---“Precious” in theaters on November 6---
PRECIOUS is the upcoming film based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire. Lee Daniels directs this vibrant, honest and resoundingly hopeful film about the human capacity to grow and overcome.  Set in Harlem in 1987, it is the story of Claireece “Precious” Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), a sixteen-year-old African-American girl born into a life no one would want.  She’s pregnant for the second time by her absent father; at home, she must wait hand and foot on her mother (Mo’Nique), a poisonously angry woman who abuses her emotionally and physically.  School is a place of chaos, and Precious has reached the ninth grade with good marks and an awful secret: she can neither read nor write. Precious may sometimes be down, but she is never out.

Dr. Cornell West

Dr. Sanjay Gupta

Jay-Z

Business World Index

---Job losses in the news industry outpace losses in the economy---
The numbers confirm that the economic downturn has hit the news industry very, very hard. The news industry has shed 35,885 since Sept. 15, 2008, and 46,599 jobs since UNITY Journalists of Color began tracking job losses on Jan. 1, 2008. Industry layoffs hit a peak in December 2008 when 7,398 jobs were lost. Since January 2008, 201 media outlets have closed. Since the Lehman Bros. collapse last September, the journalism industry lost jobs at almost three times the rate of jobs lost in the economy each month.  "The news industry has been hemorrhaging jobs long before the economic crisis began last year," said Onica N. Makwakwa, executive director of UNITY."

---Study finds racial inequalities cost U.S. health system over $50 billion a year ---Racial inequalities in health care access and quality added more than $50 billion a year in direct U.S. health care costs over a four-year period according to a study released today by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based think tank. In this study, researchers at Johns Hopkins and the University of Maryland found that over 30 percent of direct medical expenditures for African Americans, Asian Americans and Hispanics were excess costs linked to health inequalities. Between 2003 and 2006, these excess costs were $229.4 billion. Further, the researchers estimated that the indirect costs of racial inequalities associated with illness and premature death amounted to more than a trillion dollars over the same time period. Eliminating these inequalities would have saved the U.S. economy a grand total of $1.24 trillion dollars. The study noted that this four-year $1.24 trillion expenditure is more than the annual gross domestic product of India, the world's 12th largest economy.

---Health Disparities Conference---Dr. Sanjay Gupta, one of America's most renowned medical experts, and Dr. Cornel West a provocative public intellectual, are just two of the internationally known speakers participating in Faces of a Healthy Future: National Conference to End Health Disparities II, November 3-6, 2009, at the Twin City Quarter, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Dr. Gupta will moderate a town hall meeting on November 4, and Dr. West will be the keynote speaker for the conference's awards gala on November 5. Other keynote speakers include Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards, Dr. David Williams, and Dr. Alvin Poussaint.. The NIH-funded national conference will assess the progress toward the NIH National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) and Healthy People 2010's goals. "This is the most comprehensive national conference related to health disparities to be held outside of Washington, D.C. this year," said Dr. Sylvia A. Flack, Executive Director for the Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Health Disparities at Winston-Salem State University. "This conference is designed to keep the conversation regarding health of specific populations including African, Asian, Hispanic and Native Americans, veterans, disabled Americans and those with mental illness in the forefront of health reform."

---BET Hip Hop Awards 2009---
The BET HIP-HOP AWARDS '09 nominations are in!! The Hip-Hop Awards Voting Academy which is comprised of journalists, industry executives, and fans has nominated rapper, producer and style aficionado Kanye West for an impressive nine awards. Jay Z and Lil Wayne follow closely behind with seven nominations, and T.I. rounds things off with six nominations. The late DJ AM is among the nominees for DJ of the Year. BET has also added two new nomination categories to this year's show -- "Made-You-Look Award" (Best Hip Hop Style) which will go to the ultimate trendsetter and "Best Hip-Hop Blog Site," which will go to the online site that consistently keeps hip-hop fans in the know non-stop. Respected renowned rapper, actor, screenwriter, film producer and director Ice Cube will receive this year's "I AM HIP-HOP" Icon Award. Hosted by actor and comedian Mike Epps, the hip-hop event of the year returns to Atlanta's Boisfeuillet Jones Civic Center on Saturday, October 10 to celebrate the biggest names in the game - both on the mic and in the community. The BET HIP-HOP AWARDS '09 will premiere Tuesday, October 27 at 8:00 PM (check local listings).