Black Gurl Answers Reader's Rihanna Question

Q: One would think she had more confidence and self-esteem, more abuse-shame, and more sense than to publicly reconcile with a man who's beating of her has been made public. Black Gurl needs to think about this one. I'm worried about the message it sends to my niece who likes Rihanna.

A: “O” took it to Rihanna old school when she said “if a man hits you once, he will hit you again.” However, the public's expectation that the 21-year old pop princess be able to distinguish love from lust and legality from loyalty is vacuous. Why her family hasn't called in a high-powered intervention squad to turn up tough love is particularly puzzling because professional guidance is paramount. Mouths are mum but might amenability to abuse be a Barbadian cultural ill Rihanna has inherited?

When the co-dependence dust dissipates, perhaps Rihanna will reemerge with self-esteem intact. Although buzz alleging her raised hand or stiletto as a weapon in dysfunction's love nest on previous occasions has been building, the former beauty queen is not facing charges, Brown is. Reader, if you're taking an active role in your niece's development and popular culture is not the delivery vehicle for social education, I suspect she'll embrace the boundaries of love provided you approach the subject candidly and practice what you preach.

Celebrity Liability Lassoes Its Latest Victims

Suggesting the American public’s propensity for vindication as proof in the election of Barack Obama, who admitted a previous life’s cocaine vice, Houston Chronicle columnist Ken Hoffman was out-of-order for citing the comparison as a basis to release Michael Phelps’ photographed bong bust from incrimination’s hooks. Hoffman said of Barack Obama in “Lay off Michael Phelps” published February 9, 2009: “Americans seemed to have forgiven him. They just elected him president over a war hero. And judging from all those magazine covers, commemorative coins and collectible plates, nobody moves product like Barack Obama.”

Ken’s logic must be lodged in a Kellogg's Fruit Loop. Had Barack Obama been caught on camera like Washington D.C.’s former crack mayor Marion Berry during the presidential run, he would be an ousted Illinois Senator.

Because Kellogg's dashed for corporate cover, severing ties with the athletically accomplished Aquaman, Phelps apparently has more in common with R&B crooner Chris “Smiley” Brown than Obama. Brown, in a judicial pickle for assaulting his girlfriend, pop princess Rhianna, was temporarily scratched from Wrigley’s endorsement lineup after the allegations gained steam.

Both Phelps and Brown, who exercised judgment unrestrained by common sense, have also likely fallen victim to invincibility's hype. If Michael must bong and blaze, why can't he do so privately in his palatial Maryland bach pad to avoid risking income or reputational tarnish?