What say you readers? Does Dodson have a career in music, or should he stick to calling out would-be criminals?

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He said:  ”If you look at all of these people from the analogs of African-American history in entertainment, they gave us a blueprint on how to make money, and how to make it work. And I feel like, you know, you get out in the L.A. life. You’re laying in the sun. You’re being invited to parties. You’re having a good time. You have girlfriends, boyfriends. You have expensive cars. You forget the idea of hustle. And I think right now, our hustle game is way behind.”

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Michael Herklots, executive director of retail and brand development for Nat Sherman, talked with NewsOne.com about how to tailgate in style and choose the right cigar. Nat Sherman, Inc. has been a New York tobacco institution since 1930, working with manufacturers throughout the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras.

Everyone in the Giants organization smokes Nat Sherman cigars. Announcer Bob Papa, the official Giants announcer, can be heard every time the Giants score, saying, “Give that man a Nat Sherman cigar!”

“You don’t have to look like an idiot to tailgate,” Herklots says. “You can be a little fashion forward hanging out by the grill. Cigars add to your style either for pre-game or post-game celebration, or you can smoke for mourning a loss.”

You shouldn’t be lighting up a big Churchill or a big Double Corona in the winter. In the cold, you’re less able to pick up some of the nuances of milder cigars, so you need something with a little fuller flavor, says Herklots. Tailgating in colder weather takes a particular style, so from a cigar perspective, smaller formats are key.

Here are a few cigars Herklots recommends:

1)  The Nat Sherman Host Hobart

A robusto format (a shorter, fatter shaped cigar). It’s Honduran, medium-bodied, and there’s a sweetness on the cap right when it touches your lips. It’s an easy-to-taste cigar, so you’re not fighting for nuances when you’re in the cold. It’s really smooth and creamy.

Cost: $5. CBuy at NatSherman.com or at local retail tobacco stores.

2) A Metropolitan Maduro Union

A robust format—made in the Dominican Republic. Because of the maduro wrapper it adds a little bit more body and fuller flavor, but it also has a sweetness, but in this case the sweetness is natural because of the fermentation process this wrapper goes through.

Cost: $5

3)  The Nat’s Point Five

It’s like a half a cigar. It’s a little petite Corona and they come packed in five packs. They come in a natural wrapper and a maduro wrapper. But the maduro wrapper is going to be fuller, so it will stand up better to the cold. They’re great if you feel like a little quick something. They come in five packs so you can share with your friends at the tailgate.

Cost: $14 per pack

Lighting the cigars when tailgating is a challenge. We don’t recommend putting your face in the grill to light the cigar.

Here are some stylish lighters:

1) S.T. Dupont—have a lighter called the Maxi Jet—it’s a single flamed torch lighter, single action to ignite. If you want to balance functionality and style Maxi Jet is the best.

Cost: $200 each

2) Xikar, Colibri, and Lotus companies make less expensive torch lighters-$25-$100.

Make sure you bring an extra can of butane gas for your lighter and a travel humidor, so they hold up in cold weather.

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Oscar® winner Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds star in the action-thriller “Safe House.” Washington plays the most dangerous renegade from the CIA, who comes back onto the grid after a decade on the run.
The movie premiere is Tuesday February 7th at 7pm. Get tickets to see it before it hits theatre.

We have plenty of passes to giveaway so tell your friends and family to register and rack up z-points to win!

Register and enter your z-points below. Winners will be contacted by Feb. 6th.

CLICK HERE to enter now!

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SEE ALSO: Black Baking Gurus To Compete In “Cupcake Wars”

“I think the most important thing for people, regardless of what they will be cooking, is to be prepared and do their meats ahead of time. Get your shopping done on Thursday or Friday. Saturday do your cooking and prepping, so Sunday you’re just heating it up. That’s one of the key things: not stressing yourself out on game day.”

Using Bourbon in the kitchen is a huge trend in the kitchen right now, so here are two of her Bourbon-infused recipes:

Shrimp Cocktail with Maker’s Mark Cocktail Sauce:

1 recipe Maker’s Mark® cocktail sauce (recipe below)
24 pc. shrimp in shell, u-10
12 cups water
1-1/2 cups dry white wine, such as Riesling
2 lemons juiced
2 bay leaves
10 pieces whole black peppercorn
1 medium onion, peeled, halved and sliced thin 1/4″
1 stalk celery, sliced thin crosswise 1/8″
1 whole leek, washed and sliced thin, white and green
3 medium carrots, peeled, sliced into 1/8″ thick rounds
1/4 cup kosher salt
Lemon wedges, for garnish

1. Leaving the shell and tail intact, slice down the back of the shrimp, deveining the shrimp.
2. Bring the water, white wine, lemon juice, bay leaves, peppercorns, onion, celery, leek, carrots and kosher salt to a boil in a large pot. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes until the vegetables are soft and the brine is flavorful. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a new pot, discarding the solids.
3. Bring the stock back up to a simmer. Add the shrimp in shell and stir to submerge the shrimp. Remove the pot from the heat and allow the shrimp to poach for 10 minutes or until fully cooked.
4. Drain the shrimp and place the shrimp into a large bowl filled with ice. Stir the shrimp with the ice cubes and place the bowl in the freezer until the shrimp have cooled down, about 2-3 minutes.
5. Peel the shell from the shrimp, leaving the tail intact. Discard the shells. Serve the shrimp ice cold alongside the Maker’s Mark® cocktail sauce, with fresh lemon wedges.

Maker’s Mark Cocktail Sauce
Makes 1-1/2 cups

2 tablespoons Maker’s Mark® Bourbon, flamed off
1 cup Heinz® Ketchup
1 tablespoon TABASCO® Sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly grated horseradish
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar

1. Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl. Keep chilled until needed.

