Eye Candy: Kenyatta Wilson

Kenyatta Wilson is a bodybuilder who lists his stats as 5'8", 165# with a 27" waist and 8% bodyfat. He is apparently in the Air Force, stationed in Hawaii. I would definitely salute him, yes sir!

Hat/tip to Dark Flex. 

Eye Candy: Daniel Akyeampong

First found Daniel Akyeampong at the Gorgeous Sexy Guys blog, but doing some more research I have discovered he's a 19(!)-year-old model from Richmond, Virginia who has apparently been featured in some Abercrombie & Fitch catalogs. I bet he looks even better in black and white than in the pretty amazing shots here.

I think he's probably the youngest Eye Candy model featured here (still uses MySpace), but he is over 18.

Eye Candy: Andre Mull (reprise)

Andre Mull has been featured as MadProfessah's Eye Candy before (September 27, 2010). He lists himself as 5'11", 189-pounds on his ModelMayhem page. Apparently he has been having some success, because he has worked with photographer Paul Mariano, who shot the top two amazing pictures of Andre featured here.

Merry Xmas!

Eye Candy: Keston Karter

Today's Eye Candy model is Keston Karter, a model/actor who was born in the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad and Tobago (West Indies in the house!) and now lives and works in New York City.

In 2009, he was in a faux scandal where he was rumored to be the gay boy toy of a professional athlete. He denied the gay rumors in an LGBT-supportive way, which I give him much props for.

He has also been a featured Eye Candy model at Essence.com. He is on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.

Hat/tip to Ebony Swag.

Celebrity Friday: Kasim Reed

Kasim Reed is the pro-gay Mayor of Atlanta who was elected in a startlingly close election last year.

Atlanta has been in the news recently for an anti-gay police raid that happened in summer 2009 and for which a federal judge has entered a $1 million judgment against the City. Watch video of Mayor Reed apologizing to the LGBT community for the police misconduct:




Hat/tip to Rod 2.0!

Black, Gay and Polish!

Kristian Legierski is the first openly
gay and Black elected official in Poland

This is a great story. Poland has recently elected its first openly gay official, when Krystian Legierski (pictured above) won a Warsaw City Council seat on November 21st. Legierski, a 32-year-old lawyer is biracial (his father is from Mauritania and his mom is Polish) and the first Black elected official in the Eastern European country as well.

Rod 2.0 reports:

Legierski discussed the intersections of race and sexuality in his election: "In Poland there are so few blacks that nobody has ever done research on how many there are. It would not pay to do it. But without a black-emancipation movement, and without a strong organization of sexual minorities, after just 20 years of democracy, we have achieved what elsewhere sometimes took generations. Poland showed its tolerant and nondiscriminatory face."

Poland becomes the most recent Eastern European nation to elect a Black to public office. On October 25, a Ghanaian-born doctor won local elections in Slovenia's coastal town of Piran, becoming Slovenia's first black mayor. Russia elected its first Black elected official in July, a city councilman north of Moscow.

Jesse Jackson Endorses Marriage Equality!

Reverend Jesse Jackson endorse marriage equality for same-sex couples in a fiery speech on Monday morning before the assembled crowd to hear the oral arguments in Perry v Schwarzenegger.

Here is the text of the former presidential candidate's speech:

Many years ago in the late 1970s’, I visited South Africa, then deep in the throes of apartheid.  I was asked by the media what I thought of the situation, and I said,  “I believe in human rights for all human beings.   We must measure human rights by one yardstick.”  That principle – our moral center - still applies.  Everything flows from this perspective.

We stand together today as equal members of the human family…. as consistent principled advocates for human rights for all people.  We stand together today to uphold the principles of due process, of equal protection under the law, of fighting against discrimination against any and all people based on race, religion, gender or sexual orientation.

We stand with you today to support Marriage Equality, and to declare that Proposition 8 must be struck down as unconstitutional.  Peoples’ right to self-expression, self-determination be respected and affirmed.  It’s time to challenge ignorance, a time to break the silence and the chains of hatred, of divisive and discriminatory bigotry.   Marriage is based on love and commitment – not on sexual orientation.  I support the right for any person to marry the person of their choosing.

If Dr. King and our civil rights movement has taught us anything, it’s the fundamental principle of that all people deserve Equal protection under the law.   LGBT people deserve equal rights – including marriage equality – and equal protection under the law. Discrimination against one group of people is discrimination against all of us.   The State – and the Courts - should not sanction discrimination.

To those that believe in and fought for civil rights, that marched to end discrimination and win equality, you must not become that which you hated. It’s past time to exist in hypocrisy and ignorance, and time to come out of the shadows and darkness to support unequivocally, equality for all people. Those that support civil and human rights cannot, must not, become perpetrators of discrimination against others based upon race, religion, culture, sexual orientation.

