In today’s top news, President Obama nominates Tom Perez as next labor secretary; hundreds of New Yorkers will testify in trial challenging NYPD’s stop and frisk procedures; and Black farmers have still not been paid $1.2 billion from a 2010 settlement.

President Obama nominated Tom Perez to be his next labor secretary. [Politico]

Hundreds of New Yorkers will testify in a trial beginning Monday that will challenge the NYPD’s stop and frisk procedures. [AP]

Black farmers have still not been paid their $1.2 billion discrimination settlement from the USDA. [Monroe News Star]

Prosecutors are considering murder charges against Winnie Mandela following the exhumation of bodies of two young activists last seen at her home 24 years ago. [AP]

CNN is under fire for coverage of the Steubenville rape trial that was biased towards the convicted rapists and not the victim. [Huffington Post]

Dr. Conrad Murray, who was Michael Jackson’s personal physician, is refusing to testify in trial for a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Jackson’s mother. [CNN]

An ex-Oklahoma QB was killed in a plane crash Sunday that claimed the life of one other person. [Chicago Tribune]

In today’s top news, Ne-Yo says Blacks deserve more credit, Mormons say they face more prosecution and Ja Rule breaks his silence.

Mormons say they face more discrimination than Blacks. [BET]

Ne-Yo says Blacks deserve more credit. [BET]

Ja Rule speaks from behind bars. [BET]

Civil rights leaders are taking a stand against hazing. [BET]

A Tennessee principal says test scores show Black students are less smart. [BET]

Wikipedia site has “blacked out” in protest of web piracy laws. [FOX]

A “smoking object” was thrown at the White House Tuesday night. [CNN]

Another light bright photo of Beyoncé incites anger. [NYDN]

Sudan faces famine. [CNN]

World Bank warns of impending economic crisis. [MSNBC]

Richard Prinice Journal-Isms is reporting that sports columnist and commentator Stephen Smith has ended his strained relationship with his longtime employer, the Philadelphia Inquirer.

“I’m as happy as I’ve been for a long time,” Smith told Journal-isms. “I get to do what I really want to do. Anything’s possible. The sky’s the limit.”

According to Prince, Smith’s  decision to leave the Inquirer, where he worked for 15 years, is by “mutual agreement.”

Smith was engaged in a much publicized dispute with the paper for a little over two years from 2007 to early 2010 after the paper’s editor demoted him — then the highest paid employee at the paper —  from a columnist to a general assignment reporter.

At the time, the very opinionated and outspoken Smith had begun to make regular rounds of television and radio interviews and began to attract large audiences of fans and followers to all his media platforms.

After arbitration between the Inquirer and Smith (with the backing of the newspaper Guild) he was reinstated in February of this year, but with a few restrictions. For example, he could no longer express political views during guest appearances and on his personal Web site.

For more on Smith, the feud with the Inquirer and what he might do next, check out this story.

Okay, the headline above is tongue-in-cheek.

But, seriously, why did a Long Island weekly, the Smithtown Messanger, print the above before-and-after photo feature of former U.S. presidents?

 I’m lost on the point of it.

The feature displays distinguished-looking, contrasting photos of the last five presidents and their wives. It begins with Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter and, of course, ends with a sixth split of current first couple Barack and Michelle Obama. All the other splits have a younger photo and older one of each couple. The Obamas’ after photo is a pic of TV sitcom “Sanford and Son” characters Fred Sanford (Red Foxx) and Aunt Esther (Lawanda Page) during one of their famous (and funny) spats.

In a digital news era of flattened print newspaper sales, its hard not to assume: the Smithtown Messenger is desperate and needs a little controversy to drive up sales or circulation. But according to the publisher, Phillip Sciarello, the feature was pure satire – just for satire’s sake.

It was no thinly-veiled racist caricature, he insists.

Either way, the photo spread has cost the paper some business. AP reports that the Brookhaven town board has removed one of the Messenger’s sister publications, the Brookhaven Review, as an official newspaper. That means it will no longer publish the town government’s legal notices. And Hazel N. Dukes, president of the state NAACP conference, called government and businesses to  pull advertising from any publication that ran the photo.

