A Toast 2 Wealth

This is something that seems like we are in a dream, hearing about 34 billionaires pledging to donate half of their wealth to charities.   This is so amazing and these billionaires are really going to help the economy.  After Bill Gates and Warren Buffet vowed to donate, over thirty more billionaires agreed to join them.  The announcement came this morning by The Giving Pledge organization that was started when Gates and Buffet persuaded others and discussed their consideration of sharing their wealth.

Here we go. Beyonce’ Knowles had a freak scare in London last night. She and Jay-Z were in London to shop but to attend Jay-Z’s performance at London’s Wireless Festival in Hyde Park.

During the evening of the concert, Beyonce’ and Jay-Z take a drive around London to do some shopping and get a bite to eat at a Japanese restaurant called Zuma.

Well, she requested a detour to Zuma’s before the were to hit luxury department store Harrods and it happened. Their Mercedes S-class comes to a stop and as Beyonce’ opens her door to step out, a black taxi comes flying by and clearing rips their car door right off its hinges.

Reports state that Michael Jackson’s younger brother, Randy Jackson was rushed to the emergency room and apparently suffered from heart or chest pains.

Officials say that Randy, age 48, entered Huntington Memorial Hospital and suffered from a mild heart attack last night.

News reports state that Randy was working on a one year anniversary for his brother Michael Jackson and started experiencing chest pains during rehearsal.

Randy is expected to attend the anniversary for family and friends.

He is doing as can be expected but doesn’t want to take any chances since this has never happened to him before.

Since the mid-eighties, the Winans family brought in a different style of gospel music and changed the whole way gospel music artists performed in the church, similar to secular artists.  Many gospel artists began to eagerly desire to share the wealth of what the Winans family was already enjoying through BeBe and CeCe, the Winans brothers (Marvin Winans, Sr., Ronald, Carvin and Michael, Winans, Sr.), the ex-wife of Marvin Winans, Sr., Vickie Winans, Debbie and Angie Winans, then Phase II (the offspring of the Winans brothers, Marvin, Jr., Carvin III, Juan and Michael, Jr.).  Now, two family members of Phase II are signed under the label owned by P. Diddy of Bad Boy records.  Even Marvin Winans, Jr. has changed his contemporary gospel into a more secular style that does not identify with the church, at all.  Church music artists no longer wanted to identify with what they called traditional gospel music, but make quick money and gain profits from the world through their contemporary gospel songs and performances. People began to use the Winans usual excuse whenever church people disagreed with their style, “We want to reach the world“, knowing good and well, by becoming contemporary gospel artists, they were not necessarily out to reach the world, but make the same sort of income like secular artists while sharing the fame.  Growing up in the 1980′s one could go to a church service and began to see amateur artists acting and singing like the Winans family, instead of being themselves, it was so sickening.   No longer was it trying to be like Walter, Edwin or Tramaine Hawkins, but the popular thing was for one to change the way they would dress or style their hair, similar to the Winans family.  So, growing up in the black church during the time of Rev. James Cleveland’s death, the King of Gospel, you would recognize black gospel as hip-hop gospel or gospel jazz music.  Church people felt comfortable to now identify with gospel music and encourage younger generations to make the same sort of money like the Winans family.   Gospel artists made deals with music producers who were managers of secular artists and even made music with secular artists, which made it a billion-dollar industry, is what Pastor Shirley Caesar boasted on a Bobby Jones special, years ago.