The Rainbow CollectiveEntertain, Engage, Inform & Inspire.

Bleu Magazine celebrates its 3rd Anniversary!

Boy, does Bleu know how to have a party. Why do we love this magazine? Bleu offers amazing spreads with some of the hottest urban artists while maintaining their committment to community and diversity. Bleu continually has articles which celebrate positive urban images and addresses necessary concerns.

Maurice and Romeo Redwine take to the red carpet to interview Def Jam Recording Artists Eletrik Red, Like Dat VH 1’s Charm School, Devon Christopher of the Hot Boyz, Ra-fael Blanco of 2RMedia and Entertainment and a host of friends.

Check out our two favorite Bleu covers and pics from the night !

Read the rest of this entry »

We are still celebrating Michael Jackson. The B.E.T Awards changed their entire lineup in celebration of Michael Jackson.

Check out a special peformance by NEYO!

We have a special treat. A Michael Jackson super mix just for you.

http://www.zshare.net/download/61900792256a2ac4/

Our beloved Maurice Runea of Maurice Runea The Show would like to share his unfortunate encounter with the NYPD this Saturday. This is not the first incident with the NYPD and this will not be the last. We want you to speak out about the behavior of those who should serve and protect. Read below and let us know what you think.

On Saturday June 27th, 2009 @ around 2pm, I entered BEST BUY on 23rd St and 6th Ave. to get my cell phone repaired and was in the process of speaking with the sales rep when this Afro -American older gentlemen approached me from behind and said put your hands behind your back, I not knowing who he was replied excuse me and he said in a threatening tone put your hands behind your back as he reached for my arm, I started to react but the clerk, who has assisted me many times before mouth to me “Don’t fight, he’s a cop”, So I trusted her advice and he handcuffed me and NEVER NOT ONCE DID HE EVER IDENTIFY HIS SELF.

Now anyone who knows Best Buy on 23rd & 6th knows it is always a very busy store and to be handcuffed, humiliated, degraded and accused was down right wrong and humiliating.

The man preceded to walk me from the front of the store to the back in handcuffs as the customers all stopped and watched as he hauled me off from the front of BEST BUY Read the rest of this entry »

Usually, I am not this personal on the blog but after this video,  not only did my stomach turn but I was outraged. Manifested Glory Ministries Church, a church in Bridgeport Connecticut, claims that they can call out “homosexuality”.  See the video below.

I just want to preface this by saying that I have officially stopped talking to my mother after her latest antics made me so infuriated that I had to myself “call on Jesus”.

It was just after her mother’s day visit that she started her “campaign for a better daughter”. As usual, her visit was challenging as she was in rare form complaining half the time but I chalked that up to old age and a bad knee.  It was late evening when she called to say she had arrived safely. This is when the disaster occured.

She started off rather easy and the conversation became intense.  I will try to summarize. 

Mom:  I just got home from the airport. Jetblue didn’t give me enough snacks. One little chip. They want to have people starving.

Me: The flight isn’t that long. You could have asked for more.

Mom: I guess. Anyway, thanks for everything when I was there. I know my foot was hurting but I enjoyed meeting everyone’s mothers at the Mother’s Day dinner.

Me: Great, glad you had a good time. It was wonderful to see everyone together.

Mom: I was listening to Miles Munroe on the radio.(i.e. evangelical minister)

Me: Oh

Mom: It is unnatural, two men. Things aren’t suppose to  go in there. They suppose to come out. Read the rest of this entry »

Dreamgirls is starting a national tour and has chosen the unstoppable Chester Gregory to play R&B star, “Thunder” Early. You may have remembered Chester in “Hairspray” and Tarzan”. Well, now he comes back to Broadway in a rich role which will challenge his comedic and dramatic sensibilities.

This summer, Chester is remixing his hit album “In Search of High Love” into a mixtape with throwback “Breakbeats” from hip hop classics. This is a necessary download to your Ipod.

Visit http://chestergregory.com/ for the exclusive download.

Watch Chester Gregory on Maurice Runea The Show for a sample of that incredible voice that you cannot afford to miss!

At The Rainbow Collective, we believe that if we reach out to someone else to give help, we can affect change in our world.  Filmmaker Scott Wagner shows us how the program FairMail, http://www.fairmail.info/, enables Indian and Peruvian underprivileged teenagers a chance for youth photography training, part-time work, medical insurance and guidance in making their future plans. The teenagers get 50 % of the profits of the sale of their own cards to finance their housing and education.

