BCNN4 Youth

There was one sure way to know you were near Botham Shem Jean, the man shot and killed by a Dallas police officer Thursday night after she entered his apartment believing it was her own, his friends say.

Whether he’d spotted someone he knew or taken the stage to lead worship at Harding University, the small Christian college he attended in Arkansas, Jean would take any opportunity to bellow “Yeaaaaaaaaaaah” in his distinctive Caribbean accent.

“Every time you’d see him, across campus or across wherever, if he’d see you, or you could see him, you’d just hear ‘Yeeeaaahh’ really loud and you’d be like, ‘Where is he?,'” Jean’s friend Levi Heasley says. “‘I know it’s Botham, and I know he’s trying to get somebody’s attention. I don’t know if it’s mine.'”

Jean, 26, came to Arkansas from Saint Lucia, an island in the eastern Caribbean. He frequently led Harding’s daily chapel services — he favored traditional hymns, says Kidron Cannon, another friend — and served as resident assistant. It was in that role that he met Heasley. The two, Heasley says, became fast friends thanks to Jean’s generous personality and their shared faith.

“They’d have to come and check whether or not you were in your room every single night. Most RAs were like ‘OK, cool, you’re there,’ but he would come in and say ‘Hey, what’s going on? How was your day?'” Heasley says. “He genuinely cared and would talk to every single person on the hallway to make sure their day was all right and see if they needed anything — just to talk, or just anything. We started to hang out more and just talk and laugh and hang out outside of class because he was just fun to be around.”

Jean graduated from Harding’s College of Business Administration with a degree in finance in 2016, leading him to his job at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas. Getting a good job was just a secondary goal for Jean while he was in school, though, Cannon says.

“I can say for sure that his purpose and his goal was just to serve God and just to use his talents, wherever God led him,” Cannon says.

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Inside Dallas West Church of Christ, there is a growing sadness. Botham Jean’s mother and family members are traveling to North Texas as they try to wrap their hearts and minds around the tragedy.

In an empty spot in a church pew, Jessica Berry once sat with Jean.

“I’m feeling numb. I have anger right now. I’m frustrated, just knowing who he is. The way he died is not fair,” says Berry.

Her father is Minister Sammie Barry. He says “Bo’s” death is a painful loss to the congregation where he led as a worship leader.

“Bo was an outstanding young man. He was an outstanding Christian. He was having an impact. We’re definitely going to miss him,” says Minister Berry.

“I don’t think you could find a better person, when you look at the life he lived, the contributions he made, the passion that he had for the church and anything that he did. He always wanted to do his very best,” said Minister Berry.

Police say the officer who killed Jean shot him after walking into the wrong apartment.

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Nicki Minaj and Cardi B got into a fight at a New York Fashion Week party Friday night that left Cardi B injured.

A person who witnessed the incident who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly told The Associated Press that Minaj was finishing up a conversation with someone when Cardi B tried to attack her, but Minaj's security guards intervened.

Video circulating on social media shows Cardi B lunging toward someone and being held back at Harper's Bazaar Icons party Friday night. Cardi B reportedly threw one of her shoes at Minaj. Another video shows the platinum "Bodak Yellow" rapper being escorted out of the event by security.

Cardi B, wearing a voluminous red Dolce & Gabanna gown, was seen leaving the party barefoot with what appeared to be a bump on her head.

She and Minaj have been rap rivals since Cardi B began achieving huge success over the last year.

In a post on Instagram, Cardi B didn't call out Minaj by name but alluded to the fight and said she was sparked because her mothering skills were being disparaged. She and rapper Offset recently had their first child together, a girl.

Minaj has not yet commented on the incident.

Heartbreaking images of the Holocaust have been colourised to show the true horrors of World War II and make deniers of the genocide 'see more closely the barbarism they defend.'

In the series of striking shots, starving children can be seen begging for food in the Warsaw ghetto and the bodies of prisoners at a Buchenwald concentration camp are looked at by American Senator Alben W. Barkley, a member of a committee investigating Nazi atrocities.

Other shocking images show piles of gold wedding bands removed by guards and the exhumed bodies of 30 Jewish women are lined up as German citizens are forced to walk by.

The original black and white photographs were colourised by Joel Bellviure, 17, who lives in Spain.

A Jacksonville pastor is encouraging his congregation to wear Nike to church on Sunday in support of the company’s new "Just Do It" ad, narrated by Colin Kaepernick, which aired during the NFL season opener Thursday night.

The endorsement deal between Nike and Kaepernick prompted a flood of debate, as sports fans across the country reacted to the apparel giant backing the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback who was the first athlete to kneel during "The Star-Spangled Banner" to protest police brutality and racial inequality.

At The Bethel Church in downtown Jacksonville, the senior pastor openly supports Kaepernick and said he agrees with Nike's new ad.

Mac Miller has passed away at the age of 26 after an apparent overdose, TMZ reports.

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department says officers "responded to a death investigation" near the artist's home in Studio City on Friday afternoon, but couldn't confirm the name of the deceased.

