After Prince passed away in 2016, many previously unknown details about his private life surfaced. One such detail highlights how the music icon helped a grief-stricken family after an unjust tragedy, which is unfortunately still plaguing our African American community to this day- as we’ve seen with the murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd (and sadly,  far too many more) at the hands of police officers. Prince’s ex-wife and Rev. Al Sharpton gave refreshing insight into who Prince really was. Check out what Prince did for the family of the late Trayvon Martin and others below…

HOW PRINCE HELPED TRAYVON’S FAMILY IN MIDST OF TRAGEDY

Embed from Getty Images

Rev. Al Sharpton revealed, to NYDaily News, what Prince did in 2012 after unarmed, Trayvon Martin (17), was fatally shot by George Zimmerman- the son of a Caucasian retired Supreme Court magistrate, who got off without any legal ramifications for the killing. Soon after Zimmerman brutally took Trayvon’s life, Sharpton was surprised when Prince called to tell him he wanted to help Trayvon’s family. However, the Purple Rain star wanted to remain anonymous, which is why he needed Sharpton’s help…

Al Sharpton: “I will never forget when he [Prince] called me and said he had some funds he wanted to give to Trayvon Martin’s family… Just out of the blue. Just out of the clear blue. He didn’t want anybody to know. He didn’t even want Trayvon Martin’s family to know where the funds came from.”

It seems that Trayvon Martin’s family probably didn’t find out that the donator was Prince until after Prince’s passing…wow. But wait…there’s more…

PRINCE’S EX-WIFE TELLS HOW HE HELPED EVERY INNER CITY HE PERFORMED IN

Although they amicably divorced in 2006, after 5 years of marriage, Prince’s second wife (now Eric Benet’s wife), Manuela Testolini, remained active in several of Prince’s philanthropic/humanitarian efforts. After Prince’s passing, Manuela did an interview with Rolling Stone and recalled the various ways Prince helped others. Prior to their romantic relationship, Manuela worked for Prince’s philanthropic organization, Love 4 One Another:

http://gty.im/74713174

Testolini sought a position at Love 4 One Another because she liked how the organization operated. “They were doing projects ranging from building community gardens to helping domestic shelters. […] When Prince would visit different cities for a concert, he would have work going on to complement the places he visited.” If Prince had a Philadelphia show in the middle of winter, his organization would do a coat drive or a food drive nearby. “You can imagine calling a food bank, saying, ‘You need to come here tomorrow with lots of trucks to pick up bins and bins of food,'” she says with a laugh. “It was a very effective, quick food drive and an easy way to make an impact. It was mobilizing people who were already interested and giving them a little way to impact their community.”

Prince’s ex also explained how he’d always help families he’d see on television, that were in need…

Manuela Testolini: “He wanted to be a catalyst for other people,” she says. “He would see a family on TV that was having trouble – they didn’t have health insurance and had trouble meeting the needs of a sick child – and instead of saying, ‘Wow, that’s really sad,’ he would leave a note on my desk saying, ‘Call this TV station and find out where these people are so we can help them.’ It was ongoing.”

PRINCE’S EX-WIFE BUILT AFRICAN SCHOOLS IN PRINCE’S HONOR

Embed from Getty Images

Today, Manuela Testolini follows in her ex-husband’s philanthropic footsteps. She’s launched TWO SCHOOLS in Africa, in honor of Prince (one of them is named after him). She said Prince always wanted to start a school of his own. After his passing, she made it finally happen in October 2016 through her organization, In A Perfect World (a philanthropic organization Prince helped her to start and created the logo for).

Incredible! Prince is a great example of what it looks like when the seeds one plants while they’re here, continue to flourish and positively affect others…even in death.