Check out the video and see how you can help

Forty years ago today, 28 June 1969, a firecracker was lit under the seats of gay (and when I say gay, I’m talking about the lesbians, gay men, bisexual, transgender, and queer folk — a/k/a the LGBTQers) New Yorkers who, after years of being raided by the police for trying to assemble peacefully (you know, one of those pesky little First Amendment rights guaranteed to citizens of the United States of America), led mostly by a group of transgendered individuals including such notables as Raymond Castro and the late Sylvia Rivera, stood up for their rights and fought back in what has been dubbed the Stonewall Riots or, simply, Stonewall.

Most people mistakenly believe that the gay rights movement started with Stonewall and, therefore, that the movement for LGBT civil rights in the United States is only 40 years old. This is, however, far from the truth. In fact, the LGBT civil rights movement can trace its roots back more than twice as long: the Society for Human Rights was founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1924. That’s right, 1924. That’s 85 years ago. This timeline by InfoPlease shows many (but sadly, not all) of the important milestones in the LGBT civil rights movement. Read the rest of this entry »

“The meaning of life is contained in every single expression of life. It is present in the infinity of forms and phenomena that exist in all of creation.”
-Michael Jackson

Today, we honor Michael Jackson, a true man of expression.  He would have fit in right here at The Rainbow Collective. Like us, he was always trying new things and breaking new ground. Today, we celebrate his uniqueness by looking at all the things that made Michael Jackson the incredible person that he was.

1. Michael broke the Guiness Book Of World Records for the “Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star”.

Some of his known charities were  AIDS Project L.A., American Cancer Society, BMI Foundation, Inc., Camp Ronald McDonald
Childhelp U.S.A., Children’s Institute International, Cities and Schools Scholarship Fund, Community Youth Sports & Arts Foundation,  Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Dakar Foundation, Dreamstreet Kids, Dreams Come True Charity, Elizabeth Taylor Aids Foundation, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Love Match, Make-A-Wish Foundation, Minority Aids Project,Motown Museum
NAACP & National Rainbow Coalition just to name a few(source: allmichaeljackson.com).

2. He developed The Heal The World Foundation in 1992 and Heal the Kids in 2000. The foundations focuses on children aiming for there safe and healthy development to be the world’s priority. Read the rest of this entry »

Obama is truly confusing us at this point. Don’t get us wrong. He is doing an amazing job to simplify FAFSA applications, improve healthcare and quell international relationships. However, just last week he filed a pro-DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) which defended DOMA and aligned gay and lesbian Americans with incest and demeaned their relaitonships. In that case, the Administration chose discriminate.  Today, the Obama adminstration is now seeking to add protections for transgender employees. I don’t know whether to love him or hate him.

In today’s New York Times article, John Berry, director of the Office of Personnel Management said, ” I was aware coming into this job that this was a class of people for whom it was not clear that they were protected from discrimination and I thought this was an opportunity to clarify that.”  Did we mention that Mr. Berry is the highest ranking openly gay official?

The battle for workplace protection is not new. In 1998, Bill Clinton added sexual orientation to the list of guidelines for federal offices. Most recently, The Library of Congress lost a case after refusing to hire Diane Schroer(formerly David Schroer) because they felt “he would be unable to qualify for secruity clearances”. Today, we again take another bold step. Congratulations to the trans community! Let’s take marriage equality to the federal level next!

Here is one of many events that we are super excited about this week, the release party for Rebel Starr.  Rebel Starr, the hip-hop duo with flair and plenty of talent to match, are giving the summer what it needs- heat and good music.

This ”cosmic-girl-boy duo” will debut their brand spanking new album, Neo Quantum Retro Music. It’s a mouth full but I am sure your ears will like it! We are looking forward to listening to the tracks and as we always do bring you full coverage of REBEL STARR to you early next week. You won’t want to miss it!

Rebel Starr is composed of Likwuid Stylez of Columbia, SC and Back Wordz of Queens who combined forces nearly three years ago to create a new style of music which is a fusion of soul, funk, rap and hip hop.

“Rebel Starr is a cosmic composite packed into a rap group awaiting combustion,” says Likwuid. “We are the black sheep of the indie music scene because we can mesh with any type of group therefore, it’s tough to categorize us. It really frustrates some folks because they can’t put us in a box, but we love it.”

Recently, the duo was chosen as Urb magazine’s Next 1,000. We celebrate them! Check out some Rebel Starr here! Read the rest of this entry »