African Americans know too well the sting of legal, state sanctioned, constitutionally driven “second class” citizenship – from centuries of legal slavery and Jim Crow segregation, to classified as 3/5 of a human being in the U.S. Constitution, to facing anti-miscegenation laws that prevented Blacks from marrying whites. 

We cannot not sit idly by while Prop. 8 seeks to target gays and lesbians for a disfavored legal status, as America’s newest “second-class citizens.”  Our legal scholars have cited fourteen times where the Supreme Court has stated that marriage is a fundamental right of all individuals.   That principle must be upheld today – for Blacks and Whites, for straight and gay, for ALL Americans.  No group of people should be denied their fundamental constitutional liberties, like equal protection under the law, simply because of who they are.

So today, we do not stand alone.  It’s time to go forward by hope and not backward by fear, to stand up with courage, hope and strength and send a shout out for equality.  Stiff winds of resistance seek a return to intolerance, bigotry and state sanctioned discrimination – whether against immigrants in New Mexico or against marriage equality in California.   It should only strengthen our resolve to defend equal protection under the law, equality for all Americans, and the forging of a One Big Tent America.

Keep Hope Alive

Vote for the Hodge Twins for Best Body!

Thanks to Mechadude I have been informed that two of my favorite crush objects, Kevin and Keith Hodges are competing in an online contest to be bodybuilding spokespeople. Watch the video below and then vote for Keith and Kevin!




Aren't they hella phyne?

Eye Candy: Rubin Singleton

Rubin Singleton is a 28-year-old model from New York. He is also hella phyne and today's Eye Candy model.

Celebrity Friday: Roderick Ireland

MA Gov. Deval Patrick (left) with Chief Justice-designate Roderick L. Ireland

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, the only Black governor in the country, has nominated Roderick Ireland to be the first Black Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Patrick was re-elected to a second final term as Governor on Tuesday November 3rd, and announced the nomination of Ireland to replace retiring Chief Justice Margaret Marshall. Marshall is well-known for writing the 4-3 majority opinion in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health which ended the state's prohibition on same-sex couples from marrying, the first state Supreme Court to do so in the United States in 2003.

Ireland voted with the majority and Patrick is also a strong supporter of marriage equality and LGBT rights. His teenaged daughter came out as a lesbian while he was governor and he marched with her in a gay rights parade.

Eddie Long Files Court Papers Denying Sexual Allegations

Eddie Long has formally filed legal paperwork denying the claims of four young Black men that he had sex with them while they were 18 or younger and under his care as part of his youth ministry.

The Church that the founded, the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church also filed paperwork denying the charges.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports:

On Monday [November 1], Long filed four separate responses, each about 30 pages and denying each accusation point by point. He admitted that he took the men on trips, but he denied the complaints of sexual contact. He did admit to hugging some of the men.

"Bishop Long admits that it is common among his church congregation for members to hug each other and hug the Bishop," the suit reads.

Long also admitted to giving the plaintiffs gifts, including cars, and helping them financially, but he denied that it was in exchange for sex. He said he has "provided sporadic financial assistance," and he routinely pays for rent and other expenses for New Birth members, according to the filings.

In the filings, Long also admitted to speaking on the phone with the men, but said he could not recall who initiated the calls. He also admitted that the men called him "Daddy," "Bishop" and "Granddaddy," but said many members of his congregation called him similar names.

"Bishop Long admits that he mentors many young men from challenged backgrounds who have often been without the benefit of a male role model," according to his filings.

In his filings, Long said he is a "bold revolutionary spiritual leader," and Long has built a ministry that places "special emphasis on outreach to men, reinforcing to men the importance of partnering with a ministry that will grow them spiritually."

Hmmm, I do believe perjury is a crime and bearing false witness is a sin, right? Does Eddie Long know that?

Eye Candy: J Harris

You may recognize Joey "J-Harris" Harris from the Tyra Banks show. He is a model and singer. He is also very handsome, as shown in these pictures.

Mississippi Black Corrections Officer Fired For Being Gay

André Cooley, a corrections officer in Forrest County, Mississippi, was fired recently after his employer discovered he was gay. 


The Clarion-Ledger reports on a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of Cooley against the Sheriff's Department, Sheriff Billy McGee and other jail employees.

The incidents pertinent to the lawsuit began with a 911 call placed by Cooley on June 14, requesting help in a domestic disturbance.

A Hattiesburg Police Department report lists Cooley as the victim and describes his male companion as the assailant. The complaint states Bolton also responded to the call and ordered Cooley to report to his immediate supervisor before returning to work after learning of the two men's relationship.

McGee on Monday said he stood by the decision to fire Cooley.

"He got in a fight with his boyfriend, and the police were called to his house for a domestic disturbance," McGee said. "Those kinds of incidents don't speak well for people in law enforcement." 