The post Beautiful: Prince Secretly Helped Trayvon Martin’s Family & His Ex Details His Generosity appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

The day after our beloved Aretha Franklin was laid to rest, her dear friend, Smokey Robinson, has a stern message for pop singer, Ariana Grande. In case y’all missed the mayhem and backlash Ariana caused worldwide, it was all because of her fashion decision at the funeral. She performed at Aretha’s homegoing, but the attention her skimpy dress caused outweighed her performance and Smokey is one of the many who feel that Ariana should have known better.

Smokey: “Somebody Should Have Told Her She Was Going To A Funeral

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Smokey Robinson and Aretha were friends since he was 8 years old and their outspoken personalities are probably why they meshed so well. Smokey displayed that same straight forwardness when it came to his views about Ariana Grande. On Friday (Aug. 31) evening, Smokey was returning from Aretha’s Detroit, MI funeral, when he was stopped by paparazzi at LAX airport. The Motown legend was asked about his thoughts on Ariana’s black thigh-high, sleeveless dress and he had a few choice words for her and her team.  At first he tried to keep his response generic, by starting off with this:

Smokey Robinson- “Well you know, she’s a young woman…she’s a young woman and she’s doing her thing.”

The he turned into the keep-it-real Smokey that we know him to be:

SR- “Yeah I think it was inappropriate. I do…I love her… I think she’s a great talent. Somebody in her camp should have told her she was at a funeral and not let that happened” Smokey barked.

When asked if he felt that Ariana was intentionally trying to be disrespectful to Aretha and all in attendance, Smokey thinks she just doesn’t know any better, but someone around her should:

SR- “Well, I don’t think she was trying to be disrespectful, it’s just…it was inappropriate and somebody in her camp should’ve TOLD her that, ya know.”

Smokey On Fans Bashing Aretha’s Funeral As “Too Political”

They then switched topics and Smokey was asked what he thought about some conservative fans feeling that Aretha’s funeral was “too political.” There were many political figures and civil rights activists in attendance, including Nation of Islam leader, Minister Louis Farakkhan; Rev. Jesse Jackson; former president Bill Clinton, former presidential runner-up, Hillary Clinton; Rev. Al Sharpton and many more. Here’s Smokey’s reaction to Aretha’s funeral haters though:

SR- “No I don’t, because Aretha was an activist and she was a very strong woman. And They were just giving her props and letting people know that she wasn’t only a singer, she was an activist and she was very powerful in the civil rights movement.”

Smokey & Al Sharpton React To Trump’s Disrespectful Tweet About Aretha

As far as Donald Trump stating that Aretha “worked for” him, Smokey’s response was classic:

SR- “Well…ya know what does he say? He says something stupid everyday so…”

Following Aretha’s passing, Trump tweeted condolences that seemingly made Aretha look like one of his employees as opposed to the Queen/mega-superstar music icon that she is:

Trump- “I want to begin today by expressing my condolences to the family of a person I knew well — she worked for me on numerous occasions.”

At the funeral, Al Sharpton- another good friend of Aretha’s- corrected Trump and it was epic:

Rev. Al Sharpton at Aretha Franklin's funeral: "When word went out that Ms. Franklin passed, Trump said she used to work for me. No, she used to perform for you. She worked for us." https://t.co/qSW5iZgtqR pic.twitter.com/QrvJrR4kw3

— ABC News (@ABC) August 31, 2018

Sharpton- “I want to begin today by expressing my condolences to the family of a person I knew well — she worked for me on numerous occasions. When word went out that Ms. Franklin passed, Trump said, ‘She used to work for me. .. No, she used to perform for you. She worked for us. She stood for something, she never shamed us she never disgraced us. … She represented the best in our community, and she fought for our community until the end.”

And BOOM! Rev. Sharpton checked Trump in a way that probably would’ve made Aretha- our beloved Queen of shade- smile, LOL. Rest on Aretha, after a beautiful job well done.

