The first African-American to serve as Secretary of State challenges more African-American men to become involved in community service.

In an interview with CNN and Essence Magazine, Colin Powell believes black men have to take a more active role within the community to show our kids positive male role models.

We need more African-American men, for example, to step forward and serve as mentors to young kids who don’t have a responsible, caring adult male in their lives. If I could snap my finger and do one thing, I would make sure that every young American boy or girl, but especially African-American [children], have a responsible, caring adult in their lives.

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview with CNN, said that the Black Harvard professor who was arrested by a White policeman at his own home, merely wanted to get to bed after a long trip. But he noted that Henry Louis “Skip” Gates would have had a much easier time had he chilled out a bit during the officer’s July 16 investigation of a burglary of his Cambridge, Mass., home. Gates “might have waited a while, come outside, talked to the officer, and that might have been the end of it,” Powell told Larry King this week. “I think he should have reflected on whether or not this was the time to make that big a deal,” he said. However, Powell said, Gates was just home from China and New York and “all he wanted to do was get to bed.” The encounter between Gates and the officer, Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, kicked off a firestorm of controversy. A neighbor who witnessed Gates struggling with the lock of his door called 911 to report a possible burglary in progress. When police arrived and saw Gates inside the home, they asked him to step outside, perhaps suggesting he was a suspect. Gates lambasted the policeman, asking whether he was being targeted because of his race. His comments resulted in his arrest on charges of disorderly conduct. Many have characterized the incident as brazen racism, because Gates was home at the time. Others contend that Gates should have been more cooperative with the officer. Even the president weighed in, saying the officer acted “stupidly.” Obama later said he regretted using such language and invited Gates and Crowley to the White House for a beer.

Powell Warns His Party … Again
Call him a “liberal” all you want, but former Secretary of State Colin Powell says that unless the Republican Party embraces his vision for a more inclusive party – and not that of his ultra-conservative counterparts, Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney – the GOP is in trouble. Powell, along with former Pennsylvania governor and Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, made their rounds on the Sunday TV talk shows hoping to throw a lifeline to their floundering party. “I believe we should build on the base because the nation needs two parties, two parties debating each other,” said Powell, who became the first African-American to head the State Department, during the administration of George W. Bush. “But what we have to do is debate and define who we are and what we are and not just listen to dictates that come down from the right wing of the party. …If we don’t reach out more, the party is going to be sitting on a very, very narrow base. You can only do two things with a base. You can sit on it and watch the world go by, or you can build on the base,” Powell said. Ridge, who was also appointed by Bush, agreed. He said if the Republican Party wants “to restore itself, not as a regional party, but as a national party, we have to be far less judgmental about disagreements within the party and far more judgmental about our disagreement with our friends on the other side of the aisle.” That so many Republicans are openly criticizing the direction of their party has signaled serious trouble at the homestead. Recent polls have shown that the party is not as popular as it used to be. Moreover, surveys are reflecting another unthinkable: that many Republicans are actually digging President Obama. Even when they don’t totally agree with a specific idea, they see him as intelligent, thoughtful, honest and quite presidential. This is not good news for hard-line conservatives like Limbaugh and Co. This isn’t the first time Powell has put Limbaugh on blast; several days ago, he described his partymate to a group of business leaders as a mere entertainer, a personality – not somebody who should be leading the GOP. “I may be out of their version of the Republican Party, but there’s another version of the Republican Party waiting to emerge once again,” he said. Limbaugh fired back, citing Powell’s endorsement of Barack Obama over John McCain in the last general election as proof that Powell puts race above loyalty to the party. Powell is a Democrat in disguise, he said. Cheney was quick to jump into the debate, saying he’d rather follow the radio shock jock than Powell. On Sunday, Republican hitman Karl Rove co-signed on Cheney and Limbaugh’s anti-Powell vibe. “I don’t like this thing where people – and Powell is one them – who said, ‘Rush Limbaugh, shut up.’ We believe, as Republicans in the marketplace of ideas. Let that marketplace decide,” Rove said. “I want Colin Powell to go out there and lay out his vision, and then I want him to back it up by finding people who share it and working like heck to get them – and that’s how you win the party.” But offering further proof that there’s a shakeup going on in the Republican Party, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, known for commanding a successful conservative assault against the Clinton administration, is vociferously siding with the moderates. “I think Republicans are going to be very foolish if they run around deciding they’re going to see how much they can purge us down to the smallest possible base.” He says he wasn’t aiming to pick a fight with Cheney, only stating what his fellow Republicans need to hear.

