nor I had any knowledge of any attack before, during or after it happened. It is a complete lie to suggest that there was any involvement by Biggie or myself.” Combs chastised the Los Angeles Times’ piece and completely denied any involvement. “I am shocked that the Los Angeles Times would be so irresponsible as to publish such a baseless and completely untrue story.”

NEW DESIGNS FOR MEN

Designer Karl Kani has created a new upscale men’s line that will be sold exclusively at Saks Fifth Avenue stores nationwide. The new Kani Kouture, which combines contemporary fashion and streetwear, was unveiled last night (Mar 11) during a fashion show hosted by the designer as part of the Mercedes-Benz LA Fashion Week. The Urban streetwear pioneer is also working on a new women’s line, he revealed. “The [men's] line was inspired from [our] European Collection,” Kani tells AllHipHop.com. “We also have the Debutant line, which is a very high-end women’s line that consists of silk dresses and much more. The world needs to get ready for the new launch of Karl Kani…they [Saks] wanted a name that fits to something in the store.”

HALLE BERRY GIVES BIRTH

Oscar winning actress Halle Berry gave birth Sunday morning at Cedars Sinai hospital to a baby girl at approximately 10am! The 7 lb 4 oz baby is the first child for he 41-year-old actress and her 32-year-old boyfriend Gabrielle Aubry. Although the couple said they have no plans to marry, Berry told Oprah in an earlier interview, the two of them are fully committed to each other. They met in November 2005. The actress told Oprah Winfrey on her show last year that playing a mother in her latest movie, “Things We Lost in the Fire,” helped convince her that motherhood was for her. “I think it validated that I was meant to be a mother because every day I dealt with the character as a mother and thinking as a mother,” Berry said. “It let me know that I must be a mother.” In the February cover story for In Style magazine Berry gave a clue as to her future motherhood plans. “I may only do this one time, so I want this moment to be as big as it can be,” she said. “I want the biggest bang I can possibly imagine.” No word on what the couple will name their baby girl, but in the In Style interview she said the baby would take the father’s last name.

CHRIS ROCK: NOTHING TO LAUGH ABOUT

Comedian/actor Chris Rock is in the middle of a federal investigation involving wire tapping and racketeering charges against Hollywood private investigator Anthony Pellicano. The P.I. is on trial charged with secretly taping phone calls between himself and some of his celebrity clients, one of which was Rock. Unfortunately for Rock, the conversation, recorded in 2001, was posted on Huffingtonpost.com. On the recording Rock says he’s worried about a rape allegation that could damage his career. The woman, identified as Monica Zsibrita, never filed charges and her palimony suit was dropped.

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OPRAH CREATES ANOTEHR WINNER

Oprah’s book club has picked – or made – another winner. Echkart Tolle’s spiritual self-help guide, “A New Earth,” has shipped about 3.5 million copies since she revealed it as her pick 4 weeks ago. It has become the fastest selling pick ever at Barnes and Noble Inc. and topped the best-seller list on Amazon the moment her choice was revealed, according to a statement issued by Winfrey. It’s also a record shipment in a four-week span for any book by Penguin Group (USA), which has published such million sellers as Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love” and Ken Follett’s Winfrey-endorsed “The Pillars of the Earth.” Brian Tart, president and publisher of the Penguin imprint Dutton, told The Associated Press that a key factor was the upcoming Web seminars featuring Winfrey and Tolle, to be held for 10 consecutive Mondays starting last week. “Oprah herself has committed 10 weeks to talking to the author, and people from all over the world will be able to participate,” said Tart, who added that more than 500,000 people, from more than 100 countries, have registered for the seminar.

OBAMA DENOUNCES SOME LINES FROM WRIGHT’S SERMONS

On Friday, Obama - who’s under heavy attacks from political rivals - denounced inflammatory remarks from Wright, his former pastor, who has railed against the United States and accused its leaders of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism. In a blog posted on the Huffington Post, Obama wrote that he’s looked to Wright for spiritual advice, not political guidance, and he’s been pained and angered to learn of some of his pastor’s comments for which he had not been present. A campaign spokesman said later that Wright was no longer on Obama’s African American Religious Leadership Committee, without elaborating. “I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies,” Obama wrote. “I also believe that words that degrade individuals have no place in our public dialogue, whether it’s on the campaign stump or in the pulpit. In sum, I reject outright the statements by Reverend Wright that are at issue.” In a sermon on the Sunday after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Wright suggested the United States brought on the attacks.
Meanwhile, Some of Iowa’s Democratic state delegates have switched candidates and now support Sen. Barack Obama for U.S. President. The delegates, allocated to John Edwards who has since dropped out of the competition, voted to support Obama during a state-wide convention over the weekend. Seven of the fourteen delegates that were designated for Edwards on the bases of caucus night projections switched their support. So far that leaves Obama with 52 percent compared to rival Sen. Hillary Clinton’s 32 percent of that state’s delegates. About 16 percent of the delegates stuck with Edwards, even though he no longer is in the race. Counting Iowa’s results, Obama’s total nationwide delegate count is now at 1,610 to Clinton’s 1.496.

HERE I STAND ON THE WAY UP

Collaborators on Usher’s new album “Here I Stand,” due in June, reveal that he’s all ‘growed’ up now…if his new material is any indicator. They say the new husband and father will give his fans a blend of mature music and songs that will give the women something to move to. “He’s a grown man now,” producer Polow Da Don says of the R&B singer’s mature sound on the new album. Polow, who produced the album’s first single and current #1 song in the country, “Love in This Club,” worked on two other records for the album as well. “This one joint is called ‘Angel,’ ” Polow said. “I think it’s the best and biggest song I’ve been a part of. Usher and Nelly actually wrote the song together. Me and this dude named Brian Kennedy produced the record. We was all in the room, kicking it, talking. This is when we had our first real conversation about dude getting married…’ Polow said “Angel” was cut right around Christmas, during the time in which Usher’s dad was gravely ill (Usher’s father died earlier this year).

Black History Fact

1946: Jackie Roosevelt Robinson made his professional debut as a member of the Montreal Royals in the Daytona Beach ballpark that now bears his name. One year later, Robinson would break Major League Baseball’s color barrier and earn the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

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Celebrity Birthdays

Percussionist Harold Brown of War is 62.

Actor Mathew St. Patrick (”Six Feet Under”) is 40.

Actor Yanic Truesdale (”Gilmore Girls”) is 39.

Rapper Swifty of D12 is 33.

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Words To the Wise

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Contact Information

Freddie Bell
PO Box 390521
Minneapolis, MN 55439
Freddie@freddiebell.com
888-639-9738

www.freddiebell.wordpress.com

Welcome to Solid Gold Soul

About Freddie Bell

Freddie Bell, velvet morning voice talent is a mellifluous voice actor, broadcast-journalist, speaker and National