Investigation
Pee Wee Kirkland Left The Court To Become A Kingpin In The Drug Game (Video)
December 17, 2018
Surely you know something about the dual life lived by hood icon Pee Wee Kirkland. At least you’ve heard that rap line “Legend in two games [like] Pee Wee Kirkland.” Basketball was one game. VICE will give us the real deep scoop on Pee Wee’s second.
Richard “Pee Wee†Kirkland began playing basketball in the streets of Harlem when he was 9-years-old. By age 13, he split his time between playing ball and committing robberies to help finance a growing drug empire.
In college, Kirkland was the 1968 MVP for Norfolk State, turning down an offer from UCLA to play alongside Kareem Abdul Jabaar. Kirkland was then drafted by the Chicago Bulls but turned down their offer when he realized he could make more money in the drug game than the basketball game. With law enforcement on his tail, Kirkland found himself behind bars twice between 1971 and 1988. From there, he made a change, becoming a motivational speaker and inspiring young, inner-city athletes to take a different path out than he did.
Presented by Ryot.
– VICE Sports
– @ojones1
American Dream/American Nightmare: “Training Day” Director Antoine Fuqua Relates The Real Life Drama Of Tha Row (Trailer)
December 6, 2018
New Death Row Documentary coming out on Showtime. Looks good. pic.twitter.com/Htwl8hAXDF
— Brian (@_ValTown_) December 5, 2018
Good looking trailer indeed. Hope this Showtime flick boldly goes where ‘Compton’ had not gone before (yeah, Star Trek talk is gangsta… ha!).
Who Killed Tupac & Biggie? LAPD Detective Greg Kading Names Names! (Video)
November 15, 2018
Just in case the decades of foot-dragging and the much-hyped USA Network miniseries did not quench your thirst for knowledge on the Notorious B.I.G. & Tupac murders, VICE gets the scoop in ’10 Questions’ posed to the lead investigator. And he answers them directly!
Ever wondered who committed the murders of Tupac and Biggie? Greg Kading, the LAPD Detective who investigated the murders, claims he has the answers. With a theory that allegedly implicates Sean Combs and Suge Knight, Kading claims to have solved two of the most famous murders in US history.
– VICE
A couple of things to keep in mind: (1) Kading’s investigation was directed toward clearing any blame regarding the LAPD’s role/coverup with respect to the murders of ‘Pac & BIG… (2) both the people Kading directly accused are dead #JustSaying
Posted in Cover Story, Hip-Hop, History, Investigation, News, Series, Videos | 
Tags: 10 Questions You Always Wanted to Ask, Biggie, Biography, EVIDENCE, Greg Kading, Investigation, Murder Case, murder investigation, murders, Notorious B.I.G., Notorious BIG, Questions, Sean Combs, Suge Knight, Tupac, VICE, Vice UK | 
No Comments »
Environment/Activism: How Much Do ‘Black Lives Matter’ To This Louisiana Plant? Not Much… (Video)
October 3, 2018
Just off G.P. this should get a thorough looking into. Just think: It there is a chance that a deadly chemical, given off in the process to make recreational stuff, is killing off this predominantly Black Louisiana town, isn’t it worth study (and a fight, if true)? This 77-year old ‘fighter’ thinks so. So he’s taking on a giant chemical plant to save his community.
Posted in Activism, Business, Cover Story, Environment, Interview, Investigation, Science, Videos | Tags: AJ+, Breathing While Black, cancer, Cancer Alley, Cancer Capital Of The United States, Carcinogen, chloroprene, Denka, Dupont, environmental injustice, Environmental Racism, Gen R, Louisiana, Michelle Klug, neoprene, Reserve, Robert Taylor, You're Killing Us | No Comments »
The Real Lives Of Real Life Sex Workers (Documentary)
September 21, 2018
Well done and done in a respectful way. Sometimes investigative journalists embed with subjects and get overly intrusive without at least building with them, ‘earning’ the right to pry, so to speak. But VICE always seems to get it right. Probably why they consistently turn out great documentary content.
Photographer Lindsay Irene travels to Toronto to shoot with a variety of sex workers in their homes with the goal of increasing the understanding of who they are.
– VICE CANADA REPORTS
Posted in Film, Human Interest, Investigation, Lifestyle, Videos | Tags: Canada, Documentary, Lifestyle, Lindsay Irene, Photography, Sex, SEX WORK, Sex Workers, Sex Workers As People, Sex Workers As Real People, Sex Workers At Home, sexuality, The Home Lives of Sex Workers, Toronto, VICE CANADA, VICE CANADA REPORTS, VICE Reports | No Comments »
Miami’s Luxury Car Hustle: Hey Player, You Can Rent ‘That Life’ For A While (Documentary)
September 21, 2018
Some say, “Fake it ’til you make it.” Then others may ask, “Why not put that money into actually making it?” Well, the guys running the luxury rental biz seem to actually be making it (money) from those who rent fancy cars to ‘fake it.’
