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VIDEO: Vivica A. Fox Responds to Stacey Dash's Romney Endorsement

The Grio's Chris Witherspoon interviews actress Vivica A. Fox, who reads Stacey Dash for bonus points after her controversial endorsement of Mitt Romney.

"I didn't know that [Stacey Dash] was a Republican, I'll start there. And I don’t know why she had to do a photo shoot in a Baywatch red swimsuit with the boobs and the whole flag behind her. And she doesn’t have a job or something to promote right now. She’s entitled to her own opinion ... but I'm surprised that she did it the way that she did. Most politicians when you support them, you try to support them with class, you don’t need to do a swimsuit shoot."

Go in, Miss Fox. Go in and let have.

Vivica A. Fox can been seen in the reality series Prank My Mom and the comedy series Mr. Box Office. Watch the interview AFTER THE JUMP ...

"The Grio" Debuts Week-Long Series on Blacks and Homophobia

"I Love the Black Church But the Black Church Doesn't Love Me" is the first essay in a week-long series on homophobia in Black America by TheGrio.com. The series debuted on the same weekend the national board of the NAACP voted to endorse equal marriage rights for same-sex couples—and only days after President Barack Obama's historic announcement supporting that position.

The opening essay takes on the well-known "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy of many Black congregations.

My sexual orientation is "known" but never openly discussed. "I think she is one of them" is what they'll say. The invisible nature of my existence and the routine condemnation of me for being something other than a child of God, ultimately forced me leave the black church. As a gay person, I was made to feel that I was the only sinner in a land of saints. Well, at least the 'saints' were guilty of committing 'acceptable' sins. Me? Let the stoning begin!

We know people in the church who sin openly, and even have children out of wedlock. We are there to shout 'amen' for our church leaders and wish them well as they move from one failed marriage to the next one. ... We think gays are a threat to the manhood of African American men, however as a Christian community we would rather only whisper about love on the 'down low' as opposed to addressing it openly. We ignore the real threat to our communities: schools that are continually failing our children; while, "at least my pastor drives a fancy car and lives in a fabulous home."

But fair warning: "Avoid [the essay] like the plague if u have an aversion to hate speech," tweets Atlanta-based blogger and activist Darian Aaron, referring to the dozens of comments. Many of them are hatefully heartbreaking.

One comment that stands out: "If you think you are so-called unloved in the Black Church, join a White Church. Good luck with that. You chosed to be whatever you are so stop whining."

AIDS 2010: Race Still Matters in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS

Our newest piece for The Grio and MSNBC.com, filed from the  XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, Austria.

A first-of-its-kind analysis by the Centers for Disease Control at AIDS 2010 shows 2.1 percent of heterosexuals living in high-poverty urban areas are HIV positive. The resulting media spin has become that "race doesn't matter" in the American fight against AIDS ... and this could potentially have a major impact on the fight against HIV in the Black community.

Read the full piece HERE.

1 Year Ago: Anti Gay Bullying Drove Carl Walker-Hoover to Suicide

It's been exactly one year since the tragic suicide of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, the 11-year-old Springfield, Massachusetts boy who hanged himself after months of homophobic and anti-gay taunts. Carl was relentlessly bullied at his school for  one year, and, although he was not gay, his mother says "classmates called him gay on a daily basis, made fun of his clothes and threatened to harm him."

"It's not just a gay issue," Carl's mother Sirdeaner Walker told The Advocate. "It’s bigger. He was 11 years old, and he wasn't aware of his sexuality. These homophobic people attach derogatory terms to a child who’s 11 years old, who goes to church, school, and the library, and he becomes confused. He thinks, 'Maybe I'm like this.'"

Only weeks after her son's death, another 11-year-old boy, Jaheem Herrera, hanged himself in family's home outside home. Jaheem was also subjected to relentless anti-gay taunting although he was not gay.

In the year since then: Sirdeaner Walker has become a national advocate against bullying, appearing on Oprah, Ellen and AC 360, as well as testifying before Congress. Walker has also championed Massachusetts' proposed anti-bullying legislation. The state House and Senate recently passed anti-bullying bills and it's now in conference committee for final approval. Gov. Deval Patrick is expected to sign that bill later this month and Walker says she's planning to be at his desk when he does it.

