Notorious B.I.G. estate says inmate lied

The estate of the slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. filed a federal court motion on Monday claiming that a prison inmate who implicated a former police officer in the killing was lying when he recanted his testimony.

The motion seeks access to phone and prison visitation records for Waymond Anderson, a former R&B artist now serving a life sentence for murder in a separate case.

Anderson said in an Aug. 20 deposition that he lied as part of a scam involving the slain rapper’s family members and attorneys to win a monetary settlement from the city.

The estate for Notorious B.I.G., whose real name was Christopher Wallace, argued that the records will reveal holes in Anderson’s latest story and show who was behind Anderson’s “wholesale assault on the truth.”

Anderson accused the family and their lawyer of offering to cut him in for a portion of any award for falsely testifying that a former police officer, Rafael Perez, told him another former officer, David Mack, was involved in the March 9, 1997 killing of Wallace.

Both Mack and Perez have long denied any involvement in the killing.

Monday’s filing claims Anderson recanted his earlier testimony as part of an orchestrated attempt to “negatively affect public sentiment and the jury pool.”

In April, Wallace’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city, alleging that rogue police officers killed the rapper. An earlier lawsuit on similar charges ended in a mistrial in 2005.

Second ‘Gone With the Wind’ sequel ready

Rhett Butler, the fictional Southern charmer who walked out of Scarlett O’Hara’s life in “Gone With the Wind,” returns to Georgia next weekend — on a book tour of sorts.

The book, to be unveiled Saturday, is a kind of retelling of Margaret Mitchell’s masterpiece from Rhett’s perspective and traces Butler from his roots in South Carolina to Georgia, where he met the dramatic Scarlett.

An Atlanta committee charged with protecting Mitchell’s novel authorized the book, “Rhett Butler’s People.”

The novel begins long before Scarlett ever uttered her first “fiddle-dee-dee” and goes on for nearly 100 more pages beyond where Mitchell ended things with “Tomorrow is another day.”

The book was written by little-known Civil War novelist Donald McCaig, 67. Though his occasional use of the N-word in his manuscript initially gave the committee pause, it accepted the manuscript.

This is the second companion novel authorized by the Mitchell committee. The first, “Scarlett” by Alexandra Ripley, released in 1991, was a financial success but unpopular with critics.

“Scarlett” sold more than 6 million copies and spawned a CBS miniseries.

Much has changed since then, though. “Scarlett” was splashed cross the pages of the now-defunct Life magazine, but Rhett Butler and his book have a MySpace page.

“The public itself wanted another sequel,” said Paul Anderson Jr., part of the three-lawyer committee that advises the Mitchell estate on protecting and exercising the original book’s copyright.

“But this is not like ‘Rocky.’ We’re not coming back every time we think we can make another book,” Anderson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Jay-Z taking over Sirius Radio channel

Jay-Z is taking over Sirius Satellite Radio’s hip-hop channel — for a week. The 37-year-old rap mogul will debut as host of Jay-Z Nation on Monday, Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. said Friday. He will take the helm at Hip-Hop Nation channel 40.

Jay-Z’s latest album, “American Gangster,” will be released Tuesday. The CD takes its title and inspiration from the new movie co-starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe about Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas.

“Jay-Z is one of the pre-eminent creative forces in the music industry,” Sirius executive Scott Greenstein said in a statement. “Over the last decade, he has truly changed the face of hip-hop and music culture.”

Jay-Z Nation will feature music from the rapper’s albums and songs by his favorite hip-hop artists.

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On the Net:

Jay-Z:

http://www.rocafella.com/

Sirius Satellite Radio:

http://www.sirius.com/

White supremacy group plans Jena rally on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

JENA, La. –

The Nationalist Movement, which describes itself as “pro-majority,” will hold a rally in Jena on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the group announced.The organization issued a statement this week saying “Jena Justice Day to Empower the Majority” would be held on Jan. 21, the day set aside to celebrate the birthday of the slain American civil rights leader.

The statement said the Nationalist were “bringing their tools for empowerment to Louisiana to defeat the demands of Al Sharpton.” The events planned include a two-mile parade, speeches, ceremonies and petitions “as a centerpiece to abolish King Day.”

The announcement of the event follows a massive rally held in Jena on Sept. 20 in support of six black teenagers arrested in December 2006 and charged with attacking Justin Barker, a white classmate at Jena High School, and knocking him unconscious.

The case fueled allegations that District Attorney Reed Walters was treating blacks more harshly than whites, because his office didn’t file charges against three white teens accused of hanging nooses in a tree on the high school’s campus shortly before the attack on Barker.

The Nationalist Movement describes the event as ‘No to Jena 6, No to King.’ There also will petition for abolition of the Civil Rights Bill and give a voice to the voiceless,” the release stated.