“The car business, in general, is a tough business. The car rental business, even more so. Anybody who finds out they can make money and drive a Ferrari, I mean, they’re diving in head first,†says Matt Cruz, owner of MVP Exotic Rentals, a legitimate luxury car rental business based in Miami. But when everybody wants to be a celebrity, how to you tell the difference between faking it and making it? The game is finesse, and with the allure of getting behind the wheel of the world’s most expensive cars, who wouldn’t want to play? In a world where likes and fame can be bought and the filtered facade of Instagram reigns supreme, VICE meets some of the legit — and the not-so-legit — players that cater luxury car rentals to the biggest rappers, athletes, and celebrities of the moment.
– VICE SPECIALS
The Miami Style Gods Speak On The Rush And The Danger Of Doing Street Grafitti In Miami (Documentary)
September 20, 2018
Wow. Right from the start, the dude calls his graf ‘vandalism’… NOT art. But still seems driven about it. Real out there in the streets about the spray game; folks can get shot for real (or worse). VICE investigates.
All across Miami, you’ll find countless tags done by MSG—the Miami Style Gods, a graffiti crew that’s been around since the early 90s. And two decades later, they’re still bombing as many walls, highway signs, bridges, billboards, and abandoned buildings as they can find.
VICE met up with members of the crew—who believe their trade is vandalism, not art—to find out why they’re so dedicated to a trade that makes no money and is often dangerous, from altercations with the cops to dangling over busy highways.
– VICE SPECIALS
And this is about more than graf, though that is life to these guys; it’s life in the streets.
Posted in Art, Film, Hip-Hop, Human Interest, Investigation, Lifestyle, News, Videos | Tags: BOMBING, florida, Graffiti, Graffiti Godfathers of Miami, Miami, MIAMI STYLE GODS, MSG, TAGGING, The Graffiti Godfathers of Miami, VANDALISM, VICE, VICE Specials, WYNWOOD | No Comments »
Many Black Kids Cannot Swim. Really. And Here Is Why… (Video)
September 13, 2018
Wow, that’s a real thing. All my family can swim. My Dad learned as a kid, self-taught, playing in the ‘crick’ (creek) down the road. My baby brother was swimming by the time he could walk. So, I just kinda dismissed such talk as broad generalization; no real fact-finding driving the claim. Well…
In 2014, the CDC found that an 11-year-old Black child is 10 times more likely to drown than a White child the same age. The notion that “Black people can’t swim†may sound like a stereotype, but it’s a real disparity and it’s rooted in a history of discriminatory access to swimming pools.
– VICE News Tonight
Again, wow. And damn.
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, History, Investigation, News, Series, Television, Videos, Youth | Tags: Black people can't swim, CDC, Centers for Disease Control, discriminatory access, HBO, history of discriminatory access, history of discriminatory access to swimming pools, Most Black Kids Can't Swim, Racism, segregation, Segregation Is To Blame, VICE, VICE News, VICE News Tonight, VICE on HBO | No Comments »
Netflix Presents Ashtan Towles’ Experiences Tackling Race-Related Issues At Yale University (Documentary)
September 5, 2018
Grew up in the South, all her youth, and she made it through… admitted to an Ivy League university, no less. And STILL this sista cannot ‘get away’ from racism in America.
Imagine waking up to find your school trending because of a racist incident?
– Strong Black Lead
Yeah. Don’t EVER speak of America being post-racial. Even in the ‘affluent’ North. Yale was trending on racism.
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, Education, Film, Investigation, Videos | Tags: Ashtan Towles, Ivy League, Netflix, Racism, Strong Black Lead, Taking Up Space, Yale, Yale University | No Comments »
Food: Homegrown Tomatoes Taste Better (Video)
August 31, 2018
My Dad was a sharecropper through late his preteen years before his family moved to Tuskegee. The farmer in him meant we would have a pretty big garden every year, overflowing with tomatoes. They were not heirloom tomatoes like these, but those ‘maters did taste different. Guess that is no surprise. Homegrown vs. storebought, you know… It’s just that this video gives a ‘fullness’ to the argument that I cosign. Check it out.
Ever wonder why homegrown tomatoes taste so much better than ones you buy in a store? Renowned seed saver and farmer John Coykendall hits it out of the park with this explanation – and shows how heirloom veggies, like tomatoes, link us to our ancestors!