The artist, née Malcolm McCormick, has reportedly struggled with addiction issues for a long time.

When Louie Giglio, founder of Passion, began graduate school at Baylor University, he found himself watching many of the high school students he had previously ministered to enter college and almost immediately abandon their faith.

"I saw the students who had been in our ministry in the summer ... arrive at Baylor (a Baptist school) and check their faith on day two," Giglio said on a recent Essential Church podcast.

"These are kids that were on the mission trip, were leading out in the ensemble, were the stars of the church, second day in, put it (faith) on a hook on the wall — 'I am going to go to the party this weekend, I'm going to check out the scene ... I'm going to sleep through church on Sunday and nobody's going to know.'

Former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick is the face of Nike’s new “Just Do It” campaign, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The ad campaign, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, features a portrait of the former San Francisco 49ers player and the quote: “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything.” Kaepernick has been signed with Nike since 2011, but hasn’t been signed with a team since 2016, when he started kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality. His case alleging that NFL owners colluded to keep him out of the league was recently allowed to move forward.

https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/1036697374452867072

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She went to a concert with her friends from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade when she was awarded a $100,000 dollar scholarship from Beyonce and Jay-Z's foundation.

Ariana Grande had just belted out one of Aretha Franklin’s signature hits at the Queen of Soul’s funeral Friday, a moving rendition  of “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” that prompted officiating pastor Charles H. Ellis III to call the young singer onstage to honor her as “an icon herself.”

But it’s a remark that came before that — and what some have described as too-familiar touching from a much older man — that has Ellis apologizing to the singer, an army of her outraged fans and the Hispanic community.

“I’ve got to apologize, because I have to brush up,” he said shortly after calling Grande back to the podium. “My 28-year-old daughter tells me, ‘Dad, you are old at 60.’ When I saw Ariana Grande on the program, I thought that was a new something at Taco Bell. Girl, let me give you all your respect.”

As he joked about the young singer, he wrapped his hand around her, high above her waist in an act many are calling groping.

In an interview with the Associated Press on Friday, Ellis, the pastor of the 6,000-member Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, apologized.

“I personally and sincerely apologize to Ariana and to her fans and to the whole Hispanic community,” Ellis said. “When you’re doing a program for nine hours you try to keep it lively, you try to insert some jokes here and there.”

He told the AP that any inappropriate touch was incidental, and that he had hugged all the performers, male and female. Hugging, he said, is a common way of showing love at his church.

“It would never be my intention to touch any woman’s breast. … I don’t know; I guess I put my arm around her,” Ellis said, adding: “Maybe I crossed the border, maybe I was too friendly or familiar, but again, I apologize.”

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San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili, 41, announced Monday that he is retiring.

"Today, with a wide range of feelings, I'm announcing my retirement from basketball," he said in a tweet. "It's been a fabulous journey. Way beyond my wildest dreams."

https://twitter.com/manuginobili/status/1034138568694923265 

Ginobili, a future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, had been working out regularly at the Spurs' practice facility as he considered his decision to retire.

The Spurs had been hopeful that Ginobili would want to return for a 17th season and allowed him to take all the time he needed to decide, league sources had told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. The team thanked Ginobili in a tweet and video Monday.

https://twitter.com/spurs/status/1034139898372972544 

His decision brings a historic 16-season run with the Spurs to an end. He is one of the most decorated international players in basketball history, a four-time NBA champion, a two-time NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist for Argentina and a Euroleague MVP.

Ginobili played 1,057 regular-season and 218 playoff games with the Spurs, ranking in the franchise's top five all time in games, points (14,043), assists (4,001) and steals (1,392). He averaged 8.9 points and 20 minutes a game for the Spurs last season.

Ginobili had one year left on his contract, worth $2.5 million.

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JJ Watt collects and distributes $41.6 million for Hurricane Harvey victims

Houston Texans player's Harvey relief is now the largest crowd-sourced fundraiser in history.

Rapper Andy Mineo says his mother's battle with cancer has come to an end.  "This past Tuesday my mother, Fran Mineo, passed away," he wrote on Instagram alongside a photo of his mother taken before her cancer diagnosis. Mineo, who has been a popular name in Christian hip-hop for a decade, added, "She battled leukemia this past year and was on the upswing after her stem cell transplant. Unfortunately, there were complications and she went home to be with the Lord." The 30 year old revealed that he had the gift of "sitting by her bedside as she passed" in Chicago last week. He recalled holding her, praying for her and reading her Scripture before she died.