Atlanta Mayor’s Disser is Suspended
There’s a price to pay for dissing the mayor, or any other person in Atlanta, according to Police Chief Richard Pennington, who on Saturday suspended the head of the police union. Last week, during a public discussion about seriously injured officers getting short shrift from the city workers’ compensation program, Sgt. Scott Kreher said he wanted to hit Mayor Shirley Franklin “in the head with a bat.” “The Atlanta Police Department does not condone nor will we tolerate supervisors making irresponsible and inflammatory remarks against the Mayor or any citizen of the City of Atlanta,” Pennington said in a statement released late Saturday night. Kreher is president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers — Local 623. city council members that he wanted to hit the mayor “in the head with a baseball bat.” In a statement, the mayor called Kreher’s comment “reprehensible,” and said she felt threatened.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, who’s been making news lately by blasting the Black leadership of the Republican Party, kept the heated barbs flying Sunday, implying to a national TV audience that the former Secretary of State Colin Powell is a traitor to the GOP. Referring to a recent verbal battle between Powell and radio air-raider Rush Limbaugh, Cheney told CBS’s Face the Nation that, “If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I’d go with Rush Limbaugh. My take on it was Colin had already left the party. I didn’t know he was still a Republican.” Read more.

Rush Limbaugh has a problem with leading Black Republicans. In recent weeks, he’s blasted his own party’s chairman, calling Michael Steele “gutless” and too weak to challenge President Obama. And now, the acid-tongued shock jock is hurling barbs at perhaps the most respected Black Republican in America, telling his estimated 20 million listeners to his radio show that former Secretary of State Colin Powell is really a Democrat in a GOP costume. Read what else he said.

Cabbie Catches Alleged Crook 

When Toledo, Ohio cab driver Harold Webb picked up the man taking several flat-screen TVs from an establishment at 7:30 a.m., he thought it was a little odd, but not necessarily suspicious. The man claimed he was transporting the sets and other valuables to help the owner of a restaurant this week. But when Webb reached the passenger’s destination and was told the man had only $9 worth of fare, things looked shady: The passenger offered Webb one of the flat screens to make up the difference. That’s when Webb called the police, and – surprise – the passenger had attempted to steal the TVs. Webb is being praised as the cabbie crime-stopper.

  Colin Powll Pushes Volunteerism 

The former secretary of state under President George Bush is calling on Americans to give back to their communities. To buttress the economic recovery strategies being proposed by the federal government, Gen. Colin Powell wants able-bodied folks of all backgrounds to give of their valuable time. Powell asked on Friday that citizens commit a minimum of two hours per week volunteering their help at schools and in neighborhood programs. “Volunteering is something you give to our community and to our society,” Powell said at a news conference. “It comes back to you…” The pitch was delivered at a news conference in D.C. Though officially retired from government service Powell has publicly stated his willingness to serve again if called upon. Among the merits of volunteerism, Powell mentioned a sense personal fulfillment. He cited frequent comments by volunteers who say they get more out of their experiences than they give to particular causes.

Gen. Colin Powell says Republicans must stop “shouting at the world.” If rappers can squash their beefs, so can Republicans. So says former secretary of state Gen. Colin Powell, who broke ranks with his party this year by endorsing Barack Obama as the next president. “I think the party has to take a hard look at itself,” Powell tells CNN in an interview that airs tomorrow at 1 p.m. “There is nothing wrong with being conservative. There is nothing wrong with having socially conservative views. I don’t object to that. But if the party wants to have a future in this country, it has to face some realities. In another 20 years, the majority in this country will be the minority.” Powell adds: “I think the party has to stop shouting at the world and at the country.”