– PBS Food
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, Food, History, Human Interest, Investigation, Lifestyle, Science, Series, Videos | Tags: Dr. Howard Conyers, Dr. Kathryn Fontenot, farming, Homegrown tomatoes, Howard Conyers, John Coykendall, Kathryn Fontenot, Nourish, PBS, PBS Food, Public Broadcasting, Public Broadcasting Service, Public Broadcasting System, seed saving, Tomatoes, Why Homegrown Taste Better | No Comments »
See How Replica Sneakers Made In China Make It Into The Hands Of U.S. Buyers (HBO)
August 29, 2018
Wow! The fiends NEED the latest Yeezys and Jordans like this bad? The fake kick market is kicking this hard. Gotta be if there is a black market with movers in it like Chan, right? Let VICE News tell it…
After the sun sets in Putian, thousands of bikes carrying fake sneakers hit the streets.
The lace-up black market is no secret in Putian, and it’s where you can find Chan, a vendor with a knack for getting high-quality pairs off the streets and into the hands of hypebeasts on the other side of the globe.
– VICE News
Posted in Business, Cover Story, Fashion, Film, Investigation, News, Product, Series, Television, Travel, Videos | Tags: Chan, China, Fake Sneaker Capital, HBO, Made In China, Putian, Replica Sneakers, VICE, VICE News, We Went To The Fake Sneaker Capital Of China | No Comments »
Soaring Sex Toy Sales In South Korea (Documentary)
August 22, 2018
Hmm. Surprising that this is just starting to blow up as an industry over there. Sex and all things naughty-naughty sell and sell well. The level of regulation and societal taboo to counter it must have been tremendously stifling. Still likely is, but looks like things are loosening up (insert your own ‘dirty jokes’ here).
Sex toy stores are opening up all over South Korea and customers have been flocking to them. In the past, the few adult stores that existed were hidden behind tinted glass and filled with dirty or outdated toys. Now times are changing and sex is becoming more visible to the mainstream.
But more access to sex toys doesn’t negate South Korea’s many sexual taboos and the lack of sex education and industry regulation.
– VICE
Two Wrestlers Speak On ‘Life After Sumo’ (Documentary)
August 15, 2018
The glamor and prestige of being on top of the sumo game in the Land Of The Rising Sun… if you can get to the top. And even if you do, being ‘about that life’ comes at a price. Watch VICE SPORTS tally up the bill in this documentary episode.
Sumo wrestlers enter training stables, or beyas, as young teens and dedicate their lives to the sport until they retire. Training involves incredible food intake, heavy beer consumption as a means of weight gain and daily full-contact sparring. Along with the health impacts, most wrestlers leave the sport with little education and less money. In this VICE Sports exclusive, we visit with two retired rikishis to get their take on life after sumo.
– VICE SPORTS
Posted in Film, Investigation, Sports, Travel, Videos | Tags: ANDERE SPORTARTEN, Beer, beyas, CHANKO-NABE, CHANKONABE, Japan, Japanese, KAMPFSPORT, LIFE AFTER SUMO, RIKISHI, Sumo, SUMO FOOD, Sumo Wrestling, TOYKO, Wrestling | No Comments »
SlamBall, Born In The USA, Has Been Reborn In China (Documentary)
August 9, 2018
Just to review, or introduce… SlamBall is a bouncy-bouncy version of basketball played on floors with embedded trampolines to facilitate super-high leaps and bounds. As described in the above doc vid, the game is pretty ‘video gamish’ and due to business and sports culture trending downfalls, SlamBall got ‘slammed’ in the U.S. However, it has found life in China.
“We never left, we just needed to take the best path for us,†says SlamBall’s creator Mason Gordon. After years with little exposure other than showcases and bar conversations between nostalgic fans, Slamball is now experiencing a resurgence in China. With a focus on bringing programs to universities before securing any TV rights, the sport is finding a foothold in a basketball-obsessed nation. VICE Sports traveled to China to check out the nation’s first facility and take in the scene.
– VICE SPORTS
Posted in Film, Investigation, Series, Sports, Travel, Videos | Tags: China, Mason Gordon, SlamBall, SlamBall is Alive in China, VICE, VICE Sports | No Comments »
Snoop Dogg Presents New Show ‘Clout Chasers’ (Video)
July 19, 2018
Boom! Snoop is ramping up the must-see TV content on Westfest TV for certain with this one. This ‘Clout Chasers’ is going to be crrrrazy!
‘Clout Chasers’ Episode 1 coming soon. The series investigates the tangled dark truth of Clout Chasers – individuals trying to get famous off other people’s names and efforts by utilizing social media to create fake realities.