This past Tuesday my mother, Fran Mineo, passed away. I took this picture one year ago - right before her diagnosis. She battled Leukemia this past year and was on the upswing after her stem cell transplant. Unfortunately, there were complications and she went home to be with the Lord. I had the gift of sitting by her bedside as she passed, to hold her, read scripture and pray over her. She died surrounded by family and her children. My family and I have been grieving her loss this week together in Chicago. We’ve wept from our souls. We have laughed remembering her, told countless stories, looked at pictures and held each other when we needed it. Franny always made it happen. Working the night shift, raising kids on her own, shopping at garage sales so we could have the best clothes and sneakers. She lived so much of her life like Jesus. It was hard to not be impacted by her, even if you only met her once. I appreciate the space people have given my family and I in this time. I’ve had new music getting ready to come out and a fall tour in motion - my team will be running my socials for a while to keep you guys updated about those things while I take time to grieve. I appreciate all of you 🤟🏼.

A post shared by Saint Andrew (@andymineo) on Aug 27, 2018 at 1:32pm PDT

A California woman who was once one of the world's most successful porn stars has started a new life as a pastor.

Brittni De La Mora and her husband Richard, both 31, preach the gospel at Cornerstone Church in San Diego, but six years ago Brittni's life was very different.

'There was a period in the porn industry where I was earning a lot of money. When I first started, I was making about $30,000 a month, because I was working every day,' she recounted.

'I had a brand new Mercedes and every new Louis Vuitton purse, Christian Louboutin heels… I really played the part.'

Brittni, who performed under the stage name Jenna Presley, featured in about 300 adult videos, but the cameras didn't capture the turmoil in her personal life.

'I was struggling to pay my rent because I had a really bad drug addiction. I would spend thousands and thousands of dollars a week on drugs,' she said.

'I started off with cocaine but then eventually I was battling a heroin addiction.'

Brittni had her first brush with the sex industry aged just 16, when she traveled to Mexico for a night with friends.

'I felt rejected as a child and teenager, in my households there was a lot of chaos and animosity, so I started looking for love and acceptance in all the wrong places,' she recounted.

'When my friends said they were going to go out to a club, I went with them and ended up getting drunk.

'That was my first experience at a strip club. I had blonde hair and braces and they just put me on the stage that night.'

Brittni began stripping to pay her way through university and was recruited by two porn producers who said they made 'romance movies' and she was destined to be a star.

'I was naive but I wasn't that naive, I knew they were talking about porn films. I got accepted to be represented by a premier agency and I made the move to become a full-time porn star and dropped out of college,' she said.

Two months in, Brittni caught gonorrhea and began to strongly dislike the work she was doing.

'I ended up using drugs because there was a director who told me that I was fat and needed to lose weight. I weighed around 105 pounds. I was devastated.

'About a year prior I had been released from the hospital for anorexia, so it was a huge trigger for me,' she said.

Brittni asked a particularly thin model how she maintained her weight, and was told about snorting cocaine and doing crystal meth. Brittni tried cocaine and felt instantly hooked.

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O'Shea Jackson Jr. will join Michael B. Jordan in Warner Bros. drama Just Mercy.

Brie Larson and Jamie Foxx are also set to star in the feature from Short Term 12 and The Glass Castle director Destin Cretton.

The movie is based on the New York Times best-selling memoir by Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, which fights on behalf of the wrongly condemned and death-row prisoners trapped in the criminal justice system. The film will follow Stevenson's first case: that of Walter McMillian, a black man who was sentenced to death for a crime he didn't commit.

Originally set up at Broad Green Pictures, the project was moved to Warner Bros. Just Mercy is set to begin filming next month in Atlanta. Jordan will produce, along with Gil Netter and Asher Goldstein.

Jackson, who is repped by WME and Ziffren Brittenham, has worked steadily since his major feature debut in 2015's Straight Outta Compton, grabbing roles in a range of projects from indies to tent-poles. He will next be seen in Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Flarsky, the Lionsgate comedy film starring Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron.

Grammy Award-winning artist Lecrae was a guest speaker at VOUS Church on Sunday where he shared a message on finding joy out of the darkness of depression.

The Reach Records founder was invited to Pastor Rich Wilkerson Jr.'s megachurch in Miami, Florida, to talk to the congregation on the topic of "Joy Through Sacrifice," which was made available via podcast on Monday.

Lecrae kicked off his message with the verse Hebrews 12:2, then opened in prayer before going into his full message.

"A lot of you know me as an artist. I have no idea why they let me preach but we're going to figure this out," he joked.

The rapper humorously shared personal life stories containing lessons about finding "joy on the other side of sacrifice." While digging into his past, Lecrae revealed that his innocence was first taken away from him at age 7, after he was molested by a family member.

After going astray as a young man, he eventually found faith in Jesus which set him on course to have a successful career in Christian and mainstream music. But despite his personal achievements, Lecrae said his dark battles weren't over. The husband and father said that after he began speaking out about racial issues and social justice, he started losing fans and their response to his opinions and activism sent him into a downward spiral.

Even before the officer-involved shootings of Philando Castile in Minnesota and Alton Sterling in Louisiana, Lecrae said he had longed to be an advocate for racial reconciliation. Nevertheless, as he became more vocal about racial injustice, he realized that not everyone, including his Christian fans, agreed with his perspective or supported him voicing his opinions.

The chart-topping emcee lost hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, and he and his family even received death threats.

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