The post Smokey Robinson Slams Ariana Grande Over Dress She Wore To Aretha’s Funeral appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

That’s what’s been happening to Ms. Jones, now that word has spread about her online posts supporting the history of the Confederate flag, as well as her disdain for anyone who peacefully protests against police brutality against Black people, by silently protesting the national anthem. Now, Rev. Sharpton is giving Ms. Jones a reality check about her plea for help for her son- which she actually had, prior to being exposed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BEtOQ5L6Wg

You see family, many people have now been conflicted as to whether or not they should still support Kimberly and her son, after she was not only outed as having ‘racist’ views, but also accused of exploiting her son’s pain for her financial gain. *FYI: She reportedly set up a GoFundMe account in her son’s name, to get money for Christmas gifts and such. After her racial posts surfaced, the account has now been put on hold, even though it raised $58K.*

Watch Rev. Sharpton’s Message To Mother

Now, Rev. Sharpton has given a clear and direct message to supporters about what they should now do regarding Kimberly Jones and her reported biased way of thinking. He’s also issued a warning to Jones regrading her views about people of color, America, and the 21st century.

In a nutshell, Sharpton warned Jones to first change her ways if she truly wants help for her son; he advised her to allow her young son to teach her how to be more compassionate toward others who do not look like her, because her son is not yet tainted by her biased views. And lastly, Rev. Sharpton said that anyone who is conflicted about whether, or not, to continue helping Kimberly Jones and her child, the answer is simple: DON’T…at least not until Ms. Jones changes her racist views. Check out what else he said in the video clip below…

It’s very unfortunate that Keaton had to be caught up in his mother’s mess. However, hopefully his mother eventually learns a valuable lesson from the tremendous outpouring of colorblind love she’s received from many Black celebs, and thousands of other people of ALL races in the past few days. Until then…the cookie’s gotta crumble where it may.

The post (Video) Al Sharpton Gives Warning To ‘Racist’ Mom Of Bullied Kid That Many Now Agree With appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

It’s not just judges though, it’s the structure of America’s justice system as a whole. As quiet as it’s kept, it is statistically proven that Black people get three times the sentencing of their White counterparts who commit the same- and in many cases, a more vicious- crime than their Black brethrens. That’s brings us back to Meek Mill’s current fight against the harsh sentencing that was handed down to him earlier in November (2017) and the current slight victory he’s just received.

What Caused Millions To Fight For Meek Mill

After Judge Genece Brinkley sentenced Meek to 2 – 4 years for a non-violent parole violation, in which he was simply riding his quad dirt bike down a New York street, all hell broke lose. Not only is she now said to be under investigation by the FBI, there have been millions of people of all races, rallying behind Meek Mill, in efforts to get his harsh sentencing dropped. FYI: This rallying cry has become far bigger than Meek, because his fame brings much needed attention to an overwhelming display of injustice and abuses of power that happens to millions of minorities everyday.

To make matters worse for Meek’s case, more details have continued to surface about Judge Brinkley’s ‘personal vendetta’ against Meek, according to his attorney.  It’s been widely reported that Brinkley has disliked Meek Mill ever since she reportedly tried to persuade him to leave Jay Z’s Roc Nation label and sign with her business associate/friend, Charlie Mack’s label, but Meek refused. It was also reported that Brinkley is angry that Meek turned down her suggestion to record a song with Boyz II Men and give her a shout out on the joint.

Ever since those details surfaced, Rev. Al Sharpton, NBA legend, Julius “Dr. J” Irving, rappers Rick Ross, T.I., Jay Z, comedian Kevin Hart, and many more have called for Meek’s sentencing to be thrown out altogether.

Superior Court Orders Judge To STOP Delaying Meek’s Hearing…

Meet Judge Genece Brinkley #FreeMeekMill#LawReformMatters pic.twitter.com/wwcQhMs6uJ

— Toxic Random Rant (@ToxomRa) November 21, 2017

The final say is still up to Judge Brinkley at this point. That’s why Meek and his attorney appealed to Superior Court, on November 16th, to ask that Meek be granted an emergency bail hearing. However, the higher court has just denied his request, but not without granting one small milestone victory for Meek, who is currently sitting in a Pennsylvania prison.

