We know that black people are great, but how great are we choosing to be? The panelists for New Paradigm New York explain that our greatness goes as far as we choose to take it. Wealth, Education, Family and Community: A New Paradigm for Black America, is an initiative created by Syracuse University professor Dr. Boyce Watkins to reshape the trajectory of African American progress by providing 21st century solutions…


Dr. Boyce Watkins explains the economic theory behind searching for a good relationship. [leadplayer_vid id=”528F6B0EE7D40″]

by Dr. Boyce Watkins The rapper Kendrick Lamar was already making headlines for laying out some of the dopest rhymes in the world of hip-hop. A pure lyricist at heart, he was breaking norms and challenging the industry, setting new bars for artists who’ve become accustomed to getting rich by repeating toxic nursery rhymes. That’s what made me like him. But his latest move, standing up to racial stereotypes presented…

In this video, Dr. Boyce Watkins describes how you can take the worst situations in front of you and turn them into your greatest opportunities. [leadplayer_vid id=”528B11F13A08A”]

by Dr. Boyce Watkins The rapper Jay-Z has been under fire recently for agreeing to partner with Barneys, a high-end New York department store that has been accused of racially profiling African Americans. It appears that due to new policies implemented in the store, its clerks have a hard time believing that a black person would have the money to buy a $600 belt. A better question might be “why…

You had to see this coming. After the wildly popular biopic, “Crazy, Sexy, Cool,” a lot of feelings were hurt and reputations were damaged. People were made to look either like heroes or villains, based on the way the directors and TLC told the story. One person who was made to look like Dr. Evil was the singer Pebbles. Perri “Pebbles” Reid was portrayed as a person who forced the…

by Dr. Boyce Watkins We know about the power of hip-hop, which is my favorite genre of music. Hip-hop can either produce an entire generation of soldiers ready for liberation, or it can produce a pack of misguided buffoons who are looking for a white man to tell them what to do. The hip-hop music on urban radio stations around the country have become nothing less than weaponized brainwashing, and…

by Dr. Boyce Watkins When I read about the recent suicide of former San Diego Charger Paul Oliver, I was sad. The age of 29 is always too early to die, and there is so much life one can experience in their thirties and forties, so it’s hurtful to hear about someone giving all that up. But life can be deceptive, and one interesting thing about being in your…

By: Madam Prezident Queen Latifah rocked the house with her New talk show premiere 9/18/13. The queen had her executive producer Will Smith on the show as a guest, along with the executive producer’s daughter Willow Smith, and John Travolta. She had over a million viewers tune in from ages 25-52. Queen Latifah is a phenomenal talk show host, and she’s no stranger to the ‘talk show world’. I recall…

Suge Knight’s life used to be fabulous, but that was 20 years ago. Since then, it’s been one negative piece of news after another, and the man that he used to be doesn’t exist anymore. Will he ever return to greatness? Probably not. He’s kind of become the Mike Tyson of hip-hop, and was never able to use his vast musical genius to do anything other than mess his life…

The rapper J. Cole is one of the biggest artists in the hip-hop music industry. He also appears to be one of the most thoughtful, digging into issues that go outside of liquor, weed and women. The issue that he brought to the fore recently is the open question of whether or not he’d be as successful as he is right now if he’d had dark skin instead of light….

By: Madam Prezident Terry Ragland 55, went to the doctor’s office in Tennessee due to lower back pain, and the doctor diagnosed her with a ‘ghetto booty’. I’m no doctor, but I didn’t think a ‘ghetto booty’ diagnosis was possible. When I was reading this story I chuckled a little bit, but Ms. Ragland didn’t find the doctor’s offensive description of her booty appropriate or professional. Ms. Ragland takes her…

by Dr. Boyce Watkins One thing that always bothered me about church are those who preach one thing and do another. It’s all too acceptable for the pastor to drop the name of Jesus to his fifth extramarital baby’s mama, or for a woman to leave her bible in the car while she’s twerking it up at the club. Don’t get me wrong, everyone has some kind of gap between…

It’s a good year to be a Carter. This year is has been raining money for Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé. First “King Bey” inked a $50 million endorsement deal with Pepsi and now Jay-Z has inked a $20 million deal with Samsung. The lucrative deal with Samsung will give 1,000,000 Samsung consumers a free copy of the 17x Grammy winning rapper’s album forthcoming album titled Magna Carta Holy Grail….