[...]  

According to the complaint, Cooley obtained a copy of the police report on June 15, saw he was listed as a victim acting in self-defense and began trying to reach Bolton. He instead reached Brannon, and Brannon told him he was to be terminated because of the "type of situation" in which he was involved.

The complaint also states Brannon told Cooley he was fired because of his sexual orientation, and that Brannon later told Cooley's former co-workers that he was fired because he "turned out to be a faggot," according to the lawsuit, which represents one side of a legal dispute.

The Sheriff's Department also contested Cooley's application for unemployment benefits. A decision from the Mississippi Department of Employment Security dated July 21 says Cooley "displayed inappropriate conduct and behavior while off-duty, unacceptable for any officer."

[...].

"What makes things particularly difficult in Mississippi is that there's no federal or state law forbidding discrimination (on grounds of sexual orientation)," [Cooley's lawyer] Atwood said.

Here is a video of an interview with Coooley discussing the lawsuit.

Eye Candy: Deric Mickens (reprise)

Deric Mickens first appeared on this blog as as an Eye Candy model on February 9, 2010. The 23-year-old, 6', 175-pound model has been featured on Essence.com and many blogs which feature picks of handsome young men, like MadProfessah.com. I'm sure you see why!

ANOTHER Eddie Long Accuser Speaks Out In Public

WATCH: Jamal Harris, One Of Eddie Long Accusers Speak

Hat/tip to Son of Baldwin

Eddie Long Says He Will Fight Charges

Eddie Long, the Atlanta-area Black minister who is the target of four lawsuits claiming "coercive sexual activities" between Long and four teenaged Black men, has announced that he will fight the charges. The story is on the front page of today's New York Times.

Writer and Black gay AIDS activist Craig Washington has penned a brilliant "A Sermon for Bishop Eddie Long" which ends with this crescendo:

Whether or not Long actually committed the acts of which he was recently accused, this much is true: He is assuredly guilty of engendering fear and hatred of LGBT people among thousands. He has convinced countless numbers of gays that they are sinners whose salvation rests on becoming "reconditioned" into heterosexuality. Such toxic teachings reinforce the stigma that compromises HIV-prevention efforts as well as our mental and physical health.

One who cannot face aspects of himself that he despises will train that animus on another whom he regards as his opposite. Did he sell out countless individuals in order to throw congregants off the scent of his own hunt, the exploitation of young men? Was there a point when, at first, a few and then many knew what was happening and said nothing? How long will we enable the abuse perpetrated in word and deed by our pastors? When will we dare to speak the ugly, inconvenient truth even when we are afraid?

This story of this sullied bishop serves overdue notice to Christians across the nation who have bought and sold snake oil presented as holy water. It is a foreclosure warning to every black male pastor who deems the church his castle, and the women, gays and young who build it as no more than chattel to serve his appetites. It is a subpoena, a calling to account for all black men who endorse patriarchy as the most legitimate form of power in our communities. It is a stained diary page brought to light. It is truth. Amen. 

Pow!

UPDATED 10:55AM PDT 09/26/2010:
Via Rod 2.0 comes this brief statement from Eddie Long to the press:

"On the advice of counsel, I am not going to address the allegations and attacks against me, again as I stated earlier, I want this to be dealt with in a court of justice and not in the court of public opinion."

Celebrity Friday: Bishop Eddie Long

The stories about Bishop Eddie Long have become too prominent to not comment on at this blog. He is the well-known African-American pastor and head of an Atlanta-area mega-church who was accused this week  by three young men of forcing them to have sex with him after going on long vacation trips with them.

The video above is from a press conference announcing the filing of lawsuits by two of the accusers.

According to CBS News:

In lawsuits filed this week, three men who were members of the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church claimed Long coerced them into sexual relations with gifts including cars, cash and travel when they were 17 or 18 years old. The sprawling church in Lithonia, Ga., about 18 miles outside of Atlanta, counts politicians, celebrities and the county sheriff among its members and hosted four U.S. presidents during the 2006 funeral of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s widow, Coretta Scott King.

One of the claims in the lawsuits is that Long had sexual contact with the young men, who were enrolled in New Birth's ministry for teen boys, during trips he took them on in the U.S. and abroad. Gillen said the travel was part of a mentoring program that other young men also participated in.

Recently, pictures of Eddie Long taken by his phone which he sent to the men have surfaced, showing him wearing athletic wear or spandex. See below:

I think the pictures speak for themselves. Be prepared to become even more of a celebrity than you were before, "Bishop" Eddie Long!

Hat/tip to Wonder Man.

Eye Candy: Mark Hawthorne

Mark Hawthorne is a 22-year-old model from Los Angeles who was brought to my attention by Mechadude. Check out more of his pics here and here.