The Rev. B.L. Moran, who has worked with the “Jena Six” families, said they wouldn’t try to stop the event but may plan something around that time.

“Of course we can’t stop them from marching,” he said. “They can do whatever they want. It is bothersome, but everybody has their freedom to do whatever they want.”

FBI knew of O.J. Simpson plan in advance

Federal agents learned three weeks in advance that O.J. Simpson and a memorabilia dealer planned an operation to retrieve personal items Simpson said were stolen from him, according to FBI reports obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

Dealer Thomas Riccio told FBI agents Aug. 21 that Simpson wanted to televise the operation as he confronted a collector who was peddling thousands of pieces of Simpson’s memorabilia.

Da Brat arrested after nightclub dispute

Da Brat was arrested early Thursday after a dispute with a waitress at a nightclub northeast of Atlanta. The 33-year-old rapper, whose real name is Shawntae Harris, was charged with aggravated assault, said DeKalb County Police spokeswoman Mekka Parish.

Officers answered a call to Studio 72 at 1:20 a.m. about a “brief pushing sort of thing,” Parish said.

Police couldn’t say whether the nightclub is the one that Jermaine Dupri opened earlier this year, but the street address is the same. Club owners couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Parish said the police report indicates Harris and a 24-year-old waitress at the club got into a squabble after the waitress bumped into her. At some point, the waitress walked away and moments later was hit in the face with the bottle of rum.

Parish said the waitress, who sustained a deep laceration to the cheek and some swelling on the forehead, was driven to a hospital by a friend.

Parish said Harris’ address is listed as Chicago. It wasn’t known why she was in the Atlanta area.

Harris was the first female rapper to have a platinum-selling album.

She has appeared on VH1 reality shows “Celebrity Fit Club” and “The Surreal Life.”

Miss. Delta culture to be documented

Filmmakers and producers plan to document Mississippi Delta culture later this month.

Jacquie Jones, the executive director of the National Black Programming Consortium, said 28 “media makers” from around the nation and West Africa will be in Jackson Nov. 11-16 for the 2007 New Media Institute.

They will produce projects “in several different areas and document the stories of African American culture and life in Mississippi,” she said.

NBPC is one of five ethnic consortiums funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and has provided content to public television since 1979.

“We inaugurated this project last year with WGBH Boston and what we did was convene leaders with public media and technology,” Jones said.

The institute’s Web site says it trains new and seasoned filmmakers who want to create innovative projects using the latest in digital technology.

A kickoff party scheduled Nov. 11 at Smith Robertson Museum and Cultural Center will be participants’ first in-person meeting. The B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center, the Mississippi Film Office and the Crossroads Film Society are hosting the party.

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On the Net:

http://nbpc.tv/newmediainstitute

Hispanics see TV hiring progress

The TV season that brought Emmy honors to “Ugly Betty” star America Ferrera also saw a rise in employment opportunities for Hispanics at the major networks, according to a report released Tuesday.

The eighth annual survey by a coalition formed to push for more minority hiring for on- and off-camera jobs in broadcasting found Hispanics made encouraging if “incremental” progress.

Network programs created to foster diversity “are now bearing fruit, and it is not unreasonable to expect that the present numbers will continue to climb and that there will be no backsliding,” said Esteban Torres, head of the National Latino Media Council.

The council comprises 14 major Hispanic civil rights organizations, including the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Mexican American Legal Defense & Education Fund.

The analysis of 2006-07 season scripted and reality shows was based on information supplied by the networks.

ABC, home of “Ugly Betty” and its Hispanic star, led in diversifying its work force, with CBS, NBC and Fox all earning commendations for improvement. The networks earned overall grades of A and B on the council’s “report card.”

Fox, however, was rebuked for what the council said was its failure to match other networks in fully disclosing hiring data.

Fox responded Wednesday that “while we will be happy to provide the numbers of actors, writers and directors of color, we believe they have a reasonable expectation of privacy and will not provide their names.”

The network statement said Fox “remains steadfast in our diversity efforts.”

The TV picture was deemed less bright by other minority groups that are part of the diversity effort.

In a report card issued by the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition, none of the networks improved their overall grade from last year.

A total of 29 Asian-Americans were cast in regular roles in prime-time programs, just two more than last year, and many roles lacked “significant air time,” the coalition found.

“When compared to other racial groups, (Asian-Pacific-Americans) are still far less likely to be in starring roles in prime-time programming, although a number of shows are set in cities” with large Asian-American populations, the coalition said in a statement.

The group singled out two “standout shows” with choice roles for Asian-American actors: “Grey’s Anatomy,” with Korean-Canadian star Sandra Oh, and “Heroes” with Japanese-born Masi Oka.