His emergency bail request was denied because his bail is still pending in lower court, which Judge Brinkley presides over. Brinkley has apparently been dragging her feet on setting a bail hearing for Meek. Not sure why, but based on all of the other allegations against her, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s doing it to Meek out of spite. Anyways, although the higher court denied the emergency bail hearing, it has just DEMANDED that Judge Brinkley get up off of her high horse and set a bail hearing IMMEDIATELY, “without further delay.”

Meek’s Rep Speaks Out After Superior Court’s Decisions

Meek’s rep, Jordan Siev tells TMZ, “We’re pleased that the Superior Court took immediate action to direct the Court of Common Pleas to decide on the application for bail without further delay. We remain hopeful that Mr. Williams will be promptly released on bail.”

Not sure how Judge Brinkley’s gonna feel about this one, but legally she now has no choice but to give Meek his bail hearing ASAP. She’s in quite a pickle though. Based on Meek Mill’s actual “crime” of riding a quad bike down a city block -which he was NOT charged for- the judge is probably gonna have to come up with a better reason of why he’s a ‘threat’ to society if she does, in fact, try to deny Meek of bail.

Last time I checked, riding a quad bike, did not prove one to be a dangerous criminal, just saying. So hopefully Meek will at least be granted the opportunity to make bail while he and his attorney appeal Judge Brinkley’s harsh sentencing.

The post After Sharpton, Dr.J & More Fight For Meek Mill, Court Forces Judge To Grant His Request appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Philadelphia rapper Meek Mill’s incarceration has sparked outrage nationwide. To many fans, the punishment Meek is facing definitely doesn’t fit the crime. Now, public figures everywhere are rallying behind the jailed rapper. From NBA icon Julius “Dr. J” Erving and former NFL star Colin Kaepernick to LeBron James and Jay-Z many have spoken out in support of Meek Mill and according to Philly.com, Al Sharpton is the latest person to reach out to the Maybach Music Group rapper.

A Visit To The Prison:

On Monday, November 27, Rev. Al Sharpton is reportedly scheduled to visit Meek Mill at the Chester State Correctional Institution where he is currently serving time for violating his probation. Sharpton is said to be meeting with Meek as part of the criminal justice reform effort by his civil rights organization the National Action Network (NAN). Although Meek Mill did violate his probation, there are quite a few details about his situation that have led many to believe he’s wrongfully incarcerated and it looks like Al Sharpton will be working to get to the bottom of it.

According to New York Daily News, Sharpton has released a statement sharing his opinion of the rapper’s sentence. “I think this is about an injustice that is representative of many young men of color that face an abuse of a probation or parole system,” Sharpton said Saturday at the Harlem headquarters of the National Action Network. “This is not about an artist. This is about a system,” Sharpton said. “I think what’s happening with Meek Mill is something that the National Action Network has always fought, and I hope that me going there is going to raise the pressure on the issue and help begin a drive-by us in supporting others and demanding a new hearing for him and a new judge.”

“Just because someone does something that is wrong, does not give you the right to do wrong to them,” Sharpton said to NAN, according to NBC. “The sentence must fit the violation.”

A Growing Epidemic:

Sharpton went on to address the bigger problem with this situation. If a high-profile celebrity can be taken down for this type of offense, imagine how a typical black male in America would be treated.  “This has happened to countless young black men, and Meek Mill represents that, and he can be an example of how we correct that,” Sharpton said. “If they can do this to someone with the profile of a Meek Mill, imagine what they’re doing every day,” he added.

Hopefully, Al Sharpton’s Nation Action Network can intervene on Meek’s behalf and help he get the justice he deserves. Meek Mill is currently serving a two-to-four-year prison sentence for violating his probation.

