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Jay-Z got his ass in formation on his 4:44 album, and of course many people across social media have been trying to figure out all of the subliminal shots the rapper took.

Straight off the top, theres the first song, Kill Jay-Z, and its rife with subs aimed at Kanye West, his own marriage and theres even a possible shot at Future thrown in.

I know people backstab you, I felt that too/But this fuck everybody attitude aint natural/But you aint the same, this aint Kumba Ye/But you got hurt because you think kumbaye/You give him $20 million without blinking/he gave you 20 minutes on stage, fuck what was he thinking?/Fuck wrong with everybody? is what you saying/But if everyone is crazy, youre the one thats insane

Ohhh ... so did Jay give Kanye money to go on tour? Only for him to have a mental health crisis and ended up just ranting on stage? Will Kanye have to pay Jay-Z back like a payday loan?

You almost went Eric Bent/Let the baddest girl in the world get away/I dont even know what else to say/Nigga, never go Eric Bent

On Beyonces Lemonade, she made reference to Jays infidelity, and of course the infamous Becky with the good hair. It seems as though Jay is admitting to losing the baddest girl in the world, just like Eric Benet lost Halle Berry back in the day.

And of course, Benets current wife probably woke him out of his sleep this morning, so he had to respond. Read his response, but stay for the replies under it:

In the future, other niggas playin football with your son/You had lost it, 13 bottles of Ace of Spade what it did to Boston

More infidelity talk? Or is this a shot at Future and Russell Wilson playing football with his son? Who knows, but I know Ive tried Ace of Spade and it was disgusting.

Throughout the rest of 4:44, which I listened to at the crack of dawn on Friday, Jay talks about everything from gentrification in The Story of O.J; to taking aim at Princes attorney and longtime friend Londell McMillan and accusing him of making money of his death in Caught Their Eyes; and the pice de rsistance comes on Family Feud when Al Sharpton, Bill Cosby and younger rappers arent even safe.

Im tryna fix you/Im tryna get these niggas with no stripes to be official/Yall think small, I think Biggie/Yall whole pass is in danger, ten Mississippi/Al Sharpton in the mirror takin selfies/How is him or Pill Cosby sposed to help me?

Whether youre a fan of Jay-Z or not, you cant ever deny his word play, or the ability to create mass hysteria and fanfare whenever he drops an album.

Original post:
Who Didn't Jay-Z Come For in 4:44 - The Root

The awards gala, which celebrates pan-African achievement, will be held on Saturday July 15th in New York City

Pan-African Media Company Face2Face Africa has officially announced the honorees for the 2017 FACE List Awards taking place on Saturday, July 15th in New York City.

Dubbed the pan-African achievement honors, The F.A.C.E. List Awards celebrate the icons and heroes of today who have paved the way for the younger generation and impacted the discourse on pan-Africas image, its future, and potential.

As the capstone event of the Pan-African Weekend, the awards gala brings the business community together for an unforgettable celebration of the success stories emerging within the pan-African community each year.

In the 6thannual edition, this years awards will continue to carry on Face2face Africas tradition of honoring a group of inspirational heroes with uniquely fascinating stories to tell, and bringing the pan-African community together for an unforgettableevening of inspiration and camaraderie.

The 2017 honorees include one of the nations most renowned civil rights leaders, Rev. Al Sharpton, who will be receiving the Icon Award for Impact in Advocacy and Social Justice. Rev. Al Sharpton has been praised by President Barack Obama as the voice of the voiceless and a champion for the downtrodden.

Ethiopian-born Mimi Alemayehou, Managing Director of Black Rhino Group and Chair of Blackstone Africa Infrastructure LP, will be receiving the Impact in Business Award.TumaBasa, the Global Head of Hip-Hop Programming at Spotify will be receiving the Impact in Music Award while Beverly Bond, founder of the women empowerment organization Black Girls Rock will be receiving the Trailblazer Award. Adenah Bayoh, a serial entrepreneur and real estate developer will receive the Entrepreneurship award.

AMREF Health Africais this years recipient of the Ubuntu Award for Service. WNBA Player ChineyOgwumike and Neuroscientist KwadwoSarpong will be receiving the YACE (Youth) Award.

The awards dinner/gala will be held on Saturday July 15th, at ESPACE Ballroom in New York City. Pre-reception/Red-Carpet will commence at 6:30 p.m., promptly followed by dinner and the awards show. Grammy Award winning artists Wyclef Jean will be headlining the show with a performance of some of his classics. Guests will enjoy a delectable full-course dinner, a night filled with entertainment and inspiration as well as the opportunity to meet and network with the pioneers, celebrities and power players of pan-African affairs.