It was heartening to see the number of Asian-American writers and producers rebound from a severe drop last year, the group said, but the numbers remained inadequate. The ranks of Asian-Pacific directors were cut from 27 the previous year to 23 last season.

When it comes to hiring of American Indians, the networks earned overall grades of D or C in an analysis that focused on scripted shows.

“Behind the camera, American Indians remain invisible. … We are still misunderstood and underrepresented in front of the camera,” said Mark S. Reed of American Indians in Film and TV.

The group lauded the hiring of Adam Beach (“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” “Flags of Our Fathers”), a Salteaux Indian from Canada, as a series regular on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”

An original partner of the diversity, the NAACP, has not participated in recent evaluations.

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On the Net:

Asian American Justice Center: http://www.advancingequality.org

National Hispanic Media Coalition: http://www.nhmc.org

FACTBOX-Celebrities and offensive language

(Reuters) – Fallen American shock jock Don Imus, reported Thursday by the Wall Street Journal to have signed a deal with Citadel Broadcasting Corp to return to the airwaves Dec. 3, was fired by CBS Radio in April for an on-air racial slur.

Imus was fired after referring to a mostly black university women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed hos,” a racial slur that generated a storm of controversy and led CBS Radio to cancel his “Imus in the Morning” show.

He was one of a string of U.S. celebrities to run into trouble for using offensive language.

Here are other recent examples:

* “Seinfeld” co-star Michael Richards sparked an outcry in late 2006 for spewing a torrent of racial slurs, including “nigger,” at hecklers during his stand-up act at the Laugh Factor comedy club in Hollywood. He later apologized, saying he lost his temper.

* Actor Mel Gibson was arrested in Malibu, California, on suspicion of drunken driving in 2006, and he caused a furor by launching into a tirade against Jews, saying they were “responsible for all the wars in the world.” The director of box-office hits “The Passion of the Christ” and “Braveheart” apologized repeatedly.

* Comedian Jerry Lewis used the anti-gay slur “fag” during the 2007 broadcast of his annual Labor Day Telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Lewis was joking on stage, pretending to introduce members of someone’s family as he mugged for the camera. He later apologized.

* Actor Isaiah Washington was fired from the ABC hit medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” this year after reportedly using the word “faggot” during an argument on the set of the show. Despite his public denials, Washington later met with gay and lesbian groups in Los Angeles, entered counseling and filmed a public service announcement denouncing hurtful speech.

* A reality TV show starring celebrity bounty hunter Duane “Dog” Chapman is on hold after a private phone call in which he used a racial epithet to refer to a black woman was posted on the Internet.

West Virginia protesters demand hate crimes charges for those accused in black woman’s assault

Hundreds of people gathered at West Virginia’s Capitol on Saturday to urge prosecutors to add hate crime charges against six white people charged in the beating, torture and sexual assault of a 20-year-old black woman.

Authorities say the accused, three men and three women, held Megan Williams captive for days at a rural trailer — sexually assaulting her, beating her and forcing her to eat human and animal feces.

“Hate crimes are out of control in America,” Malik Shabazz, a legal adviser to Williams and her family and a founder of Black Lawyers for Justice, told the group. “Nooses are being hung and our women are being raped by white moms. What happened to Megan Williams was a hate crime and we want this prosecuted as a hate crime.”

Shabazz pointed to statements from suspect Frankie Brewster and her son, Bobby Brewster, that racial epithets were used every time Williams was stabbed.

Shabazz staged the rally despite a request by the city’s black ministerial association and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People not to gather because it could harm the prosecution’s case.

Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham has not filed hate crime charges in the case saying the other charges already filed carried harsher penalties. A hate crime conviction carries up to 10 years in prison in West Virginia. All six face kidnapping and sexual assault charges. Kidnapping carries a possible life sentence.

Abraham, who urged Williams and her family not to talk about the case or attend the rally, has said it might be difficult to prove a hate crime charge because Williams had a “social relationship” with one of the suspects for at least several months before the alleged assaults.

Williams attended the rally wearing a T-shirt with the message “Protect the Black Woman.” In a brief speech, she showed her appreciation to her supporters.

The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother agreed to release her name.

Joe Marchal said he drove three hours from Berea, Ky., with his wife and infant son to show his support for Williams.

“If no one came out today, imagine how that would make Megan Williams feel,” said Marchal. “We’re here for her.”

In addition to calling attention to hate crimes, organizers hoped the rally would help raise money for Williams’ medical care and future educational expenses.

Zayid Muhammad, the national minister of culture for the New Black Panther Party, came to the rally from Newark, N.J.

“As a father of a daughter and a child of African ancestry, the idea that I can sit by idly, (in) the face of one of the most violent and obscene acts committed against a black woman in my life, was too appalling,” Muhammad said. “I had to come.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton had been expected to participate but did not appear.