The post Al Sharpton The Latest Icon To Support Meek Mill After Very Harsh Sentence, Here’s How… appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Well looka here…Al Sharpton is in love! To many, this comes as a surprise, but apparently, Al has been dating his longtime ‘tender-roni’ girlfriend, Aisha McShaw, for quite some time. According to numerous reports, 62 year old Al has been with his lady, Aisha McShaw, for several years, despite them making very few public appearances together. Of course, we see Al rather often, he’s become a new internet sensation with his many headline-making selfies, but fans rarely see his girlfriend. For those who haven’t seen the 39-year-old beauty, take a look:

Meet Al Sharpton’s Girlfriend

According to New York Daily News, Aisha McShaw is a New York-based personal hairstylist [and fashion designer], who has been spotted with Sharpton on quite a few occasions over the past few years. Back in 2013, Al and Aisha were spotted together a few times. They made public appearances together. at the White House Correspondents Dinner in April of that year and President Obama’s holiday party in December of 2012. Other than that, they managed to stay out of the public eye.

But despite the notable appearances, Al refused to speak publicly about the relationship. But Aisha took matters into her own hands. When the two arrived at the New York County Democratic Committee Award Ceremony back in 2013, Aisha was asked about her connection to Al Sharpton. She set things straight with reporters when she said, “I’m his girlfriend.”

Even now, Al is relatively quiet about the relationship. Aisha’s declaration follows a string of reports about the relationship since it’s the first Al has reportedly had since his split from his ex-wife Kathy Lee Jordan. After 25 years of marriage, the two decided to call it quits back in 2014. At the time, Sharpton told top aide and chief spokeswoman, Rachel Noerdlinger shared his reaction to the reports about his dealings with Aisha. He was actually quite shocked it made the news. “His exact words to me were, ‘Rachel, I’m not announcing an engagement or a marriage,’” Noerdlinger said. “‘Don’t I have a right to date when my marriage has been over for a decade?’” He continued, “I don’t discuss his personal life and he doesn’t talk about it,” she said.

So, it looks like the two are still going strong. Do you thing Rev. Sharpton!

The post Love Alert: Al Sharpton Turned Heads With His Decades Younger Girlfriend appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Al Sharpton is making it known to 47 year old Jay Z that at 62 years old, he ain’t new to this, he’s true to this! So what’s all the noise about? Well, Sharpton is at the center of a rap diss by Jay-Z on his new 4:44 album.

Jay Z’s Al Sharpton Diss

Jay dissed the reverend’s selfie game, which by the way has take on a life of it’s own online. Here’s what Jay rapped about the reverend on his song, “Family Feud”:

“Y’all think small, I think Biggie / Y’all whole pass is in danger, ten Mississippi / Al Sharpton in the mirror takin’ selfies / How is him or Bill Cosby s’posed to help me?”

Sharpton’s Response

Never one to hold his tongue, Al has just responded to Jay Z’s diss on two separate occasions:

And he also tweeted this message for Jay Z a few days ago…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BV-zHvkgVZY/

In case y’all haven’t heard by now, Sharpton has become a new internet sensation among youngins and Old Schoolers alike. As of late, Rev. has broken the internet a few times with his immaculate selfie game on social media.

Sharpton says he’s increased the amount of selfies and videos he posts so he could let his fans see the healthy lifestyle he’s living and it’s affects at 62 years of age. However, that message consistently goes clean outta the window, because it gets overshadowed by Al’s poses, perm, stance, and sometimes his outfits.  We can show you better than we can tell you…

Al’s Priceless Selfies

Take the Sharpton’s Father’s Day online message, for example. Social media had a field day with it for various reasons…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVec_JAgpah/

Then there was his desk push up video, where people were quick to notice his struggle one-arm push up that midway through, he decided not to do, but also still decided to post the video online. That  cause fans to react, as you’ll see below…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVlJc_7HVPW/

Fan’s reaction…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVoYLo3HywC/

There was also Sharpton’s permed up, swagged out selfie that garnered many online comments…

Sharpton has also responded to the online attention in the past, by stating that if the president (Trump) can tweet odd, incorrectly spelled comments in the middle of the night, then he can and will, continue to post his selfies, because at least his will be correctly spelled. You tell ’em Al!