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Mimi Alemayehou, Rev. Al Sharpton, And More To Be Honored At The 6th Annual Face List Awards - Africa.com

Rev. Al Sharpton and the family of Eric Garnerthe black Staten Islander who died in 2014 in the chokehold of NYPD Officer Daniel Pantaleotold reporters their conference this afternoon with the U.S. Department of Justice yielded no indication of progress on the civil rights investigation into the killing, but did assure them that the probe is still open and ongoing.

The National Action Network founder joined the widow, mother and daughter of the deceased and their attorney at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel for a meeting with senior federal civil rights prosecutors for a briefing on the state of the case. They reported to the press afterward that the Justice Department had not disclosed any fresh information nor provided a timetable for either closing the case or bringing charges against Pantaleo or any other officer.

But the government, which arranged the meeting, did confirm that the investigation remains active for the first time since the inauguration of President Donald Trump and the installation of Attorney General Jeff Sessionswho has sought to scale back President Barack Obamas oversight initiatives on local police departments.

Its been almost three years since the death of their husband, their son, their loved one, and theyre very frustrated about that, said Jonathan Moore, lawyer for the Garners, recalling that Pantaleo and his peers at the Staten Island street corner where Garner died filed inaccurate police reports. They are guilty of serious misconduct. We are hopeful, and continue to press our case that they all be indicted.

Sharpton argued the Garner case is freighted with a special symbolism: first, it occurred in July 2014, just before the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and helped galvanized the nascent Black Lives Matter movement. Second, it took place in the city where Trump was born and spent nearly all his life.

A lot of people dont understand: the nation is watching this case, because this case was the beginning of a wave of calls for justice, he said. This is the president of the United Statess hometown. This is where Trump is from. The whole world will see if in his hometown you can choke a man to death.

If in Trumps hometown, there will be no charges, that will be a global notification of the state of police-community affairs, he said.

Pantaleo has already avoided charges once: a grand jury impaneled by then-District Attorney Daniel Donovan declined to hand down an indictment in 2014. He continues to serve on desk duty at the NYPD, and the department has declared it cannot pursue its own investigation into potential misconduct until the conclusion of the federal probe.

Sharpton noted that one of the prosecutors he spoke with today, Deputy Chief Paige Fitzgerald, is a department veteran with whom he worked on the case of Walter Scott. Charleston Officer Michael Slager shot the fleeing Scott in the back in 2015, and eventually pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges earlier this year.

Garners mother, Gwen Carr, lamented that federal investigations into later police killings had concluded before the probe into her sons death.

Once again, we have to be playing the waiting game. We came here today for answers, but evidently we must still wait without knowing whether we are going to get justice or not, she said. They have to give us some answers, and we hope that they are the right answers.

It doesnt matter who the president is, its still about justice, she added.

Garners daughter Erica declined to make a statement at the press conference, but vented her frustration on social media shortly afterward.

Read more:
Al Sharpton and Eric Garner Family 'Frustrated' but 'Hopeful' After Meeting With Justice Department - Observer

In 2017, anyone can become a meme including civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and political talk show host Al Sharpton. Sharpton has been on a health kick recently and has been letting his Instagram followers track his fitness schedule with a high volume of selfies.

The pictures have become something of a sensation on the internet and the jokes have been rolling in. A video of Sharpton attempting a one-handed push-up went particularly viral, and Nelly even called for an Instagram boycott "until we find out who in the hell is leaking these AL Sharpton pictures."

In a recent interview with TMZ, Sharpton had some choice words for his haters. "I live in the Trump era, Sharpton said. If he can tweet at night, I can selfie before I go to the gym in the morning and dont be jealous because Im so fit at 62 years old.

Sharpton continued, "I work out. I was showing people you work out, you take your health seriously. I think its a good thing. Im gonna keep doing it.

Read more:
Al Sharpton On His Instagram Selfies: Don't Be Jealous Because I ... - The FADER

The Rev. Al Sharpton via Instagram screenshot

Listen, if youre not following the Rev. Al Sharpton on social media, what are you doing with your life? Lately, the civil rights leader has been posting selfies like the one above, and while he thinks its just a harmless promotion of a healthy lifestyle, the internet, namely black Twitter, thought it was hilarious meme material.

The Rev said, I want yall to catch this entire fit!

The selfies not only became a topic of discussion in The Roots office, but rapper Nelly wanted to know who Sharpton was sending these images to, and jokingly suggested the legendary actress Cicely Tyson. So we got a bit of the Revs time and asked him why hes posting these questionable selfies, is he indeed sending them to Tyson, why he thinks were all so concerned with his photos and so much more.

The entire conversation was lighthearted and hilarious, and we basically found out that Sharpton has no plans to stop snapping selfies; he even wants to use the influx of attention to focus on education. Sharpton told The Root: I want to contribute not only to exercise but to study. I study a lot. I read a lot. Im going to be sharing on Instagram my reading materialsa lot of books people ought to be reading that theyre not.

He continued: You take life seriously. I do a lot of morning meditations and reflections and prayer. Im going to start putting all of thatsince people are so interested in what I am doing, Im going to do more!

