FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

“NEVER FORGET- A NIGHT WITH DR. CORNEL WEST AND TAVIS SMILEY”

Media personality Tavis Smiley to host a listening experience in honor of Dr. Cornel West’s first infusion album on Hidden Beach Recordings, Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations.

Los Angeles, Dec. 11, 2007 — Tavis Smiley, Allstate, and Hidden Beach Recordings will host a black carpet affair featuring renowned professor Dr. Cornel West in his latest novel approach at empowering our community through word and song on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007.

This listening experience, titled “Never Forget,” (appropriately named after Dr. West’s most recent album, Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations) will take place from 7:30 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. at Element, 1642 N. Las Palmas, Los Angeles, CA 90028. The black carpet proceedings will commence promptly at 7:30 p.m., and will showcase a special performance by both Dr. West and Smiley from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Dr. West is elated to share with his friends and followers that he has found a new record label home at Hidden Beach Recordings (HBR), an independent label with commitment to cultivate and distribute inspiring, spiritually-edifying soul music.

This occasion will allow attendees to experience Dr. Cornel West’s vision first hand as they sample various songs and excerpts from Never Forget: A Journey of Revelations. Dr. West’s album, which was released via Hidden Beach on August 14th of this year, is a stimulating infusion of soul, hip hop, and socio-political dialogue. The album includes collaborations with musical moguls such as Prince, Andre 3000, Jill Scott, Talib Kweli, Black Thought and many more. Dr. West, author of the American classic Race Matters, has taken this opportunity to highlight the African American musical imprint on American history while tactfully empowering our youth to help affect change in our underserved communities! “I think the younger generation, you see, they look at me and they say, ‘What is this old brother doing in hip-hop?’ And I say, ‘Well, I am the Curtis Mayfield, Stax, Motown, Philly sound version of hip-hop.’ So I consider myself in the hip-hop community.”

Admission for the event is free for individuals who RSVP at http://www.youthtoleaders.org/rsvp while space is available. A $20 donation will be requested at the door the day of the event for attendees who did not RSVP.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Tavis Smiley Foundation, a non-profit Smiley founded to provide leadership training and development for youth ages 13-18. To date more than 6,000 teens have participated in the foundation’s Youth to Leaders training workshops and conferences.

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ABOUT DR. CORNEL WEST:

One of America’s most provocative public intellectuals, Cornel West has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the traditions of the Black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz. The New York Times has praised his “ferocious moral vision.” Currently the class of 1943 Professor at Princeton University, Dr. West has also taught at Union Theological Seminary, Yale, Harvard, and the University of Paris. Dr. West was an influential force in developing the storyline for the popular Matrix movie trilogy and has served as its official spokesperson, as well as playing a recurring role in the final two films.

ABOUT TAVIS SMILEY FOUNDATION:

The Tavis Smiley Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1999 by Tavis Smiley to enlighten, encourage, and empower youth by providing leadership skills that will promote and enhance the quality of life for their lives, their community and the world. Since its inception, more than 6,000 youth have participated in the foundation’s leadership workshops and conferences. The foundation is based in Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.youthtoleaders.org.

ABOUT ALLSTATE:

The Allstate Corporation is the nation’s largest publicly held personal lines insurer. A Fortune 100 company, with $157.5 billion in assets, Allstate sells 13 major lines of insurance, including auto, property, life and commercial. Allstate also offers retirement and investment products and banking services. Allstate is widely known through the “You’re In Good Hands With Allstate®” slogan. Allstate was founded in 1931 and became a publicly traded company in 1993.

As a company with a diverse population of employees, agents and customers, Allstate embraces diversity in everything we do - not only the customers we serve and the communities in which we invest, but also the people we hire and the businesses we use as suppliers. It’s a testament to the company’s corporate citizenship and a sound business strategy. For more information, visit www.allstate.com .

ABOUT TAVIS SMILEY:

Tavis Smiley is the host of Tavis Smiley on PBS, The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI, and the author/editor of 11 books, including the New York Times best-sellers The Covenant with Black America and What I Know for Sure: My Story of Growing Up in America, and THE COVENANT in Action. Most recently, Smiley made history for executive producing the much talked about “All – American Presidential Forums on PBS.” This production marked the first time that panels comprised of journalists of color were represented in primetime television conducting presidential debates. For more information, visit www.tavistalks.com.

CONTACTS:

Press & Celebrity RSVP
Susan Pinckney
The Smiley Group
323.290.4690 ext 260
323.290.3940
spinckney@tavistalks.com

Tavis Smiley Foundation
Vonda Paige
323.290.4690 ext 229
323.290.1988
vpaige@tavistalks.com

Congrats to Aja and Fatin for the new addition to their family due late January. The DR. said they will be having two twin girls!!! For those of you who don’t know who Kindred is… they are a married couple from Philly that were brought to Hidden Beach Recordings by Jill Scott… They have 2 albums “Surrender To Love” and “In This Life Together”… for more information on Kindred visit

www.kindredthefamilysoul.com and their myspace page

To wish Kindred the best with their new twins due late January, visit their myspace page

The Nominations are in and Jill Scott has received 3 Grammy Nominations!!!

Best R/B Album
THE REAL THING: WORDS AND SOUNDS VOL. 3

Best Female R/B Vocal Performance
“HATE ON ME”

Best Urban/Alternative Performance
“DAYDREAMIN” Lupe Fiasco featuring Jill Scott

To find out the ticket dates and locations, click below:

more coming soon… stay glued to jillscott.comTo see the entire tour dates visit: http://www.jillscott.com/tour

VOTE NOW - Click On The Banner Below

Jill’s nominations include:

Album of the Year - R&B/Soul,

MVOKP of the Year

MVP of the Year - R&B/Soul

OkayArtist Album of the Year.