The post Tell ‘Em Al! Sharpton Responds To Jay Z Dissing Him appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

There are several levels to Al Sharpton’s greatness- he’s known as the legendary reverend, as the hard fitting, tell-it-like-it-is civil rights activist, and now he’s known all over social media as a new internet sensation. Why? Well it’s because people- in particular the younger generation- have been having a field day with Al’s social media pages lately.

Al’s Selfie Swag

You see, apparently Rev. Sharpton (62) has a newfound interest in upping the ante with his social media game. His selfies have been off the charts as you can see based on this cool swagger-filled selfie…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVnATRiHBfd/

And now his new social media video has plenty of people talking and mimicking him at the same damn time…

The Viral Video That Started It All

Most of us, Old Schoolers, remember the fuller Al Sharpton. You know, the Al who looked like a cross between a pimp and a preacher, rockin’ his perm and roller curl, with the long sideburns, track suits, and gold chains back in the day. Nowadays though, Sharpton is about half of his former self (literally) and with that, apparently has come a new healthy lifestyle and a new urge to share his fitness regime on social media.

That leads us to his recent push up video that has currently gone viral. After Rev.’ posted a video clip of himself doing desk push-ups at his office, everybody and their Mommas have been letting Al have it and many have been trying to mock his swagged out push-ups with their own version trying to duplicate the video.

Why? Well it’s because not only did Mr. Sharpton show ’em how it looks to be fit, sharp, and proudly Old school, but he also showed them his failed attempt at doing a one hand push up. It was a slight slip up, but y’all already know the internet has no filter, nor chill, when it comes to mistakes on the worldwide web. So with that said, check out Sharpton’s push up vid’ below…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BVlJc_7HVPW/

Fan Reactions

Now here’s an example of the hilarious videos fans posted afterwards…

#alsharptonchallenge going strong 💪🏿 everybody wanna flex like #alsharpton

A post shared by Al Sharpton (@alsharptonfanpage) on Jun 21, 2017 at 10:56pm PDT

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So the moral of this story is: If you’re gonna post a push-up video online, make sure you don’t second guess yourself midway through your one hand push-up…and if you do, simply hit delete and start over BEFORE sharing it with the world. Somebody may wanna let Sharpton know this rule of thumb as well. It’s all good though Rev. Sharpton, we- here at ILOSM- still got nothin’ but love or ya’ baby!

The post Laaaawd…See Why Al Sharpton’s Viral Video Has Young Folks Mocking Him Online appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Rev. Al Sharpton is being called out big time by media mogul, Byron Allen, who has just filed a $20 billion (yep ‘B’ as in billion) lawsuit through his media company, Entertainment Studios, along with the National Association of African-American Owned Media (NAAAOM).

So why is this happening? Because in a nutshell Byron, who’s company is one of the largest African American owned TV media companies, raking in about $100 million a year, claims that Al Sharpton and several civil rights groups including the NAACOP and the National Urban League, have been bought out by Time Warner, Comcast, AT&T, in exchange for Al and the other civil rights organizations to not bring any public attention to those media companies’ massive discrimination practices against doing business with African American owned channels.

Here’s what Byron Allen is alleging:

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1. “One hundred percent African-American-owned media has been shut out by Comcast. Of the approximately $11 billion in channel-carriage fees that Comcast pays to license television channels each year, less than $3 million is paid to 100 percent African-American-owned media.”

2. “Comcast paid Sharpton and his

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The post Yikes! $20 Billion Lawsuit Targets Al Sharpton, Time Warner, Comcast appeared first on I Love Old School Music.