Walker says she is upset and "disappointed" there was no criminal investigation into her son's death, unlike the very recent case of a 15-year-old Massachusetts girl who was bullied into suicide. Nine teenagers are facing a variety of charges in connection with Phoebe Prince's death. The three oldest members of that group are expected to be arraigned today.

In related news:  OUT 100 honoree Kenyon Farrow reflects on Carl Joseph Walker Hoover's death at The Grio, noting that "anti-gay bullying is a deadly threat to children of color." Farrow writes, "Where was the outrage about his death in the black community? ... Too many children grow up understanding that the best way to denigrate and socially outcast boys is to call them the f-word. We need to remind ourselves of the damage that homophobia has on the lives of black children. And let me be clear, the bullying of black lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender students, and those who are perceived to be LGBT, is not rare."

CBS 13 has a report on the one year-anniversary of Walker-Hoover's bullying suicide. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

Was the Black Church's Silence "Complicit" in Spreading HIV?

Many people say yes.

On Thursday we posted The New Yorker's brilliant profile of gospel singer Tonex and the black church's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" hypocrisy around gays in church. Today at The Grio, writer Patrick D. Shaffer criticizes the anti-gay and charismatic black Pentecostal churches that have even mocked black gay men even in death:

The bishop opened with a greeting and then said what I knew was coming: "Well, when a duck dies, ducks come to the funeral. When a chicken dies, chickens come to the funeral. And by looking at who has come to this funeral today we all know what Robert was!"

Robert was a gay man who had passed away from AIDS. I have often and still experience much shame as I listen to hate-filled rhetoric (and most times criminally hypocritical) from the black pulpit that polarizes and exploits members of our churches when it comes to the issues of sexuality, sex and HIV/AIDS. I am almost 35 years-old and have been in the church all my life and I have been to as many funerals for men and women under the age of 45 who have died from HIV/AIDS as the number of years I have been alive.

Most, if not all of these deaths were the effect of specific and harmful behaviors that were nurtured in the hetero-self-hating and homophobic society of the black Pentecostal church. In my twenty some odd years of observing and doing care work within the church, my conclusion is that the black church has been complicit in the spreading of HIV/AIDS because of our deafening silence on this issue that has never escaped us. From day one the issue has been seated in our pews and we have most often looked away. Our conscious sin has been to allow young lives to end because of our phobias, biases and bigotry. The deeper subconscious sin still left unattended to, may be found in the question: Why are we okay with this?

Last August while appearing on CNN, Judge Penny Brown Reynolds said the black community and black church "need[s] to remove the shame and the self-worth issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. ... The black church needs to be at the forefront of this like civil rights."

It's generally regarded that homophobia and discomfort surrounding sexual issues was the reason the mainstream black churches were slow to respond to HIV/AIDS. Only two years ago and 25 years into the HIV/AIDS crisis, the National Baptist Convention USA, the nation's largest black religious organization, finally mentioned HIV/AIDS for the first time. The NAACP's official publications continue to mention HIV/AIDS only as far as its impact on black women. Meanwhile: The Centers for Disease Controls reports young black men who have sex with men are the demographic hardest hit by the HIV epidemic.

Read the full essay at The Grio ...

At The Grio: "Ending 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Will Be a Teachable Moment for Black America"

My first op-ed at The Grio, the NBC News portal for the black e-telligentsia. It's being promoted on the front page of MSNBC.com.

The public face of the dismissed gay soldier is often white and male, but they're statistically more likely to be a black lesbian or black gay man. Census data show black women with same-sex partners serve in the military at 11 times the rate of women overall. The Pentagon reports black women are discharged under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" at three times the rate that they serve. Black gay men aren't far behind in terms of discrimination. Platoon leaders such as Lt. Anthony Woods, a black gay Harvard and West Point grad, were discharged once their sexuality was discovered. Woods led a 64-soldier combat unit in Iraq and earned a Bronze Star. Woods ran for Congress last year. He didn't win, but appeared on national television and inspired countless young black gay men who rarely see themselves on such a platform.

My op-ed: "Ending 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' Will Be a Teachable Moment for Black America"

You'll be seeing me over there more often, as well as few other sites and magazines.