Check out the full chat with Sharpton here:

The Root: Did you know people were going to care this much about your gym selfies?

Al Sharpton: No. I had no idea. Ive been posting for a while. Ive got, like, on Twitter, 530,000 followers, and on Instagram, like, 65,000, so, I mean, I talk to a lot of people. A lot of the stuff that people are retweeting were done weeks and months ago.

But it seemed to have caught on this weekend when I did the Fathers Day posting. People went through the back history of stuff. What happened was, Im up on Fathers Day and I said, Let me show everybody Im healthy. Im going to the gym and Im going to do PoliticsNation live, and then I do a syndicated radio show liveI have a radio studio there in 30 Rockand then I preach twice. I want to let them know that at 62, I can do that kind of tough schedule on Fathers Day.

I got up, I took the selfie and I went out of the gym and went on to 30 Rock, went to do my television show and radio show live, and then headed to Newark[, N.J.,] to preach twicethe mayor of Newark was there, the whole thing. I never thought anything about it. The next day, I wake up, its viral. [Laughs.]

Frankly, I thought a couple of posts Ive done in the pastI did a thing one time in the studio where I showed I can still do the James BrownI thought that was more viral than somebody wearing their workout stuff. I dont know if was a slow media day or what!

TR: How does it make you feel, knowing people are so concerned?

AS: I think that its flattering at one level. It shows how society has too much time on their hands. Who should care what Im doing? I dont know many other civil rights leaders or even talk show hosts that they would even care about, but I guess thats the flattery part.

The other thing about me saying they have too much time, I mean, are we really talking about [how] somebody going to work out is funny? It reminds me of last Thursday night: I went to join Michelle Obama, our first ladyor former first lady, I guess Im supposed to say. She spoke at the Toigo [Foundation Annual] Gala. We were chatting backstage, and she said that weve become such a poison atmosphere that its controversial that she was really recommending healthy food for kids. Can you imagine that being controversial?

Thats how I felt! Is it really funny that you got a guy in his 60s telling people we ought to be healthy? Thats funny?

TR: Do you run your own social media?

AS: I am my manager. What would disappoint my trolls is that I dont read a lot of the responses. But I post and do most of all my social media. Unless Im hacked. If its in Russian, it wasnt from me. [Laughs.]

TR: Nelly said something about the selfies and said we need to boycott Instagram until we find out whos leaking your pictures.

AS: [Laughs.] Tell Nelly I support that. I dont know whos getting the old pictures. They dont know what theyre talking about because they been up there for months.

TR: He also said, who are you sending them to, Cicely Tyson?

AS: I dont know what hes talking about. They would be surprised if Cicely also has Instagram and social media. In fact, shes on mine. Me and her took a picture together not too long ago.

TR: We saw a video of you doing pushups against your desk. Can you explain why you decided to share that video? Because it looked like you were about to struggle through a one-armed pushup

AS: What happened was, one of the people in my PoliticsNation staff said to me, You work out every morning? This was way before I did the workout post. And I said, Yeah, I work out every morning. They said, You actually stay in shape? And I said, I can show you!

I started doing pushups, and then I started to do the one, and I said, No, I better not do that; I dont know how far I can do that. And then they were taping that. I didnt want to try something I didnt know if I could complete. I can do one-armed in the gym, but only about five to 10.

TR: Whats your diet regimen?

AS: I dont eat any meat. I eat fish twice a weekSaturdays and Sundays. Other than that, all I eat is one large salad a day. I drink tea. I drink a fruit juice, freshly squeezed, that I get from Juice Press, and thats it. I have one meal a day. Ive lost 181 pounds, and Ive maintained that. I work out about a half hour every morning. I do some weights. I press about half my weight, about 70 pounds, and I will do the elliptical stair-stepper for about 20 minutes while I watch the morning news. Thats research for me.

I have to be in shape! Im not a guy that just does one thing. Most people my age are getting ready to retire. I need to work out; otherwise Id be a nervous wreck.

TR: So youre saying, Get like me?

AS: [Laughs.] Im inspired by another New Yorker older than me who stays up all night. I stay up all morning into the night. I am fighting in every way against himthats Donald Trump.

I am saying get like me. Im saying I started preaching as a little boy. I started early and Im healthy late in life. Ive defied both ends of the age spectrum, and I told TMZ that if Donald Trump, who is nine or 10 years older than me, can tweet in the middle of the night, I can selfie early in the morning. At least mine will be spelled correctly.

TR: What do you say to the people out there who tried to drag you on social media about your posts?

AS: I would say, thank you for your attention. Thank you for contributing to getting up my social media numbers, and you might have too much time on your hands managing my life, not managing your own. May you be as energetic and productive as I am at 62 years old.

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Al Sharpton Explains Why His Thirst-Trap Selfies Might Steal Your ... - The Root