Colin Powell raises $1 million for King Memorial. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell delivered a $1 million gift to planners of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Monday and called on all Americans to help fund the National Mall project, reports The Associated Press. So far, the foundation building the memorial has raised $102 million of the $120 million needed to complete the project slated to begin construction next year at the Tidal Basin between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials in Washington, D.C. Powell delivered a $1 million check on behalf of UnitedHealth Group Inc., the Minnetonka, Minn.-based company that has paid him in the past to be a speaker at some of its functions. Powell said he has been involved with numerous Washington memorials, including the Vietnam Veterans Memorial because “it was my war.” Since leaving office as secretary of State, Powell has helped raise funds for the memorial to the slain civil rights leader. A spokeswoman said Powell personally donated $10,000 last year. “MLK is a little different – it’s not a president; it’s not a war. It’s a man who fought a war of peace and fought the second civil war,” Powell told The Associated Press. “He changed America in a very significant way.”

Obama gets big bucks and a big name endorsement.

In a move that signaled a decisive coupe for the Democratic presidential contender, Gen. Colin Powell on Sunday announced his support for Sen. Barack Obama. Calling Obama a “transformative figure,” Powell gave an eloquent defensive of his decision to go against his party – and his long-time friend Sen. John McCain – to endorse Obama’s candidacy in an appearance on NBC’s Meet The Press. “I feel that Sen. Obama has captured the feelings of the young people of America, and is reaching out in a more diverse and inclusive way across our society,” he told reporters Sunday. He said that while either candidate would make a good president, Obama is ready to lead the nation. “He had a steady approach to problem solving, which we need in this country,” Powell said of Obama. Powell also said he was impressed with Obama’s choice of Joe Biden for vice president and his ability to inspire the nation. On the other hand, Powell said, he was disappointed in McCain’s lack of a definitive solution to the nation’s economic problems. “Almost every day, there seemed to be a new approach to the problem, and that concerned me,” Powell told NBC. Powell was also critical of McCain’s negative campaigning and vice presidential pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who he said was not ready to be president. Obama, who drew crowds of 100,000 to 200,000 in battle ground states like Missouri over the weekend, said he was “beyond honored. I am deeply humbled” by Powell’s endorsement. While Powell, who’d campaigned hard for George W. Bush and served in Bush’s cabinet as secretary of State, says he remains a Republican and won’t hit the campaign trail for Obama. But, he added that he sees his party as marching too far to the right. McCain, who has been friends with Powell for more than two decades, said that while he respected Powell’s decision, Powell’s Obama endorsement did not come as a surprise. McCain said he’s proud to be backed by four former secretaries of State. Meanwhile, Obama raised a record $150 million last month to bolster his bid for president. For more on the impact of Powell’s endorsement, see Pamela On Politics.

Queen Bee accused of demanding different deal.

Brookland Media has filed a $2 million lawsuit against rapper Lil’ Kim after she allegedly refused to perform contractual obligations. Among the Queen Bee’s alleged demands was a reported insistence that performers Wyclef and Akon be included on her production team. Brookland alleges that it invested $250,000 in Kim and her CD. The company won an injunction to temporarily stop the rapper from talking with other record labels.
Wendy Williams claims platinum performer’s spouse cheated on cam. TV and broadcast gossip queen Wendy Williams says she’ll sell to the highest bidder a sex tape that depicts a rapper’s wife caught in the act of cheating. Tongues are wagging and Web discussion boards are filling with comments because Williams hasn’t revealed the rapper’s identity, nor his wife’s. “Boy, is it clear as day,” she says of the video that was allegedly recorded when the wife was at a resort with her alleged lover. Williams and her co-host speculated on her show this week about various gossip sites that may want to buy the tape. But perhaps her biggest hint? “50 (Cent) might want it.”

W. examines roles of Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice. Actor Jeffrey Wright and actress Thandie Newton play a current and former U.S. secretary of state in a forthcoming film that’s getting little advance praise. Director Oliver Stone’s W., a biopic about President George W. Bush, “plays like a TV movie,” according to The Guardian newspaper in Britain. Wright portrays Colin Powell, with Newton as Condoleezza Rice in the movie that premiers Oct. 17. Despite criticism of the work, Josh Brolin is receiving high marks for his portrayal of Bush.