These ribs take on their bourbon brine and an exotic barbecue sauce scented with coriander. Finger lickin’ good, for real.

Prep Time: 24 hours/day beforehand
Cook Time: 5 hours
Level: Easy.

Serves 4–6

Recipe:

2 cups Makers Mark® Bourbon
1 bunch cilantro – cleaned and roughly chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 rack of peeled pork spare ribs
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 white onion, peeled and diced 1/2″
1 cup pineapple juice
1 cup tomato juice
1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
Fresh red radish, for garnish

1. In a large bowl, mix the Maker’s Mark®, cilantro, garlic, ginger, garlic, cumin, cayenne, curry, mustard seeds, Dijon and brown sugar and salt until well-combined. Pour into a shallow baking dish. Submerge the full rack of ribs in the marinade and refrigerate over night.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F. After 24 hours, remove the ribs, brushing off any excess marinade and spices (reserve the marinade for the barbecue sauce), and place on baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45 minutes. Remove the rack from the oven, wrap the ribs tightly in foil and cool in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.
3. Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the marinade liquid and all of its components, the pineapple and tomato juice, ketchup, and water. Cook this mixture for 45 minutes on a medium simmer, stirring occasionally.
4. When the ribs have cooled down, slice them in between each bone to separate them from the rack and place in a large mixing bowl. Strain the barbecue sauce through a fine mesh sieve and pour over the ribs, tossing to thoroughly coat them.
5. Place the individual ribs in a single layer in an ample-sized baking dish, pouring the excess barbecue sauce over the ribs, and return to the oven. Lower the heat on the oven to 350°F and bake for an additional hour, turning the ribs occasionally to ensure sauce coverage.
6. The ribs will be tender and the sauce should glaze the ribs during the baking process. Serve hot with picked cilantro leaves, thinly sliced radishes and Maker’s Mark® Bourbon “chilled neat.”

Bourbon is a great mixer. It’s always good to have a hot drink if it’s going to be cold out. Hot toddies or cider are good to go with the food.

All in all, keep it simple, says Wong, because at the end of the day, “the Super Bowl is about great food, but really it’s about the Giants kicking Tom Brady’s *ss!”

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Take A Tour Of Nas’ Birthplace

The prolific Virgo was born in Brooklyn Jewish Hospital on September 14, 1973. According to his father, Olu Dara, a young Nas cut his musical chops on the streets of BK.

“I thought that he would become a great trumpeter because he was playing to audiences in the streets of Brooklyn when he was three or four,” he told The Source magazine in an August 2004 cover story. “He used to draw a lot of crowds [on Eastern Parkway]. It was fascinating to me. But his lip was becoming distorted so I made him quit. I remember him being very disappointed when I told him to stop playing.”

Needless to say Nas has done ok without the trumpet. But maybe it’s something he’ll pass it down to his son, Knight.

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While the fantasy leaguers were harping over Peyton Manning VS Rex Grossman or that the Colts hadn’t seen the Super Bowl in thirty-six years (damn!) The fact that Colts coach Tony Dungy and Bears coach Lovie Smith became the first two African-Americans to coach in the Super Bowl kinda went under the radar. But when the final whistle sounded, the Colts were now the champions, Manning was now the MVP and a former un-drafted defensive back named Tony Dungy was now the first ever African-American coach to win a Super Bowl.

And even though the NFL has a lot of ground to cover as far as adding a bit more brown to the owners boxes, we’ve got to tip our hat to Tony for still finding and conquering another first.

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The old adage is certainly true, ‘behind every good man, stands a good woman’; and while we modern day ‘feministas’ would prefer to remix the saying to ‘beside every good man, stands a good woman’, these women still made history from behind the iconic men in their lives. Their passion to correct civil injustices may have been publicly carried out by their well known husbands, but it was evident before and after their husbands’ death that they were a driving force behind their men.

Coretta Scott King

The widow of iconic Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta was a driving force in the civil rights movement in the 60’s. A trained singer, she gave up her future in music to follow her husband and assist with his movement. After Dr. King’s assassination in 1968 Coretta became heavily involved in the Women’s Movement.

Dr. King is quoted as saying: “I am indebted to my wife Coretta, without whose love, sacrifices, and loyalty neither life nor work would bring fulfillment. She has given me words of consolation when I needed them and a well-ordered home where Christian love is a reality.”

Coretta Scott King died on January 30, 2006.

Betty Shabazz

The wife of Malcolm X, Betty Shabazz (also known as Betty X), was frustrated with racism as a young girl and soon began working with her soon to be husband after moving to New York City.

After her husband’s assassination in 1965, Shabazz earned her doctorate in 1975 and became an associate professor of health sciences at Medgar Evers College in 1976. In addition to raising her six daughters after her husband’s death, Shabazz worked hard to keep her husband’s legacy alive.
She died in 1997 after her grandson set flames to their home. She suffered third-degree burns, resulting in her death.

Myrlie Evers-Williams

Myrlie Evers-Williams is the wife of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. She worked tirelessly to seek justice for the brutal murder of her husband in 1963. Later she ran for state of California Congress and actively participated in the NAACP. She has also published several books and spoke at various events regarding civil rights and her husband’s legacy.

She later remarried but continues to fight for civil injustices.

Winnie Mandela

Although her marriage to South African activist, Nelson Mandela, may have ended rocky, in the beginning stages Winnie Mandela assisted her husband in becoming a pivotal figure in South African politics.

Even after her divorce to Nelson Mandela in 1996, Winnie has gone on to become a controversial activist, even being considered ‘Mother of the Nation’ by many of her supporters.

Read More “Ladies of Leaders: The Amazing Women Behind Our History Makers” On: MadameNoire

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