The feature is not funny or smart. At its worst, it’s an unimaginative and racist misfire; a waste of already limited  creative resources, ink and editorial space in a public newspaper.  At its best, it is a silly racial sketch that, to spend time digging up the missing irony or to allow its insensitivy to become offensive, you would have to give it more weight than it deserves.

And if you really want to take a close look at it, the logic of the feature is fuzzy, too. Everybody knows Aunt Esther was neither Fred Sanford’s wife nor his love interest. She was his sister-in-law,  Lamont’s aunt and the junk dealer’s often-mentioned late wife Elizabeth’s sister.

While performing in London for Debbie Allen adaptation of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” actress Sanna Lathan sits down for an interview with SoulcultureTV, a British webmagazine to discuss American media.

When asked about American celebrity and tabloid media coverage, Ms. Lathan called out American paparazzi for ignoring Black stars.

Click here to see the interview.  Do you agree with Ms. Lathan?

The downturn in the economy has forced another publication to suspend its printed edition.

Giant Magazine has moved all of its operations online.

Read more by clicking here

Dominic Carter, the former host of “Inside City Hall” on the NY1 network was convicted of assaulting his wife.

Carter was arrested last year after his wife, Marilyn, called 911 from their home in distress. She later recanted her story but the judge called her new statements on the incident “preposterous.”

Carter could spend at least three months in prison. He will appeal the conviction.

Carter who is a staple of the New York 24/7 news channel has been placed on leave from the news network until the legal situation is resolved.

Kwame Kilpatrick, the former mayor of Detroit who was removed from office and convicted of perjury, gave his first media interview in more than a year to reporters from The Final Call, the weekly news magazine of the Nation of Islam.

The interview covered various subjects ranging from the future of Detroit to national politics. However, Kilpatrick’s comments about his former chief of staff and lover Christine Beatty are creating the most buzz.

Kilpatrick and Beatty had a highly publicized affair. Beatty was also convicted of perjury for not admitting to the affair during a whistleblower lawsuit in 2008.

Below is an excerpt of the interview.  Click here to view video of the interview.

FCN: I’m glad you mentioned your family. Clearly, they have stood by you and your wife has demonstrated tremendous strength as well as your children with you being in such a public spot. As it relates to Ms. Christine Beatty, the sister who was in the news related to her relationship with you, do you have contact with her, do you all talk?

KK: I’ll simply say, I have talked to her since all of this stuff has happened. I try to make sure that she understands that I still care about her very deeply and I simply back up and say first that, a lot of times when women get caught in a situation like that, they are perceived as a wh— and sorry and I just think that is so unfair. It takes two to tango they say but I think even other than that she is a very good person. She is incredibly brilliant, a 4.0 student, masters (degree) and we made some bad decisions and we are living with the consequences of those decisions. I respect her tremendously and love her and wish her the best. That has been an incredible situation, somebody has been in your life since ninth grade, this is my friend, this wasn’t a person that just showed up. Ninth grade and now out of your life and having her own and you have to really figure out how to move forward with your wife and children. So I wish her the best. I have tried to keep tabs and make sure that she is doing all right. But as far as the kind of interaction we had, we will never really have again.

Oprah Winfrey said she was wrong for not challenging a comment made by Mike Tyson about wanting to “sock” Robin Givens during an interview on her syndicated television program.

From WENN.com

“Givens fought back angry tears as she revealed she sat in disbelief as Winfrey’s studio audience chuckled while Tyson admitted he wanted to “sock her” after an infamous TV interview with newswoman Barbara Walters.

A relieved Givens said, “Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

The mothers of Lil Wayne, T-Pain and Ne-Yo are teaming up to start their own talk show to help uplift women and single mothers.

From Bossip.com

“The women are in the process of producing a pilot to present to major television networks. The three women are set to talk about an array of topics from disorderly conduct in the hip hop world, to domestic issues and hot topics.

Since the women know first hand how to raise children in a difficult environment they will be relatable to many women and single mothers in the world. While their images could use some work, this show may be a pretty good concept.”