Hosted by Snoop Dogg, the “docu-reality†looks to detangle the motivation and psychology behind this world, through real stories and real scenarios. With the platform of social media, a whole new group of extortionists has emerged.
– Westfest TV
Posted in Celebrity, Film, Hip-Hop, Investigation, Lifestyle, Relationships, Shots, Trailer, Videos | Tags: Celina Powell, Clout Chasers, docu-reality, Snoop Dogg | No Comments »
African-American Cowgirls Are Breaking Stereotypes (Video)
July 17, 2018
Had a Black cowboy story the other day (bull rider Neil Holmes), right? But what do you know about these Black cowgirls though… That’s right! Click play and learn.
– @ojones1
Neil Holmes Might Be The Last Black Bull Rider In The South (Documentary)
July 13, 2018
In case you didn’t know, roughly a fourth of the cowboys of old were Black. Today though, the world of professional bull riding, a sport rooted in ranching culture, is predominantly White. And when Neil Holmes leaves… even more so.
On this episode of ‘MINORITY REPORTS,’ VICE sent Lee Adams to Texas to meet Neil Holmes and Ezekiel Mitchell—two Black bull riders at different points in their careers—to find out what it’s like as a person of color trying to make it in the predominantly White world of professional bull riding. Holmes—an accomplished pro on the eve of his retirement—explains how he got into bull riding and talks about leaving the sport as the only Black pro ranked in the top 100 bull riders. Desperately trying to fill Holmes’s shoes is Mitchell, who’s struggled with the funds to travel, and has experienced racism in the sport first-hand.
– VICE
Posted in Investigation, Sports, Videos | Tags: Bull Riding, Ezekiel Mitchell, Lee Adams, MINORITY REPORTS, Neil Holmes, professional bull riding, VICE | 1 Comment »
Why Flint Still Doesn’t Have Clean Water (Video)
July 12, 2018
Do you think the Flint [Michigan, US] water crisis has been fixed? C’mon. Poorest city of its size in the nation… take a guess.
It’s been over four years and Flint still doesn’t have clean water.
You know, President Trump could really have scored some points by getting the water cleaned up here. Waaaay cheaper than that wall that will NOT get built anyway. Plus, the returns in goodwill and political capital would be very helpful in his run for a second term.
Am I actually giving Donald Trump a tip for Campaign 2020? No. Didn’t need my advice before. Just hoping and daring him to actually do something he could really spin as something he did that President Obama did not do. To help Americans heal AND tell the truth while doing it.
C’mon, Mr. President. This is not rocket science. But speaking of rocket science (Space Force!), there is talk of Elon Musk aka Mr. Put-Men-On-Mars-ASAP stepping in. Really? Is this Administration going to let an actual ‘Rocket Man’ punk them; to let the Space X founder be a bigger force for good in our universe than the Space Force? Yeah, Trump Administration… gauntlet thrown #WaterForFlint
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, Cover Story, Environment, Film, Investigation, News, Politics, Videos | Tags: AJ+, Dena Takruri, Direct From, environmental injustice, Flint, Michigan, Water Crisis | No Comments »
Is “Talking White” Actually A Thing? (Video)
July 11, 2018
In the trailer when Danny Glover is in “Sorry To Bother You” telling Lakeith Stanfield to use his ‘White voice’ to get ahead at the job… that part. That’s code-switching in rare form. But ‘talking White’ is really, really a thing though? Yuuup.
“Talking White” helps people of color get ahead.
– Voices of Color by Insider
Wait. Don Lemon? CNN’s Don Lemon is from New Orleans????
– @ojones1
Posted in Activism, Human Interest, Investigation, Videos | Tags: code switching, dialects, Insider, Olivia Kang, standard accent, Talking White, Voices of Color | No Comments »
Skin Bleaching In South Africa (Video)
June 28, 2018
In the U.S. we beat our chests and proclaim, “Black Lives Matter,” “Black And Proud,” even “Wakanda Forever,” and some of our brothers & sisters in South Africa feel compelled to risk breaking the law and getting cancer by chemically lightening their skin??? Sad and shocking…
South Africa’s skin bleaching scandal: Unreported World went to South Africa where the use of controversial skin bleaching creams is on the rise in a new generation. Despite strict laws banning dangerous chemicals they’re widely available and are making people ill. Reporter Tania Rashid met a celebrity who endorses skin bleaching despite the risks and some of those that are trying to end the trade.
– Unreported World
Posted in Film, Health and Wellness, Investigation, Lifestyle, Series, Videos | Tags: Skin bleaching scandal in South Africa, South Africa, Tania Rashid, Unreported World | No Comments »