Okayplayer has nominated this years best, compiled from their community and staff, and the winners will be 100% chosen by the fans votes. Please support Jill Scott and click the banner above.

Jill Scott Brings The Real Thing
by Lili Ramirez

The first time I listened to Jill Scott’s second studio album, Beautifully Human, Words & Sounds, Vol. 2, I felt a wave of emotion so fierce it nearly toppled me over. I’ll be honest - I cried myself a river that day. Jill was rejoicing about love and I grieved the loss of the love I had cherished, which had recently fallen to shambles. Beautifully Human was clearly Jill’s love album at the time.

You could hear it in her honey- melon voice: joy, passion and promise were aglow. I had to bury that album deep and couldn’t listen to it for a long time. But once I healed and emerged stronger, myself more beautifully human, I came back to that album and cranked up the volume, ready to sing about love again at the top of my lungs. That’s one of the amazing things about humans: the resilience of our hearts. We love, at times, we lose… but then one day, it’s as if a flame finds its way back inside to fire the embers of our hearts and there we are - ready to love again. Regardless, Jill’s lyrics resonate so deep within us, they shake us up and give us the feeling that we know her: maybe she’s our sister, or best friend, mother, daughter, our personal prophetess, or maybe our favorite poetess…a glowing beacon to our universal experience.

The Real Thing, Words & Sounds, Vol. 3, Jill’s latest studio project re- leased in late September, is a continuing exploration of the question and title to her ground-breaking 2000 album, “Who is Jill Scott?” One facet of that answer is, a woman who ce- lebrates who she is and doesn’t allow the judgment or criticism of others to dim her shining spirit. “Hate on Me”, for example, is Jill’s poignant response to all “haters”, whether they be relatives or strangers.

In part, the song’s lyrics were provoked by a website she found late one night where hundreds of strangers were criticizing and “hating on her.” Jill’s response? To continue walking her own path with her head up high…without making any apologies for who she is. No song says this better than the album’s title track, “The Real Thing”. This is the anthem of the album, similar to what “Golden” was to Beautifully Human, except here, Jill crosses over into a rock-n-roll goddess. She’s fierce, but not angry; strong but not belligerent; confident but not ultra-cocky. Notice I don’t rule out cocky entirely. Sure there is some cockiness, however, it’s on a level licensed by her awesome talent.

The Real Thing represents a new phase in Jill Scott’s life. Having suffered through the agony of divorce after a twelve-year relationship, Jill said in a recent interview, “I never thought that I would be single. I married my best friend. But I can say that this career, this life path can be detrimental.“ We witness her mourning this loss in songs like “My Love”, which is about discovering the person you still love has moved on. “Insomnia” describes the frustration of a relationship that is in the thick of falling apart and making you crazy. Jill continues, “To be a black woman who is mov- ing forward and growing. There is some- thing not exactly attractive about that; I don’t know what that is, but I choose not to change.” With these powerful last words, Jill is acknowledging that we make choices in life, so we must accept accountability as well. She’s not playing the victim. She’s in charge of her destiny and takes us along on her path, exposing to us her wounds, her pride, her pain, her confidence, and her own resilient heart.

Jill Scott’s creative path has led her into acting as well. Watch for her in Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? in theatres October 12th. Jill Scott plays Sheila, a woman who is married yet alone inside of the marriage. In light of her own divorce, I can imagine that this was a role that Jill was able to get inside of all too well. The movie covers the marriages of eight former-college friends and speaks to the difficulties of maintaining a solid marriage in modern times. Jill will also star in Anthony Minghella’s production of Ladies Number One Detective Agency. It’s currently in production, but be on the look out for its release in 2008.

Perhaps more than any other singer today (R&B or otherwise), Jill Scott manages to turn the spectrum of real-life drama into poetry and art; her powerful pipes and universal themes will resonate with fans and new converts alike. The Real Thing is a work-of-art record that finds Jill in a highly fertile phase of her artistry, where there are no boundaries: funk, gospel, jazz, classical, R&B, poetry, acting, directing…she can do anything. One of the things that Jill does best is to express herself as sensual being and sultry-voiced siren. A few of the cuts on The Real Thing are just downright sexy. Silky jams like “Crown Royal on Ice” and “All I” send our minds into the bedroom (or into the bathroom for a cold shower if you’re single like me). In “All I” she half-sings-half-whispers, “I can’t even think at night. All I dream about is making love…to you. I’m in the shower, above the kitchen sink, lay me where you wanna’, make my knees weak.” Hello! And while its always sexy to hear Jill sing about sex, I’m sure she would agree with me, there’s nothing like…the real thing.

Jill hits the UK, check out the interview. Click the banner below or click the link below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson/?focuswin

BET Celebration of GospelBET is offering free tickets for its eighth annual “Celebration Of Gospel” special, hosted by Steve Harvey and featuring performances by Patti LaBelle, John Legend, Kirk Franklin, Yolanda Adams, Mighty Clouds of Joy, J Moss, Israel and The New Breed featuring T-Bone, Pastor Shirley Caesar, Dr. Bobby Jones, and the top five “Sunday Best” finalists. The show will be taped on Dec. 15 at the historic Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles with a praise-filled “congregation” and a 24-piece orchestra led by musical director Ray Chew. Free tickets are available by submitting a request via BETRSVP@bet.net or calling (202) 608-2617. Celebration Of Gospel” will air on Jan. 27 at 8p.m.

Check out Cornel West on BET J’s new show “Parallel Paths” this Monday 11/12 @ 8:00PM.

To see more information visit BETJ on BET.com

To view the entire schedule please visit View Schedule

Chosen Generation Gospel Choir
Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania
Annual Gospel Fest
Sunday, November 11, 2007
University Union Multipurpose Room
5pm
FREE Admission